Chapter Thirty-One

Safina

I treaded water, tryingnot to panic as the black abyss beneath us threatened to swallow me whole. I kept my head above each rising wave while Gabriel took a moment to rest. Night had fallen, and the consistent use of elemental magic had drained him. I worried his breaks were becoming too frequent while the waters were becoming more turbulent. I'd already discarded my boots and belongings, wearing nothing but a thin gown. Now I was contemplating using Gabriel's blade to cut my thick hair, fearing the weight of it would pull me under.

We made a sad pair, the dragon royal who could not fly, and the earth speaker who could not summon a wave long enough to carry us home. Though I dared not voice my thoughts aloud, I feared we would both perish in the open sea. The thought tightened my throat and made my heart weep with overwhelming sorrow.

After five centuries of gloom, I had only just found love. And Gabriel had finally begun to walk after spending much of his short life bound to a chair. Would fate be so unkind as to take our lives now? But the world was indeed cruel. Why else would my mother have fallen in love with the one man fated to be her enemy?

I thought of the last time I'd seen my mother, of how I'd told the dragon queen I hated her. Though I was angry with my mother for severing our bond, I couldn't help but regret my hurtful words. I knew my mother loved me and had to believe she hadn't meant to break from me, too. I wondered if my mother knew our bond was broken, or did she think I had flown out of reach? Would my mother come looking for me, or was she angry with me for vanishing with Gabriel? If I drowned, would my mother know my fate? Would she lock herself in a cocoon and mourn for another five hundred years?

I looked over at my mate. Though I could no longer harness my dragon senses to see clearly in the dark, the moon was particularly bright, and I could tell his face was sunburnt, and his eyes were weary. I didn't know how he'd be able to continue, but I closed my eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Almighty Mother he would have the strength to go on. I wasn't ready to leave this mortal world behind.

A man's cry flashed in my mind, and I saw arms and legs thrashing in a bed. Safina! I must save her!

My eyes shot open, and my heartbeat quickened.

My father. I just saw my father.

It dawned on me he must have seen I was lost at sea. How were we connected, what had happened to him, and did he, a dragonslayer, truly want to save me?

I didn't understand how I was now able to see him so clearly. There were times when I'd felt the bond before, though not as strong. I remembered as a child feeling that pinprick on the back of my nape whenever he was near. It had always happened before Mother and I were forced to flee our village. I had suspected it was Mother's nerves which had brought on the feeling, but now I recognized it for what it was. The bond I had shared with my mother, I also shared with my father. I wondered why the severance of souls had separated me from the dragon queen, but my bond with the dragonslayer remained intact. Just one more reason why fate was indeed cruel.

* * *

Duncan

I AWOKE FROM A GROGGYslumber, my senses assailed by the heavy smells of perfume, opium, and sex. Despite the throbbing in my head and the burning pain in my gut, I managed to sit up against the metal bedrail and survey my surroundings. The small, dark room was awash in red velvet, from the drapes to the blankets. The armoire was practically bursting at the seams with various laces and silks protruding from a door that hung crooked on loose hinges. The vanity overflowed with perfumes and makeup. Raucous laughter and piano music filtered into the room from somewhere below. Clearly I was in a brothel, but the prostitute to whom this room belonged was not to be seen. I vaguely remembered the woman I'd saved from the doctor and wondered if it was she who had brought me here.

A bead of sweat ran down my brow. I feebly wiped my flushed skin. The room felt hotter than an oven. The stifling Galveston heat was unrelenting, even indoors. I shifted, trying to reach a jug of water that sat on the table beside me. I winced when a piercing pain shot up my torso. Then I remembered Dr. Straw's blade.

Bastard.

Had I been struck two days ago, I would've healed in an instant and meted out justice to my attacker. But I was no longer immortal, and though I tried not to dwell on the reason why, I couldn't help but fear Fiona was dead.

Closing my eyes, I let out a slow breath of air and tried to summon the bond. Again I was met with nothing. It was as if Fiona had disappeared. And then I saw a flash of red hair drifting in a current and Safina's frightened, tired eyes. My daughter still lived! But I feared she wouldn't last long if I didn't reach her soon.

I hauled myself out of bed and then howled when I felt the tear in my gut. I fell back on the mattress as agony tore through me, making me feel like a slab of meat on the butcher block.

A door opened and skirts rustled.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." I looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. It was the woman I'd saved in the alley. Though her face paint was no longer smeared, her eyes were still worn and weary. She smoothed a hand over my brow. "You're still feverish."

