by Tara West
She pulled back and looked at his legs. She could not see them beneath his trousers, so she’d no idea how much he’d healed. Of one thing she was certain, he wouldn’t have needed crutches if she’d healed him completely.
“I’m rested.” She tugged on his elbow, leading him toward the bed. “Let me try to heal you again.”
“No.” He pulled against her. “Grandfather says we must wait. Let the people see me walking first on these for a time. They must think I learned how to walk on my own. We don’t want any cause for suspicion.”
She gaped up at him. “Why would it matter? My mother has already healed so many.”
There was a flash of pain, and Safina itched to finish what she’d started.
Gabriel heaved a sigh before hobbling toward the bed. “Safi, there’s a doctor in town who’s spreading rumors your mother is a witch.”
Safina’s limbs iced over with dread. “Dr. Straw.” The mention of his name left a bitter taste in her mouth, more foul than the blood of that shark.
He leaned the crutches against the wall and lowered himself onto the bed with a groan. “Yes. The zealots are becoming alarmed, and Mr. Goldman is still going on about that sea monster.”
Her legs felt heavy, and she fell on the bed beside him. “What will they do to us? Will they try us as witches?”
Gabriel took her hands in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Safi, we don’t live in the dark ages. They won’t harm you, but they can make your life difficult.”
Her throat tightened. “Will they drive us away? I don’t want to leave Galveston.”
“Then don’t.” He cupped her chin in his hand, his warm smile a balm to her troubled soul. “Hold your head up, Safi. Your friends will stand by you, and everyone will forget about the gossip. Just let me walk on crutches for a month or two.”
“That’s too long.” Panic gripped her chest like a vice, for she was certain Mother would not allow them to stay two more months. She would try to force Safina back into her prison shell before then.
“Safi, I never thought I’d walk again, and look at me.” He puffed up his chest, his grin stretching nearly ear-to-ear. “A few more months is a small sacrifice.”
But all Safina could think about was her mother forcing them apart, for she knew the dragon queen would be furious when she saw Gabriel walking. Tears slipped from her eyes, and she was on the verge of sobbing even harder.
“Hey.” Gabriel wiped her cheeks. “No crying or I will have to kiss you.”
She swallowed a lump of sorrow, craving the comfort of his touch as she leaned into him. “You should kiss me anyway.”
Her eyes fluttered shut when he bent over her, brushing his lips across hers.
“I could live on your kisses alone,” he breathed against her mouth. “Once I am whole again, I’d like to court you.”
She jerked back, stunned. “Court me?” Her heart raced wildly as she searched his eyes.
He pulled her hand to his lips, looking at her through thick lashes. “Marry you, Safi. If you’d have me.”
Her heart nearly leapt from her throat. Could it be true? Gabriel wanted to be her mate? “You would marry a dragon?”
“Not just any dragon, a magnificent dragon with a fair face, a beautiful soul, and a caring heart.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” She threw her arms around him as he held her tight. “You don’t need to court me. I will marry you.” Her lips sought his in a fevered frenzy. She moaned into his mouth, clutching him as if her life depended on it. She cried out when he pulled away.
Frowning, he shook his head. “No, I wish to do this properly. I will not ask for your hand until I am able to bend the knee.”
She looked at him through a hazy sheen of tears. “You don’t need to bend down for me.”
His shoulders stiffened as he squeezed her hand. “Safi, I do, and I will. You deserve nothing less.”
Safina did not know if her heart was on the verge of breaking or soaring. Oh, how she wanted to marry Gabriel, but if they waited, Mother would surely find a way to stop them.
As if on cue, she heard her mother’s booming voice echoing from the other room. “Where is my daughter?” It was not a question but an accusation.
Safina cringed, for she was certain Gabriel’s family was cowering before the dragon queen.
Safina and Gabriel quickly pulled apart. She stood, smoothing back her hair and wiping the taste of him from her lips.
