Mia shivered. "It makes sense that there aren't as many matings, then. You have to be pretty sure if you're going to put your life on the line like that. But why did they want you to mate me?"
"Because it would prove that you weren't going to hurt the clan. It's forbidden for humans to know about dragons unless they are mates."
Mia took a deep breath. "And the dragons who mate them… do they die? I mean, what is the average lifespan for a dragon, anyway?"
Lee laughed softly. "A couple thousand years? We grow normally until we hit about thirty, and then we just… stop aging for around fifteen hundred years, and then we start slowly growing older. By the time we hit two thousand, that's generally the end. When a dragon mates a human, the human's aging halts too."
"Oh." She chewed on her lip. "And how old are you?"
"As old as I look. I haven't stopped aging yet."
She nodded, eyes wide. It was a lot to take in, so Lee was silent, letting her absorb the information. After a moment, she made him another sandwich, which he accepted with gusto.
"And even though humans are forbidden, you choose to live with us."
Lee shrugged. He had explained the hoarding among dragons and his need for knowledge. As he ate the sandwich, he couldn’t help but grin. Mia caught sight of it and she grinned back, though hers was slightly confused. He shrugged again. It was just so good to be able to tell someone, to be free with who he was. He hadn't thought that he would ever find that. Not among the dragons. Not among humans. Now he had.
Only it was already in jeopardy.
It seemed that Mia had the same thoughts he did, because her smile faded. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded. "How are we going to stop those witches? We know what they want, but we can't keep running indefinitely. Besides, they need a dragon's heart, not your heart specifically. It's not like they had a chance to mark you like they did me. So where do we go from here?"
Good question. Lee shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, wondering how to answer that. They really didn't have much to go on. The witches would do their ceremony on the campus, but going back there felt like a pretty stupid idea. They needed more information.
Or rather, he did.
"You are going to stay safe. I'll find a way to barricade the cave or something, and then I'll get you a good supply of food and water and—"
"If you think I'm going to stay here playing the damsel in distress while you're off fighting witches you can forget about it." Mia's eyes flashed.
Lee shook his head. "It's too dangerous."
"They're after your heart, not mine," she reminded him. "You can't do this alone."
He didn't even know what he was going to do. He thought about pointing that out, but changed his mind. He shook his head. It was clear that he wasn't going to change her mind like this, though. Maybe once he had a plan he'd be able to convince her to stay where it was safe. Right now, though, it was like they were arguing about nothing. He sighed.
"One thing is for certain," Mia continued, her voice growing stronger. "If any of them dares to come near my family, they'll bleed. I will destroy—"
She cut off abruptly, a pink stain rising in her cheeks as she caught sight of his expression. Jaw open, eyes wide. He hadn't expected that the sweet, shy Mia that he knew would say such things. She ducked her head and wrapped her arms around her middle.
"My family means everything to me…" She flinched. "I'm sorry that you had to—"
"We need to find a way to defeat them before we take this any further," he interrupted. His heart clenched as he thought of his parents and Alex… but he had made his choice. After the witches were taken care of he could pity himself. Right now, there was just too much he needed to concentrate on.
Mia's eyes widened for a moment before her expression melted into one of understanding. She nodded silently. "We have to find out where they are and take them out."
Again, she surprised him. Lee shook his head. "We need to find out exactly what they are going to do and stop them."
"That will take too long."
"And if we don't know, we might end up walking into a trap."
Mia frowned, but she nodded.
Lee couldn't stop himself from brushing a quick kiss on her lips before he got to his feet. "And I know exactly what we need to do in order to learn what they're planning. Up for a trip to the library?"
Chapter Fifteen
Mia
Mia was afraid they'd have to stay in the agate cave with the mice, but in the end, they needed to be more mobile than that. Instead, Lee ripped out great chunks of the rock and they packed them all in a small RV that he’d bought. The weight made moving around a little difficult, but Lee assured her that from what he had researched, having agate chunks with them would do just fine.
They then went to several different libraries and got all the books about Ba'al, dragons and witches that they could. It felt wrong to be stealing, but if they survived this, they could return them. If they didn't… well, a few missing library books would be the least of their concerns.
Now they were camped out in the bush, sitting around a small fire while they read with the dying light of day. Mia's eyes stung from the hours of reading. Her back ached, shoulders were knotted, and there was a tension headache creeping up her neck. She snapped a book shut and put it aside. This was like hardcore studying, only worse because she wasn't entirely certain what she was looking for.
"This is a waste of time."
Lee glanced up at her. He had the glazed look of someone who was either strung out or hadn't slept for three days. He shut his book as well and stood, stretching. "I'll give you it's a lot. I'm learning so much new stuff that my brain feels like it's about to explode. But we have to know more. It's the only way we'll be successful."
She looked over the piles of library books and newspapers that they were going to go through next to find if anything corresponded with their research. Just the thought of it all made her want to curl up and cry. She picked up one of the newspapers dated for today, but dropped it again.
"I need to go lie down for a bit."
