Maiden to the Dragon: Box Set Two: Books 5 - 7 (Dragon Shifter Romance) E-Book

Mac Flynn

• Herausgeber: Crescent Moon Studios, Inc.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

The box set contains books five through seven in the fantasy romance series Maiden to the Dragon, an adventure that will take your breath away.

Life comes knocking on Miriam Cait’s door as she’s whisked away from her normal life and into a land of fantasy and wonder. The downside is she’s mated to a handsome dragon lord, a ruler of one of the five realms. Most people wouldn’t see that as a downside, but Miriam has her own mind and she aims to keep it that way.

Whether it’s fighting her scaly spouse or dodging everything from werewolves to fairies, she won’t back down in the face of danger. She’ll survive this new world with its strange customs, and along the way she’ll find love in the most obvious of places.

Leseprobe

MAIDEN TO THE DRAGON

BOX SET TWO: BOOKS 5 - 7

MAC FLYNN

COPYRIGHT

Maiden to the Dragon Series Box Set: Books 5-7 (Alpha Dragon Shifter Romance). Copyright © 2018 by Mac Flynn.

Published by Crescent Moon Studios, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form or by any or for any use, including recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the author and/or artist. The only except ions shirt excerpts or the cover image in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel or on the cover are either products of the author’s or artist’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or artist.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for joining me on a journey through my imagination. If you’re looking for romance and adventure with a guaranteed Happily Ever After, then you’ve come to the right place. My books contain paranormal plotting and fantastical action, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

* * *

You can keep in touch with me by joining my newsletter or checking out my website for the latest updates.

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Thank you for giving my book a chance, and Happy Reading!

- Mac Flynn

CONTENTS

Oceans Beneath Dragons

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Deserts of the Dragons

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Island of the Dragon

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Sneak Peek: Myths Beyond Dragons

A Small Favor

When’s the Next Book?

Series by Mac Flynn

About Mac Flynn

1

I lifted my chin in the air and closed my eyes. The sweet smell of salt air hit my nostrils and tingled my senses. I wrinkled my nose and let out a soft sneeze.

“Find peace,” Xander spoke up.

I glanced to my left where my dragon lord rode beside me. Behind us was a short caravan of guards and Captain Spiros. The scenery around us was one of green beauty. Well-spaced trees cooled us with their branches and soft tufts of grass eased the trot of our horses as we traveled along a flat, wide trail. Sunlight lit up patches of the forest, and here and there hung thick vines. A few birds sat in the branches and sang their cooing songs to us.

I arched an eyebrow at Xander. “I might be able to find peace here, but these bugs have got to go.” I winced and slapped my neck. A miss.

He smiled. “It is an old phrase that blesses you and keeps the demons from inhabiting the space just vacated by your sneeze.”

My eyes widened. “Ooh, right. Like saying ‘gesundheit.’”

It was his turn to give me a blank expression. “I do not know that phrase. Is it from a different language than your own?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s German.”

“And that is not your own?” he wondered.

I shook my head. “No. I speak English.” I paused and furrowed my brow. “Now that I think of it, everyone in this world seems to speak my language.”

Xander nodded. “Yes. The Portal has granted us constant communication to your world. Where the sus have lacked in their transference of culture, the Maidens have provided.”

“What do the Maidens have to do with language?” I asked him.

Spiros eased up along my right side. “The Maidens, though captured like slaves, have always been held in high esteem by the nobility. They in turn have mimicked the Maidens’ language, and that was then passed down to the people.”

“Huh. Language is a funny thing,” I commented. A sharp pain in my neck made me wince and slap the spot. A soft ‘splat’ noise told me I was successful. I drew my hand away and stuck out my tongue when I saw the sticky substance of bug goop on my palm. I wiped the muck on my jeans and glanced at Xander. “You know what’s not funny is all these bugs. Are we almost out of this sweltering jungle?”

Xander stood on his stirrups and looked ahead of us without stopping. A small smile curled onto his lips. “I believe your wish has been granted.”

I mimicked his movements and watched our destination come into view. The trees parted and opened into a long field that stretched for five miles. In those miles was tall, wheat-like grass that waved in the salty breeze. Small stones houses with thatched rooves dotted the landscape, and low stone walls bordered the road and divided the grass-rich plains into small squares. Sheep, cows, horses, and a few other beasts I didn’t recognize roamed among the stone walls chewing on the wealth of grass. Little country lanes connected the houses, and on either side of their picturesque dirt paths were tall, elegantly cut trees.

At the end of the five miles the greenery was slowly transformed into beach. Pockets of white sand mixed with the green beach grass. Beyond the white lay a vast expanse of blue-green water that twinkled in the dimming daylight.

I took in the view and found myself breathless. “Wow…” I murmured.

Xander smiled. “Cayden will be pleased with your response.”

I plopped back down onto my saddle and returned my attention to Xander. “Can all dragon lords afford to have a home on the beach like Cayden?”

“Our ancient lines do denote a certain amount of wealth, but some of us were more fortunate with the lands we inherited,” he admitted as he swept his eyes over the scenery. “Cayden was fortunate to inherit the southeastern coast with its wealth of beaches and farmland.”

A teasing smile slipped onto my lips. “So, you’re saying you don’t have one?”

Xander pursed his lips and shifted in his saddle. “Not at present, no.”

I grinned and looked ahead. “So, when are Cayden and Stephanie supposed to meet us here?”

“Lord Cayden will be here in a day or two. He was delayed with certain problems along the coast south of here,” Spiros told me.

Xander glanced at his captain. “Have you heard what comprised these problems?”

Spiros nodded. “I have heard that a crude tribe of humans have been raiding the coastline. They take the animals from the fields and drive them onto their ships.”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “But they do not take the wheat from the granaries?”

