“Here and here,” he said, pointing to two separate places, “are the best meat.” When I just continued to stare at it, he reached over and used a single claw to slice it open from hind leg to chest. The sight and smell of fresh blood was too much for Goldy and she fell on the dead beast. I just sort of went away and hid, not really wanting to think about what was going on. This wasn’t really what I’d been referring to when I said I was going out to kill something. At the time I’d been thinking more along the lines of rapist or thief, maybe a Vampire. I’d never killed and eaten my food before and I was sensing it might take some getting used to.
Gareth landed next to us with a medium sized boar in his claw and he settled down to his own meal. When we were done, we carried the remains into the bay and dropped them for the fishes. No need to advertise our nocturnal dining habits. We splashed about in the water, cleaning off the blood and ah…other things I still didn’t really want to think about, and then wandered up the beach and onto the warm sandy shore, where I flipped onto my back so I could stare up at the stars. I tucked my wings in next to my body and Gareth and Jace lay on either side of me. Jace rested his head on my chest and Gareth snuggled his next to mine. We stayed there watching the quarter moon rise over the bay. I’m not sure which of us shifted first, I just know that when I turned to Gareth, he held out his arms to me and pulled me in against his chest. I sighed and pulled Jace’s arm around me, tucking him in at my back.
“We like your Mother,” Gareth told me softly and I gave him a squeeze. His eyes were closed and his head pillowed on the hood of his cape. He looked almost serene in the pale moonlight.
“Even more amazing, she likes you too.”
Jace buried his cold nose against my neck and muttered, “Hey, what’s not to like?”
“Oooh, what indeed,” I laughed and shivered slightly. Jace reached down and wrapped my cape about me, covering me from the chill creeping in off the water.
“Cold?” Gareth asked, pulling me in tighter against his chest and rolling toward me.
“Mmmm,” I mumbled, snuggling my cheek in against his chest and burrowing my hands in under his velvet coat. Behind me Jace pressed closer and draped the end of his cape over the three of us. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. I didn’t want to think about what was waiting for us back at the club, or what was coming in the next week or month or year. I just enjoyed the scent of water and trees and more importantly, the smell of Gareth and Jace as I lay safe and relaxed between them.
I woke to Jace gently shaking me. “Come on sleepy head, time for Cinderella to return the dress and shoes,” he whispered against my temple. I opened my eyes and noticed the moon had crept two thirds the way across the sky.
“Tell my Fairy Godmother just another hour,” I muttered.
He laughed and sat up, pulling me with him. “No time for that. Let’s get you home and into a real bed,” he urged. I rubbed my eyes and glanced at Gareth, who was pushing himself off the sand. He reached for my hand and they lifted me onto my feet. Jace brushed the sand off my back and then stepped back and shifted. Gareth gave me a quick hug and did the same. I sighed and reached down inside of me and felt my body flow and enlarge.
Gareth rocketed off the beach, silent and fast. Jace brushed his wing against mine, urging me to go next. When we were all airborne we took the direct route, heading southwest. The fog had thickened over the water and San Francisco was buried under it. Gareth guided us in and we dropped below cloud level just over the Embarcadero. He circled once around the top of a building I recognized as the club, and Jace arrowed past and shifted as he landed, his feet touching down on an area that looked specially designed for the purpose. Gareth came in second, also stepping onto the roof in human form. I was lining up, getting ready to land when I looked down and saw Jace collapse. Gareth had turned back to watch me and didn’t see the two men dressed in black who stepped out of the shadows. Frightened for Jace and realizing Gareth was in danger, I raised my shields, tucked in my wings and dove for the roof, teeth bared and eyes whirling. Gareth felt my shields rise and looked around in alarm, immediately dropping into a defensive position.
