Part 22 (1/2)
I need to reach Dad. Elia has been taken by goblins. He needs to bring the elves.
”Hurry, Keelie. I think I know where she is,” Sean said.
She followed him down the street. Hundreds of muddy paw prints marred the sidewalks. She had never been so relieved to see anyone in her life as she was to see Elia with Ermentrude.
She ran to Elia and hugged her. ”I'm so glad you're safe.”
Elia hugged back, pressing her teary face into Keelie's shoulder. ”Me, too. I was so scared for my baby, especially after what he said.”
Ermentrude handed Elia a handkerchief embroidered with dragons.
”I know,” Keelie said.
Elia pulled away from her. ”Knot and Coyote guided me out of there, and the cats and crows came around and attacked the goblins. We got away, but some found us, but when they saw Ermentrude they ran.”
Knot and Coyote grinned at Keelie.
”Good job, guys.” She nodded toward the dragon. ”Thank you.”
Ermentrude shrugged. ”I'm a mother myself. I understand these things. Mess with a baby, you mess with me.”
Keelie looked up at the black ribbons flying from the maypole, where the goblins had been dancing. The place was filled with negative magic.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on the current of energy beneath them, and found it-tainted with dark magic, oily with evil. She touched the wood of the maypole, and to her surprise discovered the same essence she'd detected in the Under-the-Hill grove. It had the same telepathic imprint.
”We need to leave,” Ermentrude said in an urgent tone, looking around nervously. ”I've sensed this darkness before.”
”Ow! That hurts,” Sean yelled as Keelie pulled out the last small shard of gla.s.s with tweezers from the side of his face. They were back at the No-Tell Motel, which had a charred wing but was still habitable. Their new rooms were smoky, but it was actually an improvement.
Elia was asleep in a different room, guarded by Coyote and Knot. An army of cats patrolled the motel, along with additional Dread Forest jousters and Northwoods elves. Ermentrude had given them orders to let her know if they saw any goblins.
The dragon dug through her huge purse and pulled out a tin of salve. ”My very own creation. I make a batch every hundred years. I use crushed fire blooms, which grow at the base of an internal volcanic pool. It's highly prized among the dwarves.”
It was hard to concentrate on Ermentrude or think about Elia. Sean was s.h.i.+rtless, and Keelie wanted to run her hands down his chest and over his chiseled abs. His skin was warm, and she wanted to press her body against his.
”Keelie? Keelie!” Ermentrude's voice rose.
”What?” She forced herself to look at the dragon, who gave her the pot of salve. ”Thank you.” She looked at the little pot's label. The letters were written in a scratchy calligraphy, but she knew what they said. Fire Bloom Salve.
”Can you read that?” she asked Sean.
”No. Can you?”
”Yes.”
”I don't understand how you can read that. It looks like code to me. Runes, maybe?”
”You drank the tea Herne gave you. It enhanced your fairy abilities,” Ermentrude said.
”Herne again.” Sean snorted. He reached out and pulled Keelie closer to him, as if the very act would s.h.i.+eld her from the nature G.o.d.
Keelie pushed him away, but he reached out for her hand and squeezed it. ”Is it a permanent change?” he asked, staring at her. ”Is it to make her more like him? More like a dark fae?”
Keelie didn't look away from Sean, but she'd had the same thought.
Ermentrude returned to the lumpy chair in the motel room. ”Due to the fairy blood flowing through a matriarchal lineage, the answer is yes. But the tea wasn't bad for her. It just makes her magic work more efficiently.”
”I still don't like it,” Sean said.
Ermentrude sniffed. ”Of course not, but you're going to have to accept the fairy magic within Keelie because it's part of who she is, and you certainly do like the rest of the package.”
”It's always wise to listen to the words of a dragon.” Sean quirked an eyebrow. ”Practical advice.”
”How do you know that? Ermentrude is the only dragon you know, and you just met her.” Keelie tried to open the salve, but the lid seemed to be welded closed.
”Sean's grandfather is well-known among the dragons, Keelie,” Ermentrude said. ”He defeated a mighty tyrant and has our grat.i.tude.”
Sean shrugged. ”It's family lore.”
Keelie wondered what else Sean had never told her. It must be an elf-guy thing, because she'd uncovered a lot of her own history when she visited her father's house in the Dread Forest for the first time.
”I'm going to check on Elia. Make sure the cats and elves are keeping guard.” Ermentrude shoved her bag onto her shoulder.
Keelie wrenched the tin of salve open and scooped up a glob of the medicinal-smelling stuff. ”You said you wanted us to be honest, but you never bothered to tell me about dragons.” She rubbed the salve on Sean's shoulder where a goblin had stabbed him.
Sean jumped. ”Easy.”
”Sorry.” She'd applied it a little more roughly than she'd meant to do.
”That's okay. I think it's helping.” He moved his shoulder. ”My grandfather battled an evil dragon named Avenir and put him into an enchanted sleep, not far from here. Avenir had hurt hundreds of humans.”
”How near here?” Keelie felt a tingle in her neck, which didn't stop until it hit her tailbone. ”Wait a minute. Your grandfather didn't kill the dragon? Could Avenir be awakened from his enchanted sleep?”
”Not that I know of.” Sean shook his head. ”It was hundreds of years ago. And I don't know exactly where it happened. Under a mountain, according to our family lore.”
She absentmindedly rubbed some more salve, gently, on Sean's wound. Amazingly, the wound began to heal before her very eyes.
”Wow. Ermentrude was right, this stuff works. No wonder the dwarves want it.” Keelie ran her hand over Sean's shoulder and down his chest. He lifted her face until she was level with his gaze. His green eyes burned, intense.
”I've thought about what you said, about Herne saying you would live as long as me.” Sean lips were close to hers. ”I know this has been one of the things that has kept you from wanting to take our relations.h.i.+p further.”
He wrapped his hand around her neck and brought her face closer to his.
”Yes,” she said.
”Good.” Sean kissed her, and frissons of delight traveled through Keelie's body. She realized she'd been afraid to enjoy her relations.h.i.+p with Sean, but not anymore. She leaned against him and deepened the kiss.
When their lips gently parted, he pushed her back against the wall and pressed his body against hers. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, ”I think your father will probably hear about us being in a motel room alone.”
Keelie laughed. ”And you're half-dressed, Lord Sean o' the Wood.”