Page 36 of Dream Lost (The Fae Universe #12)

36

B as had lost how much time he had been talking. The Brollachan had been glaring balefully out of Bridget’s eyes the whole time.

Bas contemplated going to bed and trying again in the morning, but he couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t leave his Bridget in a cell she didn’t deserve to be in.

“Please come back to me, little hawk,” he begged, his voice cracking.

The Brollachan thrashed, making Bas startle. The dead look in Bridget’s eyes vanished. “Bas! I’m still here! I’m trying to get out and back to my body! Help me!”

Bas didn’t hesitate. He grabbed her by the knees and plunged into her mind, caught the edge of her subconsciousness, and let it pull him after her.

They were falling through the sky, Bridget’s hands just out of reach. Bas shifted into a dragon and caught her in his talons before they hit the earth. They tumbled, Bas holding her close to his chest as he bore the weight of the impact.

“Oh fuck, oh shit,” Bridget was muttering when they stopped moving. “Bas! Oh god. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he wheezed, placing her down on the rocky ground. He rolled on his feet, shook himself once, and shifted back into his human form. Bridget collided with him, her arms going tight around him.

“You found me,” she said, her face smooshed into his chest.

“The other way around. You got through to your body and I held on and was pulled in after you,” Bas replied. He tilted her face up and kissed it all over. “You scared the life out of me. The Brollachan is in your body, and it kept saying that it was feeding off you. We need to get you out of here.”

“I know, but the fucker keeps making prisons. I heard you through a wall in a maze,” she explained. There was no sign of a maze around them, but there were brambles. “This feels very ‘Sleeping Beauty’ right now.”

Bas took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay, baby. We will find our way out.”

“Ah, actually, we need to talk first,” Bridget said, pulling her hand free. She put her hands on her hips. “What the fuck were you saying about me being your mate?”

Bas cleared his throat awkwardly. “Don’t you think that we should maybe get out of here first?”

“Nope. I’m not going anywhere,” Bridget said and sat down on a large rock.

Bas cleared his throat. After a night of telling her for hours how he felt, he was now tongue-tied.

“According to my dragon, you are my fated mate. It wants you…”

“And do you want me? Or is this still a separate thing?” she interrupted, her scarred eyebrow rising.

“I want you. I’ve wanted you since the moment I met you. The dragon and I are one on this matter. I didn’t want to scare you away. I still don’t. If you agree to be my mate, it’s a forever thing, Bridget. It’s more binding than a marriage,” Bas blundered on. “I would understand if it’s not something you would want.”

“Does it mean you get control over me?” she asked, a worried look coming into her eyes.

Bas shook his head. “Quite the opposite, actually. It means you have control over me. I would do anything for you, Bridget. If we mate, you become my whole world. I’ll always love you and protect you. See to your every need.”

Bridget’s frown hadn’t gone away. “You’re not going to try and like put a baby in me straight away or anything. Because there’re things in life I want to do.”

“Of course not! I don’t want kids. At least, I never have. I don’t know if that will change in the future, but if you don’t want them, then we won’t have them. It’s your body and will always be your choice, love.” Bas got down on his knees so they were at the same height. “I don’t want you barefoot and pregnant. I want you to learn magic with me. I want to take you to see this world and Faerie. I just want to love you.”

“Okay,” Bridget said, dragging the word out like a sigh.

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, I’ll be your mate,” she replied with a shy smile.

Bas put his head in her lap. “Oh, god, I thought you were going to say no.”

“As if. Have you not seen the library? Or your dick? Or tasted your cooking?” Bridget teased, tickling his sides until he looked up. “I love you. I told you that the other night. If being your mate is one step further than that, then I’m with you, Basset Greatdrakes. All the way.”

Bas kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Her lips told him everything else he needed to know.

Bridget nipped his bottom lip. “Now is not the time to see what fucking in the astral plane is like. Let’s get out of here and then shag ourselves stupid. Deal?”

“Deal. I love you so much,” Bas said, kissing her cheeks.

“What’s not to love? I’m a total catch,” Bridget replied and blew a raspberry on the side of his neck, making him laugh. “We need to find a way out of these brambles. I tried to hack my way through the hedge wall with a sword, but I didn’t get very far.”

Bas helped her to her feet and took her hand. “Let’s see how far the wall goes. There might be a way to an enchanted castle or something.”

As they walked, Bridget told him all about waking up in the maze and what she had done to try and find her way through it.

“You manipulate this place so easily. The Brollachan is powerful but not so powerful to rob you of your ability to fight back,” Bas said when she was finished.

“I could make a sword and some thread, but I still couldn’t get out. I couldn’t even fly out.” Bridget scanned the horizon. “All I see is brambles and rocks. When you were in Lily Beauchamp’s mind, how did you get out?”

“Fire,” Bas said, and they stopped walking. “I was in a misty forest, and my dragon burned everything.”

Bridget smiled, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “The Brollachan is a water creature, Bas. No wonder fire scares it.”

Bas kissed her. “Stand back, little hawk. We are getting the fuck out of here.”

“Do it, baby. You got this,” she said, giving him space. Bas reached inside of himself and pulled the dragon free. He shifted seamlessly and shook out his wings. He rose up on his back legs, roaring out a furious challenge to the Brollachan, and let his fire loose. The brambles shrieked in pain as they shriveled. They were trying to grow back as quickly as they were destroyed. Bas roared louder until an opening appeared in them.

“Go Bridget! Go!” he shouted. Bridget leaped over the burning debris, bolting for the light on the other side.

As soon as she vanished through, Bas detonated, his skin bursting with flames until he was a dragon of pure fire. He charged into the regrowing brambles, burning and slashing his way through. He pulled free and plunged into the light.

Bas hit his body hard, his chair tipping him backward. Bridget’s cuffed hands shot out and caught him before he could go down.

“Bas! It’s still here,” she said and pointed to the shadowy figure. Bas gripped her cuffs, said a word, and they fell free. The Brollachan hissed, a shadow full of fangs, and ran.

“After it!” Bas shouted, and they bolted. The Brollachan was slamming into walls like it couldn’t figure out why it couldn’t pass through them. “How do you like our wards, you bastard?”

It screeched and went out through a side door and into the garden. It was night out, but Bas whispered a command to the house, and magic lit the yards up like it was daytime.

The Brollachan hollered again, thrashing free from its hiding place beside the fountain. It made a running leap for the fence, but it hit the wards’ invisible barrier, and it was flung backward.

“Burn the fucker, Bas!” Bridget said from behind him.

Bas shifted into his dragon as easily as he had in the astral plane. There was a flash of pain and light, and he was a creature of scales, claws, and fangs. The Brollachan tried to run again, but Bas was faster. He let out a stream of fire so hot it was as blue as he was.

The Brollachan screamed and thrashed until the shadows burned away. There were wet scales and fangs underneath it, but Bas didn’t stop. Couldn’t. It had almost killed his mate, and he wouldn’t leave any chance that the fucker could survive.

Bas sent another stream of fire at it until it was a charred husk. With an angry roar, he smashed it with his front feet, sending the ashes up in a cloud.

Bridget was clapping behind him. “Well done, baby!”

Bas preened and stamped before he pulled his human side back to the surface and found himself sprawled on the grass. Bridget sat down with a tired groan.

“Tell me, Bas, is being a part of your family always like this?” she asked, slinging an arm around his waist.

Bas kissed the top of her head. “Pretty much. Why?”

Bridget straddled him. “I just wanted to know—where do I sign up?”