“I am not above saying I told you so,” Carling murmured. “Neither one of you communicated with each other very well last summer, and you both need to get over it and move on.”
Rune looked at his mate sourly. Carling raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes in response. Their nonverbal interaction was so like a married couple’s that Pia had to smile. Whatever had added edges to Rune’s expression, it didn’t seem to have anything to do with his relationship with Carling.
Just then Pia’s skin prickled, and the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck raised. She turned around as Dragos stepped out of the building.
Immediately his attention focused on them. His machete-edged features went still, and those gold, dangerous eyes of his reflected the lights from the nearby torches. He strode toward them, a natural juggernaut with a force of will that could move heaven and earth if he so desired. Both Wyr and Elves scrambled to get out of his path.
Nobody did expressionless quite like Dragos did, the muscles in his massive body coiled with intent. Even though she felt an intimacy with him that stemmed from some deep, instinctive recognition, in some ways he was the most unpredictable person she had ever met.
Then of course after whatever happened next, they had that whole war thing with Gaeleval to consider. Every day with Dragos turned into an adventure. She took a deep breath and braced herself for a bumpy ride.
• • •
Just after the runner had brought the news that the Wyr had arrived, Graydon said in Dragos’s head, We’re here, all the sentinels except Grym, who got the short straw. We brought a hundred of our strongest Wyr just as you ordered. Some are regular army, and some are from the Games, plus there’s two more.
Dragos frowned. That meant Grym had stayed home to keep the peace in New York, which was standard protocol for the sentinels when something extraordinary called them away, but the last bit puzzled him. Plus two?
When I made the announcement to halt the Games, Rune asked me what happened, so I told him, Graydon replied. At least I told him what I knew. He and Carling came to help.
Reaction pulsed through Dragos, every bit as complex as when he had first caught that faint whiff of Rune in the arena. He looked around the chaos in the Elven cell block. Those who had died had been discovered, and a frantic effort was being made to revive them with CPR. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t work. Their spirits had already left their bodies, although he doubted anyone would appreciate it if he pointed that out.
He said to Calondir, “There is nothing else I can do here.”
Distracted, Calondir nodded. “I will be up momentarily.” The High Lord’s gaze lifted to his. “We must not delay any longer.”
“Agreed.” He said to Graydon, I’m on my way.
An echo of his earlier thoughts ghosted through his head again as he walked outside, Miguel following close on his heels.
You should have said something earlier.
I should have listened better to you.
He stepped into the death-scented night, caught sight of Pia and Eva standing with Rune and Carling, and clenched his jaw as he strode toward them. Everyone else swirled away from him, like sparks shooting from the flames of the forest fire, each one a bright but ephemeral light. Even the Elves, who were so long-lived in comparison to many others, seemed ephemeral to him, and so easily extinguished.
He stopped and crossed his arms when he reached the quartet. His frowning gaze traveled from Pia, who stood side by side with her bodyguard, to Rune and at last to Carling, where his gaze lingered. The witch returned his regard with equanimity, her expression calm.
Whatever she and Rune had done when they had gotten together last summer, they had caused reality to shift so that the other gryphons felt it a continent away in New York. And they had done it not once, but three times—four if Dragos counted that last, strange ripple that had occurred in the confrontation in the meadow at the Oracle’s. The events were disturbing and mysterious, and Dragos did not like disturbing mysteries.
“I am surprised that you are still alive,” he said to her.
Carling smiled. “No one is more surprised about that than I am.”
The dragon took jealous note of the affectionate glance she gave Rune and that he returned.
Then Dragos relaxed and shook his head, and finally let it all go.
“I’m not sorry,” he said to Rune. “We were overextended, I didn’t know she was salvageable, and you were not expendable.” He paused then added slowly, “But I should have listened when you asked me to.”
Rune sucked a tooth, considering what Dragos said. Then he replied, “I think I was in denial about mating for a long time, and I should have said something sooner. But I’m not sorry either. You were pigheaded and autocratic.”
There was that word again. Dragos sighed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Carling put a casual hand over her mouth. Pia didn’t even bother to hide her smile. “Do you know how much the blasted Games are costing me?” Dragos demanded. “I never would have bothered to hold them to replace just one sentinel.”
Rune grinned. “I’ve seen Cuelebre Enterprises’ bank accounts. You can afford it.”
Dragos glowered at his former First. He asked telepathically, Are you doing well—is she well?
The gryphon sobered. We’re both very well, thank you. It’s good to see you and Pia doing so well too.
Dragos switched back to verbal conversation. “And what are you two doing? You’ve got a hell of a lot of talent gathering in Miami. It’s making people nervous.”
Rune and Carling exchanged another intimate, smiling glance.
Rune said, “We decided to collect underutilized resources. I like the consulting I’ve been doing for the Miami Police Department. We’re setting up a consulting agency, only we’re going to expand and take it international.”
