by Kimber White
The wind whipped my hair as I made my way to a metal railing framing the rooftop platform. During my desperate flight with Xander the other night, there hadn’t been time to appreciate the scenery. I did it now, marveling at the pure blue waters of Lake Michigan. Boats dotted the horizon, some towing parasailers. The bitter winter and frosty early spring had finally loosened their grip, giving a hint of the hot summer to come.
“I take it I’m somewhat of an unwanted guest as far as your mother is concerned,” I said as Gideon and Finn came to join me along the railing.
“It’s not that,” Finn said. “I mean...yes. Unexpected, let’s say. Not necessarily unwanted. My mother just worries. She’s overprotective. I suppose they all are.”
I leaned forward, resting my chin on my arms. “So they say.”
Gideon turned to me. “You don’t have one?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t have...anyone.” I hadn’t intended to get so heavy so quickly. It just sort of spilled out. Again, my grief for Marvin flared. At the same time, I knew he’d hate that. What I’d said to Xander was true. Marvin would have loved going out in a blaze of glory. Ever since his last scan, I’d known his days were numbered. We’d prepared. Said all the things we needed to say. And yet, losing him for good still hurt.
“I’m sorry about what happened,” Finn said. “We all are.”
“It’s not your fault. I’d be dead too if it weren’t for Xander.”
Gideon let out a chuckle that I recognized as a probable rarity for him. But, he didn’t explain.
“You’re handling all of this really well, Shae,” Finn said. “I don’t just mean about Marvin. I mean...us.”
I brushed the hair from my eyes and forced a smile. “Which part? The fact that you’re all dragon shifters. That dragon shifters even exist? Or that you’re all apparently centuries old.” I meant to say it lightly, mustering as much sarcasm as I could. The knowing glance between Gideon and Finn told me I hadn’t quite pulled it off.
“I suppose I should be in shock,” I continued. “Maybe I’ll get there. I just don’t know. Marvin had a knack for attracting all sorts of...uh...interesting characters.”
“He dealt with shifters a lot?” Finn asked. “That’s unusual. Unheard of, really.”
“Right,” I said. “He told me about some shifter-on-witch war that happened a thousand years ago. He said the shifters killed all their elders and burned down their libraries. They lost their most powerful spells.”
Gideon raised a brow. “Well, that’s the witch version of it, anyway. You talk to any wolf or bear shifter, you’ll get a different story. They claim the witches cursed the shifters long before they went after coven elders. They’ll tell you they did that in self-defense.”
“What kind of curse?” I asked.
“One strong enough to make most female shifters extinct. Haven’t you ever wondered why you never met a female bear or wolf shifter? I’ve heard there is maybe a handful in the world, but not like it was a few thousand years ago.”
“Huh,” I said. I’d truly never thought about it. “So who’s telling the truth?”
The serious scowl made its way back into Gideon’s face. “That’s their business. It all happened seven hundred years before we were even born. It was our father’s time, not ours.”
“Your father? Is he…”
“He’s dead,” Finn answered, his tone sober. I hadn’t meant to pry. But, as long as Finn and Gideon were in an answering mood, I had plenty of questions. “He was taken out by a powerful, dark mage and an Alpha tiger during the first Scottish War of Independence.”
My head spun. The math didn’t work out. I didn’t even know which question to start with. Marvin’s magic had been strong. But, I couldn’t imagine him being capable of killing a dragon, even with the help of a shifter.
“How could your father have died in the uh...1300s and you all only be three hundred years old?”
An impish grin split Finn’s face. “Pure-blooded dragon births are a little different than what you might be used to. A female dragon gives birth to an egg. Usually several. Then, she chooses when they should hatch.”
“How?” I turned, putting my back to the railing.
“Dragonfire,” Gideon said. “She breathes fire on them. In our case, losing my father almost destroyed her. She was still pregnant with us or she would have died right along with him. It can be like that with fated mates, I hear. After she gave birth to our eggs, she was too afraid to breathe her fire. You see, there’s a reason you’ve never seen a dragon shifter before.”
“You’re supposed to be extinct,” I said.
“Our kind were hunted to extinction,” Gideon said, his fire rising. Flames sparked behind his eyes and silver scales covered his forearms. He seemed completely unaware of it. Finn’s eyes widened, but he kept his distance from his brother.
