My Dragon Masters

by Krystal Shannan

  A breeze blew across my face, salty and clean. I turned to look out over the Goddess Sea —beautiful, blue, and perfect. Below its pristine waters lay many dangerous creatures, but from here above the cliffs, it was perfect. I took another deep breath of the pure air and turned, starting down the path away from the stones. It was several miles to Orin from the stones and I would prefer to get there before the afternoon sun set, blanketing the hillsides in darkness.

  A shadow passed over me from high above. It was shaped like a bird, but when I glanced upward I knew it was nothing with feathers. The wings stretched out bat-like and the tail trailed behind it like a giant python. Its neck was half the length of its massive body, though as high as it was flying it didn’t look much bigger than a Cessna. I knew better. It easily had a fifty-foot wingspan and could be just as long from nose to the tip of its tail. Not much different than my shifted form, but unlike a Lamassu, dragons were covered in scales that repelled all magick. An advantage I just couldn’t compensate for and had been the thorn in my side ever since my bitch of a sister-in-law took in those two Drakonae brothers. With two Drakonae princes as their bodyguards, the Sisters of Lamidae might as well be on another planet. I would be stupid to go up against them and Rose head on.

  The dragon disappeared into the clouds and I continued down the dirt path toward Orin. About a half-hour later as I approached the trade village outside the main gates, the path turned into a gravel road. Most inhabitants recognized me and quieted their obnoxious calls, trying to sell me their wares. But one stall in particular caught my eye. Not the stall itself. Or the clothing they were selling, but the woman standing in front of the weaver’s table.

  She was beautiful—hair as red as a scarlet sunset and skin that was alabaster white. But her eyes—the windows to her young soul—were bright blue. The color of the Goddess Sea. They sparkled with an innocence that made my dick stand up and take notice. Perhaps it was time to add another woman to my harem at the palace. A Drakonae female would be fun, especially with a dragon-steel collar to inhibit her shifting. Leif and Kevan would be grateful enough to have the third dagger back and I could leave without empty hands.

  I stepped toward the redhead with a smile, but stopped when a man stepped out of the tent behind the stall. His brown gaze connected with mine and I curled my lip into a snarl. He had the same wavy black hair and aquiline features of the Blackmoor twins.

  Where on the goddess’ green earth had he been hiding all these years? He had to be related to the house of Blackmoor.

  The large man stepped toward the redheaded woman and moved her aside. I heard him whisper her name—Ísól. He glanced back at me, and I recognized the burning fire of a dragon just beneath the surface. His brown eyes were flame orange. He didn’t approach me, but he didn’t back down either.

  An older woman came out of the tent and rushed to his side, prattling on about how “he needed to mind his manners” and “would he come help her with something.” The Drakonae male broke eye contact with me and followed her back to the tent.

  I smiled and continued walking toward the front gate. Taking other people’s prized possessions was another of my favorite pastimes. I couldn’t wait to see what this Blackmoor brother look-a-like would do when I took away his redheaded wench.

  ***

  A half-hour later, I was announced and the doors to the throne room opened. The doors were heavy oak wrapped in a sheet of dragon steel, an upgrade since the Incantis had taken hold of Orin. Personally, I thought it was a bit much. But it could be changed when I took the city from them.

  I held my head high as I progressed down the purple carpet that led to the stone thrones. One had been removed from the dias and now only two thrones remained, filled by Leif and Kevan. I guess they gave up on having a queen.

  “Xerxes, old man. Back so soon?” Kevan called out, chuckling. “Couldn’t wait to see us again, I suppose.”

  I bowed my head slightly to Kevan and then to Leif. “Good afternoon, your majesties.”

  “What do you want, Xerxes?” Leif spat out angrily.

  I held back a snarl. How dare the ingrate speak to me so condescendingly? I’d been slicing men open in battle before he cut his first adult tooth.

  “I have come to fulfill a vow.” I pulled the black silk bundle from under my arm and unwrapped it, showing them both the small, golden dagger.

