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

by Linsey Hall

  “Hera.” He scowled.

  “I know,” I said. “She’s, um, a character.”

  He seemed to get what I meant and nodded in a satisfied manner. It was good, since I wouldn’t dare insult the goddess. But since this guy clearly appreciated a little shit talking, I was glad he was able to interpret the meaning behind my words.

  “Why are you here?” he asked.

  “The wolves told us that you could help us.”

  “The wolves.” He spat again.

  Fantastic, he liked no one.

  “Could you help us?” Maximus asked. “We’re happy to pay you.”

  “Payment.” He scoffed, and I’d never heard such disgust in a single sound. “We are the Eleri, and we serve only the dragons. Your money cannot buy us.”

  “The dragons?” I asked, looking to the skies.

  “They’ve been gone many years, but we maintain our religion.” The entire group bowed their heads.

  “You worship dragons?” Bree asked.

  The man nodded.

  My mind raced. He wouldn’t take payment, but he worshiped dragons.

  Oh fates, could I do it?

  Bree and Ana both looked at me, their brows raised.

  I had to try.

  I sucked in a deep breath and called upon the magic within me. It flickered through my muscles, faint. I tried again, envisioning my transformation. The magic sparked brighter, and my muscles began to ache.

  Then I began to grow. My head rose, zooming up high above the settlement fence. The people in front of me gasped and fell to their knees, awe on their faces.

  Oh, wow. No wonder the gods liked being worshiped.

  I didn’t want this kind of attention all the time, but if my self-esteem was ever a bit down, this wasn’t the worst.

  Soon, I stood towering over them. I looked down at my feet, spotting the pale silver scales and my metallic-colored claws. Not bad. I was really a good-looking dragon.

  But now what?

  My friends were staring at me with awe, and the skinny people below were still bowed low over the ground. I shifted on my feet, wondering if I should try flying to impress them even more.

  My memory of my previous flying pulled me up short, though. That wouldn’t impress anyone.

  So I tried for some fire. At first, it was an unimpressive little blast of smoke.

  Come on!

  I needed this to work. Not just for right now, but for when I faced the Titans. I didn’t have a lot of time to practice, and now was as good a time as any.

  Again, I tried, feeling the burn in my chest. It rose up through my throat, and excitement thrummed along my nerve endings. Finally, a blast of fire puffed from my lips.

  I nearly jumped with excitement.

  The Eleri definitely did. They leapt to their feet and began to dance below me, their hands waving toward the flame.

  “More!” they cried.

  Uh, okay.

  I tried again, blasting the flame above their heads. The fire was even bigger now, and the people shrieked their joy.

  “Lower!” they cried.

  I wasn’t sure they worshiped dragons so much as they worshiped dragon fire. But I did as they asked, blowing the flame a little closer to them.

  “Lower!”

  I blew it a little closer. One of them leapt up into the air, high enough that his fingertips brushed the red flame. Instead of shrieking in agony, he howled with delight. His form glowed a bright gold, as if he’d absorbed some magic from my fire.

  The rest tried to jump that high, too, but they couldn’t manage it. I blew the fire a little lower, and they leapt into it, crowing with joy.

  Okay, this was odd, but who was I to tell them what to enjoy?

  Finally, I felt like I was nearly tapped out. It wasn’t easy to be a dragon. It was a huge drain on my magical resources. I stopped blowing flame and shifted back into my human self, my head spinning as I shrank quickly.

  The people blinked at me, their forms still glowing golden from my fire.

  “You’re human.” The leader blinked again.

  “Not exactly,” I said. Actually, I was human. But he sounded so disappointed that I didn’t want to confirm it. Honestly, it was almost as if he’d forgotten that I’d been a human to start with. The excitement of seeing the dragon had wiped it from their memories.

  “We need your help,” I reminded him.

  He nodded, his gaze still traveling over me, confused and disappointed.

  “We’re going to the Cave of Treasures,” I prodded.

