The world outside the window grew smaller and smaller, until it all began to look like a child’s play mat. It was like a cartoon map of streets and toy cars until they hit the clouds. Then, they broke free and the world morphed into a sight she’d never seen before. There were soft pink and yellow stained clouds as far as the eyes could see.
Never before had she risen above the shelf of clouds that hung over the earth. The air was too thin for their great bodies to function at that height. She’d heard that some of the smaller dragons could handle the thinner air, but she’d never been too keen on trying it for fear of losing her dragon form and plummeting to the earth. Now that she thought about it, she wanted to try. She wanted to know if she was strong enough, if she could have that advantage.
That was, if she ever decided to try her dragon form again. There was a prick of ice in her chest every time she thought about it. What would she become? Would her dragon still be the wine colored beast with a streak of purple? Or, would it be something darker with sharp teeth and a lust for blood that she couldn’t control?
Glancing to the man in the seat beside her, Liana worried now more than ever. She was about to find herself in the middle of a whole new world, surrounded by new people. She worried that this new monster would be out of her control, that she would hurt someone and ruin everything her family wanted.
No, Liana would not let loose the monster beneath her skin. She would remain in her human form for as long as she could, ignoring the magical prickle that ran along her skin when she looked at the open sky. Ignoring the ache in her heart.
The safety of others was more important. The reputation of the embassy she was sent to create was more important than her own ache.
“Are you alright?” Dane’s voice broke her from the hold fear had on her.
She jerked back to the present, turning her gaze to him. Liana was able to give him a somewhat convincing smile before she looked back to the watercolor splashed clouds. A hand closed around hers. She should have pulled away. She should have told him where he could put that hand, her words including places like up his own rear. Instead, the warmth of his skin lingered over hers and she found herself wondering what magic the beast inside Dane had.
She’d never seen the American man’s dragon. The last time any of them had shifted, she had been unconscious and hanging from Malcom’s grasp. Liana quickly shut down the memory, like closing an open window and pulling the blinds.
Instead, Liana pondered the beasts inside the four dragons escorting her to the States. Unlike the red dragon family, who all sported some shade of red hair and bore a dragon with red scales, the American dragons didn’t seem to be defined by any kind of color or nationality. The twins had the kind of dark skin she associated with Southern America, the corners of their eyes sharpening to a tilted point that gave the tricksters an elegance she didn’t know if they deserved.
Between them sat Isaac, with his pale skin and curls with a mind of their own. To learn that there was any blood shared between him and the twins would have surprised her. The air around him was always charged, making the hair on her arms stand on end.
Then, there was Dane. He didn’t have the same darkened skin as the twins, although his skin was several shades darker than her pale Welsh flesh. Neither did he have Isaac’s wild curls nor the electric aura the other dragon carried. Instead, his hair was dark and sleek. Liana snuck a long look at him, studying the long lashes that lines his eyes or the faint scar that curved over his jaw bone, just beneath his ear.
She liked to imagine that whatever lived inside of him had scales the color of charcoal, dark at the base and fading to ash at the pointed tips. She didn’t think there was fire burning inside of him, like so many dragons across the world could lay claim to. There was another element that lived inside of him, one that she could not pinpoint without asking and she wouldn’t be caught dead trying.
She wouldn’t strike up a conversation with Dane. It was dangerous, especially considering the soft attraction that pulsed between them. A night with him might be extremely fun, but she feared the bond that might grow between them, the one that would make her weak. Love was a luxury, one that Liana didn’t want because the repercussions were too great.
“Argh,” Luc bemoaned ahead of them, writhing in his seat. “I’m bored!”
Liana leaned into Dane and whispered past her laughter. “He is like a child, isn’t he?”
“I promise he’s the worst of my family. The rest are welcoming and, all over, pretty good natured.”
“I can hear you talking about me!” Luc said between the seats.
“Then don’t give us anything to talk about,” Liana warned.
Luc’s eyes carried a gleam, one that said he was up to the challenge. What kind of trouble could the dragon man get into on such a small airplane?
“Do you want to fly home? I’ll throw you out the emergency door and you can struggle across the Atlantic on your own.” Dane’s voice was stern, but held a hint of humor.
“If it wouldn’t cause serious problems with the flight as a whole,” Marc said without looking up from his book, “I would be tempted to believe Dane.”
Luc weighed his options, putting on a dramatic face as he did so, and decided to heed his leader’s warning. Liana was still amazed by the level of humor that they all shared. Drystan had not been so nice. He’d been a solid figure head, immovable and harsh when he needed to be. Liana remembered being terrified of him as a young child.
It was what kept so many of the younger, parentless dragons in order. Gareth had been a force to be reckoned with when it came to butting heads with Drystan. While those two were fighting, Rhys and Liana often caused their own trouble. Drystan had his hands full for years.
Perhaps, only Maggie knew the real man behind his façade.
