Dragonbane

  Stunned, Seraphina tried to make sense of this. "Are you telling me that you're Katagaria?"

  Everything went still in the room. As if every one of them waited with bated breath for his response and her reaction.

  "Yes," he squeaked.

  Seraphina winced at the underlying hesitation in her son's voice. "Oh, Hadyn." Choking on tears, she went to him and nuzzled his snout like she'd done Maxis's earlier. "Precious! How could you think for one moment that I wouldn't love you for this?"

  "Oh, I don't know. The fact that you're a dragonslayer who wears boots made from the hides of dragons you've slain?"

  "Like father, like son." She held her hand out toward Maxis while she stroked her son's scaly cheek. "I don't care what form you take, boy. You are still the baby I carried inside me. The angel I nursed and protected. How could you think for one second that I could ever hate you for something you can't help?"

  Edena slapped his stomach. "Told you."

  Hadyn popped her with his tail.

  "Mom!"

  "Hadyn, stop hitting your sister with your tail."

  "She started it."

  Seraphina turned to Maxis. "Would you do something?"

  "Like what?"

  "Talk to them? What did you do when your brothers fought?"

  He shrugged. "Let them. They usually stopped once the bleeding got bad."

  Hadyn laughed. Edena looked horrified.

  Laughing, Max brushed past Sera so that he could finally get a look at his children. It was such a strange feeling to be with strangers that were his. Yet a part of him knew it. Could sense it.

  "May I hug you?" he asked Edena.

  Tears glistened in her eyes before she threw herself against him. Hadyn returned to being human so that he could launch himself against Max's back and wedge him between them.

  Seraphina couldn't breathe as she watched them. In that moment, she truly hated herself for what she'd done. Tears blurred her vision as she watched her children with the father who should never have been a stranger to them.

  As if sensing her sadness, Maxis reached his hand out to her and pulled her into their embrace. She took his hand and allowed them to swallow her with their cocoon.

  Until Hadyn protested that his ribs hurt. Stepping back, he returned to being a dragon.

  Maxis smiled at Edena, then Hadyn, before he turned to Blaise. "Can I ask a favor?"

  "Of course."

  "The gallu aren't going to stop and neither will the two packs coming for me. This is a blood feud that is centuries old. I need my children where they can't reach them."

  "You want me to take them to Avalon?"

  "Please. It's the one place I know is beyond their reach."

  Hadyn and Edena immediately protested.

  Seraphina wanted to argue, too, but she knew Maxis was right. This was the only way to keep them safe. They'd already been punished by the gods for her actions. She didn't want them in the line of fire again. "He's right. It's just for a few days. I promise. Go with your uncle and we'll get you soon."

  As Blaise started to leave, Max stopped him. "Tell Merlin not to worry. I have not forgotten my oath or my duties. Should I fall, guardianship will go to Falcyn and then to you."

  He arched a brow. "Not to Hadyn?"

  Max shook his head. "I would never do that to him. The curse of it's too strong."

  "So you give it to us. Thanks, brother."

  Max laughed. "Getting you both back for all the years of hell you've given me."

  Blaise sobered. "I'll tell her. You be careful."

  "And you." He kissed Edena's cheek and hugged Hadyn one more time.

  It took Seraphina longer to say good-bye. With the exception of Nala taking them, they'd never been separated before. "I will come for you very soon. I love you both."

  "Love you." Edena kissed her cheek.

  Hadyn hugged and kissed her. "Love you, Matera."

  "I love you. Guard your sister."

  "I will." And then they were gone.

  Alone with Maxis and Illarion, Seraphina felt so strangely empty. She'd been a mother for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to be by herself. To not have to look over her shoulder to make sure her children were keeping up with her and not falling behind.

  Now ...

  "We have to prepare for war."

  Maxis nodded.

  Illarion went to the disembodied head. I'll take care of this. He wrapped it up in a T-shirt. His eyes sad, he locked gazes with Maxis. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this. Then he looked at Seraphina. And I'm sorry I've been so rude to you the entire time you've been here. You're not really the one who fucked my brother's life over and ruined it, my lady. I am. And I swear to you both that I won't take my hatred for myself out on you anymore. Please forgive me.

