by Ophelia Bell
“I will be if you don’t fucking take me to her,” Nikhil growled. “Who the fuck are you?”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed and his posture tensed. He bared his teeth for a second, looking like he might be ready to breathe fire. Then he pursed his lips and a sudden gout of red-hot flame did shoot out of his mouth, directly at Nikhil’s upper body.
Nikhil reared back and instinctively raised an arm in defense. The flame burned away the sleeve of his down parka to his bare skin, leaving jagged, glowing edges around one shoulder, which was entirely bare now, the snowflakes steadily falling and melting as they came into contact with his unmarred skin.
“What the fuck was that?”
The dragon eyed his naked arm and snorted again. “No burns … I guess you are the real deal. Sorry, I had to test. My name is Skye. If you want a ride over, don’t tell Belah I tried to set you on fire, got it?”
Nikhil shook his head and laughed. He supposed he should have expected it wouldn’t be easy to get to her, even when he had finally made the decision to follow Aodh’s and Aurum’s advice.
“I won’t say a thing, but this might be tricky to explain,” he said, raising his naked arm.
Skye regarded him for a second, then let out a fresh puff of smoke from his snout. It swiftly coalesced around Nikhil’s arm, filling in the gap in his clothing until there was no evidence of conflagration. Then he turned his side to Nikhil and dipped his head, ready to be mounted.
Halfway across the ravine, the weather suddenly calmed, the air growing warmer. When the snowfall cleared, the far side of the chasm came into view. A cliff-top city appeared, with buildings seeming to grow out of the winter-bare trees and steep slopes of the mountainside.
Part log, part stone, one larger structure stretched across with dozens of balconies at different heights, seemingly tacked on as afterthoughts. Nothing appeared completely planned, and Nikhil was reminded of strange birds’ nests that sprouted randomly from the mountain, some held up with wooden stilts, others grown directly out of boulders. Every single one had a plume of smoke coming from a chimney and warm, glowing lights flickering from within.
As they neared, Skye banked and aimed for one of the mid-sized perches off to the side of the largest building. Up close, the structure wasn’t as small as it had first appeared, having a wide, deep porch along the cliffside and rooms that seemed to extend deep into the mountain beyond.
“Welcome to the Turul Enclave,” Skye said as he slowed and flapped his wings to halt their progress so he could land.
Once the dragon had settled, Nikhil slid off his back. Abruptly, Skye’s gargantuan form shimmered and shrank until a naked, and very fit, blond man stood before him.
“Sorry, man. You’re a catch, I’m sure, but I’m very attached to the mates I have.”
Nikhil blinked, then realized he’d been staring a little too long in surprise. He scowled at Skye’s wicked grin.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“One of her mates’ cousins just hatched a daughter. She’s with the families celebrating.”
“Show me.”
Cautiously, Skye said, “It’s not a good idea for you to go to her, so she asked me to bring you here.” He slid open a heavy glass door and motioned into a room covered in colorful, patterned rugs and lit with a huge fire and dozens of lanterns. “She’ll be along with Iszak and Lukas as soon as the party’s over. She said to tell you to make yourself at home.”
Skye stood at the open doorway waiting. Finally, Nikhil nodded.
“Thanks. And thank you for coming to pick me up. I know I’m not the most popular person in the world. I forgive the test.”
“Honestly, I knew you were on the level before I landed.” He tapped his temple. “Emotional radar, and all that. I just couldn’t resist seeing if the legends were really true. You didn’t feel a thing when I set you on fire, did you?”
“Just heat,” Nikhil said. “You could throw me off that balcony and it wouldn’t kill me. It’d hurt a hell of a lot, though. If you were Belah or any of her siblings trying to torch me, it’d be a different story. I aim to stay on their good side from here on out, though.”
Skye grinned, his blue eyes sparkling. “I doubt you’ll have a problem with Belah. Her aura lit up like she was on fire when we all sensed you out there. She almost came to get you herself, but then the little girl’s egg finally cracked. She promised the mother she’d give the girl a blessing when she was born, so she couldn’t leave yet. It shouldn’t be long now.”
Nodding and thanking Skye again, Nikhil stepped into the sprawling abode and closed the door behind him. Through the glass, he saw Skye shift again and fly off.
He shed his coat and shirt, tossing them onto a low chair nearby, then kicked off his snow-caked boots and damp socks. Shirtless and in nothing but jeans and bare feet, he went to stand near the fire to try to thaw out a bit before she arrived.
With his back to the fire, he studied the room with interest, picking out the details that were uniquely Belah. Some, however, he wondered about. There were two massive, exposed posts that supported the upper floor. Both were entirely cut from huge, hardwood trees with the bark removed, the wood polished and lacquered to a bright shine. On all four sides at the top of each post were sturdy eyehooks that at the moment supported hanging plants.
The beam across the ceiling that connected the two posts was similarly outfitted, with plants hanging all along, taking advantage of the abundance of light that flooded in from the wall of windows facing the ravine.
Nikhil would bet his left nut that come sundown, those hooks had a very different use. Whether they’d been Belah’s idea or that of the pair of turul she’d mated, he couldn’t say.
