Nathaniel’s shoulders moved inside his robes. “I was fifteen and just coming into my power. While walking through the woods, I came across five mages working to bring one lone mage down. They were doing something to drain his power away. It was the first time I felt that level of dark and powerful magic. In my youthful naiveté, all I saw was Zenos trying to defend himself. It didn’t occur to me to wonder if he deserved his fate. I simply helped break their hold on him, then watched him kill all five without a moment’s hesitation. It stuns me now just as much as it did back then. He had absolutely no remorse.”
Jezibaba smiled. “I cannot judge him for that, Nathaniel. I have felt little remorse for my actions and even that little has dwindled further over time. But back to your story… so for honor’s sake, Zenos let you live and promised you a favor.”
Nathaniel nodded. “Yes. That’s close enough to what occurred, and really all I can share with you. Calling Zenos can only be done magically, but I have a way. He gave me a charm to use.”
“Is his magic as large as the legends say it is?” she asked.
“You’re the only other magical being I’ve ever met who exhibited as much power as he seemed to possess.”
“Good to know that at least.” Jezibaba shook her head as she frowned. What once was true was no longer the case, but the only person who knew that was Morgana. She had confessed to no other. “Why would Zenos help us, Nathaniel? His non-involvement policy is as equally infamous as his magic. He’s plainly not the altruistic sort. Do you honestly see him being interested in training the girls?”
“Zenos doesn’t have to be genuinely interested. The charm is an honor bound spell in and of itself. Not to brag about my negotiating skills, M’lady… but Zenos will have no choice but to grant my request. Once I call in the favor, he must fulfill his promise to me or forfeit his life. I know he will never do that because he hates Morgana The Red more than any other creature he’s ever known.”
***
“No… not like that.” Carol vaulted over the fence and ran to the two girls in the training ring. “Melanie, you’re dancing away from the attack again. Shift your right foot until it grounds you to the earth beneath your feet. You’re an elf, not a fairy. You have no wings. You have stealth and the earth will shield you if you ask. You don’t want to be bopping around when Cindi comes after you with her spear. She’ll pop you like a balloon.”
She stepped in front of Melanie to face Cindi and motioned with her hand for combat. When the girl attacked, Carol grabbed the spear and pulled it easily from her hand. She turned and handed the spear to Melanie.
“See how that works? If I had done the yank with more force, I would have put Cindi on the ground while I was taking the spear away. That would have given me complete control over her.”
Melanie nodded, then nervously giggled. “No wonder Iren ended up on the floor.”
Carol ducked her head and nodded. She sighed because she still hadn’t done what she’d promised herself she would do. “That wasn’t right of me. I owe your older brother an apology.”
Melanie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No you don’t. I told him to talk to you if he likes you so much. I did not tell him to cop a feel of your butt. But he’s a stupid guy and wouldn’t listen to me… oh, no.”
Carol’s head came up. “Are you saying Iren likes me?”
Melanie chuckled. “In the worst way. You couldn’t tell?”
“From the slapping, pinching, and ass grabs? No. Not really,” Carol said, grinning. “Maybe I just don’t understand males at all.”
“Who does?” Cindi demanded, laughing at her own question.
A shrill whistle split the air. “Incoming. Run!” someone yelled.
Carol felt the darkness looming over her head. Her first thought was to make sure Cindi and Melanie were well away. She lifted her hands, called to the wind, and away the younger girls flew with it. Before she could raise her gaze to see what was falling from the sky, she was body tackled from the side and a large male body landed on top of hers.
Something wooden fell and exploded where she’d stood moments ago. Something else wooden was now pressed against her thigh. Carol looked up into the face of her Elven tormentor. His mouth pressed down on hers before she could stop him. Colors danced behind her eyelids. His lips moving across hers made her tingle and made him… oh Goddess.
“That better be your wand poking me,” Carol hissed as she pushed Iren away.
