by Zoe Chant
“Sheriff, tell my mate—” Gregory began, before the sheriff cut him off.
“Go,” the werewolf said. “I’ll keep her safe. And I’ll alert the town.”
Grateful, Gregory inclined his head.
The sheriff hastily took a step back as Gregory simply leaped forward, jumping right from the balcony. Behind him, he heard the rush of air as Jared shifted on the balcony, his griffin’s wings beating the air as he rose up.
Gregory was falling, the air singing to him—and then he opened his eyes and spread his arms, and in one glorious burst of energy, he found himself in his true form.
His silver dragon wings spread wide, Gregory caught the current and soared. He opened his jaw, singing back to the air, and a heartbeat later, the wind had picked up, carrying him upwards. With powerful beats of his wings, he rapidly gained height.
Jared was still close, the griffin’s wings making use of the same wind that carried him. At any other time, Gregory would have slowed down a little to travel together. But now there was no time to lose.
Using all the strength of his powerful dragon’s body, he propelled himself forward through the air. Storm clouds gathered in the sky, the wind becoming a storm. With the air roaring in his ears, singing a song of battle and courage, Gregory left the rocky cliffs of Mountain View behind.
He’d risen so quickly that the roofs of the town were tiny dots below him, the mansion already nearly out of view. He wished he’d been able to explain to Naomi that he was doing this to protect her and the town, that it wasn’t just recklessness or the dragon’s anger—but that had to come later. And he trusted sheriff Banner to explain. Surely Naomi would understand. She’d seen what the fire dragon could do, after all.
The currents of air around him were cooler now. The dark storm clouds had gained in volume. As he shot through the air, he left a trail of lightning behind. Seconds later, there was the crash of thunder, and the dragon within him sang at the glory of wind and storm.
The air smelled of ozone. He was flying as fast as his wings could take him. The mountains were already out of view. If he continued at this speed, he might make it in time. And this time, the fire dragon wouldn’t be expecting him...
Then, suddenly, without warning, something seemed to reach inside his chest and close around his heart. It was as if a giant hand had reached out for him and brutally pulled him backwards.
He’d never felt anything like it before.
His wings ceased beating. He couldn’t breathe. There was only that sudden, absolutely overwhelming need to go back, to return—to find his mate.
I can’t, he thought in shock as his entire body shuddered in the air. I can’t, the attack on Sky Home...
But the invisible hand didn’t release its hold on him. It hurt now to move forward, away from his home. It felt like there was a hook piercing his heart, pulling him backwards towards his mate.
He ceased struggling against the sensation. Through the sudden pain and shock, now a new feeling began to trickle in.
Panic.
He knew the emotion well. A wave of fear threatened to crash over him, flooding all of his senses.
But it wasn’t Gregory who was afraid.
With another roar, the powerful body of the dragon turned right there in the air, lightning crackling all along the glistening silver scales. Once more the storm began to rage, angry currents of air carrying him rapidly through the sky.
Gregory was no longer moving forward. The storm dragon was now swiftly making his way back to where he’d come from, heading back home carried by an ever increasing storm cloud. Gregory couldn’t think, he could only beat his wings and move as fast as he could, flying faster than he’d ever flown before.
Because the panic wasn’t his own. He could feel it clearly now, even through the distance: a trickle of emotion reaching him through the mate bond that had begun to form.
It was his mate’s fear he was feeling. And that was a call he couldn’t leave unanswered.
He needed to protect his mate, regardless of his vows to the council. Naomi was the only thing that counted now.
Chapter Thirteen: Naomi
Ginny arrived right on time—still as mysteriously silent as before, but with a warm smile that made Naomi feel completely at ease as she followed her on one of the twisting gravel paths that led through the mansion’s garden.
She’d explored the garden before with Gregory—or at least she’d thought that they’d explored it. Ginny quickly proved her wrong. Within minutes, they were lost in a maze of flowerbeds she hadn’t seen before.
“This is amazing,” Naomi breathed as she turned around.
