"But alone is what you must not be. Both you and the fire dragon must be guarded."
"Guarded against what?"
"The Dragon Master and the Order�"
His words cut off as Seth gave a strangled cry. The music in Carol's head became clanging and discordant, then Seth's body jerked as though he were a marionette on strings. Then he began to fade.
"No," he said hoarsely.
One moment he was as solid as the buildings around her, the next, Carol could see rain glistening through him.
"Quickly, Li Mei, you must call him back," Zhen said in agitation. "Do not let him be taken or he will be turned against you�he will be a weapon against us."
Carol barely heard him. Seth writhed in agony, his body growing fainter as the musical chiming untangled and tore out of Carol's head.
She had another vivid vision, this one of a dark room brushed with red light, a man with black eyes and a narrow face standing inside what looked like a column of glass. His mouth moved but she couldn't hear what he said.
The vision snapped away as quickly as it came, rain-soaked Union Square rushing back at her. But she understood one thing�no matter what, she couldn't let Seth go to the dark place with the being that radiated evil.
She held out a shaking hand. "Seth. Stay with me."
His body was insubstantial, but Carol closed her hand around his wrist. "Stay with me."
Under her touch, Seth's arm solidified. Rain gleamed through him, then suddenly it didn't, and she felt the heat of his skin. The chimes in her head grew louder but smoother, the harsh cacophony giving way to sweet music.
San Francisco ground on around them, shoppers and businessmen hurrying across the square, umbrellas firmly overhead. They talked to each other or on cell phones, not noticing Carol desperately trying to hold on to Seth near the Victory statue.
Seth closed his hands over her elbows and rested his forehead in her hair. He breathed hard, and she was shaking and sweating.
"You did it Li Mei," Zhen crowed. "You called the fire dragon back, you kept him true to your summoning. He belongs to you now."
The music inside Carol's head rose to a ringing crescendo, the chimes both frantic and triumphant. Seth leaned down and put his lips to her ear, his hands tightening on her arms.
"Enslaved," he whispered.
Zhen left them, tapping slowly down the hill that would take him back toward Chinatown. He'd done the duty that his ancestors had been charged with, and he should feel better, but he didn't.
Poor little Li Mei. He wanted to warn her of all the dangers, but he was compelled to only go so far. His job was to protect the Dragon Master, had been for centuries, and that meant protect her from everyone, including the fire dragon.
Ming Ue understood. She stood by him.
The fire dragon was amazing. Seth was a mixture of so many things: arrogance, curiosity, protectiveness, rage, and best, or maybe worst, the ferocious power of his dragon fire. He had as much potential for destruction as Carol did, and Zhen wondered if Seth knew it.
At the bottom of the hill, he turned the corner to Bush Street, heading for Chinatown, when he was surrounded by five men, one of them a hard-faced crime lord called Danny Lok.
"You warned her."
Zhen held up his hands. "I did not tell her everything. I promise."
The men were hired thugs, he knew that, who didn't care what he said.
At a nod from Lok, they grabbed Zhen by his bony shoulders and hustled him into the nearest house, where two men proceeded with his punishment. By the time the rest of them had reached Union Square and spread out, Carol and the fire dragon were nowhere to be seen.
Carol found herself in the circle of Seth's arm as they walked down the hill from Union Square. His body was scorching hot, hotter than a human's had a right to be.
"Are you well, Carol?"
"No. I have a headache and I'm about to puke." She shuddered. "What was all that? I had this vision�"
"Of the imprisoned Dragon Master. He was trying to summon me, but you called my true name and pulled me back."
"I called you Seth�is that what you mean?"
"No." The notes in her head jangled. "My true dragon name that no one knows but me."
"We had this conversation last night. I told you I don't know it."
"Something in you does. You are singing it now."
Carol tried to suppress the music blaring in her head, but she couldn't. Some part of her psyche wanted to embrace the jingling sounds and pull them close.
"Is that what that is?"
