Dragon's Gift: The Amazon Complete Series: An Urban Fantasy Boxed Set

by Linsey Hall

  The table was covered in pretty much every breakfast food imaginable, along with a lot that I’d never even seen before. Maybe it was Turkish. My tongue tingled.

  “Where did all this come from?” I drifted over as if I were in a trance, my stomach gurgling a waltz to accompany me.

  “Room service is quick here.”

  “I bet, in a swanky place like this.” My gaze moved over to the Menacing Menagerie, who all sat on the bed now, eyes riveted to the table. “You guys can share, you know.”

  Romeo waved his hand. No, no. You go first.

  “No need to stand on ceremony.”

  No, really. If you eat first, then maybe mess the plates around some. It’ll be more like trash.

  Poppy and Eloise both nodded, their eyes bright with excitement. The little blue flower tucked behind Eloise’s ear trembled.

  Mess them up good. Romeo grinned, his white teeth gleaming.

  “All right, then.” They were weirdos, but they were my weirdos.

  Maximus and I sat at the table, and my brain stalled temporarily at the sight of all the offerings. How in the world was I supposed to choose?

  “Just eat some of everything,” Maximus said, as if he’d read my mind. “That’s what I plan to do.”

  “This is fantastic.”

  Maximus grinned up at me, his plate piled high. “I thought you’d like it.” He shrugged. “So do I. Room service like this is one of the major perks of the modern era. Along with plumbing, the combustion engine, and vaccines.”

  “Pancakes are up there with vaccines?”

  “What’s the point of living if you don’t have pancakes?” He grinned and took a bite of the aforementioned cake.

  “You make a valid point, sir.” I turned to my food, thinking about the hardship he had lived through. I forgot about it often, since he seemed like a normal modern man most of the time.

  But just like Prometheus wasn’t able to forget his terrible past with the eagle that perpetually ate his liver, Maximus would never forget his time in Ancient Rome. And I didn’t need to ask to confirm that it wasn’t the bad food or lack of electricity that he wanted to forget. It was the time in the Colosseum. His time as a slave whose job it was to murder.

  But he’d escaped. He’d saved himself just like I would save myself. Like I would save the Amazons and the village and the whole world.

  Because I didn’t have any choice.

  I turned my mind away from such heavy thoughts before performance anxiety froze me solid.

  The banquet spread out before me deserved my full attention, and I was determined to enjoy the feast that looked like something out of a movie.

  I tucked into the buffet, barely stopping myself from eating until I couldn’t move. Between bites, I asked, “Did we get what we needed last night?”

  “We did indeed, thanks to your quick talking.”

  “And quick drinking.” I sipped some coffee that tasted like a dream. “Where are we headed?”

  “The Garden of the Hesperides, to look for Atlas’s daughters.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “Beats me. I think it’s somewhere in Greece.”

  “I can ask the Amazons. They’ll know.” I pushed back from the table and looked at the Menacing Menagerie. “Did I mess it up enough?”

  Romeo shrugged. Not quite trash, but it still looks pretty tasty.

  He hopped over to the end of the bed near the table, and I ruffled his head. “I know you like to work for your food, but today you can have a bit of a lie-in.”

  The animals each took a chair and began to eat, really quite nicely. Eloise’s table manners were exceptional, in fact. The badger looked like she could have tea with the queen. Except, of course, for the fact that she was a badger.

  I rifled through my dirty clothes to find my cell phone and the card that Queen Hippolyta had given me, then dialed the number.

  Within minutes, we had a plan. I hung up the phone and looked at Maximus. “We need to meet them on the roof.”

  “The roof?”

  I grinned. “We’re getting a ride.”

  When the helicopter landed on the roof twenty minutes later, I had to admit that I felt a bit like James Bond. It would have been faster to transport, but our charms were valuable. And without knowing exactly where the garden was, we might not have ended up in the right place. Once we were done, we should be able to transport out.

  “Damn, this is cool.” I grinned at Maximus.

  He looked mildly green around the gills but nodded gamely.

