Read The Fate of Her Dragon Online

Authors: Julia Mills

The Fate of Her Dragon (13 page)

 

Epilogue

Tomas has been summoned by
none other than Rayne MacLendon, the Commander of his Force, and the one man in
all the world the young Guardsman thought of as a role model. Tomas had been
training with Rory, the Commander of the Blue Thunder Force, when Rayne had
called to him through their unique link. As always, the Commander was a man of
few words, only saying,
“Tomas, come to my home. See you in ten.”

The whole way there Tomas
replayed the last week in his mind. He knew everything had been quiet since
Rayne’s uncle, Drago, had mated Alicia McKennon. The weeks leading up to their
mating had been nuts but since then nothing, nada, zip, zilch. The young
guardsman had even done extra training sessions and missed out on the party one
of his brethren had thrown in the woods. So when he knocked on Rayne’s door, he
was clueless as to why he’d been called.

Kyndel, the Commander’s mate,
answered the door with smile on her face and their son on her hip. “Come on,
Rayne is out back. Grab something to drink on your way through the kitchen. I
have to put Jay down for his nap.”

Tomas walked out onto the
patio and waited for Rayne to acknowledge his presence, just as his training
dictated. His wait was short as the Commander spoke over his shoulder, “This is
an informal request, Tomas. Come on up here and let’s talk.”

Unsure how to act, the young
guardsman did as he had been instructed. Several tense minutes passed before
Rayne turned to him with a furrowed brow and began speaking. “I have a favor to
ask. Not as your Commander but as a fellow Guardsman. It is a big one and
please feel free to say no if you don’t feel comfortable with my request.”

Tomas nodded.

Rayne went on, “You know that
we found a focus stone along with my uncle, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir? What’s with the
formalities?” Royce teased as he walked out onto patio.

“It’s a sign of respect.
Something you should also be showing me,” Rayne joked before adding, “I was
just about to ask him. You’re early.”

Tomas’ intuition said
whatever was happening was important and not something he should take lightly.
His suspicions were confirmed when Rayne turned back to him. “Okay, where were
we? Oh yes, the focus stone. Anyway, no one here, not even Calysta or Kyra know
what this thing is. We all know it holds power but other than that, it’s a
total mystery, and no matter what anyone tries, they can’t purify. The worst
part is it seems to be gaining strength and we have no clue if its magic is
white or black. It appears to flip flop, depending on who’s around it. Needless
to say, it needs to be studied. There is an Elder, the oldest of our kin, who
has the power and knowledge to study it. His name is Maddox and he lives in the
North Country.”

The Commander paused, looked
at Royce, shook his head, and went on, “I hate to ask this of you, but I need you
to take the stone to Maddox. I would do it but I have to get Kyndel and Jay
back to our lair for Christmas. Lance and Devon have already left so that
Siobhan can be in her own home for the holiday and they can be with their
mates. Royce has to stay with Kyra while Calysta is convalescing and to be
honest, I want it to be one of my clan that delivers it to the Elder, not a
blue dragon. I just have a feeling it’s our responsibility. I know it’s a lot
to ask but if you leave today, you should be able to be back at our lair in
time for Christmas dinner. Whatcha say, Tomas, will you do this for me?”

There was never a question in
the young Guardsman’s mind. Of course, he would do whatever Rayne MacLendon
asked of him. Without hesitation, Tomas nodded. “Absolutely, sir.”

Royce chuckled behind him.
“Again with the sir. Boy, you’re gonna give the Commander here a big head.”

“Shut up, Royce,” Rayne
growled over Tomas’ head before looking him in the eyes. “Thank you very much.
I owe you, big time. Now go in the house and Kyra will give you the instructions
on handling the stone. She also has the coordinates of Maddox’s lair. He’s sort
of a lone dragon, one of a kind.”

Tomas got his instructions
from Royce’s tiny mate, packed his duffle, called forth his dragon, and took to
the sky, remembering what his Commander had said…

“…if you leave today, you
should be able to be back at our lair in time for Christmas dinner.”

Sounds good. What could go
wrong?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Calysta was tired of lying in
bed, tired of feeling like an invalid, and really tired of her sister, Della,
and Kyra fussing over her every minute of every day. The Grand Priestess knew
she’d been through a serious ordeal. Hell, she was the
one
that had gone
through it. And after all she’d endured they treated her like a china doll. No
one would talk about it in front of her. They all acted like she might break
apart if they mentioned Cleland or the
Dorcha
or Goddess forbid,
Thanatos. 

Sighing to herself, she
slowly got out bed, thanking the Universe for her enhanced healing but cursing
that even a week and half of lying around she still ached from the iron that
had yet to leave her system. One thing was for sure, Cleland knew how to
inflict pain on a witch. He was one son of a bitch she’d been glad to hear made
his way to Hell before he died. Unfortunately, if the dreams she was having
were any indication of what he’d done before his demise, they were all in
serious trouble.

The Grand Priestess thought
about her last nightmare, trying to see something, anything she’d missed
before. The images played back in her mind. She saw the young girl, Mara, who
had slipped Cleland’s mind control and was actually trying to help Calysta
before the girl just disappeared.

In her dream, the young witch
was walking through the forest. The ground beneath her feet turned brown with
each step. Every plant and tree withered as she passed. The birds and animals,
even the insects scurried out of her path, literally running for their lives.

