She didn’t bother turning. What was she supposed to say? She walked around to her side of the wagon, clenched the iron railing for dear life, and pressed her forehead against her hands.
Stamping boots. The muffled sounds of clothes being shook out. Muttered cursing.
Mairi didn’t look up. She understood completely now. Ronan had been born a wolf pup, then apparently learned how to shift into the form of a human at some point in time.Graham.The lifelong friend always mentioned. The helper. The guardian. Was he a wolf too?
Something lightly brushed against her shoulder. “Mairi—please.” Ronan groaned the words as though saying them with a dying breath. “Do ye understand now why I didna tell ye . . . everything?”
“I understand a lot of things.” And she did. Now she understood completely why she should never trust anyone with her heart because whenever she did—she just ended up hurt and looking like a fool. No wonder Ronan was so careful to omit as many details as possible until the curse was finally broken. And once it was broken, then what? Once freed, would he merrily go on his way without her? Probably. After all, once the curse was broken, what did he need with a wife? “So, where is Graham? I thought wolves ran in packs.”
Ronan drew in a sharp hissing breath. “If ye wish to meet Graham, we must walk to the river’s edge.”
She studied his guarded expression. “And why do we have to walk to the river?”
Ronan pursed his lips and shrugged as he stared down at the ground. “The curse binds Graham to the sea. The only time he may leave the water is when he is within the curtain of mist surrounding Draegonmare. Whenever he ventures past the mist, he must remain either in the sea or within one of its tributary’s stretching across the lands.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes against the dull throbbing pain growing ever sharper inside her head. Ronan’s revelations were giving her one hell of a headache. “So, he’s a fish?” When Ronan didn’t answer, she opened her eyes to his pained expression. “Okay—so what is he, then?”
“Do ye remember the largest of the statues in yer room? The one of the great winged beast about to belch a volley of flames?”
The intensity of his gaze turned her blood to ice water. Mairi shivered as she cinched her cloak tighter around her throat. What Ronan was saying wasn’t possible. Her statues were the embodiment of her overactive imagination, creatures she had fabricated and pieced together from a lifelong love of oft-told fairy tales and childhood games of what-ifs. “You’re telling me Graham is a dragon?”
“Aye.”
Mairi drew in a deep breath and waved toward the riverbank. “Then by all means . . . lead on.”
CHAPTER26
Mairi watched the wolf out of the corner of her eye as they made their way down the slippery embankment leading to the river’s edge. The wolf, Ronan’s mother, her silvery white coat rippling lush and thick, gracefully picked her way along beside them. “What is your mother’s name?” She needed something to call her besidesthe wolf.
“Iona.” Ronan bit out the name as though it pained him, not sparing a glance back as he strode down the embankment. He abruptly stopped, turned, and held out a hand. “Mind the ground. It is slick and treacherous. I dinna wish ye to take a tumble.”
Mairi paused, staring down at his outstretched hand. Just yesterday, she would’ve taken it without hesitation. Yes. She’d suspected he had hidden pertinent details of his past and yes, she’d been angry with him. But yesterday’s feelings didn’t compare with what she felt today.
“Ye will fall if ye refuse my help.”
Did she imagine the suffering darkening his eyes and making his voice rasp low and pained? She swallowed hard, firmly gripped his hand, and allowed him to steady her down the rugged frozen bank leading to the rocky shore. It didn’t matter what he saw or felt anymore. Once the curse was broken, they would go their separate ways, she saw the truth of that now. The man didn’t care about her. He just wanted the dreaded curse to end so he could finally live a normal life. She steeled herself against the ache throbbing in the space where her heart had been. She wouldn’t have to worry about a heart anymore. Ronan had crumbled it to dust.
Mairi blinked against the threat of tears, rationalizing all that had happened. Maybe it was for the best. After all, hadn’t she wanted to stay in the future and live a normal life too? She took in a deep breath and looked across the cold expanse of dark, choppy waves. “Produce your dragon so I can see how he compares with mine.”
Ronan gave her a sharp look, his eyes narrowing as though he saw every pained thought flickering through her mind. With a slow deep breath and a sad shake of his head, he turned and faced the undulating waters. “Graham. Show yerself. Mistress Mairi would meet ye.”
What Mairi had thought was the shadowy darkness of deep water slid closer to the bank. The already choppy surface bubbled and frothed as though whatever was beneath the waters had just exhaled a great burst of air. A long pair of horns, curled tusks of black shininess, pierced the surface first. A knobby length of snout followed. Twin bursts of steam shot from each glistening nostril as two great golden eyes blinked away the water streaming down from the dents and furrows running along the top of the dragon’s multihorned head. The long scaly neck arched as gracefully as a swan’s as the beast paddled closer to the bank and politely nodded at her. “It is my utmost pleasure to meet ye, mistress. We have awaited ye quite the while.”
“So, I understand.” He did look just like her dragon.She drew closer to the water’s edge. “Do you have wings too?” Cat eyes. She knew it! She knew their eyes should look just like a cat’s.
Graham chuckled and obligingly unfurled both black leathery wings. “Aye, mistress. I tend to keep them folded whilst in the sea. It is a bugger of a weight to pull when they fill with water.”
“I wish I could see you fly, but as I understand it, you’re trapped in the water—right?” Mairi walked excitedly up and down the beach. Lies or no lies, Graham was freaking awesome.
Graham nodded; his leathery mouth pulled down into a frown. “Aye. Whilst outside the mists of Draegonmare, I am bound to the water even when the moon rises and I return to the form of a man—Ronan’s mentor.” He snorted two great huffs of steam and stretched his neck higher above the surface. “But soon I shall finally be free.” He gallantly touched his snout to the smooth round rocks at Mairi’s feet. “Ye have my undying loyalty, mistress, for finally freeing me of this fate.”
Dragon by day. Man by night. A mentor and guardian to teach Ronan the ways of men. The witch was freaking brilliant.Without hesitation, Mairi reached forward and rested her hand on Graham’s snout. Leathery and cold. Quite rough. Exactly as she expected. For a brief exciting moment, she forgot about her breaking heart. “I’m honored to meet you, Graham, and I’m so glad to be able to help.”
A soft weight brushed against her skirts, pulling her attention back to her side. Iona the wolf, silent and regal, lifted her muzzle then slowly lowered it in what Mairi took as a gesture of thanks. Somehow, it just seemed wrong to reach out and touch the wolf. Mairi nodded in return.
“Come, lass.” Ronan spoke quietly. “If we hope to arrive back at MacKenna keep by nightfall, we must go.”
The reality—the stark loneliness of what was about to happen—rushed back to her with a vengeance. They would return to the keep, say their vows, and then the farce would finally be over. A numbing coldness that had nothing to do with the weather closed in around her. Damn the Fates and damn that witch straight to hell. What had she ever done to deserve this kind of pain?
