For the Kingdom of Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  Angela released Kyle’s hand so she could take her place on the blanket. She felt foolish tucking her bathrobe in around her legs, but that didn’t last long as Kyle knelt next to her, folding his legs under him. Nervous energy made her fidget. She toyed with the edge of her robe trying to be still. Warmth from Kyle’s hand pressed into her back and she turned to look at him.

  “Everything will be fine,” he reassured her.

  Letting out a long breath, Angela nodded her head, folded her hands in her lap, and gave Noah her attention.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Angela wasn’t sure if she was really ready for this but she gave her head a sharp nod. “Yes.”

  “Yes,” Kyle echoed.

  “Good,” Noah held out his hand towards Kyle. “May I please have your hand.”

  Kyle held out his free hand.

  Angela shivered as Noah pulled the silver knife out of its sheath. The thin blade looked wickedly sharp. Noah carefully drew the edge across the palm of Kyle’s hand. The skin parted with a bare touch. He positioned Kyle’s hand so the blood pooling wouldn’t drip on the blanket before turning his attention to Angela. “And yours.”

  She held out the hand between her and Kyle.

  “I need the other one,” Noah said as he reached for her outside hand.

  Giving it to him, she watched as he sliced her skin open. The sharp edge slipped through her skin with the slightest pinch of pain, but nothing like she expected.

  Noah pressed the flat of the blade against the cut on Angela’s hand and brought it up to meet Kyle’s. “I need you to hold on to this tight.” He pressed Kyle’s hand to the other side of the blade.

  Kyle laced his fingers together with Angela’s around the blade as he wrapped his arm around her and drew her closer.

  It was a weird position to be in, but Angela leaned against him and stared at the hilt sticking out of their joined hands.

  Noah moved the small tray to catch the blood dripping from the blade, pressed his hands on either side of their hands, and started to chant in a rough voice.

  The sounds grated against Angela’s ears, making her want to back away, but she couldn’t move out of Kyle’s hold. Warmth raced up her arm. She forced herself to stay calm as the heat spread. Slowly, the soft sound of humming filtered through her brain. The tune was simple yet calming. Something a parent might sing to a fussy child. She concentrated on that sound and let it soothe her as the heat slowly drained from her body.

  After a second, the humming in her mind took on a physical presence. She glanced at Kyle, realizing it was him. His eyes focused on the hilt of the dagger in their hands as he hummed the quiet tune. Angela turned her attention to the dagger and gasped. It shimmered with power. The light intensified as Noah drew the power from her body. Slowly, a small crystal formed on the pommel of the knife. It was similar to the crystal Eugene had made, but instead of being spindling and delicate, the spikes that grew out were solid and sharp. It was dazzling. She stared at it in wonder as it drew up the glow from the blade.

  Beautiful.

  The word floated through Angela’s mind echoing her feelings. She glanced at Kyle and was hit by his emotions. It was so overwhelming it made her sway. Worry slammed into her as Kyle’s arm tightened around her. His words passed through her head before he spoke them.

  “Are you all right?”

  She nodded her head but knew she couldn’t lie to him, even to reassure him. Kyle’s conscious was pressed against her so hard that she could feel his heartbeat in her mind. “Yeah,” she said for Noah’s benefit, but let Kyle feel her issue.

  He gasped and clutched her tighter. She felt his mind spin, connecting things together. The dragon wasn’t bound to her. It was bound to him, but somehow the act of her taking the dragon had forced a connection between them, and the dragon had acted like a buffer. Now that it was gone, there was nothing separating them. She felt the moment he realized this. The look of shock that passed over his face made her smile. He opened his mouth to apologize to her again, but there was no need for him to speak. She already knew and reassured him that it wasn’t his fault. Their whole exchange took less than a second, but they had shared more in that second than they could have after months of time spent together.

  Angela lowered her eyelids and tried to hold on to herself as Kyle turned his attention to Noah and the heartstone.

