Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7)

of Paragon. She’d only now noticed a jagged dark line on the horizon, far off in the distance. She stroked the blond curls back from Charlie’s forehead. “What do you think? That looks like a nice place to stay for a while, doesn’t it?”
Charlie returned her smile, her blue eyes dancing in the sunlight. How the babe could smile after so many days and nights on the move, she had no idea. Their journey from London to Aeaea had required traveling by car, train, cruise ship, plane, and now a rickety wooden sailboat captained by Rowan’s mate, Nick, who thankfully had a sliver of experience sailing, although never a vessel like this. The ship appeared to be several hundred years old, a necessity in order to reach the island if the oreads on Crete were to be believed. Apparently Circe was wary of modern technology, and this boat increased their odds of being granted sanctuary by the goddess.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer now.” Gabriel sidled up to her and handed Charlie a piece of lamb they’d brought from Crete. The babe grabbed the piece in her chubby hand and tore off a bite.
Raven groaned. “I’m still not used to the idea that my newborn eats meat and that she prefers it raw.”
Gabriel grinned. “Perfectly natural. You must remember, Raven, Charlie is a baby dragon—”
“She’s also a witch.”
“Normally our young learn to walk and then to fly in the first weeks outside the egg. Her development will far surpass that of a human child.”
“Considering she was born less than a week ago but is developmentally equivalent to a six- or seven-month-old baby, I’d say that’s pretty obvious. It’s a lot for a new mother to adjust to.”
He kissed her soundly on the cheek. “I think you are handling all this like a goddess. No dragon could ask for a better mother to their child.”
Gabriel’s confidence in her exceeded what she had in herself, but she was determined to do her best, one day at a time. She kissed her daughter on the head. “Whatever you do, Charlie, it will be perfect, and I plan to cherish every moment.”
Avery strode in their direction with fire in her eyes. “Not to interrupt what is obviously a beautiful family moment, but do you see that?” She pointed at the water between their boat and the island. A dark shape lingered under the surface.
“It’s huge. Is that a rock?” Raven asked.
Shaking her head, Avery led them to the side of the ship for a better view. “That is no rock. It’s moving. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Maybe it’s a whale,” Raven said hopefully.
“Gabriel!” Tobias called from the other side of the ship. He pointed east. “We’ve got trouble.”
Raven followed her mate’s line of sight to see two dragons in the distance, one solid gold against the azure sky, the other silver like a fish. She swore with an intensity that made her want to cover Charlie’s ears. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Mother.” Gabriel removed his jacket. “Apparently killing Charlie was important enough to her to come herself. And I’m betting that’s the worm Ransom by her side.”
Ribbons of terror wrapped around Raven and squeezed. She darted a glance toward the island, still too far away—the dragons were closing in fast. “How fast can you fly? If you get us to the island…”
“Not fast enough. Besides, until we have Circe’s invitation, we won’t have her protection. It’s not enough to make it to shore.” He frowned. “We’ll have to hold Eleanor off.” He unbuttoned his shirt and cast it aside. She noticed his brothers and sister were doing the same. “Stay on the boat. Watch Charlie. We’ll take care of this. There are six of us and two of them.”
“Be careful, Gabriel. Don’t underestimate her or her magic.” Raven was a powerful witch, but she hadn’t yet learned the limits of Eleanor’s dark abilities. Worse, she might not be able to help without physical proximity to the battle.
Nathaniel piped up as he tossed his clothes aside. “Try to keep her in her dragon form. She can’t perform magic as her beast. We stand a bloody better chance at winning this if we can stop her from using it.”
“Let’s fly.” Gabriel’s hands stretched toward the deck, scales shingling along his skin. He dove from the ship, finishing his transformation in midair. His black-and-emerald dragon swooped over the water and headed straight for his mother.
Raven’s skin tightened and her jaw clenched. Six against two didn’t seem good odds when one of the two was a narcissistic psychopath. And if Aborella had helped Eleanor, who knew what wicked magical booby trap waited in store for her mate. With the fairy seer on Eleanor’s side, the empress knew what was coming. It was an unfair advantage.
Tobias kissed his mate, Sabrina, who huddled in the cabin’s shade. As a hybrid, the vampire could be awake during the day, but the sun burned and weakened her quickly. She gave Raven a sympathetic look from the shadows as Tobias dove overboard, transforming into a silvery-white dragon that followed Gabriel into battle. Rowan’s fiery red scales followed, her mate, Nick, swearing fiercely at the ship’s wheel. Alexander’s coppery beast flew next, his mate Maiara scaling the mast with superhuman speed and drawing an arrow from her quiver. She lowered it quickly, however. No arrow, no matter how well aimed, could reach Eleanor, let alone pierce her dragon hide.
Xavier took Avery by the shoulders, his eyes twinkling. “Use that piece of metal on yer back if ye need to, woman!”
Avery touched the hilt of the sword she called Fairy Killer. “Bring her close enough and I’ll use it to pry out her citrine heart.”
He gave her a firm kiss on the lips. “That’s my curaidh.” He dove overboard, transforming into his amber-and-blue beast and beating the air to catch up with the others.
On Raven’s hip, Charlie fussed, probably picking up on her growing anxiety. She bounced her and patted her