by Kym Dillon
“Vyda, Your Highness.”
“Common born?”
She bowed her head respectfully. “Yes, Sire.”
“I elevate you to the rank of gentry. When you’ve recovered from your wounds, we mate.”
Her glossy eyes widened. “Your Majesty!” she gasped.
“It’s our only chance,” he muttered frankly.
A wan smile softened her face as she realized her stroke of luck. Arken looked away. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement for him, but she was comely and well-made. A suitable partner, if he ignored the rules that stipulated he could only mate within the highest ranks. Elevating her to ‘gentry’ meant nothing.
“Yes, Your Maj—”
“Call me Arken. Now, let’s dress the wound.”
He moved to the other side of the hall to transform. He needed the agility of his man-shape. Ainley’s words came back to him. Take a different form. He had been a sleeping giant for so long that he almost didn’t know how. With a grunt, he condensed his consciousness and shrank into himself. He thought he heard Vyda protesting, but soon lost his dragonspeak. He also smelled something oddly out of place, but he lost that sense, too.
Arken fell to his knees, and the piles of gold dug into his thin skin. “Mmph!” He clenched his teeth. Lifting a hand, he shook black hair out of his face and stared at his fingers. All five were there. It would take getting used to. When he gazed up at the lady dragon, she towered over him.
“So, let’s keep your movement to a minimum until I can get some light going in here. I know you can see me, but I can’t see you in this form,” he said. “I’ll be right back to doctor on that nasty wound. Rest.”
Her words floated into his thoughts, Yes, Your Maj—Arken. Another smile. It was much more formidable from the perspective of his man-shape. She settled her heavy head onto her folded claws and closed her eyes.
Arken ducked into a chamber of the keep he hadn’t visited in forever. His absence hardly showed. It was the magic of the place. Everything arrested in time. He crossed the comfortable bedroom and pulled clothing from a chifforobe.
Quickly sliding his arms into a linen shirt, he covered his brawny chest. He stepped into a pair of black trousers and boots that came to his calves. Finger-combing his hair in front of the mirror, he studied his chiseled features.
He wondered what the dragon female would look like in her woman-shape. Probably lovely. So, why wasn’t he overjoyed at the unexpected gift fate had dropped into his lap? He had a mate. Only, he liked his sex to come without the taint of obligation. She would love him because she had to, because he was king.
Sighing, he entered the bathing room where he kept medicinal supplies. “Isolation has made you maudlin,” he muttered to himself. He threw open a storage chest. Once upon a time, he had play-acted at being mortal, and his servants had stocked the fortress, including these supplies. He had never needed them, but the medicine would come in handy now.
As he returned to the bedroom, everything in his hands tumbled to the floor and his jaw-dropped. There was a woman in his room. There was a woman hiding herself behind his bedroom door and peeking into the great hall where Vyda presumably slept. She spun around to face him. They were both rendered speechless.
She was his height, which made her a tall woman. Her hair fell in a single braid down her slender back, and she was shaped like a harlot—all soft, wide hips and plush breasts. The male clothes she wore did nothing to hide her divine figure. Arken’s physical response was unstoppable. He tautened like a bow being strung.
He shook his head at himself, remembering he had a sacred duty to save his seed for the dragon in the other room. “Who are you and how did you get here?” he snapped.
“Are you crazy? Shut the hell up before you wake the dragon!” she hissed. Arken lifted a brow, and she did a double-take. “Wait—what are you doing here? I thought Feis said no one from her realm could enter this place.”
Arken backed away warily. This was the dragon eater’s loophole traveler. Ainley had warned him. He considered killing the beautiful stranger. It would be a quick, painless death. He even moved toward her to strangle her, but something in her eyes stopped him. She didn’t recognize what he was. Anyone from his world would instantly know. They would feel the shifter magic rippling off him in waves.
“Feis sent you?” he asked.