  “Noah,” Kyle said, bringing the mage’s attention up from his work. “There’s a problem.”

  Noah raised an eyebrow in question.

  Kyle tipped his head towards Angela. “We’re connected.”

  Letting out a sigh, Noah carefully lifted the heartstone away from the pommel of the knife. “I was afraid of that.” He set the crystal on the tray under their hands. Grabbing the handle of the blade, he eased their hands apart to take the knife. “She helped save you when we took the blade out of your heart. Taking your dragon probably forced that connection back open.”

  The shock and surprise that hit Kyle overwhelmed Angela, and she tried not to be absorbed in his whirlwind of thoughts. She hadn’t put that much thought into the act and didn’t consider it a big deal, but she could feel he did. She didn’t really want to have a conversation about what had happened, but their minds rubbed together and it was over in a fraction of a second.

  “Thank you,” Kyle said.

  The fact that he felt the need to say it out loud made Angela smile.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Noah let out a soft chuckle and took Angela’s injured hand and wrapped a length of the white cloth around it. “If you want, I can take a few minutes to close the connection before splitting the dragon.”

  Angela’s head spun as Kyle considered the offer. It gave her more insight into his personality. Kyle was a sharp man that considered all of his options before making a decision, but the speed he weighed those options boggled her mind. Reaching out, she touched his arm. His mind snapped to a stop as his attention turned to her. “Can you lessen the connection without breaking it?” She ignored the question Kyle pressed against her mind.

  Noah made a thoughtful noise as he finished wrapping her hand and turned to tend Kyle’s wound. “Probably,” he admitted, “but that’s a waste of time.”

  A note of curiosity passed between Angela and Kyle as they waited for Noah to finish wrapping Kyle’s hand and explain.

  Tucking the cloth into place, Noah let Kyle’s hand go and continued. “It would take more time and effort to partially close the link than it would to temporarily seal it. Besides, your dragons will have the link reopened as soon as we put them back.”

  “Temporarily seal it?” Kyle asked before Angela could.

  “Yes,” Noah went on. “Breaking a bond is nearly impossible. The act of tearing the connection damages the bonded pair, but a link can be closed in such a way that it doesn’t affect day to day life.”

  “But it’s never fully gone?” Angela clarified, trying to wrap her head around the magic stuff.

  “Correct,” Noah replied. “Under normal circumstances, you would never have noticed a sealed link, but the seal only works if you don’t play with it.”

  Understanding coursed through Kyle, bringing Angela along for the ride. “It’s like a paper door. It works as long as you don’t poke at it.”

  “And the dragon poked it,” Angela said, finally understanding.

  “Yes,” Noah continued, “If I had to guess, the dragon opened the connection and was acting as a buffer when it realized there was a problem.”

  “But you can close the connection down?” Kyle asked. There was a note of concern in his feelings that worried Angela.

  “Temporarily,” Noah added. “Once we split the dragon and put the pair back, they will open the connection back up.”

  Anger furrowed Angela’s brow. She wasn’t sure if the irritation she felt was hers or Kyle’s. “Then why even offer to close it?” she asked for both of them.

  “Because I know how unnerving being in som
eone else’s head can be,” Noah explained. “Closing the link will make things easier for a while. The dragons may open the pathway again, but they understand how hard being psychically linked is. They will work together to keep the connection from interfering in your lives.”

  Angela and Kyle looked at each other. Their thoughts crossed and they spoke at the same time. “Just deal with the dragon.”

  “Okay,” Noah muttered and turned his attention to the jewel between them.

  Biting her lip, Angela tried to keep her mind still as she watched Noah work. Having Noah disconnect them would’ve made them more comfortable, but she could feel how anxious Kyle was to have his dragon back. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted that thing back inside her. A nudge at her mind drew her attention away from Noah.

  Everything will be okay.

