by Anna Morgan
Estophen was already up on his feet and out of range. Mateo took a step forward when the broken body of a vampyr sailed into the floor before him. Calla challenged four of the cognate at once, spinning and slicing the air with her tail. She arched her neck and blasted a pressurized stream of fire into the face of another vampyr. They fell to the tiles, crispy, but not yet dead.
Mateo backed away from Estophen. He'd come for answers, not slaughter, and if Estophen wouldn't provide them, he'd find his information somewhere else. The cognate was injured and that was good enough. They couldn't stop him and Calla. Their defiance alone would cast doubt on the group's reputation.
He dragged his beast back inside himself, stumbling through the change towards the entrance. Calla sensed his shift and cleared the way with another impressive line of fire. She followed his retreat and together they escaped. Estophen was a patient man. He wouldn't pursue them right away, not with his cognate hurting. But if he was smart, he wouldn't follow at all. Mateo had a feeling his dragon heritage was just the beginning. And once he found answers, the cognate wouldn't stand a chance.
Calla looked out across the LA valley from the top of a hiking path in the local mountains. They were accompanied by only the wind here. The weather was clear, but bitterly cold and without any snow to attract tourists, the entire mountainside was empty. It was as good a place to fly as any.
She turned to Mateo who had his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Three pale lines, fresh scars, marked his throat where the vampyr leader had caught him during battle. The damage to his flesh had healed, but Calla was more worried about the damage to his heart. If Calla hadn't been the target or if Mateo hadn't been the agent, he'd still have faith in the man who raised him and in the cognate to whom he had been loyal. Breaking those bonds didn't happen overnight, and the frayed edges were fresh and raw.
"Let's stretch your wings, shall we?" she asked, deliberately avoiding the heavy thoughts she knew weighed on him. He needed a break. Hell, she needed a break. It was a lot to take in and he didn't even know…
Calla smiled softly and took Mateo's hand. Their connection was stronger with touch and he couldn't block her out yet. He didn't have that much control. So, Calla pushed support and comfort through the link they shared, and teased him with thoughts of wind under his wings. That pulled Mateo out of his mood and his eyes shined at her. "Is it hard to learn?"
"It's instinct for a hatchling." A question begging an answer—whose hatchling was he? "I don't know if you'll have more trouble. Let's find out." She stretched her hand out to indicate the mostly bare mountainside. It wasn't quite flat, but it was clear of major trees and that was enough to get started. Hopefully it was a big enough space for his first crash landing.
Mateo shifted. His body curved into a bigger, longer shape. His tail thrust out behind him and great wings flexed off his shoulders like a regal mantle. His scales were a dark, heady bronze, not quite black on the tips of his horns and the edges of the spines down his back. The color faded to pearlescent beige on his stomach, wings, and paws. A contrast color on the underside of his body that would help camouflage him in the sky. If Calla didn't know better, she'd argue he was a relative of the crown. But no royal dragon would ever be unaware of their heritage. Mateo hadn't even known he was dragon.
Mateo pumped his broad wings once or twice and hopped. Calla laughed. "Once you get the hang of it, you might be able to take off from a standstill, but that's tough. You're more like an airplane than a helicopter."
He cocked his head at her, then assessed the size of the clearing she'd found. Mateo backed himself up to the tree line and stretched his wings out wide. With a lunge, he ran straight down the mountainside, pumping his wings as he went. In three beats, he was airborne. Mateo immediately faltered. He yelped, folding his wings in an attempt to stop or slow down. He crashed back to the ground in a tangle of limbs and tail.
Calla ran to him, trying to keep her laughter under wraps. Hatchlings often flailed in the air their first few lessons, but to see a full-grown dragon, a warrior, panic like a child was a bit comical. She knew he wouldn't appreciate the comparison, though. Calla put a hand on Mateo's dark-bronze muzzle and stroked the eye ridge she knew was sensitive to delicate touch. "You're all right," she said. "Keep your wings out and glide. When you fold them, you'll fall."
