Kiss the Dragon (Maidens Book One)

by Michelle Fox

  While I was messing with the door, Alec had managed to rouse Malcolm to the point of sitting up. He was groggy, but his eyes were open. He recognized me. “Sara.”

  “You okay, Malcolm?”

  “You shouldna be here. Tis a trap.”

  “I noticed,” I said.

  Alec helped Malcolm stand, supporting most of his brother’s weight with one shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  “Where? You’re locked in here until we say otherwise.” The tall, thin witch gave a smug smile. To me she said, “You’re finally ours and we’re not letting you go so easily.”

  Now Alec was the one rolling his eyes at his opponent’s stupidity. The only problem? I didn’t follow what mistake they’d made. I’d tried the door, it wasn’t going to open. As far as I could tell, the witches were right and we were all at their mercy, with me being the prize catch.

  I’d forgotten about Alec’s fire, though. And I’d underestimated him.

  He threw back his head and opened his mouth wide. A line of flame raced for the door. It hit the wood and ignited in a crackle of red. I stepped further into the room, not wanting to catch fire myself. The air became hot and heavy as the fire used up oxygen, but the door held.

  I shot Alec a worried look, but he didn’t seem concerned. Sucking in a deep breath, he blew out more fire, this time going for the wall. It was ablaze within seconds and whatever spell was on the door didn’t extend to the rest of the room. The dry wall crumbled and fell away in chunks, revealing the wooden studs underneath.

  The witches began to chant. What I didn’t know, but it probably wasn’t good news for us.

  “Come on,” I yelled, stepping between the studs to escape the room. The room was still very much ablaze, but I would rather stop-drop-and-roll than become property of some deranged witch coven.

  Alec dragged Malcolm forward, pausing only to break the studs to make room for their combined bulk to pass. The witches made to follow us, but Alec turned back and lobbed fireballs at them with his free hand. Whatever spells they’d cast, they hadn’t thought to fireproof anything, including themselves. Their robes started to burn, which kept them too busy trying not to die to bother with us.

  “Let’s go,” Alec roared, rushing past me.

  We all scrambled to leave the building. Alec threw more fireballs, setting the entire warehouse on fire. We burst through the door and into the night. I took deep breaths, enjoying the coolness of the air.

  With a snap, the voice came back, stinging me like a rubber band. I grit my teeth and muttered some choice words. The damn thing was shooting sparks through my nerves a lot like the original lightning strike. Off to my side, Alec began to yell. With some effort, I turned my head and saw…Alec unhurt but very angry. A dark scowl furrowed his face and his eyes flashed a mix of yellow and gold as if they might start shooting fire any second. It took me a moment to figure out what had upset him.

  Malcolm was gone.

  Again.

  “How?” I threw up my hands, thoroughly annoyed by his disappearance. Once was an accident, twice just made me paranoid.

  Alec’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Maybe we broke the spell and he went back.”

  I worried my bottom lip as I considered that theory. “Or they blocked the curse in the building, same as they blocked me. Once he was out here it went back into effect.”

  “Can you find him, lass?”

  “I can try.” Hearing a lot of noise behind us, I looked over my shoulder and saw witches spilling out of the building, dark and fiery as demons. I saw hair on fire, the affected witches clutching their heads and screaming. Others had flames licking the hems of their black robes. Several of them were headed my way, malice shining in their eyes. “But we’d better deal with them first.”

  Alec didn’t respond, but he did begin to shift, bringing out his dragon. This time the transformation came faster, taking just a few seconds. Most of the witches stopped at his unexpected appearance, but a few kept coming. I widened my stance and prepared myself. If they used magic I was out of luck, so I would just have to make sure they didn’t have time. Leaning down I scooped up a handful of small stones and threw them at the closest witch, aiming right for her eyes.

  She flinched, but kept coming. I braced myself for impact as she barreled into me. I fell back, unable to withstand her forward momentum. The ground slammed into my spine, sharp bits of gravel digging into my skin through my shirt. All the air left my lungs in one big whoosh and I struggled to breathe as the witch began to chant under her breath.

