“Oh, and the two of you are better in that department?” Ethan asked, glaring daggers at us. But after a few seconds, he gave a big sigh and shrugged. “Okay, okay. Maybe I win control freak award,” he added, a little sheepishly.
“Well…what I think we need to do now is trust each other,” said Drake. “And most importantly, to trust ourselves.” He sat up a little taller, and I could have sworn he puffed out his chest a bit. “Where would I be now, as High Commander, if I had not learned to trust in my abilities?”
Ethan and I stared at each other for a second, and I watched a small grin grow on my friend’s face. Did Drake really just say that?
Yes. Yes, he did.
A low chuckle started in the back of my throat, until finally, a full-blown laugh escaped. Oh my gods, I hadn’t laughed this hard…ever, really.
Laughing wasn’t really a Seeker dragon thing.
“What?” asked Drake, giving us a mulish look.
“Drake…” I sputtered, feeling like I was going to blow a nut, “are you serious right now? All this blah, blah, High Commander shit. Are you for real?”
“Yes. Well, no, of course not!” Drake gave an exasperated sigh. “I meant—”
“You should be a motivational speaker, or something, Drake.”
By now Ethan was chuckling, too, and finally, Drake gave a loud, boisterous laugh and clapped me on the shoulder.
“Really, though,” Ethan said, “Drake’s right. We need to trust each other. And I promise everyone will be in the loop from now on. Torm would have loved to see us where we were just a few minutes ago—at each other’s throats.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “He would have laughed. And called us all cocksuckers.” The oil tycoon’s favorite terminology wasn’t the most eloquent of words.
“Now, all you cocksuckers,” Ethan drawled in his best Torm Troilus imitation voice, “where’s that gods damned stone? Come bring it to me so I can hump the hell out of it before I go to bed tonight.”
Then we sat around for a few minutes, laughing our asses off, the image of Torm doing dirty things to the stone certainly lightening the mood in my mind. Ethan wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, and Drake’s giant shoulders shook.
Gods, I was still pissed at Ethan, but truth be told, I trusted him one hundred percent. And Drake—what about him? My gaze flicked toward the red dragon, realizing this was the first time we’d joked together.
Ever.
Could I trust him, too?
“Well, you, Trey, are a bit of a fucker,” said Drake finally, one lone hiccup punctuating the last word of the sentence. “You are a Seeker dragon, after all. Especially with that look you have going on. Ethan, what do you call this?”
My chuckle suddenly dwindled. “What do you mean?”
Ethan grinned. “I think it’s the nerdy scientist look.”
Oh, no. I didn’t think so. I crossed my arms and glared at them. “The Dragon Oracle said it was the sexy scientist guy look.”
Drake paused and then studied me thoughtfully. “More like a nerdy scientist in a big warrior’s body. Very strange.” Another loud belly laugh exploded from him, and he clapped me roughly on the shoulder once more. “Face it, Trey. You will never be as sexy as me.”
18
Lyssa
I burst out of the cave into the Arizona sunshine, immediately feeling the warmth seep into my bones. But I didn’t really let myself enjoy it—my entire body seethed with annoyance.
Ethan had been talking to Torm? And he hadn’t bothered to tell us?
I knew he hadn’t done this to be a jerk. He wanted to take care of things. Be in charge. Make sure everything went smoothly.
He always wanted things to be done in the right manner, with the right set of rules and the proper procedures. But Ethan couldn’t always get exactly what he wanted.
No.
Fuck that.
I blew out a huge whoosh of air. “Ugh!” I said to the universe, completely fed up with everything. My shoes crunched loudly on the dirt as I tromped down the trail.
I knew I’d forgive him, but it felt deliciously good to be irritated with him for right now.
“Lyssa…wait!” came Jackson’s voice from behind me. I turned to see him jogging along the trail in my direction.
“Hey,” I said, stopping, but not feeling like talking to him at the moment. I didn’t feel like talking to any of my mates, really.
