Chapter 45
Chapter
Forty-Five
brIANNA
I t takes some convincing, but Donna finally agrees to come back to Miami with us, under the promise that Henrik will find her sister and bring her down as soon as he can.
Getting to the private airport seems to take more time than it should, as Declan constantly reaches over to touch me, to take my hand, grip my knee, even just to brush his fingers against my jawline, like he’s trying to cling to the fact that I’m here.
I don’t blame him. I feel like I’ve aged a year in the last week, and most of what I did was just try not to go stir crazy.
I can tell Declan’s trying to keep his thoughts under wraps, but it’s like with this claiming mark, his mind’s more open to me than it ever has been before. His dragon’s struggling, fighting to try to regain control, demanding to fly me away to somewhere no one, least of all Grey, would ever be able to find me.
That doesn’t sound bad at all, but there are too many things that we need to deal with, too many things that are left unsettled. My father’s still out there. There are still shifters being held, forced to fight.
I don’t even know if Declan has a house, if we have somewhere to live once we’re away from my father, from Grey, from all of this. There’s so much I don’t know, so much I’m unprepared for.
And then there’s Malcolm.
I don’t think Declan saw Ash pick up the bloody, broken body of their brother. I don’t think Declan saw much of anything after I woke up except for me and our daughter.
“What do we do now, Declan?” I ask softly, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone else in the car.
“What do you mean, mate?” He leans over, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
I frown, wishing I could be just as wrapped up in him as he seems to be in me right now. But I can’t just think about myself. Everything has changed. Everything feels like so much higher stakes.
Instead of verbally answering, I close my eyes, trying to project out all the concerns, all the questions I have tumbling around in my brain.
We have a daughter now, a tiny, helpless baby who’s going to need our protection, our love, our support, and I don’t have the faintest idea how I’m going to do anything right. I thought I’d have a few months to learn how to be a mom and how to take care of a tiny person.
“Breathe, my love. We have time to figure things out. And we have a lot of family who will help. You don’t have to figure it out all on your own, and we don’t have to have all the answers today.” He squeezes my hand reassuringly. “We have centuries together, and we’re just getting started.”
“You say that like any of this is supposed to feel normal for me.” I sigh, leaning into him. “All of this is new and kind of strange for me. I just gave birth. If it hadn’t been for Donna, I’d be dead now. And you…” I bite my lip, looking up at him. “I only saw the aftermath, but are you really okay now?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t even remember making it to Montreal, or why my dragon knew to come here.” He pauses a moment, and I see his eyes unfocus, like he’s looking at something else. “Oh, by the gods, I didn’t know. I didn’t see Malcolm when I was on that street. I was back in the damn fights…I—I….” He shakes his head and tears well in his eyes. “I never would have….” He trails off and squeezes his eyes shut trying to block out the memory of killing his own brother.
“I know, my love,” I say gently. “Ash and Syrena know too. Malcolm wouldn’t blame you either. It wasn’t your fault.”
He snorts, sounding more like a beast than a man. “I still have his blood on my hands, Brianna. I can’t just wash it off. There’s so much blood I’ll never be able to wash it away.” The tears go up in steam as the rage threatens to take over again.
“Hey, Declan, look at me.” I take his face in both my hands and force his gaze to me, and stare deep into his eyes. Into the eyes of my mate. “What happened isn’t your fault. If anything, it’s mine. My family’s. We’re going to shut down that ring, and we need to make sure that none of them can ever hurt shifters again.”
“I can’t. I don’t think I can let my dragon into another fight. I don’t even know if I should be letting him out at all.”
Declan’s eyes hold so much sadness, so much hurt, that it’s making my own eyes fill with tears.
“You have to. If this bite of yours does what you promised, and I’m going to turn into a dragon, you’re the only one I trust to teach me how to fly. You’re the only one I want by my side.” I kiss him softly. “We’re going to have to teach our kids to fly too.”
“You really want to be mated to a dragon who lost so much control? Who could kill his own family? You really want to bring more babies into the world with a monster who could do that?”
“You’re not a monster, Declan. You--You have to give yourself grace. You hadn’t healed from all the damage my father caused and you went right back into battle broken and out of your mind. This isn’t your fault.” I swallow around the lump in my throat, wanting to let out all the emotion that’s been building from the moment I get tricked into Grey’s kidnapping. All the pain, all the grief of believing I might never see my mate again. All the fear that I had just found happiness and freedom, just to have it ripped right out of my grasp again. “You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, everything I never dared to even think I could have. You fought so hard to be here with me, for us to be together, so you better not give up on that fight now. I need you. As a partner, as a friend, as my mate. If you can’t physically fight anymore, then I’ll fight for us both. As long as I know you’re fighting for us too.”
