Storms and Crones (Dragon Thief Book 5) E-Book

Mac Flynn

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

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Millie and her handsome fiancé Ben Castle are finally achieving a long-sought goal: to reach the ancestral home of his mother’s people, Rookwood Manor.

The Lord of the Catacombs, however, has other plans than for them to have a restful vacation. He entrusts Millie to find the Ealden, an ancient creature nestled in the Werewald, a land inhabited by fierce werewolves. The mysterious figure will show her the way to unlocking the secrets of the Prima Staff, and her own magic.

Unfortunately, even their problems have problems, as some shadowy thing has arisen in the Werewald. The unknown trouble threatens to disturb the shaky truce between the superstitious locals and the forest-dwelling werewolves. Things are made worse when a stranger arrives at the nearby inn with a troublesome, and familiar, entourage in tow.

All of this adds up to a hair-raising adventure for the betrothed as they fight against werewolves and dark wizardry to master not only their fate but to save the future of the kingdom. Will they discover the height of Millie’s magic in the depths of their love, or will their troubles drag them down into an abyss of darkness?

Leseprobe

STORMS AND CRONES

DRAGON THIEF BOOK 5

MAC FLYNN

CONTENTS

Copyright

Author’s Note

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

Sneak Peek: Dragon Dusk Series

A Small Favor

When’s the Next Book?

Series by Mac Flynn

About Mac Flynn

COPYRIGHT

Storms and Crones (Dragon Thief Book 5). Copyright © 2024 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

To my little cat, Yuna.

May we meet again, my beautiful girl.

CHAPTERONE

I was trapped.

Not like a rat, because I was just too darn cute to be compared to such a creature. I was more like a damsel in distress and I was desperately searching for my white knight.

“Come on, Ben. . .” I muttered as I pressed my back against the wall even more.

“Quiet, witch!” Commander Edouard snapped at me as a half dozen of his men pointed their halberds at my chest. “You will hand over the Prima Staff and surrender yourself to the mercy of the king!”

I snorted. “I’ll pass. I’ve already seen what kind of mercy those guys deal out.”

He narrowed his cold eyes at me. “Then you will be taken to the dungeons and be made to tell us where you have hidden the staff.”

I had a hard time keeping my eyes off the canister on my left arm. My heart pounded in my chest as I squirmed against the brick wall. Damn me for readjusting the ribbon at the worst possible time! I was still getting used to it being back on my arm and then that soldier came along in time to spot me in my true self.

“That is hardly a way to treat a lady,” a voice spoke up from the shadows.

My heart leapt as the commander spun around to face the mouth of the dead-end alley in which I found myself. A tall figure with a billowing cloak stood there. Their red eyes glowed in the dim light of twilight with the last rays of the setting sun at their back.

A smile curled onto Commander Edouard’s lips as he raised one finger. “I am most pleased to see you, Dragon Thief. You have been absent of late.”

Ben bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies. I decided to take a vacation elsewhere.”

“That was fortuitous for me, as I have a surprise welcome for you,” Edouard countered as one of the men stepped forward.

The soldier’s halberd was quite fat at the top, and the reason was revealed when he pressed a switch on the stick and the blade popped off. His action revealed a small crystalline orb that glowed a soft and sickly yellow in the fading light.

Ben folded his arms over his chest. “Surely you haven’t forgotten already, my dear commander, that magic doesn’t work on me.”

“We shall see,” Edouard countered as he nodded at the orb’s handler.

The soldier stepped forward and held aloft the spear. The faint light spread across the ground and touched Ben’s feet. My eyes widened as his dark boots shimmered like disturbed water and I nearly beheld his normal shoes.

Ben stepped back and a growl escaped him. Commander Edouard laughed. “I see we have finally found a magic more potent than yours. Now we’ll see the face behind the mask.”

