Page 42 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
I thought about that for a few moments while the dragon named Constantine argued with Baltic about some events in what was apparently the distant past.“You have a point.Do you think I’m your mate just because I drank some wine?”
“No,” he answered, and a little stab of pain shot through my chest.“I think you are a wyvern’s mate because you took my fire.Do you wish to be my mate?”
“I met you approximately eight hours ago,” I pointed out.“I may be many things, but the type of person to fall madly in love with someone within that time frame is not one of them.Why, do you want me to be your mate?I thought you had a mate?Someone told me dragons only have one mate in their lifetime.”
“Most do, but some, like Baltic and I assume Yrian, are special, and they can have more than one,” Ysolde told me.“Drake’s grandmother was also able to have a second mate, which is why he and his brother are wyverns of different septs.”
Evidently, she, too, had excellent hearing.
“We will call thesárkányto order, since we have much ground to cover,” Drake informed everyone, his gaze on me for a few seconds.“And since we have asked Yrian Shadowsworn to attend, we welcome his mate, as well.”
“I know full well you guys heard me talking to Yrian, so I’m not even going to argue the point that I am not his mate.In addition, I’ll remind you the only reason I’m here is because your ancestor promised me aid in getting rid of Candy and Andy.”I gave the look Drake sent me right back to him.“Also, it’s rude to listen in to conversations conducted in an intimate volume.”
Yrian looked so righteous that it made a giggle rise inside of me, but due to the obviously serious nature of the meeting, I kept it from emerging.“Becket is correct.We are here to discuss her protection.”
“On the contrary,” Drake said, sitting down after making an adjustment to the tablet, which was now filled with a bunch of faces.“Thissárkányhas been called to address the issue of Xavier and, to a lesser degree, Deus.”
I wondered who they were, but before I could ask Yrian, he frowned and shook his head.“The First Dragon told me dragonkin were in peril unless I rejoined the mortal realm.Only Kashi could pose that sort of threat.It is for that purpose I am here.”
The dragons all started talking at once, everyone arguing that he was mistaken.
“Bael is in the Duat,” Drake told him after calling the meeting back to order.“There is no reason to fear his influence on our lives, or indeed anything in the mortal world.”
“I agree that he is the biggest danger to dragonkin, but is he not powerless now?”Constantine asked, scowling from the tablet at Yrian.“He can’t get out of the Duat, after all.”
“He can,” Yrian said simply, nodding toward me.“Becket is his way out.Why do you think he has sent his wrath demons after her?”
Another dragon on the tablet sputtered something about Bael stirring up trouble despite having no power here, and all the other dragons nodded their agreement.
All but Baltic, whose gaze was on Yrian and me for an entire minute before he said, “Do you think she has that sort of power?”
Everyone turned to look at me.Nervously, I took a sip of wine before remembering just how traumatizing it was.This time I managed to get it swallowed without bursting into flames and expiring on the spot.I didn’t even gasp, although for a few seconds I felt like my lungs had collapsed.
“On her own?No.But with Kashi’s help, her glamours could negate the magic keeping him bound to the Duat,” Yrian finally answered.
“Like how your dad helped me with your glamour?”I asked.He nodded.“But this is a demon lord we’re talking about, right?That’s dark power.Artificers don’t run on that.We pull energy from the life force, not the opposite.I don’t see how he could give me the oomph I would need to let him escape.”
“He would find a way to use and destroy you,” he said in such a matter-of-fact tone that it took me a couple of seconds before the words hit me.
“That’s the first correct thing you’ve said,” Constantine announced, leaning into his camera until his eyes filled the screen.“Bael will use up every ounce of power you have, and then destroy you without a second’s hesitation.If you value your life, stay away from him.Stay out of the Duat.”
I disliked being told what to do, but didn’t want to make a fuss over something that truly wasn’t going to affect me, so I kept silent while the other dragons reinforced the statement that Bael was not the issue.
“We have had word that Xavier is focusing his attention on the green sept,” Hunter said.He had a light Irish accent, and a casual manner of speaking that made him seem anything but serious, but the grim light in his pale-green eyes told another story.“We do not know how or even why he has singled them out, but the threat is very real, and is the reason why Xavier must be located and stopped.”
“Dragons have warred since before I created the septs,” Yrian said in a dismissive tone.“If you insist on my aid in ending the fight between this Xavier and the weyr, I will do so, but only after Kashi has been dealt with.”
Archer and Hunter exchanged glances; then Archer said, “Xavier is our father.We believe he is working with Abaddon, for what purpose—other than the destruction of dragonkin—we do not know.But be assured that he is far more of a threat to us than Bael.”
“This dragon war—” Yrian started to argue, but Aisling cut him off.
“Did he say hecreatedthe septs?”she asked her husband.“As in ...created?I thought the First Dragon did that.”
“He was busy elsewhere,” Yrian said with a slight shrug.“I decided that since the kin were warring amongst themselves, we needed a way to work together.My sister and two brothers agreed to become wyverns to septs, and following that, I organized the weyr to benefit dragonkin.The First Dragon created the dragon heart for the purpose of binding all dragons to the weyr, and distributed the shards accordingly.”
“Holymerde,” Aisling said, her eyes wide as she watched Yrian.
I knew how she felt, and acknowledged the wholly unnecessary surge of pride at the idea that Yrian had so much impact on the growth of his family.