I don’t believe they were expecting me, because neither of the attackers looked up. I snapped up the first one, just as I’d seen Jace do to the deer, lifting him over my shoulder and nearly cutting him in half with my teeth. Three more appeared out of the shadows and Gareth went after them as I banked and went after Jace. I wasn’t certain what they’d done to him but I needed to get him out of there. Two of the men ran to Jace, and lifting him between them, they started dragging him towards the edge of the roof. I roared and flung myself on them, plucking one up with my claws and flipping him out and into the street below. The other turned to me with a pipe to his mouth. I’m not sure what he intended to do with it but I snapped his arm off, somewhere around his neck and he went down screaming and gurgling in his own blood.
I plucked Jace out from under the assassin and pulled him several feet away. Gareth was still struggling with several other attackers, but I didn’t dare leave Jace alone. Wrapping my body around him, I tucked him in against me just as black smoke swirled up in front of me and two red eyes appeared. “Help him!” I growled. The smoke hesitated and turned toward Gareth, and then Kit loped into the fray in wolf form. I blinked and Amras and Cursed were there too, knives flashing, the strength of their numbers quickly ending the fight. Owen did a sweep of the roof and I shifted, ending with Jace’s head and neck in my lap. He was so still and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
“He just collapsed,” I told them.
Gareth reached for him and pulled him off of me and into his arms. Owen returned to us and when Gareth would have moved to the door, Owen reached for him and the three of them disappeared. I let out a strangled cry and Amras and Cursed turned outwards as if we’d been attacked again. Kit snorted and asked, “Anyone that doesn’t want to take the stairs hold on tight. And then we were not on the roof anymore. I can’t really describe what happened; I just know that it wasn’t all that pleasant and I didn’t think I wanted to be doing it all that often. I couldn’t argue with the speed, though, as we were suddenly standing in the middle of the living room, and Gareth was laying Jace on one of the couches. I ran to them, pushing Owen out of my way so I could kneel next to Jace.
Beside me Gareth sat back on his heels and glanced at me, his eyes full of pain. “I think he’s been poisoned,” he told me, then opened his hand and held out a small dart tipped in red feathers.
“Will it kill him?” I demanded, my voice sounding harsh.
Gareth just looked at me and I bit my lip, forcing myself not to scream. No, this was not happening, I would not lose him! Glancing at the dart, I reached for it, holding it between the fingers in one hand as I placed my other palm on Jace’s chest. I would not allow this to happen; he would wake and be fine! I would make it happen and closing my eyes, I reached inside and thought HEAL and pushed it down my arm and into his chest, feeling the force of my need invade his body. It was not the first time I had done this, but it was the first time I’d ever had a patient sit straight up gasping for air. I did mention my Mother is a healer right?
Jace came off the couch like a spring, his face contorting into a grimace as he clutched as his chest and yelped. I had just enough time to sigh before I slipped to the floor in a feint. Nope, that had never happened before either, but then I had only ever fixed a broken leg and a sprained wrist before. I’d never tried curing someone that had been poisoned. Must be that sex thing.
Someone was arguing and my head was killing me. I moaned and clutched at the wet cloth covering my eyes and spared a moment to wonder if I’d be looking like a raccoon when I pulled it off.
“Why would she look like a raccoon?” Amras asked the suddenly silent room.
“Because I’m not wearing waterproof mascara,” I mumbled.
“What is mascara?”
“I have no idea,” Cursed replied then asked. “Are you well, My L
ady?”
Sure if you consider feeling weak as a kitten with a splitting head ache well. “I’m fine.” I pulled the cloth off my face and looked around. Apparently I was now occupying the couch that Jace had been on earlier. Everyone else was gone except the three of us. “Where’d everyone go?”
“The roof.”
“Is Jace okay?”
“Exceedingly so. In fact we’re all feeling rather well thank you.”
I moaned and closed my eyes again. Apparently I’d spilled over again.
“Ah yes, Owen mentioned something about your adventures upstairs earlier. I am sorry I missed that” Amras commented.
“The Princess has the ability to heal,” Cursed added. “But last I knew it was nothing to rival your ability. It is a shame you were denied Faerie where we could have assisted you in mastering your gift.”
