Dragon Song (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 1)

by Tara West

  With that, she stormed out the door, not bothering to check her mother’s reaction. She put a mental barrier between herself and the queen. No longer would she get caught up in Mother’s tempest of loathing and sorrow, tossed about in a sea of regret like a lone ship struggling to stay afloat. If her mother wished to live her eternity mourning her poor choice of a mate, so be it. Her destiny was not Safina’s, for she would choose more wisely. She would pick a mate who thought her magnificent, one who loved her and the monster she was capable of becoming. Safina needed a man with a strong mind, a wise soul, and a tender heart—a man like Gabriel.

  * * *

  Safina was grateful for the breeze that blew the hair off her nape, for the blistering sun had practically melted her undergarments and thick beads of sweat dripped down her back. This twentieth century clothing, with its tight corsets and heavy skirts, simply would not do. How she wished for the clothing of her century, for though the fabric had been rough, at least it let her breathe. Not to mention the air where she’d come from was less stifling. She waved a fan in front of her face as she dug her toes into the cool, wet sand. She’d thought about burying her entire body, but the ground was so hard, and the sand so dense, she feared she’d never get back out.

  The sun had just begun to dip beyond the horizon, casting long sideways shadows across the beach. Now that the evening was finally cooling, various young ladies began arriving dressed in their fancy swimwear, twirling umbrellas over their shoulders. They moved with grace and ease, skipping across the waves in their little breeches with lace trim. They whispered into each other’s ears, tossing their heads and giggling behind their hands as they flashed coy smiles at boys who passed their way.

  What Safina wouldn’t have given to be among their numbers, to share fond childhood memories and form long-lasting friendships. To have had nannies and nursemaids and families waiting for them at home. To have gone to school and learned how to read and write, and to never have to worry their dragon-slaying fathers were trying to kill them.

  Though Safina envied their normal lives, she knew she’d never have one of her own. The most she could hope for was to find someone to love her as much as Theodore Carter loved Charlotte. Aye, if she could find true love, that would be enough to make her happy.

  She thought about what her mother had said about Gabriel not being a good match for her, and she resented her all the more for it. Why would the dragon queen have said such a thing, especially when she had it in her to heal him? Safina sent a silent prayer to the Almighty Mother she’d be able to help him walk, for she knew it would take great strength, more so than the simple act of healing a broken wing.

  After she’d waited for hours, Gabriel and his brothers finally made their appearance. The brothers took turns pushing him across the hard sand, occasionally stopping to unstick a wheel. They all wore jubilant expressions, the kind of smug satisfaction you’d see in men who’d just come from a tedious day’s labor and were looking forward to hard-earned relaxation.

  Their smiles dimmed when they saw her, though. She did her best to ignore their wary stares, for Gabriel’s warm smile captured her attention and made her heart flutter.

  “Good evening, Safi,” he said as a brother positioned his chair beside her. “You look tired, and your skin is flushed. Have you been waiting long?”

  “Aye.” She watched with curiosity as another brother placed blocks in front of his chair, no doubt so that he wouldn’t roll into the ocean. “I prefer to be out here, rather than stuck in that house.”

  He frowned. “I see.”

  Without saying a word, Gabriel’s brothers stripped off their heavy work trews and rushed into the water, wearing knee-length breeches.

  Gabriel’s frown deepened as he watched them go, and Safina knew he was envious. How he must have suffered each day watching from the shoreline as they swam. Her chest hurt, like a deep bruising, as self-pity and self-loathing washed over her. ’Twere Gabriel’s emotions, she knew it. What must it have been like to live with such feelings every day?

  She sat up on her knees, nudging his arm, hoping to distract him from his sorrows. “Have you come to read to me?”

  He looked down at her with a smile. “Yes, if you’ve got a willing ear.”

  She eagerly nodded. “I would love to hear those letters.”

  He pulled the tattered book from behind his back. “All right, but I must warn you, there are some parts that are…ahhh….” His face flushed a bright crimson as he struggled for the words. “Full of tender emotion. I do not wish to put you at unease.”

