by Ophelia Bell
Rohan had been one of those souls, I realized, and he needed my power again, if only just a drop to calm the desperate dragon he was barely able to contain beneath his skin.
Power I didn’t realize I still had in me surged through my palm. My vision tunneled to a pin-prick and I gasped at the sudden light-headedness that overtook me. Rohan breathed in sharply, his golden eyes fixed on mine. As the dizziness overwhelmed me, I lost my grip on him and the shirt and found myself wrapped in his arms to keep me from collapsing.
“Deva, what are you doing? You’ll hurt yourself if you don’t stop.” His voice was rough with worry in my ear.
My fuzzy brain could barely comprehend his words, my senses were so full of him. His dragon scales were close to the surface, warm and velvety beneath my cheek, and he smelled like sunrise in the Glade. The dense pectoral beneath my cheek rippled as he stroked my back and I was mesmerized by the design tattooed on his skin. It looked like a pair of abstract wings and was familiar somehow, yet I couldn’t remember what it meant.
He urged me back to the chair and pulled his shirt over my head, gently nudging my arms to guide them through the sleeves. Then he peered into my eyes.
“Is there a chance you’re hiding a Prismatic dragon in there? Is that why you almost killed yourself to give me power?”
His words echoed around inside my head for several seconds before I made sense of them. I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’ve never been able to display enough power to tell.”
“Is one of your parents a dragon?”
Before I could answer that, the pale-haired Willem loomed and then squatted in front of me. “She’s definitely part Prismatic. And she needs to learn to control that urge to transmit power. She’s too young yet to know better, aren’t you Deva?”
As he looked into my eyes, I heard his deep baritone resonate in my mind. “I know who you are now, Chimera. You’re the child our enemy sought to recapture before the war and failed. You’re Nikhil’s daughter. Your father will be looking for you.”
I bristled and scowled at him. “I’m sure my entire family is looking but it’s hard to track down a soulless creature. I intend to find the truth about these hounds before they drag me back home.”
Willem’s lips tightened as though he hid a smile and his eyes glimmered with humor. “That’s good because I need you to find their secret too. I’m on your side, but your power is too weak and undisciplined to do much good. You can help Rohan control the dragon until you find a remedy for his damaged soul, but you need to replenish your own power first. And Sweet Mother please try harder to control the need to transmit power to him or you will kill yourself.”
With that he stood, albeit slowly and a little unsteadily until Sandor reached his side and wrapped an arm around his waist. In a shaky voice, Willem said, “Keagan, you need to get these two home right away. Rohan’s power isn’t going to hold his human form for long. Deva can help but she needs to be replenished before she can do anything.”
Replenished. It finally hit me what he meant.
“I can take him myself and take care of him,” Keagan said, giving me a threatening look.
“You’re not one of Gaia’s chosen, kid,” Willem said. “You can’t channel enough magic for him. Not as grave as that wound is. I can’t see his soul the way Deva can, but his aura’s fading fast. It’ll be all Sandor can do to keep me from going feral this afternoon, but he’s got tools you don’t have. Deva is Rohan’s best chance, so let her help.”
“We rode our bikes here this morning. I can’t exactly cart him home that way, and definitely not her too. Besides, you know how the Maestro gets about women in the house.”
“We can take my car,” I croaked. “My keys are still down in the store.” Luckily I hadn’t been holding my purse when Rohan had blasted me. The few items I had that weren’t conjured were contained in it, including the car keys and my phone.
“Excellent,” Willem said. “Go, Keagan. Sandor will help you get them down to the car but don’t waste time once you’re home. We don’t need a feral dragon on the loose in Malibu.”
I thought Keagan might object again, but he reluctantly nodded. “Keys?” he asked.
“In my purse, down by the guitars. I struggled to rise again and Keagan frowned and pushed me gently back down.
“I’ve got this,” he said. He cast a quick glance down at Rohan where the dragon rested on the floor by my legs, then at me again. His shoulders dropped with what could have been resignation and he trotted out the door.
