An Heir in Shadow (The Shattering Darkness Book 1) Read online

  Mounting the stairs that led to the master and three guest bedrooms, Morrigan took them two at a time and rushed to the window. She paused only to tug at the energy in the room, then molded the light to deflect the eye away from her. Effectively she made herself invisible to the human eye, any others would see a blur of movement at the glass.

  Her eyes poured over the empty street, straining to see something… anything. Cursing under her breath, she slowly dropped the shields which blocked her from seeing the overwhelming magic of the world around her. The shields made it easier to function in a city as crowded as Baltimore. Mixed-bloods who couldn’t pull the veil over their senses to see only what humans could, suffered madness fairly quick. Most schools had policies in place to help children who had obvious problems shutting their senses off from the magic, but special schools existed nestled in the quiet farmlands of the Midwest. The magic of nature alone was much easier to cope with than the overwhelming energy that encased every square inch of most cities which were made by man, and soaked in the magic of millions of creatures over the centuries.

  The moment that Morrigan dropped the shield, the street lit up a brilliant gold. Lines of energy intersected above and below the paved roads, even the breeze held a shimmer of incandescent magic. She knew her eyes started to bleed amber, her dragon senses pushing to the forefront, even her skin felt tight and strained against the otherness within her. As her eyes swept back and forth, her fingers trailed up her forearm, her fingertips tickled over the ridges of scales just below her soft skin.

  Morrigan had fought the beast inside of her since she was born, her mother’s fear had gotten her through puberty. That time for young dragons tended to be both violent and wonderful. It was supposed to be the time to learn to fly and to become one with the beast which was both a part of yourself and an ancient being. Instead she had spent most of that time in hiding, forcing down her dragon until her tears and sweat were bloody. The only time she had been able to explore the abilities she inherited from her mother’s bloodline was not too long after the death of her parents. The echo of fear, exhaustion, and rage she had felt then still lingered on the back of her tongue.

  A flash of movement in the corner of her eye quickly broke her thoughts. Turning her head slowly to the right so that she did not lose the movement, Morrigan hissed when she saw the shadowy figure of the cloaked stalker again. Whoever they were, it obviously tried to penetrate her wards from where they stood in the shallow opening of the alley between her building and the corner grocery store. Their hands were extended, tracing quick symbols in the air which issued sparks of power as it collided with her magic.

  Morrigan’s upper lip curled into a snarl, her claws sliced through the skin of her hands and curled into her palms tightly. The metallic tang of blood hit her nostrils and the splashing sound had her recall her claws as Morrigan shoved aside her dragon. She forced herself to draw on the innate power of her father’s fae bloodline. She felt the inherent magic in the earth, even hidden under all the manmade pavement and steel, she could feel the slumbering power which awaited her to tap into.

  She pushed away from the glass and as she raced downstairs, Morrigan took her father’s sword, Dyrnwyn, off of its holder, her rage fed the ethereal blue flames which burst from the blade the moment she pulled it from the sheath. The pearly ivory hilt was clenched tightly in her fist as she slammed out the front door. She did not even stop to close the door, Morrigan just quickly strengthened her wards which protected the entrance, shoving a handful of power in a flash of gold light at the door.

  The slap of her bare feet on the icy pavement did not wake her from her focused fury, the cloaked figure hesitated as they realized she came for them. Morrigan raised her hand and snarled roughly in Gaelic as her magic built within her urgently, until the cloaking spell burst forth. “Folaigh go léir go bhfuil mianach ó radharc mortal.” Hide all that is mine from mortal sight.

  The figure hesitated, but still stepped closer while Morrigan built the flame in her blade steadily. Her ebony hair streamed behind her as the wind of her power moved around her. Morrigan’s eyes were sharp slivers of fractured silver glass while sparks of white lived in the depths of her pupils; still she drew power harder from the earth. Pushing with a burst of inhuman speed, she leapt with her sword arced over her head in a flash of flame and power, aimed for the cloaked figure.

