What a Dragon Should Know (Dragon Kin #3)(68)

Talaith pinched Briec’s arm.

“Ow!”

“Be nice! And stop snarling and snapping at everyone. What exactly is wrong with you?”

“Don’t yell at me.”

“I’m not yelling at you! Trust me,” she yelled, “you’ll know when I’m yelling!”

She stalked off, Briec right behind her, both of them ignoring Gwenvael’s ominous warning: “I wouldn’t go down to the lake if I were you.”

“Talaith, slow down!”

“No. I’m done with this conversation, and you.”

She went through the first gate, pushing against the flow of foot traffic in the market, until she made it out the second gate and into the surrounding forests. She headed toward the biggest lake that was closest to Garbhán Isle. Fearghus had told her that was where she could find his family.

“I can handle this,” Briec demanded gruffly.

“No, Briec. You can’t. Gwenvael’s been gone near on two weeks in dangerous enemy territory, he’s covered in all sorts of scars, and still you couldn’t keep a civil tongue in that fat head of yours when speaking to him. So I will handle this, and you’ll piss off!”

Talaith stomped past the line of trees and out onto the clearing by the lake. The Cadwaladr Clan had made themselves quite at home. She’d never seen so many dragons lounging around in both human and dragon form. They all seemed to be talking at once. Or was it arguing? She really couldn’t tell since they seemed to be yelling everything. They reminded her of a tree filled with crows. Chatty, squawking crows.

“I’ll deal with them,” Briec said, trying to pass her.

“Oh, no.” She grabbed his arm and stepped in front of him to stop his progress, her back to the other dragons. “Fearghus specifically said you’re not to deal with them.”

His violet eyes narrowed. “When did you two become so damn chummy?”

“Stop barking at me!”

“I’ll bark at you all I want! And another thing … I … I …” His gaze had traveled past her—and up.

“What’s wrong?” She’d never seen such a blank expression on his face before. As if he didn’t know what to make of whatever it was he saw.

“Please,” he said calmly, too calmly, “for the love of all that’s holy, don’t turn around.”

That didn’t sound remotely good, so that’s exactly what Talaith did.

Her eyes searching, she looked at the crowd of dragons and saw nothing, but then she heard it. That giggle she’d known only a short time but had learned to love more than anything else in her world. Terrified of what she’d see, but knowing she had to see, Talaith raised her gaze to the open skies. Her mouth opened and she stared in shock as she watched her daughter—again her only daughter—charge across the back of some dragon Talaith had never seen before. And then to add to the horror, Izzy didn’t stop running. No, she simply kept going. Right over that dragon’s back and neck until she reached his head … and that’s when she dived right off.

And just when Talaith assumed her daughter was committing some sort of ritual suicide, she crashed onto another dragon that had come up under the first. Unfortunately, she lost her seat and slid right off. Grabbing hold of his mane, she held on while he zigged and zagged through the sky.

All of this on its own was nightmarish enough. Truly, it was. But the fact that Izzy was laughing and goading the dragon on did nothing but make it all that more terrifying. Well, terrifying at least for Talaith.

Because who, in their right minds, enjoyed this? As it was, Briec still had to find ways to trick Talaith onto his back for a simple ride to his den.

Another dragon flew under the one Izzy held on to, and that’s when Izzy released her grip on the mane. Her body fell toward the next dragon, but one of them must have miscalculated because she slammed against his side and went flipping off. Her body spiraled and plummeted to earth until a black-haired dragon raced forward and caught hold of Izzy in her talons.

That’s when Izzy screamed. Not in fear or panic—as Talaith would have truly appreciated at this moment to prove her daughter had an ounce of common sense—but in unabashed joy. Pure, unadulterated enjoyment of what she was doing.

“Talaith?” She felt Briec’s hand on her back. “Talaith, love, you’ve stopped breathing. I need you to breathe.”

“I—” She motioned to his kin. “You—”

“I’ll deal with them.”

She nodded, still unable to speak or form a coherent thought. Then she turned and stumbled back to the castle, trying the whole time not to throw up.

Dagmar wandered through the castle since she found herself in no mood to wait for Gwenvael’s appearance. Especially since part of her worried that he wouldn’t appear at all, and the thought of him with those women did nothing but annoy her.

She noticed right away that nothing about this place seemed royal. There were expensive tapestries here and there and marble flooring in certain hallways. But otherwise … It reminded Dagmar of her father’s house. There were weapons at the ready in nearly every room, in nearly every corner. And a few weapons adorned the walls, but Dagmar had to smile when she saw that some still had dried blood on them. A slightly less frightening way to threaten one’s enemies when the heads you have outside your walls had become nothing more than crumbling bone.