“Take slow, deep breaths,” the older woman cautioned. “We’re going to take care of you. Everything will be fine.”
But it hadn’t been a blanket at all, or a bag. The fabric had twitched in the night, as if alive. A heartbeat lulled her in and out of sleep.
And now she was here, with this woman, and all these strangers staring at her.
Sensing movement behind her, she hazarded a look over her shoulder.
Some moments freeze in time. Some unforgettable moments are joyous, while others stick with you for very different reasons.
Seeing two huge, crystalline eyes peering at you from over a shimmering silver snout was one of those inexplicable moments.
A scream ripped from her throat.
She was awake now; she was sure of it. But here she was, face to face with another creature that wasn’t supposed to exist.
The dragon’s eyes widened. It pushed back, scrambling away from her and sitting like a dog. The beast towered shoulders, neck, and head above the men surrounding her— men who seemed more interested in her than the fact that a huge, mythical monster sat among them.
The dragon cocked its snout to the right, reminiscent, again, of a puppy.
One of the men stepped toward her. “He didn’t mean to scare you.”
“How do you know? That’s a-that’s a…”
“Dragon.” The woman behind Anna squeezed her shoulder. “A crystal dragon, to be exact: the wisest, purest, and most noble of the Draconi. You are a lucky girl.”
Anna glanced back at her before returning her gaze to the massive, looming beast. “Lucky?”
“To be chosen. Dozens of young girls came here last night to present themselves to the dragons, yet you fell to us from the sky. You must be special indeed.”
“Are you out of your mind? I was snatched off the street.”
The man came closer. “He said he saved you from the…” He squinted. “I’m seeing really big, gray dragons.”
The old woman gasped. “Nikau, do you speak the truth?” She stood and faced the beast. “Did you fight the mountain dragons? Is that how you were hurt?” She rubbed her face. “Grace of Aoraki, you are lucky to be alive.”
“He says he didn’t have a choice. They’d taken the girl from him, he couldn’t let them have her.”
The old woman walked toward the towering beast and placed her hand on its lowered snout.
The creature leaned in to accept what looked like a caress, and nuzzled her shoulder.
Anna blinked twice and stared. She wasn’t crazy. That thing was actually nuzzling the old lady. It arched its back and a translucent wing scattered what little light came through the tent. The movement projected a multi-colored kaleidoscope on the fabric wall.
The other wing lay limp, spread out along its right side. A series of stitches raked up a pink, puffy line that ran from the outer edge of the wing to its base.
So, it was hurt. That didn’t explain why they were all there, though. Had the woman trained the dragon somehow? Was it her pet?
The man; Nikau, the woman had called him, still stood a few feet from her, rubbing his eyes. A small tear in his jeans marred his left thigh, and dark, grimy streaks blemished his face, as if he’d slept in the dirt. They all looked that way, come to think of it. Maybe this was some kind of dragon loving, camping cult.
She closed her eyes, collecting herself. The cult part wasn’t really what worried her. There was still a real, live dragon just a few feet away.
Nikau dropped his fingers from his eyes. “Sorry, I know this is a little strange. This is all new to me, too.” He glanced back to the dragon. “He doesn’t want you to be afraid.”
“Okay, reality check. Is that really a dragon?”
The group nodded as Nikau helped Anna to her feet.
She squeezed his hands. “And you, how do you know it doesn’t want me to be afraid?”
He pulled free from her grasp and rubbed his face, again. “As crazy as it sounds, I am his Kotahi. It’s sort of like a translator. I can hear him.” He tapped his temple twice. “Up here.”
“I’m supposed to believe you can read the dragon’s mind?”
“Like I said, I know it sounds crazy.”
The dragon growled, nosing the air.
“Hang on, boss,” Nik said. “You’re hurt and we still need to check your girlfriend out.”
Anna took a tentative step toward the creature. “What did it say?”