  Morrigan screamed out her rage as her arm froze mid swing, muscles trembling as she fought against the unseen power. Her other hand pulled back gathering the very moisture from the air then freezing it into a spike. She threw it with as much force as she could and watched aghast as the ice exploded against the figure’s shield.

  A cold voice boomed out, shattering her built-up magic like she was nothing but a powerless child. Fear bloomed at the retreat of her magic, chilling her more thoroughly than the coldest winter night.

  “Enough.” The voice was velvet-coated steel, deep and dark, full of unspoken terrors. Large tan hands shoved back the hood of the man’s cloak; revealing an equally tan face, and vivid lavender eyes. A shock of white curls framed a face which was both brutal and regal. He had a strong nose, and a mouth that seemed to be built for cruelty instead of smiles.

  The Prime Male of the Dragon Court stood before her. She could feel him drain the will from her… not her power. He could not touch that because she drew on the fae magic in her blood, not the dragon blood, he could not take that from her. But… she was a dragon and he could steal her will while he was in control of the draconite amulet. It was the very amulet that her ancestors used to drive the dragons into wars against the king of the fae.

  “You did not come to me when I summoned you through official channels… the half-blood thought he could tell me, no.” The male snarled out the end of his words, his eyes flashed lethally in the morning sun.

  Fear clenched like a fist around her heart, strangling her as the prime male willed her down onto her knees. Her sword clattered to the ground in a jarring metallic clash. Morrigan fought to keep her voice even, to keep out the tremble of fear, better the bite of rage than the whimper of fear.

  “What do you want?” she hissed and though the thick curtain of her hair obscured her view of the male, she could feel him move closer to her, his power radiated off his body in tight waves. It burned her as he got closer to her kneeling form and she knew inside her mind she screamed. Terror built in her gut and made it hard to gasp out her next breath.

  “I can smell your fear Morrigan Ni Cathalain. What reason do you have to fear me if you are just another fae whore?” he mused with a chuckle. “Cathalain, of course, your mother would seek to hide your blood-lines by assuming such a weak fae name.”

  She stiffened at her full name… how did he know so much? His chuckle poured across her skin like broken glass, the pain he was trying to inflict on her was so strong, she would not be surprised to see blood pour down her exposed arms.

  “I know your mother was the last dragon born after the Great War. The last bastard my older brother managed to spew from his cock before he got himself killed. That she hid you from me was a crime. She knew you would be capable of breaking our curse.” His fingers stroked across the top of her head as he crooned. “Your father was the brother of Tristan, was he not?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded slowly, more from the flex of his will than a true acknowledgment of his words. Inside Morrigan’s chest she felt the power of her mother’s blood unfurl slowly. The fire that lived at the heart of every dragon slowly chased the terror away, as it grew steadily and somehow mixed with her fae power.

  Morrigan felt her dragon instinctively pull from the earth, then the air, the water in the nearby bay, the fire of the sun shining down on them, and finally it tugged at the very flames from within her own chest. She felt her skin pull tight, like some invisible hands wrenching at her flesh to rip it away from her body.

  That power built into a sharp spiral, starting in her gut and working its way up her chest, while sta
rs began to dance before her eyes. She could feel her eyes bleed amber once more, the glow from them cast a flickering light across the pavement.

  The prime male stiffened and curled his lip over sharp teeth. “What are you doing?”

  He attempted to extinguish her will again, she could feel the swell of his power slam against the barriers of her mind. Morrigan wrapped her hand around her father’s sword, as she decided in that moment to relent, completely giving over control to the dragon raging within her soul.

  Morrigan fractured into nothingness… and then became everything. She did not shift into a dragon, no… she exploded out into the world, traveling as base molecules. She flowed on air currents until she hovered above the city, somehow Morrigan was still able to perceive the landscape below her—even the lights twinkling up at her merrily.

