I was still pushing the fire with air, bending plant life into the building to help fuel it further when Daniel, Josie, Jax, Lavi, and Alanza came into the clearing. Lavi shifted quickly from her tiger into her human form, but she couldn’t get too close to the fire because it was burning too hot for her. “Amaya, come here so I can tend your wounds and start healing.”
“Hang on,” I opened the ground up underneath the building causing the building to be swallowed. I closed the ground and it was as if the building never existed.
Everyone shifted and was staring at me with their mouths opened in shock. “How?” Daniel finally said, completely disregarding the shape I was in, for now.
“The goddess said the heavens agreed I deserved the abilities of each dragon kingdom, especially after this,” I said, gesturing down to my still naked and deeply wounded body.
Daniel finally took in the state my body was in and let out a loud growl. He took a deep breath to regain control, but that caused him to breathe in the scent of the two men who raped me. I watched as his eyes flickered from his human eyes to his dragon eyes, a sign he had lost control. “Ruairi relinquish control,” Niamh and I commanded together. Everything went still. Daniel, who was a step away from shifting into Ruairi, froze, “Ruairi, relinquish control.”
He looked at me and I saw slowly his pupils change from dragons pupils back to his. “How? Ruairi had complete control. You can’t pull an out of control dragon back like that.”
I shrugged, “It’s something we need to talk about when we get home.”
“You won’t be able to shift for at least a week,” Lavi said from behind me where she had started working on my back. “These wounds are almost too extensive for just my hands.”
“Where are we exactly?” I asked.
“The backwoods of Kentucky. Still in acid dragon territory,” Josie answered.
I nodded and looked at Daniel, “Kachina is a gifted healer, Stefan too. Both are as good as Lavi. I say we go there.”
He nodded in agreement, “Jax go get the vehicle. You, Alanza, Lavi, and Amaya will drive there. Josie and I will fly ahead to give Kachina a heads up that you guys are coming.”
Jax nodded before shifting and taking off for the vehicle. Daniel started to shift but I stopped him, “Dad,” he froze instantly. I walked up to him with Lavi cursing me for moving away from her. I brought his forehead down to mine and we held there for a long moment, our dragons soaking up the contact. “Thank you for coming for me.”
He grabbed both sides of my head and gave me a kiss on the forehead, “I would cross oceans and destroy civilizations for you my darling daughter. I love you.”
Tears finally fell, “I love you too Dad.”
He backed up and shifted, Josie came to me before shifting. She placed her forehead to mine, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Love you Jos,” when we pulled away my dragon instantly missed the contact of hers.
“Love you too, Amaya. See you in a bit,” she shifted and she and Daniel flew into the clouds and headed for my aunt and uncle’s kingdom.
Just as they disappeared Jax appeared with the SUV. The adrenaline was finally wearing off and not only was I exhausted I was starting to feel faint from the pain. “Alanza you’ve driven there before, you take over for Jax.” Jax started to object, “I’m going to pass out so as much as I would love to argue with you or give you directions I can’t. Just do what I say for once for shits sake. It’s going to take us a while to get there. Let’s go.”
Jax helped me into the backseat, “I wish we could put something on you Little Duck.”
“Alanza, don’t forget the stuff I grabbed,” I said faintly.
“Got it boss,” she said with a smile, “You have no idea how good it is to have your bossy ass back.”
I gave her a quiet chuckle, “Yeah yeah. I missed your crazy ass too.”
I dreamt of the barn. I woke up screaming, Lavi whispered a spell that shook me out of my night terror. I curled into the fetal position and tried not to cry. That didn’t help the people in the car though, I could still feel their guilt and their sorrow.
“Whe-” I had to clear my throat because it was hoarse from screaming, “Where are we?”
“Just made it into earth dragon territory, outside of Topeka,” Alanza said from the driver’s seat.
“Lavi, can I put something on yet?”
“Yes. Here let me grab you one of Jax’s hoodies,” she said tiredly. She had to have been healing me the entire time I was asleep.