  The helicopter was sleek and black, and I’d have bet twenty bucks it had some kind of stealth equipment on it. The door slid open, and an Amazon leaned out, her blonde hair blowing in the wind.

  She waved us forward, shouting, “Come on!”

  I sprinted for the helicopter, ducking low under the whirling rotor even though I was pretty sure they were too high to take off my head. Better safe than sorry.

  Wind whipped at my hair as I scrambled into the helicopter and buckled into one of the seats.

  The pilot turned around, a big grin on her face. She looked about sixty, with brown hair to her shoulders and round dark sunglasses. “I’m Captain Neilson. We’ll have you there in a flash!”

  Maximus settled in next to me, and the helicopter took off, the roar of the rotor blasting my ears as the city fell away below.

  The Amazon who sat in the seat across from us grinned, tossing us some headsets. I put mine on, and the world went a little quieter.

  Her voice filtered through the earpieces. “We’ll be there in about an hour. This bird is fast. So is Captain Neilson.”

  The captain laughed. “Don’t I know it!”

  “Are you both Amazons?” I asked.

  “Not me, baby cakes,” Captain Neilson said as she piloted the helicopter toward our destination.

  “Captain Neilson is the best pilot in the world,” the blonde Amazon said. “We hire her special.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Phoebe.”

  I shook, my eyes going to the golden crystal around her throat. I swallowed hard, reminded of everything at stake. I couldn’t fail at this, for so many reasons.

  “What do you know about the Garden of Hesperides?” Maximus asked.

  “Well, don’t eat the oranges, for one,” Phoebe said. “You’ll regret that for sure. And it’s a big place, hard to find your way around.” She spent a little while describing the terrain, and I did my best to visualize it.

  “Nearly there!” Captain Neilson said. “Get your harnesses on!”

  “Harnesses?” I frowned.

  “We can’t land.” Phoebe tossed me a harness, and I snagged it out of the air. “So we’ll lower you down into the garden.”

  I grinned, liking the sound of that. Definitely James Bond. I glanced at Maximus, expecting him to look even greener. Instead, he looked more relaxed.

  “You don’t mind?” I asked.

  “As long as I’m not in this tin can, I’m delighted.”

  “So, dangling from the tin can as it hovers a hundred feet over the ground is better?”

  “Much.” He smiled and strapped the harness around his waist and legs. “I can tolerate that, but it’s just unnatural to fly.”

  “You can take the boy out of Ancient Rome, but you can’t take Ancient Rome out of the boy,” I said.

  “Rome?” Phoebe said. “You’re Roman?”

  “Hell no,” Maximus said. “Despite my name, I’m sure as hell not Roman. Germanic, first century AD.”

  “Fucking Romans. Copycats, the lot of them,” Phoebe said.

  I grinned, laughing. Ancient grudges died hard, and Romans were notorious for copying the Greeks.

  “We’re here!” Captain Neilson stopped the helicopter so it hovered in midair.

  I moved toward the door, which Phoebe pushed open. She grabbed the line attached to my harness and fed it into some kind of mechanical device that I assumed would help lower me to the ground. She pushed the button so the machine s
tarted to whir, and I leaned out over the edge, getting ready to drop.

  She met my eyes right as I lowered myself out. “Oh, and beware of Ladon.”

  I was already descending on the line when she said the name. I looked up at her. “What’s Ladon?”

  “A dragon,” she shouted down after me.

  My stomach dropped. “What? A dragon!”

  She just grinned. “Good luck!”

  I was too far down to ask any more questions. The wind whipped at my hair as the line lowered me to the forest below. If it was a garden, it was a big one. A wild one. No rose bushes and benches for quiet reading in here.

  I glanced up to see Maximus following, a relaxed grin on his face. Weirdo. My stomach was doing the jitterbug.

  Branches scraped at me as I descended through the trees. When my feet hit the ground below, I yanked off the harness and gave it a tug. It ascended back through the trees.

  Maximus landed next to me and made quick work of removing his harness. He gave it a tug so Phoebe got the cue, and it rose up through the trees. A moment later, the sound of the helicopter drifted away.