  Alec had finished his shift and shot flames at the witches at a machine-gun pace, but I needed him to help me. I was in trouble. Magic gathered in the air, sniffing at me and preparing to strike. Clawing at the witch’s face, I tried to wiggle out from under her, but it took enormous effort to move, like I was pushing through molasses. Unseen weight pressed down on me, pinning me to the ground.

  Just in case I didn’t have enough problems, the future shoved its way into the action, opening up in my mind like one of those amusement park rides that drops you from the top of a tower. I had to close my eyes or risk throwing up from the dissonance of my physical reality and the metaphysical one. The movie screen popped up again and the voice spoke with the authority of thunder. This witch is important. You have to save her.

  Why? I asked. Since when did the voice care about saving anyone other than me?

  She is a maiden.

  Well, shit. In that case, I need to get her to Scotland ASAP.

  No, said the voice.

  No what? Save her, don’t save her, just make up your mind. I don’t have a lot of time here. In the physical realm, my body had frozen on the ground, but the weight of the witch continued to rest on my stomach. It hurt, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

  Save her, but leave her behind. She’s not ready for Scotland. She’s still evil.

  You expect that to change? Are you sure she’s a maiden? Would the dragons really be interested in a wicked witch? And should I really help her? As usual, the voice talked, but never managed to say anything meaningful.

  The movie screen sped up then and I got the gist of the witch’s future. She needed to find a new path and tonight was the start of that journey. The witches had led her astray, but she would be worthy of her dragon if I could buy her the time she needed.

  The movie screen disappeared after that and the voice fell silent. I opened my eyes, I could move at least that much, and strained to catch sight of Alec. From the corner of my eye, I could see he had dealt with all the witches except for my attacker. Motionless lumps of black dotted the parking lot, most of them covered in crackling fire.

  Victory still was not ours, though. While I’d been caught up in the future, the witch on top of me had lodged a sharp knife at my throat in the present. Her other hand, she held out to Alec, palm up as if she were a cop directing traffic.

  “Don’t move or she’ll bleed to death.” She dug the knife into my skin.

  I held very, very still and tried to figure out my next move. So much for Alec saving me. He could only do that at the expense of his brothers and I couldn’t do that to him. It was up to me to figure this one out.

  “Let her go, witch,” Alec said, his voice distorted in dragon form. The Scottish accent was lost to a deep guttural tone. “Or I’ll burn you to ash.”

  “You do that and she won’t be nothing but a bloodless corpse.”

  I tried to talk, but my throat wouldn’t work, whether from the spell or fear of the knife I couldn’t tell. Gritting my teeth, I tried again and managed to squeeze out, “We need to talk.”

  The witch looked at me, surprise mixing with derision on her face. She was pretty enough, with auburn hair and pale green eyes. Her mouth formed a generous rosebud and her figure was all soft curves, the kind men liked to conquer. Whichever dragon was hers would fall hard for her…if she lived long enough to be his maiden.

  “About what?” asked the witch.

  “Your future.”


  “See something, did you?” Pulling the knife back a bit, she said, “Go ahead. I’ve heard about your power, but this will be the first I’ve ever seen it. I have to say I’m curious.”

  “This isn’t your path. You’re not going to kill me,” I said. “Not unless you want to die, too.”

  The edge of the knife slid into my neck again. “You’re my insurance policy. The reason why the dragon over there isn’t going to light me up like a firework.”

  “Listen to me.” I stared hard into her eyes, trying to impress her with the truth of what I was about to say. “You need to live. I don’t want you to die. You’re meant to do something other than this. Let me go and leave. I’ll handle the dragon. He won’t touch you.”

  “He burned my sisters,” she said with a sniff.

  “They weren’t your sisters.” I caught a snippet of a vision. A flash that strobed in my mind’s eye. There and then gone and this time a future that never would be. A first for me. Would the wonders of the voice never cease?

