Chapter Twenty-Two – Magnus

She was behind him; her presence gave him comfort as he led them through the small opening and along the narrow tunnel that led to the cave where his treasure lay gleaming and beautiful as several flashlights flickered over it.

“You are right, it does sing to me,” Magnus told his mate.

She moved to stand beside him, her hand searching for his. Fingers entwined as she found his hand. Just as their souls were entwined.

Before his memories were restored he’d known she was his, felt it in his blood, in every beat of his heart. However, since his memories were restored, and his dragon released, the bond between them had grown stronger. It stretched out over time and distance. Unbreakable and strong.

“It is,” Ruby agreed. “But this is not why we came.”

Magnus took a weary breath and then exhaled. A shudder passed through him. “She’s through there. I can just about sense her.”

Ruby shook her head. “I don’t know why I didn’t sense her before.”

“Because you were consumed with your mate,” Fiona told her gently. “When you first meet a mate, it’s all-consuming for you and your dragon. Like first love. Heady and breathtaking, it knocks you senseless.”

“I never knew you felt that way about me,” Harlan said as he joined them.

“I might not have been talking from experience,” Fiona told him acidly, which earned her a kiss on the cheek. “What was that for?”

“Because I love you.” Harlan switched his attention to Magnus. “Do you want us to go first?”

“No.” He had resolved to see this through. “Whatever is waiting for us… Emilia is my sister.” He took the vial from his pocket and looked at it. Could something so small really wake a great beast?

“The old priest at the temple knows what he’s doing,” Tiberius offered.

Magnus glanced at Tiberius. “I have no doubt. My concern is if Perry got the spellmaker to add something else to the Ancient Slumber spell.”

Ruby took a sharp breath. “Like he did to you, making you forget your memories.”

“Exactly.” Magnus pocketed the vial. “Shall we proceed?”

Without waiting for an answer, he strode toward a concealed tunnel at the back of the cave. This section was lower, and they had to duck down. His hair brushed the low stone roof of the tunnel, but he carried on. His senses prickled as they drew closer, the hairs on his neck and lower arms rose as the air filled with static electricity. This wasn’t the same as his cave.

When the tunnel ended abruptly, opening out into a wider cave, he stood up, his throat constricted as he looked down on a sleeping dragon. She was more beautiful than he remembered, her scales a shimmering mass of turquoise, like a warm ocean on a summer’s day.

“Oh, my!” Helena’s gasp echoed around the cave. “What’s this?” She reached out, but Tiberius grabbed her hand and pulled it back.

“There’s a barrier of some kind. Let’s not touch it until we know it won’t harm us. This was put here to protect Emilia from anyone who might try to hurt her or get her treasure.” He let go of his wife’s hand and she dropped it to her side.

“This wasn’t here when I saw her just before I went to sleep. He must have put it here afterward. Perry truly did not want anyone else to have her.” Magnus stared at the sleeping dragon. “Is there a way to break through?”

“It might take some time.” Tiberius took a step closer, picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it gently toward Emilia’s dragon.

“Duck.” Alex covered Sapphi with his body as the stone rebounded off and flew back at them like a bullet.

Leaving a slash of red across his forearm, it grazed Tiberius, who appeared oblivious to the wound as he worked his way closer to the perimeter. Helena followed, her concern evident from the smoke coming from her nostrils and the way the air shimmered around her. She was fighting to contain her dragon who wanted to launch herself at the invisible barrier that had caused harm to her mate.

“It’s a good thing Tiberius came. If anyone can get Emilia out, he can,” Sapphi said, moving to stand next to Ruby, with Alex on her other side. “Can you tell what it is?”

“I have an idea.” Tiberius held out his hands and closed his eyes. While he worked, Magnus pushed his dragon senses to their limit, questing for an answer to what surrounded his sister like a barrier. It was solid yet invisible.

“Air has to be able to get inside, right? Or else Emilia would have suffocated.” Sapphi’s voice echoed off the walls of the cavern, breaking the silence.

Tiberius turned back to face the others. “Yes, air can get in and out. I believe the more force exerted by an object that comes into contact with it, the greater the force used to repel.”

