Blazing Blunderbuss (Wyvern Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Marya nodded and said, “Well, our deal included money for the vials and the doctor, and since you only provided half of the deal, I think I’ll let you leave here alive.”

  Marvin went red in his face with his own anger. “What? What about my money?”

  Hara put her hand on her father’s shoulder and said, “Don’t sweat it, Dad.”

  He always wanted to push it. He didn’t even notice the gun in Marya’s hand. Hara said to Marya, “Now that your business with my father is done, I have something of my own to say. I don’t think the pirate life is for me.” Then she said significantly, “I’m a bit of a diamond in the rough, but I’m not that rough.”

  Marya shot her a look which could cut. It was clear she got the reference to the diamonds. She clicked the hammer back on the gun, then changed her mind and set it back. Her face was stormy. She motioned to someone in the back and a man came to pick up the case.

  As the man took the case away Marya said, “Fine, you can have your freedom.”

  Her actions after that were so fast that none of them had time to react. Marya pulled the trigger of her gun, spun on her heels and stormed out after the man with the case. Pain flowered in Hara’s stomach and her legs became jelly. She stumbled to her knees. Angel came out of her hiding place and trilled entreatingly.

  Hara heard people moving, but it was only Gideon, who came to her side. He caught her and eased her onto the ground. He looked serious, but not worried. Angel moved from Hara’s collar and climbed his arm to sit on his shoulder to peer down at her.

  Hara asked, “My dad?”

  “He’s gone, sweetheart.” Gideon’s voice was gentle as he spoke.

  Hara nodded. Only vaguely surprised, she wasn’t hurt by her father’s desertion. Gideon smoothed her hair away from her face and said, “Do you trust me, my love?”

  She looked at Gideon and nodded her head. He was here when anyone else would have left her.

  Gideon said softly, “You’re dying. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’re in my collection, you can live.”

  Hara wrinkled her nose and then let out a breath. “Fine.”

  He would look after her a lot better than her father. His voice was fading away. He patted her face and she focused.

  Gideon said firmly, “You need to give me your hands.”

  Hara lifted one, but the other wasn’t working so well. She felt his hand touch both her hands and she closed her eyes. His hands tightened on hers and then warmth threaded through her hands. It got hotter though, and soon it was uncomfortable. It escalated to fire just under her skin.

  She squirmed, and Gideon’s hold on her tightened.

  He said by her ear, “Almost there, sweetheart, almost.”

  Fire burned through her stomach and she swore she could feel the bullet moving inside her. There was a tinkle of metal on concrete and she opened her eyes. Angel was on the ground and the small metal bullet was in her tiny hands, holding it against her chest. Hara turned her attention to her own body. There were black tattoos like brands on her arms.

  There was a significant puddle of blood and she closed her eyes again. The pain was gone, but Gideon was still holding onto her. He shifted her so she was half sitting up. She turned her head against his chest and just lay there for a while.

  Without opening her eyes, she placed her hand on her stomach. She could feel where the bullet had gone through her shirt and she felt for the wound underneath. There wasn’t even a scar. She opened her eyes when Angel lightly touched her hand with her metal claw. The bullet was nowhere to be seen. Once Hara’s eyes were open Angel clicked her tongue and moved so she was again on Hara’s shoulder.

  Hara could see delicate black tattoos etched into the skin on her hand. She said, “I take it there are a few things about this collection thing that you didn’t tell me about.”

  Gideon rumbled a soft, comforting sound and added, “Yeah, your life force is bound to mine. It means you get to live as long as I do.”

  She asked, “How long is that?”

  He shrugged. “Mmm, we aren’t sure. On our own planet we live for a few hundred years, but here we seem to live longer. Especially if we are bound to humans. Our best guess is over a thousand years. Our Emperor, who married a human woman four hundred years ago, is already over a thousand.”

  Gideon rubbed his nose in her hair and asked, “You all right to move?”

  Hara nodded and he helped her to her feet. She looked around, but there was no sign of her father. She didn’t think he would be back at the Blazing Blunderbuss either.

  She stopped for a moment and said softly, “Bye, Dad.”

  As they left she asked, “You swapped out all of the poison? You didn’t miss one of the vials or anything? Because you’re now a bonded dragon and you could be in danger.”

  His voice held a smile as he answered. “Oh, I got all of them. I swapped them the first night.”

  Hara shook her head and said, “Never liked poisons. Too sneaky.”

  Gideon stopped and said, “That reminds me.” He pulled something out of his pocket and left it in the pool of blood she had shed.

  Hara asked, “What’s that?”

  “A diamond. I want to remind Marya.”

  Clever, she thought, but she was too tired to even say that.

  When they returned to the Blazing Blunderbuss Hara wasn’t astonished that her father wasn’t there.

  Alice asked, “Are you all right?”

