by Ava Walsh
“Now everyone will know you’re mine.”
“Oh, am I?” She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
He reached out to yank her close again. He tugged at her earlobe with his teeth, then kissed along her neck. “Tell me you don’t want to be mine, and I’ll let you go forever.”
“Fine.” She sighed dramatically like she was giving in to him. “But if I agree to be yours, you better be mine forever, too.”
“Deal.”
Chapter 5
Kiara hadn’t been spending as much time in dragon form now that she had Spence and they often practiced magic together. He had a lot to learn to catch up to her, but he learned very quickly. They spent nearly every afternoon after school in the woods doing magic and making out. And he was, as her spell had made him, everything she wanted. It had only been a matter of weeks, but she was already falling for him.
They walked together out of the woods one afternoon after a few hours of magic. “We have to tell her,” Kiara said. “It’s already been too long.”
“Let’s just kiss in the hall in front of her at school and stop hiding that we’re together.”
Kiara groaned. “I don’t want to hide, but she’s my best friend, and she liked you.”
“I know, and I’ve been working on the spell. I’ll go today, okay?”
“Swear it.”
“Swear.” He kissed her hand and touched it to his cheek.
She hadn’t thought it would take so long for him to get the spell that would make Erica not like him anymore right, but they always seemed to get distracted instead of working on it.
They parted, and he headed towards Erica’s while she went home. She ran inside and up to her bedroom, shoved a few items into her bag and dashed back to the woods. He’d be busy casting the spell on Erica and talking to her about their relationship, so she could get in a little dragon time.
For hours she cast spells while in dragon form. She went for a long flight and visited the island to get some plants she’d need later. She thought about going to the treasure cave but heeded Sindri’s warning. She still had plenty of money from when she’d sold the first necklace. She wouldn’t be greedy. She didn’t want the island to shut itself off to her.
She came home worn out and dirty. She tended to get grimy when she went around in dragon form, her large body dragging against the ground in the dirt and leaves. In her bedroom, she flicked the light on and screamed a silent scream when she saw a figure standing there.
“It’s just me.” Spence released the silencing spell, the same one Kiara had cast on Erica when she’d snuck into her room.
She smacked his arm. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“I know. That’s why I silenced you. Why are you so dirty?”
“From earlier, I guess.”
He handed her a soda. “I stopped at the QuikShop on my way home.”
She opened the soda and drank several gulps. “Thanks. Needed that.”
He leaned against her desk, arms crossed, watching her. “Where were you?”
“In the woods. I went back to do a few more spells.”
“That’s funny. After I went to see Erica I came here and you weren’t here, so I went to the woods and you weren’t there, either.”
“Then I guess we just missed each other.” She held his gaze and glared back as she lied.
“You’re lying!” He pushed himself off the desk and came toward her. “You know, your eyes flicker the prettiest green when you lie.”
“What?” She looked down at the soda in her hand. Had the lid been sealed when she opened it? “Did you put a potion in my drink?”
He nodded once.
“What the hell! How could you do that?”
“How could you lie to me? I saw the necklace.”
He pointed to the necklace she had on. It was the one that he’d given her. She never took it off. She’d discovered early in her shifting that jewelry, unlike clothing, changed with the shifter. Something about it being metal, a dragon at the haven had told her when she asked. All metal came from the earth and contained natural powers, even if only the most minuscule. And since magic was connected with the earth, metal was connected to the caster.
Spence glared at her and set his jaw. “I’ll give you one more chance to tell the truth.”
She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. “You don’t understand. I can’t. It’s not that I don’t want to. I’d tell you anything. But I can’t.” She absently touched the ring on her finger.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I already know your secret.”
“What?” It came out as a horrified whisper. “No, no, please tell me you don’t. You couldn’t have seen.”
“I saw everything, and I don’t appreciate you lying to me about it.” He glared at her, then jumped from her window and ran away from the house using a speed spell. He was gone in a flash.
Kiara paced her room, thinking. Could he have really seen her in dragon form? She retraced her steps. She’d cast spells. Obviously he knew all about that. Then she shifted and cloaked and flown off. But she’d cast her detection spells. Unless he’d cast spells of hiding, which wouldn’t trigger the detection spell…
Her heart started to race. What had Sindri said? The curse was an illness. He wouldn’t just drop dead. She took out her phone and texted him.
“Please come back. I HAVE to talk to you.”
She waited fifteen minutes, but he didn’t respond. She called him, then called him again. Finally she gave up and went after him, running to his house.
She cast a cloaking and levitating spell, then jumped up to the roof by his room and tried to open his window. Locked. She knocked and when he didn’t answer, she cast an unlock spell. The lock flicked open, then instantly closed. She saw the curtain flutter. He was sitting right there, so close to her.
“I know you’re there,” she said, putting her mouth close to the window glass. “Please, let me explain. It’s not what you think, and in so many ways it’s much, much worse.”
