Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Sixteen

Cass

I followed Eris and Natalie out of the room and towards the elevator, unable to stop staring at Natalie’s back. That kiss was interesting. Interesting in the way that I’d felt more with her in those few seconds than I had with any woman in the twelve years since I’d been let out of that prison. It was just a kiss. Yet, here I was experiencing one of the darkest moments of my life in losing Crux, and all I wanted to do was kiss her again.

For the first time in a long time, I couldn’t blame what I was feeling on Crux. I couldn’t say it was his possessiveness or his need to collect that was driving me. The want was only mine. She wanted me, too, even though I was a floppy, weak, useless human.

With the curse lifted, Natalie looked different, but the same. It was hard to describe. She looked exotic and elegant and beautiful with her soft bluish skin that seemed to change based on the lighting, and her intense, dark irises. She grabbed sunglasses when we left the room and she was wearing them.

When we got on the elevator, I asked, “Your eyes? Are they sensitive to light now?”

She nodded and shrugged, a frown pulling down one side of her lips. “Yes, it’s part of my dark elf heritage, I guess.”

“Did you, uh, pick those?” I answered, indicating the glasses.

They were enormous and covered half her face. The frames were leopard print. I had a feeling they weren’t exactly her style, but, you never know.

She blushed. “Oh, absolutely not. Nadaria grabbed them for me.”

“They look nice,” Eris said, and then she gave me a look.

I glanced around, trying to understand what I'd done wrong.

“It’s okay,” Natalie said, chuckling. “I know I look a little ridiculous.”

“You look amazing!” I blurted. “In the glasses, I mean. They're nice. Lovely.”

Eris gave me another look, her brows up and her lips curling at the corners. I sighed. I was usually smooth with women, but this one unnerved me.

We stepped out into the hall and headed, once again, to Gideon’s office. Gideon, Finn, Kat, and River were all present, along with Leo, Enid, Nadaria, and River’s wife, Rhia.

"Gang's all here," I said, while Eris made quick introductions to Natalie.

River said, “Cass, tell me exactly what happened. Anything Morga said could be a clue.”

I detailed the entire evening from when I arrived at Nadaria’s.

“For a dragon that hates witches, you sure do a lot of saving them,” Nadaria said when I talked about finding her. “Thank you, Cass. I owe you one.”

I shrugged as if it was no big deal. Natalie said her part, too, and filled in missing spots.

“Yeah, I was running but roots wrapped around my foot and tripped me. I touched them and I don’t know how, but they just froze and I was able to break free. Then a huge rock hit my head and it’s pretty fuzzy after that.”

The three older witches exchanged glances.

“What?” Natalie said.

Nadaria said, “You're for real? You wielded ice? Your first time you used the water element?”

“I guess I did?” Natalie said with a shrug.

“Interesting,” River mused, but none of them elaborated any further.

When I got to the part where Crux was taken, I soldiered through, trying to get it out as fast as possible and be done with it.

“Then she said something about what she was working on, and the project needing a nice big soul. Crux forced the shift and then she took him. I got Natalie into the car and drove here.”

“You don’t think…” Rhia started.

“I do,” River answered, cutting in.

“What?” Gideon asked. “Not another doomsday prophecy, please.”

He rubbed his temples as he said it. It hadn’t even been a year since the last battle of the war. Gideon had lost a lot of people. He’d asked a lot of his pack and wasn’t looking forward to calling on them again so soon.

“Well, not exactly,” River said. “But kind of.”

He sighed. “Explain, please.”

“As we all know, Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering America, but that’s not true. Others were here first. In the tenth century, Vikings landed in what is now Newfoundland, Canada. They thought to conquer this land and keep it for themselves. The Native Americans were obviously determined to keep their homeland.”

“Remember that both Native American and Viking cultures did not have realms as we do today. Magic users and humans all lived together. Magic was treasured and respected,” Rhia added.