Spiros shook his head. “No.”

My dragon lord pursed his lips. “That is very unusual.”

“Why is it unusual?” I spoke up. “Maybe they don’t like grains.”

“Grains are easier to take away, particularly on ships, and grains are more difficult to grow on the islands they inhabit,” he pointed out.

I tightened my grip on the reins and looked ahead. “Well, I’m not going to let a couple of raids spoil my vacation.”

I kicked my heels against the sides of my horse and spurred the steed into a fast gallop. The wind whipped at my long hair as the others in our group hurried after me. The nose on Xander’s horse matched mine and exceeded it.

I grinned and ducked low in the saddle. “I’m not going to let you win that easily.”

A quick kick and my horse leapt into an all-out sprint. The world flew by in hues of green and blue. The hooves of my steed pounded the hard grass in quick beats. I laughed as the horse’s mane brushed against my face.

Xander came up beside me and we burst into the field area together. We came up to one of the thatched cottages. A short wall surrounded the yard, and a small gate led from the yard onto the road. The gate swung open and a small boy with short wings on his back rushed into the road.

My eyes widened. I drew back and yanked on the reins. The horse whinnied and slid to a stop a few feet short of the boy. I didn’t. Motion propelled me over the horn of the saddle and onto the road between the boy and my horse. I landed hard on my rear and winced as a sharp pain ran up my spine.

Xander stopped before I did and leapt down. He rushed over and knelt beside me. “Are you unhurt?”

I sat up and nodded. “Everything but my pride.” I glanced over at the boy. He couldn’t have been more than five and stared at us with wide eyes. “You should watch where you’re going, kid.”

“Colin? Colin, where are you?” a female voice cried out. A woman flew from the house and saw us on the other side of the wall. Her face turned ashen, and she picked up her dress before she rushed over to us. “What’s happened? Where’s my-” She reached the gate and her eyes fell on the little boy. Her eyebrows crashed down. She put her hands on her hips and glared down at the young lad. “Colin, what in the world have you done now?”

His wings quivered as he shook his head. “Nothing, Mother, I swear it! I was only going out into the road to see what all the commotion was…”

“And you ran right out without looking again, didn’t you?” she scolded him.

“It’s all right,” I spoke up as Xander helped me to my feet. I smiled at mother and son. “I shouldn’t have been riding that fast, anyway.”

The woman swept her eyes over our little caravan. Her attention stopped on the cloaks worn by the guards, and the symbol of Xander’s house that peeked out from the clothing. She clasped her hands in front of herself and bowed her head. “I am truly sorry, Your Lordship. He’s a naughty child who-”

“It’s quite all right,” Xander assured her. He knelt down in front of the lad who turned to face him. “How old are you?”

The lad perked up and stood as tall as his three-foot height would allow him. “I’ll be six come this harvest.”

Xander smiled and reached into his cloak. He drew out a small wooden whistle. “Then here is an early present for you.”

The boy’s face lit up as he took the gift. “Really? All for me?”

“Only if you promise to whistle before you run out into the road,” Xander told him.

Colin nodded. “I will! I promise!”

“Then it is yours.”

Xander handed Colin the little toy. The boy put the mouth of the whistle to his lips and blew. Its shrill call echoed over the road and yard. He lifted his head and grinned at Xander. “I bet I can get the whole of the beach to hear this! Especially from the cliffs!”

“What do you say to the kind lord?” his mother scolded him.

Colin bowed his head. “Thank you so much!” He ran off down the road.

“Don’t go off to the beach! We’ll go there tomorrow!” his mother called after him.

Xander stood and looked to the woman. “He is a fine boy.”

His mother watched him and shook her head as a small smile danced across her lips. “Yes, and so much like his father.” She returned her attention to us and bowed her head. “I do apologize for the trouble, Your Lordship, and thank you very much for the gift.”

Xander shook his head. “There was no trouble, and I can procure more of the whistles.”

“But it was still very good of you to do that for my little boy,” she persisted.

“My Lord, there is still a ways for us to travel,” Spiros spoke up.

The woman gasped and stepped back into her yard. “I beg your pardon, My Lord. I won’t keep you any longer.” She bowed one last time before she hurried into the house.

Xander turned away from the scene and climbed into his saddle. “Where did you get the whistle?” I asked him as I mounted my steed.

He grabbed his reins and turned his horse toward the beach. “I crafted it.”

I stared at him as he trotted past me. “You crafted it? Like you made it?”

Spiros came up beside me and there was a teasing smile on his lips. “Our Lord is quite the whittler, though he denies it. So great was his love of carving that his father once suggested he be apprenticed to a carpenter.”

Xander stopped his horse and looked over his shoulder at us. “Will you talk all day there or may we continue on?”

Spiros grinned and bowed his head. “Whatever you say, My Lord Whittler.” I snorted as we trotted down the road to our nice, long, relaxing vacation.

If only it had turned out that way.

2

Our horses carried us down the road to where the grass met the sand. The road split left and right and followed the short hill a few miles in both directions. We stopped at the top of the gentle slope and enjoyed the salty breeze as it wafted over us. It carried with it a promise of fun and relaxation. There was also a hint of nightfall in its scent as the sun lowered itself below the horizon.

The sand sloped downward to the edges of the green-blue water that stretched beyond my sight. A few docks stretched from halfway along the beach far out into the water. Small sailing vessels were anchored at their posts and rocked gently on the water. Two lines of short white cliffs some five miles apart stretched out into the water. They moved toward each other in long arcs that came close together two miles out. An opening three hundred feet wide allowed water into the area and created a large, calm bay. Around the wide mouth of the bay were dark shadows in the water that hinted at reefs.