  Safina bit her lip, trying her best to hold back a smile. He had such a boyish way about him that filled her heart with love and laughter. “I’m not uneasy unless you are.”

  If it were at all possible, his blush deepened. He averted his gaze, staring down at the tattered pages. “I’m only slightly uneasy.”

  She grabbed his wrist. His strong pulse quickened. She ran a hand up his arm, which was thick and corded with muscle. It must have been from spinning those wooden wheels. She wondered if his chest was equally muscular, but it was hidden beneath a starched white shirt.

  “Why?” She dipped her head to search his eyes.

  So powerful and heartfelt was their connection, he nearly took her breath away.

  “Why would I be uneasy reading love letters to a pretty girl, you ask?”

  Now was her turn to blush, as a heat strong enough to rival her dragon’s fire fanned her chest and face. “You think I’m pretty?”

  His tender smile vanished, his jaw set with hard determination. “Yes. Very much.”

  Safina’s heart thudded, and though she knew it was improper, she cupped her hand over his. “In that case, I most certainly wish for you to read me love letters.”

  His hand trembled as he turned it up and laced his fingers through hers. She responded by squeezing him tight and flashing a coy smile.

  “All right.” His voice shook as he flipped open the book. “Let’s see. Where shall I begin?”

  Safina wondered if all the shaking was part of falling in love, for she felt it, too, from her hand to her heart and all the way to her toes. She inhaled his scent; ink and earth, such a perfect smell for someone wise and kind.

  Gabriel’s skin warmed as he tried to turn the pages with one hand. Then a page came loose and fell to his feet. “Damn.” He stared at the wayward page as if he was determined to scold it.

  Safina reached for the paper, but, much to her amazement, it floated back to Gabriel and settled in his book.

  Her jaw dropped. “How did you do that?” For she sensed it was he who’d made the page float.

  “Shhh.” He set the book on his lap and tapped his full lips with a finger. “No one saw.”

  Her gaze swept the beach. Nobody was in earshot. She leaned forward. “How did you?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I suppose I have some of my grandfather’s magic.”

  Safina looked up at him in wonder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I don’t know.” He casually flipped through the pages, avoiding her hard stare. “I’ve only just started to get good at it.”

  “Do it again,” she breathed, settling her other hand on his knee, which twitched beneath her touch.

  She jerked her hand away as if she’d burned him. “I felt you move.”

  “I know.” He cupped his knee, staring down at his leg as if it were foreign. “That’s never happened.”

  She looked from her hand to his knee as excitement surged through her. “I think I could heal you, Gabriel.”

  His eyes widened. “Not here, Safi.”

  “No, no.” She vehemently shook her head. “Not here. Maybe tonight.”

  Many emotions crossed his features as storm clouds swirled in his eyes. When his mood washed over her, Safina didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.

  “Y-You would do that for me?” he stammered.

  “Gabriel,” she said on a breathy whisper. “For y
ou, I’d do anything.”

  As she looked deeply into his eyes, she realized how very much she enjoyed spending time with Gabriel Cortez. She only hoped her mother wouldn’t try to break them apart.

  “Shark! Shark!” A shrill cry came from somewhere beyond the shoreline.

  Safina instinctively jumped to her feet, scanning the beach as people rushed from the water.

  Gabriel straightened, squinting at the horizon. “What’s happening?”

  A woman ran past them, clutching a small sobbing child to her chest. “There’s a shark in the water,” she cried in a shrill voice that made Safina cringe.

  Gabriel tugged on her dress. “Where are my brothers?”

  She recognized two of his brothers emerging from the water, then breathed a sigh of relief when they were joined by another.

  “I see three of them.” Safina frowned, shielding her eyes against the sun’s glare. “I don’t see a fourth.” Could the shark have gotten him, or had he gotten caught up in the rush to exit the water? She spun a slow circle, unable to locate him.

