Chapter Thirty-Four

Safina

"Another wave!" Gabrielshouted above the din of the howling winds. "Safina, hold on!"

I held my breath and shut my eyes tight. We clung to a piece of driftwood as the wave pounded us, hitting my back with such force, I thought I'd break in two.

We'd been at sea for three days, waterlogged, exhausted, and parched beyond belief. Gabriel's magic had slowed after the first day and worked sporadically on the second. By day three, he could hardly summon a current, much less keep the violent waves at bay.

Earlier that evening, I had seen seagulls flying westward. We were close to land, but Gabriel had already drifted to sleep while the current tossed us about like a leaf in the wind.

He'd woken only moments ago, cursing himself for having failed me as he tried to summon a current to push us forward, but cutting through monster waves proved no easy task.

Though it was night, I sensed the hurricane was close at our heels, for the wind became angrier with each passing wave. Soon, the brunt of the monster storm would be upon us. Though it pained my numb fingers, I squeezed Gabriel's hand tight, for I feared no amount of magic would save us from the Earth Mother's fury.

"Again!" Gabriel yelled.

I barely had time to catch my breath. The wave that hit pushed us under, snapping our makeshift raft in two. Gabriel was torn from me, and I screamed before swallowing a salty gulp. I fought my way back to the surface, clinging to a shard of broken wood.

"Gabriel!" I screamed frantically. "Gabriel, my love, where are you?"

Gabriel surfaced with a gasp, arms flailing. I kicked toward him, grasping his collar and hauling him toward me.

He looked into my eyes as I clung to him. "I'm sorry I failed to protect you."

I was too weary to cry, though my throat and chest constricted with emotion. Gabriel knew our death was imminent. Had I been trapped beneath the ocean for the past five hundred years, only to die within a week of finding freedom and true love? Gabriel and I had so much left to share. I had hoped someday we could have children, and now all my hopes and dreams were drowning in despair.

"It's not your fault," I said. If it was anyone's fault, it was the dragon queen's. How could my mother have been so heartless as to sever our bond and rob me of my immortality?

"Had I been a better earth speaker...." he spoke on a sob.

I held up a silencing hand. "Your magic grows stronger every day."

"Not strong enough." Gabriel's dark skin shone in the moonlight, and his mahogany eyes dazzled. "I wanted to spend an eternity with you."

My eyes fluttered shut when he tenderly cupped my cheek, stroking my chapped lips with his thumb.

I brought his hand to my lips. "We shall be together an eternity. I love you, Gabriel."

His soft smile didn't mask the desperation in his eyes. "I love you more than words, mi amor. I will wait for you on the other side."

* * *

Fiona

MY WINGS AND BACK BURNEDas I used every last ounce of energy to push forward. Never before had I flown into winds so powerful, and I wasn't in the thick of it yet, for my dragon-touched eyes discerned a violent, catastrophic storm on the horizon.

Please, Almighty Mother, don't let me be too late.

Duncan leaned over my neck, pounding on my scales. "Slow down!" he hollered into the wind. "She is near!"

I stopped flapping, soaring against the blasts of air that threatened to send me spiraling into the watery abyss. I saw a flash of white in the distance.

What is that?I asked.

"Our daughter!" Duncan exclaimed.

I glided in a circle around them, debating whether it would be safer to land or pluck them from the sea. Then I saw what looked like a tidal wave heading right for us. I scooped each child from the cool water with my talons.

The boy's body was listless. Had it not been for the faint beating of his heart, I would've thought him dead.

Safina spun around in my clutches. "Mother! I'm sorry for leaving you!"

Do not fret over that now, child. Though I wanted to shout for joy at finding Safina alive, I knew our world would never be the same. The man riding between my shoulders was a testament to that.

Safina hugged my talon. "Thank you for saving us."

A gust of wind blasted me back, and I dipped sharply to the left before catching an air pocket beneath my wing. We are not saved yet, I answered grimly.

