by Julie Wetzel
***
Warmth surrounded Kara as she regained consciousness. The urge to snuggle down into it hit her, and she shifted to get closer. Pain ripped through her, driving out a gasp. She tensed as the world came into sharp focus and all she found was pain. “Aaah,” she moaned, trying to make the hurting stop. Her head pounded and her back ached, but that was nothing compared to the burning sensation racing along her limbs. A grimace twisted her face as she turned into the warmth holding her.
“Shh.”
Freezing, she cracked an eye to find she was buried into a familiar chest. Again. Noah’s voice washed over her as he whispered a line of random sounds. The pain racing through her eased, leaving her limp in his arms.
“Kara?” he called to her softly.
Kara opened her eyes and tilted her head back to look up at him. “Hi,” she said as a soft smile turned the corner of her mouth. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”
Noah chucked at the teasing. “You know, under other circumstances, I wouldn’t mind meeting you like this more often.” He squeezed her lightly.
Her heart skipped as a blush bloomed on her cheeks.
“But seriously.” The humor drained from Noah’s voice. “How do you feel?”
How do I feel? Many things raced through Kara’s mind. She ached, but she wasn’t really hurting anymore. Her emotions were stirred by the man holding her, but she didn’t think that was what he wanted to know about. There was something that was bothering her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “I feel… off.” She looked for a good way to explain what she felt. “Hollow.”
“Quiet and alone?” Noah asked.
“Yes,” Kara answered. That was exactly what she felt. Something inside her was still when it should be active. Fear crawled at her. “What happened?”
Noah’s hand rubbed down her back, calming her. “We were captured,” he explained calmly. “I’m sorry. Byrd and I couldn’t stop them at the house.”
The fear in Kara spread and she twisted around to see where they were. A barn. Her mind started to race.
“Shh…” Noah hushed her again, drawing her attention back to him. “We’re safe for now,” he reassured her. “Byrd and I got out shortly after waking up, but…” he trailed off.
“But what?” The fact that he had stopped scared the hell out of her. What did they do?
Noah sighed deeply. “They had already started to remove your dragon by the time we got to you.”
Terror ripped through Kara. That was the still spot in her. Her dragon was gone! She gasped as the panic started to set in.
“Shh…” Noah said again, holding her tighter. “Calm down. We got you before they could get it out.”
Kara’s breath came fast and hard as she held on to him. “But it’s not there.”
“It’s there,” Noah reassured her as he ran his hand over her hair. “Byrd can feel it. It’s just separated.”
Tears bloomed in Kara’s eyes. The idea of losing her dragon was crippling. The band of Noah’s arms around her got tighter.
“Mine. We fix.”
The way those words rumbled up from Noah’s chest broke through Kara’s fear. The cadence and tone were wrong. She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. They were dark and slitted, like a dragon’s. Byrd. Then the color and shape shifted back to the lovely brown that was Noah.
“But how?” Noah asked. His eyes lost their focus as he talked with his dragon.
Kara held her breath as she watched his inner conversation play on his face. The color of his eyes flashed back and forth from nearly black to brown as his two halves worked things out.
“Will that work?” Noah asked and paused. He shook his head. “Could it go back on its own?” Another pause as his eyes changed again. “I see, but…” His eyes came into focus, and he looked down at her. “That would be up to her.” His eyes darkened again. “No, Byrd. It’s up to her.”
“What?” Kara asked, interrupting their conversation. It was infuriating to only get one half of the argument.
Noah let out a sigh. “We’ve got a couple of options.” He paused as his eyes flashed dark again. “No, Byrd, it’s her choice.” Letting out another sigh, he refocused his eyes on Kara again. “Sorry about that.”
“Go on,” Kara encouraged him.
“As I said, you have options,” Noah started again. “Your dragon is still there, but it’s been pulled loose.” He flinched as if something in his head hurt but went on with closed eyes and a pained voice. “If you wait, there’s a chance that things will settle down and you’ll reconnect with your dragon.” Noah opened his eyes and continued. “This option could take time and leave space between you and your dragon. Byrd doesn’t like that.”