There were colors all around her. It was as if she was afloat in an ocean of blossoms: red, pink, orange, yellow and a thousand hues in between. Naomi didn’t know much about roses, except that they were beautiful, and that the store-bought ones her ex always brought along when he was sorry had never smelled much like anything.
But these roses weren’t just beautiful. The air was filled with their scent. It was nearly overpowering—but it wasn’t cloying, like a visit to the perfume counter.
The scent was all around her, but it was light like the wind, riding on the breeze that made the flowers gently shift like a candy-striped ocean. It filled her senses with color and beauty, and as Naomi took a deep breath, she felt a strange, intimate connection to this place.
These flowers had grown in the garden for years. Perhaps these rose bushes had even seen Gregory grow up. Their roots went deep into the earth—and the earth in turn recognized Gregory, her mate, as its protector.
It felt like family, like home. This was the sort of place where people lived who loved their home. This was the sort of place where you could raise children and watch them play outside in the grass until the sun went down.
Gently, Ginny touched her shoulder and nodded towards the path of white gravel.
“There’s more to see?” Naomi asked curiously.
Just how big is this garden?
They walked until they’d left the maze of roses behind. Next, they came to a small meadow lined by hedges. Trees in flower spread their branches over their head, so that they walked in light and shadows dappled gold and a silvery green. The air was sweet here as well. Naomi didn’t recognize all of the trees—but she knew the gorgeous, heavy clumps of blue flowers spreading above a bench, which was sitting in an alcove formed by a trimmed hedge.
“Wisteria!” she exclaimed and reached out to touch the flowers.
Ginny nodded, looking pleased.
“This is incredible. Who cares for all these flowers?” Naomi asked.
Ginny’s smile widened. “Gardeners,” she murmured. “It’s a good job. Dragons pay well.”
“All of them?” Naomi asked, thinking with a shudder of the terrible fire dragon.
Ginny silently shook her head.
Seems the conversation is over already, Naomi thought. Though I’m glad she does speak—surely I can’t be as intimidating as a dragon!
After a moment, Ginny nudged her, the skin around her mouth wrinkling as she winked. “This one’s good though. A keeper.”
Naomi snorted a surprised laugh, and a moment later, Ginny was laughing as well.
“Oh, I’ll certainly try to keep him. The roses convinced me.”
This time, Naomi was the one who winked.
“I didn’t know they call it roses now.” Ginny said innocently, setting off a new round of laughter.
“Oh, I like you,” Naomi said when they’d finally calmed down. With a grin, she took hold of Ginny’s arm. “You’re delightfully naughty when you want to be. Please say you’ll be my friend. If I’m going to move in with a dragon, I’m going to need a best friend who’ll understand about dragon things.”
Naomi waved her hand, not quite sure herself what exactly dragon things were. But she was pretty sure that there’d be more surprises coming up.
Ginny tilted her head, suddenly looking serious and a little shy aga
in at the question. But after a moment, warmth filled her eyes, and she gave Naomi a nod.
“Wonderful!” Naomi beamed and pressed her arm. “I can definitely make conversation for two, and you’re allowed to hit me when I talk too much. Umm, and also when I’m making a fool out of myself. They keep talking of alpha ceremonies and fairs and festivals, everyone here seems to know each other, and just a few days ago, I didn’t even know dragons were real. So if I do or say something really stupid, feel free to hit me too.”
A soft giggle escaped Ginny, and she shook her head. “Think I’ll just tell you instead,” she murmured, although she sounded very pleased.
Arm in arm, they kept sauntering down the path, which twisted around the hedge and then opened up to yet another breathtaking view.
“A lake!” Naomi exclaimed in glee. “Seriously, how big is this place?”
There was a pair of swans gliding majestically across the water, and a group of ducks that immediately came forward as soon as the animals had spied them.
Fortunately, Ginny’d come prepared.
She drew a small plastic bag out of her pocket. Soon, Ginny and Naomi were feeding the ducks with bread crumbs. Greedily, the birds gobbled up as much as they could, and a moment later Naomi found out why.