***
When the first plane landed, Liana had felt a surge of relief until Dane informed her there was a second plane trip still ahead of them. It was shorter, only a jump from New York to Nebraska. But after the second plane landed in Nebraska, Liana found that she kind of missed the plane and the great heights that it allowed her to reach without her dragon form. Still, she was anxiously excited to see the American dragon’s home. It kept her mind from trying to return to Snowdonia and all the people she would miss.
Outside, the parking lot radiated heat in the summer sun. She watched as the dragons around her rotated their shoulders and glanced at one another with expectant smiles. She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on as they reached the edge of the parking lot. They weren’t heading toward any parked cars.
They were going to fly.
Fear was a cold spike as she looked out at the open sky. Not because she worried about the incoming planes. No, she was terrified of the monster that rose inside of her. It pressed against her skin, trying to overwhelm her until it could break free. It wanted to fly alongside the other dragons, free to do as it wished.
That was what terrified her.
Liana shook her head. Her lips pressed together while she fought against the monster inside of her, she turned away from the edge of the parking lot and started back toward the airport. Someone behind her called out.
Dane.
Liana was not weak. She would not let the monster win. She wouldn’t become a liability in this new world. She would be steady and she would keep a rein on the thing that had grown inside of her, the thing that craved violence. Even if that meant driving all the way to the American Territory.
The American leader finally caught up to her, half-way back to the airport. He caught her arm and spun her around. They were eye to eye, a question floating in his eyes. Her lips were still pressed together, not to keep from speaking, but to keep the monster trapped inside. She looked up into the air. It called to her. She missed it with a fierceness that no one would understand. They wouldn’t comprehend the sacrifice she was making to keep the world safe.
Dane’s grip on her arm softened. Together, they glance
d back at the three dragons waiting at the edge of the parking lot. The dragons watched them with mixed expressions. Confusion and impatience. Liana turned away. She didn’t want them to know her battle, didn’t want them to judge her for what she had to do.
For what she could no longer do.
“I’m going to rent a car,” she said once the monster was pushed back into a secure corner. It growled with fiery irritation, a sound that roared in her ears until she could barely hear anything around her. “Send me the address and I’ll use my phone’s GPS to get there.”
“I’m not leaving you alone in a new setting. This is insanity. Why won’t you just fly with us?”
Liana didn’t shake her head. She didn’t waver. Instead, she stood straighter and pulled her arm from his grip.
***
Dane didn’t understand what was wrong with his mate. All he knew was that his heart was pounding something fierce inside his chest. Concern made his stomach queasy. If only she would talk, would tell him what was wrong. Then he could fix it. It was all he wanted to do. It was what he was good at.
But, his mate refused to even open her mouth at first. She looked like she was trying to swallow something foul. He wanted to reach out and pull her in. He wanted to reach out and shake her.
He wanted to scream.
His heart was pounding. It ached inside him. Then she spoke. Liana was going to drive? They’d been cooped up in those planes for hours, nearly the entire day, and now she wanted to drive to the Territory? He didn’t understand what was going on.
But, he remembered what Rhys and Gwen had told him. Ever since the uprising, since the day Malcom died, Liana refused to use her dragon form. She refused to even try to change shapes.
What had gone wrong to make her avoid what was such a big part of who she was? It made Dane want to kill Malcom all over again. He didn’t know at the time what Liana was to him. All he’d known was the red haze of rage as he watched Gwen destroy the white dragon before he could react.
Then, when Liana’s life was on the line again, Rhys said something ridiculous about American cheese and threw Dane off before he could attack Raphael. Liana had taken care of the traitor, but Dane had been left, both times, unable to help her.
Now, he didn’t know what it would take to get her in the air again. All he could do was nod.
“Then I’m going with you.”
Her jaw dropped. She held up her hands in defense. “No way. You go with your men. After what… after what happened at home, I think it’s best if you fly with them.”
“I can’t let you run around Nebraska all by yourself when you’ve never been out of Wales before in your life. You’ll take a wrong turn and end up in the middle of nowhere, get kidnapped by some weirdos, and then all ties with the red dragons will be severed because I managed to lose you in the first few hours on American soil.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. It was a hint of a smile that she tried her best to fight. Just the sight of it eased the ache in Dane’s chest a little bit. They had a lot of work to do if she was going to heal, if she was ever going to allow herself to grow.
Liana huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, but he took it as consent and turned to fill his men in on what was happening. They awaited with raised eyebrows. What was his mate doing to throw a wrench in their lives, was what he thought they were thinking. It made him anxious. Without the ties of blood to keep them together, Dane couldn’t afford outside influences to drive wedges between him and his family. Liana, despite her known status as his mate with the dragon men present, was an outside influence that was definitely pulling him in two directions.
But, when he approached them, they clapped hands on his shoulders and offered apologetic smiles. It was a warmth that he wasn’t expecting. It seemed that Liana had already been deemed family by this troublesome trio.
“Won’t change shape?” Isaac asked, thoughtfully.
Dane shook his head.
Marc looked past Dane, his eyes falling on Liana who was currently shifting from foot to foot fifty feet behind them. “She’ll get there. Maybe not today, but eventually. The Nebraska air will be good for her. Rent a convertible.”