“Grab her a pair of boxers too,” Jax said from up front. She helped me into both articles of clothing, “Are you dressed?”
“Yes?” He turned around, “I don’t understand. We’re shifters, we’re used to seeing each other naked.”
“Can I hold your hand? My wolf is going crazy after you woke up screaming.” I nodded and he turned and took my hand, “I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable after what you’ve gone through. It may be me but I’m still male and I don’t want to add to your discomfort or pain.”
Tears built up again but this time for a completely different reason than earlier. I kissed his hand, “Thank you. Jax, you are such an amazing man. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I can’t wait for you to meet your mate so I can tell her all the great things about you and the annoying things and the embarrassing stories I have saved up just for her.”
“I met her, Little Duck,” he said looking down at our conjoined hands.
“Really!? Who?!” I asked as he played with my fingers until finally he looked up at me and over to Alanza with a smile on his lips. “What? When did you guys figure it out? Holy fuck. Have you mated yet? I don’t want the details, just the important ones.”
“Amaya, you saw us naked earlier. Did you see anything?” Alanza asked in a very duh tone.
“I was working very hard on not fainting, thank you, so no I didn’t check plus I didn’t know I needed to be looking!” I said, “So have you? And you didn’t answer my first two questions how and when. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
Jax sighed, “Had I known you were going to be as insufferable as Ava I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“Yeah I definitely wasn’t going to say anything,” Alanza said.
“She’s our best friend. I thought she should know! The how and when are easy. It was when Daniel called me in to help look for you. I met your team and boom Alanza. As for the mating thing, we haven’t gotten the chance plus we’re not sure if it’s possible given the different species of weres.”
“Of course it’s possible you dumbasses. The gods wouldn’t have paired you otherwise,” I told them.
Jax sighed one of those long suffering sighs and kissed my hands before letting them go, “Sit back and try to get some rest Little Duck.”
“He finds his mate and suddenly he’s the boss of everyone. I’m a mother fucking queen but oh no mister prince says jump, we all say how high,” I said under my breath making Alanza chuckle.
“Oh my gods, why did I even come to rescue you,” Jax said under his breath.
“Psh like I needed your help. I had the whole thing underground before you shifted. You can’t even be our driver because you don’t know where you’re going.”
“Who do you think got them most of the way there in the first place, you asshole?” He turned to me expectantly.
“The goddess. She told me she helped you guys find me,” I said looking at him just as expectantly.
“The goddess? Seriously. I tracked your scent. They were very sloppy when they took you to that place.”
“Seriously. I don’t remember much of the journey to the place because they injected me with oil but I do distinctly remember them being extra careful. Those guys weren’t amateurs. They were some of the best hunters in the game. They knew what they were up against. The goddess laid that trail and led you straight to me.”
“Then why didn’t she stop what happened to you?”
“I can’t answer that. She and Niamh helped me through it, but I can’t answer why she didn’t stop it.”
He looked down still trying to figure it out, “Get some rest, Little Duck.”
I watched him grab Alanza’s hand and give it a squeeze before closing my eyes.I dreamt of the barn again. I woke up screaming. Once again Lavi whispered the spell in my ear to break me of the night terror. This time Jax didn’t ask permission; he dropped Alanza’s hand and grabbed mine. I squeezed it to give him the reassurance that I was okay. “Good?”
He gave me a small nod. I kissed his hand before letting go of it. He slipped it back into Alanza’s hand.
I grabbed Lavi’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, goddess,” she said so quietly it was as if she didn’t speak at all. I could only give her a shocked look, “I’m from a long line of high priestesses. I was taught what it means for a dragon to not just be queen but to have the kind of control you had over Daniel today. I wasn’t certain until I saw that and the heavens don’t give every dragon power to just any dragon.”
“I’m not sure what to do with the information because I just found out myself from my mom, the current goddess.”
“What are you two whispering about back there?” Jax pretty much shouted from the front seat.
“You’ll find out soon enough, nosy.” I rolled my eyes, “Where are we?”
“Close. Very close,” Alanza responded.
“Good, I need to stretch my legs,” I said.
