Chapter Thirteen
The Trail and the Ring
Jakob brought Ciara and the rest of the wyverns down to his lair. He grumped and growled the entire way and this time they took the stairs instead of jumping over the edge. She was half disappointed about that.
The five of them stood just inside the doorway staring into the vast space. How was she supposed to find one little ring and all this stuff?
Jakob held her hand tightly in his. He looked so damn handsome and the fancy suit he put on. All of the guys had donned dress clothes to. A few more Dragon shifters, if they were all this good looking, and she'd have herself a calendar.
She fiddled with the material on her dress and wondered if this was similar to the nerves her brides felt. She'd seen more than one of them practically rub a hole through satin and charmeus fidgeting.
“You'll do fine, love.” He pulled her fingers away from the dress and kissed each of the fingertips.
“I know.” She believed that he believed she was his true mate, and had the ability to turn on some sort of internal GPS device. So, she would pretend she believed it to.
“If you two are done making eyes at each other, shall we begin?” Match was as grumpy as ever, even if he did look like a Mr. December candidate in his Armani suit and red silk tie.
Jakob didn't reply and looked to her for confirmation. He might be bossy and dominant in the bedroom, which she loved, but this gentleman side of him the rest of the time was very endearing. He didn't assume, he didn't demand, and he didn't make her feel like she had to always try harder and be nicer just for a little of his attention.
There was no one else in her life like that. Too bad it had taken being kidnapped by Dragon to realize it.
“Let's get this reality show on the road.” The last few days of her life would make riveting TV, that no one would believe for a second was real. She hardly did herself. Now she was at the point where she either accepted and won the challenge or got kicked off the island. She was pretty sure if they did an anonymous ballot, match would be the one everyone voted to get rid of. He was such a drama llama.
all eyes were now on her. She took a deep breath hoping for some magical beam of light, or sixth sense would guide her way. The ring could be anywhere and it would take her a thousand years and then some to search through every chest, shelf, box, and piles of treasure to find this one tiny item.
Might as well start with an area she was familiar with. She crawled over the same pile of coins she had the last time she was here. Up ahead just to the right, was the towering shelves of paintings she'd almost burned to the ground. Except only the wood seemed a little singed now and all of the artwork was intact. She made her way around the shelf and found that same table and chairs set up like a little café in a cave.
This time, though, instead of a teapot and a tiered tray of treats, in the middle of the table sat a small carved wooden box. It was the perfect size to hold a ring. Ciara sat down at the table, not sure she could remain standing. What if this was it?
Could it have possibly been this easy?
She hadn’t even used any of her newfound powers or gotten a sign from above, or anything. She slid the box in front of her and popped open the lid. Inside on a bed of Moss was a tarnished and worn gold ring. It resembled something one might get when they graduated from high school or an Academy. The top was circular and divided into four quadrants, each with a small but brilliant jewel in set into the gold. In the center sat a brilliant diamond that sent sparkles of light out into the darkness.
Her memory flashed to the necklace she'd been wearing when Jakob found her. The same one that had disintegrated into a handful of period.
She heard a voice from someone nearby and hid in the hallway adjacent to the kitchen. But, she didn't want to hide. She wanted to ask whoever belong to that voice where she was, and when he'd touched it. The design was identical.
Ciara sat at the table for another moment staring at the beautiful piece of jewelry. Match had said Inanna, the mate of the first Dragon had given it to his grandmother when she had fallen in love with his grandfather.
Her mind whirled and swirled. Someone had given her that necklace and she knew the same as two plus two that it was the same person who'd left the ring on the table for her. Ciara closed the lid of the box and carried it back to the entrance of the lair.
“Giving up so soon, little witch that probably for the best.” Match and Jakob both stared at her as she climbed over the pile of gold and stepped up in front of them.
Where matches face was filled with derision, Jakobs was concerned.
“Everything okay?”
She winked at Jakob and slapped the ring box into matches hand. Match gently opened the lid and stared silently at the ring inside it. Cage and Kai came over and peered down into his hand.
Ciara turned her back on them all and walked into Jakobs arms. “I found it.”
“You didn't even have time to get all the way to the side cave where I keep all of the Dragon heirlooms.”
“You knew where it was?” She couldn't have expected him to tell her, but she was a little surprised. “Doesn't matter, I didn't go into any kind of cave. It was on a table near your rack of paintings.”
“Ciara, I know every single thing that is in this cavern, down to the tiniest jewel and each individual coin. There is no table here.”
“Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. It looks more like it came from a garage sale than anywhere else. I think I know who put it there.” She paused, considering whether she should tell him her theory or not. She knew so little about their lore, but what pieces she knew all fit together. “I'm afraid your lair is haunted, because Inanna is, or was here.”
“She left the ring for you, didn't she?” Jakob said the words with reverence.
Ciara nodded but didn't get a chance to tell him anything else. Match marched over and interrupted their conversation. “Put it on.”
He shoved the ring box back to her, but Jakob intercepted it.