“Consulting for what?” Dragos asked.
His mind shifted as he mulled over that piece of news. A “consulting agency” run by Rune and Carling would have almost limitless possibilities. It could be useful to contract out some things to an agency that was not officially connected to the Wyr demesne. And it would be very useful to have access to Rune’s particular talents again, to . . . talk things over with him from time to time.
They might never be what they once were, but they could be something else, something new. And who the hell knew? Maybe it would even be something better. Something without him being the lord and Rune his servant. Something that was more simply and equitably friendship.
“Let’s talk about it later,” Rune told him. “We’re still working on definitions.”
He nodded and clapped Rune on the shoulder. The other man gave him a crooked smile.
Just then Graydon walked up, his hands in his pockets. Dragos watched from lowered eyelids as Pia threw her arms around the big man, who hugged her back.
Graydon told him, “It might not look like it at the moment, but we’re actually pretty organized. The Elves are taking us in groups of ten to wait at the crossover passage. We’re ready to go whenever they are.”
“Calondir said he would be out momentarily.” Speaking of which, Dragos turned to Pia. “I need to talk to you.”
Rune gave him a nod, then he, Carling and Graydon backed away. Eva made as if to join them. “Don’t go far,” Pia said to her.
Eva smiled. “I won’t. Just gonna hang a little out of the way.”
Dragos waited until the bodyguard captain had stepped several feet away. Then he considered Pia’s upturned face. It was impossible for him to feel more for her than he already did. She had been through so much last year, and the thought of anything else happening to her made him more than a little crazy. He laid the tips of his fingers along the gorgeous, slender curve of her neck.
He said, I want to see you in that harem outfit again, bells and a
ll.
Her eyes lit up, and a grin played around the corners of her mouth. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in that sheikh outfit again either. The half-bared chest is a good look on you.
She looked so mischievous he had to smile, even as he clenched with the desire to kiss her senseless. He flashed to an image of bending her back over his arm as he ravished her mouth, and he could tell by her heavy-lidded expression that she had caught the drift of his thoughts.
He stroked along the delicate curve of her collarbone, relishing the satin softness of her skin. His callused fingers were so rough in comparison he made sure his touch was light and careful so that he did not mark her.
Then his smile faded, and as he grew serious, so did she. He said, I want you to stay here when we cross over.
She pursed her luscious lips as she studied his face thoughtfully. I’m not going to do that, Dragos.
His autocratic side fought to take control. He battered it into submission. I really want you to change your mind, he told her. The gods only know what we’re going to find on the other side of that crossover passage, but whether it happens directly on the other side or some distance away, we’re going to see more bloodshed. It’s going to get ugly and dangerous, and while you have many strengths that we have only just begun to explore, you are not a creature of war.
She nodded slowly. That’s true, I’m not. But even though I do know things are going to get ugly, I’m still not going to stay behind.
He pushed air out of his bared teeth as frustration clawed at him. He growled, “This decision does not make sense to me. You are going to hate it.”
“That’s also true,” she said quietly. “I will. But you would not stay behind while I crossed over to an Other land, would you?”
He glared at her. “The two scenarios do not compare.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “In a way they don’t, but in a way they do too.” She gave him a level look and said in an even softer tone of voice that nevertheless held an edge of inflexible steel. “As Eva said, you’re Powerful as shit and older than dirt, but I will not stay behind when there may be any risk to you. That’s not going to happen, Dragos. I’m pretty easygoing most of the time, and there aren’t very many lines I feel the need to draw, but this is one of them. I know you’re going to be in the thick of things, and I will be on hand if you need healing. I may also get involved if any of the sentinels are critically injured, or if there is anything I can do for Beluviel. She was kind, and that matters a lot to me. Other than that, I have no grand agenda nor do I have an ax to grind. I will be sensible, and I will keep my guards around me, and I am going. End of discussion.”
“End of discussion?” he said, staring at her. He was fairly certain he had never heard anyone say such a thing to him before.
One corner of her mouth lifted. “Yup.”
He bent over her until they were nose to nose. “Do not think for one minute that I have forgotten how you ordered me out of the room earlier,” he whispered.
“Actually I had kind of forgotten about that.” Her gaze widened. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.” He slid his own hand to the back of her neck, gripping her gently. “Do you know what I thought?”
She shook her head, staring at him mesmerized. “Huh-uh.”
He growled, “I thought it was sexy as hell.”
Her lovely, triangular features lit up. Surreptitiously she slipped her fingers into the edge of his black fatigues at his waist, and she tugged at the material gently. “I don’t suppose we could put off this whole war thing until we got ten or twelve hours in the sack, could we? We could send a note to Gaeleval and ask him to take a day off.”
Invisible fire danced along his skin. He bent to brush her lips with his. “If we had any chance of that succeeding, I would be all for it.”
“It’s been much too long,” she whimpered.
