Page 20 of Marked By Her Dragon

Chapter Eight

"Okay, so I know today's the day you're gettin' hitched and all that happy horseshit," Colton grumbled. "But I seriously don't get how Macy is a Dragoness. I mean, mom and dad have always said they were pretty much wiped out centuries ago."

“It’s just like Carrick said,” Jack sighed, messing with the collar of his surcoat. “Most were but….”

"Did I hear my name?" The deep, profound baritone of none other than the renowned Leader of the Golden Fire Clan, and his uncle, floated into the room a split second before the man himself appeared. "What have I done – or not done – now?"

Laughing along, Jack teased, "Oh, damn, that's a long list, Uncle. I'm not sure I have time today. Maybe you can get back to me after…."

"The honeymoon?" Carrick chuckled. Then holding up his hands in mock surrender, he put on a show of being embarrassed as he pretended to gasp, "As if I could ever waitthatlong.”

"Seriously," Heath laughed with gusto. "The honeymoons never seem to end around here." Motioning towards Carrick, he went on, "Think I could get a transfer to your place? A few years across the pond might be just what I need."

"Oh, dear boy," the Dragon Leader snickered. "There are even more Guardsman finding their Mates in my Clan. It's – what do you young people call it?" Tapping his chin, he furrowed his brow before immediately smiling and then snapping his fingers. "A Love Fest, I believe, is the common vernacular. Everywhere I look, another couple is finding their happily ever after."

"Well, shit," Heath sighed. "Guess I'll have to tough it out right here."

Slapping his cousin on the back, Jack chuckled, “And maybe get off your dead ass and talk to the woman the Universe made for you?”

“And on that note.” The youngest MacAllen growled and turned towards Carrick. “Can you explain how Macy is a Dragoness? How none of us knew it? And if all the Vibrias were killed, how do they keep poppin’ up?”

Slowly nodding, Jack could see that his uncle carefully chose his words and didn't interrupt. Sure, his Mating Ceremony was due to start in an hour, and he was anxious, but his curiosity needed answers. Macy and her Dragon Queen, Fione, had clarified everything from their point of view. Now, he wanted to hear Carrick's. Thankfully, it didn't take the Dragon Leader long to get his thoughts together and to begin explaining.

“As I have told Jack many times, my sister – his mother – and her Mate, Jackson, were part of a team sent to battle Dr. Nightshade and the other scientists who started the Hive.”

“Because they started out wanting to exterminate all Dragon Shifters from the face of the Earth?” Heath growled.

“That is correct,” Carrick confirmed. “But they soon found that killing a Guardsman isn’t that easy. Nothing they tried worked.”

“Not even silver, if I remember correctly,” Heath added.

"That's right," the Dragon Leader smiled proudly. "Yes, silver can kill us, if there's enough of it and it hits the bloodstream all at one time. Yes, it will weaken us, but the Magic used by the Ancient Dragon Kings and the original Mage is strong and…."

"Our Healing Powers are unparalleled," his cousin jumped in again, waves of pride flowing off of him as he spoke to Carrick. "And that's when the Hive enlisted a group of mercenaries, gave them special training, and named them the Hunters. From that point forward, the assholes recruited every man and woman and child they could in an effort to eradicate not only us but every Paranormal they could find. But I still don't get…."

Holding up the index finger of her right hand, Carrick smiled knowingly. “How they got to the females first.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they attacked the Vibrias when they were the most vulnerable – right before or after their most fertile times of the month or close after giving birth,” Jack added to the conversation. “And that is the only time a Dragoness is any weaker than her male counterpart.”

"Indeed," Carrick agreed, winking at Jack just as he used to do when the Guardsman was much younger. "And it was Dr. Nightshade who developed the technology to track the Vibrias. So he was responsible for the near genocide of the entire population."

“Near genocide?” Heath asked. Watching his cousin take a step forward, Jack knew the Guardsman wouldn’t stop until he had his answers. It was one of the things he admired most about his cousin – well, almost as much as it drove him crazy.

“Yes, near,” the Dragon Leader confirmed. “Three days before it was confirmed that nearly all the Vibrias were lost, I received a message from Princess Bridgett MacKenyon and the Dragoness with whom she shared her soul, Queen Bedelia. They claimed to have found a way to use ancient Druid Magic and the staff of Danu to separate the soul of the Dragon Queen from the woman." Taking a breath, Carrick's blue eyes wandered towards the window. "Sadly, the message was incomplete, and they were never heard from again."

“So, you think….?

“No.” Carrick shook his head. “I do not think, I amsurethat the reappearance of the few Dragon Queens we have seen over the past few years is somehow a result from what happened at that time. That is why, as soon as we get Jack here Mated to Macy Lindon, I plan on reconvening with two extraordinary ladies who seem to have all the answers and getting to the bottom of this mystery."

“But….”

"But, that's all we have time for," Owen MacAllen, the patriarch of the MacAllen Clan and another of Jack's uncles, chuckled as he entered the room. "You've bothered Carrick enough and…." Stopping and winking at Jack, he went on, "And there's a certain Lady Dragon I hear is mighty anxious to make an honest man out of our boy here." Then, looking back to his youngest son, he teased, "How about you go round up your brothers, and let's get this show on the road?"

“Yeah, okay,” Heath reluctantly agreed. Then to Carrick, he asked, “But can I pick your brain a little more after the ceremony.”

“I would love nothing better.”

Watching his cousin leave the room with a renewed spring in his step, Jack avoided all eye contact as he turned back to the mirror and once again straightened his surcoat. Meeting Carrick’s eyes in the reflection, he asked, “So, that’s why Fione told Macy their souls had been joined even before her conception? You believe the human counterparts to the Dragon Queens’ souls have long passed, and they are only now coming back to the world they left centuries before and joining with other worthy women?”

“From the tone of your voice, I would say you already know the answer,” Carrick responded.

“I do.”

"But also consider this," Owen interjected. "The Universe makes one perfect woman for each of her Chosen Warriors. Which means that Macy was always going to be your Mate."

"And Queen Fione was always to be reunited with King Felim," Carrick smiled. "And on that note." With a single clap of his hand followed by a flourish that left him motioning towards the door, he added, "I'd say the history lesson is over, and it's time to celebrate."

---