Gabriel heaved himself up with his crutches, flashing her a knowing grin as he nodded toward the door. How could Gabriel smile at a time like this? Safina berated herself for not warning him about her mother.
Fiona stormed into the room, and though she was in her mortal form, she filled the tiny space as if she were the size of a dragon. She looked tired, her hair disheveled as if she’d just woken from slumber. Heavy circles framed her eyes, and her skin was sallow, making her look as if she’d aged ten years in a day. Mother still hadn’t recovered from healing Pedro. That she’d left her bed in such a state did not bode well for Safina.
She passed over Safina with a scowl before her heated gaze settled on Gabriel. “Why are you not in your chair?”
“You know why, Mother,” Safina answered.
Safina thought her knees would buckle when her mother turned an iron-eyed glare on her.
“You are needed at home,” Mother said through clenched teeth, the fire of her fury marking every clipped syllable. Then she stormed out.
Safina turned stricken eyes to Gabriel. They spoke not a word as they parted with one last kiss.
Chapter Twenty
“Shall you sharpen all of the pitchforks in Galveston while you’re at it?” Mother threw up her hands as she paced their small bedchamber.
Safina had made up her mind on the long walk back from Señor Cortez’s home. No longer was she going to cower before her mother. She clenched her hands as flames of anger fanned her face. “So only you are allowed to heal?”
Mother jabbed Safina’s chest. “Aye, because I practice better discretion.”
Safina rolled her eyes. “If you had used better discretion, Mother, you wouldn’t have mated with a dragonslayer.”
The dragon queen let out a strangled cry and slapped Safina across the face. Safina had no time to brace for the stinging pain, and her head snapped back with the force of the blow.
Tears welled in Safina’s eyes as she rubbed her throbbing cheek.
“It was a mistake coming here,” Mother said in a voice that sounded strangely foreign and distant. “We were not ready to surface. As soon as Josef severs the bond, we are going back.”
“I hate you.” The words came out on a rush of air before Safina had time to take them back.
The flash of pain in her mother’s eyes was nothing to the soul-shattering chasm that imploded in her heart.
At the moment, Safina did not care. She wanted her mother to feel the sting of her rebuke. To suffer for locking her away in a pit of sorrow for five centuries and then threatening to rob her of any possible joy with Gabriel.
Aye, the more Safina thought about it, the more she realized she hated her mother. She ran through the door, down the stairs, and out onto the beach, sucking in a gulp of warm ocean air, making a vow she’d never let her mother control her again.
* * *
Safina was out of breath by the time she reached Gabriel. He was sitting on the porch, reading from his book by lamplight.
She ran up the steps, chest heaving as she leaned against the porch rail, hot tears streaming down her face.
Gabriel stood and leaned on a crutch as he hobbled over to her. His beseeching gaze sought hers while he stroked her cheek. “What did she do to you?”
She hung her head. “She struck me.”
“Why?”
“Because I healed you. Because she wants me to end up a miserable old maid like her. Gabriel,” she cried, “she says I must go back into my cocoon.”
“No!” His booming voice shook the warm a
ir. His tattered book fell onto the porch planks, pages flying out and swirling around his feet.
Safina’s legs weakened. “What do I do?”
His face reddened, his eyes alight with the intensity of a thousand raging cyclones. “You flee.”
Safina’s knees threatened to buckle. She sank into a rocking chair. “Where do I go?” Never before had she been so frightened. How would she survive alone in this strange new world without her mother to guide her?
Gabriel held out his hands, and the book and all its pages spun in a whirlwind before flying into his grasp. He unfolded a thick piece of parchment, spreading it on the table beside them.
Safina’s jaw dropped in wonder. She’d only seen one map in her lifetime, and this one was thrice as big with details she never knew existed.
He pointed to what appeared to be an island centered between two large land masses. “We’ll go to Cuba. I’ll lead the way.”
