Page 40 of Secrets of Avalon
“Kellan!” I slap my hand against the dragon tattoo on my wrist. “Help me. Please help me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
The ink on my skin shivers. I glance down at my arm, watching the lines blur and shift. A tingle runs from my wrist to my shoulder, like static electricity dancing across my skin. Where my tattoo should be, there's only bare skin. My stomach drops.
A moment later there’s a green, made-of-light, creature swirling around my body… and its holding back my magick. Pulling. Pushing. Tamping it down. Helping me put back into the locked box deep inside me where I hide it.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Whatever you are.
I grab the towel on the chair next to the bath and wrap it around my wet body so I’m not crouching on the floor naked.
The door opens and the two maids come back inside in a rush, but freeze in the doorway. “Milady! Your dragon–”
My dragon. Um, no I don’t have a dragon. Kellan has a dragon. I have a magickal crisis.
“Domina.” Kellan’s big voice booms down the hallway. A second later he pushes past the maids and wraps me up in his arms all over again. More green light surrounds me. His magick.
It’s warm. And safe. And calming.
He sits me on the edge of the bed and wraps me in a thick soft blanket. Then kneels in front of me. His face isn't worried. Or angry. Or impatient. His eyes are kind and full of concern.
“I’m sorry. I lost control. I touched the tattoo like you said and you came. Thank you,” I say, barely able to see him through the blur of tears and magickal light still swirling around us. “The tattoo is gone. It left me. Did it go find you?”
He has my hands in his now. He squeezes them. “The tattoo is with you, Domina. She’s flying around us right now, helping you keep your magick in check.”
“She?” I ask, feeling like I’ve missed a crucial piece of information.
“Her name is Siva. She’s young, but strong. That's why the tattoo is still so small.”
“What?” I pull a hand free from his and take a deep breath. “The tattoo has a name? How–I don’t understand.”
Kellan wipes away my tears. And points to the light circling us. I focus on it and realize it’s not just light. It’s shaped like a–dragon. There are three dragons in the air swirling around us.
“Siva is the smallest. I gave her to you when we sealed our bond. Siva, you can say hello now.”
Domina. It’s good to finally be able to formally introduce myself. I’m Siva.
My breath catches in my throat. The green-energy-light-dragon has stopped circling and is staring right at me. It talked to me. Not out loud. But I heard the words in my head very clearly in a female voice that was not mine.
“Kellan?” I look back at the very not-concerned-at-all man, like energy dragons speaking in your mind is completely normal. “Can you hear her?”
“Yes. We are all connected.”
I didn’t say anything before Kellan got here. It took everything I had to help you keep the magick contained. You have a lot of it.
I glance back at the ethereal dragon. Then at the other two, much larger dragons still circling us, their bodies phasing right through the bed like it doesn’t exist.
“This is a lot. I don’t know what to say. But thank you for helping me. Thank you for getting Kellan. I couldn’t bear it if I hurt more people.”
Kellan was already on his way when he felt you getting upset. I never left you, Domina. I’ll never leave you.
More tears burn behind my eyes. I blink them out and snuffle through a sob.
Kellan, why is she still sad?
“She’s tired, Siva. Go back to her. The magick is calm now.”
A blur of light passes in front of me and I feel it again—the little tattoo wriggling on my arm. I look down at it with a new sense of aw. It’s alive. It protected me. She protected me. Siva.
The other two dragons disappear a moment later, melting back into wherever they belong on Kellan’s body.