Dane chuckled at his dragon’s response. It might not be a bad idea. He wondered if Liana would be susceptible to a fast car and the wind in her hair like some American women were. Cars had come a long way in his lifetime, no longer heavy, steel contraptions on weak wheels, but sleek, fiberglass deathtraps that made your heart race.
“That isn’t a bad idea.”
“Don’t do the Corvette,” Luc advised. “Get something manly, like a Mustang.”
Dane laughed. The men agreed to fly without him. They would get home long before he did, but that was alright. He found that he was looking forward to being alone with his mate for the first time. There would be nowhere she could run to, even with the top down. Liana could ignore him the whole way, but he didn’t think she would be able to.
Isaac and Luc unfolded into massive dragons, one steel gray and the other a myriad of colors and feathers. Marc stayed on the ground, one eyebrow raised as he looked past Dane. The leader followed Marc’s gaze and found Liana already strutting off toward the car rental building. Dane swore softly and took off running while Marc spared a moment to laugh behind him.
The last dragon took to the sky, his colorful body long and winding like Egyptian gold dragons they’d encountered in Wales. It had been a pleasant surprise for the twins to meet another species of dragon who shared a similar body trait. The twins had been enamored and full of questions. As far as they knew, as far as Dane knew, the twins were the last two Quetzalcoatl dragons in existence.
Once the dragons were gone, Dane was able to focus on finding his impetuous mate. She was leaning against the counter inside the car rental, glaring down at the man behind the counter. Dane breathed a sigh of relief and sidled up behind her, his hand touched her lower back and gliding to wrap around her waist.
She threw him an irritated look, but didn’t pull away.
“I told you to go with them,” she whispered, her voice insistent. Not because she wanted to be alone. No, she wanted him to be surrounded by his men because she was afraid. Her own leader had gone somewhere alone and paid the ultimate price.
It warmed him to think that she feared for his life. Maybe, deep down, she felt the magnetic pull of the mate bond and truly cared for him, even if she wouldn’t allow herself to experience the emotions. Dane flashed her a wide smile, letting himself glow with hope.
“Are you saying that you aren’t enough to protect me?”
Those were the words that struck home. He knew they would. Fifty years ago, they would have struck him just as hard. It was a cruel trick, to use words he knew to hurt, to stick in her craw. But, if it got the job done, he would do whatever it took.
To get his mate to open her eyes.
Her spine stiffened beneath his touch and she gave him a level glare. She was up for the challenge. He knew she was more than capable of protecting him from whatever came their way. She had taken on Raphael even when the white dragon held her life in his hands.
Dane turned toward the cowering man behind the counter and smiled, apologetic. Whatever Liana had requested hadn’t flown with the rental service. He didn’t want to ask. Instead, he set about requesting the car he wanted.
“You can’t be serious,” Liana huffed when they found the car he’d requested.
It looked as though it had been carved into existence, a classic American muscle car brought into the modern century. Red might have seemed cliché, but he’d requested it for her. For her family. Maybe, he was being a little cheeky.
Maybe he just wanted to be flashy and drive a red Mustang convertible.
Dane gave her an innocent look, like he didn’t know what he was doing. “What’s wrong with the car?”
She looked at it, lost as she tried to find the right words to fight him with. In the end, she threw her hands in the air and yanked the door o
pen to throw herself into the passenger seat.
“You do realize you’re acting like a child, right?” Dane slid into the seat beside her.
“You should be used to it considering the company you keep. Maybe Luc rubbed off on me during the flight.”
Dane laughed. Liana was sitting up straighter, her arms folding away from her chest. She was opening up. He turned the key into the ignition and started the process of having the roof fold itself back. The sky appeared above them, open and blue save for a few soft clouds.
“Maybe I should have had one of them carry you to the Territory. Then I wouldn’t have chosen such a flashy car. Then again, I haven’t driven anything like this in a while, so maybe I should thank you instead.”
Dane wouldn’t have let any of the other dragons near his mate to carry her. That would be his job. Liana was not fragile by any means, but the idea of another man’s hands on her made his beast growl with anger. It made him want to throw himself on her, claim her and spread his scent all over her body. She would, probably, sooner punch him in the face rather than let him touch her like that.
“So,” he began, trying to pull himself away from thoughts of her body. “Tell me, what did the guys do to you?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“That came out wrong. I mean, what prank did they pull this time? Luc is notorious for it and he’s known to pull in everyone around him in the process. Once, he covered the toilet in their house with plastic wrap. It made the nastiest mess I’ve ever seen. Another time he convinced Isaac to get in a plastic bin and surf down a set of stairs. Thankfully, dragons heal quickly.”
Liana’s laughter filled him with light. It was like he suddenly found he could breathe again and it left a smile on his lips that wouldn’t be chased away.
“They… they may have blown up my couch.”
Dane gave her a double take, wary of taking his eyes off the road, but unable to process what she’d just said. “The boys blew up your… couch?”
Fated Dragons Complete Series: Books 1 - 5 Page 45