Chapter 18
Zora
Brandr paced his cottage until he could stand it no more. He walked out the door, and even though he told himself not to look toward Eurwen’s place, his head turned anyway. There was no movement outside. He didn’t know if his parents were there or somewhere else.
He was tempted to find Varek. He hadn’t wanted to like the Dragon King, but the simple fact was that he did. It helped that Varek had freed the dragons from imprisonment.
Brandr opened his mental link and reached out to his generals to see if they had learned anything.
“The four humans I’m following have remained on their side of the river. They’ve no’ found the crone as of yet.”
“Thanks,” Brandr said.
Nundro, another of his generals said, “More and more dragons are growing uneasy. Tempers are flaring. I’ve broken up two fights already.”
“Fights are no’ uncommon,” Brandr reminded him.
Nundro snorted. “These are no’ common skirmishes.”
“I see.”
And Brandr did see. Whatever he’d felt was causing more and more disruption on his realm.
The answer seemed simple enough: Get the Dragon Kings off Zora immediately.
That should right things instantly. He’d known that Eurwen had been wrong to create the doorway.
If she really wanted to meet their parents, she could’ve done it on Earth. No one needed to come here.
He didn’t care about the Kings’ wishes to see the dragons.
In his mind, they’d lost that right when they sent their clans away without finding them a proper home.
He didn’t care that they’d never left their realm.
To blindly open a dragon bridge to some unknown place was tantamount to murder in his mind.
Brandr stilled when he heard a woman cry out in pain.
He frowned, wondering if it was Jeyra. He didn’t know much about the mortal, other than that she was Varek’s mate.
She appeared quite capable, however. In fact, she would’ve been someone Brandr would have considered entertaining as a lover.
But he didn’t tread on other’s territory.
The woman shouted again. This time, he was certain it came from Eurwen’s cottage. Instantly, he reached out to her via their mental link. No matter how many times he said her name, Eurwen didn’t respond.
“I’ll kill each and every one of them if they harm her,” he vowed as he strode angrily across the expanse to his sister’s home.
Brandr threw open the door to find Con, Rhi, V, and a pregnant female. The woman was propped up on Eurwen’s bed, her long, blond hair stuck to her face from sweat. Her lips were pulled tight in pain as she gripped V’s hand as if her life depended on it.
The King of Copper’s face was set in determined lines as he softly urged the woman on. But Brandr saw V’s fear.
Rhi sat on the bed near the woman’s feet. She had her hand on the mortal’s protruding stomach. “Breathe, Claire. That’s it. Just breathe.”
In an instant, Brandr realized what was happening.
Con suddenly stepped into his line of sight. “I hoped to meet you, son. These are no’ the conditions I expected to see you under, however.”
“Where’s Eurwen?”
Brandr saw the briefest of frowns on his father’s face. “She didna tell you?”
“Would I be asking if she had?” he snapped.
Rhi suddenly said in a clear, authoritative voice, “Enough, you two. Outside. Now.”
Con walked past him without hesitation. Brandr hesitated a heartbeat before turning on his heel and following his father outside. Brandr closed the door and realized that Con had strode farther away from the cottage.
Growing more irritated by the second, Brandr lengthened his strides to catch up with him. When he did, Brandr glared at him. “Where is my sister?”
“She went with Vaughn, Jeyra, and Varek to Dreagan.”
“She wouldna.”
Con stoically stared at him. “She did.”
Brandr didn’t want to believe it, but Eurwen would never go without answering his call no matter how angry she was with him. The fact that she hadn’t answered earlier confirmed what Con had said.
“I didna know she left without telling you,” his father said.
First the doorway, then Vaughn. And now, this. Brandr felt as if he were losing his sister. He wasn’t sure how or why it was happening. They’d always had each other’s backs, but she was doing things completely out of character lately. And he wasn’t sure what to do.
“She’s merely getting a tour of Dreagan,” Con told him. “Something you’re welcome to do anytime.”
Brandr shook his head. “Nothing on your realm interests me.”
“As I told Eurwen, we’re no’ here to try to take over or invade your realm. Rhi and I are here to see the two of you.”
“You’ve seen. Now, leave.”
A muscle ticked in Con’s jaw, the only thing that let Brandr know he was irked. Con’s face remained impassive. “Leaving at the moment is impossible.”
“Because of the pregnant woman?”
“That is V’s mate,” Con said, his voice dipping lower. “Claire is here in hopes the bairn can be born alive.”
Brandr crossed his arms over his chest, his fury building with every second. “This is why I didna want the doorway built. You all think you can just come and go as you please.”
“Contrary to what you might believe, we asked for Eurwen’s permission.”
And the hits just kept coming.
Con blew out a breath. “You know about us. You know that only three bairns have been born alive. Melisse, you, and your sister. All three of you are half-Fae. Claire isna Fae. She isna a Druid. But a Fae ensured she conceived. Usaeil wanted to hurt us. Most unions between dragons and humans end in a miscarriage fairly soon. It’s uncommon for a mortal to carry a bairn to term.
Claire and V have the right to see their child born alive. ”
“All of that is your problem. Things from your realm. What gives you the right to bring any of it here?”
“You want to keep our realms separate, but that isna possible. You’re my son. The dragons you rule are here because of me. Our two realms are tied together, whether you want to believe it or no’.”
Brandr snorted as he dropped his arms to his sides. “You talk so nobly, but when it came right down to it, you didna try very hard to get here to know your children, did you?”
