Thea Harrison: Serpent's Kiss

They climbed the tunnel, moving more slowly than they would have otherwise in deference to Grace’s halting stride. As they went, questions and doubts began to crowd out Rune’s relief.

Hasn’t she died yet?

His blood began to pound in his ears. What were they missing? What piece of the puzzle had not yet formed? Or had Python just had one of her little diagnostic moments? He managed to keep from growling but he wanted to lash out at something or someone. He wanted to do some damage in the name of something good.

They helped Grace tuck the things back in the Rubbermaid cabinets. Carling pushed open the door to the gray light of a warm, humid summer predawn. She stopped so abruptly Rune ran into her. Then he saw what had brought her to a standstill.

A great bronze dragon the size of a private jet dominated the meadow. His gigantic horned head lay on his paws with the appearance of relaxation, except that his Power was a smoldering volcano and his eyes burned with hot gold.

Dragos had found them.

Rune put his hands on Carling’s shoulders and tried to ease her back inside the tunnel. She dug in her heels and refused to budge, keeping her body between him and the Lord of the Wyr.

A whippet-slender woman with a long blonde, disheveled ponytail leaned back against the dragon’s snout. She wore cargo pants, high-end running shoes, and a cherry red tank top. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she had one foot kicked over the other. At their appearance, the woman met Rune’s gaze and shook her head.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, slick,” the blonde woman said. “You’ve really pissed him off this time.”

Carling felt Rune’s energy spike with adrenaline and aggression. She felt his grip on her shoulders tighten, the fingers lengthening into claws. He picked her up bodily and shoved her back through the doorway. She didn’t have a chance to resist. She fell into Grace, who had been right behind them, and both women went sprawling. The human woman made a muffled sound filled with pain.

Carling sprang around as Rune grabbed hold of the door. She didn’t bother wasting time on trying to get upright. Instead she thrust out her foot. She managed to get a boot wedged in the opening before Rune could slam it shut.

“Goddamn you,” she said between her teeth, so furious she could hardly see straight. She twisted to grab hold of the edge of the door with both hands. Rune couldn’t shut it now without hurting her, and he couldn’t both guard her and at the same time waste energy on fighting with her to get her inside.

He realized it too and gave up. She leaped to her feet and pushed outside to find the golden monster standing between her and Dragos and the woman.

The dragon had lifted his head. Both he and the blonde woman with him were staring at Rune. The blonde woman’s wide gaze was stricken with dismay. “Oh God, you didn’t,” said the woman.

“I did,” Rune said. He was growling, a low menacing sound that warned them off.

The blonde woman said to the dragon, “You’re too much of a threat to him this way. You have to change.”

Dragos considered, thoughts shifting behind his huge, fierce gaze. Carling put a hand on Rune’s shoulder as she stepped to his side. She watched the dragon carefully as she brought her Power to the ready. She may not have studied which spells would work best against a gryphon, but she had studied spells to use in battle against a dragon, because she and Dragos had not always been allies. It appeared they were not allies now either.

“All the Elder Races agreed this was to be a sanctuary,” Grace said sharply from behind Carling and Rune. “Violence is forbidden here.”

“People can be taken from this place,” said Dragos. “And violence done to them elsewhere.”

Underneath the grip of her hand, she felt the golden monster take in a sharp breath. Then the dragon shimmered and changed into the figure of a six-foot-eight male with black hair, golden dragon’s eyes, and rough-hewn features. The dragon’s Power boiled in the air around him, just as Rune’s did. Dragos put his hands on his hips and stared at Rune, his expression tight.

The blonde woman looked at Carling. “I’m Pia, Dragos’s mate,” she said. “Are you Carling Severan?”

“Yes,” said Carling.

Pia said gently to Rune, “We understand better now. We don’t intend any harm to your mate.”

“But that won’t be true of those who are coming,” said Dragos.

“What do you mean?” Carling asked. “What’s happened now?”

“More consultations and an agreement. You are under an order of execution. What you have been going through has some sort of effect on the environment around you, and you have refused to remain segregated from others. You have too much Power, Carling. You’ve been deemed too dangerous to live. Julian and several members of the Elder tribunal are on their way to imprison you until the sentence can be carried out.” Dragos looked at his former First. “You need to snap out of it. Start coming up with reasons why they shouldn’t carry out what they plan to do, and you need to start talking now.”

Dread and rage were a clenched fist in Rune’s stomach. He fought to even his breathing and after a few moments of struggle, he managed to come out of the partial shift. He needed reason and diplomacy now more than ever.

Carling said to Dragos, “We think we have figured out what has been happening to me, and we believe we have found a way to stop it. It would be premature for the Elder tribunal to execute a kill order until we know that for certain.”

“That still doesn’t tell me what has been happening,” growled Dragos. “And why it has my other gryphons so freaked out.”

Carling and Rune looked at each other. Rune said telepathically, The other gryphons are between creatures too, and they have a right to hear what that might mean about their nature . But I’ll be damned if I paint a target on their backs for every desperate aging Vampyre. Whatever we tell them should remain confidential.

I think we should wait to say anything , Carling said. I’m not saying no. Let’s just think about the consequences of full disclosure first. Dragos is barely on our side right now, and we need him. We can’t risk alienating him by telling him you went back in time and changed the past. Even if we don’t think you changed things by much, the fact that you could do it at all is a huge threat to everything we know in the present.

Rune nodded in agreement. As far as I’m concerned, that’s why we can’t say a thing to any of the others , he said. They would freak out just as much as Dragos would, and this is none of their goddamn business.

I agree.

Rune turned to Dragos, who had been watching them with an expressionless gaze. “It doesn’t matter what happened,” he said. “That was an accident and it’s not going to happen again. The important thing is if we can stop what Carling is going through, then the reason for the kill order goes away.”

It was clear Dragos didn’t like what he heard, but after a long moment, he said, “Agreed.”

Even as he spoke a whirlwind blew into the clearing. The whirlwind materialized into several figures that were well familiar to Carling and Rune.

Five were members of the Elder tribunal. The first was Soren, Demonkind Councillor and head of the tribunal, with his white hair and the piercing white eyes like stars. Soren had been the whirlwind that had transported all the others. The second was the tall, pale blonde figure of Olivia Dearling, the Light Fae Councillor. The third was the Elven Councillor, Sidhiel Raina. The fourth was the witches’ Councillor, Archer Harrow, his frail elderly body housing one of the strongest Powers in the witches demesne. The fifth was the Wyr Councillor, Jaggar Berg. Jaggar was a kraken of immense age and strength, who normally dwelled in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England, but he consented to walk the land in the form of a man for periods that were long enough for him to execute his duties as tribunal Councillor. The Dark Fae Councillor, Arandur Daeron, was absent, no doubt still in Adriyel attending the many governmental functions surrounding Niniane Lorelle’s coronation. Apparently no one had had time to appoint and approve of the next Nightkind Councillor.