Atop the right-hand, or southerly, cliff was a long, low stone dwelling. A half dozen rock-walled chateaus stood between the edge of grass and sand. Their foundations were carved from shell-covered gray boulders that lay scattered along the shoreline, remnants of an ancient cliff that was eroded before its brethren. They looked out on the smooth, sandy beach like guards of old.

I looked up and down the beach at the half dozen chateaus. “So, which one belongs to Cayden?”

Xander nodded at a chateau some two hundred feet to our left. The large stones that made up the walls were smoothed by countless ocean breezes. Dark, weathered wood frames around the tall, latticed windows reminded one of elegant driftwood. A stone patio sat on the beach side of the structure and looked out on the calm waters. Stone steps led from the patio down to the beach, and a sturdy dock stretched out into the waters.

I glanced back to Xander. “Think he’ll let me keep it?”

Xander smiled and turned his horse in the direction of our temporary quarters. “That is not likely. The home has been in his family for ten generations.”

I scoffed. “That’s not that long.”

Spiros came up beside me. “The generation of a dragon is two hundred years.”

I whistled as we trotted down the beach road. “Now that’s a lot of math, but maybe he’ll let me build a quaint shack nearby. Something with ten bedrooms.”

We reached the short road that led up to the double doors that made up the front entrance. The doors opened and Darda stepped out. She smiled and bowed to us as we rode up and dismounted.

“I hope your journey was uneventful,” she greeted us.

“It was until I decided I was a jockey and almost ran over a little boy,” I commented.

Her eyes widened. “Was anyone hurt?”

I shook my head as I handed my reins to one of the guards. “No but remind me to stop showing off when I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Darda smiled and bowed her head. “I will do as you wish, but I may find your command very time-consuming.”

Xander arched an eyebrow and his eyes flickered to Spiros. “Your insubordination appears to be contagious.”

Spiros laughed as we four went inside. “I will take the credit for this illness.”

I glanced from one to the other. “I’m guessing there’s a story behind that remark.”

Spiros nodded. “Yes. Our Lord happened to catch a very dire case of dragon pox and insisted I had somehow knowingly given it to him.”

“You escaped from your sick bed to show me the spots,” Xander reminded him.

Spiros furrowed his brow and shook his head, but his eyes twinkled with mischief. “I cannot recall that part. Perhaps the illness wiped my memories.”

As they went back and forth in their game of denial and insistence, I stopped and looked around. The foyer of the house was two floors and spacious, but simple. A door on either side led to the wings of the building, and a hallway led straight through to the rear door.

I jumped when an arm slipped around mine and looked to see Darda by my side. She smiled at me and nodded at the rear door. “Would you like to see the view, Miriam?”

I smiled and nodded. “Very much.”

We left the bickering men and walked past the whitewashed walls to the double-doors. Darda opened one, and I stepped out. A sea breeze greeted me, along with an amazing view of the bay. I walked to the stone railing and looked out. The green-blue water was so clear I could see the fish swimming through short bands of seaweed some two hundred feet out. The cliffs blocked much of the view beyond their walls, but I glimpsed a few dots of land on the horizon.

“It is quite a sight, is it not?” Darda asked me.

I leaned my arms against the top of the railing and smiled. “Yeah. I think I could live here forever.”

“I would not be pleased with such an arrangement,” Xander commented as he came up to my other side. He glanced over me at Darda. “Have all the preparations been finished?”

Darda bowed her head. “They have, My Lord, and we received a message from Lord Cayden that he and his Maiden are to arrive tomorrow at midday.”

I looked to Xander. “What preparations?”

He leaned his side against the railing and smiled down at me. “I thought perhaps you would wish to test the waters here with your fishing as you did in Alexandria.”

I straightened and rubbed my hands together. “Now you’re speaking my language, but I’ll do it only if I don’t have to cook them. Or gut them.”

“Or catch them?” he teased.

I snorted and shrugged. “I might not be doing much of that, either. Beriadan kind of helped me at the lake.”

Xander pushed off the railing and offered me his arm. “Then we shall see your true skills, but for now let us-” A loud, long wail wrapped around us.

I clapped my hands over my ears and glanced up at Xander. “More ghosts?”

Xander pursed his lips and glanced down the beach. “No. That is the warning call.”

I rose my voice to a shout to be heard above the terrible wail. “THEN WHY DOES IT SOUND LIKE THAT-” the siren cut off, “-CRY OF THE TRAITOR?” I cringed and lowered my hands. “Sorry.”

Spiros hurried through the doors and onto the patio. “Xander, the lights around the barracks are lit.”

Xander turned to his captain. “Then we will find out what is the matter.”

I wrapped my arm around his. “Yes, we will.”

He paused and looked down at me. “I would rather you-”

“-stayed here, but we both know that’s not going to happen, so let’s go already,” I insisted as I dragged him toward the door.

Spiros stood in the way. He smiled and gestured to the stone steps to his right that led down to the beach. “The barracks are this way.”

“Oh. Right. I was going to know that.” I turned Xander and myself toward the steps and marched down them.

Spiros and Darda followed, and I let Xander lead me reluctantly across the crunchy sand. He set his hand on mine and glanced down at me. “I would rather you had stayed behind. We do not know what danger lies ahead.”

I nodded. “I know, but since I always seem to find the danger anyway, I thought I’d better come with you.”

He looked ahead and a small, crooked smile teased the corners of his lips. “I must admit you have a certain knack for finding trouble.”

“It’s a gift, now tell me about this barracks and why that noise sounded like a banshee,” I insisted.

Xander chuckled. “Because the siren was meant to mimic the cry of the banshee.”

I tilted my head to one side and gave him a side glance. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “Very seriously. The people of Cayden’s realm have a great many stories of the banshee, a creature native to their dark forests and rocky coasts.”

“Do any of those stories have to do with imminent death?” I wondered.

