I put my hands behind my back and grabbed my elbows, and my clit throbbed in time to my racing heart.
“You can let go and hold onto whatever you want when I tell you to come. Until then, don’t you dare let go.”
Before I could respond, he lifted me a few inches, slammed me down, and did it again. And again. And again.
The following minutes are a blur. D knows where all my buttons are, and he can play me like a piano. I remember sensing when Myrddin shifted into a house-sized dragon behind me, but D didn’t let me focus on it.
And when Dementor used his deep, commanding voice to order me to come, my body obeyed. I let go of my elbows, held my arms out to the side, and flapped them as they turned into wings.
A dragon claw grabbed my almost-swan body. A talon pierced my side. Sharp. Fast.
I screamed in pain, and then there were teeth all around me. A single, gigantic tooth went into my thigh at an angle, and I recoiled at the pain noises I emitted. I wasn’t human anymore, but I wasn’t completely swan yet, either.
And then the ground was below us. I should’ve felt the wind in my feathers, but I didn’t. The talon let go of me and I glided. I beat my wings and everything was different. I looked to the side.
Holy fuck.
Dragon wings. I had fucking dragon wings.
They seemed to work much as my swan wings had, but with a much bigger body between them, everything was different. Sophia was suddenly beside me in the air, and she gave me pointers as we flew, explaining how to turn, lift, accelerate, and decelerate. The basics were the same, but just as driving an eighteen-wheeler truck isn’t the same as riding a bicycle, flying was completely different at a larger scale.
I landed in the field and had to run a few dozen steps before I stopped. I turned towards Dementor.
Can you hear me? I asked.
Loud and clear. You’re fucking beautiful.
Let me take off and land on my own a few times, and then I’ll take you for a ride.
Take your time. I’m perfectly fine watching you fly.
Taking off was harder than I expected. I managed it on the first try, but it was close.
Sophia came alongside me. “Perfect. You’re a natural. I knew you would be.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dementor
They turned her in this realm instead of Faerie because in the supernatural world, where you’re turned apparently matters. Dragons made in Faerie can be denied the right to live in this realm, while dragons made here can legally live in either realm so long as they follow the rules.
However, since dragons aren’t allowed to show themselves in the human realm, it was easier for her to practice flying in Faerie, now that she’d been turned. So, during the following weeks, Ember went to Faerie for flight practice nearly every day, and to the old safehouse for magical lessons every day. I wasn’t invited along on these excursions, but that was okay. It was class time. I got it.
They hadn’t let her fly me around on that first evening, and I understood their concerns. She wasn’t smooth. Her landings were hard, her takeoffs didn’t look like a sure thing (though all of them were) and the chance of being thrown off her was a risk. I’d have still climbed on and trusted her in a heartbeat, but Aaron said no and she didn’t argue.
Our telepathy was stronger now. We could speak to each other from anywhere inside Birmingham, anytime we wanted. The farthest she’d been from me so far was around forty miles, and we’d easily communicated. I looked forward to testing it at longer distances. We hadn’t told anyone, and we’d have to make a decision about that soon. My brothers really needed to know, and so did Aaron. I wanted to keep it just between us, but if it came out two years later, the people in our lives would see the secrecy as deception.
I’d seen the dragon show up in her personality a few times, and I was glad we’d talked about it beforehand. As Sophia had said, she was still my Ember, just with a faster temper and a damned sharp tongue. She nearly always heard herself and apologized right away. When she didn’t, I sat quietly and let her burn herself out. Sometimes it took ten minutes of ranting to realize she was out of line, a few times, it took a good bit longer.
Eventually, she’d probably hit a hot button that’d trigger my temper and we might have a problem, but it hadn’t happened yet.
I was working the door at Blaze when her voice came into my head. I have so much to tell you.
Talking with her telepathically while checking IDs and taking money wasn’t easy, so I responded. I can’t talk right this second. Give me ten or fifteen minutes and I can go on break. You want to come by? I can get the kitchen to make us something.
