Oh, My Dragon

by Lani Lynn Vale

“Yes,” she snapped. “I do.”

  Rolling my eyes, I picked up the dagger from Robert’s chest, and used it to cut a hole into my pants, ripping the jean material apart until the wound was exposed.

  My entire leg had blood dripping down it, and she gasped the moment she saw it.

  “Does it hurt?” she cried, dropping down amongst the bodies and the blood.

  Before I could protest her doing it, she placed her hand on my leg, and my own power started to stir to match hers.

  This was the last place that I would ever wish to have these kind of reactions, amongst the dead and our friends, but my body reacted to hers. And I had no hope against it.

  It just was.

  My skin started to tingle as the cells started to repair themselves, and within two minutes, pink scar tissue formed over the wound.

  “Done,” she smiled, happy with herself.

  I yanked her up by her arms out of the blood saturated grass, and crushed her body against mine.

  The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, and I couldn’t get it to stop.

  “I think it would be better if I leave,” Jean Luc’s rough voice filled the air around us. “It’s not going to end. At least, if I’m not here, then we might find a way to circumvent this before it gets out of hand.”

  No one said a word to disagree with him, and my stomach turned.

  I was closest to Jean Luc. He’d been the one and only person to actively try to incorporate me into the daily life of the Dragon Riders.

  Without him here, I wouldn’t have that any longer.

  “No,” Keifer said after a while of contemplation. “We’re stronger with you. You stay.”

  A grin found its way to my mouth, and I felt like shit for smiling when tragedy surrounded us.

  Luckily, mine wasn’t the only smile amongst us.

  ***

  “That’s why they kept the dragons for so long,” Wink’s devastated eyes lifted to mine hours later. “They kept her for her skin. If we’d been only a day longer, they would’ve skinned her and used her skin to come after us.”

  We were all clean. Dragons were bedded down in the grass surrounding the sanctuary, their bellies full for the first time in a long time.

  The most wonderful thing, however, was seeing Mace and Daya together.

  I’d yet to see them for more than five or ten minutes at a time while they were either eating or drinking, but it was enough to ensure that I knew they were both healing.

  Daya, when we’d first seen her, had been terribly emaciated. She’d likely been only days away from death, if not hours.

  Now, with the heart so close by, and her mate at her side, as well as a belly full of food and drink, she looked like a completely different dragon.

  Although, there was no hiding the haunted shadows in her eyes.

  Keifer’s sharp inhalation had me turning to him, and the grim look in his eyes matched my own.

  “It’s likely that there are more than just this,” I told him. “We need to actively start searching for them.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Keifer growled.

  “Me,” Farrow stepped forward. “I can do this. I already did do this.” He pointed at Mace and Daya who were together, their heads touching. “I found them. I can find the others.”

  “And how, exactly, do you expect me to trust you after today?” Keifer asked. “You’ve ruined what little faith I had in you.”

  Farrow swallowed. “What would you do for Blythe?”

  Keifer’s eyes narrowed.

  “Exactly,” Farrow snapped. “All this time, and you’d do the same goddamned thing that I did. You know you would.”

  “You don’t know shit,” Keifer denied.

  “I know that I’ve been in love with her since I was sixteen years old. I may only be twenty-one and a half, but I know my heart. She’s mine. And you continuously took her away from me. I can’t begin to count the number of times you dragged me away from her. You tried to tell me to stay away, but I can’t. Not with the love that Macy and I have.” Farrow stood up straighter. “We…”

  “Aren’t mated,” Keifer snapped. “You have no fucking clue about anything. You’ve been so far entranced in your own shit that you’ve never stopped to think about other things. Like, what if you find your mate?” he snapped. “I realize you love her. But your mate, when she comes, won’t care that you love another woman. You’ll literally kill her and you if you stay away from her. What are you going to do then?”

  Farrow’s mouth snapped shut.

  “I don’t do the things I do to keep you from having what you want. I do it because I know what’s best. I’m older. I am the king. My word is law.”

  Farrow bared his teeth.

  “I won’t accept you separating us,” Farrow stood, fists clenched.

  “I won’t separate you.” Keifer said. “Your mate will do that when the time comes.” He hesitated. “And when that time comes, when your mate comes, I won’t stop you. But until that time comes, you may keep your pet.”

  Farrow growled.

  “That’s what she is, is it not?” Keifer challenged Farrow.

  “She’s going to be my wife.”

  That dropped like a fucking bomb in the room.

  “Farrow,” Nikolai stepped in. “Find the dragons. Help us. Keep your nose clean. Stay with your woman. But for yours and her sake, don’t marry her. Don’t make any hasty decisions, and for God’s sake don’t think with your cock.”

  Farrow gritted his teeth to keep the retort from passing through his lips, and I had to give it to him. For once, he was showing that he knew when to shut up.

  That was new.

  A few hours ago, he’d have given it just as good as he got it, and damned the consequences.

  “You have one more chance, Farrow,” Keifer held out his hand. “Thank you for helping us today. Thank you for making the right decision. And thank you for saving the dragons.”

  Farrow looked at Keifer’s outstretched hand, and then took it.

  “I won’t let you down,” he promised.