The activity had drawn the swans’ attention, who now rapidly swam towards them, their larger bodies and long legs helping them to quickly snatch crumbs out of the water while the ducks regrouped behind them.
“You’re being quite stupid,” Naomi lectured them sternly. “There’s enough for everyone here.”
One of the swans made a bleating sound in retort that sounded so much like an insult that Naomi jumped and turned towards Ginny.
“Oops! Please tell me they’re just swans, and not—you know. Swan shifters. In which case I of course apologize for the insult!” Naomi added hastily, throwing all her leftover crumbs into the water.
The swan bleated again as Ginny began to giggle helplessly.
“Just swans,” Ginny said finally. Then she winked. “As far as I know...”
“Maybe they’re undercover. Maybe they’ve fooled you for years. Maybe they’re... spies!” Naomi gave the swans a stern look.
In response, the swans stared back, the small, black eyes fixed unflinchingly on hers.
“Now that’s a poker face if I’ve ever seen one,” Naomi muttered. “I didn’t know swans were so...”
“They’re big thugs,” Ginny said, emptying her own bag of crumbs into the water. “Big, beautiful thugs.”
Hastily, the swans gobbled up the last crumbs, ignoring their words. A moment later, they made a majestic exit, sliding away as soon as the last bit of bread had been devoured.
“Well. That showed us,” Naomi said. Then, with a smirk, she threw a crumb that she’d held back towards the still waiting ducks. “What now?”
“Statue garden,” Ginny said.
Naomi gaped. “Statue garden? And you just say that like it’s the most normal thing in the world to have your own statue garden?”
“You wanna see?” Ginny asked with a grin.
Naomi lightly boxed her shoulder. “Do you even have to ask? Lead the way! There better be some dragon statues!”
“Better,” Ginny promised, her smile widening. “A dragon statue—of Gregory’s grandpa.”
“Ooh,” Naomi crowed in delight. “Yes, please! And tell me all the embarrassing childhood stories he wouldn’t want anyone to know!”
“The fountain?” Ginny teased.
“The fountain!” Naomi replied with deep delight.
She had no idea what the fountain story was about, but Ginny was now the second person to mention it. Whatever Gregory had done as a child, it must have left a deep impression.
Ginny drew her close, her eyes sparkling. She leaned in, as if to whisper into Naomi’s ear—and just at that moment, there was a horrible sound somewhere behind them, something so loud that it felt as if the earth trembled beneath them.
With a shout of horror, they turned around.
It was just in time to see the arrival of the fire dragon.
Out of the blue, he came tumbling down from the sky, terrible and lethal, shrouded in a cloud of smoke. His jaw was wide open. It was his angry roar that had alerted them.
Now, he roared again. As Naomi and Ginny watched with wide, terrified eyes, a pillar of fire streamed from his jaw, engulfing one of the slender towers of Gregory’s mansion.
Even with the garden between them and the house, Naomi felt a wave of heat.
Then there was a horrible sound, a scream of twisting iron and crumbling stone, and a second later, the top of the tower collapsed.
“Run,” Ginny shouted.
Naomi felt hands shove her. From the mansion, a cloud of smoke arose, rapidly expanding.
Terrified, she reached out again, trying to hold on to Ginny—but then the wind picked up as the dragon roared again in fury. It drove ash into her eyes and nose, and as she sputtered, rapidly blinking, everything suddenly seemed to turn dark.
The cloud of smoke and ash had reached them.
“Run,” Ginny shouted again, somewhere in front of her.
Naomi stumbled blindly into her direction, hands held out—but a moment later, she encountered the hedge, rough leaves and twigs brushing against her skin.
“Run!” Ginny’s voice seemed more distant now.
For a moment, panic seemed to overwhelm Naomi.
Gregory, she cried out silently, her heart racing in her chest as she turned and turned, terrified and utterly lost. With the cloud of billowing smoke all around her, all she could make out were dim shades. Her eyes were tearing up from all the ash in the air, and it was hard to breathe.