  10

  Max grabbed Illarion's arm as he started to leave. "You have nothing to apologize for where I'm concerned." He cracked a chiding grin. "That being said, you could have been a little kinder to my dragonswan."

  The tormented agony in Illarion's gaze was searing. How can you not hate me? At the very least, blame me or curse me for what I've done to you?

  Max buried his hand in Illarion's long hair and locked gazes with him so that he could see the sincerity in his heart. "Would my life without you have been better? Really? Let's say that none of this had happened. That I remained a fully blooded drakomas. Where would I be now? In a cave somewhere alone like you were, enduring in Avalon? You're right, Illy. You're a rank, effing bastard to spare me that god-awful fate. I should take you outside right now and beat the shit out of you for doing this to me."

  Illarion snorted. I hate you.

  Smiling, he tightened his grip in his brother's hair before he released him. "I hate you, too."

  Then Illarion did the one thing he hadn't done since he was a small dragonet. He pulled Max into a tight hug and held him there.

  When he finally stepped back, he refused to look him in the eye, as if the action embarrassed him too much to acknowledge. I'll check on the others. I'm sure the two of you could use a moment to yourselves to catch your breath, and decide what to do about her tribe and the demons out to claim you.

  "Thanks."

  Illarion inclined his head to him, then left.

  Suddenly alone with Seraphina, Max turned around, unsure of what to say. She'd blown back into his life like an unseen whirlwind and brought all manner of devastation and revelations in her wake. It was almost as swift and startling as Illarion's unexpected return after centuries of absence. Honestly, the two of them had left him reeling and feeling ungrounded and dizzy.

  While Illarion's return had required him to reorient his living arrangements--he'd been forced to learn how to share his attic space with another dragon--this ...

  This changed everything. The fact that he was a father completely redefined who and what he was, as well as where his loyalties and responsibilities lay.

  He had a family now.

  His first priority was no longer protecting the Peltier members and the Sa'l Sangue Realle. It was protecting his own progeny and ensuring they lived.

  Never before had Max regretted being marked as the Dragonbane. He hadn't even tried to defend himself during the trial.

  Now ...

  His family needed him to not be hunted. For the first time ever, he regretted that long-ago day and the decision he'd made to throw away his life. What had seemed like a simple solution then, now had lethal, unforeseen consequences.

  How do I undo this?

  He had no idea.

  Seraphina approached Max slowly, unsure of his suddenly somber mood. What to say to ease him. There was a peculiar air about him that she couldn't quite make out. But one thing was obvious ...

  "You're bleeding." She took his arm to lead him back toward his ... well, she hesitated to call that straw spread out on the floor a bed. Anything else might insult him. "You need to clean your wounds before an infection sets in."

  "They'll h
eal."

  She wanted to argue, but he would know better than she. Still ... "I would feel better if you allowed me to tend them."

  Finally, his gaze softened. Some of the rigidity left his limbs.

  She brushed her hand against the bloodstain on his shirt and scowled at it. "How are you able to hold human form and be wounded like this?"

  He shrugged. "I'm a different beast. With the exception of Illarion and me, the others they caught to form the Were-Hunters were all draconi." Smaller in stature, they were more animal in nature than their larger drakomai cousins. They also lacked the same magical and psionic abilities.

  "How did a god not know the difference?"

  "I don't think he cared. Or maybe he did and he was trying out the different drako breeds to see which would merge better with Apollite DNA before he mixed our blood with Lycaon's son." He sighed. "In the end, does it really matter?"

  Not really. Her heart aching for what they'd done to him and his brother, she pulled the shirt over his head to examine the wounds on his human body. Wounds she knew were probably deeper on his dragon form, yet hidden by his magick--as he often did his mark. He must have fought them ferociously for their children. But then, that was what he did best. Fight and bleed for what he protected. "How did you get away?"