  Both the dragon brothers’ lips curled up into the hint of a smile.

  “We didn’t think you would hold up your end, Xerxes,” Kevan said, waving his hand at a servant to his left. The man moved quickly, bringing a small, mahogany box in which to store the dagger.

  “I always keep my word,” I answered.

  The servant approached me slowly and held out the open box. I placed the dagger inside it and he backed away, returning to his place at Kevan’s left.

  “Something else, old man?” Kevan asked, leaning back in the great stone throne.

  “I find myself desiring to take with me a female companion from the village outside the walls of Orin. With your permission, I would like to take her back with me when I go.”

  “Women are an expensive commodity in the Veil, Xerxes,” Leif growled. “They’re not party gifts to guests. You know as well as I there are too few female Drakonae. And each year fewer are born.”

  Yet, you’ve killed at least three wives already.

  “I do understand how precious they are, but I am not just any guest, your majesty. Consider it an investment in our continued alliance.”

  Both Leif and Kevan grimaced, but neither objected. They knew the precarious position they were in. Not only could I come and go freely through the Veil, but I alone made sure Miles and Eli didn’t return for their blood.

  “Do you have this bitch’s name?”

  “Ísól. She was a lovely, redheaded woman in the trade village.”

  “Very well,” Leif answered. He turned to a heavily armed guard standing to his right. “Find the woman he seeks and bring her to the stones. Take a collar and cuffs in case you need them.”

  The guard bowed low and then rushed from the large, throne room.

  “In case?” I caught Leif’s gaze and he shrugged.

  “There are many Elvin in the trade village. The woman may or may not be Drakonae.” He smiled. “I do hope that she is just some Elvin whore and I’m not giving you one of Orin’s precious few Drakonae females. Peasant or not, we cannot afford to lose even one.”

  That the woman wasn’t a dragon hadn’t crossed my mind. But it made sense. With so few available women to breed, it was unlikely the man I’d seen could’ve afforded to take a bride all for himself. Nearly all Drakonae females were given in betrothal to families with multiple sons to ensure there would be heirs—both male and female.

  If the stunning redhead was Elvin, she wouldn’t mean anything to the Incantis. The Elves were a race of strong semi-immortals that used to be a nation of great scholars and warriors. Their swords and knowledge were legendary, but over the last millennia, they’d fallen to the status of servants—only because the Incantis hunted them down and killed most of them.

  Even if she wasn’t Drakonae, I still wanted her. Mostly, I wanted to get that man to follow me through the gate. And the woman he cared about would be perfect bait. He could be just what I needed to undermine everything Rose built with those damn Blackmoor brothers. I just needed to determine how he was related to them.

  I inclined my head in a shallow bow to the two Incanti kings.

  Both returned the gesture, dismissing me from their presence.

  I held in my disgust and left the throne room quickly, glaring at any of the persons standing about the sides of the room. They whispered and talked about me under their breath, but I could see the terror in their eyes. They knew who and what I was. None of them wanted to have anything to do with me and that’s the way I liked it.

  It didn’t take me long to make my way through the outer courtyards of the palace and back through the trade villa
ge outside the main walls. The stall where the redhead had been was closed and abandoned now.

  Excellent.

  My magick prickled against my skin. I looked forward to the coming confrontation. The only holdup would be the damn guard they’d sent to deliver the wench. The only thing I needed from him was the dragon-steel collar and cuffs he would be carrying.

  About an half hour later, the stone circle came into view. The guard stood quietly with a sobbing woman behind him. A smile spread across my face at the scintillating sound of her tears. It made my dick hard instantly. I might need to sample the whore right there on the stone altar.

  I approached them and the woman dropped to her knees, begging the guard to let her go. The Incanti guard merely kicked the woman to the side and yanked on the chains connected to her neck and wrists, flipping her onto her stomach. Her face hit the dirt and she coughed, trying to catch her breath.

