Page 12 of Must Love Dragons (Sable Cove #4)

Note to self: If there’s dark magic in the air, be careful where you step.

Kinsley woke slowly, her whole body feeling like it was engulfed in dense fog. There was a dull ache at the base of her skull, but it swiftly ebbed as she opened her eyes and found herself staring at a plain, white ceiling.

The last thing she remembered was being in the warehouse.

And the symbols.

A trap. Oh shit!

“Zay!” She sat up and nearly brained herself on Zay’s head. He jerked back and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from tumbling off the couch.

“Hey, you’re okay. You’re safe in the rescue.”

She sat back and stared at him. “I’m hallucinating or still dreaming.”

His brow arched. “What?”

“You’re being nice.”

He scowled and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry about that. About everything. But first, how do you feel? What do you remember?”

“I think I’m okay. I remember the warehouse and the altar, and not realizing there were warlock symbols on the floor until I stepped on them. Were you hurt?”

“No, you got the brunt of the blast. The warlocks rigged the floor with the symbols to set off an explosion and it threw you into a pillar. I got us out of the warehouse just as it imploded. It was a trap meant to kill us both I’m certain.

I brought you here and Delaney did some kind of healing poultice thing for your head.

You’ve been in something Delaney called a healing sleep for the last few hours. ”

She touched the side of her head and while she felt a little thrum of pain that was barely noticeable, there was no cut, so the poultice had done its job.

Nysa mewed at her feet, rolling onto her back and stretching.

She leaned over and scratched under her chin.

“Hey, kits. I’m glad you weren’t in the warehouse when it blew up.

” Then she looked at Zay. He looked both relieved and upset.

“I’m sorry your uncle wasn’t there. But thank you for getting me back here safely. ”

“I believe he’s still alive, I picked up his scent in the warehouse before everything went to hell, but the most important thing to me is that you’re okay.”

She pursed her lips, wondering what had changed his mind.

“A little while ago, you told me that nothing had changed between us, and you couldn’t have been more hurtful.”

He moved to sit on the edge of the couch.

“I didn’t tell you everything that happened to me, and part of what was going on with me and why I acted like I did, is because of my past.”

Taking her hand, he held it in his warm, rough grip and told her about the night, two years ago, when a warlock clan showed up in his clan’s territory and attacked.

“We weren’t a large clan, there were forty of us including some elderly and a few children.

My parents were the clan leaders, and they were killed first, my dad protecting my mom until his very last breath.

The warlocks incapacitated us, holding us with dark magic as they moved through the clan and slaughtered us one by one.

They collected the blood from our dead with a spell and left the bodies on the ground.

I managed to break free, and I grabbed the ones I could and fled: my sister Lyra, my uncle Rorik, who was my dad’s brother, and two other clan members, Ronan and Sierra.

Ronan was always part of the clan, but Sierra came to our clan after hers was destroyed in a territory battle and she was the only one of her family to survive.

She and Lyra are best friends, and she’s become family to all of us.

” He paused, musing for a moment, then continued, “We shifted and flew as far as we could, hiding in the mountains for weeks until we were certain the warlocks had left.

“We returned to our clan’s home and built pyres for the dead, burning them with our dragon fire and mourning the loss.

We packed and left, heading out of state to find a new place to lie low, choosing the mountains of Ashwood Hollow.

But Rorik never got over the loss of his wife, my Aunt Matilda.

They never had kids; they only had each other, and when she was killed in front of him, it broke something in him.

” Zay gave her a quiet look. “I didn’t understand how that felt until I met you.

When you were injured in the explosion, it felt like my heart fell out of my chest.”

“Oh, Zay,” she said. “I’m so sorry for what happened to your people. I knew that there had been a battle between dragons and warlocks, but I had no idea how truly horrific it was. How dark and evil their magic must be for them to so ruthlessly kill so many.”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t say that I ever got over it either, though, I mean I’ve pulled myself together for the clan because I’m the leader with my parents gone.

But while I’ve spent this whole time hating anyone with magic, no matter if they’re good or bad, Rorik was searching for the warlocks who killed his mate.

I kept trying to talk him out of his need for vengeance, but he couldn’t be reasoned with.

He disappeared Wednesday night. I hoped he’d come back and I waited for him until the afternoon, then I discovered that he’d found a location for the warlock coven and had gone to get his vengeance.

When I went after him, that’s when I found you. ”

Her heart ached for him. She squeezed his hand and said, “You were grieving and trying to keep your clan safe, and you were shouldering all of that on your own.”

“I didn’t really have a choice. Or I didn’t think I had one. I wanted to be strong for Lyra, Ronan, and Sierra. But I was so damn angry. At the loss, at my helplessness, at how I failed to save my family. When I met you, I was terrified.”

“Of my magic?”

He shook his head. “Of you. Because the moment I scented you and my dragon let me know exactly what you were to me, I knew that you’d change everything.”

“When I touched you in the yard when you fell out of the sky, I knew you were going to change everything, too.”

