Chapter 7 Allies and Adversaries
Allies and Adversaries
Krispin
After breakfast, we parted ways with the rest of the group and went to Ben's rooms. The enormity of the past few days hit me as we settled on the couch. It had been just a few days since I’d been unmated and alone.
Yes, I had friends in Cam and Jackson, but even they didn’t know the real me.
Cameron was the first person to become my friend in millennia, which started because of a steady stream of sex. Before them, I had no one.
No one for over three thousand years. During that time, I stuck to myself and enjoyed my work.
Whether as a doctor or before that, I was a fisherman on a commercial fishing boat.
I had had many lives and done many things, but I had never let anyone close.
If they weren't close, I couldn't fail them.
Now, meeting Ben destroyed those walls, I had a mate, and he was pregnant. I had to keep him safe.
Ben laid his head on my lap, and I gently ran my fingers through his hair.
As we sat there in silence, I began to wonder about all the information and Elder Atticus.
He seemed too keen on my mate not surviving, and I kept thinking he might have something to do with his initial attack.
But why? Why attack Ben in the first place?
It didn't make sense. It was starting to feel like my old failure, when I’d lost my family.
My dragon stirred within me. He didn't like the thought of anything happening to our mate.
He was still all for flying off to our lair and hiding him there.
"Penny for your thoughts," Ben murmured. I couldn't tell him how insecure I was feeling; he had gone through too many surprises to unload those feelings on him. So, I settled for something else.
"Just thinking about our living arrangements. I know I agreed to stay with your coven for the time being, but I’m not entirely comfortable staying here," I admitted.
"We can always look for a place while staying here. We would have had to do that anyway. We can just think of it as staying with family until we get our own place, complete with controlling father-in-law." He laughed.
I chuckled. I loved his sense of humor. It matched my sometimes imperious nature and brought out my humorous side. He was my sunshine and my smile.
"I agree. Aren't there mountains nearby? Perhaps we can find something there? It would be good for our son when he's coming into his dragon."
"In this part of Colorado, the Rocky Mountains are plentiful, and we can probably find something just outside the coven territory," he replied.
"With vampires, we don't start drinking blood and showing vampiric attributes until around twelve or thirteen," he said.
"What are baby dragons like? Will our son be able to shift into a dragon right away? Do I have to worry about the house burning down? Oh, do you think he’ll have any vampire attributes? "
I smiled. He truly did love to learn. Though having a baby was a shock to him, he jumped right in and accepted it, and now he was asking questions.
"He will be a full dragon. He may get some of your features, your hair, maybe your eyes or nose.
But the dragon gene always wins over other paranormal attributes; there are no hybrid dragons.
His first full shift won't hit til around puberty.
However, as a child his dragon will make appearances, with changing his skin to scales or his eyes to dragon eyes.
He won't come into his affinity, however, until around eighteen or twenty, after puberty.
This way, no wild hormonal teenager burning down the house or causing snowstorms in summer," I explained.
He let out the biggest sigh of relief. "Thank the gods! I don't know if I could handle a toddler temper tantrum that ended up destroying everything."
"The fates knew what they were doing when they thought of dragon development." We sat in comfortable silence, each thinking of the changes that were coming.
I don't know when I dozed off, but I was roused by pounding on the door. I felt Ben stir and get up to let whoever was there in or, at the very least, tell them to fuck off.
"Hey, Dev, what's going on?" I heard him ask.
"It's almost two, and I thought I would go to the meeting with you. I am the coven second, after all. Did I interrupt something?" Devin asked as he made his way into the room.
"You would have had you come later, cock blocker," Ben groused, and Devin grinned.
"So, what's going on with you and Roarke?" Ben asked.
Devin's grin turned to a straight line, and his lips thinned. "Nothing is going on," he stated in a flat tone, his look leaving no room for follow-up questions.
"Hey, Devin, how are you doing? Is it time for our meeting with the elder?" I asked, changing the subject and injecting myself into the conversation.
"I'm good, and yes, I thought we would walk together," he replied.
"I'll be ready in a minute." I got up from the couch, kissed Ben, and went to the restroom. When I returned, the thin line was not only on Devin's face but also Ben's. I guess they had continued the conversation about Roarke. I suspected the two may be mates, but not all was bliss.
"Ready?" I asked.
Ben nodded his head. We left and made our way to the master's office.
When we entered, the Elder was already there, as were Master Stephen and another gargoyle I had never seen before.
He was a few inches taller than the Elder, at least seven feet tall, and had dark purple skin and long black hair.
He had well-defined muscles, chest, and abs bodybuilders would die for.
This gargoyle radiated power and authority, much like Master Stephen.
"Good afternoon," Ben said, as we sat down in the chairs the master had indicated.
Ben looked to the new gargoyle, then to Master Stephen, and raised his eyebrows as if silently asking “who is this?”