“Dragonblood is the most powerful substance on earth,” Gideon said, his words punctuated with anger. “Witches and shifters wanted to use it against each other in their war. Avelina was the last of her kind. She went into hiding. It took four hundred years after our father died before she felt it was safe enough to bring us into the world. She was all alone by then. Everyone she’d ever known and loved had died, betrayed by those she trusted.”
My heart twisted. I could only imagine Avelina’s grief. I could relate to her pain. She’d been completely alone. No wonder she was so overprotective of her sons.
“Surely, she doesn’t see me as a threat,” I said. “I’m just…”
Gideon’s eyes snapped to mine. “You’re not just anything, Shae. There’s something about you. Your essence feels...different.” Green fire swirled in his eyes. I wasn’t afraid of him, but his gaze turned almost predatory. It sparked heat in me, then alarm. The scales on his arms grew thicker.
“Gideon!” Finn snapped. Gideon blinked hard, struggling for control.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, amazed at my ability to stay calm. “Your shift.” Without even thinking, I reached for him. He stayed still as stone, letting me trace his scales. The edges were razor sharp, making a tiny cut on the pad of my thumb. But, the surface of his scales was pliable, like chainmail.
A drop of blood from my thumb smeared on Gideon’s arm. It did something to him. He shuddered and drew away from me. When I met his eyes, I saw the storm behind them. His dragon clawed to get out.
The whole building seemed to shake as if there was an earthquake. Finn pulled me away from Gideon; his own dragon eyes sparked with icy blue flames.
“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her!” Xander’s voice thundered through me. Though human still, he was only just. His voice had undertones of a primal growl.
I turned. Gideon still struggled to control his shift. He dropped to all fours, his talons digging into the concrete. Kian and Loch stepped out of the elevator behind Xander. On some preternatural level, I knew I should be afraid. And yet, the instant I saw Xander, that irresistible urge pulled me to him. Finn’s strong hands on my shoulders held me back. He kept me from getting in between Xander and Gideon.
Xander struck first. He launched himself at Gideon, shifting in midair. The force of it drove the air from my lungs. If Finn hadn’t been holding me, I would have landed on my ass. “Stay out of it,” he whispered in my ear.
Xander’s enormous, silver-gold wings unfurled, blocking out the sky. The concussive power of the wind he made struck me in the chest. Finn put me behind him. Xander’s dragon turned its head toward us. His long neck craned and the slit of his eye narrowed. The orb was huge and lit with emerald fire. His massive black talons clawed the air.
Gideon completed his own shift. He rose in the air, his mighty wings flapping. He drew a screeching breath then exhaled, sending a fireball into Xander’s chest. I screamed, but Finn held me behind him. I felt the scratch of his own talons. His brothers’ dragon fury clearly called to his own nature.
Loch and Kian seemed to be having a similar difficulty. They staggered backward, each
of them taking a side. Kian stayed by Gideon, Loch by Xander.
Xander recovered from Gideon’s blast and swiped a deadly claw across Gideon’s body. Gideon backed up, but his armor protected him, leaving only a scratch. I shuddered, realizing Xander’s blow would have likely split a normal man in half.
Each dragon rose higher in the air, circling the building. They took turns swooping low, breathing fire, then lunging at one another. Xander landed a blow. Then Gideon did. Each time, I winced, thinking this would be the one that would do real damage. Each dragon shrieked. They drew blood. But, I soon realized this wasn’t about killing. This was about brothers.
Kian and Loch both shifted, but didn’t rise to join the fight. Their dragons took opposite corners on the rooftop, beating their wings against the ground. I got brave and looked back at Finn. He was barely holding on. His eyes had gone pure dragon and silver-blue scales covered his arms.
“You’d better go,” Finn said, breathless. “As long as you’re close, Xander won’t be able to pull it back.”
Nodding quickly, I knew what he meant. I hadn’t intended it, neither had Gideon. But, seeing me touch his brother’s dragon had sent Xander into a protective rage he didn’t seem able to control. As the fight raged above me, I headed for the elevator and dove inside. As the doors closed, I saw one last fire blast from Xander’s dragon singeing Gideon’s left wing. He spun wild, but recovered. I just prayed they wouldn’t kill each other because of me.
