Page 26

Lucan

Bad News Travels Fast

“There.” I stretched my arms above my head, easing the tension in my muscles as I admired my handiwork. It’d taken all night and most of the morning, but I’d finished it up.

It’s done. Let’s go.

In a minute. It’d been a few years since I cast something new and the pride I felt was welcome despite the whirling anxiety of my dragon urging me to leave.

I always felt lighter after I created a ward.

I’d just started guardian training with my brother when we found out about my skills and I’d had plenty of time to practice over the last few centuries.

Natural ward magic was rare in the paranormal world, though spells did exist that could hold protective boundaries for a time. My magic held strong until I chose to remove it, creating a barrier over an intended space that no one wishing harm could enter.

Simpler patterns like the one over my nest could keep everyone out. I’d crafted that one especially for me, only letting my brother in without permission, and altering it slightly for Riley to come and go as she pleased.

This ward, like the one I’d created over the lodge where Malachy used to reside before his barbaric breakdown, took more effort because it needed to judge the intent of each visitor. I had to create a failsafe for a change of heart after entry. Frustrating, really. Even magic had issues predicting the future.

The pattern of wards intertwined in knots wasn’t visible to most eyes, but I could see it clear as day. The web reached across the treetops and extended down the mountain, touching the sky and soil to form a protective dome for my idiot brother here in his cave.

Malachy had gone hunting after his nap and returned just as I finished the last threads of the ward.

I glared at him as my dragon paced restlessly. “Do you want to explain why you moved out of the lodge?”

When I thought of all the work I’d done there going to waste, it needled my beast further.

We need to go.

“It’s too quiet in that big house.” Malachy sat on his haunches as he threaded his kill over a stick.

Since when do dragons eat squirrel? My beast huffed in irritation.

I headed to the mouth of the cave. “You could’ve invited guests. Had a party or something.”

It’d been at least forty years since any of us gathered, but who was counting?

Malachy gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m not much fun anymore.”

I stopped walking when he let out a stream of fire from his mouth to char the rodent on the stick.

Leave him to his meal. We have better places to be.

I ignored my instincts as I watched my brother bite into the grizzled meat. “Have the tributes stopped coming?”

Malachy snorted another laugh as he chewed. “I haven’t seen a tribute in half a century. The MacAlisters paid their respects, though.”

Goddess.

Had we truly fallen this far?

Since the beginning of the era of dragons, a guardian had always served Earth. As society changed and evolved, the supernatural beings never forgot the sacrifice that guardians made.

Different species paid homage in different ways, coming to bestow gifts and paying tribute to the guardian throughout the cycles of the year.

Around two centuries ago, when we realized our species was dying out and no new dragon fated mate pairs were being found anywhere in the world, Malachy had begun to lose his strength.

In his prime, they said he was the strongest guardian we’d seen in thousands of years. But over the last century, he’d gotten weaker as all guardians did when it was time to pass on the role.

And it was about the time we truly realized that the prophecy signaled us as the end.

Dealing with that was a hard enough blow, but to think the rest of the supernatural world had turned their back on him too…

I stared at my brother crouched over the fire as if seeing him for the first time.

Poor Malachy.

He’ll be fine. We need to get back to Riley.

A buzzing sound caught my attention.

Malachy’s brow furrowed as he looked to the darkened corner of the cave near the picked-clean bones.

I kicked aside a pile of leaves at the cave entrance, seeing the power cord running along there leading to where Malachy was charging his phone.

“Guess you couldn’t go full cave dragon.” I chuckled, patting my bare legs out of habit.

In my haste to follow him, I hadn’t brought my travel bag or my cell phone.

It’s time to go. My dragon roared.

Malachy picked up his phone. “Why is Kieran calling me?”

A chilling breeze whipped through the cave.

My mouth went dry and my hands clenched to fists as I immediately began to call the shadows.

“Answer it,” I barked out harshly.

Fool. You left her alone.

The pounding of blood filled my ears.

A deep knowing settled in my bones as they shifted, rearranging to that of my dragon while Malachy listened to Kieran’s panicked voice come from over the distance in a way magic couldn’t replicate.

I didn’t need my advanced hearing to know something had happened to my mate.

My wings unfurled as I stepped out of the cave and my vision tunneled red as I jumped off the mountainside, finishing the shift to dragon mid-air while I beat my wings hard to gain altitude.

“Tell him I’m coming,” I roared to my brother as I took off toward the tug of the unsealed bond in my chest, leaving a burning trail of smoke in my wake and flying faster than I ever had before.