It wasn’t until he was gone that I realized I had my hand on Rohan’s head, my fingers lightly stroking his golden waves, and his cheek was resting on my thigh.
A burst of overprotective warmth filled my chest—a desire to see him whole again that came from more than just a simple need to fix things, but an overwhelming desire to do right by this man, who I knew had somehow been harmed because of me. I swallowed a lump in my throat at the thought of Bodhi and the similar drive I had to help him. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt this way either, and I had the sinking suspicion that this was one of those rogue powers I needed to learn to rein in before it killed me. Because the first two times I’d opened up my heart to men, I’d had it broken, and both of those instances had happened in barely the span of a day as well. They were also both recent enough that I was raw from them.
Keagan returned several minutes later, keys in hand. “C’mon Ro, let’s get you home,” he said, dropping to a crouch to hook his arm around Rohan’s back. The big dragon struggled as he rose, leaning heavily on Keagan but able to move under his own power at least a little.
“You think you can walk on your own, little blackbird?” Sandor said, offering a hand which I took. I blinked away dark spots when I stood and he chuckled. “Didn’t think so. I’ve got you.”
The next thing I knew he’d scooped me up in his arms and was carrying me down the stairs. By the time my vision cleared and the world stopped tilting I was seated in the interior of my own backseat. The door shut behind me and a big hand wrapped around mine, then pulled me close. Rohan’s breath puffed against my head. “Still don’t regret it,” he murmured.
I didn’t understand why he should feel such a strong connection to me, or why I should feel the same, not after having met him just today. But I couldn’t say it was an unusual experience.
The driver door opened and Keagan spent a moment readjusting the seat before climbing in and starting the engine. He turned to look over his shoulder at us, his lips pressed into a tight line. He dwarfed the interior of the car in true ursa male fashion, his burnished dark brown hair brushing the ceiling and his shoulders wider than the seat by half. Dark ink peeked out of the neckline of his t-shirt like tendrils seeking the sun. He regarded the pair of us solemnly for a moment, his look not exactly unkind, but not hospitable either. I was abstractly grateful for his dislike. It seemed all it took was a little kindness from a fertile, unattached male and I was falling for him and somehow powerless to stop it.
“You two hang on, all right? We’ll be home in a few.”
Rohan chuckled. “Maestro’s going to be pissed if he found out we brought a girl home.”
“He’ll deal once he knows why,” Keagan said, turning forward again and putting the car into gear.
I clung to Rohan, careful to focus enough to avoid pushing more of my nonexistent power through my palm where it rested against his waist. He felt good, though, and I snuggled close, soaking up the feeling of safety in his arms that I hadn’t had in far too long. Being safe and loved with your family was a far cry from the safety of a lover’s arms.
“He isn’t your lover,” a little voice reminded me, but I dismissed it. He was a dragon. I was part dragon. After what had just happened and the mutual state of depleted power we were in, our status as lovers was inevitable. Whether it ever turned into more, I couldn’t predict, but the only way for us to manage this particular hunger we had was to share each other’s bodies.
Exc
ept with us both as spent as we were, and with Rohan’s bleeding soul, that wouldn’t work. I shot a look to the front of the car, realizing finally what Willem had told Keagan before we left. I needed to be replenished before I could help Rohan, but Rohan was in no state to help me with my own issue. A pair of dragons with empty wells could usually help each other—the magic we drew to our bodies when our desire was primed came from the world around us, like iron filings attracted to a magnet—but Rohan was going to need more than I could absorb during the course of my own arousal. I needed a partner who wasn’t already compromised. Keagan’s scowl in the rearview mirror took on new meaning. Somehow he found the idea of being that intimate with me distasteful, and that hurt.