"What happened?" I rasped, stunned at the feeble sound of my voice.

"You don't remember?" She sat beside me, settling a hand on my arm.

Her skin was cool, too cool. I had thought the Texas heat was to blame, but she was right that my fever hadn't broken.

"Forgive me." I squinted as her image blurred for a moment. "My memory's a bit foggy."

"You were stabbed saving my life." She wiped my brow with a wet cloth.

"Was I?" I moaned my delight as water trickled down my neck and back, soaking the sheets beneath me. I didn't mind. I was hot, and the water felt refreshing. Surely the fever should have subsided by now.

"I'm Bess, by the way," she said as she smoothed the cloth across my cheeks and neck. "What's your name?"

"Duncan," I mumbled. "Duncan MacQuoid."

I sank against a pillow as Bess drizzled water across my brow. She lifted the sheets, pulling back the bandage on my stomach. I sucked in a sharp breath as she ran a finger across my wound. I looked at the angry red swelling across my abdomen, sewn shut with crude black stitches. The doctor had indeed gutted me good. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, it occurred to me that there was an infection, and I wouldn't survive another day in such a state.

"I'm sorry, Duncan." Her hands shook as she replaced the bandage. "I never was much good with a needle, but I couldn't exactly call the doctor when he was the one who stabbed you."

She turned from me, busying herself opening a decanter that sat on the armoire. Though my vision was blurring, I saw the moisture in her eyes.

So was this to be my fate? After five hundred years of searching for my mate and child, I would die in the bed of a prostitute, never to see Fiona again? Never to tell her how sorry I was and how much I loved her? And what of Safina? She needed me and I'd failed her. For so long I'd wished for the reprieve of death, but in dying, fate would only prolong my torment.

"Here. Madam says you are to drink this." Bess forced a spoon into my mouth.

I swallowed before I had time to protest, nearly retching on the pungent liquid. "That's disgusting."

"Sorry, but you have a fever." Her voice quavered. "Madam says it will help you get better."

I coughed, choking on the taste and something else. Was that blood? "Do you have any water?"

"Yes." She pressed a glass into my hand.

I drank the entire glass in a few swallows, relishing the feel of the cool water as it soothed my parched throat.

I leaned back with a groan as the throbbing in my gut intensified. "My wound didn't heal."

"It takes weeks for a wound like yours to heal." She spoke to me as if I was a child while she pried the empty glass from my hand.

I should've been irritated by her tone, but I was too tired. Why hadn't my wound healed? "How can this be?"

"Don't you worry none," she said in that same condescending voice. "When my madam found out you saved me from that worthless cuss, she said you could stay as long as it took to get you well. I gotta go back to work. You rest up, and I'll check back on you soon."

Rest? No. I couldn't rest. I wasn't sure, but I thought someone needed me. "Wh-where are my clothes?"

"They're being laundered." Her voice sounded hollow, as if she was speaking to me in a dream. "You'll get them tomorrow, I reckon."

Tomorrow? No, someone needed me now. I was almost sure of it. Then I remembered the red hair, the frightened eyes, the endless ocean.

"I can't wait until tomorrow." I kicked the covers trapping my legs, but I couldn't free myself. Even as my heartbeat slowed, my mind reeled. There was no time to rest. I had to save Safina. "I need to find my daughter before it's too late." I feebly kicked the covers again.

"You have a child?" Bess gasped. "Was she waiting for you when you saved me?"

"No, she was with her mother." I thrashed again, freeing myself at last, but then pain tore through me, making me feel as if I was being sliced open from the inside.

I cried out, hunching over until the pain subsided to a dull throb.

"I'm sorry, but you're no good to her now," Bess chided as she trapped me beneath the sheets again. "Your fever hasn't broken, and I didn't spend all night nursing you so you could throw away your life. You just lie down and get some rest. You're not going anywhere."

"But I must," I begged. "Safina needs me." I would've jumped from the bed and forced my way out the door, but my eyelids were so heavy, I could scarcely keep them open. "Why am I so tired?"

Bess stood, smoothing a hand down her skirt. "It's the soothing syrup."

I struggled to look up at her. My eyelids were weighted with a thousand stones. "The what?"

The lines between her brow pinched together. "Madam told me to give it to you if your fever hadn't broken. You need to rest."

"I don't need rest, dammit." I pounded the bed with a feeble fist. "I need to find Safina." Much to my dismay, my eyes shut of their own accord, though I tried hard to keep them open. It was no use. I surrendered with a groan as the blackness finally consumed me.