Ruler of the Mind

13 Winter

One by one, he hunted his Valkyrie's enemies all over the desert southwestern United States. She wasn't his yet, but he needed her so desperately that he refused to think of her in any other terms. Maybe that mindset was what it meant to be dragonesque.

It didn't matter. He was a dragon knight with a mission. He caught up with one man in Phoenix, another in Vegas. One was in L.A., and the last man he found in Albuquerque. It took time to find them all.

He was driving a rental van with four criminal rapists tied up in the back and his car behind it on a hauler when he rolled into Draoithe on a Thursday afternoon. He was a day late for his dinner date with a mouse. But the first part of his mission was a success. There was no one that had hurt his lifemate left free.

A couple of centuries working with the dungeon master and using his ability to break men had made his task easy once he had them. He would pay for using the gift that way, but it had been worth it. For Mouse, any price would have been worth it.

Somewhere just before Ft. Worth, Winter felt the magic crawling under his skin pulling him to serve a Ri tuaithe. An underking needed a war council and he was meant to serve. He smiled as he drove. He was already on his way.

Winter McLyon, the red dragon Flash, would serve. Blaze had convinced him. He owed the Dungeon Master. If Blaze was right, this time his service would matter.

Still, what he wanted was to see her, Misty Todofer. She was a treasure like no other. If he could claim her, nothing else would ever matter. Service or no service, she would make him more than he could have ever been.

He'd been talking with Blaze and receiving emails from Duncan O'Sullivan for nearly a week. He had far more information than he ever wanted on his enemy and the situation wasn't good. Peter Elliot was a serious issue.

He realized that he wanted to serve. Misty would be avenged properly, but he would require help to see it done right. The men he'd captured should serve his Valkyrie. That was only right.

Fox had assured Winter that he would be allowed to swear fealty if he wanted, and Luke had accepted his oath. His dragon no longer slept. His magic all worked once again.

It was still Mouse that he needed most. He needed her to join minds with him, to finish the magic of his gift. She would free him. He would make her a Queen of the Mind.

"You should have warned me about the queen of dragons. I damn near fell on my face." Flash laughed as he found Blaze in the garage after meeting with the Inner Circle and the ranking dragons along with an archangel and a white dragon.

Blaze looked good. It had been far too long. Exactly why he'd once believed he never wanted to see the man again had faded into the past.

"You brought us presents and a car. I take it that the van is a rental?" Ash asked as Blaze let him out of a bear hug. Smoke leaped into the van as Char nodded at Ash and stepped into the garage office.

Winter clasped forearms with the Lord of Dragons at Draoithe. Ash was a good man. He would use the magic to see justice done.

"Yeah, I refused to allow filth in the car." Flash grinned.

Misty smiled the ghost of a smile even if she had attempted to blend in with the darker shadows of the garage. Flash noticed. About her, he noticed everything.

He spoke with the men before him, but it was Mouse who held his attention. It was as if his mind was split between his conversation with Blaze and Ash and his need to remain focused on her.

Ash laughed then nodded as he looked at the rapists with a far more serious expression. Blaze had pulled them from the van. Men like them deserved their fate. Mouse would have servants as befit the Queen of the Mind that she was.