His eyes flickered to his man and the soldier rushed forward with the light held aloft. Ben stepped to the side and out of sight. The soldier skidded to a stop at the mouth and grasped the glowing spear in both hands as he searched the area.

“Sir, he’s gone!” he announced after a brief examination.

Edouard’s eyes widened and he frothed at the mouth. “That spineless fool!” He whipped around to face me. “But I have his accomplice-”

His words caught in his throat. Ben stood behind me with his wings spread out from wall to wall. He wrapped his arms around my waist and bowed his head to the commander. “It was a pleasure to play with again, commander. Let’s hope you don’t bring any new rules to the game next time.”

He leapt into the air as the commander leapt at us. Edouard just barely missed my foot as we flew up the wall and into the night sky. I wiggled my fingers at the furious commander in a playful wave as he roared beneath us.

Ben glided us over the rooftops and in a direction not quite straight for home. I breathed a sigh of relief and my body slightly slumped. “Something bothering you?” he wondered.

“Oh, just a few things,” I told him as I patted my pocket where the ribbon was safely tucked. “I think this got stretched during its time in Ramaal’s possession.”

“And another?”

“What was that orb he was using to see you?”

Ben sighed as he stared ahead. “I don’t know, but that’s a contemplation under the auspices of a warm fire and a stiff drink.”

Eventually, he bent his wings toward home and we landed a block away before traveling on foot the rest of the distance. Ferox greeted us from the stables and Tully at the back door.

“All quiet on the home front, I hope,” Ben mused to his servant.

Tully patted his right-hand pocket and held up one finger.

“I’ll see to it immediately,” Ben assured him as he smiled down at me. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment, there’s some business to take care of.”

“I’ll be in the study collapsing into a puddle of ooze,” I informed him.

I was as true to my word as I shuffled down the hall and into the study. I collapsed into one of the chairs in front of the warm fire and groaned. “These nights just keep getting colder and colder. Should’ve asked Ben to take me on holiday to the Bermudas.”

Ben wasn’t long in coming and he took a seat in the other chair with a mischievous smile on his face. “You look comfortable.”

I snorted. “Compared to being in that alley, even a torture device is comfortable.”

“You did seem rather worried I wouldn’t arrive.”

I snorted. “I wasn’t worried. I was terrified. That commander really wants to see my face on the other side of a door of bars.”

“You don’t want to oblige the kind commander?” Ben teased.

“I had enough of bars on our last adventure in the dungeons of Kalea,” I reminded him as I used my heels to draw off my feet. I wiggled my toes in front of the warm fire and sighed. “What I could really use is a vacation. A real vacation. Somewhere where nobody will bother us.”

A pensive expression slipped onto Ben’s face as he stared into the fire. “A remote location. . .”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you have another villa somewhere in the far-off mountains.”

He shook his head. “Nothing so far away, I assure you. I was merely thinking of Rookwood. You haven’t been there yet, and we had meant to go several times.”

“And always got sidetracked,” I finished for him as I sat up a little. The idea intrigued me. “One of your great aunts lives there, right?”

“Yes. My mother’s aunt on her father’s side. She is the better part of seventy by now and very reclusive. I doubt she has left Rookwood these past twenty years.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure she’d want to see us?”

Ben patted his breast pocket. “I only just received a letter from her while we were out.”

“No crow?”

“She doesn’t trust the creatures to understand her. Her accent can be rather thick.”

“So what did she want?” I asked him.

He sighed. “It seems my mother has notified her of our betrothal and she wishes to see you.”

My face drooped and my voice came out squeakier than I intended. “See me? Why?”

He chuckled. “Nothing more than idle curiosity, I assure you. I won’t let her sway my mind on the matter.”

I eyed him with a sharp look. “There doesn’t happen to be another reason for us going there, does it?”

“Should there be?”

I shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I was just remembering you told me something about your mom’s side being gifted in magic and you keep insisting I need to find my magic.”

“You need to embrace it,” he corrected me.