Declan gives me a watery-eyed smile and nods softly. “With my every breath, mate.”
The SUV pulls to a stop outside a small, luxury plane, and I take a deep breath, hoping that wherever we’re heading, whatever home we’re going to, there’s no way for Grey to find us again.
I can only assume that a dragon-born witch could be even more valuable to him than a baby dragon would be. But no matter how many people he sends, no matter how hard he tries, I know that more than anything, I need to hold my family together.
And as soon as I get the chance, I need to make sure that these fighting pits Declan was forced into don’t hurt any more shifters.
No one deserves to be maimed, to be traumatized, to be left broken, the way Declan, Ewan, and Kayden were.
If I’m going to get a set of talons and sharp teeth of my own, I’m more than happy to tear the men who hurt my mate apart.
After some help from Donna, and some privacy at the back of the plane with Declan holding me, I manage to breast feed my daughter for the first time. She was getting fussy and needed some milk. Her entrance into the world was chaotic for her too. I stare down at her as she suckles from me. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe she’s here already.
I think about the massive to-do list we have just to get up and running as normal parents. Syrena promises to educate me on having a baby witch in the family. Apparently, their powers start in the womb and continue to grow with them.
“She’ll need a name,” I murmur.
“Rest first, Brianna. There’s plenty of time to do all the things.”
I stifle a yawn and nod.
Once our daughter is full and asleep, Finley takes her from my arms. I want to protest, but I can barely move I’m so tired. I fall asleep curled into Declan.
He seems to need the rest as much as I do, and with so many other people watching over our daughter, making sure she’s calm for the flight, we take a few hours to focus on ourselves, to rebound a little from everything our bodies have been through.
I don’t wake up until we’re getting ready to land. Syrena’s holding my daughter, a couple brightly colored orbs dancing over her head as if suspended by magic.
We really need to name her soon.
“You’re good with her.” I take the seat across from the witch, but don’t try to take the baby. I know she’s mine, and already I feel to the need to keep her safe from everything and everyone, but it’s still hard to reconcile the fact that I barely found out I was going to have a baby, and now she’s here, so tiny and so perfect.
“All the witches borne of dragonblood are connected by invisible threads, and in some ways she’ll be as much my responsibility as yours. To teach the ways of magic, to help her guide the obsidian dragons, to train her in knowing when she’s pushing too hard, or when she needs to add an extra punch.” Syrena smiles down at the baby, her eyes almost seeming to glow, like Declan’s do when his dragon is near the surface. “I do hope you’ll consider staying near Miami, so that I can help watch over her and protect you all, until she has control over her power.”
“We’ve got a lot of decisions, a lot of things to figure out.” I glance back at Declan, still asleep. “And a lot of healing yet to do.”
“Dragons are resilient. It won’t take him long to regain full control over his beast, especially with you by his side every step of the way. Just don’t be too surprised if he’s more possessive, more demanding, than he’s been before. The claiming doesn’t calm down any of the fire a dragon has for his mate, and I think especially with everything the two of you have been through, he’s going to need you more than most.”
“What about Malcolm?”
Syrena sighs and hands over the baby before turning some in her chair to look toward the back of the plane, where Malcolm’s body is tucked away in the bedroom. “I don’t know. There are no signs of life I can detect, but I’ve also never seen a dragon who’s been killed in battle revert to his human form. It’s like the dragon abandoned him in his dying breaths, and I don’t know if it’s permanent, or if he’s still in there somewhere, or if Malcolm’s somehow ended up trapped, between life and death. I won’t have any answers until I can get him back to the hotel and investigate it all more closely.” She sighs and rubs her temples. “None of us blame Declan, though. There’s no way he would’ve gone here, if it weren’t for the craze.”
“And the PTSD from everything my father put him through.” I shake my head, trying to clear the visions that seem to have a direct line from Declan’s mind to my own, so much stronger with him sleeping. “He didn’t even see Malcolm. He thought the dragon was some other beast trying to stop him. He thought he was back in the fighting pits.”