  I turned in a circle, inspecting the forest around us. “It’s an orchard.”

  Thousands of oranges hung from the trees, their scent intoxicating. I itched to reach out and pick one. Scowling, I shoved my hand into my pocket. Not only were Phoebe’s warnings echoing in my ears, but I could just feel that it would be a bad idea to eat these oranges. Eating the food of the gods was always risky, particularly when it hung from a tree.

  “Any idea which way to go?” Maximus asked.

  “Not a clue.” I looked around, but saw no animals or people. “Let’s see if we can find a clue or a person. Something.”

  Together, we moved quietly through the forest. I kept my senses on high alert, ready for anything to dart out. In the distance, the sound of water roared.

  “A river,” I said. “Maybe a waterfall.”

  “Loud enough to be a waterfall.”

  Ahead of us, a massive pile of black dirt glittered in the sunlight. Were there diamonds in it? My heart picked up speed. I’d never been one for the glitter really, but a massive pile of diamonds would pique anyone’s interest.

  I picked up my pace toward the dirt, my gaze running over it with interest. Only once it began to move did I realize that it was not, in fact, a pile of dirt studded with diamonds.

  Nope. It was alive.

  My stomach lurched, and I stumbled backward, right into Maximus.

  Before we could get out of the way, the pile of dirt swung its head toward us, flaming red eyes pinning me in their sights.

  Holy fates, the dragon.

  The beast was huge, with glittering black scales and enormous wings folded along its back like it’d been catnapping in the orange grove. Its neck was long and graceful, its head angular and narrow. Black spikes extended off the back of it, each threaded through with red fire. They tapered off near the wings, which flared upward.

  “Ladon,” I whispered, awed.

  The beast reared its head back as if to strike, mouth opening to reveal onyx fangs and a brilliant red tongue.

  Would it barbecue me first?

  The dragon’s nose twitched. The flames in its eyes banked, and it tilted its head, curious. Then it leaned forward and sniffed me, drawing in my scent.

  Sister.

  The words echoed in my mind. “Did you say that?”

  Sister.

  “Sort of, yes,” I said. “I’m a DragonGod.”

  The beast nodded its head, as if understanding. Hell, who was I kidding? Of course it understood. It probably understood the secrets of the universe.

  “We’re looking for the daughters of Atlas. The Hesperides. Do you know where we might find them?”

  The dragon shrugged an elegant shoulder, one wing lifting up in the process. Can take you part way.

  “Oh, thank you!” I turned to Maximus, smiling.

  He was looking between me and the dragon, a slight grin on his face.

  The dragon raised its front leg, gesturing with its claws for me to raise my hand and present it, palm up. Somehow, it was easy to read his intentions, even though he didn’t speak. I did as he asked, turning my right palm upward.

  He reached out with his main claw and poked my index finger hard. Pain shot through me, but I didn’t move my hand as bright blood beaded on the surface of my skin.

  The dragon pierced one of his own fingers, which looked much more reptilian than human, and pressed his bloody appendage to mine. Though it was generally a bad idea to mix blood with another—I wasn’t a moron—this was a dragon. And the air cracked with magic.

  No way I was going to miss out on whatever this was.

  As the dragon’s blood flowed into me, something inside me seemed to settle down. To be at peace. It almost felt as if I weren’t fighting what was inside me. Even the dark magic.

  Whoa.

  I sucked in a deep breath. This was awesome.

  The dark magic was in there, but somehow, it wasn’t quite as dark as it had been. Like it had absorbed some goodness from the dragon or something. It made it easier to accept that it was there, at least.

  Embrace your magic.

  Prometheus’s words echoed through my mind, excavating themselves from beneath the drunken stupor that had hidden them away.

  Was this what he had meant?

  Though he’d also told me to beware the dragon. I remembered that now. Or had he really said beware? Or just keep an eye out?

  Whatever it was, I was so damned glad I’d met Ladon. I grinned at him. “Thanks.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what he’d done—not exactly. But I knew it had helped me. I’d never felt so at peace. Like it really was easier to embrace what was inside me.

