Midnight's Captive(109)
Laura pointed to the sky and the amber dragon that dived out of the clouds at that moment. “That. I had to be shown that.”
There was an audible gasp from the room as each Druid caught sight of the dragon.
“They’re real,” Isla murmured, stunned.
“Very real,” came a cultured voice from behind them.
Laura turned to see Jane. “I never get tired of looking at them.”
“Me either,” Jane said with a laugh. “And I’m married to one. I’ve made some tea, but since Con has sent everyone who isn’t a Dragon King or mate away, I’m afraid I’m going to need some help bringing it in here.”
Tara laid her hand on Jane’s arm. “Dragon King? Is that what they are?”
“While you have your tea, I’ll tell you everything,” Jane promised.
Laura was the last to leave the parlor as Jane directed them to the kitchen. Charon had been right. The Druids weren’t just kind, but welcoming as well.
“Are you all right?” Jane asked.
Laura nodded and walked beside Jane to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure what they would think of me.”
“They’d be fools not to see what a wonderful person you are. You’re a Druid, Laura. From what Charon told Banan, there are few of you left. I’ve a feeling they protect their own.”
Laura paused inside the kitchen doorway. “Now I have something to protect. The Druids, Warriors, and the dragons.”
Jane squeezed her hand before she pulled her into the kitchen and began her tale of the Dragon Kings.
CHAPTER FORTY
Charon stood atop a mountain and dialed Phelan’s mobile phone for the tenth time. Once more, it did nothing but ring and then go to voice mail. Charon shoved the phone into his pocket and let the drops of rain pelt him.
“He’s fine,” Arran said above the roar of the storm.
“He better be.” Charon didn’t want to think about Wallace getting his hands on Phelan.
Ian clamped a hand on Charon’s shoulder. “Phelan is smart and cagey. He’ll be here.”
They had been standing in the rain for almost an hour surveying the landscape. Charon pointed out where he wanted to box Wallace in, and then showed them the two places in the valley that could be potential problems.
Charon was torn in his worry over his friend and his concern for Laura. She hadn’t been in a battle before. She didn’t know what it was like to face black magic. Or any magic, for that matter.
How could he concentrate on doing his part in the battle if he was fretting about her? Because if something happened to her, Charon would never forgive himself.
“It’s hell,” Logan said as he walked up.
Charon frowned as he looked at the Warrior. “What is?”
“Knowing you can no’ protect your woman during a battle.”
Charon looked away and swallowed past the growing lump of unease. “How do you do it?”
“With difficulty.”
Charon met Logan’s hazel eyes before they both began to chuckle.
“You have no choice but to trust her and the other Druids,” Logan said once they had finished laughing. “The first time is the hardest.”
“So it gets easier?”
“Nay,” Logan confessed, his smile gone. “Every time feels as if you’re walking through Hell. It’s only after the battle is over and you can hold her in your arms again that you feel you’ve made it.”
Charon pushed his wet hair back, the drops of rain falling from his eyelashes into his eyes. “I didna want to care for her as I do.”
“I didna want to love Gwynn, but we doona get to choose when love finds us.”
“Love hasna found me,” Charon said sharply.
Logan merely grinned. “Has it no’, my friend?”
Charon thought over Logan’s words long after Logan walked away. Did he love Laura? Was it love that clawed at his insides when she was away from him?
Was it love that made him crave her touch?
Was it love that made him yearn to hold her in his arms?
Charon knew nothing of the emotion. But the thought of her no longer being in his life made him want to tear apart the world.
A dragon the color of midnight blue landed in the valley below and turned its great head toward Charon. Charon looked at the thick body and the long neck and tail with its gemlike scales of the darkest sapphires.
Charon could’ve sworn the dragon smiled at him while rows of massive teeth flashed. And in a blink, the dragon was gone as Banan shifted back to his human form, standing naked in the storm.
In two leaps, Charon was down the mountain and standing in front of Banan, eyeing the two intertwined dragons tattooed with an unusual mix of red and black ink. Or was it ink? Charon wasn’t sure when it came to the Kings.