“You haven’t killed my leader and the one you hold with your sword is but my apprentice. Only my magic allowed him to act as he did. I am beholden to no one, Rayne MacLendon. I’m your worst nightmare.” And with that proclamation he walked Kyndel out from under the cover of the cave entrance into the moonlight. He could feel the frustration and anger pouring off his men. As if on cue, Lance drove his sword through the last hunter, save the one with his mate, one less bastard to spread hate in the world.
“Now, beautiful mate of the illustrious Rayne MacLendon,” he hissed. “If you would very slowly raise your hands over your head and remove my head covering, I would be grateful.”
He watched as Kyndel hesitated and almost lost the battle with his hard fought control when the asshole holding his mate jerked her head back even farther, causing a gasp of pain to escape before she could stop it. He jerked forward but Kyndel met his eyes and shook her head slightly, letting him know not to lose his temper yet.
She raised her hands and removed the ski mask as instructed. All of his men even those in dragon form stood absolutely still. Rayne was unable to process what he was seeing for a split second, not sure what his next move should be. Then just to confirm what he saw, he whispered, “Andrew?”
Two silver dragons dropped from the sky, transforming as they descended and landing on either side of Rayne, dressed only in jeans. “It’s not possible,” Aidan was speaking to the man holding the knife to Kyndel’s neck, walking forward like he was in a trance. He stared as if his eyes were seeing something his mind could not comprehend.
“Oh, yes, brother, it is possible. The head you saw that coven of wizards throw into the fire that night so long ago was not mine. They’d captured and restrained me with a combination of their magic and that of the blood of the mage that helped the original dragons create our kind. What you saw was but a slight of hand and you being the gullible twit you are, believed it. You gave up on me and ran like the coward you truly are. The wizards held me for months with no food, in a hole. They refused to allow me to transform. When I realized you weren’t coming for me, I knew it was up to me free myself. So I spent my time plotting my revenge while waiting for a chance to escape.
“When they thought I was weak and broken, they finally allowed me out of the dungeon. They were sure they had been successful in creating an ally through my deprivation and their brainwashing and I let them believe they had succeeded. After I’d learned all of their secrets, including how to hide what I am from everyone, even another Dragon Guardsmen, I killed them all.
“Then I set out to find the hunters and join their ranks. I knew I could never get close enough to kill you without using them for cover. Even with all I learned from the wizards, I feared if you were all focused on me, you would be able to sense who I was, especially the big guy there.” He looked all the way up at the majestic head of one of the oldest living dragons. “Why don’t you join the party as a man, Royce? I’m getting a stiff neck looking all the way up there to make sure you're not plotting anything.”
He felt the magic as Royce changed back to his human form. Rayne didn’t want to take his eyes off of Kyndel but he had to see how Aidan was holding up. The look on his brethren’s face said it all; he was in shock and having a hard time believing what was unfolding right before their eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low and sounded broken. “But why didn’t you mind speak to me? I left that clearing devastated at the loss of my younger brother. I’ve spent every moment of every day reliving what went wrong, how those wizards were able to get the drop on us. I haven’t had one moment’s peace since the instant I saw what I thought was your head land in that fire. Why would you not come back to your clan when you escaped the wizards? Why would you join with our mortal enemies against us?”
Rayne leaned forward to hear what the traitor had to say. “Because dear brother,” Andrew spat the words like they were poison, “You gave up on me. You didn’t even try to find me. When we were surrounded by those wizards, you ran and left me to be captured. Even before they threw the head of that farmer into the fire, you had already decided I was dead. You gave up on me! YOU ARE A COWARD!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spittle hit Kyndel’s cheek from Andrew’s outburst. Until now she had hoped there might be a chance of reasoning with him but now she was sure this guy was two bricks shy of a load and nothing any of them said was going to talk him down.
Aidan continued his slow approach toward his brother. She saw the determination on his face. He was determined to try to save her and his brother. As she watched him, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. There, as plain as day, written all over his face was the relief that the brother he had thought was dead was very much alive and the pain from the belief that he had somehow failed both that brother and now her.