“A great many, but the warning call will not harm us. It is only a shadow of the true cry,” he assured me.

I raised an eyebrow. “So why did they make their warning sound like that? And what are they warning us about?”

“Did you notice the siren?” he asked me.

I shivered and nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“A warning call that is not heard is worse than useless. It gives those in its influence a false state of security,” he explained. He glanced at the coastline and the rocky cliffs that jutted out into the ocean. “A banshee’s call is very efficient at traveling over great distances, so it creates a very useful warning call.”

“And why did they warn us in the first place?”

His eyes settled on the long, low building of stone. “That is what we will find out.”

We reached the end of the beach and found a staircase carved into the stones of the cliff. It gently arced to our left and reached the top of the cliff. We followed the stairs and walked across the flat surface. The cliff dropped off on either side of us. The left was the calm waters of the bay, and on the right was a rocky mess of sandy mud covered in bunches of seaweed. The shore stretched into the forest that surrounded the tiny valley, and civilization disappeared for miles beyond that.

A few large stones dotted the path on either side of us, but otherwise the way was clear up to the stone building. The roof was made up of terracotta tiles, and a few square windows ran along both sides. A single door in the center of the short end of the building led inside. The entrance was open, and around the exterior were men in gold-tinted armor.

One of them wore a helmet with a tall plume sticking out of the top. He glanced in our direction and raised one gloved hand toward us. “Halt!”

3

We stopped and a half dozen of the guards, all with long halberds, hurried over to us with the plumed helmet fellow in the lead. The soldiers grouped themselves into an arc and pointed the tips of their weapons at us. He stopped before us and looked over our group. “Please state your business here.”

“We came to investigate the call,” Xander spoke up.

The man shook his helmeted head. “There is no cause for concern, sir. The alarm was proven to be false.”

Xander looked around at the halberd-wielding men. Some of their points shook. “There appears to be cause for concern among your soldiers, captain. May I ask what the matter is?”

The man straightened and frowned. “That is something you need not concern yourself with, sir.”

“Lord Cayden may not be of the same mind,” Xander returned.

The captain’s face blanched. “L-Lord Cayden? What has he to do with this?”

Xander swept his gaze over the others who were equally nervous. “He is coming tomorrow to entertain us at his home.”

Their leader stiffened and his eyes widened. “T-then you are-?”

“Lord Xander,” Xander finished for him.

The guards stepped back and glanced at one another. The captain swallowed a lump in his throat the size of an ostrich egg before he bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies, Your Lordship. If we had any idea-” He raised his head and found the others still pointed the tips of their weapons at us. He glared at him. “At attention, you fools! You point your weapons at Ferus Draco!” They stood at attention so quickly that half of them banged their metal halberds against their metal armor.

Xander held up his hand. “That is quite all right. We approached without introducing ourselves, but I wonder at your concern. Is something amiss?”

The captain pursed his lips. “I do not know if you have heard, Your Lordship, but humans have raided much of our coastline. It may only be a matter of time before they wish to take away our livestock as they did the others. It was they who our sentry thought they witnessed on the waters.”

“What was it they saw?” Xander asked him.

The captain smiled. “Only a mess of drifting seaweed, Your Lordship.”

Spiros stepped forward. “To where did the seaweed float?”

The captain shook his head. “I do not know. The tide might have taken it back out to sea or around the cliffs.”

Spiros glanced at Xander who shook his head before he turned his attention to the captain. He bowed to him. “Thank you for being so forthcoming, captain. We are much obliged for the information.”

The captain returned the bow. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lord Xander, and might you tell Our Lord that he is very welcome to visit us when he arrives.”

“I will pass on the message, and I am sure he will be pleased to oblige you,” Xander promised.

We parted company and walked back to the stairs. I glanced between Xander’s pensive look and Spiros’s tense expression. “Well? What’s up?”

Xander looked to his own captain. “You doubt the seaweed is as harmless as the captain professes?”

Spiros stopped us at the steps and grasped the hilt of his sword before he nodded. “I do. If you will recall Captain Magnus used much the same device to spy on our own ships before the battle.”

“Hiding in seaweed?” I spoke up.

Xander cupped his chin in his hand and furrowed his brow. “I had forgotten that trick, but you are correct. Raiders may use the same tactic to inspect the coast prior to attacking, and because of that we must be wary.”

My shoulders slumped and my face fell. “So does that mean the vacation is off?”

Xander dropped his hand and smiled at me. “Far from it. We can only speculate what may come, but unless they attack our conversation means nothing.”

“What’s going on up there?” an aged, raspy voice spoke up.

We all looked down the stairs and watched a weathered man of seventy. His skin was browned and stretched like leather, and on his head was a worn cap. He wore a patched blue-and-gray overcoat over his coveralls and gray shirt, and on his feet were black boots that clomped against the steps. His faded blue pants were kept up with suspenders.

He reached us and studied each member of our group with a quick eye. “Well? Have the fish snapped your tongues off?” His wandering gaze stopped on Xander, and his eyes widened. A crooked smile curled onto his lips. “Well, I’ll be married to a fae.”

Xander smiled at him. “According to some of your stories, you were.”

The man laughed and clapped one of Xander’s hands in both of his own. “Then I’ll be leaving those stories out when I get you beside the campfire, but what good winds brought you back to these shores, My Lord?”

Xander gave his hands a hearty shake. “A need for rest and fun, and perhaps a few tales of the old days. Do you still tell your tall tales around the fires on the beach?”

The man nodded. “Aye, for any who are willing to hear them. Nowadays, that’s the young ones hereabouts.”

“Then I shall be young again, and I bring you one still younger.” Xander nodded at me. “Dreail, allow me to introduce you to my Maiden, Miriam. Miriam, this is Captain Dreail, a teller of tale tales-”

“Some of them are true,” Dreail argued.