“The power you display is quite impressive.”
“Mmmm.” I didn’t know I rivaled me either and I didn’t think me being in Faerie would have mattered, since I’d only recently been experiencing quantum leaps in strength.. Again with the whole gaining power through more sex thing. The room went quite and I opened my eyes to find them both looking at me with what I could only describe as hungry expressions. I probably shouldn’t have thought the “s” word and glanced between the two of them. “Sooo… they left you here with me?”
Cursed crossed the room and came to stand next to me so I was looking up at him. I had the urge to sit up and tried pushing up onto my elbows but the pain in my head was too much and I simply dropped back onto the cushion. Amras moved to lean against the back of the couch and even with my eyelids closed, I could feel them looking at me. “We two are apparently the lesser of four evils,” Cursed informed me.
“I do not believe I have ever been lesser at anything,” Amras commented.
“Because you’ve never been up against a Demon and a Minor God.”
Amras made a rude noise and I wondered were they talking about Owen? “I liked him better before the cat fixed him.”
The couch dipped and I struggled not to roll toward the thigh all but brushing my shoulder and arm. I’d lost my cape somewhere and was feeling slightly exposed in my dress. “I have a headache guys,” I told them bluntly, hoping to distract them. Instead, Cursed’s cool fingers slid into my hair, massaging at my temples.
“Do you think they’ll be back soon?” Amras asked. And I felt fingers that could only belong to him glide over my hip and down my leg to my foot. Gentle hands undid the strap on my shoe and I heard it fall to the floor. It felt good to have it off me and then the other one followed it and my feet were bare, toes curling into the couch. The cushion near my ankle dipped and one of my feet was lifted into Amras’ lap as his fingers massaged my arch.
“Not for a while,” Cursed replied in his deep voice.
“We were told to take care of you,” Amras remarked, his fingers having moved from my foot to my ankle.
I ignored his comment, tensing slightly under their hands. I was pretty sure I could control the situation, I just didn’t want Gareth and Jace wandering in to find me in what might appear to be a compromising position. As long as they kept their hands below the knee and above my neck there wouldn’t be any problems.
Cursed sighed but leaned over me to say. “My Lady, if you would but drop your shields I believe we could assist you to eliminate the pain in your head.”
It sounded reasonable and the pain was intense enough that I was willing to try. “Why does it hurt so much?” I asked, letting my shields slide away. The pain level dropped several notches but still remained fairly high. I suppose I half expected to be overwhelmed by Amras and Cursed’s interest, but all I sensed was polite concern for my well being. It actually surprised me.
Cursed smiled slightly and continued massaging my forehead and temples.
Amras replied, “Forcing your will on someone as old and powerful as the Dragon is not without consequences. We are quite fortunate that all you managed to do was knock yourself unconscious when his energy rebounded at you.”
“While understandable, your action was rash and could have killed you.”
I’d had no idea, not that it would have made any difference, but I was definitely going to have to get myself under control before someone got hurt. Rebounded on me? “So if I want to use this power I need to what…learn how to direct the energy instead of having it come back at me?” I asked, tilting my head back slightly so I could look at Cursed.
He nodded and slipped my hair out from under my head, draping it across his legs and pooling it in his lap before sliding his fingers back to my temples. “In order to do this you must learn to sense the power so you may manipulate it safely.”
“Will you teach me?” I asked, looking between the two of them.
Cursed continued to stroke my brow and it was Amras that raised his violet eyes to mine and replied, “It would be our pleasure.”
“Close your eyes, My Lady. Can you show me your shields without raising them?”
I thought about it and in my mind I could feel both Amras and Cursed’s polite attention; they had slid inside of me and were calmly waiting. My main shield was like a clear bubble that stretched from horizon to horizon and when closed, appeared to me like an ecosphere might look on an alien world. From a distance it looked solid and hard like clear diamonds, but up close it was more like shifting threads that moved faster than the eye could see. I slightly raised my shield and felt both men mentally lean in closer as if they were bending over my metaphysical shoulder.