My chest burning, I redirected my gaze out the window and let myself absorb the comfort of Rohan’s embrace. Beyond the glass, the coastline sped by, the Pacific ocean a sheet of dark glass beneath a brilliant blue sky that reminded me of my stepmother’s eyes. Belah would have understood my pain. Hell, all three of the women I called mother would no doubt understand. It was their mates—my fathers—whose need to control my life had pushed me away. I’d have gone to them for help if I wasn’t absolutely certain they would steamroll my efforts to prove I could stand on my own.
Their inability to track me down was the only saving grace of my lack of a soul. They would no doubt find me eventually. They had other resources. But I would take advantage of the head start I had.
Beneath my ear, Rohan’s chest vibrated with a sick groan.
“Better step on it, man. I’m losing it back here.”
Keagan’s brows furrowed in the rear-view and he gave a terse nod. The car’s engine revved as he tore quicker up the coast highway. I lifted my head and looked at Rohan. His bare chest shimmered with inhuman scales that were there then gone with every labored breath.
Shifting my vision, I glanced at the center of his abdomen and winced at the alarming rate his soul was bleeding.
“Sing with me,” I said, turning and swinging my knee over his lap and straddling his thighs to face him. I cupped both sides of his face and forced him to look into my eyes, then began the song we’d sang earlier. I didn’t have the guitar but hoped simply surrounding him in music of any sort would help strengthen his aura the way my singing had managed to awaken Bodhi that morning.
At the second verse, he took a breath and picked up where I left off. His aura brightened and the soul bleed slowed. For good measure I released my hold on my newly discovered prismatic power and intentionally pushed a bit of magic through my palms into his skin.
“Deva, no,” Rohan rasped, tearing my hands from his face. “You aren’t strong enough for that.”
The world swam again and Keagan cursed. The car made a sharp turn and Rohan’s arms slipped around me as the force pushed us sideways against the door. Then the car stopped and we waited an interminable amount of time before it moved again. I was only dimly aware of the humming sound of a motor and saw a gate sliding shut behind the car. A few seconds later we stopped once more and Keagan killed the engine.
The door opened and Keagan wrapped his big hands around my upper arms, oddly gentle as he pulled me off Rohan’s lap. I stumbled barefoot on the cool flagstone driveway, using Keagan’s sturdy frame for support until I finally got my bearings. He held onto me, deep concern filling his brown eyes, then dipped his head. “You think you can stand on your own? I’m going to need to help Ro, he’s in pretty bad shape.”
“Yeah, I think so,” I said, steeling myself and glancing around. He’d parked in what looked like a private driveway of a house. Several yards away, a few low steps led down to an entryway that was flanked by short, bushy palms. An enormous wooden door stood in the shadows that seemed almost too big for the low profile of the building it belonged to.
Keagan reached into the passenger window and brought out my purse, handing it to me. “Here. And here are the house keys. Open the door for me, will you? I’ll be right behind you with him.”
I nodded and started forward, but stopped with a gasp when Keagan stooped to help Rohan out of the car. The dragon’s skin was now almost entirely golden scales, though he still held his human shape. But he had to dip his head low to clear the car door, a pair of enormous shimmering gold horns emerging before he climbed out himself.
“Not doing so hot, man,” he said, clinging to Keagan who focused resolutely on supporting his friend. Keagan shot me a look and a nod and I turned and darted forward again, quickly heading for the door. Fumbling the keys for a second, I finally got the door unlocked and shoved it open, standing aside for the pair of them to stumble through.
7
Deva
My breath caught in my throat when I rounded the corner from the entryway into the main room of the house. It wasn’t the room itself that captured my attention, but the wide expanse of windows that seemed to span the entire width of the vast, sunken living space.
Beyond the windows all I could see was the breathtaking vista of sky and ocean. I stood enthralled, almost able to believe I’d been transported straight back to the Dragon Glade, one of the four realms where my parents lived and the one that felt the most like home.
The Dragons’ sacred home had no oceans like this place, but the homes of all the residents were similarly situated, perched atop treacherous cliffs with easy access to an eternity of sky. Being there had both made me long to be able to shift and fly like most of my family could, and made me embrace the realms of earth and water where I could coexist more closely with the residents. At least in the Sanctuary and the Haven, the power available was accessible to an as yet earth-bound creature like me.