Though Duncan tightly gripped my scales, he had surprisingly gone silent. I feared another storm was brewing. Once we landed, I would have to contend with a maelstrom of heartache and pain, for now another man threatened to turn Safina away from me.

* * *

Safina

I SHUDDERED IN RELIEFwhen we reached shore. The wind had calmed considerably, though the choppy waves indicated calamity was on the horizon.

My mother set us down on the sandy beach, then flew behind a dune.

I rolled onto my side, my water-logged limbs so heavy, I couldn't sit up. My mate was lying on his back, staring vacantly up into the heavens.

Panic seized me. "Gabriel!"

Men's voices carried from afar. Fear nearly robbed my mind of reason until I saw Se?or Cortez and his grandsons racing toward us.

I tossed a rock next to Gabriel. It hit the ground hard, spraying sand on his cheek. Still, he didn't respond.

"Gabriel," I cried. "Wake up."

Se?or Cortez fell to his knees beside Gabriel, clutching his grandson's limp body and sobbing into his hair. "Ni?o, blink your eyes."

My heart shattered along with my world when Gabriel didn't respond.

Almighty Mother, if he is dead, take me, too.

My mother appeared from behind the dune, buttoning her top and kicking up sand in her wake as she rushed to Gabriel's side. She grabbed Se?or Cortez's shoulder, pushing him aside. "Let me, Josef."

Emotion clogged my throat as I gave my mother a pleading look. Could she save him? Would she save him?

Se?or Cortez silently nodded as tears streamed down his face. He and his grandsons huddled around the dragon queen as she placed her healing hands on Gabriel. I noticed another man standing behind them, hands in his pockets and head hanging low. Somewhere on the edge of my awareness, I recognized this man with blue eyes as pale as mine. As our gazes locked for the briefest of moments, I swore I heard his cry echo in my mind.

Safina, he whispered.

Father,I answered.

Aye. I have searched for you for so long.

I turned away, refusing to acknowledge the man whose cruelty and betrayal had forced me to live in a prison shell for five centuries, listening to my mother lament her broken heart.

But this man saved you, Safina.

I pushed back the voice of reason. My dragonslayer father had led my mother to us, for I still felt my father's bond, stronger now than ever before. How else would Mother have found me?

Mother hunched over Gabriel, smoothing his face and chest with anxious hands. Only when I saw Gabriel's fingers twitch and heard him sputter water did I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Safina?" he said roughly. "Is she safe?"

"Aye," Mother answered in a tone that was surprisingly soothing, before sitting back on her heels and wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.

Josef knelt beside Gabriel, crying as he held his grandson's hand.

Tears of joy and relief clouded my vision. My mate would live thanks to my mother's healing magic. For that, I'd be eternally grateful to the dragon queen. I couldn't have gone on living in this world without Gabriel. I was unable to stop the sobs that wracked me.

My mother rubbed my back. "Let's get them inside," she said aloud.

I stiffened when my father lifted me into his arms. I refused to look at the man holding me, though I could feel him pining for a kind word or tender smile.

Gabriel's brothers placed him in the back of Se?or Cortez's cart and handed him a canteen of water. He greedily drank and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. With a heavy sigh, he slumped against a pile of sacks which appeared to have been filled with sand. After my father set me next to Gabriel, I took my turn drinking from the canteen, relishing the cool water as it quenched my parched throat.

I handed the canteen to Pedro, then wrapped an arm around Gabriel's neck, burying my face against his shoulder. "I thought I'd lost you."

He stroked my hair, murmuring into my ear. "I told you, I would've waited for you on the other side, mi amor."

Heedless of the others who crowded around us, I choked back a sob. "And I would have swiftly followed."

"Shhh." He tapped my mouth with a silencing finger. "No more talk of death. We are safe now." Gabriel clasped my hand before looking up at the dragon queen. "Thank you for saving us."

She bore down on him with a scowl. "I do not need to be thanked for saving my child."

I squeezed Gabriel's hand tight as his cheeks flushed.

