“Dragon,” I whispered.
His eyes widened in surprise as he pushed off the trunk and strode over to me. “You got that in one go,” he said in a deep, sexy voice. “How interesting.”
Kirill stepped up beside me and growled; low in his throat.
“Down, kitty,” the redhead said as he narrowed his eyes at Kirill. “You don't want to start something with me. It's been ages since I've had a good hunt, and my faeries would love to chase a lion.”
“Faeries?” I asked as I continued to stare into the man's eyes. “There are dragon faeries?”
“Alas; I am the last of my kind,” he said it dramatically, but I could hear the real pain in his words.
Are you sure about that? The voice that entered my mind this time was female and a little snarky.
Both the redhead and I flinched at the sound of it.
“Faerie?” The man asked with wonder.
Hello, Fire King, the voice went on. Yes, yes; you're shocked that I'm speaking again. Get over it fast because we have shit to deal with; starting with our girl here. Now, hurry up and introduce yourselves so we can get on with it.
“Can you hear her too?” I asked the redhead.
“You can hear her?” He shot back. “Faerie is our Goddess; the Consciousness of—”
“Consciousness,” I interrupted. “Holy hamburgers, did you say Faerie?”
Yes, I am she, Faerie huffed. You're dense in every timeline, aren't you, Vervain?
“Timeline,” I whispered the word. “That's what's been changed.”
“Someone changed time?” Kirill asked. “And, Tima, who are you speaking to?”
“I think someone—a couple of gods, actually—have changed our past,” I said to both of the men. “And our old lives are trying to return.”
“You think that I'm involved in this nonsense?” The Fire King asked and then laughed. “Faerie has been closed for thousands of years; there's no way that—”
Oh, just tell her your damn name already!
The faerie before me frowned and cocked his head at me as his stare grew more focused. “Who are you?” He demanded.
That's not what I said! Faerie snapped.
“I'm Vervain Odinson,” I held my hand out to him.
“Vervain,” he repeated my name as he took my hand. “I'm Arach, King of—”
Arach's mouth fell open as his hand clenched on mine.
“Arach?” I asked with concern.
As soon as I said his name, images of him and I together filled my mind. I saw him kneeling before me; vowing to love me forever. I saw him rising above me; in the very act of that love. I saw him flying beside me as a dragon, and I saw him holding our son... no; our sons.
“We have twins?” I whispered.
“Oh, sacred fire,” Arach whispered back as he pulled me into his arms. “A Thaisce; what's happened to us?”
“I don't know,” I floundered for a second, but my body seemed to know exactly how to react to him.
I melted against Arach; my cheek laid over his strong, dragon heart. A surge of something passed between us, and I knew that it was a spell taking hold—or possibly culminating. We both shuddered with the onslaught of both painful and wondrous emotions. Arach and I had been through hell together; in the past, present, and future. We had burned, been broken, and I had given birth to his children. He was my...
“Husband,” I whispered. “And I'm a—”
“Dragon-sidhe,” Arach finished for me. “You are a dragon, A Thaisce, but you're also much more than that. I remember everything now.”
“We cast a spell to bring us back together,” I said.
“That explains why I was drawn to the Great Tree today.” Arach shook his head in wonder.
“And how Kirill and I ended up here,” I said as I turned to Kirill. “And you and I are married too. We made an oath to each other with blood.” I looked back at Arach. “It must have had a similar effect to our spell.”
“Da, I remember now,” Kirill said.
“Our sons, Vervain,” Arach sobbed brokenly. “We must find a way to get them back.”
There you are. Faerie sighed. Final-fucking-ly. I thought I'd have to go over it all for you.
“Well, you haven't changed.” I grimaced as I eased away from Arach.
Kirill was looking a little confused. So, I took his hand as well as Arach's and stood between the men.
“We're talking to the Goddess of the Faeries,” I explained to Kirill. “We're going to figure this out and put everything back the way it should be.”
Good; everyone is caught up, Faerie said. Now, listen, children, there's only one way to set this back to normal; you have to kill that time god.
“That's all?” Arach scoffed. “That's far too easy.”
“The time god she's talking about is most likely in Tartarus; the Hell beneath the Greek Underworld. He's teamed up with a Primordial Greek Goddess named Nyx, and she has lots of children and underlings who will no doubt defend her,” I said.
“Yes, but we are dragons, A Thaisce,” Arach said with a smirk.
Your cockiness is justified, but in this instance, it will be your downfall, Faerie chided Arach. Al and I have been investigating these gods; they're strong and they have an impressive army.
“Then perhaps it's time to hunt.” Arach's eyes started to glow.
“The Wild Hunt in Tartarus,” I mused.
“And the Pride,” Kirill added.
“And the Pride.” I kissed Kirill's cheek.
Now, you just have to tell your Viking husband that he's not meant to be with you.
My face fell, and I looked back and forth between Arach and Kirill. “I can't tell Thor,” I said