  A loud snap to my left gave away the male Drakonae’s hiding place. I reached out with my magick and grabbed him, closing his mouth to keep him from alerting the guard to his presence. The last thing I needed was a tattletale running back to Leif and Kevan. I kept that hand low to my side and continued toward the guard.

  “Thank you for delivering her, sir. I will take it from here,” I said, calmly and without malice.

  “Enjoy the Elvin whore,” he sneered, handing me the dragon-steel chain. “I put them on her anyway. Just in case you felt the need to chain her up.”

  “It is much appreciated,” I replied, watching him leave down the path I’d just come up.

  Turning to the sobbing woman, I growled. “Shut up.”

  “Please, sir. I’m married. I have a husband. Please don’t take me from my home.” Her voice was soft and silky, no doubt her pussy would be the same.

  I pulled the male forward from the trees. He clawed at the invisible hand around his neck and kicked out with his legs. His mouth struggled to open and yell at me, but all he managed were throaty infuriated roars. I could feel the heat of his dragon building beneath the grip of my magick. It wouldn’t be easy, but he could break my hold if he pushed long enough. He was so strong. Without a doubt, the product of a fire and ice mating—the son of the Miles or Eli with their mate, Diana.

  “So much for testing out your sweet pussy. I believe I need those cuffs and collar for your husband.”

  She glanced up and cried more.

  Damn, the woman bawled like a newborn babe.

  “Please. What do you want? Why are you doing this?”

  “Do you know your husband is related to the House of Blackmoor?”

  She sucked in a hiccup and shook her head. “They d-died. All of them.”

  I waved my other hand, unlatching the cuffs and collar from her body. Another flick of my wrist sent them flying toward the male. Seconds later they were firmly attached to him, putting me in complete control with no chance of his dragon pushing to the surface and complicating the situation.

  When I turned back to look for the redhead, she was crawling away from me on her hands and knees. I grabbed her by the neck and hauled her back through the air to face me.

  Clicking my tongue, I shook my head. “No one said you could leave. Don’t you want to say goodbye to your husband?”

  Her tears poured again and her whole body tensed under my hold. She was a mere Elf, and nothing she could do would come close to breaking the control I had over her.

  “Say goodbye,” I ordered, turning her head so she could see the face of the Blackmoor male.

  “I love you, Mikjáll.”

  The male struggled in my hold, his eyes glassy and his face red as he attempted to shout through a closed mouth.

  “Good girl.” I flicked my wrist and hurled her through the air toward one of the largest outer stones. Her head connected with the rock and the crunch of her skull was loud enough for both of us to hear. She fell to the ground at the base of the rock, leaving a trail of blood dripping down the face of it. It was a waste of a woman, but I needed both my hands to deal with … Mikjáll. That’s what she’d called him.

  The male screamed in his throat and struggled against my hold and the cuffs, but it was no use and I grew bored already.

  “It was either dead now, or raped now and dead later. So shut the hell up. We have a bit of a trek to find your long-lost family.”

  He roared again, his rage coming through in the burning flames of his orange irises. Were it not for the collar around his neck and my hold on his magick, I’d be no more than a pile of ash on the forest floor.

  I sliced my palm, then his, and placed them both against the altar stone simultaneously. We crossed through the gate and I released his mouth so he could speak.

  “You fucking bastard!” He roared, still struggling against the paralyzing hold my magick had over him. “I’ll kill you.”

  “I highly doubt that. Many have tried and none have succeeded in so many millennia, I’ve lost count.” I studied him carefully. “How old are you, Drakonae?”

  He spat at me, but I sidestepped before it could connect with my linen tunic.

  “You don’t look very old, but I know it’s deceiving. Why did the Incantis let a Blackmoor live?”

  “I’m Mikjáll Halldór. I have no Drakonae family. What do you want with me?”

  “You were named and raised with Elvin.” I stepped closer. “How. Old. Are. You?” I squeezed my hand, which in turn squeezed his ribs. I heard two snap under the pressure and he grimaced, fighting through the pain without crying out.