  “You were new, right?” At her nod, I continued, drawing on what I’d seen. “They were going to sacrifice you at the next ritual. You were just a blood offering to them. Don’t call them sisters.” I wondered, when she saw me again, if I would be considered a sister? Would we be that close? Was the happy ending I’d glimpsed in my vision really going to happen?

  Yes, the voice assured me just as the witch lifted the knife off my neck.

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked, her eyes wide.

  “Believe me, don’t believe me, but know this is your one chance to live. If you don’t take it, he,” I pointed to Alec with my chin, “will come for you. Choose wisely, witch.”

  She swallowed hard, but stood and backed away from me. Snapping her fingers she murmured something under her breath. The heaviness pinning me down dissipated and I could move freely again. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the fact that my limbs were all numb.

  As for the witch, she looked shell-shocked and much younger than I realized. I imagined she had no idea what she was signing up for when she joined the coven. Perhaps they had even conned her into joining. I could see the witches scooping up vulnerable runaways. Homeless kids would make the perfect sacrifice, no one would notice when they went missing.

  “It’ll be okay,” I said to her, my voice gentle. “You made a mistake, but now you get to fix it.” I waved to the smoldering remains of the other witches. “You were chosen for a special fate, one none of them deserved. Don’t waste it.”

  Alec moved to go for her, not understanding what was happening between us. I held up my hand to stop him. “Let her go. It doesn’t end here for her.” He gave me a questioning look, which in dragons, manifested as raising the eyebrows almost as high as his ears. His copper tinged eyes met mine, probing. I held firm and motioned for the witch to go. She didn’t hesitate, and with a snap of her fingers and a few muttered words she disappeared, gone as if she’d never been.

  “Don’t worry, she’s not going to bother us,” I said at Alec’s perplexed expression. He’d drawn up his eyebrows until they almost made a teepee over his nose.

  “Malcolm,” he said.

  I nodded and closed my eyes. “Let me see what I can do.” I didn’t poke at the voice this time, I was done playing. Instead, I rattled it, hard. It rose up in me, agitated and flustered.

  Where’s Malcolm?

  Snaking its way through my nervous system, the voice murmured something too low for me to hear. Then it laughed, a high shrieking sound that made me wince. Every muscle in my body tensed as I tried to rein in the voice’s power. It fought me, thrashing until I dropped to my knees, but I didn’t let it win. The voice was part of me and it couldn’t get away from me, not when I was this determined.

  Show me Malcolm or I swear I’ll figure out that witch’s spell and you’ll be on mute as long as I live.

  That stunned the voice into silence, and after a moment, it finally gave me what I wanted. Opening my eyes, I said, “Malcolm is fine. He’s back at the castle.”

  Alec’s eyebrows relaxed as he took in the news. “Thank the gods,” he said casting his words skyward.

  Locating his wallet on the asphalt, I scooped it up. Then, pointing to what remained of his clothing, “I think the only problem now is that you have no clothes.”

  He chuckled, the sound low and deep in his enormous chest. Then leaning down, he carefully wrapped one claw around me and lifted me up. I gasped as I went airborne. I trusted him, I did, but I also didn’t relish the idea of my legs dangling from twenty feet in the air. Alec gently transferred me to his back.

  “I want to take you somewhere,” he said, his voice rumbling like an earthquake. “Somewhere special.”

  “Where is that?” I asked, sinking into the smooth warmth that made up his skin.

  “In the north there are hot springs. Dragons have gone there for centuries with their maidens.”

  “Do you know how to get there? I thought you hadn’t been here before.”

  “Aye, I do.” He looked to the skyline, taking in the city lights that twinkled in the dark. “I havena seen this place in the modern era, but we dragons have flown the world, mapping it out long before humans did.”

  Off in the distance, thunder boomed and lightning flickered, drawing our attention.

  Alec craned his neck so that one large eye could meet my gaze. “You okay to fly?”

  I watched the storm for a moment. It was a small thunder cell, nothing like the one that had brought the voice or taken Malcolm. “I’m good. I don’t think that storm is looking for me.”