Reaching a clearing Calysta
didn’t remembering ever seeing in her waking hours, but that somehow felt
familiar, Mara walked around the perimeter, leaving a scorched circle in her
path. As she returned to the spot where she began, the young witch, uttered,
“Se’alaithe,”
closing the circle she’d created.

Sitting on the ground at what
Calysta could see was the top of her circle, Mara looked up, as if she somehow
knew the Grand Priestess was watching, and in a low, otherworldly voice
whispered, “All hail, Thanatos, Death incarnate. We wait your arrival.”

Mara eyes turned from their
once sparkling cornflower blue to a smoky gray right before she smiled an evil
smile and began to chant. What Calysta heard made her blood run cold and sweat
roll down her back. The young witch was reciting the words to the spell that
would bring Thanatos to the earth. It simply wasn’t possible. The spell was
hidden at the coven and only one other person other than the Grand Priestess
knew where it was and she was without reproach…or was she?     

 

Coming December 1, 2015
as part of the Alphas Unwrapped Anthology

And as a Stand Alone
Novel on December 18, 2015

“Her Dragon’s No Angel”

Take one snowbound dragon,
combine with one Christmas Angel, throw in a healthy dose of an attraction only
the Universe could have conjured and top with the largest blizzard in a hundred
years.

Now sit back and enjoy the
show! This one's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Fate Will Not Be Denied but
Heaven’s Got a Plan of Its Own!

Here’s also an excerpt from

Vidalia: A ‘Not-Quite’ Vampire Love
Story

From Julia’s ‘Not-Quite’ Love Story Series

 

“Morning, Vi.”

“Hey Reggie. What we got?”

“Same as the others. Only
looks like this one might’ve gotten a piece of her attacker.”

My assistant, Reggie, pointed
to what appeared to be a swatch of fabric still clutched in the victim’s hand.
Hopefully, she’d also scratched the scumbag who’d thrown her off the balcony of
her thirtieth floor penthouse. With any luck, we’d be able to get some DNA and
put the person who was doing this behind bars. I know it was a long shot. Up
until now, there hasn’t even been a speck of dust outta place at any of the
crimes scenes, let alone any usable evidence. Finding something was a shot in
the dark, but it was the only shot we had. 

Dealing with the sixth
homicide in as many days, all with the same MO., (jugular
and
carotid
cut, drained of all blood then thrown off a high rise building into a busy
intersection) was frustrating to say the least. The part both my office and the
Police Department were keeping to ourselves was the fact that each vic also
sported the letter ‘V’ carved into a very intimate part of their body. This
marking was undetectable by anyone but their mother, their lover, their
gynecologist, or in this case, the Medical Examiner. And… that would be me,
Vidalia Fitzsimmons.

There are three things you need
to know about me before we go any farther. I’m the heiress to the Fitzsimmons’
Vidalia onion empire and as southern as the day is long. (Now, you get the
name, right?) I’ll be thirty in less than two months, my curves have curves,
I’m in love with the man of my dreams, and I have great hair (not conceited,
just honest. Put away the claws). And… I’m a vampire. (Not the biting kind. The
cursed kind.) Any questions?

Before you go thinking too
hard, let me answer the number one question I’ve been asked my whole life. Why
did one of the richest men in Georgia with a pedigree that rivaled British
royalty and a wife that was not only a trophy, but also the love of his life,
name his only child, Vidalia? It’s simple. My daddy only ever truly loved three
things: me, Momma, and his onions…Vidalia, Viviana, and Vidalia. It’s a
Southern thing, just go with it.

Number two question: why is a
pretty socialite like me a Medical Examiner? Well, you see, this is easier for
y’all to grasp than those that don’t
really know
me. Suffice it to say I
don’t go around flashing my “V Card” to everyone (vampire, not virgin…keep up).
I may not be the ‘bite first, ask questions later’ type of vamp, but I am still
a vamp, and that means blood is food. But here’s the kicker…it’s gotta be
‘live’ blood. So in the morgue, with
my
patients, I’m good. I became a
vampire
after
I became a doctor and wasn’t willing to give up my
passion, hence Medical Examiner.

This leads me to another
important fact you need to know about me. I have no fangs. I know you’re
thinking that isn’t possible, fangs are essential to a vamp. You might even be
thinking, ‘she’s just bat-shit crazy’, and let me tell you there are days I
think you might be right, but today isn’t one of them.

 

About Julia

Julia
Mills is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Dragon
Guard Series. She admits to being a sarcastic, southern woman that would rather
spend all day laughing than a minute crying. She has two of the most amazing
daughters ever created, a menagerie of animals and a voracious appetite for
reading. She decided to write the stories running through her brain and is
having an absolute blast!! She read her first book, Dr Suess' Cat in The Hat
and has been hooked ever since.
 

She
believes a good book along with shoes, makeup and purses will never let a girl
down. She knows for a fact that all heroes in all the books she has ever read
or will ever write pale in comparison to her hero, her dad! She's a sucker for
a happy ending and loves some hot sweaty sex with a healthy dose of romance.

She's
still working on her story but can guarantee you that it'll contain as love and
laughter as she can cram into it!!!!! Dare to Dream! Have the Strength to Try
EVERYTHING! Never Look Back!

 

Julia
absolutely adores stalkers so look her up on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/JLakeMills?ref=hl
and sign up for her
newsletter at JuliaMillsAuthor.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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