by Dyan Chick
“As soon as we have this guy fixed up, I’m sure he’ll break the bond. There’s no way he’ll want me in your head for a reunion between the two of you.”
Heat rushed to my neck and cheeks as I recalled the kiss James and I shared in the cave. There was no way I could deny my feelings for James, no matter how quickly they’d grown. Getting to spend time with him alone, while safe was worth fighting for. The comfortable image of the two of us shattered before it was even fully formed in my mind.
Even if we got James to safety, even if he recovered, there was still a giant dragon on the loose that was supposedly set on bringing destruction to the rest of the world. “What happens now?”
Tavas didn’t need more details. Considering he could probably hear all the fear swirling in my mind as images of the massive beast swallowing his brother whole flashed through my head.
“We can’t think about that right now. Jasmine is gone, so is Jaret.” He said the words without even the slightest sense of sorrow.
I didn’t have any siblings, but I wondered how terrible it had to get before you could so quickly dismiss your brother’s death. I suddenly had a sense of overwhelming gratitude that I hadn’t been forced to get to know Jaret any better. If Tavas was that detached from his brother, and the Fae Queen wanted to kill Tavas based on the crimes committed by Jaret, I felt lucky to have had such limited time with him.
“So what does that mean for the Dragon Queen?” I asked.
“It means she’ll have to find her own agenda,” Tavas said. “She’s got a destructive nature, but she’s patient and doesn’t have any resources yet, so she’ll wait. Build up alliances, and find the right time to strike.”
“She’s a shifter, isn’t she?” I already knew the answer, but I had to check.
“Yes,” Tavas said. “Which means, she could be anywhere by now.”
“You think she would have gone along with Jasmine’s plan?” I didn’t even know what Jasmine wanted with the dragon queen, but if this queen was so powerful, why would she take orders from a mage?
“Jasmine and the others didn’t raise the queen for her cause; they did it for their own.” Tavas stopped walking, and readjusted James, then moved forward again.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“There’s supposed to be something mystical or magical that happens to those with dragon ancestry if they help participate in the raising of a queen. I’m guessing Jasmine wanted that power. Though the queen would have destroyed her soon enough anyway.”
“So, they thought they would get power and that maybe they could control her?” I asked.
“Something like that,” Tavas said.
I stumbled over loose rock and grabbed Tavas’s arm to steady myself. “Sorry.”
“Be careful, little dragon,” Tavas said. “We can’t have you getting yourself killed just yet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Well, if we want to stop the queen from her evil plans, we’re going to need you.” Tavas made it sound like it was common knowledge and like he was planning to help.
“You’d help with that?” I asked.
“I was alive the last time this bitch was in power, trust me, we’re all screwed if she gains her strength and builds alliances.” Tavas turned and cut through a group of trees.
I wasn’t even sure where we were or what the plan was. I’d just been blindly following Tavas down the mountainside. “Where are we going?”
“Back to the car,” Tavas said.
Just then, I saw the path in front of us. Tavas must have a hell of a sense of direction.
After a few more silent minutes on the trail, I saw street lamps ahead, illuminating the trailhead parking area. My heart leaped as I saw the unmistakable silhouette of people standing around the waiting car.
“Go on,” Tavas said.
Breaking into a run, I dashed down the last portion of the trail, careful to pick my feet up to avoid loose rocks.
As I neared the parking lot, I made out the familiar faces of McKenzie, Dima, and Alec. Along with Lyla and the mages we'd rescued.
Laughing, I ran right into the middle of my friends who caught me in a group hug. I turned to Alec. “Where were you?”
“We ran into some troll trouble,” he said, as everyone backed up to give me some space. “I was able to avoid capture, and they asked me to find you. I never did, so I came back to the car, hoping you were here already.” He frowned. “I seem to miss all the fun.”
“I might have to stay with you next time,” I said. “I’ve had enough fun.”
Tavas arrived at the car then, James now cradled in his arms like a child. “We need to get him to a healer.”
“I can do it,” McKenzie said. “Healing is my best skill.”
Tavas looked at me skeptically.
After everything McKenzie and I had been through, she had shown that she was tough, and honest, and could use her magic. I looked at McKenzie’s determined expression over to Tavas, then nodded. “Let her do it.”
Tavas gently set James on the ground, and a small group gathered nearby to watch.
“Morgan!” Lyla walked over to me. Her red hair was a pile of tangled knots, her face was dirty, and she had streaks down her cheeks showing that she’d been crying.
I embraced my friend. “Thank the gods you’re safe. Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No, they hardly fed us and they kept us locked up, but until this,” she showed me the slice on her forearm, the one that matched mine, “they didn’t harm us.”
The other mages were standing near her as if they weren’t sure if I was a good guy or a bad guy. They needed support, they needed someone to see if they were okay, and they needed to get home.
With a last glance at McKenzie leaned over James, I decided that as much as I wanted to watch her heal him, it would be better if I found a way to help.
“Can you introduce me?” I asked Lyla, lifting my chin toward the four other women.