Fury filled Con as he narrowed his black eyes. “You know nothing of what you speak.”
“Oh, I speak the truth. Something you’re unable to do.”
Con’s nostrils flared. “Your mother and I knew nothing of you and your sister. Erith took you from Rhi to save the three of you, but when it came time to return you to Rhi’s womb, you two would have none of it.
At least, that’s what Erith told us. She took you from us.
We never knew the joy of your birth, never got to name you, watch you crawl.
We missed it all. Yet, you and Eurwen knew of us the entire time.
You came to Earth. You watched us. You’re the ones who made it clear you wanted nothing to do with us.
Could we have stormed Zora? Could I have made you talk to me? You’re bloody right I could have!”
Brandr saw for the first time why the magic had chosen Con as King of Kings. He was formidable, clever, and astute. His calm demeanor belied the fierce dragon he was.
“Rhi and I respected your wishes,” Con continued. “Even though it tore us both apart. Your utter disregard for our feelings and the lack of control we had in any of this is appalling and inexcusable. You’re better than that.” Con walked past Brandr back to the cottage.
Brandr swallowed, pretty sure his father had just firmly put him in his place. He hadn’t liked what Con had said, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it.
“By the way, we’re no’ leaving until Claire has the bairn,” Con threw over his shoulder.
Brandr turned, but Con had already continued walking.
He stared at his father’s retreating back, unsure of what to do.
He didn’t want any Kings on Zora, but they were already here.
Brandr couldn’t, in good conscience, send Claire away now that her labor had begun.
He thought it was foolish for them to think that having the child on Zora would make a difference in whether it lived or not.
Claire cried out, the sound filled with agony. Brandr recalled V’s face and the panic there. A King and his mate were attempting to bring a life into the world. Whatever anger Brandr felt toward the Kings didn’t apply to an innocent child.
He returned to his home, but he could still hear Claire’s screams, even across the distance.
The hours progressed, with day fading to night, but Claire’s cries only grew louder and longer.
She was in tremendous anguish. Finally, he’d had enough and teleported from his place to Eurwen’s. He wasn’t sure why.
Brandr quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
V sat behind Claire, supporting her as she reclined against him.
Rhi was between Claire’s spread legs, guiding her and telling her when to push.
Con stood off to the side, watching it all with a worried expression.
Something in his father’s face made Brandr realize how important this birth was.
He’d been too wrapped up in his anger to comprehend that until now.
“Come on, baby,” V urged Claire. “You can do this.”
Tears fell down her cheeks. “I’m tired. So tired.”
“I’ve got you,” V said and kissed her temple. “I’ll always have you. No matter what happens.”
Claire’s face scrunched up as she bore down, her teeth bared as she strained. Brandr wasn’t sure he should be here, but he couldn’t make himself leave. No one had noticed him yet. It felt as if he were intruding.
Another twenty minutes passed as he watched Claire pushing without any movement from the baby. Suddenly, Brandr felt the urge to go to her. He fought it, not understanding. Until he could no longer ignore the feeling within him.
He started forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Con’s head jerk to him. As he neared Rhi, she looked up in surprise. Brandr looked at V, then Claire. The human mate met his gaze. He paused, waiting for her approval. He had no idea why, but it was important. Then, she nodded once.
A cry tore from her as a contraction hit. He could see her stomach moving from the cramp. Brandr lifted his left arm. He watched it as if from outside his body as he rested his hand upon her belly. The moment his palm made contact, he felt the Fae magic.
He jerked back in shock.
“Whatever you did, do it again!” V shouted.
Brandr looked at the Dragon King. Claire screamed as if in more pain than before. Brandr returned his hand to her belly, and she quieted. He felt the contraction moving through her body, but more importantly, he discovered why the bairn had yet to be born.
He swallowed and looked at the couple once more. “Usaeil’s magic caused you to conceive. That magic guaranteed the babe would live to term. But it’s also her magic that’s causing the bairn to remain in your womb.”
“If she wasna already dead, I’d kill her again,” Con said from behind him.
Rhi caught Brandr’s gaze. “Can you help?”
“Do you feel the Fae magic?” he asked.
Rhi shook her head. “Usaeil must have made sure none of us could.”
“I have no’ felt it,” V said. “And I’ve tried.”
Brandr shrugged as he looked at Claire and then V. “I’ve never done this. I’m no’ even sure I can.”
“Please,” Claire begged as her face scrunched in pain with another contraction.
Brandr drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he focused on the Fae magic. He called it to him. It clung to the infant in Claire’s womb, refusing to let go. Brandr felt it draining the life from the bairn.
He deepened his focus and demanded that the magic listen to him.
The first time it brushed against him, he nearly gagged.
It was Dark Fae magic. The evil was sickening, and the more it obeyed him, the more he felt as if he were suffocating.
But he didn’t stop. He had to get all of it or the baby would die.
Little by little, he gathered the magic until he had all of it. When he lifted his hand from Claire’s stomach, the magic covered his arm like a black mist. He tried to look at Claire, but his eyes were fuzzy, and his knees started to buckle.
“I’ve got you,” Con said as he supported him.
Brandr suddenly found himself in a chair, dimly aware of the shrill cry of a bairn.
“You did good, son.”
He wanted to tell Con to shove it, but oddly, the words affected him. Brandr didn’t have the energy to think about that now. He concentrated on the magic that crept up his arm. He wanted it gone. His attempts to shake it off were in vain. Then he felt himself falling, sleep pulling him under.