  The dragon lowered himself toward the forest floor, holding out one of his front legs to form a step.

  “Thanks.” I turned to Maximus. “We need to climb on. He’s giving us a ride part way.”

  “You can speak dragon?”

  “I can speak Ladon, at least.” I grinned and climbed onto the dragon. If I’d thought climbing into a helicopter on top of a roof was cool, that was nothing compared to this.

  Ladon’s scales were smooth and warm, and I found a seat in between his wings. Maximus sat behind me, and I turned to smile back at him. Joy filled me like a hot air balloon, threatening to carry me away.

  Ladon crouched low, then leapt into the air, his wings carrying us high over the trees. I laughed, unable to keep it inside, as the wind tore at my hair and we swept over the Garden of the Hesperides.

  There was literally nothing in the whole wide world quite like riding a dragon.

  Ladon carried us high over the ground, gliding past rivers and meadows and lakes. The Garden of the Hesperides was massive—a world unto itself, hidden away from humans, where a dragon could live and fly free.

  Elation surged through me as he soared, and I tried to imprint every second of it on my brain. When he slowed and descended toward a river, I was so happy from the ride that it was impossible to be disappointed that it was over.

  He landed lightly on the ground, and I climbed off, letting Maximus go first so I could have one more second on the dragon. I’d have lived here, if he’d let me.

  Once I was on the ground, I walked around to the front of Ladon. “Thank you.”

  He inclined his head, then reached for his shoulder and pulled off a scale. The shiny black thing was about the size of my palm, shot through with red. He handed it to me. Follow the river to the Hesperides.

  I took it and nodded, unsure of what it was for but not about to turn down a gift from a dragon. “Thank you again.”

  Go with fire. And embrace your gifts. Even the frightening ones. Especially those.

  I nodded, determined to do as he said. To lose my fear and become the badass I had to be.

  Ladon crouched low once again and leapt into the sky, his wings carrying him away so fast that I barely had a chance to
say goodbye to his retreating form.

  I turned to Maximus. “Whoa. That was just whoa.”

  He nodded. “It’s the only word for it, really. Did he tell us where to go next?”

  “We have to follow the river.” I looked down at the dragon scale in my hand, which had begun to burn. Soon, it was so hot that it singed my fingers.

  I dropped it, unable to hold it any longer, and gaped as magic sparked around it, causing the scale to duplicate. Over and over, until it formed a small boat that glittered black and diamond like the dragon, with hints of red shot through.

  “Holy fates.” I gaped at the boat, which had to be ten feet long and contained two benches upon which to sit. There were no oars, but the current in the river was so strong that it might not be a problem.

  “A dragon scale boat.” Maximus shook his head. “Amazing. When Virtus, the god of battle, gave me my magic, I thought I’d seen it all. I was wrong.”

  “I don’t think we’ve seen half of it.” Tentatively, I leaned down and laid my hand on the boat. It was cool to the touch. I looked up at Maximus. “Ready to do this?”

  He nodded. Together, we shoved the boat toward the river. Once it floated, we climbed inside and pushed away from shore. Immediately, the boat navigated its way to the middle of the water, no oars needed.

  “Amen for dragon boats.” I relaxed, enjoying the journey down the river.

  Trees rushed by on either side, enormous old oaks and aspens and laurels. All kinds, really, and I couldn’t help but think of the myths where nymphs and other beautiful women ran away from men, and their only escape was to be turned into trees. What a crap deal for them.

  I scowled, suddenly reminded of the danger of this place.

  Up ahead, the river seemed to disappear into nowhere. The trees, too.

  I squinted. “What’s that?”

  Maximus cocked his head, clearly listening. “Do you hear that? The roar of water?”

  I did, finally. And holy fates. Understanding hit me. I turned to Maximus, knowing my eyes were as wide as saucers. “A waterfall. We’re headed straight toward a waterfall.”

  His face paled as his eyes stayed riveted to the river in front of us. “It’s too late.”