The Dragon Master

by Allyson James

  "He thinks I'm his mate," she said to Axel, stunned.

  Axel chuckled. "I want to see you explain this to him."

  "I don't have to." Carol touched the magic of the singing stones and reached out to draw a line in the air. "Lisa," she whispered, and then sang the first few notes of the silver dragon's name.

  You found him then, Lisa's answer came loud and clear. Good.

  Seth saw the air part, and then panic took him as pain grabbed his insides and twisted them around. He seared into his string of fire, but found himself dragged without mercy toward the black slit.

  He flung a tendril of flame around Carol and pulled her close, his every instinct telling him to protect his mate. Memories flooded him as he felt himself be squashed and compressed into a human shape, felt his fire shift and settle into the tattoo across his hips.

  Carol stumbled through the slit with him, landing in her apartment, which was full of dragons. Or at least full of Caleb, Lisa, and two baby dragons zooming around the room, squeaking in excitement.

  Axel jumped through the slit just before it hissed shut, and stood parting in the middle of Carol's living room. "Oh, that was fun," he drawled. "Let's do it every day."

  "Thank you, Axel," the silver dragon said in her musical voice. "Good to see you again, Seth. Are you all right?"

  Seth was far from all right. His body burned, his heart beating so fast that sweat trickled down his back. He felt the flame of Carol near him, but she'd not reached out with his name, hadn't tried to bind him.

  But this was his territory, his marks were above the doors, and Carol was his.

  He looked pointedly at Caleb. "Go."

  Caleb retrieved the larger of the two little dragons from the air. "Fire dragons have no sense of gratitude."

  Lisa said nothing, only gathered up her daughter and took Caleb's hand, towing him toward the door. Axel hesitated.

  "Want me to stay, Carol?"

  Seth didn't want him to stay, but Axel looked worried. Carol shook her head.

  "Go on. I'll be fine."

  "If you're not fine, you call, all right? I'll be here in an instant."

  "I know. Thanks, Axel."

  Axel glanced between the two once more, then followed the dragons out.

  "Seth�"

  Carol broke off as Seth snatched her up and ran with her for the bedroom. He tossed her on the bed, then climbed up on it before she could sit up.

  He was already hard with wanting, which was why he'd needed the others to leave. His cock had been rising for Carol, and he had no intention of displaying himself in front of other dragons.

  "You are always wearing clothes," he said in frustration.

  He tugged at buttons, but Carol put her hands on his shoulders and held him back. "You remember me, then?"

  "Why wouldn't I remember you?" Seth yanked her blouse down her arms, and she slithered out of it. He was pleased to see that she wore nothing beneath it.

  He cupped her breasts in his hands and lowered his head to run his tongue around each nipple. Mmm, he loved the taste of her.

  "I didn't bring you back here for sex," she said.

  She might think so, Seth thought. "No? Did you retrieve me to enslave me again?"

  She cupped his face in her hands. "Never again, Seth, I promise. I brought you back to talk about your dragon fire, and to ask if you'll let me have a little. Not all of it," she said quickly. "But enough to give me the power to accomplish a task. Nothing that will kill you."

  Seth gave her a long look, though his wanting urged him to stop talking and take her. "What task?"

  "To banish the demon-god. Axel explained to me how to do it, and I can with the help of the other dragons. But I need your fire."

  More memories came pouring back to him, memories of him speaking to the Dragon Master before Carol had freed him, of hearing the demon-god whispering from the darkness.

  "You said you carried my offspring," he said. "Was it a lie to get me here?"

  Her eyes widened. "We are going to have a baby, that's true."

  Seth's heart beat faster, an incredible joy washing over him. "You would endanger our offspring by fighting the demon-god?"

  "He'll get out eventually if we don't. There's a crack in the column."

  "I know, I saw it." Seth pressed Carol back down to the bed and rested his body on top of hers. "That doesn't mean you have to head to battle to fight him. Let Lisa do it. She is very powerful, and you will stay safe here."

