Family is all? Really?
Deciding they weren’t nearly done with this whole thing, Éibhear started to head back to the others. But before he could take the first step, he noticed Izzy’s dog charging right at him—again—teeth bared, eyes wild.
Gods, really?
“Everything all right?” Brannie asked, her voice low so only Izzy could hear.
“Of course. All’s forgiven.” Then she grinned. “Family is all, you know.”
Brannie briefly closed her eyes before stating, “Oh, that’s brilliant.”
They giggled until Éibhear’s comrade Aidan walked up to them. “Everything all right?”
The females nodded. “Aye.”
His light eyes narrowed a bit, but Izzy, sensing that Aidan was much smarter than the other two Mì-runach accompanying Éibhear, glanced around and called out for her dog.
“Macsen? Macsen!”
“He’s coming.” Éibhear walked out of the woods.
“What do you mean he’s coming?”
“Give him a second.” He stepped back and she watched as Macsen happily dragged a large bear into the clearing.
“Oh, not again,” Brannie sighed.
Aidan blinked. “Again? How often does he attack bears?”
“He likes bear,” Izzy admitted.
“It came up behind me,” Éibhear explained, “and this one went for him like a bone.”
Brannie pointed at the bear. “Macsen took that down by himself?”
A valid question. Macsen enjoyed challenging bears, but it was usually Izzy or her troops who ended up taking down the bear so that the dog could eat his full.
Éibhear walked closer, leaned in, and whispered, “Not really. I could see the bear was not happy and about to tear the dog apart so I just sort of”—he shrugged—“punched him while the dog wasn’t looking. Bear’s out cold. We should probably go before he wakes up.”
“Why are you whispering?” Brannie whispered.
“Just look at him.” He glanced back at Macsen. “He’s so proud of himself. I couldn’t take that from him.”
Brannie rolled her eyes and walked around her cousin, slinging her pack over her shoulder.
“What?” he asked when Izzy continued to stare at him.
“Nothing.” She started laughing and couldn’t stop, walking after her friend. “Nothing at all.”
Chapter 9
They traveled late into the evening, finally stopping in a valley another few hours away from Garbhán Isle.
As a group, they silently ate dried beef and bread, pulled out their bedrolls, and went to sleep.
The next morning, when Éibhear woke up, he was alone. Since he found no signs of blood or body parts, he assumed everyone was alive somewhere.
Éibhear ate more of the dried beef and bread, already thinking about the food he’d get once he returned to Garbhán Isle. It was something he’d missed greatly while living mostly in the north. Although the Ice Landers did use some interesting seasonings and well-cooked, rich food was the one indulgence they allowed themselves in their harsh world. Still, it’s not like he could enjoy that Ice Lander home cooking very often when he and his squad spent much of their time buried under ice and dirt, waiting for the right time to strike at some unsuspecting tribe leader.
Aye. It would be good to have a bit of a holiday. It would be good to see his kin . . . well, it would be good to see his mother and the mates of his brothers. That would be good.
Once he finished eating, Éibhear discovered he was no longer alone, but his company was only that damn dog. Where exactly was everyone else?
The dog circled around, finally sidling up to him, his eyes on the remainder of Éibhear’s beef.
“I should let you starve,” he told the beast. “Just for the snoring that you tormented us with last night, I should let you starve.”
But he ended up giving it a few pieces of beef instead. Simply because he didn’t want to hear Izzy complain if the dog died before they made it back to Garbhán Isle. He really didn’t want to hear her complain.
“Where is everyone anyway?” he asked the dog once he was done eating.
It jumped back like a rearing horse, spun around, and ran a few feet away, came back, stared at Éibhear.
Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to follow, that’s what Éibhear did. The dog led him up a steep incline until he found his fellow Mì-runach standing at the very top beside a large tree and looking over the other side to the land below.
Without saying a word, Éibhear walked up behind them and stood. They were tall, but he was taller and he only had to go slightly up on his toes to see what they were looking at.
One look at the lake beneath had Éibhear dropping back on his heels and shaking his head in disgust. Disgust! These bastards!
“You know,” he barked at them, enjoying the way they all jumped a bit, “that’s my brother’s daughter you’re eyeing, you disgusting bastards.”
Uther frowned. “I thought she was your cousin.”
“Oh, oh.” Caswyn punched Uther in the shoulder, his gaze still locked over the ridge. “There she goes again.”
All three refocused on the lake and Éibhear felt his lip curl, fangs starting to ease out of his gums. How dare they! She was his brother’s . . .
Brannie flew up past the ridge they all stood on, black wings extended from her back, black scales shining in the early-morning suns, and his comrades watching every move she made.