  Liam was standing watch with Alice and gasped, “That’s blood.”

  He went to help her, but Hara waved them off and said, “I’m fine.”

  Hara didn’t tell them she doubted there was much that could kill her with Gideon nearby.

  Talen came out from further in the ship and said, “There’s a message for you.”

  Hara frowned, wondering if it might be from her father. Talen passed over the note. It had one sentence on it: You are free. It was signed Marya.

  Talen asked, “Where is Marvin?” He was eying the blood on her clothes and the tattoos which threaded up her arms, so his voice was distracted.

  Hara said, “Gone, and probably for good.”

  Especially as her father thought she was dead. Hara wasn’t about to correct his misconception. Talen motioned to her blood and the new tattoos and asked, “What happened?”

  Hara leaned heavily on Gideon. She was still shaky, and besides, she liked the way he felt. “I was shot. Gideon saved me. That’s all that matters. Now I think we should leave Moscow. I’m feeling like some sunshine.”

  She said to Alice, “Get us out of here. I’m going to go change.”

  Hara pulled her shirt away from her skin. The blood was tacky and it made a sticking sound.

  Hara winced as she said, “I liked this shirt.”

  Gideon went to follow her but she waved him off. Now that she realised how terrible the blood really was, all she wanted to do was to get clean.

  Talen followed and asked, “Hara, what is with the tattoos?”

  Hara looked a little closer at the tattoos and realized they were actually a pattern. She twisted her arms and said, “I think it means I married Gideon.”

  She smoothed her hands over the tattoos and Talen asked, “And you’re all right with that?”

  “Mmm, probably. But Gideon won’t push it.” She smiled as she said that. One thing she was very sure of was that Gideon wouldn’t force her to do anything.

  Hara stopped and turned to Talen. “Talen, I don’t need someone to replace Dad. He was never really my father. Alfred raised me and he likes Gideon. You need to get over yourself.”

  Talen pursed his lips and said, “I don’t want to be your dad.”

  “I know, Talen, but you are too much like Marvin to be anything else to me but a friend. A close friend, but only a friend.”

  He nodded and walked away. Gideon said, “Do you think he’ll back off?”

  Hara smiled as she hadn’t heard him following them, though she had assumed he wo
uldn’t be far away.

  She shrugged and said, “Thanks for letting me tell him in my own way.”

  Gideon shrugged and followed her as she entered her room. She said, “I don’t think I’m ready…”

  He nodded and caught her arms and tugged her closer. “I know.” He leant down and kissed her. She smiled against his lips. It felt so right, but she really needed to get out of her clothes.

  She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back until he was outside her room. She stepped back and closed the door on his face. She chuckled at the look he gave her, but he didn’t open the door even though she had left it unlocked. Dragons had no sense of personal space, but it seemed Gideon would give her some.

  Hara said, “I feel silly. Do I have to do this?”

  Gideon placed the things needed on a small table. He said, “Trust me, it’ll make you feel better.”

  She glared at the back of his head as he bent over and rearranged everything on the table, but she didn’t argue with him anymore because she thought he might be right.

  Hara hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. She had been worrying about her father. The bastard. Even when he wasn’t there he bothered her. Marvin was more than capable of looking after himself, and he certainly wasn’t part of her crew.

  They still hadn’t heard anything from him but she doubted she would.

  They were still in Moscow. Alice had managed to get them a cargo but it was only being delivered in the morning. Hara would have preferred to have been on their way now that they were free from their obligations to Rosha. Hara didn’t trust Marya to stay complacent.

  Gideon stepped back from the table and said, “There.”

  He motioned her forward and she stepped up to the table. On the table was a small drawing of her father, a bowl, a candle and a small jug.

  Gideon gestured to the table and said, “Take up the picture and say these words.”

  She picked up the picture and repeated after him as he said, “This I give back to the winds. This I give back to the land.”

  Gideon motioned to the bowl and she placed the picture inside. He picked up a taper, lit it with the candle and gave it to her. She set it to the picture in the bowl and said, without prompting, “With this I give you back to the fire.”

  Her voice cracked with emotion. Gideon nodded solemnly as they watched the parchment burn. Without prompting she picked up the small jug and said in a mere whisper, “With this I give you back to the water.”

  She poured the water into the bowl. It turned grey with the ash, and bits of parchment floated to the top. Gideon said in an equally soft voice, “I give my cares and my worries away. I give my love and my duty away. Be free.”

  She repeated what he had said and it really did feel better. She blinked rapidly. When she looked up at Gideon he saw that as a signal and moved to wrap his arms around her. She pressed her face to his chest but the tears caught in her throat, making it ache.

  Gideon stroked his hand through her hair but didn’t say anything more.

  Gideon found Marvin in a pleasant hotel in the posh sector of Moscow. He was in the lounge and very drunk. He was waving his cup at a waiter, asking for more.