  Shock charged through her… her what? Body? Her bits of air? Exhilaration coursed through her as she was swept up into a strong current of air which led her toward the south.

  It felt as if she was part of the sky, not just flying in it but truly a part of its very makeup. Even after the terror had ripped apart her mind, joy buoyed her as she flew farther south and tears filled her eyes, the sheer excitement from flight warmed her pummeled heart. Could she cry in this form? Well at least she could feel like she was crying, she thought with a laugh which was nothing more than a whisper of the breeze. Never had Morrigan felt so free, so clearheaded and so… right.

  She traveled that way for a time until she felt exhaustion in the depths of her soul. Morrigan floated down to the ground; she stayed to the shoreline a long distance from the city. It felt like her body was slowly solidifying into its normal form again, almost like her flesh was pouring back into itself. When she felt the sensation of her hair swaying down her shoulders again, Morrigan dropped to the ground with a hoarse gasp. A loud clatter of steel on gravel announced the presence of Dyrnwyn.

  The gravel bit into her knees and palms, a grunt escaped her as she got to her feet slowly. She turned in a complete circle to take in her surroundings; the bay to the right side of her, the woods to the left and an old gravel road running between them.

  “Where the fuck am I?” Morrigan growled, her voice sounded hoarser than the last time she got wasted with Lucian.

  She turned in a full circle one more time to orient herself back toward Baltimore, before she gathered a bit of power and released it into the air in the form of her SOS signal. Each agent had a specific signal which was agreed upon when they first join the bureau. Hopefully Connar or Lucian would see the sign and figure out where the hell she managed to get herself stranded.

  Morrigan pushed the mass of her sweat dampened hair away from her face, while her heart still thundered from the exertion of shifting into an entirely different form for the first time. A spark of red power shot up into the sky, it must be coming from the city, north of her. Connar’s signal, ice crawled up her skin at the thought of being so close to a dragon again. Surely, she would be safe with him, he was her friend. They had saved each other so often she no longer thought of him as just her boss, he was one of her only friends. He could shift forms, so the prime could control him, but she had no choice except to trust him.

  She had no one else… and apparently, cell phones don’t survive molecular travel.

  As she moved over to the grass which filled the area before the forest to sit down, she shuddered. Even though she could not see or sense anyone, she felt like something was staring at her back. It didn’t take much to keep Morrigan awake while she waited for her boss, the sensation of being watched pushed her nerves to the breaking point. She prayed softly that Connar would fly to her.

  Chapter Two:

  Lost

  Connar’s shadow passed over her before she sensed his energy, he was never one to show off his other form. She watched as his ruby scales gleamed in the winter sunlight, shimmering like fire soaring across the sky. His head was a diamond shape with sharp horns which cascaded down his long serpentine neck, each horn was onyx-tipped with gold, but they stopped abruptly at the start of his wide back.

  His massive wings were spread wide, revealing a thick membrane stretched between the tip of his wing to tuck close against his shoulder. The membrane was covered in thick whorls of onyx and ruby patterns; the dazzling design was lit by the bright sunlight. Connar’s body was encrusted in those lovely fire-kissed scales, imposing onyx claws tipped in matching gold finished his muscled legs. A fiercely spiked tail nearly fifteen feet long swayed out behind him as he descended lower to the ground.

  Morrigan remembered the first time she saw his other form; she had been speechless and delighted by the designs on his wings. Most dragons had plain wings of a solid color, but Connar’s were vivid in their design, swirls interlaced into sweeping spirals and arcing slashes. He descended lazily, circling above her and pulling his wings in tighter and tighter with each sweep, dropping precariously until he landed with a vibrating thud.

  “Graceful,” she drawled while squinting against the flash of light at the crackle of his power as he shifted back to human form.

  “Why are you in Pinehurst?” Connar grumbled then patted down his suit jacket and slacks to make sure everything survived his change.