“I can tell,” Kara said as she raised her hand and rested it on his chest.
Noah gave her a halfhearted grin and went on. “The second option is to let Byrd help you reconnect with your dragon.”
Kara stared at him in shock. “He can do that?”
“He thinks he can.”
“How?” Her mind reeled at the possibilities.
“Well,” Noah looked past her. His face showed how uncomfortable he was to share this. “It’s going to require a bond.”
That shocked Kara. She stared at him in disbelief until his eyes came back to meet hers.
“Byrd thinks he can lead your dragon back to where it belongs, but he needs a connection to it, and… well, it’s likely that connection would be permanent.”
Kara stared at the apologetic look on Noah’s face as she wrapped her mind around that. The only bond she knew of that would connect two dragons was a mating bond. “Are you asking me to be your mate?”
Noah blushed and looked away. “Well… um, that is…” His mouth opened and closed. “I know we don’t know each other…”
A smile worked its way onto Kara’s face. Noah was adorable when he was flustered. Raising her hand up, she turned his head back to look at her. “Is this what Byrd wants?”
His eyes flashed dark again as his arms tightened around her. “Mine!”
The sudden embrace squeezed a laugh out of Kara as it warmed her heart. In the short time she’d known him, she had come to care greatly about the dragon. “All right, Byrd,” she said. “I’ll be your mate.”
A purr of pleasure rumbled through him.
“On one condition.”
The sound stopped as Byrd perked up to listen.
“You have to let Noah be in charge most of the time.” It was a little dirty, forcing the dragon to relent to Noah, but mated dragons tended to be very instinctual—especially during the first few months of their bonding. This would give Noah some chance of holding his own against his dragon.
Byrd gave out an irritated rumble before it dropped to a soft purr. “Mine,” he said softly as he rubbed his chin on the top of her head.
Kara giggled and turned her face up to rub into his chin. “Mine,” she echoed, claiming him. Even though she couldn’t reach her dragon, she knew this was what her instinctual side wanted. After a moment of cuddling, she pulled back. “Now, give me back Noah.”
Byrd let out a chirp before dumping Noah back into control. His eyes flashed back to brown, and Noah gasped.
“Fun dealing with dragons, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Noah scoffed. “Like riding a roller coaster without a seatbelt.”
Kara snickered.
The look on Noah’s face grew solemn. “Seriously, if you don’t want to do this—”
Kara raised her hand and covered his mouth before he could go on. “Stop,” she said, “I’ve already agreed to it, and if you back out now, you’ll upset Byrd. And you don’t know miserable until your dragon is unhappy with you.” Kara could see dread in Noah’s widened eyes. “Besides, Byrd is cute and sweet. I like him, and my dragon will be happy about it.” Sadness swam through her. “Well, she will if I get her back.”
“Hey,” Noah called, bringing her back from the edge of despair. “We’ll fix this.”
<
br /> A sad smile turned her mouth. “I hope so.” Fear of never reaching her dragon ate at her heart, and she looked away from him to blink back tears.
Pulling herself together, she met his eyes again. “Either way, I’ll gladly take Byrd as a mate.” She poked Noah in the chest. “You, on the other hand, are going to have to work for it,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
Noah chuckled. “I’ll do my best.”
She scoffed at him. “You can start by never zapping me again. That hurt.”
A light laugh slipped from him. “I promise. Never again.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Kara turned the conversation to where it needed to go. “So, how’s this going to work? Do we need to find someone to help us share a scale?”
“No.” Noah shook his head and shifted her around. He held up his arm and showed her the black band that had been around his neck. “We’re going to try this first.”
Kara gave it a confused look. “Your collar?”
Noah nodded and unwound it from his arm. “Raven gave this to me.” His voice was tinged with sorrow. “I thought it was designed to join us as mates, but looking back, I think she knew something was up.”