I’d been so excited about the pregnancy, and now the letdown was starting to set in. Add Ethan’s confession to the mix, and I couldn’t really describe it as the happiest concoction of emotions.
“You okay?” he asked, trying to hug me, but I sort of slithered out of his grasp. A flicker of hurt crossed his face, but I ignored it. The last thing I wanted was to be coddled.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I readjusted my backpack to fit more comfortably. “I just…wanted to get out of the cave. Figure out the next step. Find another offering for the goddess, maybe?”
Jackson nodded. “Okay. I can help. What else do you think she’d want?”
I shrugged, completely out of ideas. If the goddess didn’t like the magical artifacts, what else could possibly work?
“From the seeds comes the fruit,” I murmured, not realizing I’d said it out loud until Jackson eyed me strangely.
“What’s that?”
“Oh. It’s the message from the goddess.”
“Huh.” Jackson thought about that for a second. “Seeds and fruit. Hmm. Well, maybe there’s some type of rare, interesting plant out in this area? We definitely are in some sort of parallel dragon universe.”
I nodded, letting this idea sink in, although it seemed sort of silly. Okay. I looked out across the landscape of the valley, with its wildflowers and shrubs and dragongrass…
Oh! The dragongrass! A zing of excitement shot through me as I remembered how much I’d enjoyed it.
No. Absolutely not. No more dragongrass, Lyssa.
Jackson gave me another odd glance, then squeezed my arm reassuringly. “Why don’t I take a look around in the area? I’ve got some knowledge of plants, mostly in the medicinal sense, but I’ll see what I can find. We’ll come up with the best offering yet,” he said, shooting me that sexy grin I loved so much.
“Okay. Thanks,” I told him, returning his smile, but not entirely convinced. Would she really want…seeds? Fruit? I watched Jackson easily jog down a steep slope to get into the valley below.
I wiped my brow, suddenly feeling hot and a bit lightheaded. I needed to drink water, I reminded myself, and hoisted myself up onto a shady, rocky ledge that overlooked the wildflower meadow. I pulled out a water bottle from my pack and took a long, deep drink.
Think, Lyssa, think.
What could we offer the goddess? Maybe the hint was a metaphor for something else? But what?
I needed to figure something out, and soon, because time was ticking. Torm was breathing down our necks.
And my sister…I thought of her, lying in bed, grappling with her newfound power of the dark arts. Dreaming of dragon’s breath and other horrible things. Counting on me to talk with the dragon goddess and to figure out how to heal the stone.
I fished inside the front pocket of my backpack for my cell phone, hoping to call to check on her. One glance at the screen sent a pang of disappointment through me. No service.
Shit. I guess I wasn’t all that surprised, though. We were in an entirely different dimension, after all.
But maybe for the best—did I really want to admit to her that I had no idea how to achieve the things I had set out to do? That I was currently sitting on a rock, unable to speak with the goddess, and on my way to failing the quest? Not even able to get pregnant, even though I’d experienced the intense power of the fertility cave, and so had my mates?
Enough of this. I needed to get up and figure it all out. I had to try harder. Sitting on my butt wasn’t helping at all.
Maybe…sleep? suggested my dragoness.
Sleep? Had my dragones
s lost her brain?
Fuck that, I told her, grabbing my pack. Sleep is for wussies.
I scrambled to my feet and stood, only to feel my head smash into something. A shearing pain pierced my skull and, after that, utter blackness consumed me.
19
Lyssa
I woke up with fuzzy brain syndrome and a dull, throbbing ache in my head. I cracked my eyes open to find the world spinning around me, then quickly snapped them shut. Wisps of a dream darted out of my grasp.
The breeding cave. My mates standing close to me. The golden chalice in my hands.
An empty cup, with nothing inside.
The memories of the dream faded, but a sadness lay heavy on my shoulders. I wrapped my arms about my waist.
Empty.
I cracked my eyes open again, this time very slowly. Everything still spun. I lifted myself up carefully, tugging my blanket around me, and gazed about the place.