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll let you explain. Tomorrow. I’m tired and I’m pissed off and I really don’t want to see you right now. You’d better have some amazing explanation, though, because let me tell you, I’m so ready to never speak to you again.”
“Okay.” She put her hand to the glass, wishing he would at least look at her. The truth herb was in her pocket. She had to give it to him, find out what he saw and go from there. But if he’d seen, he would die. She didn’t know how fast the illness took effect. She might never see him or talk to him again. “Spence?” Her voice wavered and cracked. “I love you.”
He opened the curtains an inch to look at her. She saw just one shining eye. Now that he was looking, she repeated it so he could see there was no green glimmer of deceit in her words. She jumped down and ran back to her house.
Chapter 6
Kiara didn’t sleep much that night. She paced, practiced simple spells and waited for the day to break. She’d decided she would go to him first thing in the morning to check on him. And this time she wouldn’t leave until he talked to her.
She peeked out her window for the hundredth time and checked her phone. At 7 a.m. she climbed out of her window and ran to his house. She knocked softly, then slid the window open. It was unlocked now.
He was sleeping, but even in the dim light of the early morning she could see he didn’t look good. His skin had a greenish cast. She put her hand on his shoulder and whispered his name. She had to shake him a bit and speak louder than a whisper to finally rouse him. He groaned and turned on his side, then peeled his eyes open slowly.
“Kiki?” He’d only called her that once, and she kind of liked the nickname. But now it sounded more like he just couldn’t get anything else out.
“What’s wrong with you? What hurts?”
“Everything.” He moaned again and rolled onto his back. “Achey, throat hurts, head hurts.
I might puke.”
Kiara found his trash can and moved it closer to him. She took out the bottle of juice she’d brought. It had the truth herbs mixed into it. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”
He sat up and drank it. “What is it? Do you know how to make some kind of healing potion?”
“No, that’s very advanced magic. Some day. You just drank a truth herb.”
“Why?”
“I need to know what you saw last night in the woods.”
“Oh.” He sat up and leaned against the wall. “I saw you. As a dragon. Recognized the necklace. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kiara’s stomach plunged. He had seen. This illness would kill him. And it was all her fault. Tears rushed to her eyes. “Spence, you don’t understand. I’m sworn to secrecy. And this illness, the reason you’re sick right now is because of me. Because you saw me. There’s a powerful dragon magic curse at work. It kills anyone who discovers its secret, whether I tell them or they find out by accident.”
His eyes widened. “You’re saying I’m going to die?”
She shook her head. “I’ll figure something out. I’ll find a way to save you.”
“Kiara,” he whispered. “I don’t want to die a virgin.”
Good ole’ truth herb. She almost laughed, but nothing about this was funny. “I know.” She kissed his cheek. “Me neither, but there’s no time. Right now I have to go. I have to find someone and see if he can help me.”
She leaned forward and kissed him, but he pulled away.
“I don’t want you to get sick, too.”
She put a hand to his cheek. “You’re not actually sick, you’re cursed, and that’s not contagious. But whatever you do, do not tell anyone. Anyone you tell will be cursed too, and will die.” They resumed their kiss, passionate but restrained by his pain. If she couldn’t save him, she would make sure that neither of them died virgins. Definitely.
“I will come back as soon as I know something. You hang in there and don’t die too soon, okay?” Her voice cracked and tears filled her eyes again. “Give me some time to figure out how to save you.”
“I’ll try.” He had tears in his eyes, too, when he kissed her again. “I love you. I’m so glad you told me that last night. I almost chased after you, but I started to feel really sick.”
“It’s okay. You will live. Or I’ll die trying to save you.” She kissed him one more time, then jumped out of his window and dashed into the forest at lightning speed.
She changed quickly and leaped into the air, then flew immediately to the dragon haven. She landed hard and called out, “Sindri!”
His response came almost like a whisper in her mind. “I am coming.”
She watched the sky and saw him fly into view moments later, large and shining green. He landed in front of her and tucked his enormous wings behind his back.
“Hello, Kiara.”
“Sindri, hi. I need your help.”
He nodded slowly. “Yes, I felt the magic activate. You have told someone our secret?”
“No, he found out by accident. He’s a wizard too and he bypassed my detection spell. I would never ever tell him, and now he’s really sick, and he’s going to die, and I don’t know what to do.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “I can’t lose him. I love him. Please, is there a way to save him? Anything?”
“Yes, you can save him.”
Kiara felt all four of her knees weaken in relief. “How?”
“Simply take off your ring in his presence. The secret will be wiped from his mind and you will die in his place.”
“No, Sindri, please. There has to be another way.”
“I did not create this magic. It is as old as dragons.”
“No, I know. But he’s not just human, he’s a wizard. Can’t you give him the power to shift as well? He has strong magic.”
“The power could be granted if he has magic—”
“How?”