  Alec nodded and with one flap of his wings, we were airborne, flying off to a place only dragons knew how to find.

  Chapter Eight

  Iceland. I was in friggin’ Iceland and wearing a tiny bikini, although Alec kept trying to peel it off me. He didn’t even bother with a swimsuit and was doing a good job convincing me I should do the same. By which, I meant, he kept slipping fingers under the fabric and stroking my nipples or the juicy cleft between my legs.

  We had a suite at a swanky hotel, but we avoided the hot springs there because of all the tourists. Besides, Alec knew of better places to swim. Every morning after breakfast, we collected a basket of food from the hotel kitchen, and then Alec led me outside, far enough away that no one would see him shift. Once he changed, he would set me on his back, and clutching the picnic basket in one claw, he flew me to remote hot springs surrounded by rocks and blue sky.

  It was heaven.

  Although, despite it being summer, Iceland was colder than I would’ve expected.

  Without the pressure of having to save Malcolm, we could slow down and savor each other. I’d been so uncertain when we first met, but now I knew, without a doubt, that I was in love with Alec. From the way he looked at me, I could tell he felt the same way. There was a soft, golden gleam in his eyes and the corners of his mouth would quirk up in a half smile whenever he saw me. It was a smile he gave to no one else, one meant only for me.

  “Shouldn’t we head back to Scotland?” I’d asked when we first arrived. It had been dark then and I’d had no idea where we were. We could have flown to another planet for all I’d known.

  “I’ll call and check on things at home, but you and I need this time, lass. We deserve to know each other without danger at our door.”

  I’d been a bit leery of playing hooky, no matter how fun. I felt pressure to hurry back to Scotland and make sure Malcolm was okay as well as ask if he could use some of his magic to either get rid of the voice or contain it so it would stop running my life. When I took the pulse of the energy around me, though, it was serene and smooth. As for the voice, it had gone dormant. Perhaps it was taking a breather, too.

  And when Alec called his brothers, we learned our suspicions had been correct. The witches had interrupted, but not broken the curse. Once we did away with their magic, the spell reversed and deposited Malcolm back on top of the castle turret,
in the very spot he’d disappeared. He was fine, if a little shaken up, and already trying to puzzle out their spell for me to use.

  Alec was probably right, we should enjoy ourselves, but I’d lived on the edge so long, I couldn’t relax. I kept wanting to run.

  “What was the story with that witch you saved?” Alec asked me one morning as he waded into the frothy, bubbling water of the hot spring.

  I followed him into the water, relishing the heat that immediately soaked my skin. The summer air here ran cool. “She has a future that matters. If you’d killed her, there would have been problems down the line.”

  I’d decided not to tell him all of what I’d seen. I could only imagine how he would hunt the witch down and deliver her to his brothers. Not only did I want to avoid tempting him, I also wanted to be careful about openly using my unwanted power. Honesty had caused me no end of trouble. This time, I vowed to err on the side of discretion.

  “Is that all you’re going to tell me?” He caught me in his arms and forced me to meet his eyes.

  I didn’t blink and regarded him calmly. “Yes.”

  “I donna like secrets,” he said, his voice gruff.

  “I’m not keeping secrets,” I said. “Her future doesn’t belong to either of us. It’s none of our business.”

  “Well, at least you are my business,” he said, lowering his head until our mouths met. Our lips collided and I shivered as he sucked on my bottom lip. Taking a breath, he said, “Someday you will trust me with everything, Sara. I will prove myself worthy.”

  I put a finger to his lips, keeping him from kissing me again. “You’re already worthy, Alec. This isn’t about trust, it’s about what’s right. I’m yours, but this power I have isn’t. It doesn’t even belong to me.”

  “Just don’t hide too much from me, lass. I’m your other half now. Lean on me, let me protect you. You’re not alone anymore.”

  I cupped his face in my hand. “Thank you. And you’re not alone anymore either.”

  He snorted. “What are my brothers? Chopped liver?”

  “No, but they aren’t your maiden now, are they? They aren’t me.” I raised my chin, daring him to disagree.