  “Pedro!” Gabriel called, waving both hands frantically. “Where’s Pedro?”

  When they all pointed to the water, wild looks in their eyes, Safina’s heart sank. She saw him burst to the surface, screaming and waving before he was sucked back down, a pool of crimson widening at the spot where he’d disappeared.

  “Pedro!” Gabriel’s gut-wrenching sob tore through her as if her heart had been ripped from her chest.

  “Oh, Almighty Mother!” Without thinking, she rushed across the sand and into the water, toward the ever-widening pool of blood. She fought against her heavy skirts as she pushed her way through the current. As soon as the water reached her chin, she dove. She swam deeper and made the change, her dragon scales ripping her clothes to shreds. She dared not come up for breath, for she knew she’d be spotted, and the gentle slope was already dangerously shallow.

  Though the water was grey and murky from the silt that lined the bottom, her keen dragon senses spotted Pedro and the shark near the ocean floor. The shark had hold of Pedro’s hip. The boy’s blood rose like a smoke signal as he punched and kicked at the aggressive predator.

  Safina swam down to them, and with her mighty jowls, grabbed the shark and bit him in two, swallowing his tail whole. She grimaced as pungent, bitter blood filled her mouth. The shark turned belly up, blood pouring from his open cavity. His lifeless beady eyes stared into the dark void as his body sunk to the bottom.

  Pedro made no effort to swim away. His eyes rolled up, his arms falling open. Safina sensed the wild rhythm of his heartbeat slowing to a dull thud. He was dying. She lifted him with her snout, pushing him toward shore, then she swam to the surface and changed back into a mortal girl. Gasping for air, she hauled the boy with her. He was heavy, and keeping his head above water was hard work. She called to his brothers, who rushed back into the water and carried him out.

  Though Safina wanted to follow them, she couldn’t, for her clothes had been shredded during the change, and she did not wish to expose her nude body to the mortals. She floated in the murky water, though the mortals on shore waved frantically for her to come out. That’s when she saw Abby standing apart from the crowd, staring at Safina as if she’d seen a ghost. A sickening sensation settled in Safina’s gut. Abby knew something, of that she was sure.

  Her heart slammed against her chest when she spied Gabriel sitting not far from Abby. His knees were pressed together and he clutched his chair. Chest heaving, tears streamed down his face as he looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. The thick air between them and the distressed cries of people running from the beach, vanished. There was no one in Safina’s world but Gabriel. In that moment, an invisible tether bound them together, and his emotions stretched across the void, nearly buckling her knees with heart-wrenching intensity. He’d been terrified of a loss so great, words could not comprehend, but more than terror, Gabriel felt an overwhelming surge of self-loathing. Oh, how he hated his infirmity, his inability to dive into the water and save his brother from harm. But mostly, he hated himself for the man he couldn’t be for Safina. As onlookers gawked at her bare shoulders, he could do nothing to shield her.

  People gasped and clucked their tongues.

  “Get out of the water!” a man hollered.

  “She’s naked!” a girl squealed.

  Safina pulled wet strands of hair over her shoulders and tried to sink deeper, but it did little to diminish her embarrassment.

  “Oh, how indecent!” a woman screeched.

  “The shark tore off her clothes,” was Gabriel’s booming answer, followed by several murmurs and hissing whispers.

  A matronly woman rushed the water, holding a blanket out to Safina. But the woman would not go in farther than ankle deep, her eyes alight with fear.

  With a resigned sigh, Safina swam to the shore. She covered her mound with her hands, but that did little to ease her mortification, for the people on the beach still gawked at her.

  The woman offered a kind smile as she wrapped the blanket around her. “Are you hurt, dear?”

  Relief swept over her as she answered with a numb shake of the head. “No, and I thank you for your kindness.”

  As she followed the woman out of the water, her dragon-touched ears heard phrases like “brave girl” conflicting with others calling it an “unbelievable tale.” But one man’s claim stood out among the rest. “I saw it,” he said. “It was a huge sea creature. I saw the fin and a tail.”