“Find. Embrace.” I leaned toward him and narrowed my eyes. “Ulterior motive.”

He grinned. “What could it hurt to get some advice from my aunt while getting to know her?”

“Uh-huh. Does she know her nephew is this sneaky?”

“She may have encouraged the sneakiness in years past, though admittedly that has been many a year.”

I turned my gaze to the fire and watched the flames dance. A weariness settled on me that had arisen during our stay on Kalea. “It would be nice to get away. . .”

“Then it’s decided,” Ben replied as he took up the decanter that sat on the table between our chairs and poured us each a drink. He handed me one glass and held aloft the other. “To an eventful vacation.”

I held my cup up and nodded. “To an uneventful vacation.”

We should have sacrificed a goat, too, much good that toast did for us, as we were soon to find out.

CHAPTERTWO

I took a sip from my cup and lowered it to peer at Ben. The only problem was, Ben wasn’t there, anymore. Actually, the whole room had disappeared except for my chair and the end table.

Smooth flagstones lay underneath me and the dark paneled wood walls were now huge cut boulders stacked perfectly one on top of the other. The walls curved upward into a gentle dome above my head and created a fifty-foot-wide tunnel. Large torch holders hung from the walls, though their occupants had long ago rotted to nothing, and the floor was hewn from smoothed marble.

Niches covered the walls at neat intervals and were occupied by skeletons in elegant raiment. Though time and rot had taken their toll, I could still see the gold inlaid hems and frilled cuffs. Beautiful jewelry adorned necklaces that hung over their cleave bones, and many sported rings attached to their fingers only through wire tied to their cuffs.

I knew this place.

I set the glass down on the end table and stood. My legs shook a little, but I gathered my courage and walked toward the familiar wide doorway at the end of the tunnel. The entrance led us into a large room, and on either side hung tapestries torn and faded by time, but still bearing the emblems of great eagles, bears, and even dragons.

A throne stood at the end of the room and a soft red glow came from the seat. A tall skeleton sat upon the imperial seat, clothed in the tattered remains of purple garb with a simple cloak thrown over his shoulders. He held a scepter in one hand and there was a ring upon a finger on his left.

The Lord of the Catacombs.

The lump in my throat returned as I edged my way toward the royal seat. He sat in a slightly reclining position as I’d seen him before but the dead royalty now had a companion at his side.

The familiar, if not slightly rotting, face of Thomas Fox stood on one side of the throne. His smile soothed my frayed nerves. “It’s good to see you again, Miss Lucas.”

The lord’s empty sockets filled with a bright red light and the skeleton stirred. Those two glowing orbs fell on me as he rose from his slumber. The jaws moved and his deep, resonating voice floated out of his fleshless face. “Do not be alarmed. I have summoned you here for a purpose.”

“How did you summon me here?” I wondered as I swept my eyes over the dusty room. “The last thing I remember was sitting in Ben’s study.”

“You are here, and yet you are not.”

My face drooped as I returned my attention to the skeleton. “Come again?”

“This is a sort of dream,” Fox spoke up, but he was silenced by a look of warning from his lord.

“So why did you, um, summon me here?” I wondered.

The lord’s shining eyes dropped to the canister still attached to my arm. “You have yet to master the magic contained in the Prima Staff.”

I folded my arms over my chest and shrugged. “Sorry. I was a little busy trying not to become a sacrifice to a snake god.”

A sharp look in his eyes quelled my sassiness. He sat up straighter and his shape cast a long shadow across the floor that covered me in darkness. “The Prima Staff chose you above all others. You must master its powers if you are to become who you are meant to be.”

I blinked at him. “Who I’m meant to be?”

“Fate takes you into the Werewald. You will seek the Ealdan who resides under the canopy of those ancient woods and learn how to control your magic and that of the staff.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Are you sure this isn’t a dream? I mean, seeking out some special person in the Werewald who might help me learn how to control my powers? It sounds a little too much like a strange dream.”