  "I'm more powerful than Lisa is. I can command her power as well as that of the other dragons. Their magic will be orchestrated through me. Besides, Lisa has a family. I can't let her risk doing it alone."

  Seth slid his hand to her warm belly. "We will have a family now."

  Carol bit her lip. "The Dragon Master said I was the best chance we have of banishing the demon-god." She paused. "I don't want my friends to be hurt, and it would kill me if they were when I could have prevented it."

  Seth drew a breath to argue�or rather, to stop her arguing, because he wanted to make love and forget everything else. But something in her face changed his mind. "There is more to this than who banishes the god, isn't there? What are you not telling me?"

  She hesitated a long moment, then finally looked straight at him. "Axel explained what we had to do. He told only me, with the promise that I'd keep it to myself until it was time to fight. But the gist of it is, what's needed to banish a god like this is a strong collective will, which we have�I've never seen beings with stronger wills than dragons."

  "This is your worry?"

  "I didn't finish." She drew a breath. "Axel said there also has to be a sacrifice. He didn't specify, but Seth, I'm so afraid he means that one of my friends�or you�will be killed."

  Seth made love to her slowly, lying inside her without moving. She stroked his face, so happy to be able to touch him again.

  He kissed her, not speaking, not letting her speak. His lips were hot, a spark of his fire entering her mouth. She savored it.

  Carol loved the way they fit together, he thick and hard in her, her body opening to take all of him. For a moment, nothing existed but Seth loving her in a pool of sunshine.

  Seth twined their hands together on the pillow as he slowly rode her, and when they climaxed, fire sparked from his fingers to hers.

  He rolled off Carol and gathered her against him. He slept, and she slept, too, curled up, feeling safe.

  When Carol awoke, it was dark and Seth was gone, but she heard the shower running. Still naked, she rose from their warm nest and entered the steam-filled room.

  Seth tilted his head back behind the clear glass doors to let the water run over his red hair. Droplets gleamed on his biceps and streamed down his sculpted torso, gathering on the dark hair around his penis.

  Carol folded her arms and let herself enjoy the sight. Eventually, he turned his head and looked at her while the water ran over his body.

  She opened the door and got in with him. He caught her by her elbows and pulled her under the warm stream. She tucked her head under his chin and enjoyed leaning against his hard, strong body.

  "Why didn't you try to kill me in Dragonspace?" she asked. They hadn't spoken since she'd told him about Axel's instructions for banishing the demon; they'd only made love and slept. "You rushed me to your cave, instead." She paused. "It was beautiful."

  "To protect our offspring," he said as though he didn't have to think about it.

  Offspring. Such a dragon way to look at things. She couldn't bring herself to ask, Were you glad to see me? Such a question smacked of weakness, of fishing for what she wanted to hear.

  "You never told me if you'd let me have some of your dragon fire. I think I can control it now."

  "No."

  Carol looked up at him, but his eyes were enigmatic. "No, I can't control it or no. I can't have it?"

  "You are my mate. Giving you my fire can hurt you, and letting you confront the demon-god will hurt you. So no."


  She pulled away. "Are all dragons this arrogant?"

  "When it comes to protecting their mates, yes, especially when they wants to do something stupid."

  "But I don't think it's stupid," Carol said, "I'm being protective�I want to protect my grandmother and Shaiming and our child from persecution by the Order. The Order killed my mother because of their demon-god, and I don't intend to let them get away with that. I don't care if Fai insists it was so long ago we should forget about it."

  She was breathing hard now, her fists clenched on her abdomen like she was ready to defend the child inside.

  "I don't want to let them get away with it either," Seth said in a hard voice. "But I don't want to see you die for it. You are stubborn Carol, always thinking you have to do everything alone."

  "I always have had to do everything alone." She thought of the long years she'd struggled, watching her friends have real lives and happiness while she worked. She'd done it so Shaiming and Ming Ue wouldn't have to worry, and she didn't regret it, but the path had been damn lonely, though she knew that was partly her own fault.

