Page 59 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
Epilogue
The next day…
“I’m no’ surprised,” Con said as he and Cullen walked together from the ruins, the others behind them.
Cullen glanced at him. “About?”
“Tamlyn being your mate. Your attempt at no’ getting close would only last for so long.”
Cullen laughed and glanced over his shoulder at Tamlyn, who briefly met his gaze. “I didna want a mate, but it seemed destiny had other plans.”
“That usually happens,” Con said with a grin. It faded quickly. “I doona like leaving you over here alone. If you’re right, our new enemy recognized you before you ever shifted. They’ll be searching for you.”
Cullen watched as Con jumped to the top of the canyon. He quickly followed and faced his King. “My staying makes the most sense. As much as I’d love to bring Tamlyn to our side, she willna go without her friends or the children. Also, after such a divide between cultures, it would be wrong to do that to the dragons.”
“Things have no’ been going as smoothly as we’d hoped with Jeyra there. The dragons doona seem to care that she’s Varek’s mate. They know her as human. It’s why I have her and Varek on Earth for the time being.” Con turned his head to look down the canyon at the others. Then his black eyes landed on him once more. “By remaining, we’re breaking the rules that Eurwen and Brandr put in place. We’re going to have to come up with some way to pacify both sides.”
“Right now, the ruins work in our favor. They sprawl over both dragon and human land.”
“Let’s hope that works. At least the canyon is close to the barrier.” Con’s gaze swept the area. “Since our new foe is invisible, I can no’ help but think they’re watching.”
Cullen nodded in agreement. “I’ve been wondering if it’s a rogue King that the twins are no’ aware of. This realm is so different from Earth. With the infants appearing out of nowhere, the humans unable to have bairns, and magical beings we doona have on our realm, anything is possible.”
“I’ve thought of that. I spoke briefly with Brandr about it last night. He’s sure there isna another King or Queen on the realm. He said they would’ve challenged him and Eurwen. I have to agree with that assessment.”
“It’s a possibility. Just as it could be some being we’ve never encountered before.”
Con’s face went hard. “One we can no’ see.”
A gasp to his right caught his attention. He turned to see that Eurwen and Brandr had teleported the others up to the rim of the canyon, but that wasn’t what’d caused the reaction. He followed their gazes to the wildcat walking toward them.
“I’ll be damned,” Cullen said with a smile as he recognized the same big feline that had saved him.
He moved away from Con and waited for the animal to reach him. The wildcat butted its head against him. Cullen smoothed his hand over the cat’s soft fur as it made grunting noises with its eyes closed. After a few more scratches, the cat made its way down the canyon and lay next to the doorway of the ruins, casually waiting on him. Cullen smiled as he realized that the cat was female.
“I sure hope he won’t eat us,” Sian said.
Cullen shook his head. “Shewillna. She’s our friend.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jenefer replied.
Eurwen rubbed her hands together. “I want to pet her.”
“It would be great if you could use her to find our new foe,” Brandr told Cullen.
Cullen met his gaze and grinned. “I was thinking of just that.”
“I think you might need to check on Tamlyn,” Con said with a frown.
Cullen whirled to his mate to find her eyes white. This time, however, she wasn’t writhing in pain.
“She tripped and grabbed one of the stone faces on the way out,” Jenefer explained.
Tamlyn slowly turned her head to Cullen, a smile splitting her face. “I know why I love this place so.”
Cullen made his way to her. “What is it, love?”
A tear fell down her cheek. “It’s called Iron Hall. It was built by Banshees. They continued to expand as they accepted everyone with magic.”
“Where did they go?” Brandr asked.
Another tear. “I don’t know. Something came for everyone here. They just…left.”
Cullen exchanged a look with Con.
“We’ve left the humans to their own devices,” Eurwen said. “We thought that was the answer. If we didn’t bother them, they wouldn’t bother us.”
Brandr shrugged. “We can no’ govern everyone.”
“But something has to be done,” Vaughn replied.
Jenefer put her hand on the hilt of her sword. “Sian, Tamlyn, and I have worked alone for years. We’ve managed a few victories, but it hasn’t been easy. We thought it was better if we didn’t get others involved in our quest, but I think that was the wrong decision.”
Tamlyn blinked, her eyes returning to normal as she looked at Jenefer. “You want to find the other Amazons.”
“I do.” Jenefer looked at the dragons as if daring them to go against her.
Con jerked his chin to Iron Hall. “You have a safe place. Gather those you can trust. It’s the only way your people will stop being victimized. It willna be easy. It will be a difficult road.”
“But you won’t be alone,” Cullen said.
A muscle ticked in Brandr’s jaw. “Doona promise what you can no’ give,” he warned Cullen.
Eurwen put her hand on her brother’s arm. She held his gaze for a moment then looked at Jenefer, Sian, and Tamlyn. “We’re friends now. We’ve set boundaries between our people and yours for a reason. If we join with you, it will start the war we’ve ensured would never happen.”
“It’s already played out on our realm,” Vaughn said.
Con nodded slowly. “We willna allow a repeat here.”
“Then what good is your friendship?” Jenefer asked.
Tamlyn jerked her head to her, astonishment on her face. “Jenefer!”
“It’s a valid question,” Eurwen replied.
Brandr sighed loudly. “As you know, someone is after us. Cullen remaining is our link to each other. If anything happens, cross the barrier. We have Kings patrolling the perimeter. They’ll know what to do if they see any of you. Cullen can also get in contact with us, and we can return if we need to.”
“Thank you,” Jenefer said.
Cullen hid his smile at the relief on Sian’s face.
They said their farewells. Con lingered for a moment longer. He said nothing, but he didn’t have to. Cullen understood what the silence meant.
* * * *