The lord held up his left hand and the ring on his finger glistened in the flickering light.“As proof of my command, I give you this.”

The skeleton’s eyes flickered to his compatriot, and Fox stepped up to him and removed the ring. My old friend hurried down from the platform over to me where he stood in front of me. His eyes twinkled as he lifted my left hand where my betrothal ring shone.

“A thousand blessings upon you and yours, Miss Lucas,” he whispered as he took up my right hand and slipped the ring onto my finger closest to the pinky. For a moment I thought it was too big, but the ring shrank before my very eyes and fit perfectly. Fox clasped my hand between both of his and offered me an amused smile. “We shall not say farewell again, but ‘see you soon.’”

He stepped back closer to the platform as the skeleton leaned toward me. “This gift is more than proof of my command. It will protect you in the darkest parts of the world. Now seek out the Ealdan and discover your potential.”

I turned my hand over that held the ring and studied the simple silver band. A single hexagonal stone was set into the clasp. The gem was of such a deep red that I was reminded of the color of freshly spilled blood. “I’ll give it a try, but I’d like to know who this ‘Ealdan’ person is.”

“Ealdan?”

I looked up and found myself staring into the curious face of Ben. Gone was the dusty catacombs and back was his warm study with the crackling fire. I clasped my drink in my right hand as I had before that strange hallucination had occurred.

My mouth fell open and I whipped my head left and right. “What? How? Where?”

“Our conversation, by means of the door, and my study,” Ben answered as he studied my face. “But for a moment there I had the distinct feeling the answers to those questions were different for you.”

I fell back against the chair and blinked at the fire. “I. . .I just had the strangest experience in my life.”

“That’s quite something to say considering what we’ve been through,” he teased.

My face fell as I thought over the dream. “I swore I was in the catacombs in front of that dead lord. You know, the big skeleton.”

Ben’s eyes flickered down and good humor was replaced with a grim curiosity. “What’s that on your hand?”

I lifted my right hand and beheld the blood-red gem set in the silver fitting. My mouth dropped open, as did my right hand, and my glass fell to the floor where it shattered. I leapt to my feet, neglecting the broken cup, and stumbled forward a few steps.

“This. . .this isn’t possible!” I insisted as I grasped my right hand. I turned to see Ben standing in front of his chair watching me with worried eyes. “It was a dream, wasn’t it? You didn’t see me go anywhere, did you?”

Ben strode up to me and clasped both my hands in his. He caught my eyes in his gentle gaze and some of my panic melted away. “Tell me everything that happened.”

I took a big, shuddered breath and recounted what had happened. By the time I’d finished, Ben’s grim gaze hadn’t improved. He grasped my right hand in his hold and studied the ring on my finger.

“How is it even possible for me to dream and get this ring on my finger?” I asked him.

“Magic is a curious thing,” he mused as he lifted his eyes to my face. “It can do the impossible. If the wielder is strong enough.”

I snorted. “I think we’ve already established the Lord of the Catacombs is no pushover.”

“And you’re sure he said the name was Ealdan?” he asked me as he brushed a finger over the gemstone.

“That’s what I heard,” I replied as I watched him wiggle the ring from side to side. “What are you doing?”

“I’m curious to see what would happen if I tried to take it off you,” Ben explained.

“Well, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

“It isn’t you I’m worried about.”

A little color drained from my face. “What do you mean?”

Ben pinched the ring between his finger and thumb, and tugged. I winced when the ring didn’t even budge. He pulled again and again was met with no success. “As I thought,” he mused as he released me and folded his arms over his chest before he cupped his chin in one hand. “There’s a powerful magic holding the ring to you.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t you cancel out magic?”

He nodded. “That’s my specialty, but this magic is powerful. As powerful as the Prima Staff. My simple dragon curse can’t undo such magic.”