“That he needs to get going, but with that wing, and those gray dragons out there ready to turn him into sushi, I think that’s a pretty bad idea.”
A taller, broad man with dark hair and a gray-peppered beard pointed at her shoulder. “I’d like to take a look at those wounds.”
Anna fingered the grayish-red stains on her blouse. Shifting, she winced. “Are you a doctor?”
“I’m a DVM.” He smiled when she cocked a brow. “Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.”
“You’re a vet?”
“Yes, ma’am. But if you prefer…” He pointed over his shoulder. “Tom is an accountant, Jim is a mechanic, and Nanna and Pops are both retired cooks. You can have one of them look you over, if you prefer.”
He was kidding, right?
Nikau shrugged when she met his gaze. “Don’t look at me, I’m currently unemployed.”
The dragon limped toward her, dragging his right wing behind him.
“Careful there.” The vet lifted the creature’s wing off the ground.
“He says he can help heal her,” Nik said.
Anna stepped back. “Oh, please dragon tears?”
The creature cocked its head to the left.
“He’s a little confused,” Nik said. “I’m getting a feeling that the dragon tear legend is a myth.” He squinted. “But I’m getting a vision of him licking you. I guess it’s like a dog licking a wound?”
She grabbed her shoulder. “Eww.”
“You’ll need to take off your shirt.” The old woman— what had the vet called her— Nanna? Removed her jacked and held it in front of Anna like a screen. “Everyone not needed, get out. That would be all but me, Doc Tyler, the dragon, and Nikau to translate.”
Oh, God, she was actually serious about this. “I’m not letting that thing lick me. What if it likes the way I taste?”
The woman pursed her lips. “If he was going to eat you he would have done so already.”
“I don’t even like it when my dog licks my face.” Anna clutched her shoulders as the rest of the people filed out of the tent without comment. Outside, a flurry of voices questioned them.
“I know you’re uncomfortable,” the veterinarian said. “At a bare minimum, I need to take a look.” He pulled the blanket from her shoulders. “We can’t let that get infected.”
She couldn’t really argue with that. Wincing, she allowed him to help slide her blouse over her head and bit her lip against the collective gasp.
Deep red, weepy, swollen wounds and dark purple bruises covered her skin. She could barely recognize her own body. She needed a hospital. Probably surgery. Stitches at least. God, did they even have her stupid blood type in this country? What if she really needed surgery, could she get back to the States in time?
The dragon moved behind her. Heat emanated from its silvery-white scales. But that couldn’t be right. Reptiles were cold-blooded, weren’t they?
“Hold still,” Nikau whispered.
Anna leaned against the old woman, her head down. Was she really going to let them do this?
A moist heat rolled over her right shoulder. The tongue scratched lightly against her skin and dragged across her back and along the wounds on her front. Anna gulped down the bile building in her throat. This couldn’t be sanitary. She was going to die here.
And what would she even tell a doctor if she found one? Oh, you see, there was this dragon, and I let it lick me. Sorry the injuries are infected even worse now.
God, they’d think she was crazy.
She winced, her
muscles throbbing, until the heat swept over her, through her, and into her, tingling through her skin until suddenly the pain eased away. She clung to the old woman, shaking, until the dragon drew back.
Nanna’s eyes lit up as she surveyed the wounds. “Incredible. Absolutely incredible.”
Anna straightened, forgetting to hide her bra from the strangers around her as she checked her shoulders.
The deep gashes had covered over, glistening with a sticky goo. The swelling had already gone down. It wasn’t as dramatic as the dragon tear-miracle depicted in the movies, but it was darn close.
She looked up at the mythical creature. It wasn’t huge like the dragons in movies, but it was definitely the largest animal she’d ever stood this close to without being terrified. The other dragons from last night, they’d been bigger than elephants. Maybe that was why she’d been carried away with such ease.
When this smaller dragon finally snatched her from the sky, it had struggled in the air. She remembered the sensation of rising and falling, until the dragon had roared, and then they’d fallen. Was that when he was injured? Did they rip his wing in retaliation for him saving her?
