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“I’ll leave when I’m ready,” she informed him. Fury blazed from her eyes.
The dragon’s council cave grew indistinct. Angus hoped to hell the dragon was moving them outside and not to the bottom of a magma-infested caldera. A tight breath rattled from his lungs when the scorched heat of night on Fire Mountain closed about them. Twin moons transited the sky, glowing blood red. When he glanced around, they weren’t anywhere close to the mound leading to the council chamber, but that was likely just as well.
“Those bastards.” Arianrhod punched her fist into a nearby boulder, shrieked in pain, and punched the air.
“They did seem worse than usual,” Angus agreed. “Not that I’ve had all that much experience with dragons.”
“Nay.” She stuck her wounded knuckles in her mouth for a moment. “They werena any different. Mayhap ones ye’ve seen afore were on their good behavior.” She shook her head, and strands of hair escaped from her braids and fell across her face. “I canna believe they’re not going to so much as censure Malik.”
Angus thought about it. “I think I know why,” he ventured.
She spun to face him. “Spit it out.”
“Because of his bond to Rhukon.”
“Ye’ll have to say more than that.”
“The dragons only control Malik’s segment of the partnership. They have zip in the way of influence over Rhukon.”
Her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “They’re worried someone would call them to task if they severed the shifter bond, thus potentially harming Rhukon.”
“Exactly.” Angus nodded. “Same would hold true for Connor, sorry piece of shit that he is. What exactly happens to the mage side of things if that bond is separated?”
“Good question.” She cast her gaze skyward and closed her teeth over her lower lip, thinking. “Obviously, they’d lose their immortality, but beyond that I believe they risk madness. Not having the dragon in their minds leaves such a void, they might not be able to move past it.”
“Has it ever happened?”
She smiled grimly. “I have no idea.”
“You’re not done with this, are you?”
“Clever of you. Nay, I’m not, but I can put it on hold for a while. The Celtic Council’s not much quicker than the dragon one at decision making.”
The ground rumbled ominously beneath them. Angus snorted back laughter. “They seem to be encouraging us to leave.”
“Ye think?”
Angus laughed outright. “Whenever you come up with a modern twist of phrase like that, I do a double take.”
“Aye, well, ’twouldn’t do for me to be stuck in the sixteen hundreds now would it? Or Roman times or even afore that.”
“Nay.” He mimicked her brogue. “’Twouldn’t do at all. Where to?” He summoned magic to bring a time-travel shaft into being.
“The past.” She grinned engagingly. “Where else would we find your roots?”
