Old bitterness soured her stomach. He’d just voiced what had grated forever. Her role as moon-mother goddess was critical. The tides depended on her, but no one ever paid any attention tothatpart of things. No, it was her virgin huntress label that followed her everywhere. She examined a node. They’d be at their destination soon.
“We’ll talk more of this later.” She moved her hand from beneath his. “As I see things, we’re back where we started with the dragons. We have yet to find a dragon who can speak for Eletea. That was our task. To clear her culpability in Mitha’s death.”
“Surely the dragons will be so grateful for her return, they’ll dredge up a First Born.”
“Not necessarily.” She snorted. “We’ll be lucky to get a thank you from them. Ye saw how the one we rescued ordered us from her back the moment we were clear of Rhukon’s manor. Eletea’s young, but her arrogance and sense of entitlement will grow with her.”
“She was frightened when I first met her,” Angus argued. “Worried she’d done wrong.”
“Aye, and she cried when she took her egg-mate on in combat, yet she was sure enough of herself to not let her feelings for Danne get in her way.”
“What are you suggesting?” Angus sounded tired.
She didn’t blame him. Dragons lived by themselves for the best of reasons. Only other dragons could stand them. She’d never understood the lure of the dragon shifter bond. From where she stood, the only benefit was immortality.
Maybe I never met the right dragon…
Keene flitted through her memory. Truth followed. She’d been a diversion for him. Something different. He’d never cared about her, or he’d have hunted her down. As it was, he hadn’t even been at Fire Mountain many of the times she’d gone looking for him.
“Ari?” Angus’s voice was gentle. “We’ll be there in just a few minutes.”
“We’ll round up that green who sent us after Eletea, tell her we did our part, and ask her to assure us the dragons will take care of determining Eletea’s guilt or innocence in Mitha’s death.”
She dusted her hands together. “They willna be able to tell us no because we just did their bidding and returned one of their own.”
“Just like that.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Aye, just like that, but then we’ll have to wait for their pronouncement, so we can ferry it back to the Celtic Council.”
“Not necessarily. I can still dream the truth. I have more than enough information to work with if I summon a vision.”
He checked a node, chanted low, and the shaft shuddered to a stop. One of the walls gaped open, and the time-travel tunnel tossed them out at the edge of a caldera spitting magma. Angus drew her back from the verge of the fiery pit. He glanced around and pointed. “We have quite a way to walk. We may as well get going.”
She jutted her chin skyward at a dragon winging its way toward them. “It won’t take all that long. Eletea must’ve told her kin we’d be right behind her. They were waiting for us.”