Then, he offered up the dress, which had long sleeves with pointed ends that covered the tops of my hands, edged with a tiny strip of decorative beading. The neckline was a low v-neck but the linen still mostly covered my breasts, and the waistline was fairly high with a brocade sash waist and tiny buttons up the back. The skirts fell to my socks, narrow but with a wonderful sweep when I moved.
Rafe pulled my hair out of the ponytail and arranged it over my shoulders. “There is a mirror here,” he said.
“You truly look the part, Lady Dakota,” Hiron said.
“Ohhh.” I kinda wish my mom hadn’t named me Dakota. I needed more of a magical queen name. “I should have taken a shower first… not that I suppose you have a shower?”
“You smell delicious,” Hiron said. “A shower would be a crime.”
“I created a shower downstairs,” Rafe said.
“Hey,” I said. “If I become your bride, do I have to clean the castle?”
They both laughed. “That would be a waste of your time,” Hiron said. “We hire out some work to villagers, like tending the garden and sending out the laundry, and to do the spring and fall cleanings. Xado cooks and I clean the dishes. Rafe tends the fires.”
“I suppose if you want to pick up a broom now and then, feel free,” Rafe said. “Sometimes we let the place go more than we should.”
“What do the women of the castle do?”
“Practice magic and make beautiful things,” Hiron said.
“It’s really up to you,” Rafe said. “If it can be done here, you can do it. There is nothing to fail at. That’s why I’m here.” He shot me a sardonic smile.
Maybe it was a joke, but it actually sounded awesome. Nothing to fail at.
But of course, if it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.
Chapter Nine
Nicole
I had visited Edie plenty of times, and usually her guys were pretty chill. There was Dante, the chef, who was always bringing out more food than we could eat before settling in and cracking open a beer. Alister, who was intellectual but not too snobby about it; the consummate host who always asked us interesting questions about life on the mainland. And Van, who seemed like a really nice guy and loved showing off his gardens.
This time there was an immediate mood of foreboding.
“Dragons,” Alister said, standing by one of the many fireplaces in their Victorian manor house. “They’re one of the demons I warned you about to begin with, Edie. Not of the highest class, but they are above us. They can live for two hundred years, and…”
“And what?” Edie asked, in a tone that said, Just spit it out, Alister.
“Two hundred years?” I asked. “What do they want with a human?”
“Demons need humans,” Elias said. “They’ll wait to breed until they’re halfway through their lives.”
“Ugh, please don’t say breed,” I said. “I know demons guard certain spots between worlds, but…the note said the dragons live entirely in the Sinistral Plane?”
“Yes, that’s why Van and Dante and I needed Edie, to guard a spot between worlds,” Alister said. “But even in a more general sense, the Sinistral and Ethereal worlds both need to maintain a connection to this world. This was once achieved by belief and offerings to the spirit world, the faeries, or whatever name humans gave to the other planes. But as true belief wanes, we have to get it other ways. Either by marriage, or by getting humans to worship us in modern ways.”
“That’s why Elias has his band,” Dante said. “In more extreme cases, some more powerful demons take on the names of gods to gain power, or start cults.”
“But we have to get a devote following in order to remain in the Fixed Plane,” Elias said. “I met Rafe while I was trying to figure out our band. He used to have a rockabilly act in the northeast, but he couldn’t cut it.”
“And then he went back to being a dragon,” I said dryly.
“Dragons are pretty intense,” Van said, glancing up from playing with their daughter Aithne. She was getting into toddlerhood and although I didn’t love babies, I had to admit she was super adorable. She kept trying to beeline toward me with a grin, but clearly Van could tell I was anxious right now and wanted to pay attention.
“Is Dakota in danger?” I asked.
“Sinistral is a very different sort of place than here,” Alister said. “There is no electricity, the sun never shines, and there are all manner of monstrous creatures. Dragons are also more old-fashioned than we are. Rather brutish, at times. If they want something, they’ll take it.”
“Back in Medieval times, sometimes dragons would kill the women they slept with,” Dante said.
“What?” Edie cried.
“Sometimes they would revert into dragon form during sex,” Dante said. “Pretty horrifying way to go.”
Edie and I both screamed.
“That doesn’t happen now,” Alister said. “Once they take a mate, they are magically restricted. The Symposium doesn’t even allow dragons or any other large beasts demons to have sex with a human until such spells are enacted. Dante, why on earth did you even bring that up?”
Dante shrugged. “It’s an interesting tidbit.”
“No, it’s not!” I cried.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said.
“So they won’t mate with her right away?” Edie asked. “We have time?”
“Very little time,” Alister said. “The Symposium will want to see her cast a spell. If she is unable to cast protective magic, they will bind her to the castle and her mates—an unpleasant outcome for all concerned. She would have no freedom at all; they couldn’t let her out of their sight. So they are likely rushing to teach her one now.”
“How do we keep it from happening?” I asked.
“The easiest way would be to take one of you to Sinistral,” Alister said. “You provide a clear link for her to come back to the Fixed Plane, and we should be able to pull her out quickly. It should be Elias, since he knows where Rafe lives.”