Iren laughed and lifted far enough off her to look down into her face. “It’s magical alright. I wish you’d let me show you sometime. I’m going crazy thinking about being with you.”
Panicked by his confession so soon after his sister had ratted him out, Carol shoved with all her strength and the smirking elf was suddenly on his feet staring down at her.
Fighting not to look at Iren’s crotch to see if it was as big as it had felt pressed against her, Carol turned her head and looked up into sexy Thane’s glaring gaze. He reached a hand down to her. She stared at it for a few seconds then let him pull her to her feet. She glanced at Iren who lifted one eyebrow until it was nearly as high as his pointed ear.
Frowning, Thane yanked Carol to the side and lifted his chin in the direction of the now shattered shed. “Somebody’s getting ready to fail pre-alchemy.”
Carol snorted as she swiped at the front of her jeans. “As most of us do. It might help if Professor Gold was less than a thousand years old. We don’t even know if he’s teaching it right anymore.”
“Professor Gold is a dragon. He is not a thousand years old yet. He’s only seven hundred and eighty-five. I’m sure there is nothing wrong with his teaching.”
Carol stared at him for a couple moments. Screw it. She wasn’t cow towing to a moody dragon. “Tell me something, dragon boy. Is that pissy mood of yours about what I said or what happened after the dance the other night?”
“What? What happened after the dance?” Iren demanded, stepping closer to Carol.
“None of your business,” Thane answered. “Get lost, elf. This is no concern of yours.”
“I’m making it my concern,” Iren replied. His gaze went back to Carol. “What happened after the dance, Carol?”
Carol raised her hand to scratch her scalp, or pull her hair, or smack herself to see if she was really awake.
Did she really have two males fighting over her? Maybe it was pheromones. Carol lifted her armpit and took a whiff. Nope. She smelled sweaty like she always did after fighting. Must be something else.
She patted her body to see if Hildy had stuck some kind of attraction charm on her somewhere. Her startled gaze took in the two pissy males now glaring as they watched her.
“What?” she demanded. Then she remembered Iren’s question. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Iren. Thane and Hildy had a magical disagreement. I got to referee.”
Iren snorted and crossed his arms. Next to muscled dragon boy the lean elf looked like a child. Only Iren wasn’t acting like a boy. He was acting like he had some kind of claim to her, which he didn’t. A game of grab ass did not make a relationship in any girl’s book. Still… she was supposed to be the keeper of the peace. Wasn’t she?
Carol put her hand on Iren’s arm. Her palm tingled against his skin, just like her lips had tingled under his. And there was more muscle on him than she’d thought. His silver green gaze came immediately to hers. Something fluttered inside her at the direct look. Could be gas, but what if it wasn’t? She was so going to have to talk to Hildy about this.
“All joking aside… thanks for the save earlier. I’m sorry about the rope thing the other night. I lost my temper.”
Iren nodded. “You’re welcome about the save. I appreciate you training Melanie to fight better. There’s no better fighter than you at Witchery U. And the rope thing… ask me about that later.”
Carol giggled when Iren smiled and touched her under her chin. Shocked at her reaction, she stared at the once again smirking elf. Thane’s snort mad
e her turn her attention back to him.
“When you’re done flirting with the elf, let me know.”
Her hand reluctantly slid from Iren’s arm. It was the first glimpse she’d seen of the superior attitude Hildy had mentioned.
“Cut her some slack, dragon. Carol just escaped getting crushed with the building.”
Ignoring Iren’s defense of her, Thane focused on Carol only. “I came to see you about my disagreement with Hildy. She refuses to hear my apologies. Do you have some time where we could discuss the matter rationally?”
Carol shrugged. “It’s going to take the alchemy class a while to clean up their mess. I could do it faster, but I’m forbidden to use that much magic without it being a matter of life and death. So I guess that means I have time to talk now if you do.”
“Good. Meet me outside Professor Smoke’s office in ten minutes,” Thane ordered.
Not waiting for an answer, he turned and stalked away, never glancing back.
