For the Love of Her Dragon (28 page)

“A
dragon kisses his mate,”
she finished for him, feeling the
depth of his commitment.

“I
adore you, a
thaisce
, and I promise you a life of
endless happiness and incomparable love.”

“Oh
Royce, I love you.”

“And
I you, Kyra, and I you.”

As
she drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man she was meant to love, she knew
everything that had happened had been worth the love they shared, and that there
was nothing she wouldn’t do, for the love of her dragon.

EPILOGUE

SIX
MONTHS LATER

Devon had overslept for
the fourth straight morning, making him almost late to escort Sam to the
hospital…
again
. It was the last day of her residency and his last day to
keep her safe in case the traitor or the human criminal came after her again.
Lance had tried to guard her but since he freaked out every time any man even
spoke to his mate, Rayne had asked for volunteers. Devon had had nothing better
to do, so he had jumped at the chance and that was over six months ago.

He
actually enjoyed his time in the hospital. Sam was a really great doctor and he
loved watching the way she dealt with her patients; she had a real gift. Devon
had always loved healing, and the fact that his mother was the Elder Healer of
their clan, said it was in his blood. He might have chosen to follow in his
father’s footsteps and join the Guard, but healing called to his heart.

“About
time, Bro,” Lance said as he answered the door.

Devon
grunted in his direction, not really in the mood for any of his smartassed
brethren’s shit after another night filled with dreams of a faceless woman
begging for him to save her.

Lance’s
hand on his shoulder stopped his forward progress.
“Don’t forget to bring
her straight to Rayne and
Kyndel’s
. We’ll all be
there waiting to surprise her and congratulate her on finally, officially being
Dr. Samantha Malone, MD.”
He used their unique link to keep Sam from
hearing their plans.

Devon
nodded and tried to smile. He was so happy for Sam, and it was cool to see
Lance happy for his mate, but today was
not
a good day. Saved from more
conversation by Sam’s entrance, he breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the
Heavens for the travel mug of coffee she shoved into his hand. “You ready to
go, Mr. Bodyguard?” she asked.

“I’ll
meet you in the car,” was his answer, and he exited so the couple could have
some privacy to say goodbye.

Sam
ran out the side door, jumped in the SUV, and they rode together in
companionable silence. As he drove, Devon thought more about the dreams he
continued to have. At first, he thought it was just that…a dream. Probably
caused by too many hero/action movies or too many conversations with his mother
about mating, but by the end of the second one, he had changed his mind. They
were too real. He could feel her terror, and on a few occasions, had caught the
scent of sand and the sea. Scenting a dream was strange, even for a dragon
shifter. They had to be some sort of premonition, it was the only explanation,
but of what? As they reached the hospital parking lot, he shoved all thoughts
of dreams and damsels in distress to the back of his mind and escorted Sam to
work.

Several
hours before the end of the day, Sam was called to the Emergency Room. There
had been a multi-car pile-up on the freeway and all the injured were being
brought to her hospital. On the way down in the elevator, Devon noticed
Ernesto, one of the
werepanthers
from Max’s Pride,
and nodded. Luckily, Max had agreed that Ernesto, who was a male nurse already
employed at the same hospital as Sam, could work her schedule, allowing her to
be protected even in the restricted areas of the hospital. Devon had no idea
where the
werepanther
was any other time or how he
mysteriously appeared just when Samantha was heading to such an area, but he
knew the Big Cats were good at getting in to places no one else could, and
making impossible things happen, so he didn’t question. He was thankful for the
help.

Once
Devon had watched the huge doors marked STAFF ONLY close, he headed to the
waiting area to watch TV until Sam emerged and he was back on guard duty. It
wasn’t long until the Emergency entrance was flooded with EMTs and Paramedics
pushing gurneys and caring for the injured. Every seat in the waiting area was
filled within minutes and the family and friends of those involved in the
accident still continued to pour in. Devon offered his seat to an elderly woman
that was crying into a tissue and excused himself.

Not
wanting to be far from Sam in case Ernesto was called away, he positioned
himself at the reception desk right outside of the Emergency Room. He had seen
others shooed away, but for some reason, the nurses always let him hang out and
even got him coffee from
their
coffee maker, saving him from the
horrible vending machine coffee. The clock ticked by another hour and there
were still gurneys lining the halls with patients that needed to be seen. Every
available doctor had been called from other departments and Charlene, Sam’s
best friend and fellow doctor, was called in on her day off to deal with the
never-ending flow of patients.

Needing
to stretch his legs and get some fresh air, Devon stepped outside, sure to keep
the large doors at the end of the hall in sight. Watching a cluster of
dragonflies flitting around the blossoms of an azalea bush, his mind wandered,
and for the first time he heard the voice of the woman from his dreams during
his waking hours. She sounded even more desperate than when he was deep in
slumber.
“Help me, please.”

He
closed his eyes, focused on the echo of the voice, and spoke to her the same
way he communicated with his brethren,
“Who are you? Where are you?”

There
was a slight intake of breath and then she answered,
“Can you really hear
me? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”

He
looked around to make sure one of his brethren wasn’t pranking him and saw
nothing or no one that even looked familiar.
“Yes, I can hear you.”
He
paused, realizing she hadn’t answered his questions and decided to try a
different approach to get the answers he needed.
“My name’s Devon. What is
yours?”

There
was no answer and the silence droned on until he was sure either he had
imagined her or she had decided to screw with someone else. As he reentered the
hospital, the voice came again, and this time it was louder and clearer, and if
possible, more panicked.
“Help me, please?”

His
lack of sleep and frustration got the better of him and he snapped,
“How the
hell am I supposed to help you when won’t tell me where you are or who you
are?”