“Wait,” Kara said, shocked. “You and Raven were a couple?”
Red crept across Noah’s cheeks. “Not really,” he said.
Kara cocked an eyebrow at his embarrassment and waited for him to go on.
“She kind of… um…kidnapped me during her…” Noah paused, cleared his throat, and mumbled something.
“During her what?” Kara asked. She had a pretty good idea where he was going with this, but he looked so cute all flustered and red.
He muttered again.
Smiling, Kara cocked her head, waiting for him to speak up.
The red on his cheeks darkened. “Her fertile period,” he growled through clenched teeth. “She kidnapped me during her fertile period.”
Pity and mirth filled her eye. “I’m sorry.” She tried to sound comforting but failed. Just the idea of a mage being kidnapped by a dragon in heat made her want to laugh.
Noah rolled his eyes and nodded his head. “Anyway. The collar didn’t do what I thought it would.”
That dried Kara’s amusement up. She looked at the black strip of leather. “Then what did it do?”
“I thought it was meant to bind me to Raven,” he explained, “but it bound me to Byrd instead.”
“It’s a link to Byrd!” Kara gasped as things fell into place. This explains everything. Noah had made leaps and bounds in his progress because he’d been helped along by magic. Possibilities flashed through her head. This could be an answer for some of her harder cases. If she could just find a way to duplicate it.
“Yes.”
Noah’s voice pulled her back from her epiphany.
“Byrd feels that we can use this to link us together.” He hesitated. “But he warned me that it’s more than a simple mating bond. It’s a…” he paused and cocked his head as if he were listening. “Byrd doesn’t know exactly what it will do, but he believes it will give him access to your dragon.” Tilting his head, Noah looked back into her eyes. “It’s your choice.” He held the collar out to her.
Nerves made Kara’s palms damp as she reached for the collar. Taking it, she looked at the black dragon tooled into the leather. It was beautifully wrought. With trembling hands, she wrapped the leather around her neck and fastened it in place.
A tingle of magic washed across her mind. The strange sensation made her head swim. Leaning into Noah’s chest, she shut her eyes and held on as the world moved in strange ways. Scales brushed against her insides. That sensation was something she was familiar with, but these scales were strange. They were dark and decisively male.
“Mine.”
The word radiated through her, making her toes curl with desire.
“Yes, Byrd,” Noah’s voice called in her head. “Ours. Now go do what you’re here to do.”
Byrd’s energy brushed against her mind in a loving caress before racing off through her. Heat bloomed on her skin as her heart sped up.
“Easy there,” Noah said, holding her to him. “I’ve got you.”
Kara gasped and opened her eyes to look up at him. His voice had echoed in her head as he spoke. Spikes of desire shivered through her, warming her in places deep inside. She had a feeling that Byrd was responsible for her sudden urges, but she didn’t care. Giving in to them, she reached up, grabbed his head, and pulled it down to her. Surprise flashed across his face as she crushed her lips to his. She could feel the passion ignite inside of him as his arms tightened around her and he kissed her back.
A roar of celebration echoed through them both. A secondary roar followed.
Kara’s heart leaped for joy as the power of her dragon returned. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed out her emotions. Joy, relief, and desire overwhelmed her.
Noah pulled back from the kiss. “Shh.” Running his fingers up through her hair, he pulled her head in against his chest and held her. “You’re all right.” He rocked her for a moment as Byrd finished freeing her dragon. “Come on Byrd,” Noah called, pulling his dragon from her.
Byrd brushed against her mind one last time before slipping away.
As Noah pulled the collar from her throat, the feel of the magic racing through her stopped. Her dragon writhed in pleasure at being back where it belonged, but there was something else there, too. At the very edge of her mind, she could still feel Byrd’s presence. Byrd had been right. Whatever he’d done to free her dragon had left a lasting connection.