  Keifer’s smile was sad.

  “I sure hope not.”

  Chapter 25

  Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Except tacos. And cupcakes. Oh, and cookies.

  -Wink’s secret thoughts

  Wink

  I made my way out of the spacious room we’d been provided at the sanctuary, and back down the stairs just outside our private suite.

  Our new home.

  The one that Keifer had demanded we move into.

  Though I wasn’t the only one that was new to the place.

  Jean Luc had been instructed to move in as well…and let’s not forget Mattie.

  She was situated in another hallway that was meant for single occupants. The single occupants would share a common kitchen and dining area, while the other mated pairs had their own mini apartments to themselves.

  I’d just made my way into the large dining room when an amused, darkly erotic voice filled the air.

  “A lot has changed since we’ve been gone,” the man drawled. “Can’t say that it makes me happy that all the eye candy moves in after we’re told to stay gone.”

  I gasped, turning to face the stranger’s voice.

  I was wary of strangers, as anyone who’d had a couple of days like I had would be.

  And immediately calmed down when Ian wrapped his arm around my neck.

  “Mine,” he snarled at the man that was sitting on a kitchen chair in front of us. “Mine.”

  That one was directed a different way, and my eyes widened when I saw the other newcomer.

  Both had brown hair and blue eyes, but that was where the similarities ended.

  The one who’d addressed me first was introduced as Ford, while the other one that’d been in the corner was introduced as Alaric.

  “The last time we were here, no one that wasn’t mated w
as allowed to be here.” Ford looked pointedly at Macy and Mattie in the corner.

  Then they flicked to Shane, aka Merrick.

  “A lot has changed,” Keifer said as he came into the room. “Have you been introduced?”

  Ford and Alaric both nodded.

  “What was the emergency?” Ford asked.

  He seemed like a talker, and under different circumstances, I was sure I’d find him a lot more appealing.

  However, after yesterday, I didn’t find anything appealing but what I knew. And I didn’t know these men.

  Something I must’ve made them aware of, because they gave me the distance I needed.

  Though that might have been Ian’s angry look at my back that was keeping them at bay.

  I’d just decided to sit down with a plate of food that Ian had somehow magically produced when something occurred to me.

  “There’s food moving off the table,” I whispered frantically to Ian.

  Ian’s eyes flicked to the table where a sausage was being pulled off of a plate, and he snapped his fingers.

  The sausage paused in its descent to the floor, and I froze when it felt like something had jumped on my leg. Two somethings. One on each thigh.

  I was too stunned to acknowledge them. Ian, though, didn’t seem too surprised.

  “This is Daisy,” he grinned.

  “Who is Daisy?” I asked, my hand itching to sweep down the length of my leg and push off whatever was touching me.

  “Daisy,” Ian rumbled. “Please?”

  Alright, Creepy. What are you doing?

  I was about to look at Ian when one of the things on my leg became visible, causing me to gasp.

  “Oh, my God!” I cried.

  My eyes took in the tiny little dragon on my leg. It was as big as a medium sized kitten in stature. It was solid black with white tipped wings. All except for a small daisy shape on her chest.

  “I think you mean, ‘Oh, my dragon,’ Wink,” Mattie murmured, her eyes going wide. “Where in the hell did…,” a gasp left her mouth as more and more showed up.

  “How cute is she?” I asked, my hand going out cautiously to run one single finger down the tiny dragon’s back.

  “Cute,” Ian rumbled. “I’ve been trying for six weeks to get her to show herself to you.”

  My brows rose at that.

  “You’ve kept her a secret for six weeks?” I asked. “How? Why?”

  “Daisy isn’t allowed to leave the safe zone.” He introduced his pet dragon to me. “I think that now that she knows that we’re here to stay, she might be a little more accommodating to who sees her.”

  “Is she bonded to you like Mace is bonded to you?” I asked.

  Ian nodded. “Yes, in a way. I named her, and she became mine.”

  My brows furrowed in confusion.

  “They’re Fairy Dragons,” Brooklyn interrupted. “Fairy Dragons are the smallest of all types of dragons. More like pets than actual dragons. Fierce and loyal. They’re indigenous to Scotland and Ireland, and they’ve never been known to come here before now.”

  “There are more?” I asked.

  Brooklyn nodded. “About 10 in total. Each mated pair has two, one for each person, except for you. Jean Luc, Ian, Derek and Skylar also have one.”

  “Mmmm,” I giggled when Daisy started to chase my finger across the length of my leg.

  “Fairy dragons are so rare that they bring out the good in almost everyone,” Brooklyn explained. “They’re playful like cats and loyal like dogs.”

  “What’s their story?” I asked, giggling when a neon purple dragon appeared to also chase my finger. The other one that’d been on my thigh for the whole time.

  This one actually caught my hand, though, and rolled over onto her back as she kicked at me with her back legs like a cat.

  “Fairy dragons grow to be about the size of a housecat,” Brooklyn explained. “But they’re so rare, that no one really knows anything about them. There are a few articles in the dragon archives, but they didn’t tell us a whole lot. What I’ve gathered is that, mostly, they’re social creatures who show up when someone worthy is brought forth. Those that can see them are worthy.”