  His eyes brightened at that, as if he recognized it. “Yes. We can help you. If the dragon comes back and gifts us with more fire.”

  “Okay, but help us first,” I said.

  He nodded, then gestured for us to follow. “Come, come.”

  I shared a glance with my friends, who nodded. We followed the group of strange people into their settlement. The houses were more sophisticated up close, but it was the strange feathered contraptions that caught my eye. They sat at the other side of the compound.

  If I wasn’t mistaken, they were simple flying devices. The wings were covered in actual feathers, and each had two seats with pedals in front. The propeller in the back was connected to the pedals.

  We followed the group toward them and stopped in front of the closest one.

  The leader walked up to it, looking at us suspiciously. Finally, he stopped next to it and gestured at the wings. “We use these to fly over the Darklands. It is safer.” He fiddled with the feathers. “The feathers make it appear to be one of the local birds, so they do not attack. They will accept you as one of their own.”

  The leader paused again—an unusually long pause—and inspected us. He seemed to be looking for a hint of the dragon that I’d turned into and was disappointed not to see it.

  I shifted uncomfortably. It felt like this guy might go back on his word at any time.

  “Clever.” Maximus approached the flying device and walked around it, getting a good look. He ducked low to look underneath, and paid special attention to the props and gears.

  “You will make it safely across as long as the Giant Monster doesn’t appear.”

  “Giant Monster?” I asked. That was really generic. “What kind of monster?”

  “The flying kind.”

  Okay, not great. “This is really the fastest and safest way?”

  He nodded quickly. “Much faster and safer than the ground.”

  “We won’t be too heavy for the machines?” Maximus asked.

  The leader shook his head, his pale blue hair flying. “No. We are heavier than we appear. Very dense bones.”

  We’d have to take his word on it. “Okay, then. We’d like to take three machines if we could.”

  “First, the fire.” The leader’s gaze hardened.

  “Okay.” Crap. The pressure was on.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the fire within me. It represented the dragon, and soon, my muscles ached. I grew tall, my head shooting up high. I looked down on the worshipers, whose eyes glowed with a fanatic light.

  They waved their hands high.

  I called upon the fire, feeling it rise in my chest. This time, I’d give them just a little poof of it. Not much.

  I sucked in a breath, then expelled it, expecting to see a little burst of flame shoot from my lips.

  It didn’t.

  Instead, an enormous jet of fire exploded from me. It was huge—almost the size of a house. It enveloped the people, who shrieked with joy. It also lit the closest flying machine on fire. Maximus lunged out of the way, barely avoiding certain death. The feathers on the flying machines went up like kindling, creating a bonfire that spread to the other five machines.

  Within seconds, the entire fleet was aflame. The worshipers ran into the fire, darting around like kids on Christmas morning.

  Horror opened a hole within my chest.

  I stared at the inferno around me, then looked down at my friends. Their faces were
white as they stared at the flames, shock dropping their jaws.

  I tried to speak, to say “let’s get out of here,” but another little bit of flame burst from my lips.

  As if she’d read my mind, Bree said, “Run for it.”

  We turned and sprinted away from the inferno, leaving the worshipers still shrieking with delight. My friends were fast and graceful as they ran through the settlement. I thundered along after them, trying to keep my tail from slamming into any of the buildings. I also made sure to keep my lips zipped up tight.

  Since the gate was far too small for me to fit through, I decided to jump it. Of course my tail caught it on the downswing, and I dragged the gate down with me, like some drunken partygoer tipping over the red velvet ropes at the club.

  Together, we ran from the settlement, sprinting back up over the hill. Finally, we stopped. I panted, directing my face away from anyone who I could possibly light on fire.

  Once I’d caught my breath, I shifted back to human. I sat on the ground, exhausted and feeling much smaller in this form. Everyone else sat around me, staring.

  “Sorry about that.” I tilted my head back to stare at the sky. “What a disaster.”

