Chapter 30
“Eurwen?” Vaughn called as worry filled him.
She kept talking, but her words weren’t clear. It was as if something distorted her voice.
“Eurwen!”
Soon, the others were calling for her, as well, but she wouldn’t answer them either.
“I’m going to her,” Vaughn said as he dipped a wing and turned in her direction.
The instant he did, he saw Eurwen stand. Suddenly, she jerked as if something had struck her. In the next instant, she fell backward.
“Nay!” Vaughn bellowed and flew faster.
He dove from the sky, tucking into a ball and shifting to his human form so he could land on his feet and run the last few yards to her. As he did, he looked around for an opponent but saw nothing. He slid to his knees and bent over Eurwen as the others rushed to them.
Vaughn stared in shock at the hole through her abdomen, wide enough that he could put his arm through it. Blood coated Eurwen’s front and continued pouring out.
“Con!” Vaughn shouted.
The King of Kings was immediately at Eurwen’s other side. “I’m here.”
Vaughn’s heart thumped in his chest as he stared helplessly at his mate. Even though he knew that Con could heal Eurwen, Vaughn couldn’t shake the unease rolling violently through him. Someone or something had attacked his mate, and no one had seen anything. Just as with Nundro the day before.
It felt like an eternity before the wound finally mended, and Con dropped his arm to his side. Vaughn looked at him and saw the worry on his friend’s face.
“That was different than Nundro’s wound,” Con said.
Brandr sat at Eurwen’s feet, panic and concern etched across his face. “Why hasn’t she woken? She’s healed.”
“Open your eyes, lass,” Vaughn urged Eurwen. “We’re waiting for you to tell us what you saw.”
But she didn’t move. Vaughn glanced at Con, Brandr, and V, hoping one of them would have a solution. The three of them looked as helpless as he felt.
“Eurwen,” Vaughn called louder. “Open your eyes. Look at me.”
V shook his head. “This isna good. None of this is. No’ the location, the attack, and no’ her lying as if in a coma.”
“Whoever did this has to be around here,” Brandr declared as he got to his feet. He yelled to his generals, and the dragons took to the sky.
Vaughn smoothed Eurwen’s hair from her face. Her beautiful armor was ruined. Dragon scales were difficult to pierce, but whatever had struck Nundro had managed it then as well as whatever or whoever had done this today. Vaughn looked at his friends. “Did you hear what she said before she fell?”
“It was jumbled,” Con answered.
V shook his head. “It was like a radio station that didna come in clearly.”
“I couldn’t make out anything,” Brandr said.
“She felt something yesterday,” Con reminded them.
Vaughn stood and backed away as he glanced around. “We need to get her out of here. Now.”
“I’ll stay with my generals and the army. We’ll scour the area. And we’ll find who is responsible,” Brandr replied.
Vaughn nodded before shifting and gently lifting Eurwen in one of his hands. V and Con flew on either side of him on the way back to Cairnkeep. Halfway there, Vaughn expected her to wake and demand to be put down. He kept hoping he’d hear her voice, but it didn’t happen.
Once they reached Cairnkeep, they landed. Vaughn returned to human form and carried her to Brandr’s cottage. Con followed close behind. Not much later, Rhi teleported into the house with them.
“What happened?” she demanded.
Con wrapped an arm around his mate as he explained the situation. Vaughn gently lay Eurwen on the bed, still waiting for her to wake.
“Why hasn’t she opened her eyes?” Rhi asked frantically.
Con shrugged and shook his head. “None of us knows.”
“The general from yesterday? He didn’t lose consciousness,” Rhi stated.
Vaughn sat on the edge of the bed and took Eurwen’s hand in his. “Everything about today felt different.”
“Like a trap,” Con said.
Vaughn nodded slowly as he looked at Con. “Exactly.”
Rhi’s eyes widened. “Then we get back out there and find who did this.”
“That’s where Brandr and his generals are,” Vaughn said.
Rhi’s face went slack. “Alone? Are you kidding? After what happened with all of you there, why wouldn’t someone remain with Brandr?”
Con kissed her cheek. “I’m heading there now, sweetheart. I wanted to get our daughter here first.”
Rhi threw her arms around him. They exchanged soft words before moving apart.
“I’ll update you and V often regarding my location,” Con told him.
Vaughn bowed his head. “Be careful.”
“There’s a reason Eurwen was attacked, and we’re going to find out what that is,” Con promised before he strode out of the cottage.
Vaughn watched his friend go before his gaze slid to Rhi. Unease stamped her face. The last time Vaughn had seen such an expression was when his human lover had been giving birth. He had cared for the mortal, but he hadn’t loved her. Not as he did Eurwen. Vaughn returned his attention to his mate.
He couldn’t shake the apprehension, the worry that the Kings were somehow responsible for what was taking place on Zora.
Whether it’d begun because Varek had been brought here, or whether it’d manifested once Varek arrived was trivial.
Something malicious was in the realm. Was it after the dragons?
Was it targeting Eurwen and Brandr? Or were the Kings the objective?