Lee nodded as he sat back down. Mia climbed into the RV, shifting agate chunks out of the way as she crawled onto one of the beds. Her whole body felt far too heavy… how was she going to continue this? She didn't sleep, but at least the tension headache faded away and she was able to relax some of her muscles. What she wouldn't give for just one episode of Star Trek… Unfortunately, as much as she was able to relax, she pushed herself to get up what felt like all too soon. It was nearly pitch-black outside, but the fire was blazing, giving off plenty of light.
Lee had two books flat on the ground, a finger tracing passages on each. Mia's eyes widened. Was he reading both at the same time?
"What is it?" she asked.
Lee jumped, but when he looked up he was grinning. "I think I've found something."
Relief and excitement coursed through her. She dropped to her knees beside him, wincing as twigs stabbed into her legs, and bent over the books. Both of them spoke of an ancient god trapped in bedrock, and Mia understood why Lee was so excited. Both books described the ritual that was happening at the campus… at least, as much as they knew about it. And they gave more details. She felt excitement rising in her own chest.
"Here, we have this one." Lee pointed to a passage underlined in pencil. "The heart of the dragon. Remember how they said they were going to pass the campus through the fires to Ba'al?"
"It's not something I can forget."
"I get how they'll do it now. Our fires come from our hearts. There's a ritual they'll perform, and when they rip my heart from my chest, it will burn everything around it. Like a bomb."
Mia shuddered. "Not when. If. Not even if. It's… it's if they did this ritual, which they're not going to do."
Lee didn't seem to see her distress. "New moon. They have to perform it on the new moon."
"New moon?" She glanced up at the sky. There was a half-moon there
already. It was in its waning cycle, too. "We only have about two weeks. We have to stop them before then."
Lee looked up. He saw that she was shivering and pulled a blanket from the RV to wrap around her shoulders. "Yeah. But it's getting late, we should put these back and start up again tomorrow."
"Start…"
Mia stared at him as he gathered an armful of books and placed them just in the RV. She shook her head, frustration welling. What were the books going to tell them? They had a timeframe, but it had taken almost two days of constant reading to get that much. What they needed was to head off this damned ritual before it got to the point where the witches would be ripping his heart out.
She cleared her throat. "What we need to do is get those witches and stop them. They're going to kill countless innocents. And from what I've been reading about Ba'al, that's just the start. There doesn't seem to be necessarily one god that denotes Ba'al. The name could be used generically for dozens of them. Each one worse than the last."
"No," Lee said.
She ground her teeth together.
"We have to approach this methodically."
"We have to stop them."
Lee nodded. "Yes. And to do that, we have to know what they're doing first."
"We know enough. You yourself said we weren't going to find specifics. We're wasting time," she insisted.
The dragon came back and stood over her. "Mia, I understand that you're scared, but we have to think this through."
His eyes were intense as they gazed at her, so full of his knowledge and surety that he was right that it was sickening. Her hands clenched. If they didn't act soon, it was all over. She generally wasn't an impulsive person, but right now that's what it felt like she needed to be. Impulsive. Act on instinct. Don't overthink things.
So, when her gaze went to his full, kissable lips and she got the urge to kiss him, that was exactly what she did.
Lee jumped, clearly startled, but that didn't stop him from kissing her back. A rush of heat plowed through her, so powerful that it knocked her breath away. She didn't know if it was because Lee was a dragon or because she was just this receptive to him. His lips tasted like hope and certainty, and she wanted more. She wanted to belong to him, for her whole body to be his to do with whatever he wanted.
His hands grasped her ass, pulling her in tighter. He ground against her as his tongue plundered her mouth. She accepted him in with a grateful side, wrapping her arms around him. Needing to be closer, she all but climbed up him. He tore at her clothing, animal desire and urgency filling them both. Cloth shredded, bearing them to one another. By the time they got to the bed in the RV, they were completely naked.
This time there was no 'my job' and 'your job'. Mia pushed both her hands between their bodies, one finding herself while she grasped him with the other. Lee groaned, one of his hands joining her on himself, the other pushing between her thighs. A finger pushed inside of her. She wasn't entirely ready and it hurt a little, but it also felt so good Mia didn't say anything.
Lee's mouth trailed down her body. It closed around one of her nipples. Everything tightened inside, making her arch towards him. The hand she was using on herself reached out, tangling in his hair, and he made up for it quickly. Sucking hard, making something tingle and snap in her core. Mia closed her eyes, unable to stop a loud groan from tearing through her.
He moved to her other breast and another moan echoed. Her hips rolled upwards; his moved down in time with the movement of her hands. The smell of their mutual arousal filled the room. Lee was like a man possessed, kissing her everywhere, working her with such an expert frenzy it almost frightened her.
Ice flooded her as she realized why. If they were unsuccessful, the witches would use him to kill countless innocents… what sort of horror must be burning in his mind right now? Her movement slowed. He sensed the change in her and pulled back.
"Mia," he whispered, voice broken. "I want you."
She nodded, gazing into his eyes. "I want you, too. But maybe—"
"No. Now. Please."