Elias nodded.
“Nicole should go,” Dante said. “Edie’s pregnant. Moving between worlds is a stress.”
“I’m okay,” Edie said, glancing at me. “I can go.”
I groaned. Of course Edie’s husbands would back her up and volunteer me to go.
I really did not want to go. Me, in the supernatural world? My brain still didn’t even really believe in it. Like, I guess it had to. But actually going there was another matter.
But also of course, I was protective of Edie too.
“Will it take long? Am I at any risk of being snatched up by demons myself?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Elias said, giving me a slightly smug look.
“It won’t take long,” Alister said. “Just find the castle and wait outside. As soon as you see Dakota, if you can grab her hand, you can pull her back.”
“If you’re only in the Sinistral World for a brief time, it won’t seem like anything too scary,” Van said. ”But stick close.”
“I’ll make you both some protective spells so you can stand up to dragon fire. Just in case,” Dante said.
“Hurry,” Edie said, brushing his arm as he walked by.
“Pssh. Don’t worry, Bright Eyes. Dakota’s gonna be fine.” He gave her a kiss. I looked away. It embarrassed me how affectionate they all were with her—in front of each other, too. What kind of man was so okay with sharing a wife?
“So you guys are sure he’s trustworthy?” I pointed at Elias.
“I’m the nicest demon you’ll ever meet,” Elias said.
“I want someone else to answer,” I said.
“He’s fine,” Alister said. “But I wouldn’t blame you for ignoring him. He’s Dante’s friend.”
“No, not really!” Dante called from the next room. “I don’t usually hang out with fucking werewolves!”
“And I don’t usually hang out with assholes!” Elias shouted back.
Aithne’s face turned red and the
n she started to cry, in that delayed baby way. I finally held out my hand and let her come to me, drool and all. She was the closest thing I’d probably ever have to a niece. “I don’t blame you,” I said.
Chapter Ten
Xado
I was afraid I had gotten off on the wrong talon with our mate. Out of our trio, I was more in touch with my dragon nature than my human one. I spent much of my time flying over the great forests or prowling through their interiors, hunting prey for our dinners, catching smells on the wind and using magic to sense for dangers.
Dragon women were very much attracted to dragon men. They wanted something primal. We barely needed words when we smelled one another’s desire or lack thereof. They liked to be spoken to frankly, and they liked a dragon male to show his sexual attraction to her in thoughts and deeds. I knew when a woman didn’t want me. I would step back if I sensed no attraction. But Dakota wanted us all very much.
Therefore, her protests were confusing to me. I’ve probably offended her, I thought.
It was so easy to do, when all my instincts seemed to be wrong. I didn’t know what she wanted me to say or do.
I had spent almost no time in the Fixed Plane, but I remembered when Rafe came back from his time there. He seemed so alien to us on his return. He didn’t even look like the Rafe we knew anymore. His clothes were different; his hair shorter. He had made every attempt to match the speech of the humans, and he never spoke the same again. He had so many tales of this other world that sometimes I felt stupid in his presence, because I had never traveled like he had.
Hiron was like a bridge between us. This was his ancestral castle, but he was not as attached to the idea of home as I was. If Rafe frustrated me, he would remind me that someday we would all have to welcome a mate from the human world. We needed to get along with the idea of such a world, strange as it was. A world where no one even believed in magic…although many of them wished it was real, Rafe said.
Dakota certainly seemed to fall in that category.
This was my chance to mend things with her.
Usually everyone assumed I began and ended with my height and muscular build, my athletic prowess in both my forms. But truthfully, I considered myself a sorcerer more than a warrior.
The sight of our mate with her hair loose, clad in a proper gown, almost took my breath away. It changed her entire aspect. Golden hair spilling over her shoulders, a spark in her green eyes…even down to the way she carried herself, like she felt the transformation. The graceful folds of the gown hugged every curve of her body while concealing it from immediate view and made me feel ravenous to lift the skirt, to taste and caress what was hidden. But I couldn’t be distracted by her yet.
Everything was on my shoulders now.
“The lady of the castle,” Hiron said, presenting her.
“Oh, please.” Dakota sounded embarrassed but she seemed so happy. More confusing signals.
I took her small hands in mine, trying to sense how much innate power she possessed. When I held her before, I thought I sensed some talent, but I was taken aback by how potent it seemed when I concentrated.
“Do you practice witchcraft already, little bride?” I asked her.
“Witchcraft? No. I mean, I took a Reiki class once. And as you know, I burn candles and pray for things. But I’ve stayed away from like, actual spells. I respect that stuff.” She looked at me with hope. “Why?”
“You feel as if you do. You already have warmth in your hands, and a sense of magical flow. I think you would be an Ethereal witch, however. You should have asked for Ethereals, and not demons.”
“I don’t know any Ethereals,” she said. “But demons aren’t really the bad guys, right? If I thought you were evil, of course I would never have asked.”
“We’re not evil. We’re just selfish and proud, so they say,” Rafe said.
