Chapter 44
Chapter
Forty-Four
DECLAN
D ECLAN! STOP!
The insistent voice breaks through my fury, my claws still sunk deep into the flesh of this dragon’s gut.I let the fire die and turn my head to see who is interrupting me now.
I know that voice. The familiarity of it burns deep inside me. There are other voices seeking attention inside my head and it gets too loud, too noisy, too much for me to bear.
I whip my head around, scanning for the source. Looking for a new enemy to fight.
Who would dare to try and stop me now?
The piercing cry of a baby cuts through all the noise in my head and all the commotion around me. My dragon sniffs the air, curious. What is a baby doing here? Surely no one would be stupid enough to bring a baby into the middle of a battle between dragons.
Surely no one would bring a baby into the fighting pits like this.
Declan, shift now. Your mate needs you. She needs your claim, your bite.
There it is again, that voice.
It’s a ploy. A trick of Grey, of my captors. They want me to stop, they want me to get distracted so that they can finish me off.
Declan, please.
Brianna.
I’d know her voice anywhere, even when it’s dripping with so much pain it’s almost unrecognizable.
I shake my head, trying to clear my mind. Trying to refocus. Barely feeling it as my head creates more rubble and destruction as I process what’s happening.
I feel the tingle of magic, like an electric buzz on my tongue, and I whip around to face down the source. Finally, I’m face-to-face with the new intruders. My dragon snarls as I stare down at them.
Syrena. Standing next to Ash. And Brianna.
My Brianna. Looking small. Frail. Broken.
Did I do this to her? Have I broken my mate?
The sound of a baby crying echoes again off the rubble laying around me, and my nostrils flare in anger. Why is my mate here? Who would bring a baby to a fight like this? If this is some new ploy to make me fight harder, to do more damage, to keep my mate safe, they’ve gone too far.
Besides, I’m certain my opponent is already dead, or if not quite dead yet, he will be soon enough.
“Declan Wystan, I’m not going to tell you again. Your mate needs you, and your brother needs you to remove your talons from his gut. Shift. Now.” Syrena’s voice echoes in my head, even as she says the words aloud. The power of the Tourmaline Clan bridges between us. I’m taken back to a memory, one I don’t remember. But it’s through Syrena’s eyes. She’s looking down at me as she murmurs the ancient words of our people and connects me to my heartstone. I see my baby-self connecting to the stone, wrapping my little fingers around it. It winds around my arm like a little cuff, protecting me, waiting for the day to guide me to my mate.
The magic of my heartstone. I silence the voices in my head, I silence my raging emotions and fears, and I just listen to the thrum of my heartstone. I haven’t heard it in so many years. It’s been missing. Gone. Syrena sent it out into the universe to be protected, to guide me to my mate.
I stare down at Brianna’s fragile, broken body. Down the slope of her pale skin to her wrist where I see the first gleam of tourmaline in the morning light. Wrapped around her wrist is my heartstone. I knew she was my mate even though I was scared to truly hope for it, but there is proof that the Fates brought her to me. Even if it was in the worst conditions possible, I don’t care. I’m just beyond joyful to have her.
I want to touch her, help her heal from all that she has been through. I reach out, but it’s still my dragon’s taloned paw.
I don’t take my eyes off her as I start to return to my human form. All the aches, the pain of flying on injured wings, the burn of deep scratches and bites, both old and new, make me want to crumple. Exhaustion seeps deep into my bones, and I feel like maybe it is time to just give up, to give in to it all, and set Brianna free from me, from being shackled to a crazed, broken dragon.
“Thank the gods. Declan, your mate needs your claim, now.” Syrena runs over, grabbing my hand. “Your daughter needs you both to heal, so that you can take care of her. She’s more precious than any of us realized, I daresay.”
I blink at her, still fighting against the dragon in my mind, demanding that we shift back and continue to fight, to destroy. My legs wobble as I step through the debris in bare feet. Not that I notice much, I just want to get to Brianna. “My daughter?”
Syrena nods, and gestures at a nearby van. “Finley’s watching over her. Tend to your mate, so that we can all get out of here.”
I stumble a little as I rush to where Ash is standing, holding my mate. My mind is spinning in circles, and I’m still not entirely sure any of this, anyone I recognize is real, but if it’s not real, then I don’t care.
I lean down and study Brianna carefully. She smells like my mate. Fear, pain, and rage drip off her. That’s new. She’s never carried a scent like that before, even when she lived with her father.
