by Mary Karlik
“What’s not safe? What are you not telling me?”
He opened his mouth to speak, and a black forked tongue darted out. He pulled it back in and clamped his lips shut. Every muscle in his face tensed, and his neck bulged as if he were swallowing the thing down. “Please. Stay. Away.” The words came out choppy as if he’d pushed them from his gut, past the dragon, and forced them between his lips.
“Let me help you.” Her heart pounded, and fear flowed up her spine. Was he turning dragon from the inside out? Would he shed his human skin like Miranda had? No. She wouldn’t let him lose this battle.
Dark clouds covered the sun. He raised his eyes to the sky. “It’s too late.” He ran toward the summit of the crag.
Layla sprinted after him. His back twitched, and she was sure his scales were glowing. If the dragon-spirit forced a shift, then Ian wouldn’t have control. It wouldn’t be just the fairies who were at risk. They were all in danger.
She had to help him. She had to stop him.
Her heart pounded as she ran up the steep incline, and her chest burned. She tried to gulp deep breaths, but lung-seizing, throat-tightening fear refused to allow air in. She was reduced to a stumbling, gasping walk as she made her way to the crest of the crag.
“The dragon does not control you!” she screamed at his back. But the wind scattered her words, and she wasn’t sure he’d heard her.
He turned to face her in a rigid, unnatural movement. “Back away.” His pupils had elongated into slits, and his muscles twitched.
Layla ran to him and took his face in her hands. “Think about the painting.”
He jerked away from her and looked up at the sky. “It’s coming.”
She raised her gaze, too, and the fear that had a hold on her system turned into terror.
Dark clouds swirled above the crest of Arthur’s Seat, and an eerie silence permeated the air. Energy crackled across her skin, but it wasn’t her magic. This was something different, dark, and dangerous.
“Layla, get out of here.” The tone in Ian’s voice went from tense to frantic and dragged her pulse along with it.
Lightning cracked. And from the center of the swirling black clouds, fire shot across the sky.
Behind the fire was a red dragon.
The dragon roared over the thunder and blasted a volley of fire. It spread its wings wide and circled above Arthur’s Seat.
Ian shifted into his dragon form and shot after the invading beast. He didn’t bother hitting the intruder with fire. He slammed into the dragon dead-on, and the two somersaulted through the air.
Layla watched. Frozen. Terrified. Unable to move. Unable to flick even a spark of magic to try to save Ian.
The red dragon dove away from Ian and circled a few meters above Layla. Smoke billowed from its nostrils as it hovered aloft with its front legs poised for another attack.
Layla’s pulse pounded in her head. Her breath stalled in her throat just like when she watched Fauth murder her people—her parents. She wanted to scream at him to run, to hide. But she was frozen and helpless just like when she was a bairn.
Ian let out a ground-shaking roar, shot fire, and attacked.
Red was ready for him and slammed an open-clawed foot around Ian’s neck. It closed its talon, cutting into Ian’s throat. Blood dripped from the wound and splattered onto the moss-covered boulder near where Layla stood.
She gasped as her throat tightened in response to the pain Ian felt. That gasp, that tiny sip of air, was enough to her bring her back into motion. She threw a blue flow of magic at Red.
Red released Ian, and relief rushed through her—until the dragon turned toward her.
Before one breath led to the next, it flew straight at her with talons open, ready to strike. When it was less than five meters from her, Ian slammed into it. She had to duck to avoid Ian’s tail as he pushed Red away from her.
The two dragons circled high and faced each other. They both let out a roar and charged. The impact of their collision echoed as the two dragons tumbled above the crag.
Fire and smoke, magic and evil filled the air. Lightning cracked again, and the world listed counterclockwise. The shift knocked Layla to the ground, and there was a change in the air pressure.
A patch of blue appeared in the black swirling clouds. Layla tried to get to her feet, but whatever magic had opened the sky kept her flat on the ground. She cringed, expecting the dragons to tumble to the ground as well.