“I can be pretty selfish,” Dakota said, frowning. “I can’t say I’ve done much of anything for anyone.”
“We are often bad judges of our own character,” Hiron said. “It doesn’t mean you have to adopt waifs off the street or offer your food to beggars.”
“They usually call them hobos now,” Rafe said.
“Um, you’re both wrong. Homeless people,” Dakota said. “Actually maybe we should say ‘people who are dealing with homelessness’.”
“Well, either way, you prove my point,” Hiron said. “Your intention is still to put others before yourself.”
“Is it bad if I have Ethereal magic?”
“You’ll have to learn our ways,” I said. “You need a spark of fire in you to be a good Sinistral witch. But considering how bold your tongue is, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble. Come with me.”
She glanced back at Hiron and Rafe like she didn’t want to be alone with me, before giving in and following me to the spell workroom.
Patience, I told myself. You must treat her like you would wait patiently on the hunt.
But impatience was, perhaps, my biggest weakness as a hunter, a cook, and a sorcerer alike.
She gazed around the workroom with wonder in her eyes. Dim light came in through tall windows, from the eternally cloudy skies of Sinistral. The sun always seemed to be rising or setting, but never high enough to burn away the mist and fog that often shrouded the forests. Other days, the sky was too thick with a gray cloud cover to see the sun at all. Today was such a day.
Since Sinistral was such a dreary place, we greatly valued beauty in our homes. This room had been built with panels of stained glass at the top of every window, and carved and painted beams crossing the ceiling. The tapestries and rugs had taken years to craft and were passed down through generations.
Many ingredients and finished spells were kept here, inside of several ornate cabinets with glass doors. The handles were shaped like golden serpents and the door frames were inlaid with mother of pearl. A large table was outfitted with implements for measuring, separating, and burning.
“Wow,” she said. “Everywhere I turn, it’s like I’m inside a book.” She paused. I thought she might say more, but she seemed intimidated by me.
“Demon magic is straightforward,” I said. “It comes from inside of us. But witches must craft their spells using outside ingredients. That’s why we have prepared this room for you, to learn to craft spells. I know enough about it myself to teach you some basic spells now. No matter what sort of magic you have, intention and concentration play a large part in it, so even though the details of our magic will be different, the general practice is the same.”
A slow smile crept into the corners of her mouth. I had not seen that smile before, and it was devastating. It made me want to devour her, but I was wary of its meaning.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I just haven’t heard you talk this much.”
“They do say I’m the quiet one,” I said.
“Except when it comes to telling me what you want to do to me, huh?”
I was a little confused again. Is this what she wanted now? “I am always…more than happy to tell you what I’d like to do to you.” I caressed her shoulder, only to be shrugged off again with a snort, even though it was still apparent that she liked what I was doing. The scent of her desire was so heady that I was having a hard time concentrating on the task at hand. Hiron and Rafe had both had a taste of her already, and it was my due to claim my own now, but I was trying to show her I could be patient.
“Where do I begin with learning this magic?” she asked.
“With a book,” I said, handing her a basic Sinistral grimoire, heavy and leather-bound, with stones embedded in the spine for additional power.
She opened the cover.
“The Grimoire of the Dragons’ Bride, Dakota Carr!” She looked at me nervously. “It knows my name.”
“Yes. It takes on your name and language when you open it.”
She paused again, more heavily.
She didn’t say anything, but I felt her reluctance. Seeing
her name in the book had touched a nerve, and made it all too real for her.
“We’re…we’re not married yet,” she said.
“No. Not yet. But it knows our intentions. Once you learn the spell, we can take you before the Symposium.”
She lifted her hand away from the book. “And if I don’t learn the spell, you still take me to the Symposium.”
I nodded.
“Only I would be more prisoner than bride. Is that right?”
“Yes, but there is no need to worry over it. I know you’ll pass the spell tests. You already have more power than I would have hoped.”
She looked at her hands. “And you’ll also teach me a spell to help my mom?”
“Of course I would be happy to teach you that,” I said.
She seemed more fragile when she spoke of her mother. I understood. Usually dragons and longer lived demons didn’t even associate much with the more human-like demons. We segregated ourselves based on lifespans, perhaps to avoid grief. But it was inevitable that sometimes we made friends across those lines.
“I understand what it’s like to see someone you care about grow older,” I said. “Some low demons barely live for sixty years. The most human-like ones are likely to live a century, but that means they are old men now, while I am still in my prime years. I used to go drinking with Urson, the smith in the village by the castle. He’s getting so old now that he only tells the same stories over and over about when we were young, his mind wandering. It’s hard to see, but he’s still my friend. Now I will drink with his son, and watch over him for Urson.”
“My mom says she’s okay,” Dakota said. “So maybe she doesn’t even need it. But she is getting older.” She paused, chewing on a nail. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to her. It’s not what she wanted for me at all. She’s had some bad boyfriends, but she doesn’t really trust any man with her baby.”
“We’re not ‘bad boyfriends’,” I said. “We’re your devoted mates.”
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