by Amelia Jade
“I do,” she admitted.
“Does that come from being around the princess so much?”
Something passed through her eyes, but she quickly hid it behind a mask. Daxxton thought about pressing further, but decided against it. Not yet; he didn’t know her well enough to pry at that moment.
“Yes, that would be an accurate way of putting it,” she admitted.
There’s something else going on here.
He wasn’t sure what, but he suspected the Tanithians weren’t telling the entire truth to him.
What were they hiding?
***
Miranda
“I don’t get it,” she said, trying to change the subject. His questions were getting too uncomfortably close to something she didn’t wish to talk about.
“Get what?”
“I talk about Cadia becoming complacent, not being the calming influence on Fenris like she used to. And you get upset about it. But your anger isn’t directed at me. It’s directed at someone else. As if you know.”
She watched the burnished gold-skinned man hesitate. It was likely she was digging at internal politics, and most people didn’t like to air their own dirty laundry. Miranda could respect that, but she needed to know more.
“You know who I am,” he said at last.
She nodded, not sure if it had been a question or not.
“Well. I am…privy to more things than many that live here, it would be fair to say.” He spoke carefully. “So, your words, while not something I had known about, are not surprising.”
“Which is what I don’t get. You clearly know something is up, and yet you just…do nothing? I’ve spoken to you, I’ve seen you with your team. Your character and theirs is visible for anyone to see. It’s easy to see that you wouldn’t actively support that sort of policy. So how is it allowed to persist?”
A frown creased his face as he listened to her question. His lips pursed, and it pulled the goatee in several directions. She just wanted to reach out and caress him. Smooth skin, facial hair, it didn’t matter. She just wanted to dig her fingers in and explore him.
Miranda licked her lips, dampening them in anticipation.
Anticipation of what? Kissing him? Get over yourself, you starstruck little girl. He’s what, half a millennia older than you? No, more. You will not fawn over him. Remember, he’s a gold dragon that’s been around a long time. He probably gets that from everyone. Want him to be interested in you for who you are, not what you are? Then give him the same courtesy.
She rocked back on her heels and waited as he answered, trying to get a hold on her hormones, and her emotions.
It wasn’t going very well.
“We’re a democracy here,” Daxxton said.
Miranda needed a solid moment and a half to realize he was finally answering her earlier question.
“So, the people are voted onto the Council, and then the Council votes on the issues. Most of us have very little to do with the day-to-day handling of Cadian affairs. I only know that certain things have been happening because of who I am and the circles I am forced to walk within.”
“Forced?” she asked, then raised a hand to stop him as she remembered what she’d been thinking.
Of course, he was an oddity to his own people as well as hers.
“If he didn’t have to run in those circles, where would the real Daxxton Ryker hang out?” she asked, finally taking a seat on a nearby leather couch.
The Aurum Dragon sat down next to her, looking contemplative.
“The real Daxxton Ryker?” he asked slowly. “I’d be in the past.”
A look of intense sorrow and longing swept across his face.
What was in the past? she wondered, almost asking, but not quite.
“We all have things we’d prefer to relive,” she admitted.
“Yes,” the powerful shifter replied in a hoarse whisper. “Yes we do.”
There was regret there as well. Powerful regret. She looked at him sharply. This man had seen or done something that haunted him. Miranda wasn’t sure how she knew—maybe—it was just the tone of his voice, but he didn’t say anything more, so she let it be.
“How do you relax these days?” she asked, trying to draw him back to the present after a moment’s reflection.
“Relax? What’s that?” he asked with a dry laugh, before continuing. “I like to go for late-night flights, simply to look upon the scenery that Cadia has to offer.”
He likes to fly when it’s dark, when no one can tell what color he is.
She understood him perfectly, in an instant. He would never admit to that being the reason, but she could understand, perhaps better than most, about how it felt to be gawked at in public. Stared at, for no other reason than who you were. It was unsettling, and though Miranda was positive he’d learn to adapt, as had she, it didn’t make it any easier…
“Are there any particular places that stand out?” she asked, forcing her arm to remain still as it tried to reach out and rest upon his arm.
Why did that seem like such a good idea? Is it the way his sleeves are rolled up, exposing the thick sinews of his forearm? Get it together!
“The mountains, just as the sun comes over the horizon and touches their peaks,” he said without hesitation.
Miranda found herself smiling alongside Daxxton at the happiness she heard in his voice.
“I’ve heard a lot about the Quicksilver range,” she admitted. “I’d hope to have made a trip up here, but…” she trailed off with a calm shrug.
Or at least, she hoped it was calm, and not showing the terror on her face at how close she’d come to admitting something she absolutely was not supposed to admit just then.
Don’t screw it all up just because you found a pretty face! No matter how pretty it might be…
Her eyes ran over his fine facial features once more, admiring the curve of his jaw, the slight stubble of his facial hair.
He was gorgeous.
And probably mated. Or at least had a lineup of girls prettier than her that he could pick from.