The women were huddled behind her, looking just as disheveled and tired as Lyla, but they all seemed to be healthy considering everything they’d been through. “Hi, I’m Morgan.”
I waved at the mages. “I came here to get you all home, and that’s what I’m going to do, okay?”
“Who sent you?” A brunette asked.
“Nobody, really,” I said. “I wanted to find my friends.”
“You don’t work for the Order?” A smaller mage asked. She looked like she was in her early teens.
“No,” I said without hesitation. “Never have, never will.”
“What happened? Why did they take us?” the teenager asked.
“They didn’t tell you anything?” I asked.
All the women shook their heads.
“They said something about the future and a ritual,” Lyla said. “Other than that, they were pretty quiet about the details.”
Trying to figure out the best way to share everything, I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Well, it turns out we all have something in common. We all have dragon ancestors.”
“Are you saying we’re Dragon Bloods?” Someone asked.
“We are nothing like those brutes,” the teenager said.
“Just because we have dragon blood, doesn’t mean we have to be like them,” I said. “There’s some good to having dragon blood as a mage.”
“Like what?” Lyla asked.
“Let’s get you all home first, then we can figure it out, okay?” I said.
“How are we getting back?” the teenager asked.
“I called in a favor,” Tavas said from behind me.
I turned to look at him, wondering how long he’d been standing behind me. “What kind of favor?”
“Cut me some slack, okay little dragon?” he said, then walked back over to where James was still unmoving on the ground.
“Who’s that? He’s cute,” the teenager said.
“No,” I said. “Absolutely not. In fact,
why don’t you all wait in the car? I’m going to check on the others, and I’ll keep you posted.”
“Come on, Lucy,” Lyla said, leading the teenage girl to the car with the others.
I heard the car doors opening and closing as I walked over to where James was still on the ground. Alec was staring at him with concern written on his face.
A few steps away from James, I hesitated, pausing my progress. What if he didn’t wake up? What if this was it?
“He’s going to be fine,” Tavas said. “It just might take some time for him to recover fully. Being forced in and out of his dragon state takes a lot out of him.”
“Thanks,” I said, hoping Tavas was right. I continued my progress toward the grounded dragon shifter.
Kneeling down next to McKenzie, I sat while she worked. James’s shirt had been cut away, showing he was just as muscular as he seemed in his tight tee-shirts. But right now, I wasn’t paying attention to any part of him other than the wound in his side.
McKenzie had managed to slow the bleeding, but the wound didn’t seem to want to close. James looked pale and weak. I wondered how much blood he’d lost already.
“Can you give him blood?” Dima asked Alec.
McKenzie looked up from James’s wound. “I don’t think that’s a good idea for a dragon. We don’t know what it could do to him.”
Then, McKenzie glanced over at me, noticing that I’d joined the group. “You have to try.”
“Try what?” I asked.
“Healing. Maybe it would be better coming from another dragon,” she said.
“I’m not a healer,” I said.
“Like hell, you’re not,” she said. “You’ve done more than your share of healing over the last few days.”
She was right. I had done a lot more magic than I was used to and all of it had been successful.
“Okay,” I said, taking McKenzie’s place as she moved aside for me. If there was a chance that I could help him, I was going to try it.
32
Tension twisted and turned inside me, winding and unwinding like a spring that was ready to release. How was I supposed to do this?
My hands hovered over James’s wound. I knew the spell I should be using, I remembered the words, and despite the magic I’d already used today, I was still buzzing with power. For a moment, I wondered if Tavas’s dragon was still around, but knew that could wait. Right now, I had to try the healing spell on James.
With a deep breath, I concentrated on what I needed to do. Nobody else mattered right now. Just me and James.
I mouthed the words to the spell and focused on sending all of the magic I had left into James. He had to wake up. I needed him to wake up. This couldn’t be the end for him.
Time seemed to stop as I waited, holding my breath while I watched James’s face for any sign of life. Words sounded from behind me, but I couldn’t make them out. I was too focused on the injured dragon.
After what felt like an eternity, his eyelids fluttered. I let out the breath I’d been holding along with a little cry of joy. He moved his head, slowly and then winced, eyes still closed. Leaning over him, I cupped his cheek with my hand. “James, can you hear me?”
His eyelids fluttered again. Then slowly, he opened them. Even the injured eye was able to open partially. After a brief look of confusion, his gaze locked on mine and he smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself,” I said.
James grunted as he pushed himself to sitting, then he looked down at his side, his fingers tracing over the dried blood. The wound was now gone. My spell had worked.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’ll live.” He brushed a loose strand of hair away from my eyes. “You know, I would never have expected any of this the day you came walking into my house.”
I laughed. “Me neither.”
Another muffled sound came from behind me somewhere, and I turned at the noise. To my surprise, my friends looked out of focus, like I was viewing them through warped plastic. Panic sprang through me, and I jumped to my feet, worried that the Dragon-Bloods or someone else had found us and cast a spell on them.