He humbly bowed his head. "Well, thank you for saving me."

Mother jutted hands on her hips, her stony glare traveling from Gabriel to me. "I had no choice. It's clear my daughter loves you."

Gabriel let go of my hand, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "As I love her."

"You had better." The embers of Mother's dragon fire swirled within her eyes. "If you ever break her heart, my wrath will know no end."

I stiffened. "Mother, please." The last thing Gabriel needed after what he'd been through was a lecture. For three days, he'd fought brutal waves to keep me alive. Wasn't that testament enough that he loved me?

"It's okay, Safi," Gabriel murmured in my ear while squeezing me tight. Then he placed a hand over his heart. "You have my word I will love her always."

The queen hovered over him, jabbing a finger in his chest. "And if you ever steal her away again, I will haunt your very nightmares." The fire in her eyes faded when she looked at me. "Now, will you come with me, or do you go to Gabriel's home?" Though Mother's face was a mask of stone, her mouth twitched ever so slightly.

I knew it was taking all my mother's reserve not to break down and beg me to come back.

My heart broke for my mother. It was then I realized how badly I'd hurt her by running off with Gabriel, but I couldn't forget my mother had also hurt me. "We are mated, Mother. I go where Gabriel goes."

Pain flashed in the dragon queen's eyes. "I see."

My gaze shot to my father, who hovered behind Gabriel's brothers, and I was struck by a wild idea. If he and Mother found a way to reconcile, the dragon queen would no longer be alone, and her broken heart would mend. It was a crazy notion, to be sure, for Mother's stubbornness knew no end. Besides, if he truly had been the dragonslayer who'd killed my grandmother, I could understand why the dragon queen couldn't forgive him.

A powerful gust of wind blew back my hair and swirled around the cart, tossing sand in everyone's eyes. The old horse whinnied, jerking the cart forward.

Se?or Cortez lifted his hands, crying out. The wind parted, moving around the cart as if we were protected by an invisible bubble. Se?or Cortez turned to us with a grimace. "We'd better find shelter."

"Papí!" Gabriel's voice rose above the din. "A hurricane is coming."

The old man frowned at the horizon. Waves crashed on the shore with violent ferocity. "I know, ni?o. We must get home. We have a lot of preparation before it arrives."

The cart lurched forward, and Gabriel's brothers fell in step beside us, followed by the dragon queen and my father. Though they walked side-by-side, Mother put enough distance between them that their hands wouldn't touch. It was then that my father's keen sense of longing washed over me, so powerful, it was as if I was back in the ocean, drowning in a sea of sorrow and regret.

* * *

Duncan

AFTER FIVE CENTURIESof searching, I still couldn't believe Fiona was walking by my side. Strange how she still felt miles away. Tonight had been a night like no other. I'd ridden astride my former mate, the sting of her flapping wings numbing my face and hands as we'd traveled across the ocean to save our child.

I swallowed hard, doing my best to quell the trembling in my limbs as I thought back to the moment I'd seen Safina flailing in the rough waves.

Based on the brief and heated conversation between Fiona and Gabriel, I suspected Safina and the boy had eloped. This left the dragoness with no mate and no child. I feared what would become of Fiona. Would she finally find it in her heart to forgive me, or would she spiral into despair? I knew the deep, soul-crushing depression of living a solitary life for too long. I wouldn't wish such a fate on another, especially not the woman I loved.

And what would become of Safina, now that she'd lost her dragon powers? Would she live the remainder of her years as a mortal, losing the bloom of her youthful appearance and dying a mortal death? How would Fiona live with herself, knowing her spell had doomed our child to mortality?

During those early years so long ago, when I'd pursued my mate and child on horseback, I'd been close enough to Fiona to see into her heart and knew how much she cared for Safina. I knew without a doubt that losing Safina to a mortal death would kill Fiona.

As for me, I wouldn't hesitate to join them in the afterworld. For though we had been estranged for centuries, I lived for my family and for my family alone.