“Mm-hmm. I take it she sent you, too?” The girl smirked. She slowly locked his bedroom door and sidestepped with her hands up, palms facing him. She looked like she was sizing him up. Like she would gladly take her chances fighting him before she fought a dragon. “What did she promise to pay you for stealing the red diamond for her?”
He narrowed his eyes. “What did she promise you?”
3
Daya lifted her chin, meeting his gaze. “Freedom,” she replied.
It wasn’t exactly the truth, but she didn’t feel guilty for lying because he clearly didn’t believe her. Skepticism was written all over his gorgeous mug. His strange black eyes frankly appraised her. She couldn’t help but stare.
He was tall. Jeez, she was a sucker for tall men. For a girl pushing six feet, the taller, the better. Medium-length black hair framed his angular face. Ordinarily, she liked a closer trim, but he was very knight in shining armor-ish. Also, the muscles looked capable of breaking her in half.
Or, inner bad Daya whispered, capable of breaking you in all the right ways.
A manicured brow lifted speculatively. He crossed his arms, and Daya smoothed her face. She wasn’t the damsel in distress type, and this knight wasn’t there to rescue her from dragons. Hell, he would likely use her as bait to get to the diamond first.
“Freedom. Hmm. What’s your name?” he asked.
His voice made something within her sizzle. “Daya,” she murmured, clearing her throat. “And, you?” She gnawed on her bottom lip as she quickly scoped the situation. Only one exit in sight, and that door led to the hall with the dragon. She had nearly lost her shit creeping past the beast the first time. She didn’t think she could run back out there.
Her sexy competition blocked the entrance to what looked like a bathroom. Maybe it was a throughway to another chamber, but she didn’t want to trap herself. He didn’t appear to have any weapons. She did. She slowly dropped her hands and brushed her wrist against the knife in her waistband. Her borrowed clothes from the stable boy weren’t an ideal fit, and she had worried the scabbard would slip off. It was still there.
“You can call me Arken,” said the stranger. “You’re not…from here, are you?”
She chuckled dryly. “Um. No. I’m from Cincinnati, although I don’t expect you to know where that is, considering this place isn’t on any map I’ve ever seen. Feis called it, uh, the Blue Sky Realm?”
“I see.” He took a step closer and gestured at her pelvic area.
She froze as her cheeks went pink. “What? What do you see?” How obvious was her libido?
Arken released a melodic laugh. “The knife. It’s poorly concealed. If it makes you feel more comfortable to have it in hand, you might as well take it out.”
She looked skyward. For a second, she had thought he could see through her clothes. Nothing would surprise her here. Her relief was short-lived, however, when she realized he was making it obvious she was no threat to him. “Why should I take orders from you?” she asked lamely.
He tilted his head with a smile. “Because I wouldn’t have told you I know you’re armed if I intended to hurt you. Besides, I’d feel more comfortable with a knife out in the open. No surprises.”
She eased the short blade from its scabbard, ignoring the tremor in her hands. “Fine. What’s with the stuff you dropped?” She pointed at the supplies. As he kneeled to pick up the bag, she had a random thought of plunging the handy little dagger into the back of his neck. It would probably be her one chance to catch him off guard. The guy looked lethal—in a “do with me what you will” kind of way.
“The dragon is injured,” he gru
nted, rising to his feet. Daya snapped to attention when he moved a step toward her. Up close, his height was the stuff of dreams. “While you do whatever it is you have to do, I’ll tend to her wounds. Pretend I’m not even here.” He smiled.
“Don’t you think the best time to look for the diamond is while the dragon is down for the count?”
“You could look for centuries and never find it. Better to ask and receive.”
“Like that thing will tell you,” Daya scoffed.
He shrugged. “I want to at least give her the opportunity. With that arrow wound, she can’t do any harm. The dragon eaters enchant the huntsmen’s weapons. It’s like poison, only…worse. If she doesn’t get treatment, she’ll die, and Feis has enough dragon trophies. I didn’t sign up to give her more.”