Looking around the room again, he saw a huge, elaborately ornamented chest against one wall with a mirror hanging above it. It was similar to the one he still possessed that held treasures particularly dear to him for their sentimental value to the woman he loved. He wandered over to it and brushed his fingers along the gilded decorations on the lid. Several neatly arranged bundles of multi-colored silk rope lay on the top near a bowl of carabiners of varying sizes. Any casual observer would see these and assume the residents were rock climbers, but Nikhil knew better.
“It’s exactly what you think,” a sultry voice said.
Nikhil’s gaze shot to the mirror, his eyes widening at the sight of Belah. He was struck speechless, and worked to swallow—to even breathe.
Belah glowed with abundant health, her black hair hanging loose in shining waves. She wore a bulky sweater and snug jeans that did nothing to hide her glorious curves. A door closed somewhere, and two other figures appeared from around a corner.
Nikhil took her distraction as an opportunity to gather himself and turn to face the trio, closing his eyes to try to remember the little speech he’d prepared while he waited in the freezing snowstorm on the other side of the ravine.
“We wondered what took you so long,” a deep, gruff voice said.
“Yeah, man. Didn’t peg you for such a goddamn cocktease. You made us a promise, and then you disappeared.”
Nikhil opened his eyes and blinked, unprepared for the unabashed look of lust in the eyes of the long-haired man on Belah’s left. The short-haired, bearded man on her other side chuckled.
“Forgive Lukas, he always gets right to the point. But he’s not wrong. We’re a little annoyed you didn’t come sooner. She’s a hard woman to keep up with, and the baby’s cravings are getting kinkier by the day. Almost makes us wonder if we’re really the fathers.”
Belah shook her head. “I told them it couldn’t have been you, but that week we spent together could have influenced the conception somewhat, even though we never made love.”
Nikhil studied them, considering his options. This was a moment he couldn’t waste, and didn’t intend to. He’d avoided taking this step, believing that he needed to make amends in a different way—to seek out and kill their mutual enemy to prove himself, to “get squ
are with his conscience,” as Lukas had said.
Now, however, he understood that the true amends were much simpler than that. He would still complete his original task, of course, but for Belah’s sake, and his conscience, another tactic was required now.
Turning, he grabbed a bundle of rope off the chest and held it up.
“Making love to her is the one thing I want most in the world at this moment, but I need the two of you to make sure I’ve properly earned it. Are you prepared to do that?”
He lobbed the bundle of rope to Iszak, who deftly caught it. Nikhil tossed a second one to Lukas, whose hand shot out to pluck it out of the air, a wide smile spread across his face.
Nikhil unraveled a third bundle and made a quick loop out of the end, which he wrapped around one wrist, twisted around his other wrist into a quick figure eight, then looped a knot and tightened it with his teeth. He moved to stand in the center of the room facing Belah, right between both sturdy posts. He lifted his hands up into the air above him, waiting.
Belah strode over and stood in front of him with a smile, arms crossed over her chest. “And what am I supposed to do. Watch?”
He smiled and pointed his chin at her abdomen. “You do whatever your little beast tells you to, ‘Iilahatan. I am at your mercy.”
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DRAGON REBEL
If Assana looked up the word “nymphomaniac” in the dictionary, she might expect to find her own image in place of the definition, especially after meeting the immortal red dragon, Gavra. The timing couldn’t be worse for her to discover the mate that Fate intended—the one she’d be willing to let go of her tightly bound hold on her deepest sexual desires for—the one who literally drives her mad with lust. Now that she needs her sanity more than anything to regain control of her race’s home from her own insane mother, she’s faced with the inconvenient desire to lose control and be that primal nymph she keeps locked inside.
Thank Gaia for Silas. The handsome young ursa male is blessed with magic that can calm the lust-filled madness threatening to consume Assana’s mind. She needs him more than ever now that she has no choice but to spend her days in close proximity to the dragon she desires more than anything… yet doesn’t dare touch lest she give in to that ancient, primal need all nymphaea are born with.
For red dragon Gavra, he can only put off having the beautiful nymph maiden for so long, or the ursa male who Fate has promised him. Once Assana’s crazy mother is out of the way, nothing will stop Gavra from claiming and marking them both as his.
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Dragon Rebel Chapter One
Assana
Assana clung to her sanity the way a shipwreck survivor clings to the last scraps of flotsam on the water. Her shaky hold on her own mind made it difficult to convince an insane immortal like her mother to do something rational, like not start a war with their allies.
“Mother, don’t do this, please!” Assana’s repeated arguments fell on deaf ears. Her mother hadn’t ceased ranting about betrayals for the last two days, and that morning had raged her way through the Haven in full primal shift all the way to the deep pools of the Source, claiming she would make the entire Sanctuary pay for their mistake.
Assana could do nothing but stand by and plead with her mother. The ursa’s sacred home would wither and die if her mother cut off their connection to the life-giving power the waters of the Source offered. The other higher realms belonging to the dragons and the turul wouldn’t be far behind.