No. That’s okay. I’ll call someone who can talk.
I considered all responses. ‘Whatever works for you’, or ‘Let me know if you change your mind.’ There were more, but I landed on, Or you can just throw another temper tantrum and show yourself to be the juvenile dragon you are.
She didn’t respond, so I figured she’d called Sophia or another of her friends, but five minutes later I heard her engine pull into the parking lot. I touched my earpiece. “Hey, Cat. Ember just pulled in. Any chance someone can relieve me? It’s possible she’s going to make a scene.”
Bobcat’s chuckle came in my earpiece. “We might be able to sell tickets to that, but I don’t suppose we should. I’ll relieve you. Take her into my office if you need to.”
He made it to me pretty fast, and I walked into the parking lot towards the last place I’d heard her engine. She was out of her vehicle and walking, and I picked her up, slung her over my shoulder, and kept walking towards her car. We weren’t doing this in the Blaze parking lot.
She kicked and screamed, and her tiny little hands beat my back.
We couldn’t have her screaming and looking as if someone was getting abducted on MC property, so I popped her on the ass. Hard.
And then my legs stopped working because she shot magical energy into my ass. I froze. I couldn’t breathe. My bear tried to burst forth, and it took every ounce of my willpower to push him down. I dropped to my knees. She pushed off me and stood before me, and I punched her in the gut.
Here’s the thing. I’ll take care of women so long as they need taking care of, but as soon as one starts a physical fight with me? All bets are off. She’d hurt me bad enough I was at risk of being completely incapacitated. I needed to disable her before she could strike again.
She doubled over and retched. She’d had chicken salad sandwiches. Not pretty, but it gave me thirty seconds to pull myself together. I picked her up, stomped to her Crosstrek, opened the driver side door, and tossed her across into the passenger seat. I got in and started it. She had the keyfob on her, which meant I could open the door and start the car without having to get it from her.
“You’re an asshole.”
“And you’re being a cunt. You okay?”
“I’m fucking fine.” She blew out a breath. “Are you okay?”
“No. I’m going to need to change. My balance is off and I’m pretty sure I have a second or third degree burn where the magic went in, and those muscles are fucked, too.”
“It isn’t as easy for me to change. I need to go to Faerie.”
“Not if we have sex. You can still change into a swan, right?”
“I want to be pissed that you hit me, but I get it. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “I’m going to need more than an apology.”
“I wanted to tell you about what I learned how to do today, and you blew me off!”
“I can’t talk to you telepathically while I ask customers for ID and take their money and make change.”
I pulled into our hotel and parked. “Let’s get a room so we can both change. I’m hurting and the bear needs to come out.”
“I can smell the burned flesh. That was a shitty thing for me to do. I’m sorry.”
Yes, it was, but I couldn’t talk about it while I hurt this badly. I touched my earpiece. “Bobcat. I’m sorry.
Our fight got out of hand and we need to deal with a few injuries. This is going to take at least an hour.”
“Fuck, D. Okay. I’ll get Mad Dog to send me a replacement. Do you need anything?”
“Just time and privacy. We’re checking in next door.”
“Turn your earpiece off until you’re ready to come back.”
“Roger that.” What he really meant was for me to remember to take it out before I changed into my bear form.
It took everything I had to walk into the lobby while standing upright. My skin and jeans seemed to be fused together, and it fucking hurt.
I got the key, and Ember followed me to the elevator. By the time we reached the room, tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t openly cry until the door closed behind us.
“I’m so sorry! I hurt you, and I meant to when I did it, but it’s that damned temper and I don’t... fuck. I’m sorry. I have no excuse. I have no idea what I did, but I meant to hurt you when I did it, and that was wrong.”
I didn’t bother trying to take my clothes off before I changed. I’d have had to rip burned skin off to remove my jeans and underwear, and it wasn’t worth it. I settled my earpiece on a table and then burst forth into my bear form all at once. A roar reverberated through the room.