No, she thought with a mental shake of her head. That wasn’t how he was at all. Daxxton was not the playboy type, though he easily could be if he wished. Handsome as hell and one of the only gold dragons on the planet? Yeesh, some women would kill for that combo.
“Do you ever show anyone else the sights?” someone asked in her voice.
Miranda glanced around quickly, trying to figure out who else had spoken. On the far side of the room the two groups of shifters from different places were sharing smiles, hands moving through the air as they retold one story or another.
But nobody else was around.
Daxxton’s eyes focused on her.
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh indeed.
I asked that question, didn’t I?
Yes, she had. Why had she done that? It would have been so much easier to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she’d just asked him if he had a mate.
His eyes closed and slowly reopened, and she saw defenses in place behind them, blocking her from seeing the true emotion her question had wrought within him. Instead, there was just a hint of dullness in the golden-brown orbs, a reflection of the walls inside him that refused to open for her.
“No,” he said at last. “I have always gone alone.” He paused, and she saw his jaw working.
What was he trying to say?
“But,” he said slowly. “I would be okay—”
Whatever else he was about to say was lost as the door in front of them opened and the two parties reemerged from their room. Klara lead the way out, with the princess following behind her.
“Okay,” Klara was saying. “I’ll assemble the Council while you get settled in. It might take a bit, but I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Klara. You are most gracious,” the princess replied, bowing her head to her host.
“Think nothing of it.” Klara said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
&nbs
p; “We have been invited to stay at the Nova residence,” the princess informed Miranda.
Beside her, Miranda saw Daxxton stiffen. Something was wrong with that statement. But what? She couldn’t just ask him. She’d have to find out herself. Was it the part about being “invited”? Had they been forced into it? Were the Tanithians being held hostage now?
She couldn’t see any sign of hostility or threat in the princess’s body language, nor had she used any of their predetermined phrases to indicate distress. So, Miranda mused, whatever it was, it wasn’t something the princess knew about.
The place where they were going then. Something was wrong with that, or Daxxton didn’t like the choice for some reason. Why wouldn’t he like it if they stayed with the Novas? Miranda knew the Nova name. The princess had had dealings with them, but never in person. She’d seen Klara’s name on many papers before.
And yet, she couldn’t ignore Daxxton’s reaction. Okay, time to get more information.
All of the above happened within a split second as her mind whirred.
“That sounds lovely. Whereabouts in the city is this?” she asked. “I want to send someone on ahead.”
“Oh, it’s not in the city,” Klara said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I have a condo here if I must stay over, but I dread it. No, my estate is northeast of the city. About thirty minutes’ flight time.”
Ah. There it was.
“Outside the city?” she asked, turning to face the princess. “I don’t like it. That’s far from any sort of reinforcements if anything happens.”
Beside her she could feel Daxxton urging her on silently, his body language in complete agreement with her.
Klara frowned dangerously, clouds gathering in her eyes at the suggestion that her house wasn’t safe enough. “You will be completely safe on my lands, I promise you that.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust,” Miranda said, addressing the unintended insult. “It’s the rationality of those after us. They already attacked us on Cadian soil. They’ve gone past logical thinking. If they try to come after us again, we’re far away from anyone else who might come help.”
Klara seemed to take that into consideration. Her expression relaxed, and she nodded.
“Very well, I can understand that.” She turned to Daxxton. “See to it there is adequate protection nearby. The princess is our honored guest. My own security team will meet you when you land. Evaluate and then do what you need to from there.”
Daxxton nodded.
The exchange seemed to calm him. Heck, it calmed her as well. Miranda had thought Klara was going to fight them on it. If she’d done that, and the princess had been attacked, it would have made Miranda very suspicious of Klara. But by turning over the details to Daxxton, someone she trusted, Miranda let herself believe that Klara wasn’t deliberately trying to harm them.
No, she realized, thinking about it some more. This was a power play. By having the princess stay at her estate, Klara showed the others just who the real power in town was.
Ugh, politicians.
Daxxton turned to face her as Klara said her farewells and made her exit.
“I’ll be right back. I’ll meet you on the roof. We’ll leave from there.” He pointed to a door that said Roof Access on it.
“Okay, we’ll head up,” she said, her eyes lingering on him for several seconds more than was appropriate.
They finally broke gazes, and she immediately formed her team up and began heading for the roof as Daxxton conferred with his men.
Chapter Four
Daxxton
Daxxton had seen the predatory gaze in Klara’s eyes. She knew the princess was in a weak position, and he’d had a sudden inkling that she was going to exploit that for all it was worth at the expense of the smaller shifter territory.
But just then, as he took the stairs to the roof two at a time, he was concerned with the princess’s—and Miranda’s—safety.
He pushed open the door and blinked at the darkness.
Were we really waiting that long?
Then again, it had been late afternoon when they’d left to go intercept the incoming visitors in the first place.
Damn these short winter days.