  “It’s just the learning curve,” Ana said.

  “Did you have such a big learning curve?” I asked, knowing that she hadn’t. Bree hadn’t either.

  “No, but you’re a freaking dragon.”

  “It’s literally the coolest animal there is,” Bree said. “If you got it easy, I’d be so consumed with jealousy I’d spontaneously combust.”

  I chuckled, looking away from the sky to meet their eyes. “I don’t have a lot more time to practice.”

  “You’ll get there,” Maximus said.

  “Speaking of getting there,” Cade said. “We need to keep moving. With the shortcut gone, we need to pick up the pace.”

  I nodded, feeling even guiltier than I had been.

  He held out his hands. “Don’t feel bad, Rowan. Seriously.”

  “Yeah,” Maximus said. “Especially since I can conjure some machines anyway.”

  My heart leapt. “Really?”

  “Really. I got a good look at them. I didn’t like that leader guy. He was too suspicious. I don’t think he was ever going to let us take those machines.”

  “Maybe not.” I shook my head. “He knew I wasn’t a real dragon.”

  “He liked your fire fine enough,” Lachlan said.

  “Let’s get out of here before they’re out of their stupor.” Maximus stood, raising his hands. His face creased in concentration as the scent of cedar filled my nose and the taste of fine whiskey exploded over my tongue. Magic swirled in the air, and a moment later, one of the flying machines stood in front of us. “I sure hope it has all the right parts.”

  I chuckled.

  “We’ll only need two,” Bree said. “Ana and I can fly alongside.”

  “What about the birds that we’re supposed to be camouflaged from?” I asked.

  “I’ll make us invisible with my illusion,” she said.

  “Good plan.” Maximus conjured one more. But he didn't stop there. He made another three as well.

  “What are those for?” I asked.

  “To replace the ones we ruined,” he said.

  “You mean, I ruined.”

  “Semantics.” He grinned and pulled me forward, pressing a quick kiss to my lips.

  “Well, thanks. That’s nice.”

  “They’re weird, but they probably need those flying machines.”

  “Yeah.” I pulled back from him and approached one of the machines.

  The steering mechanism was in front of the back seat, which sat slightly higher than the front so the pilot could have a good view.

  Since Maximus had conjured these, he should get to drive. As I saddled up in the front, Ana adopted her crow form. She was huge, with gleaming black feathers and onyx eyes. Bree’s silver wings flared from her back, and she gave me the thumbs-up.

  Maximus got in behind me, and Cade and Lachlan mounted their machine.

  I fitted my feet into the pedals in front of me, then turned back to Lachlan. “Lift off in three, two, one…”

  We began to pedal, and I gave it my all, pumping hard as the wheels began to rumble across the dusty ground. A shout from behind us had me turning my head, and I spotted the settlers running toward us over the hill. Their faces were no longer woozy with joy from the fire. They looked pissed as hell.

  “Time to take off!” I shouted.

  “Nearly there,” Maximus said.

  Next to us, Cade and Lachlan’s machine lifted off the ground. Bree and Ana already flew overhead. We finally left the earth, the machine wobbling as it took flight. I looked down at the settlers, who were screaming after us.

  At least they’d have the three machines that Maximus made for them.

  It wasn’t long before we’d left them behind. Their shouts faded in the distance, and all I could hear was the faint whistle of the wind as we soared over the world below.

  Maximus turned us to face into the setting sun, and I squinted at the ground as we flew, searching for the cave. The guys were at our left, while Ana and Bree flanked our right. After a while, Ana moved to the other side to go alongside the guys. A moment later, she and Bree disappeared.

  I touched my comms charm. “You still there?”

  “Yep, right alongside.” Bree’s voice echoed out of the charm. “Figured it was time to go invisible in case the other birds showed up.”

  About twenty minutes later, they did. At first, they appeared as black specks on the horizon. Within five minutes, they were nearly to us. Their feathers were the same gray-brown as our machines, and they were enormous.