“How are you feeling overall?” Lavi asked.
“Stiff. I’m probably at about a seven on the pain scale but that’s down from where I was so that’s a win. We’ll see once I get out of the car though.”
A few minutes later Alanza pulled into the drive for my aunt and uncle’s house. “We’re coming up the drive now,” I mind linked Daniel.
“Okay I’ll let the welcome wagon know.”
When we pulled up at the house Daniel and Josie were outside along with my uncle Tapani, his wife Kachina, and their son Stefan. As soon as the car was put in park my door was ripped open. Daniel and Tapani helped me out of the SUV and stayed on either side of me as I walked into the house.
Lavi and Kachina followed us into the room I usually stayed in when I visited. Daniel and Tapani left while I stripped and Lavi and Kachina helped me into the shower, preparing a herbal bath for me once they were satisfied I was okay to shower by myself. I watched as dirt and blood went down the drain, washing the scent of the hunters away, and I hissed as the water hit my back. I scrubbed as hard and as well as I could given I had burns to a lot of my lower body and torso, cuts to my torso, and my back looked like it went through a meat grinder.
I got out but didn’t bother with a towel because it felt so good to have access to my powers, bending the water so that it pooled around the drain. Kachina caught me and shook her head, “Hey you lose access to your abilities for a week and tell me how happy you are when you finally get them back.”
She chuckled, “I’m sure. Come on, your herbal bath is ready.” She gave me her arm to stabilize myself on my shaky legs. She kissed my temple, ‘How are you really?”
“Glad I only need to sleep a couple of hours a night because I’m having nightmares that leave me waking up screaming, and even happier to be clean.”
“I have a herbal supplement you can have for the nightmares but what works best is a mate in your bed,” she said. I got settled in the bath and blew out a breath, “I won’t have one of those around for a while, if ever.”
“What do you mean?” Kachina asked.
“My mate is a human who found out about supernaturals a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him since,” I said, sadness taking over.
“He will come around, he may be human but he still feels the pull. He will come to you eventually,” Lavi stated in a matter of fact tone.
I could only sigh because one way or the other right now I didn’t have my mate. They left me alone in the bath and I stayed there until the water got cold. Kachina and Lavi helped me out and I lay on the bed. “Are you okay if I bring Stefan back in for the healing?”
“Yeah.”
She mind linked Stefan and he came in right away, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “They’re dead right?”
“Yes they are. I made sure of it,” I answered.
He just nodded and they got to work.
At some point during the healing I fell asleep. I dreamt again of the barn, just when it was getting to its worst point I woke up screaming. Kachina was the one this time that whispered the spell in my ear that broke me from sleep fully. I curled into a ball and finally let the tears come. Kachina soothed me but didn’t try to quiet me or understand what I went through. After a while I was cried out and was tired again but Kachina had other ideas, “No you need to eat. Come on, let’s go down and eat with everyone.”
She helped me get dressed and held my hand as we went down the stairs and into the dining room. Jax finished up a phone call with a disappointed look on his face. Daniel walked up to me but looked at Kachina, “Is a hug okay?”
She nodded, “Just not too tight.”
He nodded and gathered me into his arms, I hugged him back hard. Our dragons reached out to one another, giving each other comfort. “I thought I had lost you too.”
“I’m not going anywhere dad,” I promised him. He took in a deep breath and I felt him stiffen.
“You smell different.” He pulled back and gave me a look, “You still have your petrichor scent but you smell vaguely minty too; like your mother.”
“We’ll talk about it after dinner.’ I told him, going in for one final hug and giving him a kiss on the cheek before moving around him to sit at the table.
Jax and Josie sat on either side of me and bickered about nothing but it sounded like home so I soaked up as much as I could. I ate as much as I could but didn’t overdo it because I didn’t want to get sick. I excused myself, heading back to my room. Daniel came in a little while later, “So why do you smell like that?”