Iren’s hand on her arm stopped her gaze from following the dragon’s still mesmerizing ass all the way across campus. Wow, she was full of lust today. Thane might be a walking tool like Hildy said he was, but no one could doubt his physical appeal.
Carol turned back to see Iren glaring at the dragon’s back. Apparently the elf was having a very different reaction to Thane.
“Watch yourself, Carol. My instincts say Thane cannot be trusted. His motivations are not pure where you’re concerned.”
Carol tilted her head. “Is this some stupid male competition thing?” She felt Iren drop his hand from her arm. Her disappointment in his physical retreat confused her.
Carol shook her head to clear such foolishness away. She watched the tips of his ears turn red and felt guilty for upsetting him. Only she had no idea what the guilt was about.
Iren narrowed his gaze on her and she swallowed nervously.
“No. This is not about male competition. Professor Smoke is mistaken about Thane’s worthiness, but that is not my business. Like supports like in the magical world. I would stand by any elf. As for the other… I would like your business to be my business, but if you’re interested in the dragon as your gaze says you are, then you are not a worthy match for me. Still I will urge you to watch yourself, Chosen One. Unlike the dragon, I understand and respect your true worth to the world. I doubt he feels the same.”
Carol watched in stunned fascination as Iren turned and stalked away from her much like Thane just had. Now she’d made both males completely and totally mad at her. She still had no idea how. Were male egos really that fickle?
She rolled her eyes at her concerns. Why did she care about any of this? Truly. Why did she care?
She looked around and saw Melanie and Cindi dusting each other off. “You two okay?” she asked. At their thumbs up signal, she brought her attention back to the obliterated shed.
Carol looked across the campus, trying to imagine what kind of alchemical blow-up would have sent a whole intact building soaring hundreds of meters across the campus lawn until it landed precisely in the middle of the training area. Why hadn’t the building just exploded instead? All the failed alchemical experiments she’d seen had worked precisely like that.
Something nudged at the edges of her mind. Instincts were annoying things even when they were trying to help you. Her instincts seemed to bypass her stomach to head straight for her brain where they lodged like nagging reminders of stuff it took her forever to figure out. She hoped that changed over time.
She started across campus to meet Thane, but her mind was still wrestling to discern the mental message that hadn’t gotten through the chaos of her almost dying again.
Chapter 7
Carol saw no sign of Thane outside Professor Smoke’s office, so she stuck her head into the second grade room. It was after hours and the shifter children were waiting for their dorm monitors to come collect them for the evening. Hildy sat with Chuck cuddled in her lap, while her three cat familiars played with the other children in the room.
Not wanting to interrupt the moment, Carol ducked back out before she was spotted, smiling at how serene and happy her friend had looked. It still amazed her how that same friend had turned Thane into a fish without a spot of remorse. Hildy still hadn’t admitted she had been wrong to do that.
She looked up to see Thane glowering at her. Lifting her hand in salutation, Carol approached him, her mind registering his handsomeness the whole time.
“Maybe we need to shelve this discussion for another day, Thane. You’re obviously pissed about something and I’m obviously not going to tolerate that well. I don’t turn people into animals like Hildy does. I just kick their asses… even if they’re a good looking dragon.”
“I’m not angry or upset at anyone,” Thane denied.
Carol lifted her chin and briefly crossed her arms to make her glare even more potent. The Jezibaba had spent weeks making Hildy and her practice glaring in front of a mirror. She’d thought it was completely stupid at the time, but it was amazing how often far her glare went in intimidating people. It even worked for soft-hearted Hildy.
“Chosen One,” she said quietly, pointing a finger at her chest. “I can tell you’re lying, but then so can anyone else looking at your mad face. Look, Thane… I don’t care if you’re mad at the world. Your mood is your problem not mine. But you don’t want to make your deceit my business. It won’t turn out any better than your altercation with Hildy.”