Sniffling back her tears, she pushed away from Noah and looked up at him. Concern showed on his face, but she didn’t know what to say to him. For a moment, they had been connected. She had felt his thoughts, his feelings, and seen into his soul. And he had shared hers. It overwhelmed her that a man she’d just met could care so deeply for her. He hadn’t said it, but she had felt it in him. Something needed to be said. Kara opened her mouth, unsure what part of her emotionally driven thoughts would come out, but the sound of a door opening stopped her.
A man stepped out and looked at them. “Hello?”
Kara froze as Noah’s eyes went black and his attention snapped up to the intruder. A rumble of anger rose up from his chest as he tensed, ready to protect his mate.
“Byrd!” Kara yelled, grabbing his face and pulling it down to look at her.
His eyes locked with hers.
She swallowed hard as swirls of black scales rushed over his skin. “Be calm!” she ordered him. “He’s not here to hurt us.” Her fingers relaxed, and she petted him. “Now, give me back Noah.”
Byrd rumbled in anger, unwilling to back down.
Kara gave him a pointed look. “You promised.”
A sneer turned his lip.
She ran her fingers through his hair, scratching across his scalp. “Everything is fine,” she soothed him. “Give me back Noah, and I promise, if he tries to hurt us, you can eat him.”
Byrd groaned in pleasure as his eyes rolled back. “Mine,” he growled one last time before retreating and leaving Noah slumped over her, panting.
Gathering his head in her arms, she hushed him. “You’re all right.” The scales that had tried to work their way out had receded. “Just breathe. A bonded dragon is a protective dragon.”
“A bonded dragon is a grumpy dragon,” Noah snarked back.
Kara laughed but was glad to see that his color was returning to normal. “Sometimes.”
“Someone said they saw a dragon land,” the man at the door said as he stepped into the barn, “but I wasn’t expecting this.” He kept his distance as he walked over to the shelves. “You look like you have a bit of a situation on your hands.” Picking up a blanket, he turned back to face them. “Is there something I can do to help?” He shook the blanket out and held it in front of him as he approached. A warning rumbled up from Byrd, but the man ignored it as he held the blanket out for Kara to take.
“Easy,” Kara said, touching Noah’s chest. She reached out and accepted the blanket from the man.
He squatted down so he was eye level with Noah. “I’m Brigs. Is there someone I can call for you?”
Unsure how to answer, Kara turned back to Noah.
His eyes were back to brown and flashed with recognition. “Daniel. Can you get me Daniel Callaghan?”
“Aye,” Brigs said, standing up and stepping away. “But it’ll take him a minute to get here.” He paused at the door and looked back. “Who should I tell him is calling?”
“Don’t,” Noah answered.
Kara’s head jerked around to look at him, shocked that he wouldn’t answer.
“Just tell him to come alone and don’t tell anyone. Eternity’s been compromised.”
Kara turned back to look at Brigs.
He stood at the door with a serious look on his face. “I’ll find you some clothes while you wait.” With that, he turned and disappeared back through the door.
Kara’s mind reeled as she turned back to Noah. “What?” There was no way she could have heard him right.
Noah swallowed before looking down at her. “Someone at Eternity is responsible for Raven’s death.”
That was a blow she hadn’t seen coming. Kara sat in his lap, completely lost for words. Eternity was the only hope they’d had of stopping these people. What were they going to do now?
***
This day just keeps getting better and better. Kara cuddled into Noah’s side, trying to process the tale he was spinning. It was unbelievable that someone who’d sworn to protect dragons was out trying to kill them and harvest their dragons.
Daniel sat on the other side of the booth, quietly absorbing the information. As Noah finished, Daniel leaned back. “I see.”
Kara bristled with anger. After being given all of this damning information, all he could say was ‘I see’? Noah’s arm squeezed her against him, keeping her from blowing up.
“What are we going to do?” Noah asked.
Daniel let out a long sigh. “Well, first, we need to get you and Miss Rose somewhere safe. You obviously can’t go back to your place.”
“Yeah, about that,” Noah interrupted him.