  A happy laugh escaped my lips as they lined up alongside us, making us part of their flock. I stared at the one closest, taking in the keen gray eyes and the dark beak. It glided on the wind, so elegant and swift that it looked like magic.

  My legs were aching but my heart was light. Every few minutes, Bree and Ana would check in. Bree would use the comms charm, while Ana would give a crow’s caw. The last thing we needed to do was lose them while they were invisible.

  When a horrific screech tore through the air, I nearly jumped out of my seat. I grabbed the bars on either side of me and clung to them, my heart thundering.

  The birds around us peeled off, racing away.

  Oh no.

  They were fleeing.

  I craned my neck, searching for the source of the noise. Sweat dampened my palms, and I spotted a massive black monster flying right for us. It was some combination of a bird and a bat and a lizard—and about four times as large as our machines. Its beak was big enough to chomp our little plane in half.

  13

  “I’ve got this,” Bree’s voice echoed through the comms charm.

  “Be careful!” Cade shouted.

  Ana cawed, and I knew she was going on the attack as well.

  As the monster bird approached, I cringed at the sight of it. Up close, it was even bigger than I’d expected. It flew alongside us, and I debated grabbing a potion bomb to throw at it. I was blocked by my plane though, without a free shot. I could throw from the front, but we weren’t facing the bird.

  I couldn't see Bree as she approached the huge monster, and it made it even worse. Sweat dripped down my back as I watched, pedaling as hard as I could to get away from it.

  Thunder boomed and lightning cracked, shooting straight down for the black bird as it neared us. The bolt plowed into the creature’s back, and it shrieked in rage. Its eyes lit up like lanterns and its beak opened wide, but it didn’t fall.

  The bird didn't seem to like the lightning, but it didn’t hurt it enough. Bree tried again, hitting the monster with another blast.

  Again, the bird just shrieked its rage. It flew slower and more awkwardly, but it would take more lightning to send it to the ground.

  The miserable creature reminded me of the Stryx—thank fates they were dead. I ignore
d my revulsion and tried out Artemis’s power, opening up a line of communication with the bird that would hopefully calm it down and make it listen to reason.

  As soon as I felt the bird’s life force, it smacked into me like a sack full of bricks covered with spikes. I shuddered, dropping the connection immediately.

  “I can’t calm it down,” I shouted.

  The bird darted left, its beak snapping at the air. I couldn't see what it was attacking, but I could guess.

  Horror chilled my soul as I screamed, “Bree!”

  Her scream sounded then, echoing through the air instead of the comms charm.

  “Drop the illusion!” Cade shouted. “He can smell you.”

  The illusion dropped, and I spotted Ana first. She was approaching the beast from the top, diving straight down. When I spotted Bree, I nearly died.

  She was plummeting through the air, her wing broken. She’d dropped the illusion not because she’d wanted to, but because she was injured.

  “Ana!” I screamed.

  Ana seemed to spot the problem immediately and diverted her attention. She dived around the black bird and charged after Bree, who looked like she was falling faster and faster.

  The bird stared after them, ready to attack.

  Ana flew faster and faster, her powerful wings beating hard. She swept under Bree, catching her on her back and swooping away. A hazy grouping of clouds formed around them, obscuring them, and I realized that Lachlan was using his power over the weather to conceal them.

  With Ana and Bree out of the picture, we could no longer try to escape. We needed to attack. As if they’d thought the same thing, Cade and Lachlan turned their flying machine to face the bird.

  But they couldn't get too close. If they fell out of the air, who would catch them?

  There was only one thing I could do.

  I looked back at Maximus. His gaze caught on mine, just briefly, and he seemed to realize what I was thinking.

  Dread filled his eyes. “Rowan.”

  “I have to.” With that, I jumped out of the seat on the plane.

  As the wind roared in my ears and my stomach leapt into my throat, I had one brief moment of abject fear.