"My true name and my dragon thoughts tangled in you." His voice was hard. "You have the power to use me as you wish."
"Which is completely ridiculous." But after everything Carol had seen last night and today, the ridiculous and the real had become one and the same.
This man is my slave. The words didn't even ring true. He watched her with the wariness of a caged predator, but at the same time his arm was strong against her back, supporting her.
"If I did enslave you. it wasn't on purpose. Go wherever you want, and I'll take a taxi home. All right?"
"It's not that simple." His dark eyes held a mixture of anger, confusion, resignation, and restlessness. "The name will bind me to you until you release me. When you sing it, I must do as you wish�fight a battle, perform labor, pleasure you�and I must do it without choice."
Carol had the swift picture of him naked in chains again, but this time, he wasn't smiling.
"Whatever you want," he said, his gaze intense. "You can make the vision in your head come true."
Whatever you want. Carol shivered. She'd always prided herself on keeping herself in tight control, and here she was envisioning erotic bondage scenes with a man who could turn himself into living fire.
Remembering their kiss wasn't good either�the salty tang of his lips, the strong delving of his tongue.
She shoved the thoughts away.
"Why isn't it simple?" she asked. "If I've enslaved you, then I'll set you free." She flicked her fingers. "There, you're free."
The chiming in her head increased, and Seth shook his head.
"My true name is wrapped in you and your power is wrapped in me." He stepped away and gestured to the air between them. "Can you see it?"
"See what?" Carol peered where he pointed and saw nothing but gray Sutter Street in the rain. Then as her vision cleared she discerned tiny raindrops glittering in midair, clinging to gossamer threads. The threads were red, gold, and black and stretched between him to her. When she put out her hand to brush them, she touched nothing.
"What are those?"
"Thought threads, mine tangled with yours. Only dragons and witches and mages can see them."
"How do I untangle them?" She waved her hand back and forth through the threads but they didn't change. "They're not really there."
"I don't know," Seth said. "I've been bound once before and I was only released when the Dragon Master died."
"Oh." Nice thought. She shivered. "I'll undo it. I'll find a way."
"How will you?" Seth asked skeptically.
"I don't know how." Carol stuffed her hands in her pockets. "But I know someone who might." She started walking again, and Seth's long stride quickly caught him up to her. "When anything crazy goes on around here. Grandmother turns to Lisa. Lisa always seems to know what to do."
"The one you claim is a silver dragon."
"Grandmother claims she is. Of course, it turns out there's a lot that Grandmother hasn't told me." She clenched her fists in her pockets. "One thing at a time. We see Lisa and ask her how to get rid of these dragon thread things. Grandmother comes after that."
Carol was used to putting everything on a schedule and following it with precision. That was how things got done and money got made. In her life, event followed event in a smooth, planned succession that took her to the top, one small step at a time. That was her secret.
Seth's arrival and Zhen's revelations had bl
own her precisely planned life to pieces. Carol strode to the curb and hailed a taxi to take them to Lisa's house on California Street. Her legs were still wobbly, and only Seth's strong hand on her elbow kept her from falling.
Seth smelled the golden dragon long before the tall hulking man came out of the door at the top of the stairs.
"Hello, Caleb," Carol said, hurrying up to him.
Seth's protective instinct made him want to pull her back. This was the golden dragon's territory�his marks shimmered over every door and window.
Carol went to the warrior dragon and hugged him without fear. The golden returned the hug, then his thought threads touched the tangle of Seth's and Carol's, and his blue eyes widened.
The dragon-man lifted his hands carefully from Carol, conveying that he would not touch what Seth considered his. Seth nodded briefly, and the tension eased the slightest bit. There would be no battle done, at least not today.
"I'm sorry to drop in on you unexpectedly," Carol said, oblivious to their wordless communication.
"We are always happy to see you, Carol," Caleb boomed. He gestured her into the apartment and stood back and waited for Seth to enter.
