by Juniper Hart
“Opal!” he gasped, stepping backward as the woman peered at him with intense, pupil-less eyes.
Poet was overwhelmed by the feeling that the air had been sucked from the forest. She gaped at the elf-like figure before them. The fluttering of birds could be heard as they flew from the trees, and for a moment, Poet was afraid she was going to faint dead away.
The woman eyed them before speaking in a bright, cheerful tone.
“I am Ruby,” she said. “And you’re one of the dragon princes, aren’t you?”
Poet could not stop her mouth from falling open as well, the confirmation of what she had already known being said in such a conversational tone almost too much for her to understand.
“Yes,” Max replied, shooting Poet a worried look. “I am Maximus.”
Ruby nodded slowly, staring at him from head to toe like she was memorizing his every feature.
“Well, come on in before all the flies enter,” she said, throwing open the door wider and allowing them entry. “That damned cow attracts everything on her ass.”
Poet gulped back her shock and lowered her head, entering the hobbit-esque shack. She was trying not to show her ignorance as the sights and sounds filled her senses. Everywhere she looked, there were bottles and jars, crystals and beakers, but she could identify none of their contents.
She is a witch, Poet thought to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. In her anthropology classes, she had learned about people who lived in the woods, isolated from the rest of the world, but it had always seemed so remote from her own life.
Even as they had fought through the shrubbery for hours, Poet had not prepared herself for the woman she was about to meet—the woman who could hopefully change her life forever.
“Tea? Coffee?” Ruby offered, gesturing for them to sit.
“No, thank you,” Poet answered, studying the cabin with impressed eyes. “We shouldn’t have come unannounced, but there was no other way we could find to reach you.”
Ruby snickered. “You are never unannounced to me,” she replied. “I knew you were coming before you did.”
Poet believed her.
“You know why we’re here, then?” Max asked, and the witch nodded.
“Of course I do. I knew it was only a matter of time before one of you came trampling in this direction,” she said.
“And yet, for someone who fears reprisal, you are easy enough to find,” Max said suspiciously.
“Oh,” Ruby sighed, almost rolling her eyes. “I suppose every generation has prepared the next for what Opal did. Some of us believed that you had forgotten how the curse came to be and moved along. That we were safe. But that was never my school of thought. I knew I would see one of you in my lifetime.”
“How?” Max demanded. “How could you know?”
“We are still witches, my lord,” she replied, giving Poet a once over. “We know things inherently. I imagine that is why you have come.”
“I have come because we need your help,” Max explained. The witch sighed again, sitting back against a tree stump chair, folding her arms over her chest.
“I don’t know how much I can help you,” she said, and Max gave her a look of surprise.
“You haven’t even heard what I need,” he reminded her.
“I can guess,” Ruby replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “You want to turn your lover into a dragon.”
Poet gasped. “How did you—?”
“I guess you tuned out that part of the conversation,” Ruby chuckled, shaking her head.
“Why can’t you help us?” Poet asked, rising from her chair. “We are talking about a matter of life or death for me!”
“I know,” Ruby said sadly. “And I wish I could help you. But times have changed, dear Poet. This is not the same world it was seven centuries ago, and there are things I cannot do any longer, not without conjuring powers which might or might not be enough.”
Poet did not have time to entertain the idea that Ruby knew her name without being told.
“Do what you have to do!” Max commanded. “If my father gets his hands on her—”
“Ah, Rui always was batshit crazy,” the witch laughed, shaking her snow-white hair in amusement. “I never understood how he managed to reign for so long without being taken out.”
“Can you please focus, Ruby?” Poet demanded. “If you don’t change me into a dragon, he will be hunting me until he gets what he wants!”
“And I am trying to tell you that I can’t do that,” Ruby said. “Only a select few witches alive today might know how to enact such a spell. It is nowhere near as commonplace as it once was. I’m sorry.”
Max jumped from his chair, his hands on the edge of the table, as if he intended to flip it in his anger.
“You are just like Opal,” he snarled through clenched teeth. “You have wanted us to suffer for no other reason but ancient rivalries.”
Ruby looked unperturbed by his outburst, her black eyes fixed on his reddening face.
“I assure you, whatever medieval spats you people had back in feudal times has no bearing on my life now,” she told him. “You aren’t even princes anymore, and the kingdom is a rundown mess of unkept land. Why on earth would I give a rat’s ass what happens to any of you?”
“We can pay you!” Poet cried beseechingly.
Ruby’s eyes sparkled. “Tempting as that is,” she replied, also rising from her chair, “that doesn’t change the fact that—”
Abruptly she stopped speaking, her face paling as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
“What is happening?” Poet asked Max, but he had no answer as Ruby began to seize, her body quivering. Poet rushed to catch her before she hit the floor, and slowly, the witch’s eyes began to regain focus. “What… what happened?” she gasped. “Are you okay?”
“You have to get out of here!” Ruby hissed. “He’s coming!”
“Who is coming?” Max and Poet demanded in unison.
“You know who,” the witch whispered. “Run!”