* * *
They had only enough time to grab a few supplies and for Gabriel to write a hastily scribbled note to his sleeping family. He hoped his brothers would follow his instructions in caring for the chicks and his grandfather would not mourn his absence. Most of all, though Safina reassured him her mother had never harmed mankind, he prayed his family would not suffer the dragon queen’s wrath.
He slung a sack over his shoulder and hobbled down the steps to Safina who was waiting with the wheelchair. Her fair eyes dazzled beneath the moonlight as she worried her lower lip and shifted from foot to foot. She had a right to be afraid, for though he had tried his best to reassure her, his heart pumped wildly with fear. For years he’d been confined to his small room behind his grandfather’s kitchen, with no knowledge of the outside world other than what he’d read in books and newspapers. In only a few hours, he’d managed to stoke the ire of a dragon mother, and now he was going to anger her further by stealing her daughter and taking her into an unknown world.
Neither of them spoke as he sat in his chair, and she pushed him toward the other end of the city, where, hopefully, the beach would be barren.
* * *
When they arrived at the shore, thankfully not a soul was in sight. He pulled himself out of his wheelchair, leaning on it for support. All moisture in his mouth dried up when Safina removed her clothes. He shifted uncomfortably as an ache settled in his groin, ashamed he could not control his desire at such an inopportune moment. He could have stared at the soft curves of her beautiful, pale body for hours, but he knew they were running out of time.
As he busied himself, stuffing her clothes in his sack, he was not prepared for the sudden shift in his fair lady. He gasped when a large shadow hovered over him and did his best to quell his shaking limbs as he looked up into the monster’s large, luminous eyes.
Pale eyes blinked down at him, her massive jowls turning a frown. Do not be afraid of me, Gabriel.
Hearing her voice inside his head stunned him, though he recalled his grandfather telling him of the night he’d spoken in thought to Fiona.
I’m not afraid. Just startled. He clutched the chair, his legs nearly giving way as he craned his neck to take in all of her. Heavens, you truly are magnificent.
She nuzzled his shoulder, rattling his insides as she purred loudly like an enormous cat. Are you ready?
As I’ll ever be, he answered.
And before he knew what was happening, she took him in the soft grip of her mouth, lifting him as a cat would carry a kitten. Then she craned her long neck, depositing him on her back.
He sat along the hard ridge of her spine, momentarily disoriented. Ay Dios Mio! In the course of a day, he’d gone from riding in a wheelchair to riding astride a dragon.
The rope, Gabriel, she mentally chided. Hurry, before we are discovered.
Ay yi yi! The rope! He pulled it out of his sack, looped it around his waist, and tied it around a thick scale, making a strong knot and a bridle of sorts, so that he had something to hold onto during flight. He pulled a thick cap over his head and slipped into leather gloves. He also wore a heavy poncho, for Safina had warned him the wind would be cold.
I’m ready, he thought. And before he had a chance to change his mind, she’d lifted from the safety of the ground, the sound of her heavy wings beating like a drum in his skull.
Ay Dios Mio! Ay Dios Mio! Ay Dios Mio!
Her wings flapped harder, faster. He held on tight as she tilted to one side, and he caught a glimpse of the world below. The city looked like a painting, and the water before them so peaceful, he wept with joy. Moisture coated his face as she flew through the clouds and across the vast ocean.
If it hadn’t been for the sting of the wind biting his exposed cheeks, he would have thought this night was a dream. Never in a million years would he have believed he’d ride a dragon, or the dragon would soon be his bride.
Are you all right, Gabriel? Safina asked.
All right? He laughed. Sí. I am more than all right.
Her wings flapped even faster, so fast Gabriel had to close his eyes against the onslaught of wind. He leaned forward until he rested against her scales, finding shelter from the chill behind the crook of her neck.
At this rate, he knew it wouldn’t take them long to reach Cuba. He only hoped they flew far enough away the dragon queen couldn’t find them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Safina had never been more relieved than when she spotted the distant shore. Her wings were burning from the strain, and she worried about Gabriel. He’d been silent most of the trip, and she feared he was unwell. They circled the island until Safina found a deserted section. She landed carefully on the edge of the beach, spraying a cloud of sand with the slow flapping of her wings.