But instead of forcing the dragons to the earth, the energy pulled them into the hole in the sky as if they were feathers in a whirlwind. And as soon as the dragons had slipped into the patch of blue, the rift between the two worlds closed behind them, and the world righted again.
Stunned silence echoed around the crag. Layla staggered to her feet still staring at the black sky, desperately wishing she could reverse what had just happened.
She peered through the dragon smoke snaking between the boulders and turned a slow circle as if she’d find Ian standing next to her, or behind her, or across the grass. But she knew she wouldn’t. He’d fallen into a world with magic and rules he wouldn’t understand and dragons he didn’t know how to fight.
Buzzard stood on the other side of a grassy area flanked by the rest of Ian’s Specialist Crime Division team. All three men taller, stronger, and more human than her. And all three men looked as lost as a pixie in a honey-high daze.
“I lost him.” Her voice was shrill and desperate.
Buzzard hurried to her and grabbed her by the arm. “People are starting to gather. We need to go.”
“Did you not see the world split open and swallow Ian?” Layla twisted from his grip and shoved him hard with both hands. “What is wrong with you?”
Her shove was barely enough to make him take a step back. “And how are we supposed to get him back? Are you going to fly up there and open the hole into the other world?”
She looked up at him and tried to think of a reply. She wanted to argue, she wanted to fight. Anything to get rid of the frustration and anger that was growing in her muscles. But he was right, and he knew it.
Theo walked to her. “The fairies are in the van in the car park. Let’s get them to safety.” His eyes were soft, and his tone reeked of compassion and sorrow. But that made her angrier. She didn’t want nice. She wanted to yell, to hit something, to deny her failure.
A few humans still looked at the sky, but most were running up the trail to the flat top of the crag. “What do we tell the humans?” Layla asked.
“We don’t tell them anything.” Buzzard ushered her to the van and pulled open the door.
A police car screamed up the hill with sirens blaring and screeched to a halt in the car park. Assistant Chief Constable McIntyre got out of the driver’s side and spoke over the top of the car to a uniformed officer exiting from the passenger side. “Take the bystander statements. And keep them away from here.”
The officer walked to the small crowd gathered not far from the van, and McIntyre made his way to Buzzard. His face was nearly purple. “Dragons? Do you know how many calls? That’s a lot of witnesses. That’s a lot of explaining to do. Where’s Cameron?”
Buzzard folded his arms across his wide chest and looked at his feet before raising his gaze to McIntyre. “It took him. The sky opened up and swallowed him.” The words came out in a crack. The first part low and angry, the second part high and scared.
The chief’s face went from red to white, and Layla was sure that even though he didn’t know where Ian was, he knew it was beyond bad. “What do you mean the sky took him?”
“He was one of the dragons. He went after the red dragon, and the magic world took him.”
The chief looked at Layla and then the other agents. “I want to know what’s going on. Not bits and pieces. The whole story.” He pointed inside the cargo area of the van. “And what’s in those boxes?”
“Fairies, sir,” Theo answered.
“Fairies? You brought fairies out in the op
en?”
“Yes, sir.” Theo nodded.
“We had to get them away from the iron in the city,” Jack said.
The chief looked at Buzzard. “So you chose the most crowded tourist spot you could find?”
Buzzard rubbed a hand across his hair. “No, sir. We’re on the way to the country when things went south.”
The chief looked at the crowd gathering around the police officer. “We’ll try to spin this as some sort of hoax.” His mouth drew tight. “Now. I want to know what’s going on.”
Buzzard told the chief everything from when they caught Layla to when she defeated Fauth. He explained how Layla had found the missing fairies and how Ian had been poisoned by dragon blood, which had made him a shifter. He didn’t tell McIntyre that the dragon who had poisoned Ian was Ian’s missing flatmate, or that Ian struggled to control the dragon, or that the city was probably still in danger.
The chief focused on the ground as he listened. When Buzzard was finished, McIntyre snapped his gaze up. “Can you get him back?”