He swallowed the tiny sound she made as the fire reached his brain. Before Pia, he had gone centuries between taking lovers, and he had never felt the lack. The women meant nothing. He had never remembered their names, and now he couldn’t remember their faces.
He mouthed against her pouting lips, “We still haven’t added manacles to any of the bedrooms. That’s going to be the first thing we take care of when we get back home.”
“Yeah, okay,” she muttered, as her body trembled. He slipped an arm around her waist, holding her against him. Her head fell back and she looked at him with glazed, unfocused eyes. “Dragos?”
“Yes,” he murmured. They were surrounded by people, but there was nobody else, anywhere, nobody at all.
“We’re going to get married, right?”
He would have smiled at how dazed she looked, except he knew exactly how she felt. What they generated together was blinding. She was not only the most precious person in the universe to him, but she was also the most powerful. “I can’t believe you framed that as a question.”
She tried to scowl at him. “I was using the question as a conversation starter.”
He licked at her lower lip. “And?”
She didn’t sound like she could breathe right. “And I wanted to know if we were going to go on a honeymoon too. We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”
He lifted his head. Actually, he hadn’t thought much beyond the big diamond ring and a lavish public display where the whole world watched as he claimed her. “Of course we are going on a honeymoon,” he said. “What kind do you want?”
She heaved a big sigh. “No bodyguards,” she said dreamily. “No urgent business calls, and no sentinels. No housecleaners or staff of any kind—and certainly that means no Stanford, even though he’ll claim to be heartbroken, of course. If you think he wouldn’t dream of intruding on our honeymoon, think again. He would insist that I need a dresser, and I’m not talking about a piece of furniture.”
She surprised him into snorting. He was loving the sound of a honeymoon more and more as she talked. “I’ll swear there’ll be no one but us,” he promised. “Along with the peanut, of course, because he won’t be born by then. We’ll have our honeymoon as soon as I get the sentinels settled into place.”
She looked at him from between her eyelashes. “That means a quick, quiet wedding, you know,” she remarked casually. “There won’t be time to set up anything else.”
He frowned. “Wait a minute.”
“I love the idea,” she gushed. She threw her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. “A quiet wedding and a quick getaway, and we’ll be all alone. Do you realize we haven’t even really been alone since we were kidnapped by Goblins, and we escaped and ran away? The only private time we get is when we close our bedroom door—and even then somebody may call or get in touch with you telepathically over some emergency or other.”
He had to admit, she had a point. He scowled. “I was planning on a big wedding.”
She gave him a coaxing smile. “I don’t know why. You don’t even like crowds, and you hate having your picture taken.”
Apparently she was full of good points tonight. “We’ll talk about this later. I can only give in so much, you know.”
“I know,” she said soothingly. “It’s so hard being you.”
“Well, it is,” Dragos admitted. He grinned as she laughed. “You pretty much got everything you wanted in this conversation, didn’t you?”
Her laughter died and she gave him a completely serious look. “I feel that is how every conversation should go.”
He wrapped her up in his arms, crushing her to him. In the periphery of his vision, he could tell many others in the clearing stared at them both, but they counted as nothing to him. “I will find you armor, and you will stay surrounded in the middle of the army.”
“Whatever you say,” she said meekly. “As long as you agree with me.” She laid her head on hi
s shoulder.
What a sneaky tyrant she was turning into. Actually, she wasn’t all that sneaky. He was utterly enchanted with her bossiness.
Yes, for the first time in his existence, he was truly vulnerable. He cradled her close, savoring the weight and feel of her in his arms. He only lifted his head again when a stir passed through everyone in the area.
He turned to look and Pia did too, as Calondir exited his damaged home, along with a dozen Elven warriors. The High Lord was dressed in plate armor and armed with two crossed swords at his back.
He smiled at the sight. Who would have thought it? For once he and Calondir were going to fight on the same side.
While he had come to treasure the profound differences in nature between him and Pia, Dragos also would not be who and what he was if his blood didn’t quicken at the possibility of an upcoming battle.
Payback and death weren’t the dragon’s only companions. He was on intimate terms with chaos and strife too.
FOURTEEN
Pia shivered and pulled her anorak closer around her torso as she watched Dragos stride over to Calondir. The chill wind felt much colder once he stepped away from her. He seemed to take away all the light and warmth with him.
The Elves around the High Lord bristled as Dragos approached. Their animosity had been entrenched for so many years that she didn’t see that changing anytime soon, current alliance or not. Nobody was going to walk away friends from this interaction, not with so many years of conflict between Dragos and the Elves. The best she could hope for was that they achieve a guarded peace.
At worst . . . well, she didn’t want to consider the worst.
She sensed someone coming up on her side and turned her head. Eva raised her eyebrows and held up a dirt-streaked crossbow. “Look at what one of the kids found. Does this look familiar to you, princess?”
Exasperated, she said, “Stop calling me princess.”
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