Again
his question was met with silence, but this time it made him want to yell or
hit something, or act in ways completely uncharacteristic for him. There was
something about her voice, something that he felt every time he heard it,
something that called to him. He wanted to chalk it up to the fact that he was
a sworn protector and she needed help, but he knew it went deeper than that.
Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he decided she was gone for real this
time and took his seat next to reception.

It
wasn’t long before Sam came out looking like she needed a weeks’ worth of
sleep. Trying to lighten the mood, he teased, “How’s tricks, Doc?”

She
smiled and leaned against the desk, “Busy and beat, my friend. How about…”

He
missed the rest of what Sam said because at that moment, his senses were
assaulted with the scent of sand and the sea. It wasn’t a dream this time. It
was real…and
nearby
! Without a word, he followed the tantalizing aroma,
immediately locating its origin. A gurney quickly moving away from him with
long dark tresses hanging off the side and an elegant olive-toned hand lying
precariously on top of the white blanket covering the patient it transported
was the source.

Devon
raced to catch up but just missed the elevator as the doors closed. Using his
enhanced senses, he listened as the orderly pushing the gurney asked his
companion to press the button for x-ray. He raced back to reception, grabbed
Sam by the arm and quickly walked back to the elevators.

“What’s
going on, Dev?” Sam asked, and it was the concern in her voice that made him
stop and explain.

“You’re
going to think I’m nuts, but the woman that was just wheeled to x-ray has been
talking to me, through mind speak…
in my dreams
.” He waited for Sam to
tell him he was crazy, but all she did was push the down arrow and smile at
him.

“You
aren’t taking me to the Psych ward are you?”

“No,
silly man, we’re going to x-ray.”

“You
believe me?” He was as surprised as he had ever been.

“Of
course I do. Of all the things I’ve seen hanging out with you guys, this is
tame,” she laughed as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.

When
they arrived at their destination, Sam used her access to look up the patient,
but came back knowing no more than they did before. “She is listed as a Jane
Doe and they have no idea what’s wrong with her. She has no outward injuries,
but has been unresponsive for almost six weeks and shows no signs of
improvement.”

His
heart sank and it apparently showed on his face, because Sam touched his
forearm before saying, “I’m so sorry, Dev. Is there anything else I can do?”

“I
don’t know, Sam, I just don’t know,” he answered, and it was then that everything
clicked into place. The mind speak, her scent, his undeniable need to help her
no matter the cost, it was all there, but he had been too frustrated and too
tired to see it. Devon blurted out what he was thinking, “Holy shit,
she’s
my mate.”

~
~
~
~
~
~
~

It
had been six months since the failure on the mountain top and the death of
Master Eaton. Six months since his own brother had tried to kill him, not that
Andrew wasn’t also trying to kill Aidan, but his was a bid for vengeance and
Aidan was doing it out of a sense of honor;
what a fucking waste
. As if
that was not enough, he had seen Lance…alive and well, just another failure in
a long list of crap that hadn’t gone his way.

The
death of Master Eaton had been devastating and proven that Kyra was definitely
one hundred percent with the Dragon Guard. He had tried to find out who the
older witch that had helped her was, but was still no closer to an answer. One
good thing had come out of it; all the wizards had looked to him as their new
leader and Andrew had embraced the role. He had even gotten John into the
mansion, hidden behind a full beard and horn-rimmed glasses, but at least they
were under the same roof, eliminating almost all the 007 spy bullshit. With
John readily accessible day and night, they were making real progress
deciphering the Prophecy.

Just
that morning, John had come to him with a complete translation of the portion
pertaining to the Earth element. He reread the script, confirming what he
already knew.
A powerful white witch, sworn to the Earth, of long regal
lineage made whole by human love, must mate a dragon of royal descent marked by
devastating loss and the heart of not one clan, but two.
It was
obvious to him after seeing the connection between Kyra and Royce that they
were the two referred to in the ancient text.

He
had told John to use every available wizard to locate the other texts and knew
his second in command would do whatever it took. For some reason he could not
explain, he knew that the Prophecy was the key to his future and there was no
way he was giving up until he knew every word. Of course, that did not mean
that he wouldn’t try everything in his power to bring down the ones that had
betrayed him and left him for dead if the chance presented itself.

Mr.
A had made it clear that as long as they continued to provide magical cover for
his operations, he would provide muscle for Andrew’s. So in the last six
months, while he and the wizards had searched for a way to take down the
dragons and amass as much dark magic as possible, Mr. A had kidnapped young men
and women and shipped them to buyers overseas with little to no detection from
the authorities. Amazing how much easier it was to transport victims that had
been subdued with a Stunning Spell as opposed to tied up and threatened.

There
had been accidents…..
victims
had been accidently
killed or scarred and unable to be sold, in which case Andrew tried to save
them by giving them the chance to learn magic. For some it worked and for
others…well, they became collateral damage. A few times someone that actually
showed promise was hit by a stray spell and maimed or killed. One such young
woman had been struck down, and no matter what they tried, she had remained
comatose.

Andrew
felt so bad for the beautiful young woman with long brown hair and delicate
features, that he’d had John and another he trusted drop her at the hospital.
He knew it was stupid and made him look soft, but she was sweet and he could
tell that she had never hurt anyone in her life. She had also displayed a high
degree of magical talent and her accident had been a loss to his cause. There
had been something familiar about her, not familiar as in he had met her or her
people before, but that something inside her was something he had encountered
before.

The
parchment pages of the archaic
grimoire
crinkled as
he turned them. He recognized the smell of old blood and stale magic on every
page, making him pay closer attention to the spells, sure something contained
within could help him in his bid to destroy the dragon shifters once and for
all. He was just about to call it a day when the Latin words for
forever
death
and
shapeshifter
caught his eye…
mortem
in
aeternum
and
versipellis
…
mortem in
aeternum
and
versipellis
…