And now the bear hurt instead of the human. A single change hadn’t healed the damage. I shifted back to human and looked at my ass in the mirror. Red and raw, but I didn’t think it was as bad as it’d been. The muscle still wasn’t right, though. One cheek clearly had more definition than the other.
I combed through my shredded clothes, found my phone, and started to call Aaron but realized I couldn’t ask my questions over an unsecured call.
I looked up and met Ember’s gaze. “Call Aaron on the secure app.”
She nodded, pulled her phone out, pushed a few buttons, and handed it to me so Aaron would see my face when he answered.
His face went from one of greeting to worry and concern. “Is Ember okay?”
“Her temper got the better of her and she shot some kind of fire into my ass. I had major burns. I changed to bear and back, and the burn isn’t as bad, but I’ve lost muscle in that cheek. It’s visibly smaller and still hurts like fuck. Sometimes, changing makes these things worse. I figure you’ll know what I should do.”
“Is Ember okay?”
“I gut punched her. She puked. I smell bruising and slight damage. No internal bleeding. She’ll need to change in the next couple of hours, probably. I’m in no shape to help her shift into swan.”
“She learned how to shift to swan at will today in Faerie. If I give her more energy to work with, she should be able to do it in this realm.”
I looked at her and she shrugged sheepishly. “I wanted to tell you. I was excited.”
I told Aaron our hotel and room number.
“I’m standing beside my ’copter, but I’m still at least thirty minutes away. Don’t change again. You should order food.”
The screen went blank. I switched to my phone and called the MC’s control room. I could’ve called next door for food from Blaze, but I’d left them shorthanded and I didn’t want to make it worse.
Mad Dog answered. “Control room. You okay?”
“I’m not. I need food delivered. A lot. Ten pounds of barbecue or a few dozen burgers or whatever the fuck someone can get here the fastest. I’m gonna need sweats and a t-shirt, too. My clothes are in tatters.” I told him the room number.
“Do you need someone to stay and watch your back? Or maybe multiple someones?”
“No. Drake’s on his way, and...” I brushed my hand through my hair. “Fuck, I have to trust him. I don’t — not completely — but I can’t let him know that.”
“Okay then. I’ll let Velvet know what you need, and I’m sending a prospect to pick it up. Should Velvet put a bug in the food bags? I can station the prospect in a room down the hall to listen for problems. Up to you.”
Right, because I’d asked for a soundproof room when we checked in. “Thanks, but no.”
The food hadn’t arrived yet when Aaron did. He walked in, touched Ember’s cheek, and she collapsed to the floor. He turned to me and I could see not just the dragon, but the Dragon King.
“She’s a neophyte and I’m responsible for her. I’ll handle her consequences. I just healed her and immobilized her. You aren’t going to see her or hear from her for at least a week, possibly a month or more, but I hope it won’t take that long. I’ll decide when she returns to this realm, and when she does, she’ll have control. You have my word.” He blew a breath out and it was Aaron again. “You need food.”
“On the way.”
“Okay. She blasted you with a form of dragon fire. It isn’t what comes out of our mouths when we breathe fire, but it’s heated energy and it can cause serious injury. I didn’t expect her to be able to use it yet. It took Sophia a while to figure it out, and she’s the Dragon Queen. No other dragon we’ve turned has had access to it in human form.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m going to need to run energy through you to wash it out of your system and heal those muscles. It’s going to hurt like fuck.”
I looked to Ember, still crumpled in a heap on the floor. If he’d knocked her out so she wouldn’t have to see it, that was the wrong move. She needed to see the pain her actions created.
“She’s conscious. She’ll hear and smell it all.”
I aimed my thoughts at her.
Can you hear me?
Her pointer finger jerked, but she didn’t respond telepathically. Still, that gave me my answer.