Xander smiled and bowed his head. “A teller of tales and a man so of the sea the gods should have fated him to be a Mare fae.”

Dreail eyed me with a studious stare before his attention flickered back to Xander. “You’ve caught yourself an interesting fish, My Lord. I haven’t seen the likes of her for a great many years.”

“Then you recognize her as a Mare?” Xander guessed.

He looked back to me and nodded. “Aye, but a halfling, isn’t she?”

My heart quickened. “So, I’m really a half Mare fae?”

He nodded. “Aye, I can see it in your eyes. There’s something not quite right about them. Reminds me of the shadows in the deepest waters, but with a blemish of sorts. Sort of like if a boat ran through the water and kind of wrecked the look of it.”

“Can you give us any clues to her fae origins?” Xander asked him.

The old sea dog shook his head. “Nope. I can just see what she is, not who she belongs to.”

My heart fell along with my shoulders. “Damn…”

Xander pursed his lips at me before he returned his attention to the captain. “Would you oblige us this night by regaling us with your tales? They would be new to many of us, and a second treat for myself.”

The captain perked up and grinned. “I would be delighted, My Lord. Does anything suit your fancy?”

Xander looked over his shoulder at the guard barracks. “What of the tales of the banshee? Those seem rather appropriate considering this evening’s call.”

Dreail nodded. “Aye, a good choice, My Lord. I shall scrounge up my old tales and meet you above your dock at the usual hour.”

Xander bowed his head. “We look forward to it.”

The old captain turned and clomped down the stairs. I looked up at Xander. “What’s the usual hour?”

Xander slyly smiled at me. “Midnight.”

My face fell. “Seriously?”

He chuckled. “You doubt my word quite often, my Maiden.”

I smiled. “I guess I have a hard time believing we’re going to be sitting on a beach at midnight telling tall tales.” I snorted and shook my head. “With me not being a part of this world, I doubt I’ll be able to tell what’s tall and what’s not.”

His smile softened as he shook his head. “You are a fae, and they are as part of this world as any dragon. Perhaps more so.” He half turned away. “But come. Let us return to the house before night sets in.”

I walked a few steps but paused and looked out on the vast seas that lay beyond the cliffs. Beriadan had told me that the lord of the ocean would be the best person to ask about my origin. I had to figure out a way to get a hold of him before we left. I had to know.

“Miriam?” I shook myself and half-turned to find Xander a few feet behind me. His expression was one of concern. “Is something the matter?’

I smiled and walked up to him to loop my arm through one of his. “Yeah. I was just wondering how I was going to stay awake until midnight.”

He chuckled as he led me down the stairs. “A good meal of fish and a short nap, and I am sure you will be as you have always been, lively and beautiful.”

My eyes flickered to our right and the soft waters of the bay. My gut feeling was telling me trouble was coming, and change. Lots of it.

4

We returned to the house for a feast of fish. I napped until the appointed hour when I was roused from my slumber by a gentle but firm hand on my shoulder.

I buried my face in the pillows of the bed. “Go away. The sun’s not up.”

Xander’s soft chuckle floated over me. “The sun is several hours away, but our meeting with Dreail is very soon.”

I creaked open an eye and glared at him. He looked perfectly awake and handsome in the light of the candle he held in one hand. “How do you do it?”

He tilted his head to one side. “How do I do what?”

I sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes. “How can you be so gorgeous all the time?”

Xander smiled and offered me his hand. “I find that being among friends and the woman I love have a profoundly positive effect on my physical features.”

I snorted and took his hand, and he pulled me up. “Flattery will get you-” My mouth opened wide in a yawn.

“Would you like me to carry you down to the beach?” he offered.

I glared at him. “I’m sleepy, not paralyzed, now let’s go get spooked.”

I took his hand and dragged him out of our bedroom on the second floor. We had a great view of the beach from the windows, a beach that was at that time alight with a large bonfire captured in the center of a ring of large stones. Large, long logs surrounded the stones, and on one of them our group found Dreail.

He stood as Xander, Spiros, Darda, and I approached. “Good night to you all.”

Xander bowed his head as he steered me onto one of the logs. “Good night to you, Dreail. What tales have you brought for our enjoyment?”

Dreail resumed his seat and eyed us with his keen old gaze. “You mentioned you were wanting to hear about banshees, but what kind of tales were you wanting? Something I heard as a lad in the ports of the world? Or maybe something from my own adventures?”

“Perhaps a local tale will be a good start, and one rooted in history,” Xander suggested.

Dreail’s face fell, and his voice grew quiet as he gravely nodded his head. “I know the one you’re wanting, My Lord. Don’t think ol’ Dreail has forgotten it, for that is certainly one from my own life I won’t forget till my dying day.”

Goosebumps speckled my skin. I scooted closer to Xander. “So, it’s a true story?”

He gave a nod. “Aye, My Lady. True as all of us sitting around this campfire.” He glanced over his shoulder to the cliff on the left. “And as true as the day I saw her jump. Of course, she was dead already, but I didn’t know that.”

I yelped when I felt something touch my left arm. Xander chuckled beside me as he finished wrapping his arm around me. “Should we avoid this tale?”

I glared up at him but cuddled closer. “I’m just cold, that’s all.” I glanced at Dreail and nodded. “Go ahead. I want to hear it.”

He pursed his lips and gazed into the fire. The crackling flames cast long, dancing shadows over his face. “Twas five and a half centuries ago that I first heard the tale of the banshee that haunted the northern cliff. Even then it was an ancient story passed on from my great-grandfather through the line down to me.”

My eyes widened. “How old are you?”

He picked up the poker and stabbed at the fire. “I will be celebrating my five-hundred and sixty-first birthday this year, My Lady.”