They tore into the yard, wildly looking around for a place to flee, the sound of wings flapping overhead causing them to freeze in their spot.
“He can’t see us from here,” Max told Poet, yanking her toward him. “We just have to hide in the trees until he leaves.”
“He can sense you down here, Maximus,” Ruby sighed from the door to her shack. “He has been waiting for you to return to England. You can’t hide forever.”
“Ruby, I am begging you!” Poet sobbed, the fear numbing her senses. “I don’t want to die when I have just met my soulmate. Please, do something to help us! Help me!”
“Come on, Poet,” Max growled. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He pulled her hand and yanked her through the gate as Rui released a primal screech from nearby.
Poet cast Ruby one last look, her eyes wet with tears.
“Please,” she mouthed, but Max had already hurried her into the thick.
“I made a mistake,” he muttered, his eyes trained on the sky to look out for his father. “We should never have come back. I should’ve never brought you here.”
“We would never have known any other way,” she replied sadly, her heart shattering as she realized just how close she was to the end of her life.
Max stopped in his tracks and pulled her to him, embracing her tightly, his neck still craned toward the skies. “Shh,” he whispered against her head. “We will find a way out of here, no matter how long it takes.”
But Poet was not fooled by the bravery in his voice. She knew this was the final leg for them both, and she didn’t want to die before telling Max how she felt about him. “Max—”
“Shh,” he said again.
“Max, look at me—”
“Poet—”
“Look at me!” Poet cried, grabbing his face. His eyes were wide with both panic and the bright desire to protect her. “Look at me. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life. These few weeks with you have m
ade my life worth living, and I can die now, knowing that I have experienced something that some people never get to feel. Even if they live to be one hundred… or seven hundred.”
“Don’t talk like that, Poet!” Max roared, his grip on her tightening. “I won’t let him harm you. I didn’t rescue you from Mya and Nick to end up like this!”
A dark shadow fell over them, and Poet did not need to look up to feel the massive black frame ascending upon them. The temperature dropped as black hooks fell below the tree line, the creatures of the woods screeching in protest at the predator in their midst.
Max tried to turn and look, but Poet held his face firmly in her hands.
“No,” she insisted. “You look at me. You don’t fight him. We can’t spend our lives running.”
Rui landed with a thud, and through her peripheral vision, the terrifying umbra overtook the clearing where they stood.
Don’t scream, don’t cry, she told herself. Accept your fate. You brought this on yourself.
A stream of fire flew from the beast’s massive jaws, a spark of flames shooting toward her. Poet refused to close her eyes, her gaze locked on Max’s. His expression softened, and he placed his hands on top of hers, leaning their foreheads together.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you,” Poet moaned, waiting to be charred on contact.
At the last possible second, instinct took over, and she wedged her eyes closed.
But nothing happened.
Then a hysterical shriek filled the air.
Cautiously, Poet turned her head to stare at the enraged black dragon, flapping his wings in a fury. Rui lowered his head, his amber eyes blazing with anger as he unleashed another spray of fire toward them. This time, as it flew at her, Poet kept her eyes wide open, watching the line of flames dissipate before it met them.
What the hell is going on? she wondered, awestruck.
Before she could question anything else, the old dragon king leaped into the air, his claws extended, and he dove forward to snatch Poet into his clutches.
Max broke apart from their embrace, shifting to meet his father mid-air.
“NO!” Poet screamed. “Max, no!”
But as Rui descended upon them, he seemed frozen in space, unable to proceed closer. Even though Max flew higher, squealing maliciously, Rui made no move to come closer.
Poet stumbled back and watched in fascination at the dragons seemed to communicate between them. Abruptly, Max fell to her side in his mortal form, blinking in confusion.
“What is going on?” Poet demanded. “Why can’t he kill me?”
“Because I cast a protective shield over you.”
Ruby’s voice ruminated through the trees, but when Poet turned to look, she could not see the black-eyed witch.
“He can’t touch you as long as you two are together,” Ruby explained from somewhere within the woods. “The force of your love is staving him off.”
“For how long?” Poet gasped.
“For as long as you remain in love,” Ruby chuckled. “He’ll tire out soon enough, don’t worry.”
Max and Poet clung to each other as Rui batted against the invisible shield, his actions futile. They watched for a few more minutes until the king shot into the sky and disappeared in the direction of Misty Woods, leaving Max and Poet to collect themselves.
It was only then that Ruby showed herself in front of them.
“He will try again,” she said. “Probably many times.”
Poet swallowed the lump in her throat and threw her arms around the witch.
“How can I ever thank you?” she gasped.
Ruby laughed aloud. “No, child,” she replied. “Watching Rui go nuts was repayment enough. But I’m warning you now—if he catches you apart, he can still kill you. That is the only weakness in your shield. My hope is that he eventually gives up, though.”
“We understand,” Poet exhaled, throwing herself back into Max’s arms. “We won’t ever be apart again.”