Magnus stepped forward, approaching the barrier. “Let’s test that theory.” He reached out and touched his hand to the barrier, the palm of his hand buzzing as he neared it. Slowly, moving almost imperceptibly, he touched the barrier.

It didn’t work. He wasn’t thrown back, but his palm would go no further. They were defeated, the vial in his pocket useless.

“Can you do anything?” Fiona asked as they all gazed at the sleeping dragon beyond the barrier.

“I will return to the temple and seek out the knowledge to remove the barrier.” He took a step forward and stood side by side with Magnus. “She’s safe in there.”

Magnus nodded. “Maybe it is for the best. If she awoke now, she would not have her mate. For all we know he may be long dead. Perhaps it is better if she sleeps on.”

“Do you really believe that?” Tiberius asked.

Magnus lifted his head and smiled sadly. “It is the only way to stop my dragon from throwing himself against this barrier until it breaks.” Then he shifted his attention to Ruby. “That and the thought of breaking our mate’s heart.”

“I’ll do everything I can to free her, Magnus,” Tiberius promised.

“Thank you, you are a good friend to dragons.” Magnus placed his hand on Tiberius’s shoulder before speaking to everyone else gathered around. “Thank you all.”

He hid his bitter disappointment from the others, but when Ruby joined him, it was impossible to hide it from his mate. “We will free her.”

He pushed her hair back from her face, then brushed away a smudge of dirt from her cheek. “She’s at peace. If fate woke me at the right time for me to meet my mate, perhaps it works the same for Emilia.”

“And we’ll always be here, watching over her,” Ruby assured him.

“We will.” He watched the others as they crawled back along the tunnel, their flashlights growing fainter and darkness crowded in on them. “But we have our lives to lead too. I have spent too long in the past. I want to celebrate my future with you.”

“We can have both.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. “We can have it all because we’re mighty dragons.”

He chuckled, his disappointment diminishing. “We are mighty dragons.” Their lips met, and he infused his kiss with all the love and longing that she had awoken in his heart. They were one, they had the rest of their lives together to look forward to and one day the selfish actions of Peregrine Manning would be undone. Emilia would get her happy ever after and be as happy as he was with his mate.

“This mighty dragon needs her bed,” Ruby said as they parted.

“There is one more thing I would like to do before we sleep.” A wave of fear passed over him. It would take a while to let go of the innate fear his dragon had of going to sleep and not waking up again for a few centuries.

“Which is?” Ruby asked.

“You’ll see.” He took her hand and they clambered over the cave floor, strewn with rocks and boulders, before squeezing along the low tunnel before entering the cave where his treasure lay. The others were gathered there waiting. “I just need a moment.”

Leaving Ruby, he walked around the edge of his hoard, allowing his senses to roam as he sought out a certain gem. When he located it, he parted the sea of gold with his hands and reached out for an ornate box. Flipping the lid open, his eyes widened. He’d found it.

The gold rippled as he waded through it to where his mate stood with her sister and mother. Taking Ruby’s hand, he dropped down on one knee. “Ruby red dragon, will you marry me?”

He took the ring, adorned with a giant ruby and offered it to her. “If you do not like it, you can choose another.” His face cracked into a smile. “You can have every ounce of my treasure if you will be my wife.”

Ruby’s eyes misted with tears and she pulled him to his feet. “This is perfect.”

“That means yes?” Magnus asked, needing to be sure. In this mixed up modern world, he wanted to be sure.

She nodded. “It means yes.” Ruby threw her arms around him, and kissed him, the cave echoing with her laughter. “A thousand times yes.”

With one last look over his shoulder to where his sister slept, Magnus left the cave to emerge in the open air as the first rays of the sun peeked over the distant horizon. They shifted and worked quickly to block the trail once more, and then flew home like a flock of monstrous birds.

Despite his sadness over Emilia, his dragon rejoiced. In his past life, he had always flown as a solitary dragon, hiding from the world and hiding his broken promise from his sister. Those days were gone. He was part of something bigger.

This dragon had truly awoken, and his love for his mate and her family would grow stronger day by day.

Emilia’s book is next! Who will awaken our sleeping dragon? Sign up here and I’ll drop you an email as soon as it’s released.

Below I’ve also included the first book of my Wolf Valley Raiders Series as a bonus so you can get to know the characters from Wolf Valley. Enjoy!