  "I fought."

  Biting back a smile at his verbal confirmation of her thoughts, she traced the ridges of his hard abdomen. His body had always been among the best of any male. Liberally sprinkled with dark golden hairs, that body had tempted and pleased her to the brink of madness. She'd once spent hours raking her fingernails over the peaks and valleys of his ripped chest and powerful legs. The Greek prince he'd been merged with must have been quite spectacular back in the day. No wonder Lycaon had been so determined to save his son's life.

  Maxis caught her hand in his. "Why do you touch me when I know how disgusted you are by my breed?"

  Those heartfelt words choked her. "You never disgusted me, Maxis. You only scare me."

  "Scare you?"

  She nodded as she confessed the one secret she'd always kept from him. It was time to let him know the truth. To let him see her heart and real fears. Why she'd pulled away from him when she should have embraced every part of her dragon lord. "I've fought enough dragons to know how powerful you really are, even though you try to hide it. The very air around you sizzles with the energy you pull. As I said, the fact you can hold your alternate body while in this amount of pain ... No one else can do that."

  "That's no reason to fear me."

  She let out a nervous, contradictory laugh. "It's every reason to fear you. You are the Dragonbane. You drew first blood for no reason."

  He pulled back as if she'd slapped him. "So that's it, then? You judge me without knowing. You've seen my heart and still you're blind to it?"

  "No, now you're the one being unfair."

  "How do you figure?"

  "If I didn't care, do you think I'd have carried your young while never knowing if they were human or dragon? Every day I was pregnant, I was terrified of what would come out of me."

  He snorted dismissively. "Because you feared you wouldn't be able to love a true-born dragonet."

  Tears blurred her vision as he spoke her eternal shame out loud. "In part. You're right. I was afraid of that. But every time I thought of purging them from me, I couldn't. Because I remembered the way you held me, protected me. How you endured the mistreatment of my tribe in silence so that you wouldn't hurt my feelings, and it made me determined to keep that part of you, no matter what."

  "You saw?"

  She nodded. "And I hate myself for saying nothing."

  In that moment, as she stared up into his hurt gaze, she saw the same painful memory haunting him that still haunted her.

  Seraphina had just ridden back from a particularly dangerous mission. Because they'd been on the brink of war with another Amazon tribe, Nala had stayed behind with a contingency of warriors to defend the village should it come under attack, and sent Seraphina out to lead their forces against the dragons they'd spotted.

  Exhausted and wounded after losing half her hunting party to the Katagaria, Seraphina had done nothing but dream of returning home and sleeping for a few hours. Of curling up to Maxis's warm body and having him hold her until she forget the rancid smells of battle.

  Instead, Nala had issued an immediate summons for an audience on her return.

  Fresh from the kill, Seraphina had gone to her queen and bowed low, thinking the matter had to do with their hunt or the Amazons threatening to invade their lands.

  She couldn't have been more wrong.

  Nala had risen from her throne--something that was never a good sign. "We have had it with that thing you've dragged into our village and forced us to tolerate for years now so that you'd have a playmate."

  "Pardon?"

  "Your rabid mate! He attacked me!"

  Seraphina's jaw had dropped. "Excuse me?"

  Nala pointed to the remains of a deep-purple bruise on her arm. "Your animal attacked. Unprovoked. He is disobedient. Disrespectful ... Dangerous! What if he'd attacked one of the children? Or someone else's mate who couldn't protect himself?"

  "Basilinna, please. I'm sure--"

  "No! No more of your excuses. He is an animal unleashed that you've left unattended, to walk amongst us without any rules or boundaries. We, I, cannot allow him to roam around, unchecked. Not after this. The time has come for you to choose--your sisters or your beast. I will not excuse this!" She gestured at her injured arm.

  "Am I being cast out?"

  "No. You are to submit him for a harrowing. Only then will I allow him to stay in our village, but only so long as you keep him chained like the wild animal he is. If you disagree, I will have him executed."