“No,” Max agreed. “We won’t.” He studied her face, the concern for her alive in his shiny eyes. “The thought of losing you makes me sick to my stomach,” he told her hoarsely. “And even if we can’t turn you into a dragon, I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.”
Poet was beaming, tears slipping down her face. “That is still a long while,” she promised him. “Longer than you make it sound.”
“If it helps,” Ruby volunteered, “I will begin looking for the dragon curse within my circles. It is long dead, but someone somewhere must know it.”
Max stared at Poet.
“Are you still willing to transform to be with me?” he rasped, and she nodded without hesitation.
“Of course,” Poet said, peppering his face with kisses. “We belong together.”
Max’s face relaxed into a wide smile, and he squeezed her body to his. “We need to get out of England,” he told her. “Make Rui work if he wants us.”
“My father will be happy to have me home,” Poet said.
Max brushed her hair away from her face. “What about your master’s, your thesis?”
A playful grin formed on Poet’s lips.
“I think I may have an idea about a paper on reclusive witches,” she quipped, and Max exhaled, laughing as they sank into one another with relief. “Or maybe I’ll just take the rest of the semester off,” Poet concluded.
“I think that might be the best for everyone,” Max said. “Now let’s get the hell out of England and live on the beach for a while.”
Epilogue
King Henry eyed his son-in-law skeptically.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man with your body eat as much as you do,” he commented, and Maximus grinned at the middle-aged man with a mouthful of roasted potatoes.
The weather had cooperated perfectly, as it tended to do on Luxe, and Maximus gazed toward the beach where his new bride sat, surrounded by well-wishers as the waves of the Pacific lapped teasingly toward her.
“I’m sorry your father was ill and missed the festivities,” King Henry said, sitting back in his chair, his clear blue eyes fastened on Maximus. The dragon tensed at the sound of his father’s name, but he made no indication of the mounting stress in his body.
“He is sorry he missed this, too,” Maximus replied smoothly, wiping his face with a white linen napkin. “And my brothers.”
“You know,” Poet’s father continued, apparently determined to drive his point home. “You can tell a lot about someone by their family.”
“I would normally agree,” Maximus said, shifting his gaze back toward Poet. His heart skipped as it tended to do whenever he caught a glimpse of her beauty, but he had never seen her look as lovely as she did at that moment, the dusky light bouncing off her up-do, her white wedding dress glimmering against the jewel-like waters of the ocean beyond.
She doesn’t seem real, Maximus thought, his eyes glimmering when Poet looked up to catch his eye and wave him toward her.
“But?” King Henry asked. “Sounded like you were going to add a disclaimer following that.”
“Well, I don’t know, sir,” Maximus said, reluctantly glancing at the man across the long, festive table. “I don’t think I would ever have guessed that Poet was your daughter, knowing what I know about her now.”
King Henry chuckled, but Maximus somehow sensed there was little mirth in his laugh. “I’m not sure if that was an insult or a compliment.”
Maximus shook his head. “Neither, sir. She does not fit the profile of a princess, does she?”
“No,” the king admitted. “She does not. She never has.”
Maximus rose to his feet and looked at the king apologetically.
“I’m afraid my wife seems to be summoning me with her eyes,” he told the man. “Shall we continue this later?”
“You can count on it,” King Henry replied, and his tone was unmistakable.
Maximus slipped away from the wedding
table and headed toward his bride, who waited for him on the beach with her hand outstretched. Not that he could blame the king: if some strange man swept into his daughter’s life in a whirlwind and married her after three months, he would surely be suspicious, too.
He knew the king had run background checks on him, but there was nothing that the old man could find that would cause him alarm—not really.
I may not be a billionaire like some of my brothers, Maximus thought, but my descent from royalty is carefully documented, and it is enough to please any king. There is no reason for him to suspect me as anything but a good match to Poet.
As he wandered toward her, the feeling of sand between his bare toes, he still could not help wondering if he was a good match for her or if he had unnecessarily put his bride in danger.
“You have that look in your eye again,” Poet murmured once he was within her reach, taking his hands.
“What look?” Maximus demanded, but he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“The one that says you regret ever finding me and stalking me.” The teasing in her voice only partially masked the sound of wistfulness beneath it, and Maximus yanked her body to him as the nearby guests cooed at the couple, snapping pictures at their exquisiteness.
“I never stalked you,” he reminded her, laughing. “And I don’t regret a single minute of being with you—while you’ve been safe.”
“You act as if your presence has caused me nothing but pain,” Poet whispered, her sparkling eyes filled with adoration for him. “And we both know that’s not true.”
“It’s our wedding day,” Maximus said firmly. “Let’s enjoy it without it being overshadowed by a bunch of ‘what-ifs.’ We do that enough to ourselves day-to-day.”
“No,” Poet corrected. “You do that to yourself. I am constantly grateful for the fact that you have found me and kept me safe, despite the risk and loss you have endured.”
They stared at one another, their eyes an identical shade of crystalline blue.
“I promise to start looking at the future with optimism,” Maximus vowed, his lips brushing against hers. “After all, you are my future, and all I can see is light in your eyes.”