Thane ran a hand over his face. “Okay. Fine. You’re right. I’m mad. You were almost killed out there. I yelled at you to get out of the way but you didn’t hear me. You were too busy with those other females... and then the stupid elf dove at you.”
“Iren dove at me to save my life… an act that surprised both of us.” Carol snorted and dropped her arms. “Dude, near death accidents happen to me and Hildy every other day. But I don’t think the alchemy class is out to get me personally. Those crazy people are always blowing up their classrooms and labs. Why should I think there was anything suspect in a building almost falling on me? Last time I checked this is not Oz and you’re not a flying monkey.”
Thane snorted at the terrible joke. “I guess you have a point. If I promise to release my anger, can we go have a civilized cup of coffee so I can grovel in peace?”
“Make mine a cold iced tea and you have a deal,” Carol exclaimed. “And I know the perfect private place for our chat. Can I drive?”
“Drive?”
“It’s another joke. I never drive anywhere. But I don’t fly either.” Grinning, Carol stepped close to Thane, took a moment to appreciate his manly smell, and then wrapped her hand around his very big arm. Touching him was thrilling because dragon boy was just muscles on top of muscles. Something flickered in his gaze as he gazed down at her hand on him. Carol told herself it was pleasure, but thinking so gave her a headache.
Damn her instincts. Why was it always headaches?
More likely Thane believed she’d finally come around to appreciating his arrogance, but what fun was that to imagine? Why couldn’t she just enjoy spending a little time in the good-looking man’s company?
That thought made her frown but refusing to dwell on her misgivings, she lifted her hand. A few seconds later, the two of them were on a sidewalk in a nearby human town walking into a coffee shop.
Thane looked around in stunned surprise and then back down at her.
“Magical transport,” Carol said in answer to his unspoken question about where they were and how they got there.
“But you took both of us.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why was I not aware of traveling?”
“I don’t know.”
“How long did it take?”
“I don’t know.”
Still ignoring his shock, Carol nodded as she stepped to the counter.
“Transporting is sort of my magical specialty. Hildy still gets nauseated when we pop around. Not me, though. I love it. I’m not suppo
sed to be using it as often as I do, but it saves me a lot of time.”
Thane grunted beside her. Or at least she thought it was a grunt. She ordered a frothy green tea treat and waved Thane forward. “Drinks are on me,” she said. The stunned dragon looked like he wanted to argue, but after a couple of seconds Thane finally made a beverage choice.
They chose a table in a quiet corner as they waited on their drinks. Carol couldn’t help noting Thane made sure she was the one sitting with her back to the door. Whispering a chant for protection, Carol made herself relax as she faced him. Her calm poise was yet another thing she owed the Jezibaba.
“So…” Carol said, lifting her chin as she studied the handsome beast in his human skin. She wondered how big his dragon was. “You mentioned groveling over Hildy?”
Thane leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know what happened between us. One minute your friend was kissing me madly and then suddenly I was a fish. Since that night I have come to think that perhaps people have the two of you mixed up. So far you’ve been the more rational one. Hildy is slightly unhinged. I’ve never quite figured out what I said that offended her so greatly.”
A perky wait person with blonde hair hanging down her back brought their drinks to the table. Carol rolled her eyes when the girl giggled and smiled at Thane. She could tell the dragon wanted to growl and scare the human girl away, but he didn’t. She decided to give Thane points for not giving in to his urge.
Carol smiled at Thane as she picked up her tea. “I guess you’ve heard a lot of rumors about Hildy and me.”
“No. I’ve watched you both for over a year now and learned a lot on my own. I’m an academic, after all. Research is as natural to me as breathing.”
“Right. Right,” Carol agreed, wondering why she couldn’t see him as an academic. “So you think Hildy is being irrational about your disagreement?”
Thane shrugged. “I meant her no harm or she would have been harmed. Evidently she does not honor your creed about magic.”
Magic and Mayhem: How To Date A Dragon (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Baba Yaga Saga Book 2) Page 5