  “I am nearly a thousand years. What does it matter to you?” He spat back at me, through his desperate pants for air.

  “It will matter to your mother,” I answered quietly, relishing the shocked look on his face.

  “My mother died.”

  I shook my head. “Alive and well. And if I know anything about Drakonae physiology, she will feel you coming miles away.” I smiled. “And she would do anything to get you back, making you the perfect bait.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  ELI

  Thunder shook the Castle. I carefully slipped out of the bed, unwrapping Diana’s arm from my chest. I didn’t want to leave her, but something wasn’t right. We were back in Miles’ room and the heavy curtains in front of his windows blocked out everything. I pulled them back and scanned the horizon. Menacing, black, cumulus clouds blanketed the sky, uncommon so late in the season. Lightning flashed on the horizon—angry jagged white streaks.

  I’d smelled the storm earlier and I’d felt the presence of something nearing, but my dick had overtaken my common sense and I’d ignored the warnings my dragon had been prodding me with all evening. It was morning and whatever was coming; we’d now have to face. Whatever it was, it pulled at me strangely. Similar to the bond I shared with Diana, but weaker.

  “You can feel it too, can’t you?” Miles’ voice rumbled from the bed behind me.

  I nodded, still watching the approaching storm. The wind was picking up, tossing dead leaves through the air and dashing them back against the cold ground with the fury of a wrathful predator.

  “I don’t recognize it,” I answered softly, looking over my shoulder.

  “I do.” Diana sat up in bed and darted to the window. “He’s here. How could he be here?”

  “Who?” I asked, stepping back to allow her access to the window.

  “My son. I can remember feeling this bond in the Veil, but I couldn’t feel it after I left. It’s different than our mate bond.”

  “It’s a familial bond. More like a sixth sense,” Miles stated, climbing from the bed. “It’s been so many years sense I felt one other than yours, Eli. I’d forgotten what it was.”

  I turned toward my brother. He was right. I vaguely remembered being able to sense when our mother and fathers were nearby. If we could feel a family member, that meant the baby was indeed ours. I took a deep breath and frowned.

  Miles nodded.

  He knew as well as I that the only way our son would’ve
made it through the gate was via Xerxes. Leif and Kevan, if they still ruled, would never have let him out of the Veil alive.

  Diana ran across the room and disappeared into the bathroom. I heard the closet door open and close several times.

  “Diana,” Miles growled, pulling on a pair of jeans from the floor. “Wait, you can’t just go out and look around. We have protocols to follow.”

  I grabbed my jeans from the floor and shrugged them on as I half-hopped to the bathroom door. She was at one of the sinks brushing out her mussed hair, fully dressed in a purple silk skirt and a white silk tunic. Both were beautiful on her and were exactly her style—feminine and flowing. Except when she was in a fighting mood. Then she wore leather and armor like the fiercest of warriors. I wonder if Calliope had found any of that for her, she’d certainly nailed her everyday look perfectly.

  “What are you going to do? You don’t know what he looks like … or his name? What if he’s working with Xerxes?”

  She turned toward me, her eyes glowing white for a split second before pushing her dragon back down. “I have to do something, Eli. He’s here. I can feel him and it’s tearing at my heart.”

  Her eyes were glassy with tears and I felt a piece of my heart break for her. This whole thing didn’t feel right. We couldn’t lose her, not now. Not after everything. But we couldn’t abandon our child, either. She was right again—as usual.

  “We have to do this together, Diana. Promise me you’ll wait for Miles and me to go with you.”

  “Let’s go then,” she snapped back, slipping between me and the doorframe.

  I huffed and turned around. Miles was standing in front of the bedroom door blocking her way.

  A shrill ring sounded through the room, coming from the nightstand where Miles’ phone lay.

  “Wait, Diana!” he bellowed, moving to toward the phone.

  She was shaking her head. “Something is wrong. I can feel it.”