“Please sit down, you’ll need to after I tell you this.” I gestured to one of the chairs in the room and waited for him to get settled before beginning again, “I saw mom while I was in that place. She came to me each time I passed out or was knocked out by one of them. She’s the one that gave me my new powers. She told me that to be Queen of the Dragons means when I die I will become goddess of the dragons. The queen is picked by the gods not by us, right? It just happened that I followed in mom’s footsteps being queen. I’m a goddess dad, technically. So I think the reason I vaguely smell like her now is because she is the one who gave me these powers.” He stared at me stunned, “Say something.”
“I don’t know what to say. That’s a lot to unpack. Who else have you told?”
“Technically no one. Lavi knows because she’s from a line of high priestesses and she figured it completely out when I got control of Ruairi. I was going to ask you if you thought I should tell anyone else, like Josie, Jax, and Alanza, or if I should just keep it to myself.”
“Keep it to yourself for now, and let me think about it. I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve processed everything.” I gave him a nod, “Try to get some rest, little one.”
I took some of the herbal supplement Kachina set out for me, “Love you dad.”
“Love you too, little one.”
He kissed me on my forehead before leaving. I laid down, trying to find a position in bed that was comfortable. Soon enough I drifted off to sleep.
Daniel’s POV
Jax came up to me as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs. “He won’t come. I told him what happened, or the gist of it, I told him she needs him to sleep properly, and he won’t come.”
“I told you not to call him,” I said gruffly. “He’s not ready to be a part of our world, and now Amaya will probably learn the truth of what you just told me. That might just be enough to break her heart completely.” He looked down in disappointment, I didn’t know if he was disappointed in Fox or himself, it didn’t matter because the result was the same. I sighed, “give me your phone. Maybe I can convince him.”
His head snapped up and he dug his phone out of his pocket. Fox answered after a few rings, “Jax I told you I’m not coming out there. I’m not re-”
“Not Jax. Fox, it’s Daniel.” I paused for a minute to see if he had anything to say, “Look I get it you’re not ready for our world. I told Jax not to call you because the fact you could come but refused would be enough to completely break Amaya. I’m only going to ask once, she’s in rough shape and having you here would help her more than you know. Please if you care even the slightest bit for my daughter, get on a plane and come help her.”
I didn’t give him the chance to say anything, I just hung up on him. “Damn you know how to lay it on thick,” Jax said with amusement lighting his eyes.
“If he calls back, don’t answer any calls from him. If he texts only respond if he’s asking for the address,” I instructed and he gave me a curt nod. I slapped his shoulder and moved to embrace Kachina, “Thank you for your help and for opening your home up to us.”
“You’re welcome anytime. As for helping Amaya, I would do anything for my queen and my niece. Even break my vow of peace if need be, so keep that in mind should she need to call on more than what everyone else can spare,” I pulled back and looked at her, shocked. She just gave me a smile and a deep nod, “I’m going to go check on her.”
Tapani came over and slapped me on the shoulder, “You okay, brother?”
“No. These people keep shocking the shit out of me. One more and I think I’ll be done for,” I said, walking over to the couch sitting down heavily.
Tapani came to sit next to me, “You shouldn’t be shocked at Kachina’s willingness to break her vow over your daughter. She’s special and she’s our queen. We would go to the ends of the earth for her if she asked.”
I blew out a breath. I opened my mouth to say something but Jax rushed over, phone in hand. “Fox texted. He says he can’t do it. He’s not ready to step into our world. Or some bullshit like that.”
“Thank the gods the shocks have ceased. That bastard doesn’t deserve Amaya. Fucking human,” I said in disgust.
Jax flopped down on the couch with us, “I’m sorry Daniel. I thought he would come, I really did.”
I waved him off, “It’s not your fault. You were just trying to help.”
“I’m going to kick his ass next time I see him,” he growled.
“Don’t. He’s not worth it. Plus you’d destroy him which would only hurt Amaya more,” I told him.
“I mean I wasn’t going to kill him. Just knock him around a little. You know, see if I knock something back into place.”
I snorted, “He’s still not worth the amount of shit you’d get if you did it.”
He blew out a breath, “Yeah I guess.”
Author: Kailan Counahan 