  “Is that where I am?” she sighed and scrubbed her face with her hands. “What time is it? I think my phone is either destroyed or somewhere on the street in front of my house. I can’t go back there again.” Morrigan’s voice was raspy with emotion at the thought of being chased from her home. The first place she had been able to stop running, to stop hiding, to really breathe in.

  “What the fuck happened?” His eyes were narrowed in confusion.

  “You turned down the prime and he came for me any way…” She trailed off looking around her slowly as her spine tingled. “Someone or something is coming, we need to go now.”

  Connar spat a few things she would need to remember for future use herself, before he asked. “Is it safe to ride via dragi-cab or should I call a Uber?”

  “I don’t know. He’s your prime, can you deny his call? Human transportation may be safer.” Morrigan tested her magic, to make sure she had control once more, calling a light warm breeze to dry her sweat-damp hair. Even that exhausted her; she would have to figure out if it was the newness of her ability or the distance she traveled which was draining her so much.

  “Why would the prime be so interested in you, Mor? Did you do something to him or something?” he growled then pulled out his cell phone to request the ride.

  “It’s not particularly safe for us to discuss my issues outside like this. I would feel better to get to one of the agency’s safe houses first.” Those places were protected with wards from the combined magic of fae and dragon, even the prime could not get to her there. Shelters were part of the treaty that allowed both races to settle in America, but required they protect the bureaus which would police both courts.

  “Closest one to here would be Annapolis, I think. We have an agent holed up in the Glen Burnie house right now…” Connar mused and punched the address into the app, shoving one hand through his hair roughly.

  “Who…? Never mind, not really the time or place, is it?” Her senses buzzed, but she couldn’t tell if it was residual from being so close to the draconite amulet or the prime himself. How was she able to fight the amulet? Was it the combination of her heritage or the fact that her dragon seemed to weave the powers together?

  Morrigan had never heard of anything being able to travel the way she did. Her head ached trying to recall any conversation or information she had heard of other mix bloods like her--dragon and fae were a potent mixture. Most children conceived either consensually, or otherwise during the wars, tended to die because they were unable to house the two powers together.

  Connar’s hand brushed against her shoulder and she just reacted, she threw her claw up to slice at him. Anyone else would have lost their hand, but he moved with blurring speed and jerked back with a roar. Morrigan stared
at her hand, at the black-scaled claws which had ripped through her flesh. This is what lived beneath her flesh… the heart of what she was, the heart of what made the dark court what it was.

  Connar stared in a mixture of awe and terror at her hand, until understanding dawned in his ebony gaze.

  “You never told me… how…” He continued to stare as she swallowed roughly, clenching her fist as she willed her hand to change back.

  “It is not something I can exactly advertise. They killed my parents because of me… my mother is Eeada Mhic Cathalain… niece to the Prime Male Eoan O Miadhachain. My father is Tuathal Mac Cathalain brother of King Tristan Mac Cathalain. I’ve run for most of my life, the past few decades with the bureau... I had peace,” she whispered. Her words floated across the space between them, almost as visible as her anguish.

  “How did the prime find out about you?” Connar rasped.

  “I only know of one living person who knows my secret now, besides you and… Lucian.” Morrigan allowed the pain she had hidden since she first heard she had been summoned. She was no naïve girl to think that their affair had been something special.

  It was more like they had been friends who became lovers, she didn’t expect anything from him, but she should have known the wizard would know what the black dragon birthmark which covered her right shoulder blade, meant. Morrigan swallowed hard at the pain of her emotions, the exhaustion deep in her bones, in her very soul. “Lucian knows I am the rightful heir to the throne of both courts… I didn’t… think he would ever...”

  Connar growled so viciously that Morrigan flinched away from him. “Lucian has been MIA for days now. He called to request leave, the little fuck is probably spending his finder’s fee in some fucking five-star hotel.” He stared at her in silence for a few heartbeats. “Why did you tell him?”