  Gideon stopped in front of him. Marvin frowned until he finally placed him. “Ah, the dragon. What brings you here? Are you going to kill me?”

  Gideon shook his head and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt. Marvin had been in enough noble circles to know what the tattoos on his arms meant.

  Marvin raised an eyebrow and said, “So you claimed her. I take it she’s still alive. Man, I really didn’t think Marya had the guts to shoot someone.”

  Gideon covered his arms again and said, “That’s because you don’t see people, you only see what you want to see.”

  Working on the buttons at his wrist, Gideon continued, “You are to leave her alone.”

  Marvin put his cup down and stood up, but he had forgotten how drunk he was and his legs struggled to keep him upright. He recovered quickly and poked Gideon’s chest with a finger and said, “I told you once, she’s my girl and in the end she’ll do anything for me.”

  Gideon shook his head. “She didn’t do this for you. She did this to find a way to be herself. Now she is free, she will never need you in her life. She can move on.”

  Marvin snorted. “We’ll see.”

  Both of them looked to the side when Talen said, “No, you will leave her alone.”

  Gideon was astonished. He hadn’t sensed the man approaching and he was normally very good at that.

  Talen moved closer and said, “Hara is not your family any more, Marvin. You left her for dead. You don’t do that to family. So you go on believing she is dead, and stay out of her life. If you don’t, then you will have more than the dragon to worry about.”

  Marvin grunted and sat back down. A servant came up and filled his glass. He gave a cocky grin. “Fine. Have it your way.” He waved them off.

  Gideon and Talen walked away. After a moment Gideon said, “Thank you.”

  Talen said coldly, “Just treat her right or you’ll have to worry about me. You understand?”

  Gideon raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Really. And you better take me seriously.”

  “Oh, I do. I didn’t hear you sneaking up before. You’re one damn fine sneak. I want to be able to sleep at night.”

  Talen snorted at Gideon’s teasing.

  Hara pointed to something and Liam reached forward to tighten it. The two of them stepped back and Hara said, “Well, turn it on. You aren’t going to see if it works unless you test it.”

  Liam grinned and flipped the switch. The engine turned over and he whooped. Hara grinned at her student. She turned, expecting Gideon to be there, and he was.

  She smiled at him and said, “We just doubled our power output thanks to Liam here.”

  Liam blushed and said, “It was nothing. Hara showed me how to make the engine more efficient.”

  Gideon stepped forward and looked over the engine. He asked, “What does it run on?”

  Hara grinned and said, “Water.”

  He shook his head and said, “This is no steam engine.”

  She shrugged. Though it ran on water, she wouldn’t call it a steam engine either. She motioned to Liam to carry on with his testing and turned to walk out with Gideon. He offered an arm and she took it and leaned in against him.

  Hara said, “It means we’ll be able to get to places quicker. We can take on priority cargo. It should be more lucrative.”

  They walked out onto the deck. There was no one else there. They came to the railing and she let go of his arm to lean on it. Angel came out of her hiding place to take her usual place on the railing. She tilted her head and opened her wings a little, most likely pretending she was the one flying instead of the Blazing Blunderbuss.

  Hara took a deep breath Gideon asked behind her, “Are you happy here?”

  She glanced behind to look at him. She said, “Yeah, I am.”

  She realized then she had no idea what his feelings were when it came to the Blazing Blunderbuss. She reached out for him and tugged on his shirt so he was closer. “Do you like it here? I can always take you back to your apartment in the city.”

  Gideon shook his head and stepped even closer. He said, “We are two made one.”

  Hara wrinkled her nose and said, “You say that, but…”

  He nodded. “I know you’re not ready for more than what we have now. I’ve lived for a very long time. I can wait.”

  She smiled up at him and said, “I trust you, you know. Not like other men.”

  She put her arms around his neck and said, “I think I can handle a few kisses for the moment.”

  He bowed his head and lightly brushed his lips over hers. He pulled back a little and said, “I think I can handle a few kisses as well.”

  He kissed her again, but this time he was fierce. Claiming her, and she loved it.

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  About the Author

  Nix Whittaker is a high school teacher in a small rural town tucked away in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. She immigrated to New Zealand, when she was a young girl, from South Africa and has completely embraced the New Zealand lifestyle.

  She has been writing from a young age when she read all the books available for people her age and was forced to write her own just to feed her voracious appetite for Literature.

  She got into reading as she had dyslexia and the teacher thought reading would improve her spelling. Frankly, it never did, but it did lead her to a passion for the written word.

  She studied at Auckland University, but opted for the quiet life in the rolling countryside and views of Tongariro National Park. She lives with her dog and her three cats and writes between planning lessons and socializing with friends.

  You can contact her at [email protected]

  ISBN: Softcover, 978-0-473-35869-3

  ISBN: Kindle, 978-0-473-35873-0