I glanced from him to Xander and pointed a finger at him. “And you’re how old again?”

“Over three hundred,” he reminded me.

“What is the tale, Captain Dreail?” Darda spoke up.

He tossed another log into the hungry fire and held his hands out. “The bay wasn’t always so peaceful. There used to be quite a bit of fishing along these shores before the rich folks come in with their money and built up the houses as they are. Twas the way most people made their living then. The ships with their white sails would go out into the ocean as big as a cloud and come back like plumes of smoke as each caught their catch.”

I tilted my head back and watched the plumes of smoke rise from the fire and sail into the dark, star-lit sky. Dreail raised his arm and cut the plume in two, parting them like the water parted the cliffs. “It is a simple life, but dangerous. The seas are unforgiving. They resent a fisherman catching its fish and bring storms to remind the people to watch their greed.” He curled his hand into the smoke. The plume separated into bunches that bumped together like the rocking waves of a stormy sea.

I caught my mouth hanging open and snapped it shut before I glanced at the others. Spiros and Darda were likewise enraptured. Xander met my gaze and smiled before he pressed a finger to his lips and pointed back at our storyteller.

“A young woman, a maiden of the fields, fell in love with one of the men of the sea,” he continued as the smoke merged into the plume once again. “They were to be married in the lord’s house, the one in which you’re staying. Then a storm came. Twas a terrible strong storm that battered the bay and broke apart the docks. The ships sailed in from their fishing with their sails torn to pieces. The young woman stood on the beach with many other folks and looked for the ships. Out of the two dozen that left that early morning, five were missing. Her lover was aboard one of them.” He stretched out both hands and his fingers danced across the smoke. Short white figures formed and appeared to be looking into the bay. “She waited through the long day, and still nothing was heard of the missing ships. Everyone took them for lost and told the young woman to do the same. She wouldn’t hear none of it and rushed onto the northern cliff.” His hands moved faster through the smoke. A small cloud ran through the dark sky above the plume. “The winds were at their strongest. None dared follow her to the mouth of the bay where she stopped on the edge. Something in the water caught her attention. Twas a body of a young man floating on his back.”

“Her lover?” I guessed.

He nodded. “Aye, her betrothed. His empty eyes stared up at her. The sight drove her mad. She leapt into the stormy sea and fell onto his body, dragging them both to the watery depths.” He flung his arms downward and eradicated the picture. The smoke floated into the sky and disappeared out of view. He dropped his arms into his lap and shook his head. “That was the last anyone saw of their bodies. The tide never brought them home.”

“Only their bodies?” Spiros spoke up.

Dreail nodded. “Aye, for the spirit of the unhappy woman returned as a banshee. Her cursed soul walks the northern cliff during the worst of storms, and at the worst of it she makes her terrible cry before she plunges into the sea.”

I shivered. “How awful to have to go through that again and again.”

He set his steady eyes on me. “Aye, tis not a fate I would wish on anyone, especially after I saw it for myself. Twas a stormy morning that I took out the boat by myself, my father being sick with a fever and stuck in bed. My mother warned me not to go out. The banshee would come. I scoffed at her words. The tale was an old fable told to frighten children from the coast on stormy days.” He looked at the fire and shook his head. “If only I’d listened to her.”

“But you returned without harm,” Darda pointed out.

He lifted his head and frowned at her. “Not all harm is done to the body, My Lady. The mind can be just as scarred, and maybe worse.”

“They say telling your troubles is good for the soul,” Xander spoke up.

Dreail nodded. “Aye, it does no harm, and perhaps it saves another from my own stupid mistake. I took my father’s ship out. No one else sailed that day but me. The bay was a choppy mess of waves that rocked the boat something fierce. I couldn’t unfurl the sail more than halfway without fear it would be torn apart. Come midday the sun was blotted out, so I sailed home. It was at dusk that I reached the opening between the cliffs and heard it. That horrible sound of agony.”

“Like the alarm from the barracks?” I guessed.

He met my eyes and shook his head. “No, My Lady. The call of the banshee is far worse. It sinks into you and clings to your soul like fog on a cold day, and there it stays as the wailing beats at your ears, driving you to the brink of madness.” He leaned forward and studied the fire with such intensity that I wondered if he would throw himself into it. His soft, low voice broke the heavy silence. “I begged for death that night, My Lady, if only that terrible wailing would stop. Begged for it rather than slip into the madness it threatened me with.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What happened?”

He leaned back and stared up at the dark sky as though looking at the tops of the cliffs on that fateful day. “That’s when I saw her. She stood up on the cliff all clad in white, her dress clinging to her body and her hair whipping to and fro like a serpent. The cliff rises fifty feet above the water, but I saw her face as clearly as I see yours. It was terrible to behold. Her eyes were white and glowing, but empty like the treacherous whirlpools to the far north. Her mouth was open in that hideous cry of hers.”

“Did you not wish to flee?” Darda spoke up.

He shook his head. “I was caught, My Lady, caught in the grip of that terrible sound. It tried to pull me apart, but not like the giant mathair shuigh. This tore me apart from the inside. I cowered in the bottom of that boat praying for anything to end it, or me, and that’s when she raised her arms-” he straightened and stretched out his own arms, “-and with one long, final wail she fell over the other side of the cliff. I heard a splash and nothing more.” He dropped his arms into his lap and shook his head. “I was free of her cursed wailing and made for shore. One of my uncles met me at the dock to tell me my father had taken a turn for the worse. I reached his side a few minutes before the gods took him and have never sailed the bay on a stormy day since.”

Our storyteller hung his head and we fell into a heavy silence. I pursed my lips and glanced up at Xander. He stood and caught the attention of all present as he bowed to Dreail. “Please accept my apologies, Captain. I had no idea the story affected you so and would not have asked-” Dreail raised his head and one hand and shook his head.