“She'll wear this ring,” his voice filled the cavern, “when you read the ritual, and I put it on her finger.”
Matches left eye twitched, but he nodded.
Jakob had retrieved a very old looking book from a nearby shelf and handed it over to match. He nodded to Cage and Kai, who took up on either side of her and Jakob. Match flipped the book open and began reciting words that sounded vaguely Middle Eastern to her. She didn't understand any of them accept when he said her name and then Jakobs. Jakob responded in the same language as if he had been asked a question and said her name.
Then both Jakob and match looked at her like she had something to say. Match rolled his eyes. Jakob grabbed her hands and said, “repeat after me.”
She nodded and listened to the foreign syllables so that she could save them back to him.
“Ni, Ciara Mosely-Willingham cad men anna ni gud Jakob Zeleny.” The cadence of the sentence felt oddly familiar. She'd heard something similar to it before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on when or where. It wasn't like she spoke any foreign languages.
She repeated as much as she could back to him. Ni, Ciara Mosley Willingham, cad…”
“cad men anna ni gud –” Jakob prompted her.
“cad men anna ni gud Jakob Zeleny.” As she finished the sentence, Jakob took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger.
Ciara had to blink fast to hold back the tears forming on her eyelashes. They had just bubbled up out of nowhere. Seeing Jakob put the ring on her finger made her think of all of the times she'd seen a groom slide a wedding band on to a bride's hand.
She'd love to experience the real deal for herself. She didn't even know if dragons had weddings.
She planned her own in her head a million times. The flowers, the venue, the cake, and even the groom changed over the years. But what always remained the same was knowing she'd finally found the right one.
Not someone who completed her because she was her own woman, but a man who loved her and wanted her, who'd chosen her above all others. A man who she'd chosen to.
She might not ever have that, if Jakob was right and destiny had taken that choice from them both and put them together. The feeling inside of her chest was the same, like a warm glow. Like that feeling she'd had on a snowy day in her childhood when she was chilled to the bone and then climbed into bed with an electric blanket. A shiver rolled across her skin in the exact same way, waking up all of her nerve endings and telling them everything would be all right.
Jakob grabbed her up in his arms and kissed her. His tongue pressed at her lips asking for entrance, and she opened for him. For a moment she forgot anyone else was around and lost herself in Jakob's kiss.
Match read something more from the book then closed it shut with a pop. Jakob gave her one more taste and then pulled away. The smile on his face was so big that she couldn't help but return it. Kai slapped her on the back and Cage shook Jakob's hand.
His smile was the last thing she saw before the world around her went black and she fell into a whirlwind of light and sound and colors that made her nauseated.
When the world stopped spinning, Ciara no longer saw the cavern around her. She was in some sort of apartment kitchen. There was a refrigerator, a sink, a microwave, a small table and chairs, and plants on every available surface and hanging from the ceiling. They looked like herbs, yes that was a basil plant, and she was pretty sure that was cilantro on the windowsill.
She wanted to reach out and touch the leaves, but her handed arms were not responding. She blinked and glanced all around the room, not sure what she was looking for. Then she reached into pocket on her long white flowing down and pulled out a necklace. When had she put on this dress? What happened to the beautiful one that Jakob had given her?
She laid the necklace on the table and saw two things where there should only be one.
At the bottom of the chain was a pendant with a tree and a serpent. But, it was also a colorful collection of scales.
A muffled voice came from somewhere nearby, and Ciara quickly hid in the hallway. But, wait. She didn't want to hide. She wanted to find anyone she could talk to, ask how she had gotten here, and where here was.
She couldn't move. She had no control over her own body, like she was possessed.
A key turned in a lock and door opened. The voice she'd heard became louder and clearer.
“No, mom, stay there. You will be more comfortable spending the summer as a flower. I'll be fine here.”
The voice was speaking English with an American accent. So not only was he are not in the cavern anymore, she wasn't even in the Czech Republic, she wasn't even in Europe.
A pretty young woman came into the kitchen talking on a cell phone. She dropped a bag of groceries on the counter and opened the nearest cupboard door.
Ciara tried everything to force her body to do her bidding. Even if she could call out to the woman, that would at least be something.
The woman held the cell phone between her ear and her shoulder while she pulled a set of martini glasses out and set them in the sink. “Yeah, the kids at school are really taking to the garden. I'm doing my best to help their little green thumbs along.”
She ran water in the sink and Ciara mist a few words of the conversation. Not that it seemed that important. She was just some girl talking to her mom on the phone.
The woman pulled one of the glasses out, but it slipped in her wet hands and fell towards the floor. She didn't even flinch. One of the leaves on the basil plant on the counter next to her quadrupled in size, swoops down, and caught the glass before it hit the floor.
Whoa. The only other time she had seen plants do anything like that was when either she or Jakob asked them for help. The plants in this kitchen were doing the same for the woman on the phone.
So, was she a witch or a dragon?
No, Jakob had said there was no such thing as female dragons. So, a witch then.
Oh my God. Jakob had thought that Ciara had stolen the first Dragon's relic, and had been working with a coven of witches to do it. Could this woman be involved in the theft of the relic?