“We’re quite the pair,” he said with a low chuckle.

He cupped her face. “Kinsley, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that I pushed you away and was so mean.

I was trying to protect myself because I was holding onto that anger.

I felt like I was betraying my family by falling for a witch.

I know that good magic is far different from dark magic, and that all you are is light and love and peace.

I messed up so badly and I nearly cost you your life because I was being so flippant and distant.

Please forgive me, please give me a chance to make it up to you, to treat you the way that a male is supposed to treat his truemate. ”

Her eyes stung with tears, and she sniffled. Pressing her hand to his hand against her cheek, she nodded. “I forgive you.”

He leaned forward to kiss her, and her whole body warmed in anticipation because the male could kiss .

His lips brushed over hers and the heat of the kiss melted away any of the lingering doubts she had about him. He kissed her like he meant it, like he was promising himself to her with every second that passed. She was melting against him, drawn by the heat of his dragon and the fire of his kiss.

When he finally pulled away, she’d been well and truly kissed into oblivion, her lips tingling and her body humming.

He kissed her forehead and let out a purring growl from his dragon.

“I want to start over with you. When my uncle and my clan are safe, and the threat to my clan is gone, I want to take you out on a date and get to know you without me acting like a jackass.”

“I’d like that.”

Delaney cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“You’re not sorry,” Kinsley said.

“Guilty. But I figured you wanted to get to work on finding Zay’s uncle and with you being unconscious and all, we lost some time.”

“Yeah, we do. Got any bright ideas?”

“I was thinking you and I could pool our magic together. Because Rorik is Zay’s family, I can use a drop of his blood to track him, and you can boost my ability with your scrying magic.”

“I haven’t done that in years.”

“Do you have your old scrying mirror?”

“Yeah, it’s in the workshop at my house.”

“What are you two talking about?” Zay asked.

“Scrying is a kind of fortune telling. It’s a latent talent that was passed down to me through my mom.

Scrying uses a reflective surface like water or a mirror to show something from the past, present, or future.

If you combine scrying with tracking, as Delaney suggested, it makes it more powerful.

We can use your blood to find your uncle.

” She stared at him and his furrowed brow.

“Zay, are you okay with that? It’s not dark magic.

We don’t steal your blood, and she only needs a drop. ”

He shook his head. “I know it’s not dark magic and I’m very fine with whatever you need to do to help me find Rorik.” He reached for her hand and gave her a soft smile. “Thank you for communicating with me, though. I appreciate it so much.”

“Of course,” she said. She and Zay stood and she bent over and picked up Nysa. “I’m going to leave her here at the rescue while we run to the house. I want to clean up anyway, I’ve got blood and dust on my clothes.”

“You two be safe,” Delaney said. “I’ll get the stuff ready for the tracking spell.”

“We’ll be quick,” Kinsley said.

She put Nysa in the main room so she could play on the cat trees and enjoy a snack, and then she and Zay headed out to her car. Zay offered to drive now that he’d been at her house and knew his way around while she sat passenger-princess style and told him how they’d find his uncle.

“The spell you used before tracked an element the warlocks used in their spells, right? You said you couldn’t track my uncle directly.”

“I can’t,” she said. “And Delaney couldn’t by herself either, because there’s too much dark magic around your uncle.

I hadn’t thought about scrying, it’s not something that I do regularly.

But our two magics combined would be powerful enough to use the scrying to find him directly, but only with your blood.

I wish I’d thought of it, we could have avoided the booby-trapped warehouse. ”

“You’re allowed to forget things, Kinsley,” he said. “You’ve been dealing with a lot since we met. Mainly my pissy attitude.”

She grinned. “At least we have a plan now.”

He parked in front of her house. “Stay put, I’m going to scout really quickly.”

“Okay.”

She watched him from the car as he moved around the house, and then he used her keys to go inside and check. From the doorway, he waved at her.

“All clear.”

“Great!” She got out of the car and shut the door, just as a bright light exploded in front of her, crackling like lightning. The warlocks had been waiting.

Before she could react, magic hit her like a tidal wave. Zay roared, but before he could move, she flung up a quick barrier spell, sealing him inside the house. It was the only way to keep him safe. And she’d be safe too, once she made it to the house.

“NO! Kinsley!” He slammed his fist against the barrier, but it stayed intact.

Dark magic lashed at her, like vines full of thorns. She countered, deflecting their attacks, and tried to make her way to the house, but she was outnumbered.

“Kinsley! Let me out! Behind you!” Zay shouted.

Before she could turn, something heavy and cold clamped on her wrist and her skin began to burn.

An iron cuff! A warlock had snuck up behind her as she’d been casting spells and put something on her wrist. Her magic vanished in an instant as her arms were wrenched behind her back and another cuff was snapped around her other wrist.

“We can’t get to him,” a male nearby said.

“Then we’ll make him come to us,” the one holding her said with a sneer.

“Zay!” she shouted.

A sharp pain struck the back of her head and everything went sideways.

The last thing she heard was Zay’s dragon roaring in fury.