“No, My Lord, I won’t be having that. I’m glad to be telling my tale to any who wish to hear it. All I ask is that you remember my tales and not go sailing on a stormy sea, for the banshee always takes her due against those who trespass on her sorrow.” He rose to his feet and groaned. “But perhaps that’s all for this night. You will be staying a spell, My Lord?”

Xander nodded. “Yes, for a few weeks.”

Dreail smiled and nodded. “Good. Plenty of time for more stories. I’ll bid you all goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” we softly returned.

The old captain turned away from us and shuffled southward down the beach, a lonely shadow beneath the dark night sky.

5

We extinguished the fire and returned to the house. I seated myself on the edge of our bed as Xander undressed himself. My mind was too preoccupied by Dreail’s stories to admire the view.

“So that really happened to him? His father dying and everything?” I spoke up.

Xander didn’t pause in his undressing as he nodded his head. “Yes. He inherited his father’s ship and left the bay for many years. I met him on some of his travels. By that time, he was well-versed in the geography of much of the world’s oceans and assisted me in defeating Magnus’s fleet.”

“How’d that happen” I asked him.

“We positioned ourselves with the tide so our rowers could be used to man the guns.”

I scooted back and curled my lips against my chest so I could rest my chin on my knees. “So how old do you think the banshee is?”

Xander finished his dressing and seated himself beside me. “The story is very ancient, perhaps as old as the wars between humans and dragons some seven thousand years ago.”

I winced. “That’s a long time to be haunting a cliff and ruining other peoples’ lives.”

His bright green eyes studied me. “She is a woman to be pitied, but do not fret over what cannot be changed. Fate is often cruel, and one false step may be all that is needed for an eternity of regret.

“But that? To be stuck up there on the cliff going through that again and again?” I persisted.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I cannot say that the punishment fit her final madness in taking her life, but perhaps someday she will find her peace with her lover.” He leaned down and smiled at me. “I am fortunate not to have such an insurmountable obstacle to overcome to be with mine.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. “Hold off on that for a bit, Romeo. I want an explanation about dragons and aging, like how come Dreail is only a hundred years older than you but he looks like he could be your grandfather.”

Xander sat up straight. “Dragons enjoy the prime of their life for several centuries, aging only a year when decades have passed. The aging process often reverts back to that of a human at around five-hundred years, though perhaps later.”

My shoulders slumped. “So, I’ve missed a lot of your best years?”

He wrapped his arms around me and smiled down at me. “These are my best years. Never doubt that.”

I leaned my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes. His sweet warmth soaked into me, eliciting a pleasant reaction from my body. “I guess I can believe that.”

Xander’s hands wandered down to my waist where his fingers teased the band of my jeans. “Seeing is believing, my love.”

I looked up at him and smiled. “Then make me a believer.”

“With pleasure.”

He leaned down and captured my lips in a heated kiss. His hands deftly unbuttoned my jeans and slipped them over my hips. The pert peaks of my breasts pressed against his hard chest as I moaned into our kiss. He broke us apart and blazed a hot, wet trail of sensual love down my neck.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes as I reveled in the feel of his hard body against my soft, pliable one. “How can you be this good?”

He lifted his head and slyly smiled at me. “I can be better with more practice.”

I opened my eyes and grinned at him. “Then practice away.”

“Gladly.”

He pressed our lips together in a hot, passionate kiss as he lay me across the bed with him over me. His hands massaged my smooth hips before one of them slipped up and pressed against my wet underwear. I broke us apart and gasped as he stroked me with his fingers. My hips rocked in time with his sensual motion. I clutched his shoulders and groaned.

His other hand slid my underwear over my hips, and he slipped a finger between my warm, wet walls. I leaned my head back and moaned as he teased my sensitive flesh. Every motion was sweet, delicious torture. I wanted the pleasure to last forever, but the tension was unbearable. I needed release. I needed him.

“Please,” I moaned.

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against my ear. “Please what?”

His finger stroked me nice and hard. I shuddered. “Please take me.”

His wicked chuckle vibrated through me. “Not yet, my Maiden. Just a little more.”

He pulled my shirt and bra over my head and revealed my pert, swollen breasts. They glistened with sweat and heaved up and down in time with my quick, shallow breaths.

I was now completely naked beneath his prying, lust-filled eyes. I arched my back and reveled in the feel of my naked flesh atop the smooth covers. The bulge in his pants revealed his strong need for me. He leaned down and nipped at my small, tight buds. His finger never stopped pleasuring me. He stroked harder and longer. My hips moved faster and faster. The tension inside of me built higher and deeper, but I was still not satisfied. I was empty. I needed him to fill me.

I groaned and squirmed. My voice was deep and hoarse. “Oh god, Xander. Please take me.”

He grunted and drew away long enough to tear his clothes off himself. He draped his body over mine and pressed his thick, stiff manhood deep into my wet core. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed in relief.

His thrusts started as long and gentle. I could feel the tension in his tight muscles. His teeth were clenched. I brushed away some of his hair from his face and smiled up at him. “Don’t hold back.”

My gentle command was gladly received. He wrapped his arms around me and thrust harder. His penetrations were now fast and deep. Every stroke pressed against my bundle of nerves and sent shots of tingling pleasure through me. I closed my eyes and sank into the depths of frenzied lust as he took me with each hard, deep thrust.

My groans slipped into quick gasps, and those changed into loud, clear calls of encouragement. “Yes! Yes! Oh god, yes!”

He grunted and pushed faster. I couldn’t keep up. My body tightened. I felt the sweeping waves of orgasm lap at my muscles.

My blissful end came in a brilliant flash of light. I arched my back and cried out my glee for all the world to know. He continued to push into me, stretching my pleasure nearly beyond my limits.

