Page 63 of Lion Conquers All
Aarav: I can do that.
“Veer, Ivann, Aarav’s patience is paying off.” His other two brothers strolled over and crowded around him.
Ivann chuckled low in his chest. “We thought your dick might fall off before she came around to liking you.”
Aarav growled and showed his fangs. “If that’s what it took, I would’ve still endured for mysoul match.”
“Raj wins the pool though. Shit. It’s August. He had August.” Veer sighed. “I was hoping to win back that beer money.” He smiled at Aarav. “Glad Connie’s coming around. For real.”
“You had a pool?”
Ivann clapped Aarav on the shoulder. “If she had held out one more month, I would’ve won. I had September. See I had faith in you. Shenn over there had his money on next January.”
“I don’t appreciate any of this.” Aarav rubbed a hand over his face and put the phone back into his pocket. A rumble shook the ground a little. Boulders were rolling down the mountain face. Col was in the air, just high enough to allow them to roll past him.
Col’s dragon roared, reverberating through the calm of the mountain air. The storm had ceased. The sky was clear.
Col was angry and frustrated. The mountain was winning. Every time he removed boulders more rocks fell to replace them. It didn’t appear that they were any closer to the cave. If anything, there were more rocks to dig through now, not less.
“There has to be something we can do.” Knox ran his hands through his hair and paced back and forth at the edge of the bluff where they were standing clear of the avalanching rocks.
“One of those boulders catches us unaware and nothing more than a red stain on the ground. A boulder hitsVrakathere and he cusses it out and keeps digging.” Veer pointed to a large boulder coming straight at the dragon’s front leg. Col lifted his leg before it hit and then kicked it away like it was a child’s soccer ball. “See.”
They all had. There wasn’t anything they could do. Eventually the mountain would stop collapsing. Eventually they would get to the cave.
Aarav just hoped when they finally got there it wouldn’t be too late.
26
CONNIE
“We should go help. Or call people to help excavate. Oh, God, my baby.” Sarah was wearing a trail in the hardwood floors in front of the big windows lining the back of Naomi and Col’s cabin.
“We can’t. You know we can’t. Col’s dragon is digging through boulders the size of your SUV. No one from town would be able to help. The other men there aren’t even able to help.” Connie patted the cushion next to her. “Sarah. Please.”
A groan came from the couch opposite Connie. The hunter was waking up. Liam moved from his place against the wall, toward the man. He’d not only said he knew him, but that the guy had just arrived to town and was his cousin.
“What the fuck? Where am I?” The guy sat up, then stood faster than he should’ve. He reached for the arm of the couch and steadied himself.
Liam never stopped moving. Connie watched like it was slow motion. She saw it coming, but the other guy never did. Liam moved with fluidity and purpose like the soldier he used to be. His arm came back. His fingers locked into a fist. That fist swung forward and knocked the guy back down onto the couch with a bone-jarringthud.
“Ye feck’n eejit!” Liam growled out between his gritted teeth.
“Dammit, Liam.” The other man rubbed his jaw and then shook his head like he could shake off the punch.
“Gobshite. Ye should’ve not even been on that mountain still. Everyone had been called down. And then ye go and shoot—”
“A lion! You hoor. There was a feck’n lion on the mountain.” The other man jumped up again. It was like neither of them remembered other people were standing in the room watching. He swung a fist at Liam, but the bar manager blocked the wild throw easily and punched the guy again. This time in the gut.
“Stupid eejit. They could’ve eaten ye instead of brought you back and no one woulda been the wiser.”
The other guy wheezed in a breath and then straightened. “Woulda taken more than a wee lion to finish me off, you fecker.”
Liam hauled back and prepared to hit the guy again, but stopped when the other man put up a hand in surrender.
“Stop. Liam. Enough.”
“You’ll not speak of this to anyone. Not a word. Not even a drunken word. Do ye hear me?”