Immediately, I grab her from my brother roughly, in a possessive move that makes her groan in protest. “Mine!”
“Be careful, Declan, you idiot. I wasn’t trying to keep her from you. She’s hurt, and you throwing her around like a barbarian isn’t going to help her heal.” Ash holds up his hands, skirting around me as he makes his way to the dragon I left in the streets.
As soon as he’s out of my sight, I take a deep breath, sniffing her, trying to settle my brain, settle my dragon, so that I can look her over.
Why is she hurt?
Why isn’t she awake?
Who do I have to kill for making her suffer?
I get a close-up of the tourmaline ring that encircles one of her fingers, and wrapping around her wrist like it’s just as possessive of her as I am, glowing faintly in the bright sunlight.
How did she find it? Did it find her?
I need answers, and the only way I can think to get them is for her to wake up.
But if she’s hurt, if she’s been drugged or knocked unconscious, I can’t just shake her from her sleep.
Claim her, brother. Take her into the back of the SUV and mark her as your own. Ash’s voice in my head sounds exasperated, and I wonder just how much of what I’m thinking he’s hearing. It’s not like I’m being careful with my thoughts and emotions at the moment.
I carry her carefully across the debris to the van Ash gestured to. As I get close to the SUV just in front of the van, though, I smell the burning scent of brimstone. My lip curls up into a snarl and I feel my talons trying to extend.
The only thing that keeps them where they are is my mate in my arms. I don’t want to hurt her more.
A woman steps out of the front seat, holding up her hands like she’s already trying to surrender to me. “I’m not here to hurt you, or anyone. I just wanted to make sure that Brianna gets the help she needs. The help only you can give her.”
I snarl at her, smoke curling out from my nostrils, and she scrambles away from the SUV as quickly as she can.
Laying Brianna down in the back of the van, I look her over, looking for signs of what harm has befallen her. No bite marks on her neck. No scratches, no holes at all, as far as I can see.
All her pain, it seems, is coming from her pelvis. Her thighs, stained with blood.
“Who hurt you?” I press a soft kiss to her lips, wishing her dark eyes would open and I could be sure she’s okay, that she wants this claim as badly as I do.
I don’t understand how she could have already given birth, how Finley could be caring for our baby, our daughter, when I’m certain it hasn’t been more than a week since she went missing.
I have so many questions, and none I’ll have answers to until I have Brianna, whole, back in my arms. Back in my bed. And, it seems, the only way to make sure I do that is to cause her more pain.
“I’m so sorry, mate. I promise, I will worship your body, chase away all memories of pain, as soon as you wake up.” I press another kiss to her lips before I shift her shirt down off her shoulder and let my teeth extend.
My dragon wants to rub all over her, to taste her as she comes for us, to make her scream my name in pleasure, in need. And it would be all too easy to let him, with how tenuous my hold still is on the beast, even having my mate here in my arms.
But I can’t do that. I can’t hurt her more, and I can’t expect her to even want me until she’s healed from everything she’s suffered since she left.
Instead, I focus on the things I can do.
Holding her hand.
Breathing in her scent as I lean close.
Tasting her skin, just before I bite down and let the magic of our mating flow between us, giving her my dragon’s strength, my dragon’s healing ability.
I just hope that I’m not unintentionally giving her my dragon’s craze at the same time or killing her with my claim.
Brianna gasps, tensing in my arms, and it’s almost enough to break the biting hold I have on her. Every dragon I know has made their claim during sex, at the height of passion, of need, of connection with their mate, so I’m not even entirely certain my claim will take, if we’re not connected that way.
If it doesn’t, I’ll claim her again. And again. As many times as it takes to make sure she heals, to make sure I get to keep her.
“Declan.” My name on her lips is barely a whisper, and I slowly pull away from her neck to look down at her.
The puncture wounds I made are already healing, and as she flutters her eyes open, I feel her consciousness fill my mind, twisting and entwining with my own.
“My mate.” I cup her cheek in my hand, fighting against the hot tears filling my eyes. “I’m sorry I let you get taken. I’m sorry for everything.”
She sits up slowly, reaching for me, pulling me in tightly against her chest. “I never stopped believing you’d come for me.”
Her own tears start to bloom wet splotches on my bare chest, and my heart aches to know how badly she needed me.
How badly we needed each other.