“The Vikings returned several times, trying to trade for the land and establish settlements, but they were turned away,” River continued. “Frustrated, they brought a larger army, nearly one thousand men. They were accompanied by a woman, an air witch called a völva that was said to be able to see the future and shape it. They attacked with vengeance, winning several battles and pushing their way inland. Finally, they were met by a large Native American army, most likely the Cree tribe, but we don’t know for sure. They were accompanied by a young, powerful water witch. It is said in witch lore that the bloody battle lasted days. To end, the water witch finally sank the Viking army to the bottom of a Great Lake and sealed them there.”

She looked at me. “It’s said that if a powerful witch can find the army, unlock the seal, and wield a large enough soul stone, they can resurrect this army. The soldiers would be undead. Difficult to kill. Crux would be used to bring them back, and then he would be gone.”

“We have to save him,” Natalie insisted.

“Not just him,” River said, steepling her fingers. “Cass, you’re well over two hundred years old now. Crux is your immortality. As long as he’s alive, you’ll be okay. But if his soul is consumed…”

“I’ll die too,” I finished.

She nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”

“Well then, what do we do?” Leo asked, standing like he was ready to get started. “We have to do something.”

“A Great Lake?” Enid asked. “River, does that mean Lake Superior in Michigan?”

“Possibly. No one has ever located the scene of the battle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Morga has. She’s very clever.”

“An undead army, certain death for Cass, and we have no idea where to start,” Finn deadpanned. “Just another normal week here at the packhouse.”

“I have lore,” River said. “I’ll retrieve it immediately and we can start searching. The ceremony will no doubt take place on a full moon. We’re lucky because the last one was just three nights ago, so that gives us twenty-five days to figure this out.”

Enid said, “When they took me last year—the dragons and Morga—they kept me in an underground lair and near water. I remember one of the rock walls was usually wet. It was cool like it was near a cold body of water. I don’t know if that helps.”

River nodded and disappeared with Rhia.

Gideon cleared his throat and said, “Cass. I think you should stay here at the pack house.”

"Why would I do that?"

“Well, you’re, you know, vulnerable right now. A stray vampire or rogue wolf could easily kill you out there.”

"Yeah," Finn said, "or a nasty fall and you bonk your little head. You poor, helpless, clumsy human."

Kat elbowed him and I frowned, knowing he was right.

“Okay. I stay here,” I agreed.

“Hey, Cass,” Finn said. “You wanna go spar real quick?”

He could never beat me with my dragon.

“Sure. Your moves are so predictable, I would still win. Easy.”

Leo laughed out loud and Gideon was suddenly having a coughing fit.

Finn glared at me. “Then let’s go.”

“Glad to see your sense of humor didn’t go with your dragon,” Gideon interrupted, chuckling. “Now let’s all have breakfast and come right back here. River should have returned by then.”

They shuffled out until it was just Natalie and I left.

I cleared my throat. “Natalie."

"Cass?"

"We should talk. About this.”

I held up my arm with the tattoo. “I know I haven’t exactly been receptive…”

“You’ve been a d**k,” she interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I have,” I agreed, smiling, “and there are reasons for my attitude that you deserve to know.”

“Do you want to go back to the room?”

My entire body screamed yes, but it wasn’t in the interest of talking.

I nodded. “Just let me tell someone to have our breakfast sent up.”

I didn’t even know if I could eat. I’d never been so not hungry in my life.

“Okay.”

She headed to the staircase and I caught Nadaria as she was about to get on the elevator.

“Hey, pink witch, you owe me one.”

She looked at the others and then stepped back into the hall so the doors could close.

“What is it?”

“I need you to figure out a spell for Natalie. So she can go out into the light without needing glasses. That’s what I want in return for saving your life.”

She grinned and squealed, hitting my shoulder. “Look at you being sweet to a witch. Oh my, such a romantic." I rolled my eyes, but she winked, saying, "I’ll see what I can do, Casanova."