Earth's Requiem(91)
“I keep trying to tell you. The Convergence and Surges are a really small part of what is happening right now. Think bigger, Aislinn.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “The key to survival is focusing on the right things. Never forget that. Now come on. We have work to do.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Got it!” Aislinn exclaimed. “Damn. I finally hit something.”
Dewi chortled, banked, and suggested, “Try another. We want to make sure it was not just a stroke of luck.”
The dragon had returned hours ago. They’d been in the air for most of that time. So long that light was fading from the day. Aislinn pressed her legs into the dragon’s sides. She’d gotten better at balancing without having to hang onto Dewi’s horns, but it wasn’t easy lobbing magic at a target when you were on the move. If it weren’t for the marksmanship inherent in the Hunter gift, she didn’t think she’d be able to hit the broad side of a barn.
As the dragon circled, getting ready for another pass, Aislinn’s thoughts drifted. After they’d made love, Fionn had joined his magic to hers. Sex seemed to fuel the linkage, because they’d accomplished even more than with their first round of warning visits. Aislinn was coming to appreciate the Seer gift. It was by far the most powerful of the five, because if the wielder was strong enough, they could truly turn back time.
She lost count of how many humans they reached before Fionn called her back. Body and soul reunited in the bedroom, she’d been so weary that she’d stumbled and had to grab onto a chair so she wouldn’t fall. Gwydion stood in the bedroom doorway, beckoning her.
“What? Is the dragon back already?” Aislinn eyed the bed longingly.
“Spent a wee spot of time there, did ye?” the warrior magician had inquired archly. “Ye needn’t answer that, lass. I smell sex in the air.”
She colored. “That happened hours ago. I was looking at the bed because I’m tired.”
“Doesna matter. I have a sharp nose. And eyes, too. Come. Dewi is many things, but patient isna one of them…”
“Gwydion said that, did he?” Dewi’s voice was sharp.
Jerked back to the present, Aislinn muttered, “If you don’t like what you find in my head, stay out of it.”
The dragon snorted. “I see what is in your mind. All of it. Fionn is a comely thing. Maybe I will invite him to my bed.”
Aislinn was shocked at the pang of jealousy that shot through her. Fionn was hers. No other woman—
“We could share,” Dewi suggested roguishly.
“Over my dead body. There, I hit the target again. Look.”
“I have always shared what the MacLochlainn values,” the dragon went on smoothly.
“Not this time.” Aislinn ground her teeth together. She lobbed another jolt of magic. It hit home, dead center on one of the targets the men had set for her.
“Do it one more time,” Dewi challenged, “and I might reconsider.”
“There.” Aislinn loosed magic. “Twice. See, I hit that one and the one right next to it.”
“Very good, Daughter. Now listen to me. Anger is the key. Not too much. But the right amount fires your magic, makes it potent. I do not really want your man.” Dewi huffed laughter into the air, blowing smoke so thick that Aislinn could barely see. “But I made you angry, and your aim improved.”
Aislinn gripped the dragon’s horns and tried shaking them. Her aim had gotten better before the dragon baited her. If Dewi wanted anger, she’d... “Oh my God, look.” Argument forgotten, she pointed. Humans poured into the yard, popping out from jumps from God only knew where. “Put me down, Dewi. I need to go greet them. And reassure them, too.”
“Do you truly believe arriving on a dragon’s back will reassure anyone?”
Aislinn chuckled. Her giggles morphed into a deep belly laugh. “Now that you mention it, probably not. But that’s one more reason to get me on the ground.”
“You have half an hour. Then we will have another practice round.” Dewi began the tight circles that would return them to Earth. “Remember, this will be much harder when the enemy is spread beneath us, trying to shoot me out of the air and you off my back.”
She’d been spotted. Humans queued in knots, pointing at the sky, hands raised to call magic. Though it was nearly full dark, Dewi glowed, shedding enough light for Aislinn to see clearly. Fionn, Bran, Gwydion, and Arawn moved amongst the people, probably trying to calm them. Somehow, Aislinn didn’t think the Celts would engender much more in the way of comfort than Dewi.
The dragon touched down. Reaching back, she helped Aislinn down and then folded her wings behind her and shut her whirling eyes. “I shall rest. See that I am not disturbed.”