  Kyle’s thought radiated through her, making her sigh. She relaxed her shoulders and turned back to Noah. There was no reason to say anything, Kyle could feel all of her worries and fears. Instead, she focused on Noah and watched as he took a small velvet bag and shook the contents out on the tray. A handful of drop-shaped crystals scattered across the metal tray. They looked like beads but caught the light in ways glass couldn’t. “What’s that?” she asked as Noah spread them out with his finger.

  “Dragon tears,” he answered without looking up.

  Something passed through Kyle that Angela didn’t understand. She glanced at him trying to place the strange feeling. The closest thing she could think of was reverence, as if those small crystals were the most precious things in the world. She didn’t understand why he would hold these gems in such high regards. She looked back at the pile Noah was sorting through to see if she could figure it out. They looked like any number of cut jewels widely available. The answer came to her from Kyle’s memories making her gasp. “Dragons cry diamond tears,” she said in awe.

  “They do,” Noah said as he picked a particularly fat gem out of the pile and swept the rest to the edge of the tray.

  Angela bit her lip. She wanted to ask him how he’d gotten so many of these rare jewels. The solemn tone of Noah’s voice stopped her. She had the feeling it would be too personal of a question.

  As Noah reached for the dragon heart, Angela studied Kyle’s expression. She could feel his anxiety rise, but his expression was intent yet level, like nothing important was going on. She would never have known he was disturbed from his posture. She shifted around, unable to keep still from the nervous energy dancing between them.

  Turning her attention back to Noah, she watched as he slipped the sharp tip of the tear between two long spikes of the heart. He placed the tip of the silver knife on the bottom of the tear before looking up to meet her eyes. The question she saw there was unspoken, but he waited for her to make her final decision.

  Kyle went still beside her, his breath frozen in his lungs as he waited for her to make a choice.

  Angela turned the decision over once more in her mind, knowing Kyle was tracking her thoughts. She weighed her options very carefully. This choice would change her life, no matter what she chose. She glanced at Kyle, surprised that his thoughts were so still. There was no push or pull to make her chose a path. She raised an eyebrow at him.

  The tiniest hint of a smile curled the corners of his lips. “The choice is yours,” he said, amusement lifting his voice.

  Angela chuckled as she turned back to Noah. It was nice that they both stopped to offer her the illusion of control, but there really wasn’t a decision to be made. They had been over their options, and this was the only way things could go. “Do it.”

  Noah nodded his understanding and pressed the knife down against the tear.

  The sound of crystal cracking split the air and a bright light burst out of the dragon heart. Power rushed over Angela’s skin, making her gasp. She felt the same reaction through Kyle. Fear shivered through their connection.

  Angela gripped his arm to both steady herself and give him a measure of comfort. She didn’t know if what had happened was normal, but it was profound.

  “Noah?” Kyle asked. His alarm sounded in his voice.

  “It’s all right,” Noah reassured them both. “It’s supposed to do that.” Carefully he caught the broken heart in his hand and slip the pieces into two halves.

  Unlike the heart Eugene had made, this one held together and Noah laid half in front of each of them.

  Angela looked down at the sharp crystal in front of her and rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth trying to ease the sudden dryness. She didn’t need anyone to tell her what to do next. A hint of fear colored her heart as she stared at the wicked thing.

  You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Kyle’s words rang through her mind. Her heart slipped knowing that, even now, he cared about her feelings. She smiled and place her wounded hand over the shard. One drop of blood was all it would take. Leaning into it, she embraced the sharp bite of the gem as she sealed her fate.

  Power rushed up her arm, churning her insides. This was different than the power that had taken her over in Eugene’s study. That power had been raw and felt lost. This felt like something coming home.

  Following Angela’s lead, Kyle pressed his hand down on his half of the crystal. The power made him smile. It rushed into him, filling up all those spaces that he hadn’t realized had been empty. The feeling was different than before. Like a visit from an old friend you hadn’t seen in a while. There were subtle changes, but they were still the same person.

  I’ve missed you, my friend. He whispered to his dragon.