She reached behind her and plucked Gabriel off her back, carefully depositing him on a dune. He fell into a sitting position, his legs stretched out before him, looking as stiff as broomsticks.
She made the change into a mortal girl. Though her legs were tired, she ran up to him. “Gabriel? Are you all right?”
He silently nodded as a shiver coursed through him.
She inwardly cursed when she saw his red and blistered face. She cupped his cheeks, letting her healing magic soak into his skin. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurting?” she chided.
“Because I would have been hurting a lot worse if your mother found us.” He feebly laughed.
It did not take long for the blisters to fade. Safina kissed his forehead, letting her lips linger on his warmed skin as she inhaled his earthy scent.
He groaned and leaned back onto the soft sand.
She ran her hands down his stiff legs. “Do your legs pain you?”
“Only a little.”
“Liar.” She scowled, sitting back on her heels.
This simply would not do, but she knew if she healed him tonight, it would drain all her energy, and she needed her strength in case they came upon thieves or others wishing them harm.
He opened his eyes, his brow furrowed. “You look tired, too, Safi. Don’t think about healing me.”
“I can’t leave you like this.”
“Yes, you can. We can sleep here tonight. Can you gather some wood and start a fire?”
She came to her feet and made the change into her dragon form. She padded up to a tall, skinny tree with round fruits hanging from the branches and dug up the soil beneath the tree, latching onto it with her teeth and pulling it from the ground. She shook out the fruits, then tossed the tree onto the sand and sucked in a deep breath before blowing out fire. She was amazed how much flame came out. If she’d been with Mother, the queen would have scolded her for her careless destruction. But she wasn’t with Mother. She was with Gabriel, and his comfort was her main concern.
After shifting back into mortal form, she picked up two ripe fruits, and walked back to him.
“That will work, too,” he said with a smile.
They sat beside the fire, eating the flesh and drinking the refreshing juices of the sweet fruit Gabriel
called a coconut. Safina went through several coconuts before she was sated. Wiping her mouth, she warmed her toes by the fire.
The pungent, sweet smell of burning wood was oddly pleasant, but the silence that stretched between them left an uncomfortable void in her heart. The only sounds were a cacophony of chirping bugs, waves gently hitting the shoreline, and the crackling of wood on the fire.
Gabriel had been too quiet during their meal, and she hoped he wasn’t having regrets.
She faced him, crossed her legs, and idly dug a hole in the sand with the end of a stick. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” She held her breath, awaiting his answer. For though she needed to know the truth, she was also afraid he would say she’d ruined his life by stealing him away from his family.
He looked up at her, the dancing firelight reflecting in his vivid eyes. “I’m thinking I can’t believe I just flew across the ocean on the back of a dragon.”
Safina licked her lips, the taste of coconut still on her tongue. “That’s it?”
“I’m sorry.” He turned his gaze to the starlight and heaved a sigh. “It’s a lot to process.”
Safina let out a slow breath, preparing herself for the next question. “No regrets?”
He looked directly into her eyes. “None. You?”
Odd how at the mention of “regrets” the dragon queen’s scowling image came to mind. Despite the warmth from the fire’s heat, a shiver coursed down Safina’s spine, and she moved closer to Gabriel. “My mother will be angry.”
He leaned into her, nudging her elbow before prying the stick out of her hands. “I know, but it was worth it. You’re worth it.”
She tried to look into his eyes, but the intensity in them was unnerving. And for the first time, she realized her new mate would expect coupling, something she knew little about. What she did know was that coupling produced children. How strange it would be for Safina to have a child, when she’d only just left her mother’s care.
Gabriel’s groan of agony brought her out of her reverie. He dropped the stick and hunched over, rubbing his knees, as an aching pain shot up his legs, hitting her with brute intensity.