Mateo rumbled under her hands. She gave him a kiss on his nose and he blew hot air all over her face. Calla laughed and gave him room to try again.
And again. And again. And again.
It took several hours for Mateo to stop thinking he knew how to fly and let instinct guide the way. Calla offered what help she could, even shifting to demonstrate, but by the time he got the hang of it, the clearing was scarred with the history of his attempts.
He wobbled in the air, untrusting of the currents and wind beneath him. Calla watched his tail whip and twitch, balancing on the invisible lift of the sky. His wingbeats were intermittent, mostly reflexive now, which was good. A dragon was better at gliding across the world than sprinting from zone to zone.
Calla angled herself just ahead of him and tilted to the right. Mateo had to turn or run into her. He tilted gently, and when Calla straightened out, he followed her. She felt a spike of pride for him and pushed it through their link. They repeated the exercise, tilting left. Then Calla tucked the tips of her wings just a bit, angling herself downward. The wind rushed by her ears and tickled her horns. Mateo experienced a rush of adrenaline that spiked through their link. When Calla leveled out, Mateo followed her, steadier on his wings than ever before. He roared. That final piece of him snapped into place. This was where he truly belonged.
She circled around him, elated. It would take more practice, but she was confident he'd learn all the tricks of flight given time. She laughed and looped in the air, then brushed against him mid-flight, stroking her scaled cheek to his. There were more than loops dragons could do in the air, but he wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
The direction of her thoughts must have echoed down their connection, though, because Mateo knocked himself against her and nipped at her jaw. Calla spun away, enticing him to chase her. He did. And as she flew arcs around him, his desire flooded their link and drove sense from his head. Only instinct kept him in the air, and instinct demanded that he claim her.
Calla dove for the earth. Her dragon yearned for a proper mating flight but she had to keep control. Mateo's dragon might know what to do, but she could hardly expect him not to panic on his very first time in the air. Mateo followed her, diving down much faster than they had before. Calla stalled just before the ground, flaring her wings and pumping dust into the air. She shifted the moment she touched the ground, retracting into her human self in time to greet Mateo as he did the same.
They came together roughly, quick with the Heat and their desires, consumed by the link between them that gave Calla a glimpse into Mateo's mind and vice versa. He could hide nothing from her, and she never wished to hide anything from him. His body burned with the powyr of dragon fire, dominant for once over his vampyr self. He crashed into her. His breath was rough and wet, his tongue lapped at her neck. Calla stroked her hands down his hips and filled them with the length of his erection. He groaned, pulling her into his lap, and Calla couldn't resist.
He entered her body in a long, slow stroke. The fire dampened between them, settled into a simmer rather than a rolling boil. Calla rocked on Mateo's body, rising until his grasping hands pulled her back down. The Heat had dominated their first coming together, and it was present here too, but Calla felt Mateo's desire for her driving his body and she gave in gladly. They were warriors, but they were also lovers, and more.
Calla gasped softly, arching back until Mateo had to hold her up with every movement. His care for her, as much as his body, drove the heat in her belly into a spiral from which there was no return. Her climax came rushing up in a wave of powyr and she thrust it out behind her into a pair of metaphysical wings that burned and burned. C
alla cried out softly, her body stripped of coordination.
Mateo curled in close to her, growling as his climax built. Calla pulled his face up to hers for a kiss, mostly lips and gasping breath, and said roughly, "Bite me, Mateo. Make me yours."
He groaned and when Mateo pulled his head back from her lips, his eyes were vampyr red and his fangs had descended. Calla's body quickened a second time at the sight. She pressed her thumb to Mateo's lip, exposing the sharp fang there and feeling an answering pulse deep in her core. Mateo's thrusts hardened. He rocked her forward, grunting, and his eyes fixed on Calla's neck. She tilted her head in offering.