She had something on her kitchen table that belonged in Jakob's lair, if it belonged anywhere.
Ciara needed to get her hands on it.
“Yes, the party is this weekend. I'll be fine. It's not like anything could happen to me with so many shifters around.”
Shifters? Yeah, this woman was more than a schoolteacher.
She said some goodbyes and hung up the phone, then set it on the table. That's when she saw the necklace.
Damn. Ciera had been hoping she wouldn't find it.
“That's not like her.” The woman picked up the necklace and twirled it in her hand. “It is pretty.”
She open the clasp and put the necklace on. The leaves on the tree, and the eye of the serpent glowed with the same green light as Jakob's shard.
There was something very strange going on here.
A warm white light surrounded Ciara and the world spun again.
This time Ciara couldn't figure out where she was. There was nothing around her. Like nothing. No sky, no ground, no horizon.
“You were sure the little flower has to be next? I think it's too soon.”
She recognize that voice. It was the man who had been with Mrs. Bohacek in the cavern.
Suddenly, his face was in front of her, and her hand was on his cheek. “Yes, love. It's time. She's been waiting for too long.”
The man took her hand and kissed her palm. “And I'd have her weight another five thousand years, it would keep her safe.”
“We can't keep her safe forever.”
The man growled and colorful scales shimmered across his body.
“Come now, everything will be all right. Let's go where we can watch this one unfold.”
“The galla dragons are already gathering. He'd better fucking claim her soon.”
Jakob had already claimed her, who is this man talking about?
“Yes, dear. But he has to meet her first.”
Ciara snapped her fingers and the white light disappeared. The world fell out from beneath her and she tumbled into an abyss.
This time she was sure she was going to throw up. She scrunched her eyes tight and swallowed, trying to keep the bile down.
“Ciara. Ciara, can you hear me? Ciara” Jakob’s voice was frantic, and she could feel his hands running over her body.
She opened her eyes and jolted from the lack of movement. She wasn't falling, she was laying on the floor of the cavern.
Dark faces were staring down at her. She blinked and tried to focus. The first one she recognized was Cage. He shook his head like she’d just performed a death defying circus act. “I seriously can't believe you aren’t dead.”
While she appreciated the sentiment, his was not the one she cared about.
Kai grinned at her. “Sweet as.”
Where was Jakob. She needed to tell him what had happened.
“Thank the First Dragon. Are you okay?” Jakob propped her up with one arm and held her cheek in the other, turning her head so he could examine her face.
“I think I know where the first dragon’s relic is.” Her voice was her own again. She wiggled her fingers to make sure she could. Her body responded to her this time. She felt normal again.
“The relic?” Jakob asked.
“Where?” Ciara glanced up at Match, who looked like he'd age ten years. “What did you see?”
“I don't really understand, but I think I was with, or in, sharing a body with, someone. She gave the first Dragon's relic to another which. One who commands plants.”
“And earth which. Where is she?”
“I can't be sure. All I saw was the inside of an apartment. But I'm pretty sure it was in America.”
“That's my girl.”
Uh, that’s not what she expected him to say.
Jakob helped her to her feet and she leaned on him, still feeling woozy. “Let’s get you upstairs and into bed. I need to hold you in my arms for a damned long time.”
That sounded nice.
“Not going to have your wedding night?”
Wedding?
Wedding night?
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ciara pulled out of Jakob’s arms and turned to look at him.
Cage took a step back. “You didn’t tell her?”
If someone didn’t explain to her exactly what was going on, she was going to call up one hell of a tempest and whip them all up into a tornado. “Tell me what? What’s going on?”
Kai tried to interject. “That ceremony—”
Jakob lashed out and arm. “Shut. Up.”
Kai raised his hands, giving up.
Jakob took her hand in his and played with the ring on her finger. “The ritual is an important one to dragons. One that hasn’t been performed by anyone for a long time. It was, I guess is again, a part of the mating process for Wyverns.”
“And?” She was pretty damn sure she already knew where this was going. Just how long was it going to take Jakob to wind his way to the truth?
“When a Wyvern is mated, the other three wyverns must acknowledge the mate.”
“You mean they have to approve of me.” She knew Match never would be happy about her being in Jakob’s life.
“No, they must recognize the union. A Wyvern may consult his mate on Wyr decisions. They need to understand we are a single unit. But, you’re my mate no matter what.”
She could think of some whats that didn’t matter at the moment.
“They do that by standing up at and witnessing that ritual.
That and the words they’d said were the part that worried her the most. “What were the words you had me repeat. The ni man can anna stuff?”
“Ni cad men anna ni gud.” He said the words again, slowly
“Yeah. That. What does that mean?”
“I bind myself to you, warrior.”
He’d said the same to her. Wedding vows.
Then he’d put a ring on her finger and kissed her.
They’d just been married. No planning, no getting to taste a thousand cakes, no inviting family and friends to witness the blessed occasion, and no fucking flowers.
She was going to kill him.
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