“Whilst tempted to see ye a tad more punished for yer actions,” Eircc said gruffly, with unexpected emotion in his eyes. “We know they were not yerself. That ye were ruled by Siobhán.” He held out his hand to Aodh and offered a tepid smile. “So we welcome ye back, m’lord.” His face tightened. “May we finally, at last, end yer sorceress once and for all.”
His men rumbled in agreement and nodded in approval when Aodh took Eircc’s hand and stood only for his second-in-command to clasp his shoulder. “Ye should know someone approached us earlier. Helped us see how influenced by the enemy ye actually were. Reminded us that when ye attacked yer own people ‘twas a portion of our castle with no one in it at the time.”
“One of my brothers, then?” He had wanted to handle this on his own, yet one brother wasn’t there when he was freed from Siobhán, so might not know that. “King Cian?”
“Nay, but he claimed to be King Cian’s ally.” Eircc gave him a look he didn’t quite understand. “A formidable ally at that, m’lord. One that must possess great magic to get close enough to us to explain his presence.” He shook his head. “For his sort is not normally an ally to us Irish.”
Aodh was about to reply when his men tensed and eyed the forest behind him. He didn’t have to turn for his inner beast to roar up and his vision to haze red when he sensed another dragon. He scooped up his blade and spun only to spy a Viking as large as him approaching with a lass in his arms.
“Nay.” Aodh shook his head and nearly shifted but held his blade at the ready instead. Not just because of the Viking dragon, either, but because of the woman passed out in his arms. He couldn’t see her face but knew by her flaming red hair that she’d been the lass who had tormented him of late.
Who lured him to Siobhán in the first place.
“You must take her, King Aodh.Helpher.” The Viking introduced himself as Ulrik, a dragon king who had traveled forward nearly seventy years in time to help. “If you do not, Constance will die.” His turbulent gaze went from the woman in his arms to Aodh. She didn’t wear the gown he’d seen her in but a red linen dress suitable to this era. “Look for yourself. She’s very ill and needs your help if there’s any hope of saving Ireland.”
Aodh clenched his blade tighter when the Viking pulled back her hair and revealed her face. However stunning it may be, he was right. She wasn’t doing well. Sweat glistened on her forehead, neck, and chest. Her skin was so red he swore it steamed.
“She is a traitor,” he ground out, unaware he moved until he was looking down at her slumbering visage. Saw how uneven her breathing. Frustrated by how hard it was to pull his gaze away, his attention returned to the Viking. “And ye are, again?” Unsure what to believe, he narrowed his eyes. “Other than a dragon king from another era?”
“An ally, to be sure,” came his brother Cian’s voice when he and Madison appeared nearby. Cian grinned at the Viking. “One I would know anywhere.”
Before Aodh could react, the Viking handed Constance to him and embraced Cian.
“’Tis good to see ye, old friend.” Cian held the Viking at arm’s length and grinned. “When last I saw ye, ye were but a wee thing. Now, look at ye!” He nodded once with approval. “Ye’ve grown into a fine man and dragon, King Ulrik.”
Aodh wasn’t sure what caught him off guard more. That the stranger was one of many Cian had aided when he helped the Celtic gods battle the Norse gods, or what he felt having Constance in his arms. Both fury and fear as he crouched and pressed a handful of snow to her burning forehead before he even realized he did it.
The snow sizzled so loudly he knew her fever was unnatural. Then again, anyone who looked at her could tell something was very wrong.
“Oh, sis.” Madison crouched in front of him, shook her head, and pressed snow to Constance’s chest, only for it to sizzle just as much. Her worried eyes met his. “What’s going on with her?” She looked from Ulrik to Aodh, frightened. “Tell me what’s wrong with my sister. Why it’s so important she’s here with Aodh outside of the obvious.” She glanced from the Viking to Aodh again. “Because she’s blocked my ability to read her thoughts and understand what’s going on inside her mind.”
“Siobhán has a hold on her,” Aodh replied instinctually, stunned by what he felt from Constance just by touching her. What he felt from her incredible heat. “On half of her, anyway.”
“What do you mean half of her....” Madison began only to trail off when she realized what he’d just figured out. What Ulrik already knew. Her jaw dropped, and she shook her head in disbelief. How could she not when the truth just become plain as day?
“She’s half dragon,” Madison whispered, astonished.
That’s why Aodh was able to see Constance standing over him at Siobhán’s castle. Why she had tormented his dreams.
“And that half is aligned with the enemy,” he managed, certain of it. Astounded by what he felt. “An ally of our enemy....” His gaze dropped to Constance’s face. “Leaving her human half unable to sustain life. Burning her from the inside out because ‘tis not here as it should be to regulate her temperature.”
How had he never sensed this about her? Knew it as quickly as he’d known what Ulrik was before he even laid eyes on him?
“What am I supposed to do?” He scowled at anyone listening. Anybody who might have an answer. “How do I help her?”
“Cool down her core body temperature,” Ulrik advised. “Then work toward pulling her inner dragon back by any means possible.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” he muttered, not waiting for an answer as he strode for his castle. Clearly sensing he was unwilling to embrace his dragon again, even if it meant getting her help faster, Riona’s familiar, Caith, appeared and trotted alongside him. He wasn’t big enough to support Aodh and Constance for long, but he wasn’t afraid of dragons and could get him to shore faster.
Grateful to see his former horse, he nodded. “Thank ye, old friend.”
“I’ve got her, brother,” Cian assured, taking Constance from his arms so he could swing onto Caith before taking her back. His brother nodded, agreeing he had the right idea. “Madison and I will return to the southernmost border to hold the line with Riona and Declán. Shannon and Liam will join ye soon, for if anyone can help pull her dragon back, ‘tis Shannon.”
Aodh nodded in agreement, hoping his brother was right as he left the woodland behind and flew across the wind-strewn fields in front of his castle toward the shore. He could only focus on how much hotter Constance grew as he raced toward the ocean. How would her human half survive this? She had become far too hot for her mind to function properly, even if she did make it through.
Nevertheless, his inner dragon had grown frantic, and he was off Caith the moment he hit the shoreline. Barely felt the ground underfoot as he ran into the frigid sea with Constance in his arms. He fought the waves until he was beyond the break and could submerge her without losing his balance.
“Hell,” he growled when she arched in pain, and the water boiled and steamed around her. He said words that weren’t easy to say, considering how frustrated he was with his own inner beast right now. With dragons in general. “Embrace it, lass. Come back to yerself enough to survive.”