My face drooped as a slight hint of panic touched the corners of my mind. “Well, surely I can take it off,” I mused as I wrapped my other hand around the ring and tugged. It didn’t flinch. My panic ticked up a notch and I pulled harder. It still didn’t move.

Ben set a hand over mine and I looked up to find a gentle smile. “I don’t think it’s going to come off until you find this Ealdan.”

My shoulders slumped and I hung my head. “So much for a nice vacation. . .”

CHAPTERTHREE

“So any idea who this Ealdan person is?” I wondered as I lugged out my luggage to the box carriage. Ferox pawed at the ground and whinnied as Tully brought along another trunk. The other horse beside him nervously stamped its feet.

Ben paused beside the trunk rack and frowned at the impatient steed. “Another outburst like that and I’m trading you in for one of the gentler ones.” Ferox stamped the cobblestones once but quieted afterward.

I dropped my luggage beside Ben and leaned to one side to catch his eye. “You ever hear about someone named Ealdan around your mom’s old home?”

He hefted my luggage onto the rack behind the cab. “No, though the name is rather unusual. Directly translated, it means ‘ancient one.’ Hardly a name someone would give their child.”

“Maybe the parents had high hopes,” I quipped.

Tully set the trunk on its short end and his face was slightly reddened by the exertion. Ben smiled at his old retainer as he grasped one end. “You’ve been lifting too many pillows and not enough plates, old friend.”

Tully’s normally stoic expression showed a slight hint of a scowl as he took up the other end of the trunk. I backed up and watched the pair heave the trunk into the rack. It was filled with two trunks, my extra luggage bag, and a small one brought out by Tully.

Ben clapped a hand on his old friend’s shoulder and grinned at him. “It appears you’re finally joining us on one of our adventures. Let us hope you bring us good tidings with your presence.”

Tully lifted an eyebrow and nodded at Ben, who laughed in turn.

“Yes, I suppose we’re already ill-fated enough with my presence,” Ben agreed as he opened the door and turned to me where he offered me a hand. “And your little ring there will guarantee this vacation is unforgettable.”

I snorted as I accepted his hand. “If we get a vacation.”

Ben helped me into the cab and followed after me while Tully climbed aboard the box. Ferox didn’t need a cracking of the reins but took off before Ben had even shut the door behind himself. The carriage flew out of the courtyard and took a sharp turn that lifted two wheels off the ground before we crashed back down to earth. I fell in a heap into Ben’s arms and found him grinning up at me.

“A little help here,” I grumbled as I tried to sit up.

“I’m comfortable.”

“And about to receive a jab in the ribs with my sharp elbow.”

Ben’s humor hadn’t faded a bit as he righted me on the seat beside him. “An eventful beginning to what may turn out to be a pleasant visit.”

“Did you send a crow to your great-aunt?” I asked him as we rolled down the streets of the capital traveling ever northward.

He shook his head. “No, she rather despises them. When I was younger I watched her destroy one with a broom before any of its message could be uttered from its beak.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “You can do that with crows?”

“It was an old magic broom, one she was fond of using to sweep the front hall.” He leaned back and a gentle smile graced his lips as his eyes took on a fanciful glint. “Some parts of Rookwood are more museum than home. An item in the hall may be of the plainest appearance but hold great power to levitate itself to the ceiling.”

“Is that useful?” I wondered.

He chuckled. “Only for my great-great uncle. He used it to trick people into believing their beloved ones were communicating with them.”

“So ghosts aren’t what makes it levitate?”

His eyes twinkled as he looked down at me. “I didn’t say that, merely that it wasn’t their dearly departed that was making it levitate.”

My face drooped and my eyes widened. “So you’re telling me we’re going to a haunted house?”

“Not so much haunted as inhabited by some rather lively spirits,” Ben told me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s the difference?”

“They’re not malevolent, just mischievous.”

“I don’t think that’ll give me much comfort at two in the morning when they’re waking me up with chains in the hall.”