  The reality of what had just happened set in. What would Mother do if she found out she’d exposed her naked mortal body on the beach? Or that a witness had seen her dragon form? Would she try to force her back into her shell? Safina shivered at the thought. No, she couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t.

  She wrapped the blanket tightly around her shoulders, stepping away from the crowd as people swarmed Pedro and tried to help stop his wound from bleeding. He looked like a gutted fish, his raw and bloody insides exposed through the big gash in his side. He moaned between shallow breaths, and his youthful skin had an unnatural grey pallor as he bled out all over the sand.

  Señor Cortez rushed the crowd, frantically waving them away. One of the brothers yelled for them to clear the way, and they hoisted Pedro up on a makeshift litter, carrying him toward Mrs. Jenkens’s house. A strange man pushed Gabriel behind them. Safina followed as if she were in a trance, the grinding of Gabriel’s wheels like a warning bell in her ears, for she was about to enter the den of a dragon, one who would seethe with anger when she realized what Safina had done.

  Safina only prayed Mother would save the boy using her healing fires, or he would die for sure.

  * * *

  Fiona repressed a curse when they brought the dying boy to the kitchen. Josef’s grandsons swept everything off the table and placed Pedro in the center. He had spilled too much blood, and his heartbeat was slowing dangerously. If she did not heal him soon, she would not be able to save him at all.

  “Mi reina, my grandson is dying.” Josef clasped his hands together in a prayer pose, his accent thicker than usual as he spoke between sobs. “He is only fifteen. Please save him.”

  Fiona’s gaze swept the room. Her daughter was there with Josef’s grandsons. Safina clutched the crippled boy’s shoulder while he rested a hand on hers. The boy was foolish to dare touch Safina without asking Fiona’s permission. For that he’d pay, but first she knew she’d have to attend to the victim.

  “You all need to go.” Wishing for a private word with Josef, she waved Josef’s grandsons and Safina out of the room.

  She turned to Josef, trying her best to push aside her compassion for the bleeding boy on the table.

  “I will heal him. But you will owe me.”

  The old man had the nerve to look shocked. “What?”

  “’Tis simple. I ask only that you keep your word and break my bond.”

  He jerked back. “I already said I would.”

  So he had, but Fion
a sensed her daughter’s magic was strengthening. If Safina healed Gabriel before she could, Josef would have no reason to keep his word. “Aye. I remember what you said. I need to hear it again.”

  He shook his head, clucking his tongue. “But you should know it is dark, dangerous magic.”

  “I know it is,” she growled. “But I have no other choice.”

  “Graechen told me how the first dragon mate’s soul became tethered to hers, preserving his immortality.”

  Josef had spoken so softly, Fiona doubted he’d said anything at all. She blinked hard, wondering how his claim could be true. Graechen knew the origin of a dragon’s magical bond to her mate? Why had she never told her?

  “What did she tell you?” she asked through clenched teeth, resenting that this earth speaker knew more of her ancestry than she did. Tension coiled like a snake around her shoulders.

  “Long ago, when Feira, Mother of Dragons fell in love with her king, she mourned each day that brought him closer to his mortality. She summoned her earth speaker to create a spell that would preserve his life for eternity. The speaker tethered his life to hers, bonding them until her death. The magic was so powerful, it has passed down to all of Feira’s offspring and their mates.”

  Fiona released a shaky breath. “I see. Thank you for explaining.” So she had her ancient grandmother to blame for her current misfortune. The tension in her shoulders became an aching throb.

  “And you are asking me to break such a spell.” There was no mistaking the judgement in his tone.

  Fiona eyed him through narrowed slits. It was just as she’d thought. The speaker hadn’t intended to sever her bond with her mate. “I’m not asking, Josef. I’m telling you.” She nodded at the boy’s prone body. His life-force was so faint, she barely sensed his pulse. “I need your word, Josef, or the boy dies.”