Xander tensed above me. His teeth were clenched. The green of his brilliant eyes glowed in the darkness of the night.

Then it was finished. He fell beside me. My body slumped down atop the sheets. I wiggled and groaned. “That’s gonna hurt tomorrow.” Xander chuckled. I looked to my right and saw one of his green eyes laughing at me. I frowned. “What?”

He raised himself onto his arms and smiled down at me. “I would not have performed well if you did not feel some discomfort the day after.”

I snorted. “No matter what world all the guys are the same.”

Xander lay on his side and wrapped his arms around me to pull me against his warm body. “I hope I am not the same as others you have met.”

I snuggled against his chest and closed my eyes as I smiled. “Only if the guys in my world hid their wings really well.” A thought hit me. I glanced up at my lover. “So, when did dragons disappear from my world, anyway?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I cannot tell. All my ancestors know is the last communication was many thousands of years ago.”

I leaned my head against him and furrowed my brow. “It’s weird that they died out. I mean, you guys are a lot more powerful than humans.”

“Fate is an unpredictable arbiter of life,” he mused.

I closed my eyes and sighed. “You’re telling me.”

Sleep slipped over me, and I dreamed of flying men among skyscrapers.

6

I awoke to the gentle sound of waves against soft sand. Sunlight streamed into our bedroom as I lay on my side. I stretched and opened my eyes.

The flat spot beside me was empty. The covers showed obvious signs of use, but the person who used them was gone. I touched the sheets. Slightly warm. He must have left within the last half hour.

I sat up and rubbed one eye as I looked over our spacious chamber. The dresser, bed and a small table were all carved from gray driftwood, giving the room an aged appearance. The walls were an aged oak from the forests that surrounded the serene valley. I breathed in deep and leapt from the bed. My wrinkled clothes from the previous evening stared at me from the floor. A few minutes dressing and I was ready to hunt for my dragon lord.

I slipped out of the bedroom and down the hall to the foyer. My feet barely made a sound. Nothing else in the house did. I reached the front door and grasped the handle.

“Xander is in the other direction.” I yelped and spun around to find Spiros standing not more than two feet behind me. He had a mischievous smile on his face as he bowed his head to me. “Good morning, My Lady.”

I clutched my chest over my heart and glared at him. “Are you trying a royal assassination through scaring me to death?”

He raised his eyes to me and shook his head. “I would never dream of frightening you, My Lady.”

I dropped my hand and eyed him with suspicion. “Uh-uh. You said Xander was somewhere?”

He stepped aside and gestured to the hall that led to the patio. “He is on the beach to the south of the house. Would you care for me to lead you?”

I snorted. “No. You might finish the job. I’ll go find him.”

I strode past the mischievous captain and down the hall to the patio. The area was empty, but I walked to the railing and leaned out for a view of the beach some eight feet below me. To my right and some fifty feet off sat Xander. He was perched at the bottom of the slope and atop one of the few large rocks that were found scattered over the length of the beach. I climbed down the stone steps to the sand and crunched over to him.

I expected to find the dragon lord in some pensive reverie as he looked out over the sand to the water that gently lapped against the beach. Instead, his head was tilted down so he stared at his hands that were upright in his lap. My foot kicked a pebble and sent it clattering across its brethren. He looked up from his work and smiled even as he hid one hand on his other side.

“You have risen early,” he commented as I plopped down beside him.

“I thought I’d start a new habit,” I returned as I leaned forward to look at his other side. He drew his hand back into my view. It was empty.

He chuckled. “You are a horrible liar.”

I nodded at his side. “What do you have there?”

Xander shook his head. “Nothing of importance.”

I snorted. “You’re a horrible liar, and you shouldn’t keep secrets from your Maiden.”

He chuckled. “This would be the most appropriate place to do so.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

He nodded at the waters. “In the ancient tongue of Cayden’s people this bay is called Bha na Ruin.”

“And the means what?” I asked him.

“It means ‘Bay of Secrets.’”

I leaned back and grinned. “Nice name, but I think you’re just trying to distract me from what you’re hiding in your pocket.”

He bowed his head. “I will accept your comment without argument, but I am glad you have come.” He stood and wiped the sand off him before he stretched out his hand to me. “I was about to inquire about our dinner when you arrived. Care to join me?”

I furrowed my brow but took his hand. “I’d rather walk along the beach.”

Xander smiled and drew me against him as we set off in the opposite direction of the house and toward the southern cliff. “That is exactly what I intend us to do.”

I jerked my head over my shoulder. “Shouldn’t we be heading that way for the kitchen?”

He shook his head. “No. On this trip our kitchen is the vast expanse of water.”

I glanced past him at the calm, glistening bay water. “I hope you’re not implying that everyone is going to rely on me for their dinner because we might have a starvation mutiny on our hands.”

Xander nodded at small sailing ship that navigated through the cliffs and broke the calm bay waters. It drew up beside a dock to which Xander led me. “I believe that until we have fully tested your skills we will rely on a more seasoned provider.”

Dreail hopped from the ship onto the dock with a thick rope in one hand. He bent down beside a thick post and tied up the rope faster than I tied my shoelaces.

I looked up at Xander as we walked down the noisy planks. “Is he already done fishing?”

“Yes. He leaves in the early morning hours and returns shortly after the sunrise.”

Dreail glanced up and squinted at us. His face brightened when he saw our faces, and he stood and gave a slight nod. “Good morning to you, My Lord. What can I do for you?”

“We wish to purchase some fish from you, provided the catch was good,” Xander told him.

Dreail nodded. “As good a catch as any.” He stepped into the ship and lifted the lid of a wood box. Inside flopped dozens of fish of various sizes. “You can pick out whatever you like from it.”