Someday I would fly. I just didn’t know when.
A strangled roar resonated through the room, loud enough to make the glass panes vibrate. I jerked in alarm, my attention snapping back to the pair of men who had preceded me into the room. As if taunting me for my silent wishes, immense golden wings emerged from Rohan’s shoulders and snapped wide, crashing into a pair of lamps and throwing them to the floor to shatter.
Keagan cursed and called over his shoulder. “Deva! We have to do this now!” He still held tight to his friend, whose body had grown a foot, and not just counting the majestic horns sprouting from his temples. Rohan’s face contorted with pain, which I knew couldn’t have been from shifting, but from the effort to keep himself from shifting. When a dragon’s well of magic was depleted, they could no longer maintain their human shape, and once reverted to their true form without magic to temper their instincts, they often went feral.
His jeans strained around his hips, the seams beginning to split, and panic filled his wild eyes. His mouth formed barely audible words as though his throat was too constricted to speak, but I recognized the words to the song we’d shared.
Rushing forward, I reached up and gripped his horns, holding his head so his attention was fixed on me, and I began to sing once more. Keagan released him and moved behind me, his hands tentatively gripping my waist.
“How do you want me to give it to you?” he asked in a low voice.
I faltered halfway through the lyrics, my entire body tingling with awareness of the big ursa behind me. Rohan’s aura fluctuated wildly, the song no longer making any difference in the steady flow of power from his soul. If he’d been human, I had no doubt he’d be dead by now.
“Just . . . do it yourself. I can absorb your Nirvana as long as we’re in contact.” I didn’t want to force him into an intimate situation he wasn’t comfortable with, though I supposed neither of us really had much of a choice if we wanted to keep Rohan from going feral.
Keagan snorted softly. “You want me to just jerk off next to you. You know that’s not the most efficient way to draw power, right? I’ve been shacked up with a dragon for the last two years, Deva. We can do better for his sake.”
Rohan’s already oversized body rippled and his fingers morphed into enormous talons. The seams of his jeans gave out with a rending sound and he fell to his knees, his
head rearing back as he roared again in distress. His teeth crashed together and he stared at me once more, his eyes pleading. “Can’t stop . . . don’t want . . . to hurt . . . Please!”
“I know you don’t want me,” I murmured over my shoulder.
“What I want or not doesn’t really matter, does it?” Keagan said, and I couldn’t help but sense a deeper subtext that stalled any further objections. But before I could say anything else, Rohan let out another deafening roar and his body exploded in size.
His elongated golden head crashed into my chest like a boulder, knocking the wind from me and pushing me back. Behind me Keagan let out a grunt and staggered, pulling me with him. My feet flew out from under me and I found myself toppled onto my back, the big ursa’s muscular bulk cushioning my fall. Enormous taloned claws crashed down on either side of us, smashing the furniture like toothpicks and sending tufts of stuffing and feathers into the air.
A hot gust of dragon breath billowed over me and when I regained my senses I looked up into a scaled snout and golden eyes the size of dinner plates with bottomless black slits for pupils. More sounds of breaking furniture surrounded me as the dragon situated himself and tilted his head. His pupils widened to almost full black orbs as his snout nudged my bare thigh and I became acutely aware of my relative lack of clothing.
“Can you get up?” Keagan grunted beneath me.
I moved my foot to try to gain purchase, but sank into a pillow and slipped beyond, getting caught inside whatever broken piece of furniture we’d landed on. Rohan’s head tilted the other way and his snout nudged higher up my thigh, inhaling deeply. A low, seismic rumble filled the room as he caged my already trapped leg with one big claw and darted out his forked tongue. I glanced around but we were boxed in by smashed furniture, and Rohan’s big forelegs blocked any escape.
“I think we’re stuck,” I said, and gasped when Rohan’s tongue flicked close to my core.