“No.” Buzzard’s gaze stayed away from Layla, but his tone shot right into her heart. She should have done more. She should have tried to go after him. Instead, she stood and watched and did nothing.
The accusation in that one word was so thick and so heavy that it nearly doubled her over. Her legs went wobbly like they wanted to give way and drop her to the ground. Maybe she should’ve given into her legs, maybe then she could’ve breathed, maybe then she could’ve controlled the tremors that rattled through her body. Maybe then she could forget that she’d lost Ian.
Chapter Three
Ian’s heart thundered against his ribs. He brought his dragon wings forward in a frantic attempt to block the power pulling him toward the hole in the black cloud. He tried to push back with his legs, but the movement was as useless as the forward pump of his wings.
It wasn’t just external forces he was fighting. The dragon-spirit in him wanted control. And not just control of wings, tail, and fire. It wanted to fly right into the eye of the storm.
Ian pictured the painting. The saint. The spear. The dragon defeated. None of it worked. Chills spread from tail to snout as he realized he couldn’t stop it. The dragon-spirit was in control, and it wasn’t just allowing the magic to take him. It flew straight through the hole and into the world beyond the black clouds.
Fueled by fear, Ian managed to recover control and stop his skid across the sky before smacking into Red. He turned back toward the opening between the worlds. His pulse raced, and his lungs sucked in quick breaths as he pumped his wings toward the gap. It was closing, but he had to try. He roared from his gut and stretched his front legs toward the black beyond the blue.
The dragon-spirit fought back and forced him to pull straight up and away from his escape. Anger burned in Ian’s heart. He tensed his muscles and mentally drove the spear into the dragon, twisting it in the spirit’s throat until it gave in. Ian turned back to the opening. But too late, the blue sky had closed around the black and sealed the human world—his world—away.
Raged filled him as he turned back to face the red dragon.
Ian had no idea how to battle Red. The dragon-spirit inside him knew and wanted nothing more than to battle. He was tempted to let the beast have its way. But it was stronger in this world, and Ian wasn’t confident he could overpower the spirit when he needed to.
Instead, he went to his military-trained brain and searched for a way out of the mess. He knew he couldn’t outrun Red and couldn’t outfight him, but if he was lucky, he could outsmart the dragon.
“Okay, Red. Show me what you have.” Ian tried to shout in human, but all that erupted from him were a series of screeches.
Red responded with a streak of fire aimed at Ian’s head.
He’d meant to tip left to avoid the flames. He put too much oomph in the maneuver and barrel-rolled at least three revolutions before stopping. Red was still hot on his tail.
Barely dodging another volley of flames, Ian dove beneath the forest canopy and flew wildly between the trees.
A fearsome screech echoed from somewhere behind him, and Ian’s gut tightened. Red was coming. Anticipation tingled through him as he waited for the right moment. When he felt the heat of Red’s breath on the spiked end of his tail, Ian dropped to the ground. His belly skidded across the earth, stirring up dirt and leaves in its wake as Red zipped past him.
The dragon was so surprised that it turned its head to look behind. Fortunately for Ian, it looked away just as its body slammed into the solid trunk of a beech tree. The impact not only felled the tree, but it also sent Red careening into a second tree and then a third.
When Red stopped, it didn’t move, and Ian hoped he’d won the battle.
He swallowed past a lump that had formed in his throat and lifted his wings from the ground. He stepped as lightly and quietly as he could manage and made his way to the downed dragon. Red’s eyes were closed, but he was alive and, judging by the puffs of smoke he exhaled, was either out of breath or injured. Ian hoped for injured—seriously injured.
He eased closer. What now? Did he kill him? And how would he kill him? He haunched on his back legs and surveyed Red. He couldn’t see obvious injuries. How would he know? He’d been in dragon form exactly three times.
The puffs of smoke stopped, and Ian’s breath caught in his throat. Was he dead?
He edged closer.
Red’s eyes popped open, and he let out a tree-rattling screech.
Ian scrambled back and prepared to fight.
Red spread his wings and pushed from the ground. He flew straight into the sky and disappeared above the forest canopy. The dragon was gone.