I was in Lia’s cavern on a pile of soft cushions, not far from where Lia lay soaking in her hot springs tub. “Hey!” she said. She took off her headphones. “How are you feeling?”
“Um…I don’t know.” I rubbed the back of my skull.
“You bumped your head, I think,” she said, climbing out of the tub and wrapping herself in a towel. She came over to sit next to me. “I found you lying by the big rocky outcropping with a huge lump on your noggin.”
“Huh.” My mind still felt like mashed potato, but at least the crazy merry-go-round in my head had slowed down a bit. “And you dragged me here? How did you—”
“I’m strong. And I didn’t drag you, I sort of tossed you over my shoulder.”
“You potato sacked me?”
The Oracle grinned. “Yeah, I did. Well, hey, do you want some dinner?” She didn’t wait for my answer but instead rose and pulled on a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans, then grabbed a plastic takeout bag before returning to the cushions.
Wait. “Dinner?” I asked.
“It’s eight p.m. That’s what I’d call dinner.” Lia shrugged. “I guess you could call it night snack, or something.”
“Eight p.m.? Holy hell!” I flung the blanket off me and jumped up, only to experience another swirl of dizziness.
“Hey. Just sit, okay?” Lia tugged my arm, her grip gentle yet firm, and I let her pull me back down. “You slept all day. It’s dark out.”
I waited for a few moments until the room stopped swaying again, noticing I was wearing the same shorts and T-shirt I’d had on this morning, except I was barefoot. “I don’t have time to eat,” I said, glancing around for my shoes and socks, and yanking them on once I found them neatly placed near the cushions. “I’ve wasted the entire day sleeping! I should have been helping Jackson, or trying to find another offering, or…crap! The guys must be beside themselves, not knowing where I am—”
“Everything’s fine,” Lia interrupted, her bright green eyes intent on mine, gluing me to my seat. “They know you’re here. I saw Jackson out tromping about in the meadow earlier—and being quite interested in the dragongrass, I’ll say—so I had him come check on you.”
I nodded, still a bit mesmerized by her woo-woo gaze. “But—”
“He said you needed to rest. And he agreed it was a good idea for you to stay in my cavern. The fertility cave—super nice and sexy and all that jazz—isn’t always the best for getting good sleep.”
“No, it’s not.” It was best for getting it on. Its crazy, lusty energy pushed my hormones to overdrive, and I wanted nothing more than to rut around in the sheets with my dragons, twenty-four seven. But what was the point? The fertility cave was meant for breeding. Which I apparently couldn’t do.
The weight upon my shoulders was suddenly joined by another one, which hung heavy over my heart.
“Sometimes sleep is the best way. Going on turbo speed…does that really help us?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. What if we just relaxed and let the answers come to us?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and to point out that not all of us were Dragon Oracles, and sitting and waiting for things to pop into our heads didn’t often happen. The way to get shit done was to actually do it, not sit around waiting for someone else to take care of it.
But she was on a roll. “Work, work, work. Go, go, go. Just like that crazy mechanical rabbit thing. It burns people out. I think we need to chill more.”
I nodded, not really wanting to argue with her, but honestly wondering how much time she’d spent in the dragongrass today. Besides, something smelled really good. I hadn’t eaten all day, and if Lia planned on feeding me, I’d better be a good sport. Telling your host they’d completely lost their brain in the meadow wasn’t my idea of being a good guest.
Lia took out several plastic containers and arranged them on the cushions between us. “Chop suey. Orange chicken. Egg rolls,” she said as she popped open the containers, and absolute deliciousness wafted out. “I picked it up from the Chinese restaurant in town while you were sleeping.”
My stomach rumbled loudly. The Oracle winked as she handed me some chopsticks and a bottle of water from the bag. “How about we eat, and then you go back to your mates if you want?”
“Sure,” I said. “Thanks for getting all of this.” Then we dug into the food, a comfortable silence spreading around us. Once we’d devoured every morsel of awesomeness and I’d guzzled my water, I relaxed onto the cushions. I felt ridiculously better already—being a dragon, I healed quickly, and I already felt the bump on my head shrinking.