“Look at that tail,” Uther sighed.
“I think it’s a little short,” Aidan complained.
“You’re all watching Brannie?” Éibhear asked. “Really?”
They didn’t bother answering him since they were still busy staring at her, but he didn’t really see what they seemed to see. She was just . . . Brannie.
His cousin flipped over and dived back toward the lake. Éibhear heard Izzy squeal and he looked over the edge to see her trying to swim back to shore.
Brannie landed in the lake hard, the water exploding out and sending Izzy racing to land. Éibhear was convinced she’d drown or worse, but by the time she rolled nak*d across the ground, the water retreating, she was laughing hysterically.
“You mad cow!” she yelled around her laughter.
Brannie was laughing, too, while floating on her back in the still-sloshing water.
Izzy managed to sit up. She seemed completely comfortable nak*d, and he understood why. She was perfect. Long body, powerful legs, strong shoulders, and scars across her back, torso, chest, and even her inside thighs. Yet she still moved with grace and strength, getting to her feet easily and stretching her entire body, her arms high over her head, muscles rippling.
“Should you be staring at your niece like that, Uncle Éibhear?” Aidan asked him while Uther and Caswyn continued to lustfully gawk at an unsuspecting Brannie.
“Piss off,” Éibhear growled, moving around the bastard he sometimes called friend.
“Gods, look at the breast scales on her,” Uther muttered about Brannie.
Still disgusted and pissed off in general, Éibhear rammed the big oaf’s head into the tree he stood next to before heading back to camp. “We’re moving out in ten minutes.”
Izzy was trying to reach the clothes that Brannie had annoyingly put on a high branch.
“You are such a bitch!” she yelled at her laughing cousin, who was back in her human form, dressed, and running back to camp.
Izzy jumped again, hoping to reach her damn leggings without being forced to climb the damn tree. The vision of her splayed nak*d across that branch did nothing but make her feel uneasy.
Her fingers nearly touched the leggings, but she just missed them, growling when her feet again landed on the ground.
She was eyeing the tree, trying to figure out the best way up, when an incredibly large arm reached around her and grabbed her clothes. Her first instinct was to cover herself with her arms, or at the very least cover her tits. As her mother had always warned her, she’d been a late bloomer. Now she usually kept her chest bound around her troops. But she didn’t want to give Éibhear the satisfaction of seeing her embarrassed. So she planted her hands on her h*ps and smiled up at him.
“I think,” he said, “that you need to remember you and Brannie aren’t alone on this trip.”
“Why do you think she put my clothes in the tree? She knows your dirty friends were watching.” Izzy took the clothes from him. “Thanks.”
“Perhaps you two have spent too much time together.”
“Aunt Ghleanna has said that more than once.” Izzy dropped her clothes and began to get dressed with Éibhear right there. He frowned but didn’t say anything. He also didn’t turn away. “She says I’m a bad influence on her daughter. Me. A bad influence on Branwen the Awful. I’m not sure how she comes to that conclusion.”
“Probably because you get my cousin drunk and she just wakes up in the middle of your insane centaur shit.”
“That could be part of Ghleanna’s argument.” She finished pulling her chain-mail shirt over her head and shook her wet hair out.
“You know,” Izzy said, stepping closer to Éibhear and placing her hand on his chest. “I’m so glad we made up and that we’ve put the past behind us.”
“Uh.” Éibhear looked down at her hand and then at her face. “Yeah. Me, too.”
“Now we can be the proper uncle and niece that the family has always wanted us to be.”
The dragon blinked, his body going stiff. “Uncle and niece?”
“Proper uncle and niece. That must be such a relief for you. Not to have some child running around trying to stroke your hair.” She laughed a little, patting his chest. “Thank you for being so patient with me back then. It must have been very hard.”
“Well, no, it was—”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the past. Now we’re family. Kin. My wonderful Uncle Éibhear.” On a whim, she went up on her toes and kissed him on the chin since she couldn’t quite reach his cheek without more effort.
Then she walked away and headed back to camp. She was almost there when Brannie stepped out from behind a tree and yanked her over.
Her friend stared at her. “Uncle Éibhear?” she whispered.
Izzy chewed her lip. “Too much?”
Bent over, silently laughing, Brannie shook her head and leaned against Izzy. “You’re the best, you evil bitch!” she managed to squeal and whisper simultaneously. “The best!”
Then the friends held each other and laughed until Éibhear and the Mì-runach called for them so they could return to Garbhán Isle.
Chapter 10
“No. Absolutely not.”
Talaith got up and followed Briec while he stalked around their bedroom.
“I think you’re being unreasonable,” she told him.
“I’m being a father.”
“No. You’re being your father.”