“Now slow it,” Amras urged, and his mind showed me how to calm the shifting threads and slow their movement. I concentrated, following his suggestions and found myself able to look through the small openings between threads.
“This will allow you to sense other’s thoughts while your shield remains in place.”
“With practice you can manipulate the in between spaces which will allow you to communicate with others, though your shields are tightly closed. It will also allow you to…release pressure by allowing you to siphon it off.” And while I watched he swept the pain I was feeling, which looked like thick brown ooze, blanketing my mind toward my shield and filtering it out through the openings. The tension in my head immediately disappeared and I breathed deeply.
“May we see your upper shields?”
It took me a second to respond as I was busy mentally viewing the in between spaces as Amras had called them. Looking around I searched for my shield. I didn’t normally raise it without my lower shield being in place and I knew if I lifted it completely, both men would be literally ejected as neither seemed able to sense me with it closed. I concentrated and a hard thick wall of Dragon scales lifted into view approximately waist high. The scales were silver and overlay one on the other, forming an impregnable wall.
Both of them pressed closer as if trying to get a better view. “Does it close completely like your other shield?” Amras wanted to know.
In answer, I raised my shield to shoulder height. “No it just sort of goes straight up all around.”
“Is it outside of your other shield?”
I thought about it for a moment. “It’s more like…” and I gave them a mental image of me encased in my Dragon wall inside of my crystal shield.
“Fascinating,” Amras breathed, and I could sense them both press against the shield. “There does not appear to be any openings.”
“It is quite different than either of the Drakes, yet they can sense you through it?”
“Jace says it’s like loud static.”
“Hmmm, I wonder… can you manipulate the size and shape of it?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never tried.”
“Can you sense anyone else across it, or over it, or around it?”
I shrugged. “I’ve only ever used it for defense, to keep other beings from poking around. I’ve never actually tried communicating through either shield.”
Amras took a deep breath and I felt h
im lift his own crystal shield to waist high. “Watch,” he whispered and in my mind I sensed Cursed lift his shield, which was darker, tinged around the edges with black. Both of their shields lifted over their heads and snapped into place. I should have been cut off from them but I could clearly sense them. As I watched, their shields slowed and I could literally see Amras’ thoughts slip through the in between spaces, cross to Cursed, and then in through his shield. It was like watching a bolt of electricity spearing from one’s shield to the other. I watched for several seconds as the light speared back and forth. Then Amras turned to me and said. “Now you try. Close just your lower shield and slow it. Then send your thought through the in between.”
I took another breath and raised my shield, letting my outer one fall completely away. I turned to Cursed, who stood with his shields dropped, and concentrated on slowing the speed, and watched as my thought tentatively reached for the edge of my shield and slid away.
“Imagine it sliding through,” Amras corrected.
And I tried again, and this time the thought pierced my shield and slammed into Cursed, nearly flattening him. My eyes snapped open and both Amras and Cursed were laughing, Cursed holding his hand to his chest as his eyes danced with amusement.
“Thank you, My Lady” Cursed chuckled. “I’m pleased you approve and he tipped his head to the side, sending his long black hair cascading over his shoulder. Falling into his lap, it lay there like an inky pool that invited my hands.”
I winced and blushed, wondering what had possessed me. No one spoke for several minutes as I mulled over what they told me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying their attention, yet it was somewhat disconcerting that the only feelings I sensed were benign and blandly pleasant. Obviously they were experts at masking their thoughts and I didn’t think I was up to poking at their shields just yet.
“In all of Faerie, in more than two millennia, I have never seen hair this color,” Cursed remarked, lifting a handful of my own hair and watching it slide through his fingers. “I can’t say that I like what the Demon did to it though.” He held up the ends above my eye level and I realized that when Kit had put me back, he’d neglected to fix my hair back to its normal length or remove the black tips. I was going to have to chat with him about that.
Dragon Lust Page 25
