Pierce eyed me warily. “Are you certain we can talk about this in front of her?”

“Oh, come on.” Jasmine, his mate, elbowed him. “You could talk about it in front of me, couldn’t you? And I’m not one of your kind.”

No, she wasn’t. She didn’t look like she was one of my kind, either. She looked like she might be something else. Something other than human. She was special, sort of sparkly, moving with fluid grace. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

What the hell had I walked into?

“All right,” he said. “I know when I’m beaten. What is it you’re asking, then?”

Owen folded his arms, looking stern. “Do you remember the specifics of coming here? When you arrived, you ken. Were you greeted by the coven?”

“No, they were nowhere to be found,” he recalled, stroking his chin. “I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking on it as of late. I’m sure we all have. There are parts of those early days that stand out to me as clear as day. Other parts are rather murky. But I do remember hearing that we were supposed to meet up with those from the coven who had already come over. This was exactly where we were supposed to meet them, and we’d been told by those who’d stayed behind, in Scotland, that they would need our assistance. I assumed at the time it was protection they required, but they weren’t here. We never saw them. There was a message which has long since been lost, telling us they’d left possessions here for safekeeping and that we were to guard them. As we’d been sent to attend their needs, we took this upon ourselves and have been doing so ever since.”

I could barely breathe. They’d been here all this time on nothing more than the strength of an oath they’d made to protect the coven. A coven that had probably been wiped out by the time they arrived.

“You never even had proof that the treasure existed here,” I whispered. When three pairs of eyes turned my way, I blushed like mad. “Sorry, sorry. Sometimes my inner voice sneaks out of my mouth.”

Pierce grinned. “I have that problem myself. And you’re correct. Our oath was not only to protect the treasures of the coven, but to attend to their needs. They needed us. We did what we could to fulfill their wishes.”

I looked at Owen.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“I’m thinking… that either a third party intercepted them and took the treasure for themselves, probably killing the coven in the process, or that the coven handed the treasure over to somebody else before you got here because they were being pursued and couldn’t stay in one spot for too long. Somebody they trusted.”

Owen nodded. “I thought along the same lines, which was why I wished to speak with you, Pierce. The tale told by the runes is very nice, and it sheds something of a light on what the coven faced while they were here without you, but it finally occurred to me that you are the only ones who’ve ever lived here. From the beginning. Would you not know if the coven had granted you this treasure for safekeeping? Of course you would, but you didn’t. Because they did not give it directly to you. They either hid it here before you arrived—”

“Which we’ve always assumed, based upon the message,” Pierce interjected.

“Right. Or, as the brilliant Molly pointed out, they might have given it to a third party. Someone they trusted. Someone who shared similar powers to their own. A group which we know split off centuries ago and spread throughout the known world. There is a chance they were here, isn’t there?”

“Who?” Jasmine asked, sliding her hand into Pierce’s.

“The Gwydions.”

I had the feeling this was important, but I had no idea why.

“Who are they?” I whispered, looking at everyone else.

“You think they were the ones to hide the treasure here?” Pierce asked, eyes narrowing. “Why would they?”

“That’s just it. I don’t believe they hid the treasure here at all. In fact, I’d be willing to bet they split it up among themselves. Some of them might have gone their own way, or their children or grandchildren did.”

A lightbulb went on in my head. I didn’t know who these Gwydions were, but I could follow his train of thought. “But they kept the pieces they took! Wait a minute. Are you saying I’m descended from these Gwydions? Not witch hunters?”

“I think they might have been the witch hunters all along. Think about it,” he urged Pierce. “What if they were here and they, I know not what to call it. What if they sensed the presence of the coven when they arrived? They didn’t want the competition. They decided to murder the witches and blame it on humans, thus strengthening the distrust between those of our kind and the human settlers in the area.”

“That would mean we were here for nothing, all along,” Pierce mused. He didn’t look thrilled about this.

“Not for nothing. You guarded the mountain. You kept yourselves safe from those who would harm you.” Jasmine rested her head on his shoulder.

“I would go a step further and say this was the only place in which you would ever have been safe from the Gwydions,” Owen theorized. “After all, this is the only mountain around which we can fly without being seen. The coven placed protective spells around it.”

I gasped and grabbed his arm. “What if they did it because they knew the Gwydions were coming, and the clan was coming, and they didn’t want the dragons to walk into a trap? If the Gwydions were lying in wait, they could’ve surprised them and wiped them out if they wanted to.”

“Yes!” Owen took my face in his hands and kissed me hard enough to take my breath away.

I was a little dizzy when he pulled away again, and I leaned against him for balance.

Pierce nodded, lost in thought. “Yes. I can see it. It makes sense. I’ll spread the word to the others. The witches would do well to keep this in mind while translating the runes. It might make their work easier if they know what to look for.”

“This is just a theory,” I reminded him, even though my heart raced and I knew right down to my toes that it had to be true.

I didn’t know any of these people—dragons, witches, humans, whatever Jasmine happened to be, but I cared deeply about them. I felt like I was part of them already. Their success was my success. And whenever I was really, truly sure about something, I felt the way I did.

Which was the same way I felt when I looked at Owen. Sure of myself. Absolutely, 100% positive.

“You are a marvel,” he whispered, burying his hands in my hair and drawing me neared. He touched his forehead to mine, his eyes closing. “An absolute marvel.”

“I was only guessing,” I reminded him. “You got the wheels turning in my head. I have to admit, this is all pretty exciting. It’s like putting a puzzle together.”

“And we’re not finished yet.” He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. “This is what you want? I’m what you want?”

There went that feeling again. That complete certainty. Nothing could’ve changed my mind. Not even a Gwydion—whatever that was.

“You’re what I want. We are what I want.”

His smile was slow, sweet, full of promise. “I can think of something else I want right about now, Miss Molly. I believe we have a matter to settle between us if this is to be official.”

“Do we now?” Somebody had taken out my heart and replaced it with a bass drum, pounding away in my chest.

“Mm-hmm. Have you seen my bedroom yet? It’s a lot like the one you were in earlier.”

“Is it? Hmm. Maybe I should check it out?” I suggested, but I couldn’t help giggling. “I mean, just to compare the two of them. And there’s something I think we should do after that.”

He pulled me close, his hands on my waist. “We won’t have to think about afterward for a while, since I intend to take my time. Over and over again.”

The most delicious shiver ran down my spine, but I managed to hold it together instead of melting into a puddle at his feet—the way I wanted to. “Okay, after that, then. If you have the energy.”

“It depends,” he laughed. “What did you have in mind?”

I bit down on my lip but couldn’t hold back a smile. “I’ve always wanted to go flying.”