Seth's skin tingled at the huge concentration of magic in the small space, a mixture of golden dragon and a strange power he'd never felt before. He could barely breathe under the weight of it, but Carol didn't seem to notice at all.
"Is Lisa here?" she asked, peering into the kitchen.
"No, she took Severin to the doctor."
Carol turned, concerned. "Is he all right?"
"He will be. Lisa says he has an ear infection, but it will be healed."
Caleb broke off as a very small dragon zoomed across the room at them. Its elongated body was a mixture of gold and silver, its eyes wide and blue.
It angled itself straight for Carol, but the golden dragon reached up and snatched it out of the air. "Gotcha."
The dragon shimmered and became a human baby with red-gold curls, blue eyes, and a huge smile that revealed one tooth. She popped her thumb in her mouth and regarded Seth with interest.
Carol stared at the baby, eyes wide in shock. Seth was surprised as well. "She is your offspring?" he asked.
The golden dragon's stance relaxed into one of pride. "This is Li Na, twin to my son Severin. Is she not beautiful?"
The girl had a dirty face, tangled hair, and a sunny smile. Dragons usually hid their offspring until they were able to hunt for themselves and fight off enemies�a dragon never showed his child to another dragon. The dragons in human form were violating rules that had been steeped in dragon consciousness for eons.
"The black dragon, Malcolm, also has offspring," Seth said. He took off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. "Is that why you two were snatched into the human world�to mate?"
Caleb grinned. "I wish. I was forced here by witches to protect the silver dragon. Witches also trapped Malcolm. Finding our mates was a fortunate happenstance. Very fortunate."
Seth looked at Carol. "Is that what you want? Offspring?"
Carol pulled her astonished gaze from small Li Na. "What?"
"Do you want to mate with me? When I kissed you in the square you seemed to want to."
Her face turned bright red. "Seth."
Caleb chuckled. "Humans are embarrassed about mating�I don't know why. I enjoy it. It's much better than dragon mating." He looked Seth up and down with a blue gaze that pretended to be more vacant than it really was. Goldens had nowhere near the intelligence of black dragons, but they were cunning, and none were better at fighting and battle strategy. "Are you really a fire dragon? I never believed they existed."
"We exist. It's silver dragons that don't exist."
A smile split Caleb's face. "Yes, they do, and one is coming now. Don't tell me you can't feel that."
Something incredible was making its way up the stairs. Wild music like nothing Seth had ever heard before burst through his mind like harsh wind and silver laughter, a cross between a fierce storm and soft summer rain.
Carol went rigid as a slender human woman came through the door with a child in one arm and a shoulder bag slung over the other. The woman had dark red hair and brown eyes of almost the same shade as Carol's. Her smile was at once full of wisdom and innocent wonder. The whirlwind of sound continued, coating the air and winding its way first around Seth, then Carol.
"Lisa," Caleb boomed. He enfolded the woman in a hug, and she transferred the baby from her arm to his as he did so. "Carol has arrived with the fire dragon."
"I can see that."
Lisa dumped the heavy bag on the red sofa and turned to study Seth. "A fire dragon. Fascinating."
"Lisa," Carol said in a strangled voice.
Lisa turned to her, arms out, and they embraced. Humans liked to do that, he'd noticed, wrap their arms around each other and hold each other close.
"It happened, then," Lisa said, sounding almost sad.
"What happened? I've known you since we were babies, Lisa, but you look�different�somehow."
"You're seeing the silver dragon. I'm sorry, Carol, I know this is hardest on you."
The presence of the silver dragon was daunting, almost terrifying, although Lisa looked like any other innocuous human in the city outside. Seth sensed the silver of her thought threads, the incredible power that rippled through her. He also glimpsed silver dragon magic in the baby daughter, a faint copy of her mother's power.
Lisa faced Seth, hands on hips. "I've always wanted to see a fire dragon. At least, the silver dragon in me has. I didn't even believe in dragons until a couple of years ago, when I found Caleb stuck in my spare bedroom."