He brushed past and headed for the door. Daya pivoted to keep him in front. She waved the knife threateningly, but he didn’t even flinch. Shit. “Just hang on a second. You say you signed up to steal the diamond, but here you are, playing dragon vet. I don’t trust you. I want to see what’s in the bag.”
With a sigh, Arken opened it so she could see the gauze, salves and murky-looking tinctures inside. “Satisfied?” he asked.
She nodded, more confused than ever. Maybe the guy was from a much nicer realm than hers. She didn’t know a person on Earth who would nurse a fire-breathing monster back to health. All the better to eat them. She lifted her hands in surrender and shrugged.
“Okay, dude. You want to be Dr. Doolittle, be my guest,” she said. “Long as you know, if I find the jewel first, I’m not telling you. I’m not giving you a chance to profit from my hard work. Finders, keepers. I’m out of here.”
“That’s fair,” he said, again catching her off guard with a step closer. “I’ve been here a while, so let me give you some survival tips. You won’t find the diamond, but you’re in luck because you’re safe here. From everything. In that form, the dragon can’t reach these chambers. She’s too large.
“There’s also an enchantment on the place. Somehow, it’s always the right temperature. Food and drink are replenished in the dining hall whenever you need it. Even, the water for your bath runs to your fancy. The bed adjusts to your whims. Your dreams deliver such realistic escapes that you wonder if you ever sleep. You’ll never clean, never toil. Your candles will never run out, and your blade will never dull.”
“What is this place? Heaven?” She laughed.
“It would seem that way, right?” He smiled sardonically. “Most hells do. That’s the only way they get you to stay an eternity. With suffering so exquisite that you don’t realize you’re lying in your own grave, being eaten alive by self-doubt and loneliness, until there’s nothing left. You simply let it happen. And, anything different is welcome, no matter what it plans to take from you.”
“You sound like you’ve been here longer than a while.” Her shrewd mind tried to assess what that meant for her. Did he already have the diamond?
He reached out and cupped her face. “That’s not the point. The point is…You’ll look up one day and realize a hundred years have passed, and you’ve had nearly everything you wanted at your fingertips the whole time.”
“What’s so bad about that?” she whispered, shivering at his spellbinding narrative.
“The part where I said ‘nearly.’”
She stared after him as he walked out the door. “Is that what happened to you?” she asked, but he didn’t answer.
Neigen had been pleasant company for Daya on the hike through the dark forest to King’s Isle Keep. However, the closer they had gotten to their destination, the quieter he had become. Daya had started to feel like she was on a funeral march, which was probably more accurate than either of them cared to admit.
When they had reached the keep, she’d entered through a tunnel at the foot of the mountain. Surprisingly, there had been an elevator. She’d convinced herself things might be easier than expected. However, once within the labyrinthine halls, she had realized how daunting finding the Heart of the Dragon would actually be.
The place was mammoth and breathtaking. The Temple of Fire paled in comparison. In her illustrious life of crime, she had been in mega-mansions smaller than this.
The place had striking walls of white stone striated with crimson. The floors were like mirrors. The architecture was otherworldly, evoking hints of fantasy movies Daya had watched back home. The furniture was like something from a fairytale. Ancient wood pieces, hand-carved by the finest artisans. She might have gotten caught up in exploring all day, but she had a job to do.
Daya had been searching for hours before she ran into Arken. She had listened to the storm pick up beyond the parapets, hiding when she heard the dragon re-enter the keep. When she’d finally gotten up the nerve to follow the sound, she had found the hall of treasures. The diamond had to be there somewhere. The only problem was the big red beast using half the gold as a mattress.
Now, she was stuck in the chamber. She paced the room Arken had just vacated, wondering how much of what he said was true. It all sounded unbelievable, especially about the dragon being harmless. Everything she knew about injured animals said stay the entire frig away.