“I don’t know if Grey is behind the fighting pits, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he orchestrated something like that. Either way, it’s just another thing on our list that needs to be stopped. Using that kind of magic on shifters, doesn’t go without a price.” Syrena leans back against her seat, dropping her head back against the headrest. “Grey has done too much damage to this world with the magic he’s mixed and used. The ancient magics are waking up. I can feel it. Something big is coming. I just don’t know if it’ll help us or swallow us all whole.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe humans, the world in general, needed to learn about everything that exists. Even if it’s a fight to find a new balance, a new world order, maybe it’s exactly what we need. Maybe all of this happened for a reason.”
Syrena gives me a sad smile. “From your lips to the gods’ and goddesses’ ears. We need that kind of positivity. Most of the dragons lately are all doom and gloom. You, my dear, are going to make one hell of a dragon’s mate. I’m glad Declan found you, even if the circumstances weren’t the best.”
I look over to where my mate’s sleeping, seeming entirely too big in the airplane chair, a pained look marring the face that should be relaxed, peaceful even, and then down at my daughter, the perfect little miracle that she is, and I can’t help but think I’m the lucky one here.
“I should get back to him.” I frown slightly. “What do I do if these dreams, this pain, doesn’t go away?”
“Just be there for him. Dragons have a way of finding what they need in their mates. In time, you’ll both heal from all this. Together.” Syrena nudges me toward Declan and offers a small smile. “Declan needs you now, just as I suspect you need him too.”
I head back over to my seat, holding my daughter gently as I get situated.
Declan’s hand immediately finds my thigh, gripping it just tightly enough to make me not want to move again.
“I’m not going anywhere. Just sleep. We’ve still got a little while before landing.” I lean my head onto his shoulder, trying to reassure him that I’m here, that I’m not going anywhere.
Ash ushers us toward two big black SUVs, one already outfitted with a car seat, and gives the drivers directions without even a casual greeting.
I’m glad that Malcolm is in the other car, even though it doesn’t seem to do anything to set Declan at ease.
I want to talk to him, to just be with my mate, like Syrena suggested, but we’re not alone in the car, and I have no way to know if anyone else can hear my thoughts, or if it’s just Declan.
Instead, I just focus on him, on touching him, making sure that he knows he’s not alone. Hoping that he knows we’re going to make it through all this together.
I’m okay, mate. Or, at least, I will be. He gives me a tentative smile, but it doesn’t quite make it all the way to his eyes, and as he squeezes my hand, I squeeze back, leaning over to kiss him gently, slowly.
The SUVs park at a club near the beach, The Sea Glass, and Ash quickly ushers us into a basement where Pru is waiting. “I know the accommodations aren’t the best, but I need to monitor you both, after everything you’ve been through, and this is the safest place to keep you until we can make sure there are no lasting effects from the magic.” She glances at Declan. “Or the craze.”
He nods stoically, and heads deeper into the basement, as if he expected this.
Before I can say anything else, I see Ash and Gavin carry Malcolm’s body into a room near the bottom of the stairs. “What’s going to happen with him?”
“I really don’t know. From everything I know about dragon death, it doesn’t look like this. But if he’s not dead, I don’t know what is going on. For now, we’re going to have to wait and see, and add it to the already too long list of things that are changing for all dragonkind since the tourmalines were chased from their home.” Pru shakes her head. “Why don’t I take care of this little one for a while, so that you and your mate can have some alone time?”
I bite my lip, a little wary of letting go of the baby, before she even has a name. But at the same time, ever since he bit me, my entire body has been aching for more time with Declan, time to be together in every way. “Can we…” I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“You want to know if it’s safe to have sex, since you just gave birth?” Pru smiles and continues to coo at the baby. “Being a dragon comes with perks, and one of them is super healing. Listen to your body, and if something doesn’t feel right, we’ll be right upstairs. But otherwise, consider yourself medically cleared for all activities.”
I can feel my cheeks heat, and I look away from her, down the hall to where Declan’s disappeared.
“You should know, though. The basement has been spelled to keep any shifting from happening. We’ve had to rebuild before because of dragons losing control, so if either of you need to stretch your wings, take it to the ocean, and try to wait until dark.”
“Either of us?”
“You haven’t shifted yet, and that’s not surprising with everything you’ve been through, but it’ll happen. None of us are worried about that. It can come on quite suddenly, so don’t freak out but definitely listen to your body.”
“Oh geez, I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this yet.”
Pru just laughs and shakes her head. “Buckle up, Brianna. I promise, you’re going to love it,” she says as she carries my daughter’s car seat back up to the main level of the bar.