“We need to know if the mortals have also experienced such attacks,” Vaughn said.
Rhi started to pace. “I need to do something. I can’t stand just sitting still. I’ll go.”
“No,” Vaughn stopped her before she left.
Her head whipped to him. “And why not?”
“You’re too upset.”
She paused for a second. “Perhaps you’re right. But if they knew what Varek was, they’ll know you, as well.”
“That’s true.”
“There’s Claire.”
Vaughn snorted. “V willna let her out of his sight, and I doona blame him.”
“That leaves only one who can navigate the humans effectively.”
“Jeyra.”
Rhi nodded. “I’ll get her.”
“I had Eurwen remove the doorway in case whatever was here came from Earth.”
“I’ll be quick,” Rhi replied. She glanced at her daughter. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
Vaughn bowed his head. “I willna.”
Once Rhi was gone, he rubbed Eurwen’s hand between his. “Wake up, lass. You’re healed. There should be nothing keeping you unconscious.”
Vaughn let his magic surround her, searching for anything that might stand out. No matter how hard he focused, he was unable to discern anything. He had hoped something would stand out, something they could remove so she would open her eyes and smile at him again.
“I got her,” Rhi said as she appeared in the cottage.
Vaughn looked to find Rhi, Jeyra, and Varek.
“What the bloody hell happened?” Varek demanded as he looked at Eurwen on the bed. “Rhi wouldna tell us anything. Just said Jeyra was needed.”
Vaughn didn’t release Eurwen’s hand as he faced the trio. “To summarize, one of the generals was attached yesterday. Con was able to heal him, and we searched the open field but saw no one.”
“No one?” Varek asked with a frown.
Vaughn shook his head. “Con offered our help, and Eurwen and Brandr accepted. We came up with a plan and implemented it this morning. Eurwen, Brandr, Con, and V stayed on the ground in human form while the four generals and I stayed in the air, drawing attention to ourselves.”
“You were on the border with my people, weren’t you?” Jeyra asked.
“The attack yesterday was done far enough from there that we would’ve seen anyone running away. But, yes, this morning, we were near the border,” Vaughn explained.
Rhi pulled her hair back and twisted it into a knot off her neck. “Someone or something attacked Eurwen. Con healed her wound, but she hasn’t woken since.”
“You know what this reminds me of?” Varek asked.
Vaughn nodded as he looked at Rhi. “That time Ulrik’s uncle attacked, and you wouldna wake.”
Rhi briefly closed her eyes. “That was Mikkel. This is on another realm. How could one have to do with the other?”
“It might have something to do with Eurwen’s Fae blood,” Varek pointed out.
Vaughn rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Rhi eventually woke.”
“I didn’t want to,” Rhi admitted. “If it hadn’t been for Con, I wouldn’t have.”
Jeyra worried her lip. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
Vaughn met Varek’s dark eyes. “Brandr and his generals are looking for whoever did this. Once Con saw Eurwen here, he went after Brandr as backup. We need to know if your people are also getting attacked.”
“Or if they’re doing it,” Jeyra surmised with a nod. “I’d want to know the same. All right. I’ll do it.”
Varek said, “We’ll do it.”
“Is that wise, Varek? After what happened last time?” Rhi asked.
Jeyra looked at Varek and smiled. “Thankfully, we have an ally in Orgate. Sateen will be able to give us the answers we seek.”
“And I dare any of them to do anything to us,” Varek replied.
Vaughn desperately wanted to go with them, but he didn’t want to leave Eurwen. However, someone who had been at the attacks needed to be there.
“Go,” Rhi told him. “I’ll stay with my daughter.”
Vaughn reluctantly released Eurwen’s hand and got to his feet. “Let’s go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back.”
He took one more look at Eurwen and followed Varek and Jeyra out of the cottage.
“Where are V and Claire?” Varek asked.
Vaughn pointed to Eurwen’s cottage some distance away as they started down the mountain.
“It seems Usaeil used her magic to no’ only guarantee that Claire would become pregnant but also make sure the child would never be born.
The Dark magic held the baby in Claire’s womb. Somehow Brandr figured it out.”
“Brandr’s mix of Fae and dragon magic seems to have saved the day,” Varek said.
“What of the baby?” Jeyra asked.
Vaughn grinned when he thought of the tiny bundle. “She is doing great. Claire and V are beside themselves with joy.”
“I can no’ believe another dragon–human bairn has been born,” Varek said, awe in his voice.
Jeyra frowned. “Wouldn’t it have been wise to send Claire and the infant back to Earth with all of this going on?”
Before Vaughn could answer, Varek shook his head and said, “There have been instances where evil has attached itself to a bairn to pass undetected. Everyone is just covering all the bases.”
“We need to get to Orgate quickly,” Vaughn said, returning the conversation to the matter at hand.
Jeyra shot him a questioning look. “I’m not sure arriving in your true form is the best idea.”
“We’ll stop at the border,” Varek told her.
Vaughn didn’t wait on them. He shifted and jumped into the air, flying swift and true to the river.