Nyx stood over the pools of the Source, her statuesque body clad in gauzy mist and green moss, with vines twined around her towering antlers. Her voice echoed through the entire Haven as she cast her spell to draw the barrier closed between their realm and the outside world.
“Daughter, I will give you one chance to warn them. Stay here and let them rot outside, or go and remind them how they failed our alliance. If they wish to set things right, they must make the dragons pay.”
“But Uncle Neph is still out there! Calder and Father will be stranded too. This is crazy!”
Assana realized how ridiculous that word sounded when it came to her mother. In her true form, any nymph walked a tightrope on the edge of sanity—it was a side-effect of their deep connection to the River and its capricious nature. Its true power lay in its disregard for the effects it had on the world. It moved forward, a constant, inexorable flow toward the future.
Her mother was every bit as mindlessly set on her goal now, which seemed to be finally and completely shutting down all access to the Haven, including the life-giving power the Source bestowed upon the entire outside world.
“And when they do it? How will I get back in to tell you?”
“You are of my blood, Assana. You know how.”
Blood … Assana winced at the reminder of what her mother had done. Seeing her brother, Calder, mated to a dragon and an ursa had driven Nyx mad. That was when they’d learned that Nyx had done the unspeakable—she’d blood melded her Thiasoi soldiers and was mind controlling them to attack. Assana’s uncle Neph had stepped in at the last second, shifting into his powerful primal form and carrying the endangered trio away from the madness.
To where, Assana didn’t know. All she knew was that he was likely in the drift, or would be soon if he attempted to return. But what would happen to him if her mother cast this spell while he was somewhere inside the River’s current?
Eleven primal shifted nymphs stood guard around the Source now, stiff and mute. They were still under her mother’s thrall, and Assana had no idea how to break the spell.
“How could you do this, Mother? They’re still out there! You’re condemning them to exile at the very least. Don’t you see what you’ve done?”
“I have seen what is to come and must protect the Haven at all costs, daughter. When you find your mate and become a mother, you will understand—you will do anything to protect your home and children. The nymphs are all that’s left now. We must protect them.”
“What of the ursa males who trusted us?”
“They will do their duty and give us satyr children soon enough. We have enough ursa males here now for that.”
“Many of them have chosen a mate already—they’ve committed and aren’t going to stray. They won’t allow themselves to be shared.”
“Then go to the Sanctuary and find me a damn solution! The dragons for the Source—that is the deal. If they comply, then we can renegotiate our breeding exchange. This is your last chance, Assana.”
Nyx waved her hands over the pools, thick mist flowing from her fingertips and settling thickly over the surface of the water. They may have appeared as placid tide pools scattered across the water-worn rocks beneath the waterfall, but they were in fact the source of the water’s power. Many of the pools were already locked beneath a layer of mist, but the largest—the one that fed the Sanctuary—was still exposed, Nyx’s magical barrier gradually coalescing in a swirling cloud above it.
Assana had no choice but to go if she wanted to do anything to keep her mother from completely destroying the nymphaea’s alliance with the other races. She only hoped that the ursa would understand the ultimatum.
Holding back a final, futile plea, she stepped to the edge of the pool, and in one fluid motion dove into the inky depths. Above her fog quickly blotted out the sky, and all she could do was dive down until the power of the River caught her and carried her to her destination.
The River spat her out into a still pool. She swam to the surface, looking up at the dripping clifftop above her, and her heart broke. She was in the Sanctuary now, she knew by the clear blue sky and the wind rustling through the dense forests. But the unrelenting power of Gaia’s Falls should have been crashing down in a churning froth around her, and there was nothing. Only trickles of water filtered over the rocky ledge above.
The water slowly receded as she swam to the shore. By the time she stepped onto th
e nearby path, the pool had completely dried up, leaving only a rocky bed.
Sickened by the news she carried, Assana closed her eyes and drifted, finding no comfort in the constant thrum of the River’s connection to her mind. That power only gave her knowledge, and right now it told her there was nothing to do but move forward—just like the River did, and just like her mother’s madness.
When she arrived in the gardens of the Stonetree lodge, she stood in the middle and stared up at the intricate face of the huge clock she’d first seen on her last visit.
The still waning power of the Source filled the construct, which was clearly counting down to some future event. A series of brightly glowing stones at the apex of its face portended some significant occurrence all the races were on alert for—the thing that had put them all on guard when their enemy’s behavior had suddenly changed this past year.
Frowning, she realized that the change had occurred shortly after the current brood of young dragons had awakened from their hibernation. Mentally casting about again, she found the past threads and tugged. Putting the pieces together made her skin prickle with understanding.
The dragons were at the core of it, as well as a single human man who possessed powers beyond any that a human should possess. She’d heard his name—Nikhil—but he was only a legend to her, his stature increasing every time her mother’s frequent River-induced trances had caused her to mention his name. Only recently had Nyx’s strange recitations shifted from referring to Nikhil as “the Lamia’s favored pet” to “the dragons’ cursed champion”—neither of which were said with any reverence. Assana knew him by reputation alone, and he was every bit as terrifying as the Lamia herself—the corrupted nymph who stole the offspring of the higher races and conducted abhorrent experiments on them for some unknown purpose.