Page 59 of A Celtic Vow
The sound of his powerful dragon voice sent the same shivers of awareness through her his human voice had.
“I know.”Her vision hazed with her inner beast when she reached out and touched a cool scale. It felt like hard silk, yet she knew it was an impregnable shield. She also knew she had touched it before when they were little.
His cat-like pupils flared, and he released a deep rumble of appreciation. An animalistic purr of approval and affection.
“So how do we do this exactly?”She saw what he meant about the length of his arms compared to his wing span. That simply placing her up so high would be a trick because he’d have to be airborne so close to the waterfall.
“You climb.”He stepped deeper into the pond and rested one wing down until the tip landed at her feet. Then he raised the other until it was close to the part of the waterfall their little dragons had vanished into earlier. In essence, he created a bridge.“Whilst daunting, I’ll catch ye if ye slip.”
Constance nodded and didn’t give herself time to wimp out but started up his ridged wing. She wasn’t a mountain climber like Riona, but she stayed active and fit, so there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t be able to do this.
“This must feel uncomfortable,”she said. It turned out to be much like climbing a ladder, just windier because of the waterfall. Strange sounding, too, as the wind pressed against the leathery skin between ridges. Almost like the sound a rawhide tarp might make in gusty weather.“I’ll try to be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me. Take care of yerself.”She felt his eyes on her the whole time.“My hide is thick and nearly impossible to penetrate. As are the scales on my body.”
The more she climbed, the more she recalled the feel of her own wings. Her sleek body. And with those thoughts came a new sense of confidence. One she was glad she had when she left the first wing behind and made her way over his back, careful to make sure she had a good hold on his scales.
“I’ll admit climbing a dragon wasn’t something I ever imagined doing when I traveled back in time.”She made her way onto the next wing, glad she wasn’t afraid of heights either. What sort of dragon would she be if she were?
“This leg will be a bit more perilous until ye’re close to the fall,”he said.“Then, I’ll ensure it gets easier.”
Rather than ask what that meant, she kept going, blinking through the heavy spray blowing in her face. She wasn’t afraid, though. Not for a single moment. Not only because of her own inner dragon but because she knew he wouldn’t let any harm come to her.
She was nearly to the top and drenched when he told her to wait a moment.“When I part the water, move quickly, lass. I’ll be right behind you.”
Part the water? If he could do that, why hadn’t he already?
“Because I cannot stop the whole fall,”he replied to her thoughts.“’Tis too magical a location. Even for me.”
Moments later, his other wing came over the top of her and broke the water enough that she could scurry up the rest of the way and climb into the cave. She turned to make sure he was okay, only to see a flash of dragon fire before his human appeared right behind her. Only then did she relax enough to realize just how worried about his dragon she’d become.
“Aodh.” She couldn’t help but wrap her arms around him and press her cheek to his chest in relief. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Of course I am.” He wrapped his arms around her as well and chanted them dry. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “I just had this overwhelming fear for your dragon.” She rested her hand where her cheek had been and met his eyes. “Like it was far more vulnerable than it realized. Far more susceptible...to something...or someone.”
“Well, ‘tis not Siobhán.” He shook his head and brushed his lips over hers. “Not anymore.”
No, likely not. Still. Something nagged at her. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“’Twill be all right,mo thine.” He ran the pad of his thumb along her jawline. “We grow stronger by the moment, so we will face whatever she throws our way, and wewilldefeat her.”
“Yeah, we will.” She nodded, determined to show him the confidence she knew he needed to see. “But first...” Her gaze drifted to their surroundings. “We need to figure out why our young dragons headed this way with their acorn.”
He agreed and eyed the area. “It looks the same as it always has.”
“At least according to what you remember.” She noted that he hadn’t been kidding before. The area was small, cold, and wet. Fortunately, like the waterfall at King’s Fall, there was enough rock between the water and cave that it wasn’t deafening. “So that leaves only one explanation. One we’re well aware of.”
“Something or someone made us forget,” he concluded.
“Exactly.” She ran her hand along the cave’s wall to see if she could sense anything. “So we can only hope we’ll start to remember now. That...”
She trailed off when she was nearly at the back.
“What is it?” He joined her and frowned at what appeared to be nothing but rock. “What do you sense?”
“It’s less about what I sense and more about what I feel.” She placed his hand beside hers on the stone. “There’s a vibration here like there was in the cave at King’s Fall before the wall crumbled.”