The battle was over—for now. But instead of feeling relief, fear crawled up Ian’s spine. He couldn’t let the feeling consume him. He was former special forces after all. Squelching the urge to panic was what he’d been trained for.
He took a few deep breaths and slowed his racing thoughts until his mind was calm enough to click through the things he knew about his situation.
He was stuck presumably in the magic world. On the positive side, there had to be a way back to his world because Red had managed it. And why had Red managed it? What was it after?
His insides twisted so hard he hunched over. He felt as if his heart had been punched against his spine. Urgency. Desperation. And utter helplessness poured through him.
Layla. The dragon was there for Layla. She’d killed their leader. She was a powerful fairy with magic harvesting abilities. It made sense that they’d want to either kill or capture her. And if the dragons had breached the wall between the worlds once, they could do it again.
He had to find his way back. He had to protect Layla.
He launched into the sky and circled above the trees to gain some sense of the world he’d been dragged into. To his right, the mountain looked as if the side had been scooped away and carpeted with lush green grass. On his left, a body of Caribbean-blue water stretched all the way to the horizon. It reminded him of the Quiraing near his childhood home in Skye.
The first time he’d shifted into dragon form, his vision was skewed like he was looking through a kaleidoscope. It didn’t take him long to learn that if he focused in the center of his vision, the colors merged enhancing what he saw. Was the beauty of this place due to his dragon vision, or was it simply that spectacular?
He glided over the water and dove straight down pulling up just in time to skim his belly against the waves. Circling around, he flew to the grassy green cliffs and found he could ride thermals, rising from the ground to gain altitude without pumping his wings. The smell of the salt in the sea breeze was invigorating. His heart lightened as if it had taken flight too. He scanned the sky for the red dragon. Red was nowhere in sight, and panic slammed through him.
Had Red gone back to the human world? Was Layla safe? Because of that piece of her soul in him, she felt his pain, but it was a one-way system. His soul hadn’t been bound
to hers. He couldn’t feel her pain. He couldn’t know if the dragon attacked.
He had to land and sort things out.
To one side of the cliffs, the ground sloped to the sea. A small clump of trees grew close enough to the beach to provide protection for him in human form. It was a place he could rest and plan.
He circled low toward the trees and extended his legs as he prepared to land. But before he touched down, a sudden stabbing pain collapsed his right wing and sent him careening into the side of the cliff. He hit the rocks like a wrecking ball before dropping like a dead weight to the ground below.
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind echoed around him. Thunder boomed inside his head, and fire burned in his back. Someone or something kicked his ribs, and he realized he was in his human form. His naked human form.
His hand instinctively went to his nether regions to protect himself as he forced his lids open. A tall, thin figure stood over him with the tip of a sword pointed at his neck.
Ian’s throat felt as if he’d swallowed half of the beach as he’d crash-landed, and his breaths came in short, painful gasps. Raising a bloody hand, he pressed his palm against the sword tip and rasped, “Please.” The word barely made it through his lips before he lost consciousness.
Ian awoke with a shiver. A wool blanket covered him from toes to shoulders with a little left over. But the stone floor beneath him was damp, and the air around him was so cold his breath came out in little puffs of smoke.
Throbbing surged from the left side of his scalp and pounded through his head with each beat of his pulse. Reaching to inspect the area, he found his hair was matted with dried blood. Head injury. Probably from hitting the rock face of the cliffs. I don’t know what day it is, but I know my name is Ian Cameron, and I’m a Specialist Crime Division agent, so no major concussion.
A shudder rippled down his spine sending a searing pain across his scapula. Wincing, he held his breath until the pain decreased to a manageable level. Whatever had damaged his dragon wing had obviously stuck around to torture his human form. Dragon wing. He should probably amend his memory check to former Specialist Crime Division agent. Even if he managed to find his way back to the human world, he was fairly sure his newly acquired ability to dragon shift would disqualify him from the Scottish police. But none of that would matter if he didn’t survive this place.
