Page 23 of Dragon's Assassin
Chapter Nine
“I promised you nothing, Crow. And as for you being Death, you might just be the son of the Celtic God of Death, Donn, but you are a poor facsimile of the Dark Gael who dwells in the house where the souls of the dead gather. Leave the real job to the big boys.”
Alex was mad, more to the point, she was pissed, and he could feel that rage burning through their Mating bond like a house on fire. Every ounce of Magic she possessed was popping and cracking, making sparks fly within the depths of her soul. Bolts of vengeful electricity flew in every direction, reminding Creed of downed power wire in the middle of a lake.
“It was not your promise to make. The deal was struck with the Goddess Áine before your birth, and I will not be denied.”
“You’re not Fate, Asshole. Get out of my house before I chop off your head and use it as a paperweight.”
Opening his eyes, two things instantly became glaringly obvious, Alex was the legendarySìthiche Dubhand the very powerful being threatening to take his Mate from him was none other than the Demi-God Gwydion, also known as The Crow. Not only had the spiteful welp been a pain in Creed’s ass since he was born, but the son of Donn was known for his clashes with gods, his destruction of natural resources on Earth, and for being so spoiled that he claimed numerous things that didn’t belong to him.
“In this case, our Mate,”Alastair snarled.
“Exactly,”Creed agreed.“But I wouldn’t call Alex a thing. I’m pretty sure she could kick both of our asses with one hand tied behind her back.”
“We can debate the more intimate details of communicating with our Mate after handling this snot-nosed brat and sending him home to his dear old dad, yes?”
“Yeah, whatever you say, Old Man,”Creed readily agreed.“You ready to rock and roll?”
“And you think I’m the one who needs to stop watching TV,”the Dragon King groaned.“But yes, I am ready to save the day once again.”
“I’m not worried about the day as much as I am Alex.”
No sooner had the words floated through their collective mind, than Creed was on his feet with the Ancient Magic of Dragonkin filling every fiber of his being. From one second to the next, seizure-like tremors shook his body. His blood ran cold, flipped to boiling, then back to cold, over, and over in the blink of an eye. Fiery fury exuded from his very being, contracting and contorting his very physique, transforming both Paladin and Dragon King into the compact, indestructible form of their Warrior Dragon.
Forcing the large, elongated muscles he’d used for flying into his chest, biceps, and quads, the concrete floor beneath his paws shuddered as the long claws jutting from his toes found purchase. An inferno, like flaming shards of silver, sliced through the flesh and bone of his back. The tips of his wings curled downward, turning inward toward his shoulder blades, pushing through the thick layer of scales, tearing through his body as if it were no more than papier mâché.
Bone shattered and muscles tore until he no longer possessed wings at all, but instead had what looked like huge blades of an oversized battle-axe jutting from his back, with his long, venomous finger-claws extending from the razor-sharp edges. Moving them up and down and forward and back, an evil grin curled the corner of his shortened snout.
The talons at the ends of his fingers doubled in size and girth, their hooked tips tingling with the need to rip through the Demi-God standing before him. Pointing at Gwydion, Creed seethed, “The contract on my life is null and void. TheSìthiche Dubhhas obeyed the law of the Morrígan to the letter. I am the one True Fated Mate of Alessandra MacAskill as ordained by the Universe, Fate, Destiny, and the Great Goddess of All and she is under no obligation to completeanycontract.”
“What the hell?”Alex’s awe floated from her mind to his.
“Can we talk about this later, my love? It seems as though this whelp has something to say about my claim to your heart.”
“Just this once, I’ll let you talk for me. But after this, we’re a team. Got it?”
“Loud and clear.”
“You know not of what you speak, Dragon,” The Crow seethed, the tip of his blade swinging towards the light platinum scales covering Creed’s heart. “The bargain was struck long before life was breathed into the soul of theSìthiche Dubh,of Alessandra MacAskill. She is mine and today, I shall claim her.”
Suddenly, out of thin air, the Fomorian Death Squad who’d attacked them before and three more Witches from the Coven of the Crow dropped out of the ether. The room filled with chanting, the Gaelic translating into, “We bind you Dragon in the name of the Goddess Cliodhna. We take the Magic from your soul, the love from your heart and the strength from every fiber of your being. We invoke the Spirit of those who’ve gone before to remove you from this place, to hold you prisoner in the depths of the Underground, to…”
“Shut the hell up,” Amy ground out through gritted teeth, appearing on the other side of Alex. “Enough of your bullshit Curse, I have one word for you!” Throwing out her hands, a bolt of sparkling silver and red flew from her palms as the young Fairy breathed a single command,“Bi air falbh.”
And just as she commanded, ‘be gone’, the ashes of the Witches fell into three small piles in the middle of the floor. “Well, I’ll be a…”
And that was as far as Creed got before all Hell quite literally broke loose. The Crow ran straight for him, a look of murder in his eyes and a war cry of death on his lips.
Pulling the blade of Camulus, the Ancient Gaul God of War and Dragons, from the ether, Creed swung the jewel-handled sword in a single, upward circle, completing the motion by blocking Gwydion’s rapier before it struck a fatal blow to his neck. Metal clashed, sparks flew and all the while the Paladin Leader kept his mind linked to his Mate’s.
As she and her sister dispatched one Fomorian after another, Creed continued to swing for the Demi-God’s head. There was no cure for what ailed Gwydion. He was entitled, selfish, and blatantly evil in every way possible. That he thought he could make a deal for the love of any woman, let alone the one the Universe made for Creed, was nothing short of ludicrous.
Back and forth, parrying and thrusting, lunging then retreating, they fought long and hard with no end in sight. It was the same for his Mate and her sister. The more of the Fomorians the MacAskill Fairies dispatched, the more of the bastards suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Creed had to do something. He had to end the battle before either his Mate or her sister were seriously injured.
“You just keep your eyes on that asshole’s blade,”Alex ordered directly into his mind. Not giving him time to respond, she added, “Yeah, I heard you. We all three walk out of here, or none of us do. Ya’ got that, Dragon Man.”