She stood and reached for his nose. The creature startled, then lowered its snout closer to her hand. Its scales were hard, but sleek. They shimmered, even within the tent’s mottled light.
Anna realized no pain had raked through her shoulder as she reached up to touch him. He’d saved her in more ways than one. “Thank you.”
The creature quivered, pressing its nose into her hair.
“He says, always.” Nik’s eyes reddened. “The sense of warmth, it’s overwhelming.”
Shimmering tears had formed in the dragon’s eyes as well. Was it possible? Could this huge reptilian beast feel?
The creature moved its snout beneath her chin and rubbed. She laughed, scratching it behind a short, pointed ridge where its ears should have been.
Tyler mopped his brow. “It’s getting too hot to stay in the tent. Are you able to walk in the sun, Great One?”
The dragon lifted its head and faced him.
“It doesn’t seem like the sun is a problem,” Nik said. “Why do you ask?”
“There are stories about dragons not coming out in the daytime. Some accounts made it sound like sunlight might be painful.”
Nik looked at the dragon and nodded. Was he really talking to it inside their heads?
He turned to Tyler. “Apparently the gray ones can’t see in the sunlight, so they only come out at night. The rest of them have no problem with the daylight.”
“That is good news for us,” the old woman said. “But this tent won’t fool them again. Tonight, they will search in earnest.”
“The glow worm caves,” Tyler said. “They are more than large enough to hide a dragon.”
“Waitomo Caves are on the North Island,” Nik said. “We’ll never get there before nightfall, especially with an injured dragon.”
The old woman smiled. “Waitomo Caves are a tourist trap. There are wonders on South Island the Maori have kept to themselves.” She reached up and ran her hand down the dragon’s neck. “We have the perfect place to hide you, Great One.”
9
The tent exit loomed just inches away. In a few moments, everyone outside would see with their own eyes what had fallen from the sky last night.
Nik stood on the Dragon’s right and held the injured wing just off the ground. “Is this okay? Am I hurting you?”
The dragon’s voice bubbled up from within. *It’s fine. But you don’t need to serve me.*
“No, but it’s a little easier to handle this mind-meld thing when your pain isn’t lancing through my cranium.”
The creature turned toward him. *I’m sorry. It’s not my intent to hurt you.*
Anna was cradled between the un-injured wing and the dragon’s hide. She wasn’t quite a hostage, but she was close enough that the dragon could furl her back inside his wing at the slightest hint of danger.
*Or her trying to run away.*
I don’t think she’s going to run. Where would she go? Nik pulled back the opening of the tent and peeked outside.
“Is it talking to you?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. He’s a little nervous about what’s going to happen outside.”
Tyler exited, and Nik stole a glance through the tent flap. Outside, many of the people who’d fled the previous evening mulled about. Nik could tell from the look on most of the younger people’s uninterested carriages that they still didn’t believe their elders had saved a real-live dragon last night. They were all about to pee their pants when they found out everything they’ve been discounting for years was actually true. He let the flap fall closed.
“Does he have a name?” Anna traced her fingers down the ridge on the dragon’s neck.
Ummm. Nik turned toward the creature. “I feel incredibly stupid for never asking you that.”
The dragon preened his scales. *It hadn’t mattered, but she should know.* He lowered his snout and nuzzled her cheek. *She knows me. Tell her I am Joesephutus.*
“Ja-who-what-is?”
Anna laughed. “Is it hard to say?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s Draconic.”
*Tell her it’s Joe.*
“Joe?”
Anna took a step back, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?”
She continued to stare at the dragon.
*Tell her not to be afraid.*
Nik reached for her. “Are you okay?”
Anna slapped him away. “This isn’t funny. Do you know Joe? Were you in the bar last night? Did you watch them take me?”
Nik held out his hands in surrender. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The dragon said that he knows you, and his name is Joe.”