  "You have me now." Seth touched her face. "You don't have to do anything alone."

  "Because we need to protect the offspring?"

  "Yes."

  She smiled weakly. "Of course. It's good to know you won't be a deadbeat dad."

  He looked puzzled. "A deadbeat� ?"

  "Never mind." She closed her eyes as he continued to caress her cheek. "Do dragons fall in love?"

  "We mate."

  "Not quite the same thing."

  She thought of how they'd been twined together almost constantly, his music and hers. That was gone now.

  She wasn't certain how he viewed her�as a brood mare to be kept safe? Or as a Dragon Master who could easily enslave him again?

  After Carol had the child, what then? It would be half-dragon, half-Dragon Master. How mixed up would the poor kid be?

  "What is funny?" Seth asked.

  Carol realized she'd hiccupped a laugh. "Just thinking of the future."

  "I'm thinking of the now."

  She found herself pressed against the cold tiles of the shower before she could draw another breath. Seth's eyes sparkled with his fire as he slanted his mouth over hers.

  His hardness swelled against her, undimmed from an afternoon of sex. He lifted her against the wall and entered her, and she moaned at the thickness that slid into her.

  Seth kept his gaze fixed on hers, the black of his eyes filling the whites. It was like looking into voids of darkness.

  The water made holding on slippery. Carol grasped him as Seth drove in, sinking fingers and nails into flesh. It was wild, hot, and hard, and Carol rejoiced in it.

  Her head went back, her wet hair sticking to her face. Seth's eyes were closed, his lips tight in a grimace of pleasure.

  Carol knew what she had to do. She hated to do it, and she knew he'd hate her for it, but resolving this and keeping her friends and family safe were more important than her personal happiness. Hadn't she proved that all this time?

  She cupped Seth's head in her hands, opened her mouth, and drew his fire into her.

  Seth resisted. He snarled and growled, his dragon strength snapping the fire back to him. Just as he jerked her hands apart and made to shove her away, she called his true name.

  The notes slid easily through Carol's mind, the melody familiar. The bathroom rang with it, the patter of the water adding a perfect counterpoint.

  Seth drew back in horror. "No."

  I have to. I need your strength.

  "No," he shouted. He tried to twist away, but Carol held him fast. Still singing his name in loud, strident notes, she kissed him again, taking all the fire she could hold.

  No, damn you.

  Carol's skin sparkled with heat, her body filling with incredible power. She was fire, and it sang through her, the Dragon Master in her delirious with joy.

  He is mine. All mine.

  She felt Seth's rage and his pain, and beneath it all incredible hurt at her betrayal.

  I'm sorry, she whispered.

  The fire seared her from the inside out, but she could stand it. She'd become strong enough to take it, thanks to Seth, and she could hold it without it burning her.

  Carol left some of the fire behind for Seth, but he went slack in her arms, the look in his eyes like one of a wounded animal. She shut off the water and lowered his body to the tiles.

  Carol didn't need to dry herself, because the fire evaporated every droplet of water on her skin. She stepped over Seth's body, raised her arms to the ceiling, and became fire.

  The Dragon Master in her shouted with glee as her string of fire roared around the tiny room, then out through the apartment, seeking the night. She shot above the glittering, beautiful city that was her home, flying hard.

  Along the way she called to three dragons, who responded as they'd promised, the silver one streaking out like white fire to join her.

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Seth crawled out from under the towels Carol had dropped on him, his body limp and exhausted. He used the marble vanity to pull himself painfully to his feet then leaned on the counter, unable to stand upright. His face in the mirror was pasty, his eyes sunk into bruised sockets.

  Weak and sick, he held onto the walls to get himself out of the bathroom, then he collapsed on the bed, pressing his hands to his face. His name wound sharply around him, stealing what was left of his strength.

  She'd betrayed him.

  The sting of that bit deep. But over his fury, Seth's instinct to protect the offspring inside Carol rose like a bright moon.