James grabbed my hand and tugged me back to him. “Slow down, they’re fine.”
“You can’t see that?” I gestured to where the foggy outlines of Dima, McKenzie, and Alec were waiting for me.
“I can, and it’s fine,” James said. “Come here.” He pulled me down. “You managed a privacy spell. They can’t see what we’re doing in here. It’s like a curtain around us.”
“But I can see them,” I said, catching sight of the mischievous look in his eye. For a guy who had just suffered a deadly injury, he sure had other things on his mind. Though I had to admit, after the kiss we shared, I was ready to try again.
As if he could read my mind, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer, his lips right near my ear. “They can’t see anything but shadows.”
My breathing was already shallow as James’s lips brushed across my ear, then moved to my cheek, then gently to my mouth.
This kiss was different than the one in the cave. This time, the pressure was gentle, sweet, comfortable. I wanted to melt into him and never leave the privacy I’d created around the two of us.
Slowly, I pulled away, surprised I had the willpower to break the kiss first. “Please tell me you’re sticking around this time.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you send me away,” James said.
“Don’t count on that,” I said, a smile on my lips. For the first time in a long time, I was feeling pure joy. James seemed to have a way of making me happy even in the worst situations.
“Now, how do I make this thing go away so we can get everyone home?” I asked.
“Same way you made it,” he said. “Think about what you want.”
I was sensing a pattern with dragon magic and wondered if I’d ever get used to doing magic without saying the spells out loud. Steeling myself for the questions that were going to be waiting on the other side, I imagined the barrier going away, connecting us with the rest of the world once again.
As my friends came back into focus, I pulled James to his feet. Dima let out a squeal of joy and Alec met James with a handshake. McKenzie seemed to relax visibly. Possibly for the first time since I arrived at the Mage Order.
My jaw tensed as I thought about the betrayal, once again, coming from the Order that my mom had held in such high regard. How long was it going to continue to be a place that could ruin so many lives?
I looked over at McKenzie, who was smiling as Alec introduced her to James. She didn’t show any signs of hesitation around meeting a dragon shifter. In fact, on this whole trip, she’d been focused on the goal: saving the missing mages. She hadn't been thrilled with the idea of involving a fae, but she went along with it. She could have stood up for Jasmine. She could have defended her. Instead, she protected the kidnapped mages and helped get them to safety. I'd been wrong about her. McKenzie was one of the good ones, and I had a feeling if I asked her to help me again, she'd be in. Right now wasn't the time for more suicide missions, though. Right now, we needed to get back to Realm's Gate.
After we got the mages back to their families, all I wanted to do was to take a shower and curl up in bed. Possibly with James. But only to sleep, for now.
It had been far too long since I was clean and safe and rested. But there was one more thing we had to do before I could do that. The Mage Order had to pay for what they’d done.
“Right on time,” Tavas said, pointing to a pair of headlights coming up the road.
“Your favor?” I asked.
“Yep,” he said.
Fingers brushed my fingertips, a hand reaching to clasp mine. James’s grip was strong and soothing. I squeezed his hand and watched in silence as a VW Bus pulled into the dirt.
Tavas walked toward the waiting vehicle and greeted the driver with a wave. A woman in tight jeans and a flannel shirt stepped out of the car. Her long blonde hair was in a po
nytail high on her head.
“Another fae?” I asked James.
He shook his head. “No, that’s Veronica. She’s a vampire.”
“Hey, James!” The leggy vampire called out as she walked over to where we were standing. “Been a long time.”
James let go of my hand and met the newcomer in a hug, then led her over to me. “Veronica, this is Morgan.”
“Hi, Morgan.” Veronica wrapped me up in a hug, and I awkwardly patted her on the back in response.
She stepped back and surveyed the dirt lot. “So, y'all are in need of a driver?”
“We won’t fit in one car,” I said.
The driver’s door of Dima’s car opened, and Lyla stepped out. “This our ride?”
After everything we’d been through to save Lyla and the other mages, I was hesitant to hand them over to a stranger.
“You can trust her,” Tavas said.
I opened my mouth to object, but Tavas cut me off. “I know, and you’re going to have to let me make that up to you later, but right now, these mages need to get home.”
“You can come with us if you want, Morgan,” Veronica said. “I promise I’ll take good care of your friends.”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Thank you, but there’s one more thing I have to do.” I turned to Alec and Dima. “Can you two go with the mages? And, Dima, can I borrow your car?”
“I can go with them,” McKenzie offered.
I shook my head. “I need you with me. You and I have some business with the Mage Order.”
McKenzie pursed her lips. “That we do.”
Alec tossed me the car keys. “Good luck, see you at home.”
“Thanks,” I said, catching the keys.
“You boys coming?” I asked Tavas and James.
Tavas smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”
James gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then took the keys from me. “I’m driving. You tell me everything.”
The four of us piled into the car, and within a few minutes of the drive, McKenzie was asleep in the back seat. Surprisingly, I was still feeling alert as I gave James a play-by-play of our adventures.