  “So I wasn’t worthy until now?” I guessed, studying Ian’s dragon who was glaring at the newcomer dragon like it was an interloper who shouldn’t be there.

  “You’re worthy now because you’ve got your own dragon, which basically proves your worth,” Brooklyn grinned. “I think she showed herself to you out of jealousy because she knew you were about to be taken from her.”

  “Hmm?” I asked, lifting my hand with a laugh. “My dragon?”

  The dragon was clinging to my hand like a monkey, using her wings to wrap around my hand to ensure she didn’t fall.

  “Your dragon,” Ian’s head moved, indicating the other dragon that was chewing on my fingernail.

  My head tilted.

  “I don’t understand.” I really didn’t.

  I thought I couldn’t have a dragon. I wasn’t a dragon rider.

  “You don’t have to be a dragon rider to have a dragon that’s bonded to you,” Ford explained.

  I looked over at him, met his eyes for only a second, at most, and then couldn’t hold them any longer. I let them slip to the side of his face, studying his hair instead of his eyes.

  “It’s normal,” Ian whispered. “His power is to see into one’s soul. To know their true thoughts and intentions. It takes a lot out of both him and the person whose soul he’s seeing. His dragon has taught him some natural defense mechanisms that automatically repel people from connecting gazes with him.”

  My brow rose.

  “Wow.”

  “Did you name your dragon?” Ford pushed.

  My eyes went back to his face, but this time I looked at his nose.

  “No.” I shook my head.

  Creepy. Something practically shouted at me.

  “You didn’t say anything in your mind…” he left it hanging, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

  “Uhhh,” I hesitated. “Can they talk to me in my head?”

  All of the occupants in the room, sans Mattie and Macy, who apparently didn’t have dragons, nodded their heads.

  “Uhhh, then yes, I named her.” I started to snicker.

  “What’d you name her?” Blythe asked, a sleeping baby against her chest.

  “Creepy.”

  “That’s not too bad,” Keifer mumbled. “Mine’s named ‘Little Fucker’.”

  At that, I lost my battle with my giggles.

  Chapter 26

  Ideas are born from a beard stroke.

  -Fact of Life

  Ian

  I found my wayward mate outside with dragons.

  Quite a few of them.

  Twenty—big and small—surrounded her while she read from a book.

  It’d been two weeks since the day Robert kicked the bucket.

  Two weeks of much needed downtime. Although having Ford and Alaric back had a lot to do with that. With them added back into the rotation, I didn’t have to go out every night on patrol.

  Now, I only went out every fourth night, which was a lot more accommodating for a newly mated dragon rider.

  “You gonna come inside any time soon, beauty?” I asked Wink.

  Wink, who was resting on the cool grass directly next to Daya, who was still recovering, turned her head in my direction.

  “Just let me finish this chapter and then I’ll come inside,” she grinned.

  I knew what that meant.

  It likely wouldn’t be the end of the particular chapter she was on, but one about two hundred pages later.

  Grinning, like the fool I was, I bent down and scooped her up into my arms, causing her to squeak and drop the book on the grass.

  “Hey!” she snapped. “That’s book abuse!”

  I rolled my eyes.

  She huffed a sigh of annoyance, and then tu
rned her head so she could look over my shoulder.

  “Goodnight, dragons!” she called to the lot of them. “I have to go to bed now, because my mate thinks he knows all. I’ll see y’all in the morning! Take care of my book!”

  I didn’t say anything to her as we made our way through the sanctuary. I nodded at a few of the others who were in some of the common rooms, including my sister, and headed straight for our bedroom.

  I didn’t stop until I got to the bed, where I gently laid her down and covered her with my body.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped.

  I hadn’t made love to her in over two weeks, since the night she’d told me about her pregnancy with another man’s baby.

  And that wasn’t due to allegations, either, but by her putting me off with bogus complaints of being tired or not ‘wanting it.’

  I was on edge, and I needed to prove to her that I wasn’t upset with her for sleeping with another man before we’d mated.

  And I told her so.

  “I love you. And this baby,” I told her bluntly.

  She blinked.

  “This baby is wanted. The circumstances that the baby was conceived under weren’t ideal, but I’ll never take that out against you. Or her.”

  She blinked away tears.

  “How’d you know?” she whispered.

  “You’ve been avoiding it,” I mumbled, pushing my hands up the underside of her t-shirt.

  Her eyes widened.

  “I have not,” she lied.

  I looked at her.

  “Nearly every thought that crosses your mind I’m privy to,” I tapped her forehead with one finger. “All except for a select few, and those are the ones that I really want to know.”

  “What?” she cried. “How?”

  I grinned.

  “You don’t shield your thoughts worth a shit. If I’m in the vicinity of you, then everything you think, I think,” I enlightened her. “Everything but the ones that you shield almost automatically. And those I only have to guess about.”

  “What ones?” she asked stubbornly.

  “I get faint hints of what they’re about. You feeling bad about mating me when you were pregnant with another man’s baby. Not feeling worthy of my love. Things like that.” I looked into her eyes. “If I still find you attractive now that you have been soiled.”