She turned to Puff. Her nose flared as her face reddened. “You are not the cute guy from the bar.”
*Cute?* A smug flush rushed from the dragon.
I’m not sure that’s what we should be focusing on right now.
*She needs to trust me. She needs to understand.*
Nik turned to the girl “He says…”
Her face twisted into a sneer. “I am not calling it Joe.”
Nik’s heart raced as the dragon moved from side to side. It lowered its head. *She’s angry.*
Yeah, I’m getting that.
*She doesn’t believe me.*
Nik couldn’t really blame her. Dragons were one thing, but magic? I’m not really sure I believe it, either.
The dragon jerked his head up.
Nik Shrugged. Well, if you really are this Joe person she knows, then go ahead and shift. Show her.
The beast lowered his snout. Its nose wrinkled and it clawed the earth several times before Nik’s right arm and shoulder exploded in pain. His sight blurred. Then the pain… No, the agony disappeared like someone had thrown a switch.
The dragon held his right claw off the ground. He trembled, his breaths staggered.
*I can’t shift. The pain is too much.*
Nik massaged his own arm and side. “Yeah, I’m getting that.”
Boss raised his head as the girl approached and reached for him.
She held the dragon’s face. “He’s making all of this up, isn’t he?”
Seriously? “You think I’m lying?”
*Tell her yes.* The dragon pulled himself back up to standing. *She can’t know I’m weak, and I can’t chance her being angry.*
“But—”
*Tell her!*
“Okay, okay.” Nik huffed out a breath. “Yeah, I made it all up. He’s just a dragon. His name is Joes-hopping-with-figs or something like that.”
A puff of hot, smoky air blew from the dragon’s nose, but the creature’s irrational anxiety about what this girl thought of him melted when Anna smiled.
She ran her palm down the creature’s jawline. “How about we call you Puff?”
“Puff?”
“Puff the Magic Dragon. I like it.”
/> Nik narrowed his eyes. “That’s kinda stupid.” The dragon growled at him. Nik held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Apparently if you’re happy, he’s happy. Puff it is.”
Anna petted the dragon’s mane like a horse. She whispered something into the creature’s ear that Nik couldn’t make out. Warmth spread through Nik’s chest as the boss lifted his nose to allow her to scratch under his chin.
Nik folded his arms. I thought you wanted her to know you were this Joe person.
The creature lowered his gaze to Nik. *I do, but it was too much, too soon. I can’t chance any negative emotion now. Besides…* He lifted his chin again.
Anna laughed as she scratched under his muzzle with vigor.
*This feels so incredibly good.*
Nik smiled. If he were being honest, he wouldn’t want to piss off a girl who was running her hands up and down his body, either. So, Puff it is, for now.
From outside, Nanna pulled back the tent flap. “It is time, Great One.”
Nik held up the injured wing as a collective gasp, followed by a numbing hush, fell over those outside. The dragon stepped into the light, and Nik walked alongside, squinting. The wing barely weighed a pound. He could practically see through the thin membrane once the light enveloped them.
A middle-aged woman in the crowd swayed. The man standing beside her caught her as she fell, but his gaze remained fixed to the creature as they emerged.
Pops stood alongside the opening, brandishing the extinguished torch he’d held the night before like a scepter. “Behold, the dragon lord who fell to his people last night. Once again, the Maori are called to stand with the Draconi.”
“Is it dangerous?” someone asked.
“Look at the size of it.”
The dragon recoiled. *Even among humans I’m looked down on for my size.*
Nik gazed up at Puff. “I don’t think they’re remarking on how small you are. You’re kind of scary, to be honest.”
“I don’t think he’s scary.” Anna patted the creature’s shimmering hide.
Puff turned to her. The injured wing twitched beneath Nik’s fingers as a raging warmth trickled across their bond. Sweat beaded at the Kotahi’s temples, and he let go for a moment to wipe his brow.
Sirens and Scales Page 362