Mateo struck with both fangs and cock. His teeth sank into her body and she welcomed him in from both ends, arching as a bolt of pleasure traveled from the puncture in her neck down to the shaft between her legs. Mateo pulled blood from her body and a scream from her throat. The overwhelming sensation of being completely claimed pushed Calla over the edge. She jerked in Mateo's hold, the climax so strong it left her wrung dry. Mateo held her tight as he matched her powyr with his own. He came in a burst, flexing his hips into hers and growling against her neck.
She whimpered into his ear as the cascade eased away. Mateo retracted his fangs and licked the wound until it closed on its own. That had to be a strength of his. Dragons were hearty, but they healed just as slowly as humans until they shifted.
He held her close as they separated, cradled her on the grassy hillside, and Calla almost felt complete. Here was a man who could meet her in the bedroom as fiercely as the battlefield. He just wasn't hers. Not yet. This business with the cognate wasn't over, she was sure. But that wasn't where Mateo's head was at.
He stroked his finger down her face lightly, gazing into her eyes as if they might never see each other again and he needed to memorize her face. "I can feel you. Here." He pressed his palm over her heart. "It's not like this with all dragons… is it?"
Of course he had his doubts. He wasn't a stupid man. Calla grasped his hand over her heart to hold it there. It was where he belonged, after all. "No. We can only feel each other. We have mated for life. I am the only one for you, till beyond the veil of death, and you are the only one for me."
"Mated…" Mateo's hand drew away and he sat up. Calla couldn't help but feel he was separating himself. "How long have you known—no." He put out his hand to forestall words Calla hadn't even decided on yet. "It was that night at the hotel. Wasn't it? You said I had gone into Heat."
"I wasn't sure," Calla said. She sat up as well, hugging her knees to her chest. "You are vampyr. But you were showing all the signs that a dragon male goes through his first time. The need to touch, the over-protection, your virginity—" He shot a look at her but she refused to flinch. "All males are impotent until the Heat, Mateo. You would have known that if you'd grown up on the island. At home. Where you should have. Why your parents took you away, I can't understand—"
"I have no parents." Mateo pushed himself to his feet. "I was nothing before I met Estophen. He took me in. Raised me. Trained me. And when I was ready to submit my life to the cognate, he turned me." He rubbed his face and turned away, turned back, hesitated. "I'm sorry, just… this is a lot. I need a minute to think."
He walked towards the trees, buck naked in the sun. Calla rested her chin on her knees, watched him go, and whispered, "It just doesn't make any sense…"
14
Calla was lounging in the sun as a dragon when Mateo returned from his walk in the woods. It felt good to stretch out in her larger form, taking in the heat and the light on her wings. The bracers had trapped her for long enough that she relished the chance to enjoy her freedom. She watched Mateo stroll back to her, unbothered by his nakedness. He rested his warm hand against her nose, ran it up to the ridge of her eye and down the long stretch of her neck. Calla rumbled her appreciation. His touch made her tingle pleasantly.
"We need to track down this client," he said. "If we can get him to retract the bounty on you, we'll be safe from the cognate. They won't pursue you without the job."
While she appreciated a plan that cut off the snake's head, their previous attempt at getting information on the client had ended in a draw. Calla stretched her head up and closed her eyes. She pulled her dragon back inside so she could speak plainly. She leaned against Mateo, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder. "We can go back to Patomas. You have a heritage there. And no one can get to either of us surrounded by the court."
Mateo yanked her back by the shoulders firmly. "If I can steal you away from the castle itself, what do you think the cognate can do in a coordinated attack? I won't risk you like that. Or anyone else."
"But the dragons—"
"Are helpless against our powyr, Calla!" His fingers gripped into her skin. "I don't know anyone there. You are my priority. I can't protect everyone at once."
Calla sighed. "What you pulled off is impressive—but don't think the kinks in our security haven't already been identified and rectified. And this is exactly why you would be useful. I'm sure you could point out improvements we can make." Besides, she needed to get him to Patomas. There weren't that many lost dragons in the world—none, in fact. His heritage had to be important and she wanted to know more. But he was right. With the cognate after them and a contract still on her head, heading home would only invite more trouble. The court was already fighting one war they couldn't win, she couldn't bring another to their doorstep.