“You’re mine, Brianna, for as long as the Fates will grant us. I’m never letting you go again. I’m never letting you out of my sight.”
The pain she suffered is fading with every breath, a sign that she’s healing, that she’s going to be all right. It’s only a matter of time before I know she’ll take wing with me, that we’ll fly through the skies together, teaching our youngling how to soar on her own.
“Our baby.” She jerks away from me, looking around frantically. “Where’s our baby?”
I scoop her into my arms and smile softly. “You’ll have to introduce me.”
Brianna lets out a strangled gasp, and I immediately sit again, settling her on my lap.
“Once you’re healed.” I shake my head, cursing myself for hurting my mate, even unintentionally. “She’s with Finley and Syrena now, she’s safe.”
“And Donna?” Brianna tries to look around, but she doesn’t move much, as if she’s trying to avoid jostling herself anymore.
“I’m here.” The woman who smells of brimstone and death steps a little closer to the SUV, and my dragon lets out a low, rumbling growl.
“Declan, stop. She saved me. She saved our baby.” Brianna swats at my chest, but there’s no real force behind it, like she doesn’t actually want to admonish me.
Or maybe she’s just as happy to be back in my arms as I am to have her in them.
“We need to get her back to Chicago. We need to help her find her sister and keep them both safe from Grey.” Brianna looks out of the SUV at the woman. “It’s the least we can do.”
“You’ve already saved me. I can find Hannah on my own. I can keep her safe. I still don’t know how you did it, but he’s not in my head anymore. My mind, my actions, are all my own.”
“I think that might have something to do with this little one.” Syrena steps up to the SUV, holding a tiny bundle of blankets. “I’m afraid your daughter won’t be doing any flying on her own, Declan. You’ve brought a witch into the world. The new obsidian witch, if I’m not mistaken.”
Brianna immediately extends her arms, and Syrena smiles as she hands over the baby. “Is she okay? I mean…” She chokes back another sob. “Are there any lasting effects from the spell?”
“Only time will tell, but I don’t think so. The way Tabitha described it, you had to keep taking the potion to keep her growing. She should be as normal as a supernatural baby can be, now. She should age like a normal baby. It’ll still be too fast.”
I can’t decide who to look at more, my gaze torn between my mate and my daughter. The Obsidian witch. I couldn’t be prouder. I look over at Brianna again, whose color is coming back to her, a flush in her cheeks, red in her lips, and a sparkle in her dark eyes. Her soft smile curving up as she stares down at our little girl. The way it seems like all her pain melts away, leaving only room for the joy, the love, radiating off of her.
“We shouldn’t stay here much longer. Grey’s still out there, and he still wants to get his disgusting hands on her,” Syrena says. “Not to mention, the police are undoubtedly on their way, possibly with the Canadian army.”
Brianna’s brow furrows as she looks around again. “What the hell happened here?”
Syrena shakes her head. “We can talk about it on the plane. We should get you back to a safe house so that I can do a proper evaluation of you both. Pru will no doubt want to look you over as well.” She walks around to the back of the SUV and comes back a moment later with a duffle bag and thrusts it at me. “You’re going to need some clothes, if you plan on going anywhere in your human form. Which I think is for the best. Don’t make me subdue you again.”
“Again?” Brianna tilts her head at me. “I think we’re both going to need to fill each other in on everything that’s happened.”
I kiss her softly. “As long as part of filling you in involves me stripping you naked and making sure the bloodsucker didn’t leave any lasting marks on you.”
“Right now, I just want to curl up in your arms and sleep for about three weeks. I feel like my whole body needs a break.”
“You can rest for as long as you need, but now that you’re my claimed mate, I have every intention of giving you the dragon’s version of a honeymoon when you’re ready.” One that I fully intend to make last a minimum of a month.
Brianna shakes her head at me. “We have a newborn. You can’t exactly expect me to just leave her with one of your siblings so that you can keep me in bed that long.”
“I can, and I daresay any of my mated brothers would understand having another youngling in the house, in exchange for giving us time to properly explore our bond.” I kiss her again before gently setting her down on the seat next to me and pulling out a pair of jeans from the duffle bag. “You’re my mate, and I fully intend to make good use of my claim.”
The images I send to her as I finish putting on clothes make her cheeks grow pink, and there’s no mistaking the scent of her arousal, even as she buries her face into our daughter’s blankets, as if she’s trying to hide.