"The first dragon you met was a golden?" Seth said, trying to cover his nervousness. "Poor woman."
Caleb scowled. "Careful. This is my territory."
"It's my territory, too." Lisa broke in. "Cease fire, Caleb, this is too important."
Instead of being contrite, Caleb chuckled and pressed a kiss to his wife's hair. "Don't worry, my love. We won't do battle get." He eyed Seth. "I wouldn't mind a good fight, though, to see what you can do."
"You'd regret it, golden boy."
"Maybe, maybe not."
Carol had wandered to a window that overlooked a sea of tall houses and a wide smudge of green trees beyond that. Her thoughts were snarled and unhappy, the music of them doleful.
Seth moved to her and couldn't stop himself running his fingers through her sleek hair, liking the warm silken sensation. The bond between them was tighter since she'd dragged him back from the other Dragon Master, and her sorrow tugged at him, dimming his own brightness.
"Carol is afraid," he said, trying to weave comfort through the threads. "She does not understand what she is, or what she has to do. She came here for your help."
Lisa looked Carol up and down. "I know she did. But in this case, I don't know if I can."
* * *
Chapter Five
Seth's hand was warm and soothing. Carol had already noticed how much he liked to touch her hair, lifting strands to rub between his fingers.
It was as though he worked her through his senses one by one: studying her with dark eyes, cocking his head to listen to her voice. Then touching her, leaning to put his nose to her skin, moving his tongue to taste her. She had no idea how to respond, or even if she should.
Carol had known love most of her life�Ming Ue was a kind-hearted woman, and her quiet cousin Shaiming had taught her to tie her shoes and ride a bicycle and other fatherly things. But she'd never been close to anyone, never let herself get close. She'd studied hard in school, graduated at the top of her class, then came back to San Francisco and worked ten hours a day to make ends meet.
There hadn't been time to get close to anyone, and no man had ever looked at her the way Seth did now, seeing Carol the woman, not Carol the academic or Carol the workaholic. Seth didn't care about her top honors or her MBA or the fact that she'd made her family prosperous. He looked at her, and she had
a hard time understanding how to react.
She turned her head so her hair slid from Seth's grasp. He let go but not with any kind of submissiveness.
"I can see it in you." Lisa said. She cocked her head and looked Carol over, very dragonlike. "The power is amazing. No wonder you're disoriented."
"None of this surprises you," Carol said a little resentfully.
"I knew you had the potential for the Dragon Master talent, but it's come out far greater than I ever imagined it would."
"Did my grandmother tell you? And why didn't she bother to tell me?"
Lisa's voice gentled. "Ming Ue explained everything after I became the silver dragon. She said you would be safer not knowing if you never manifested. I agreed with her."
"So you kept it from me? Your best friend?"
"Answer me honestly. Would you have believed me?"
Carol started to snap that of course she'd have appreciated the truth, but stopped. No, she wouldn't have believed it.
Until yesterday Carol had never believed in anything she couldn't see or touch, and certainly not dragons or magic. She'd tolerated her grandmother's stories over the years and ignored the evidence of her own eyes.
Carol had always reached for the real, burying herself in school and work to forget that she'd lost those closest to her in a cruel accident. Dragons and magic hadn't saved them.
"It's irrelevant now," she said in a hard voice. "We just have to fix the problem. Seth says I can't set him free simply by telling him to go. Is he right?"
Behind her, Seth put his hands on her shoulders, his touch hot through her jacket. His music swirled through her head, the chimes almost sweet.
"He's right," Lisa answered. "You can't stop thinking his name?"
The music swelled in response, and Seth's fingers tightened.
"Every time I try, the music gets more intense," Carol said.
"That's the way of it. But I've removed dragon bindings before, don't worry. Look into my eyes, Carol, and don't look away, no matter what happens."
"No matter how weird or scary," Caleb put in from across the room. He cradled a baby on each arm, all three watching with interest.
The Dragon Master Page 5