Still, Daya was exhausted and hungry after the hike to the keep and the frantic search for the diamond. She hadn’t planned on staying the night. In fact, Neigen had loaned her camping materials to stay in the woods. But, with the storm raging outdoors, one of the comfy Fire Realm magic sleep beds would have to do. Darn.
Not this one. It was too close to the beast for comfort.
She opened the door a crack and peered out. Arken was on his knees, tending to the patient. She had half expected to find him picking through the treasure to get the jump on her. But, no. He had gotten the sconces to work. She shoved the fire stick/flashlight Neigen had given her back into her waistband.
“He’s perfect,” she muttered disparagingly.
A look of concentration tightened his handsome face, and it made her knees weaken and lower belly clench. Great, she thought. The guy she would vote Most Likely to Get Her Killed by Finding the Diamond First—because he was just so capable—was giving her hot flashes. He brushed hair out of his eyes and continued pressing gauze to the bleeding scales like he didn’t notice her.
Meanwhile, the creature was motionless. That was promising. Daya told herself she’d search the hall first thing in the morning, dragon or no dragon. For now, she needed sleep. She eased one shoulder out the room, then a leg. She sidled along the wall and tried to quietly creep past. When she reached the arch that led from the hall, she cast a triumphant glance over her shoulder
And, the good dragon doctor was staring right at her. “The third room down the hall on the left is the best one. It has amazing views of the ocean. You can have it.” His voice echoed in the cavernous hall. All melodic and amazing.
“Don’t do me any favors,” Daya snipped, walking away faster.
“Are you into books? You should also check out the library. It’s something truly special, and you might find information about what you’re looking for.”
She turned from her escape route and pinned him with a look. “What about you, Arken? Where will you spend your hundred years here? Asking, so we can steer clear of each other.”
“Let’s just say I’m sure you’ll discover this place isn’t as big as you’d like it to be.” He smiled.
The dragon stirred, emitting a pained groan that reminded her of a cross between a whale and an elephant. Daya nearly jumped a foot into the air. Arken laughed, although he tried not to do it. He was perfect like that. Growling, Daya marched from the hall.
She would show him. She would take the best room with the view, thanks much. She would eat the yummy self-replenishing food in the magic dining hall and sleep in the bed that catered to her whims. She would take advantage of the tub that delivered spa baths. In fact, she would enjoy every second of her temporary stay here, and it certainly wouldn’t take a hundred years. She would also a
void him like the plague.
Then, he could laugh when she found the Heart of the Dragon and left his ass there.
Daya tried all the above over the next few days, while Arken worked to keep the dragon alive. She couldn’t avoid him. He took the room across from hers, which turned out to be the master.
She’d bump into him in the dining hall or find him in the library just when she wanted to curl up with the heavy tome of dragon history that had captivated her attention. He’d do something stupid-nice like show her the music room where a hidden (magic?) sound system played haunting songs.
At night, she would dream of him. Incidentally, he was right about the dreams, too. They were vivid enough to leave her sheets saturated and her body on fire. There was no escaping the chemistry, and it clouded her senses, making it impossible to find the Heart of the Dragon.
On her fifth night there, she was ready to give up entirely. There had to be another way of getting back to her realm, Feis be damned. She stood on the balcony outside her enchanted bedroom and stared at the stars. She missed home.
The scrying tool Feis had given her suddenly burned against her thigh, where she had it tucked in the waistband of her pants. Daya yanked it out, and the high priestesses face filled the mirror. “Oh, come on. This is too Walt Disney villain, even for you,” she muttered.
“Have you found it yet?”
“I’d be back by now, if I had,” she sighed.
“What about the dragon?” Feis asked.
“What about—?” Daya almost asked about Arken, but she stopped herself. It might be in her best interest if the high priestess didn’t know she had already run into her competition. “The dragon was already injured when I got here. Half-dead, really. It’s no longer a threat.”