She nodded and Mateo's grip immediately eased. He stroked her face with his thumb. Calla held his hand in hers. "What's our next step, then?"
"I couldn't get anything out of my sire, but he keeps records of all the contracts the cognate takes on. We get access to that record we'll know everything we need to know."
His determination lit a fire in her breast and Calla's resolve hardened. "Ok. How do we get in? He won't just open the door for us."
Mateo grinned at her, his cocky smile at odds with the heavy weight of their choice. "He's been training me to sneak around since I was a teenager. And now, thanks to you, my powyr is even greater than his." He leaned in and kissed her gently. His dry lips stuck to hers. Calla sighed and chose to trust in his confidence.
When he pulled back, she nodded again. "Let's get going."
It wasn't until much later that night, back at a hotel not far from the cognate, that Calla finally had a chance to reconnect with her people. Mateo replaced her cheap phone with another and she called the island to update General Takoda on her situation. She sat through an amusing reprimand that covered the last several days. Calla smiled at Mateo from across the room, realizing her last contact with the general had been when Mateo had caught up to her, crushed her phone, and demanded she go with him. So much had changed since that afternoon. She didn't regret a second of it. So what if their lives were a little more complicated? She'd found her mate. Her mate. And he was stunning.
Calla was briefed on the identity of the contact sent to retrieve her, and with her location pinpointed, she requested a visit at the hotel. She only had to wait a few minutes. The hotel was tall, at least fifteen stories up, and dotted with balconies on every side. Calla stepped out to the rail and looked up. The moon was only a sliver of light. LA provided more glow from below, which meant her visitor was unlikely to be noticed at all.
Calla spotted Lieutenant Roku's silhouette against the stars only moments before he dove from the sky. His shape was small, only human sized, but his wings flared just before he hit the hotel and with elegant grace, he stepped down from the rail to the balcony. In a cascade of powyr, he shed his wings, leaving only the imposing figure of his human self.
Calla offered her hand. "Well met, lieutenant. Your control never fails to impress." Unlike most dragons she knew, Roku could manipulate his form with a high degree of accuracy. He could shift only his claws, or just his tail, or add wings to his human shape, for instance. It made him a powyrful ally and one she'd brought quickly into the court's ranks.
Roku shook her hand solidly. He
flashed her a bright smile, one that reminded Calla of a romance they'd almost had a long time ago. Roku was fit, powyrful, and his green eyes promised wicked things. They had wanted to mate and both were disappointed that it wasn't meant to be. Calla knew that whoever drove Roku into mating was bound to be robust. No one less would do for her lieutenant.
He handed her a small day bag. An ID, her bank cards, practical clothes. Everything she needed to be properly independent away from home. In exchange, she filled him in on everything she knew so far about Mateo and the cognate. His vampyr status, the way his dragon heritage had been bound until he went into Heat. Roku lifted an eyebrow at that, but wisely didn't comment. Calla wasn't inclined to cover the personal details in the middle of enemy territory. "I want to know anything you can dig up back home about a missing hatchling his age. There can't be that many. He was taken off the island, it had to be when he was an infant. He has no memory at all of his parents."
They exchanged a long look. And didn't mention the suspicion taking root in Calla's mind. The timing was too perfect… and when she looked into Mateo's bright eyes—they could be the twin of another's. Could be.
"We'll look into it," Roku said. "But you'd be better off coming home. The Pythian wants you to return."
Calla pressed her lips together. "The Pythian doesn't need to fight a second war right now. We've got a handful of vampyrs after us. And frankly, I'm still not sure how Mateo got into the castle. No one knew I was gone until the next day." She shook her head. "No. They're focused on me right now and I'm going to keep it that way. What if they went after our Delphina?"