  Terrified, Seraphina had gulped audibly. Maxis would never tolerate being kept chained down. And she couldn't blame him.

  Nala threw a collar at her. "Bring him to me within the hour for his punishment or I'll send a tessera for his head."

  Her hands shaking, she'd picked the collar up and slid it into her satchel. A part of her had wanted to beg, desperately, for Nala to change her mind. But she knew it would be useless. Nala was too angry.

  And she was queen. Her word was the law they all lived and died by.

  Unable to fight Nala's command, Seraphina had headed to her tent, where she found Maxis waiting with his meager handful of clothes already packed.

  The instant he saw her face, he'd visibly winced. "I guess you heard."

  "That you bruised my basilinna? Of course! What were you thinking?" She would never forget the look on his face. He dared to appear as if she'd slapped him for no reason. And that had only made her angrier.

  "I was going to move into my cave, but I didn't want to do so until your return. I thought it rude not to say good-bye and tell you where I was going. I know how upset you get when you don't know where I am. Now that you're back ... I think it's for the best. No one else here knows where it is."

  "That's it, then? That's your solution? Aren't you at least going to apologize?"

  Total shock filled his eyes and expression. "For what?"

  "Embarrassing me? Assaulting the leader of my tribe? Does any of this sound familiar?"

  Scowling, he glared at her. "I asked you to leave with me."

  "Is that your answer? I didn't abandon my duties and tribe for you, at your command, so it's all right for you to assault them whenever I leave?"

  "I didn't say that."

  Furious, she'd watched as he picked his pack up and slung it over his back, then his sword and fur cape. A furious tic had worked in his jaw, as if he had some right to be angry after what he'd done to them both. They were lucky Nala wasn't calling for both their lives. "I'll be at the cave whenever you have your cravings for me."

  As he started past her, she'd taken his arm to stop him. "Wait, Maxis."

  He paused to look down at her with an expression of hopeful expectation that had qu
ickly melted to sad resignation as he realized she wasn't going to stop him from leaving.

  Sighing, he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

  And as soon as he was about to kiss her, she'd clapped the collar around his neck and turned it on.

  His breathing had turned instantly ragged as he dropped everything he held and tried to pull it off. Since she'd never worn a collar, she hadn't known it would be painful. But as he staggered to his knees, panting and desperate to remove it, she realized that it wasn't just prohibiting his magick. It was actually hurting him.

  "What have you done to me?" His tone had been filled with utter agony.

  "Nala has demanded a harrowing. It's time you learned your place."

  His eyes widening, he'd glared at her with such fury that she'd actually stepped back in fear. "Don't do this, Sera. I will not forgive it."

  "It's too late for that. I have no choice." Grabbing the collar, she tried to drag him to Nala's tent. Then quickly learned how heavy his stubborn, inert weight was.

  With no choice, she'd left him in her tent to tell Nala she had him collared. And as she walked away, his curses for her rang in her ears.

  "You do this, Sera, and I will leave you forever! I promise you, I won't take this lying down! You will regret what you've done. What you allow them to do to me!"

  In retrospect, she wasn't even sure why she'd done it. Nala had never been that good to her. She could blame the humiliation of being called in before her queen on her arrival. Especially given the number of times she'd told Maxis to stay away from the others. Had ordered him to stand down. Her exhaustion on her return ...

  A thousand things that were stupid and poor excuses.

  The only thing she could really say in her defense was that she'd had no idea how brutal they would be to him. Normally, a harrowing was a few lashes of the whip--no more than ten for an ill-behaved mate--a few days in the pit, and a few more weeks of shunning.

  Then everything went back to normal. Since they already shunned Maxis, and he was stronger than most, she hadn't thought much about his being punished, other than it would appease Nala and prevent any more action from being taken against Maxis.

  Yet the instant she told Nala that he was collared and waiting, Nala had led half the village in to drag him out so that they could attack him as if he was solely responsible for every ill a Katagari had ever done an Arcadian. The feral glee in their eyes as they rained down an unimaginable wrath on his body still sent chills over her.