“Ginny!” she shouted, blindly stumbling forward—but this time, there was no answer.
Then the dragon roared again.
Fear clenched around Naomi’s heart. Had he heard her? Was he looking for her?
Keeping one hand on the hedge so she wouldn’t lose her way, she made her way forward, away from the lake. After what felt like endless minutes, she finally encountered the little alcove they’d seen before. It was too dark to make out the wisteria, but Naomi nearly wept with relief when her hands encountered the bench.
Somewhere above, there was another roar, and then there was once more the sizzle of fire. When Naomi looked up, she could see a large, threatening shadow circling inside the cloud of black smoke that blocked the sun. In her panic, she quickly rolled beneath the bench, praying that the wood and the wisteria would hide her from the dragon’s eyes.
Gregory, she called out again, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Gregory! He’s back!
***
Naomi didn’t know how much time had passed.
She was surrounded by smoke, the air heavy with ash. Everything seemed lost. There was smoke rising behind her, coming from the ruin of a collapsed tower. At least Naomi knew that no one had been inside, but even so she’d felt her heart clench with terror when the tall structure had collapsed.
The smell of burning wood was overpowering. Briefly, she prayed that Gregory hadn’t stored any valuable mementos of his family and childhood there. Then, somewhere in the cloud of ashes that blocked her view of the sky, there was the angry roar of the dragon again.
She didn’t know what the dragon wanted. He’d come out of nowhere, and headed straight for Gregory’s mansion. She hadn’t heard from Ginny again after they’d become split up—now all she could hope for was that Ginny’d found a way back to safety, to alert the town that they were under attack.
Surely any moment now, Gregory and the sheriff would show up—
Gregory, where are you?
Shouldn’t he have arrived before the dragon’s first attack? He’d told her that he could sense a rival in his territory. How long had it taken for the fire dragon to torch the tower? In her terror, it felt to Naomi as though an eternity had passed—but maybe it had only been minutes, and any moment now, Gregory’s wings wou
ld carry him through the cloud of smoke?
Naomi coughed. She was still cowering beneath the bench in the alcove, hoping it would keep her safely out of sight of the fire dragon. But even though she was certain the flames from the tower couldn’t reach her here, she felt as if she was choking on the ashes in the air. Everything was gloomy, the cloud of acrid smoke blocking out the sun.
Fearfully, she searched the sky once more. Was that a shadow moving in the smoke? Was the fire dragon still circling the tower?
Is he searching for me?
Terrified, she inched further backward, even though she knew the wisteria and the wood of the bench wouldn’t provide any protection.
If I can just hide until Gregory arrives...
Her chest was hurting. It felt like there was a giant ball of fire where her lungs had been. It was difficult to breathe, but another fearful look at the sky showed her that the fire dragon was still circling the mansion.
I can’t make a sound now. I can’t! No matter what, I must stay silent...
She pressed her hand over her mouth. Something in her chest seemed to rattle when she breathed in. There was a stabbing pain in her lungs, as though she’d breathed in ash instead of air—and her body fought to expel that ash from her lungs.
I can’t! He’ll hear me, she thought in terror as her body convulsed, tears rising to her eyes from panic and lack of air.
And then instinct took over, her body so desperate for air that she lost control.
Hunching over, tears streaming from her eyes, she coughed, again and again, her lungs burning. At last, some of the tightness in her chest seemed to ease and she could breathe in again.
Everything was strangely silent. She could still hear the distant sound of the flames that were licking at the ruined tower. It was a strange, crackling sound, accompanied by the groans of stone and wood.
But something was different.
A heartbeat later she realized that she could no longer hear the distant sound of giant, beating wings. When had she last heard the fire dragon roar?
Maybe he’d given up and moved away, just in time before the coughing fit overwhelmed her...
Tentatively, she inched a little forward, just enough that she could get a view of the sky from beneath her bench. The sky was still dark with smoke.