“This is Chieftain Tomlin of the Chadwick Clutch here in Colorado. His clutch is closest to our coven and came to aid in finding the rogue.” Master Stephen said.
Chieftain Tomlin bowed his head to us in introduction.
Abruptly, Elder Atticus demanded, "Give me your account of how you were attacked."
Ben stiffened and looked to Master Stephen for approval before starting his account. Master Stephen gave a warning growl and glare to the elder, who appeared abashed. Then he turned and nodded to him and Ben, who started to speak.
"I was called to investigate a possible intruder in our territory. When I got to the location, I thought I caught a scent, so I moved to the alley to see if I could better identify it. That’s when the attack came from above, from a gargoyle about as tall as you, Chieftain Tomlin,” Ben said, tilting his head to the gargoyle.
“He had reddish-orange skin, white hair, and black horns. He wielded a dagger, and we grappled for control. First, he jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow, causing me to loosen my grip. Then he took advantage of my lapse and stabbed me with the dagger," Ben continued.
As he spoke, my dragon wanted to break free, track down and destroy the one who had hurt our heart.
"And you’re certain it was a gargoyle?" the elder asked. "Could you be confused? You were disoriented from the attack, certainly?"
Ben looked at the elder as if he were a fucking idiot. "I just gave you his damn description. I know what I saw. Yes, he was a gargoyle," he stated firmly.
“Elder, the description given is that of former Chieftain Bazer," Chieftain Tomlin said.
"We don't know that for sure," Elder Atticus barked, and glared at the other gargoyle, probably for giving that information out.
"Who’s this Bazer?" I asked, looking at Tomlin, who seemed more forthcoming.
"That’s not important. We don't know for sure," the elder interrupted.
"It damn well is important, if this Bazer is the one that attacked my mate. Now, who is the former Chieftain Bazer?" I demanded, my dragon coming to the surface.
The elder looked confused and shocked and didn't understand the power of my words. I was just a human to him. Tomlin didn't recognize my beast either, nor the power flowing from me, but he realized he needed to answer.
"Prior to my taking over my clutch, Bazer was chieftain. I defeated him in a challenge. He was a cruel leader and despised non-gargoyles. Those gargoyles mated to non-gargoyles were kept as slaves and their mates raped and abused," Chieftain Tomlin explained.
"Those allegations are still under investigation; you may be chieftain because of your challenge, but it’s up to the Circle of Elders to decide if there is truth to your claims. As far as the attack here is concerned , I’ll need to investigate further.
" With those words, the elder got up, nodded to Master Stephen, and left.
Harper
The sound of wings flapping caught my attention.
As I turned to look out my balcony, I saw Atticus land on the rail.
He was a big, blue gargoyle with large, curled horns, strong and fit, and like most of his kind, very muscular.
He looked good for being called an elder.
I smiled as I looked at his threadbare loincloth, remembering the large size of his cock.
However, it was the scowl on his face that stopped me. This was not a booty call.
"What's wrong?" I asked as he jumped down on the balcony and stalked inside.
"The vampire is alive!" he bellowed.
"He must be strong; don't worry, he will be dead soon," I scoffed with a wave of my hand.
"No, you don't understand. He's alive and healed. Apparently healed by his beloved's blood. I think it's a crock, but I didn't scent a lie. So, tell me, witch; how does one survive a poison that kills paranormals and humans alike? A poison you said has no cure," he growled, grabbing my arms.
"That's not possible! No mere mate blood can cure the venom of a basilisk. Tell me everything."
Thinking back to the old times, I tried to recall what could possibly cure basilisk venom.
No one knew that I had grown up in the olden times.
I was the daughter of the Great Mage Zanic and had lived over three thousand years.
As Atticus explained the happenings, a memory surfaced: my father explaining the power of dragon's blood and how it could cure the incurable. That had to be it.
"Tell me about this beloved," I asked.
"He’s odd. He smells human, but there is a power about him. In the meeting when the bloodsucker recounted Bazer's attack, I felt a power surge from him. But he's human! His scent is undeniable. Even if he had magic, I would know," he explained.
He looked at me as I thought. Could he really be a dragon?
Could the dragons have returned? One day they had filled the air, and the next day, after they killed my father, they had disappeared.
Even the dragons' home, the floating island in the sky, had vanished.
In my years, I had not heard or seen them since.
A dragon was the only thing that could cure the basilisk venom.
"We need to watch them—the vamp's mate, especially. The only thing that could save and cure basilisk venom is the blood of a dragon," I said.
"Dragon! No way this human is a dragon. They no longer exist," he scoffed.
I looked him in the eye. "It has to be a dragon—and they do exist. Only they choose not to be seen. This changes everything if the days of dragons have returned," I said.
If we could draw out and capture this human and if he truly was a dragon, his blood would make my power increase a hundred-fold. "Yes, we need to watch them," I repeated.