  Joy rolled through him from his dragon and he let the creature take control. Scales burst through his skin as his dragon took its grand form. A roar tore from his throat as he shook away shreds of the clothing he’d been wearing. An answering roar echoed, cutting through his delight. Thoughts of the people around him pushed through and he quickly searched for Noah. Thankfully the mage had managed to scramble out from underfoot. Kyle turned to look for Angela. She had been beside him before he’d shifted.

  The worry in his heart eased when he saw the dragon that had taken her place. Bits of her robe fluttered around her. Kyle reached for her with his mind, but what he found wasn’t human, it was new and wild, yet familiar.

  Angela’s dragon looked at him. There was heat in her eyes that drove Kyle’s dragon wild. When she roared and kicked into the air, Kyle relaxed his mind and let his dragon have complete control. His mate had offered a challenge, and he would answer it.

  The wind rushed over his scales as he kicked into the air behind her. The chase was on and he would catch her, bring her down, and seal their bond as the dragons of old had. Nothing would stand in his way. And once their dragons were bonded, Kyle would do whatever it took to convince Angela’s human side that being his mate wasn’t a bad thing.

  16

  The cool stone of Dunham Castle’s tallest tower felt amazing against Angela’s heated scales. Laying on the crumbling tower, she stared off into the distance, enjoying Kyle’s comforting warmth and watched as the sun crept towards the horizon through lidded eyes. She needed time to bring everything into perspective.

  The last few hours seemed more dream-like than reality. A whole section of Angela’s memory felt out of place. She had no problem recalling shifting to dragon, their haggard flight, Kyle bringing them down, or how they had sealed their bonds, but the memories were too surreal to be hers.

  She turned it over in her mind, trying to come to grips with the fact she’d had sex with the dragon next to her. Their matting hadn’t been gentle, but every fiber of her being told her it was right. The only part that balked was her mind. Her rational mind hadn’t been in control when they sealed their bond and her brain kept throwing up accusations. She barely knew Kyle and now she was bound to him for life. What if he turned out to be a total asshole? Could she leave him? Did she even have that option? She let out a forlorn sigh as her brain chased circles around her current predicament.

&nb
sp; “Talk to me, my heart, what troubles you?”

  Kyle’s deep voice rumbled along Angela’s side making her sigh again. She felt his mind brush against hers, but it did not connect the way it had before Noah split their dragon. That was one good thing that happened in their bonding: their dragons formed a barrier that kept their minds apart. She knew the dragon would let Kyle in if she wanted, but Angela was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to push him out once the barrier was down. “It’s nothing,” she lied, hoping he wouldn’t press the matter. She didn’t know how to begin expressing her thoughts or feelings.

  “It’s not ‘nothing’,” Kyle replied.

  Angela felt him move and knew he had turned to look at her.

  “Although I cannot reach your thoughts, I can feel your distress,” he said.

  Angela felt the line of his jaw press into the crest at the back of her head. The pressure rolled her head so he came into her view. If she had been human, the action would have made her smile. She let out another deep breath.

  “Talk to me,” he pleaded, “I’m here for you.” He met her gaze and held it.

  The concern she found there touched Angela, but she still didn’t know where to start. She closed her eyes, trying to gather the courage to ask the questions racing through her mind. A heavy weight rubbed over the top of her head. She opened her eyes to find Kyle rubbing the bottom of his jaw against the base of her horns. She didn’t know why the action was so soothing. While it did drain most of the tension from her unsettled heart, she still couldn’t put her concerns to words. What if Kyle found her worries stupid?

  “Let me see if I can guess what troubles you,” he said, pulling back to meet her gaze again. “You’re concerned about our future.”

  Angela’s breath caught as he hit the nail on the head.

  Kyle continued. “You’re worried, that since we don’t know anything about each other, this whole mating thing isn’t going to work. That you’ll be stuck in a loveless relationship with a man you can’t stand.”