  He knew Carol had gone because she thought it was the right thing to do. Carol was like that�believing she had to be brave and strong and take care of everyone else.

  Seth didn't like what she'd told him about the process of banishing a god, that a sacrifice would be required. Who would be sacrificed? One of the dragons? Carol? Their child?

  He growled deep inside himself. He didn't even like the idea of the irritating Caleb as a sacrifice�dragons fought among themselves, but an outside force killing a dragon was anathema to them. The Order had once killed four dragons�

  The same Order that would be standing by if Carol and her friends opened that column. Hell

  Seth could at least get to the warehouse and drag Carol out of the danger she'd decided to put herself square in front of. Protect the offspring. Protect the mate.

  He pulled himself to his feet and willed his body to turn into a string of fire.

  Nothing happened.

  Seth tried again, with the same result.

  He caught sight of himself in the mirror across the room, a tall, broad-shouldered man with wet red hair and wide dark eyes. He gathered himself in, reaching for the fire that was an essential part of him�and didn't find it.

  In panic, he swung around and looked over his shoulder into the mirror. The flame tattoo that had been etched across his hips was gone.

  He stared at his bare back for a long time without any emotion registering, then he felt them all�shock, rage, dismay, fear.

  She'd taken the core of his being. She'd left behind a shell of a man, a helpless human chained to the human world, a man who wouldn't be able to save her.

  Seth still hadn't developed a knack for phones and phone numbers, so he dressed and made his way on foot to Ming Ue's Dim Sum. The little restaurant had closed for the night when he reached it, but pounding on the door brought Shaiming to peer out anxiously.

  Ming Ue came downstairs from the apartment above, and humphed when Seth told her what had happened.

  "My granddaughter can be such a foolish child. This is typical Carol, you know. When she came home from college, she had people begging her to come work for them. I told her, Take a job where you'll sit in a high-rise office in a cushy leather chair all day." "So what did she do? Started working my cash register day and night, lived in her old room upstairs listenin
g to the pipes thumping. Wouldn't dream of leaving us, started talking about ways of increasing cash flow. Stubborn girl."

  "But she has made us rich," Shaiming said in his soft voice. "She is very smart."

  "That isn't the point," Ming Ue broke in. "She feels responsible for me, because I had to raise her. As though it were her fault her mother died, her fault that I had to send her to school every day and make her dinner every night. She grew up determined to pay me back for everything, silly girl. Now she feels responsible for her friends and for you, and for keeping the Order of the Black Lotus under control. That's why she's done this, you know."

  "And we must stop her before she kills herself," Seth said. "And our child."

  Ming Ue blinked. "Child? Carol is pregnant?"

  Pride welled up through his other emotions. "She is."

  Ming Ue stared with her mouth open for almost a full minute, then tears began running down her face. "My Carol. My Li Mei. Did you hear, Shaiming? My great-granddaughter will have dragon blood."

  Shaiming nodded, his eyes shining.

  Ming Ue rubbed the tears from her cheeks. "Well, then, if that's the case, we must get down there and help her. Shaiming, go and fetch the car. Pick up Zhen along the way�we might need him."

  "You should not go," Seth protested. "I came here to ask you for a way to get there."

  "That way is in our car. Which Shaiming is fetching, now. And if she's stripped you of your power, dragon, you can't do anything to stop me from coming with you."

  Seth could still feel Carol through their bond. As Shaiming drove the small, slightly battered sedan through the streets. Seth sensed her gathering power. He also sensed the other dragons with her�Malcolm, Caleb, Lisa�and he felt the moment when she drew them into her power.

  The difference was that this time they went willingly. Carol kept her touch light, taking only a little from each of them. The two male dragons were wary, but the silver dragon trustingly joined in.

  They were about to open the column.

  Don't, he pleaded silently.

  Carol didn't hear him. She focused all her strength and fire on the column, and the power of the other dragons fused with her.