“Miranda,” he said, pulling her to the side as he reached the knot of shifters milling around.
“What?” she asked, eyes focusing at the tone of his voice.
“I think it might be better if we stay here for the night, and then proceed on in the morning. When it’s light out.”
The beautiful woman from Tanith stared at him like he was crazy.
“Do gold dragons not have night vision?” she asked in confusion. “It may be dark, but we can see just fine.”
He gritted his teeth.
“I can see in the dark as well, but it’s not the same, and you know it. If that mercenary team were to strike again, this would be the best time for it.”
Why was he being so paranoid? They were in the heart of Cadia. Even the thirty-minute flight to the Nova Estates wouldn’t put them near the border. Plus, Klara had an entire security team of trained shifters on her premises at all times, in addition to the princess’s security team and him.
So why couldn’t he shake the bad feeling?
“We should stay here,” he repeated.
Miranda eyed him.
“We would be insulting Miss Nova if we did that,” she said at last.
Daxxton snarled. “Politics be damned! This is about safety.”
“The bigger picture, Daxxton,” she said softly, reaching up to place a calming hand on his chest.
He froze as she touched him, not sure what to do.
Speak. Keep talking. Don’t look at her lips. Don’t do it.
“What, uh, big picture?” He stumbled over the words, thrown off stride by the sudden closeness with Miranda.
“The entire reason we came here. I can’t come here to try and stir Cadia back into action while simultaneously insulting the one person who has the most influence. Don’t you see? I…we have to take this risk. I’m no more keen on the idea of flying out to some unknown location at night than you are. We can’t do a proper scout of the area, even with our night vision. As you said, it’s good, but nothing replaces daylight. Trust me, I understand. I don’t like it either.”
She sighed. “But it’s a necessary evil.”
He growled deep in his chest. “I hate politics.”
“I know you do,” she said, patting him gently on his chest, before slowly dropping her hand.
Daxxton glanced down, suddenly wishing she would put her hand back on him. He missed its presence more than he’d imagined possible.
“You know the way,” she said with a smile, and gestured behind him.
Daxxton turned, his motions almost robotic as he looked out at the roof of Guardian headquarters.
The roof was made of heavily reinforced steel. The area they were currently standing on was bare steel, a circle of it at the center of it all. Spreading out from there was a layer of fire-hardened stone. Unlike most places where the stone was laid in circles, here it covered most of the roof.
That was why the heavy-duty construction was necessary. The stone weighed a lot. Plus it had to be made to support the weight of the immense dragons that made use of the landing pads on a regular basis.
“Spread out,” he called.
There wasn’t room for them all to shift at once. The dragons were just too big. Four of them occupied the corners of the building. Nolan, he believed the man’s name was, and the princess would shift after the air was secured.
Daxxton, Miranda, Vogel—now healed enough to fly on his own, although still hurting—and Dak all summoned their dragons.
Dak and Vogel both took to a knee as they disappeared behind their dragon elements, swirling red fire clouds and a thunderous ball of lightning.
To his right, Miranda spread her arms wide, inky blackness filling the void between them and her body, like the wings of a jumpsuit. Then she
brought her arms together in a cross over her chest. The blackness swirled up and around her, then exploded outward like the wings of a bat as she shifted.
It was interesting, he thought, how everyone had their own little thing when it came to shifting.
Daxxton’s was much, much simpler. Gold mist trailed him as he walked to the center of his part of the roof. The impermeable clouds grew larger and centered on him as he stopped walking.
He turned to face the others, noting the various sets of eyes on him, human and shifter alike. Tossing them a wink, he raised his right hand, and with as much nonchalance as he possessed, he snapped his fingers.
The gold mist exploded into a fiery explosion that grew in size until the clouds turned black. The flames became bolts of lightning that grew in intensity from blue all the way to white as his globe of clouds became one of snow that fell apart as he shook his mighty golden wings.
The snow fell around him like a freshly shaken snow globe, melting into nothingness as it touched the stone around him.
Daxxton couldn’t help but smile at the awed looks some of the others were giving him. He often hated being at the center of attention. Sometimes though, sometimes the look of delight his shifting put on the faces of others was worth it.
And this was one of those times. But in the end, they had a job to do.
“Okay people, let’s move out,” he said loudly.
Four sets of huge wings rose up, and as one, the quartet launched themselves from the corners of the three-story building. He had propelled himself up, and as he began to fall, Daxxton angled himself down, beating his wings again. The giant golden dragon fell three stories as he picked up speed. Using momentum, he opened his wings as he approached the ground and beat them hard, forcing himself into an upward arc that steadily pulled him away from the ground as he gained speed and power.
A quick glance around him showed the others doing the same, even as the other two members of their party moved to the outskirts of the roof.
He noted the black dragon that formed where the princess had stood. It was rare that two Blast Dragons would be together in the security team, but he understood it now. Not only did Miranda look a little like the princess, but she could also pass as her in public if she needed to appear in dragon form.