Aaron shifted his weight and crossed his arms. “I completely disabled her ability to do anything, which includes telepathy.”
“She told you?”
“I’m her king and she’s the equivalent of a baby dragon. She can’t hide anything from me and won’t be able to for decades.”
Which meant I wouldn’t be able to tell her MC secrets.
“Can I put her on the sofa?”
“No. The floor is a good place for her. She’ll be in a much worse place in the coming hours.” He rubbed the knuckles of his fist over the line of his jaw. “Don’t try to insist you can take this standing up. If you lie on the bed face up, I’ll direct energy into the bottoms of your feet. If your body fights the energy, I’ll have to lay hands on your ass. Try to accept it, even though it’ll hurt worse than anything you’ve lived through before.” He blew out a breath. “Hotel isn’t the best place for this, but I couldn’t hear into the room until you opened the door. I’m assuming the room’s soundproof?”
I nodded and stretched out on the bed. Aaron lined the center of his palms up with the arches of my feet, and streamed energy into me. It didn’t hurt, at first. Or rather, it didn’t hurt my feet, calves, or the lower part of thighs.
But then it hit my ass and my bear roared.
“Stay human,” Aaron told me. “Need to heal you in this form. Changing again will complicate things.”
I don’t know how long he worked on me before he stopped and went to the door. I smelled the food and my stomach growled, but I didn’t move. Everything hurt. It felt as if my chakras were burned.
And my ass muscles throbbed in time to my rapidly beating heart. Too fast. Too much. I couldn’t catch my breath.
My throat was raw from screaming.
Fuck. I was not going to scream anymore.
Aaron put the food in the microwave and closed the door. It helped block some of the smell. It would also keep it from losing heat.
“There’s no shame in screaming. I’ve had this done to me and I’m not sure it’s possible to take it quietly. Pretty much anyone else, I’d have slapped a bracelet on you to keep you from changing, but I knew you could hold on.” He grasped my feet again, his palms lined up with the center of my arches. “I’ll tell you when you can change. Do you have two more changes in you, or do I need to feed barbecue to the bear?”
I’d c
lenched my teeth together in anticipation of him starting again, and I had to relax my jaw to tell him, “I’ll manage.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ember
When Aaron finally finished healing D, someone brought him a large rolling suitcase. He folded me into it, and I didn’t come out until he had me in Faerie. I was stripped naked and put into a small cage before he made it so I could move again. No sooner than I was locked in, Queen Mab entered the room, and I was suddenly so afraid I thought I might puke.
They went into another room, and I have no idea what was said. I didn’t see Aaron again until weeks later when my ordeal was finally over. Nor did I see Her Majesty.
A castle guard retrieved me, put a heavy iron collar around my throat, and gave me a glass of water and a piece of stale bread.
“Slave M3629, you’ll work in the laundry the rest of the night before being moved to your morning assignment. You will do as you’re told. You will address those in charge using terms of respect. Punishment will be swift for any infraction.”
The laundry wasn’t so bad, other than the fact I was exhausted. I was clearly going to be treated like a slave as part of my consequences. Not a sex slave, but an actual one. Someone showed me what to do, and I did it. No argument. The laundry rooms were sweltering hot, and I was exhausted when the shift ended. The other slaves seemed to know where to go, but I kept folding sheets and towels.
The same castle guard retrieved me as the next shift arrived. He put iron cuffs on my wrists, ankles, and around my waist. They were heavy, and the ones on my ankles hurt the tops of my feet. I hoped I wouldn’t have to walk much. The guard teleported me to a huge field where I saw lots of naked slaves harvesting something. I had no idea what.
I was handed off to what I assumed was a slave overseer. He handed me two baskets, grabbed my bicep, and jerked me to the field. I was shown how to pull three onions at a time, hold them up by the green stems, cut the roots off the bottoms with non-pointy gardening shears, and then hold them over the basket and cut the stems so the onions fell in the basket.
Dementor (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 1) Page 24