My body felt better—but the other parts of me? I wasn’t so sure about that.
“Well? What do you think?” asked Lia as we cleaned up our mess. “Do you want to go back to the breeding cave, or do you want to come out with me tonight?”
“With you? To the shifter bar?”
“Nah. I’m off tonight. And besides, you don’t want to go there. The guys there are gross. Dried-up old douchebags.”
She made a face, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m meeting with some friends instead,” she continued. “It’s low key. You can wear what you have on now.” She arched an eyebrow. “What do you say? Wanna go?”
I paused, thinking about all the things I should be doing. Like returning to my mates. Figuring out another offering to the goddess. Doing everything I could possibly think of to help us on this quest.
But right now, going back to the fertility cave was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t want to feel the ancient breeding ground’s energy calling me in, urging me to fulfill things that I didn’t know were ever going to happen for me. What if I woke up tomorrow morning with even more disappointment?
I didn’t know if I could handle it.
“Come on. It’ll be fun.” Lia grinned at me. “You can deal with all the other crap tomorrow.”
I shot her a smile back. Why not? Better than returning to the cave to face the guys. And like the Oracle said, I could figure out another offering in the morning. “All right. I’m in.”
“Okay, great! Just one sec.” She disappeared from the room, and when she returned, she had Zeverini draped around her neck.
I eyed the snake warily. “He’s going, too?”
“Of course,” she said, shooting me a quizzical look. “Zev Man goes everywhere with me.” Then she traced a circle upon the cave wall, a shimmering portal appearing beneath the touch of her fingers. “Hold tight,” she added, grabbing my hand and pulling me through.
A moment later, we stood in the parking lot at the trailhead. The disappearing portal flickered with its dissolving light. Soon nothing but the dim light of the moon illuminated the trail heading up into the hills.
“Um…” I said, and I must have had a look of pure bewilderment on my face, because the Oracle laughed.
“Dragon magick,” she said, and winked at me. “Go on. My car’s the red truck. Hop on in.”
* * *
Lia parked the truck along the side of the road, behind a long line of vehicles. Befor
e I shut the door, I could already hear the sound of drums.
Boom. Boom-boom.
Tall rock formations towered all around us. The moon was just a sliver and the stars shone so brightly I felt like I could reach out and grab them.
Dark dragon shapes flew above us in the near distance. They swooped, twisted, and turned, almost as if urging me to join them. I was tired, body and soul both, but the music pulled me forward.
Boom. Boom-boom-boom.
“What is this?” I asked. Zeverini wound his way languorously around the Oracle’s neck, his little slitty eyes turning to look at me inquisitively.
“You’ll see,” said Lia. “Come on, it’s this way.” The snake flicked his tongue in agreement, but I didn’t really need any more urging. The pulsing beat already tugged at me, getting louder as our shoes crunched on the rocky path through clusters of short bushes and scrubby trees.
Lia led us through a narrow entrance between two towering rock formations, and we emerged into a natural amphitheater. The red rocks surrounded us to form a circular shape. Several bonfires lay scattered about and drummers clustered to one side, while dragons in human form sat upon rocky ledges or danced around the fires. Dragons in their beast forms flew high above.
We moved through the crowd, and of course, Lia knew just about everyone there. “No one knows I’m the Dragon Oracle,” she whispered in my ear. “I keep that on the down low. The valley and the cave and everything—it’s all under wraps. As far as they’re concerned, I’m just Lia the bartender.”
She chatted with and introduced me to what seemed like a bajillion dragons, but everyone’s names and faces seemed to blur together as I took in the ancient energy of the place.
So primal and earthy and raw.
The drumming rose through the air, surrounding me, throbbing with the beat of my heart. I swayed a little to the music, not really wanting to full-out dance, but simply enjoying the feeling of the luscious, pulsing rhythm.
Finally, Lia led us to sit down on a few flat rocks along the outskirts of the circle. I blew out a breath of relief, happy to just sit and observe. To let the music soak deep within me.
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