A kiss brushed across her mouth. Who was she to deny him? She rocked her hips towards him again, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Their movements weren't as frenzied now. He entered slowly. She braced herself for the pain but there was none. After a moment, he started a steady rhythm. She matched him, the tightness coiling inside of her.
Lee's wide eyes were fixed on her, his lips glistening from their kisses, bodies so close it was as if they were melting into each other. Mia's fingers tightened on his back, crying out as he moved harder, faster. She couldn't keep up with him, didn’t know what to do but just keep rocking her hips. Another scorching kiss and everything came undone.
Heat flooded her. Starting in her core and racing to her extremities. Waves of black washed over her vision as the pleasure burned in her blood. It was more than she could take but oh, she didn't want it to end. She thrust her hips upwards again, hardly aware of what her own body was doing. She smelled smoke, tasted something hot and sweet on her tongue.
A fierce growl above her made her shudder, and then a weight pressed onto her chest. Lee stopped moving, bracing himself above her. His face pressed into the base of her throat as he panted. Mia smiled, trailing her fingers over the hard contours of his back.
It was even better than their first time. She hadn't thought it was possible, but it was.
"Did I hurt you?" Lee whispered.
Mia shook her head as he pulled back. "No. It didn't hurt at all. Oh, Lee… I loved it. Every moment."
Lee flashed her a smile. "Well. Then I know how to stop any argument that we have in the future, don't I?"
Part of her wanted to playfully slap him for that, but she still giggled. The giggle turned into all-out laughter. Lee groaned, clutching her tighter. He cut her off with more desperate kisses, then relaxed and rolled off to one side. His face was flushed, sweat clinging to his brow. Mia splayed her hand over his chest and sighed in contentment.
"You're right," he said, eyes closed. "We can't just keep reading and hope we come across something. We have to be proactive and stop them. I'm just… I'm scared. If we fail…"
She knew what he meant.
"Give me one more day. I know that it's a lot to ask for, but if I have just one more day… maybe I can find something. If not, then we concentrate on Harriet Henderson. We find out where she lives and we take this fight to her. I just wish…"
Mia stroked his chest gently. There was a smattering of hair there, which surprised her. The last time they'd been together, he was completely smooth. So, he shaved or waxed. With this much chest, waxing had to hurt like the dickens. She knew when she waxed her legs she could hardly stand to wear pants the next day.
"One more day," she whispered. "And you have to phone your parents. I don't care if that king said you couldn't contact them or whatever, you have to let them know about all this. Right?"
"They won't take my call."
"Alex will have told them that the witches want to cut out your heart." She propped herself up on her elbow. "You have to call them. You'll regret it if you don't."
He hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "I'll call them. Later."
Mia squeezed his hand. He rubbed his face, then relaxed back down. She pressed her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was strong, steady, and filled her with hope and warmth. Her eyes drifted shut, a smile forming on her lips.
They sprung back open when Lee cursed. He jerked away from her so quickly she fell. She pushed herself back up, confused. Lee grabbed a newspaper and held it to the window. He cursed again. In the dim light of the moon, she didn't see it at first. Then she got a better look at it. Right on the front page was a picture of Lee.
Mia's eyes widened as she read the headline. Manhunt Continues for Professor Accused of Serial Killings.
Chapter Sixteen
Lee
The fake beard glued to his chin itched, but Lee kept his focus on the computer befo
re him. If he looked around, he knew he'd be looking for accusing eyes, and right now he needed to get the information he was after. He was well disguised, so he didn't have to be paranoid about people recognizing him. Mia sat beside him quietly, twisting her hands in her lap as she read something on her computer.
The words blurred before him as he glanced at her article. It was about him, details of the murders he was accused of.
Him. Accused of murder.
He'd been expecting that the police would want to question him about Dr. Perry, but not that he would be outright accused of it by the media. He got along great with all his colleagues, but according to the newspaper articles, he had had multiple arguments, once ending in a physical assault, with Dr. Perry. Was it media sensationalism, or was a witch involved, messing with people's heads?
He shook his head, focusing on his computer again. Learning more about the details of what he was accused of was Mia's job. It was his job to learn everything he could about the local dark witches and their rituals. He wasn't making much progress, and getting distracted wasn't helping.
Most of what he did find was information they already had, and it remained vague at best. At this point, he'd usually go to the people presenting their research and ask specific questions about it, but he was reading third and fourth secondary accounts from long-dead sources. Talking to them was out of the question. Who knew if the witches still held to these ancient rituals, anyway? Magic, like the rest of the world, evolved as time went on.
Biting back a sigh of frustration, Lee knocked back his ball cap and scratched his scalp before slamming it more firmly onto his head. He turned to Mia. "Anything interesting?"
She flinched a little, whether from his tone or what she was reading, he didn't know. For a moment, she worried her lip between her teeth, then sighed. "Nothing much. Just that they think that all those murders on campus are connected with Dr. Perry's death, and that the police are searching everywhere… and there were sightings at all the libraries we stopped at."
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