He gave her a frustrated look and she kept her mouth closed. “For you it was your sacrifice of freeing me. You took a risk, not knowing the reason I was cast in stone, and you were lucky that I was not a malicious dragon. He has made no such sacrifice, so a sacrifice must be made.”
“Okay…” Kiara almost held her breath, waiting.
“In the light of the moon, you will cast a spell. It’s not the most difficult spell, and in your dragon form I have no doubt you would be able to perform it.”
“What’s the spell?”
“I will tell you, but you should know it’s the elements required that are the sacrifice.”
She knew of spells that required things like hair or even body parts. Some required intangibles like time or memories or happiness. To receive something like the power to shift into a dragon it would likely be something drastic.
“It requires the blood of a virgin.”
“Like, how much blood?” They’d just had the conversation about both of them being virgins. Easily accessible blood right there in her own body.
“All of it. The empty vessel of the virgin is also required.”
“So I need to kill a virgin and have the blood and the body?”
Sindri nodded and explained the rest of the spell. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“I wish you luck, young one.” Sindri lowered his head then flew off.
Kiara had a few herbs and things to gather for the sacrifice spell and a few other general herbs she liked to keep on hand. She also made a visit to the cave. She and Spence had spent a lot of money recently going out and doing fun things. If he survived she wanted to be able to do something awesome to celebrate. She selected a handful of coins, something easy to carry, and flew back to the woods.
Chapter 7
Most of the elements for the spell to make Spence a dragon shifter were simple. A few plants, a certain potion and the moonlight. She could get all the plants from the dragon haven, she had some of the potion already and the moon was in abundant supply. Though there could be a problem if it was cloudy tonight or he didn’t survive the night. She should have asked Sindri how long it took the curse to kill someone. She was kicking herself for not knowing that, but it was the least of her worries right now.
This virgin thing made her sick to her stomach. Would she have to kill someone? When Sindri had first said the word “virgin” she’d been relieved. If both she and Spence were then their blood was readily available. But of course it couldn’t be that simple. A dead virgin’s body and all of his or her blood. Could she really kill someone to save him?
Kiara spent some time in the woods, pacing. There were many hours left of the day before the moon would be in the sky. She had time. Too much time to think, but not nearly enough time with Spence. She wanted to be with him, to spend every moment with him. But she couldn’t face him. Not yet. She had to decide first what she would tell him.
He wouldn’t want her to kill anyone, surely, but how could she look him in the eye and tell him he was going to die and there was nothing she could, or would, do about it? Was there some other way? What if she went to a hospital and waited for someone to die? She could maybe take the body without anyone noticing.
Except the timing would be really tricky on that since the body needed warmth for the spell. If the potion she had to pour into its mouth grew cold, everything would take too long and it wouldn’t work. So she’d need to be there right when someone died—someone who was a virgin—and she’d need to find a way to sneak the body out without someone stopping her. Right. Like she would ever get that lucky. If she had weeks maybe she’d try, but today was probably her only shot.
Then an idea came to her. She thought back through everything Sindri had said. Then she went through it all again. Nowhere in all of his explanation had he said that the virgin had to be human. She’d assumed that was what he meant based on the way he described the spell. It was probably the best way to do it. If she cheated, it might have negative consequences. But at this point, when her options were to let h
im die, die herself or kill someone else, this seemed like it was worth a shot. And if it didn’t work he’d just have to live another day, and tomorrow she would kill someone.
Now the question was, what sort of creature would make the best sacrifice in the place of a human? An ape would be the closest to human, but there were no zoos nearby, and flying in as a dragon to steal one then flying it back here would probably not be the best idea. She may have come a long way on her cloaking spell, but she hadn’t tried to increase it to the ability to cloak someone else with her. People would probably notice an ape flying through the sky.
There was an awful lot of literature on wolf shifters. Werewolves. Books, movies, even a real disease that covered people in hair. Wolves were often thought of as kindred spirits to humans. Maybe they would be a good choice. There were wolves in the area, and if she chose one young enough to have never gone into heat it would be a virgin.
The wild relief mixed with the idea in her mind. Could this really work? Should she take the chance? After pacing for a while, she decided. She would do this first. If it didn’t work properly she would find someone to kill. Someone annoying and pathetic from her school, maybe. Even if the guilt haunted her forever, she would not lose Spence, not like this, not by her own fault.
She went into dragon form and put up her cloak, then pointed her nose into the air and sniffed around. There was a pack of wolves a few hundred feet away. She walked closer and thought that by the scent, by how thick and dense it was, this must be their home. The wolves would be there when she needed them. Right now she had no way to keep one. She’d have to make some sort of cage or get a leash and a lead to hold it until she was ready for the spell. She went close enough to smell that there were young pups there before leaving the woods in human form.
Spence was still in bed sleeping when she climbed in through his window. She kissed him and he stirred. His eyes were glassy and his complexion even worse. It smelled like sick in the room. He’d probably thrown up. Sweat glistened across his forehead.