Chapter Seven
Xander
I drew Gideon’s fire, swirling at dizzying speed over the Brandhart Building. The air shimmered with our magic. Anyone looking up from the park below would only see two storm clouds gathering and the lightning crack between them.
Fire and fury welled inside me. It had detonated the instant I saw my brother’s dragon reach for Shae. He was too close. Naked lust colored his eyes. It didn’t matter that he’d never act on it. It didn’t matter that he had more control than I did. My dragon ruled over me.
Gideon’s talons sank into my shoulder. I bit at him, finding purchase at the base of one of his wings. Our bodies locked and we spiraled back down to the roof. He hit the concrete first, spinning away from me. He rounded quickly and inhaled, ready to spew fire at my head. Loch and Kian’s dragons crouched low, ready to strike. It was a wonder they’d stayed out of it this long.
Then, the sky seemed to split in two and white fire enveloped us both. A deafening screech split my brain in two. I staggered forward. Gideon dropped to the ground, his legs splayed wide.
Avelina’s fire singed my wings. Her dragon’s head loped from side to side, warning us both as she got between us. When Gideon tried to rise, she knocked him back with her wing, sending him sprawling. He got hold of himself quickly, shifting as he rolled across the roof. Panting, he got to his feet. Sweat poured down his heaving chest as he looked at me with wild eyes.
Avelina turned her attention on me. The slits of her cobalt blue eyes narrowed until they were razor thin. She drew in another breath. The next blast would likely burn my scales off. I was stronger than she was. We all were. But, that never seems to matter with mothers and sons. I would never hurt her. I dropped my head in deference. Quaking from the effort, I got two legs under me and slowly rose to my feet.
Avelina straightened. She swung her head back toward Gideon. He stood with his hands up, palms out in surrender. I did the same. Avelina shook out her neck, stretched it long, then shifted back. We all dropped our heads and looked away as she slipped back into her clothes.
“Are you quite finished?” she said, brushing off a piece of lint from her sleeve. She was cool and calm, not a hair out of place.
I opened my mouth to answer her but immediately clamped it shut. What could I say? Everything that ran through my head would have amounted to little more than a version of, “Well, Gideon started it.” Even though he had.
To his credit, Gideon looked equally embarrassed as he zipped up his pants and came to the middle of the circle.
“I don’t know what to even do with the lot of you,” Avelina said.
“Avelina,” Loch said, stepping forward. She stopped him in his tracks with one hard stare and the lifting of her finger.
“Save it,” she said. “We’ve got a real crisis on our hands and you’re up here fighting with each other. You need to focus your efforts and work together. Figure out what information that mage had that was worth getting killed over. The girl doesn’t know. Maybe he was protecting her. If she were my daughter, that’s what I would have done. There’s only one reason I can think of that pack of wolves would risk violating their treaty with the witches.”
Sweat poured down my back. My vision still blazed white at the edges as I struggled to get my fury under control.
“Think!” Avelina shouted.
When none of us answered her, she threw up her hands and sighed. “They were looking for the same thing we were. There’s dragonstone out there and they think they can find it first. That can’t happen. That can’t ever happen. So, whatever’s going on with you five, you need to work it out. You need each other. Don’t you see that? You’re stronger together than you are apart.”
“We’re fine.” I finally managed to get words out.
“Right,” Avelina said, hands on hips. “I’ve got half of Chicago down there thinking they’re about to witness the first typhoon ever to form in the Great Lakes. You think that Professor Marvin was the only magic user in this city? Somebody’s going to start getting curious. With everything else going on, we have to be more careful than ever to avoid detection.”
There was no mistaking her tone. She thought I was the one being the most careless, exposing my nature to Shae. When Avelina met my eyes, sadness came into hers. She knew there was no use arguing that particular point with me.
“Fine,” she said, throwing up your hands. “You boys want to blow off some steam, do it the right way. Take a fly.”
“What?” Loch and Gideon said it in unison.
“You heard me,” she said. “Get airborne. It’s not a suggestion. How long has it been since you’ve left Chicago? Huh? You know where to go. So, go together the way you used to when you were younger. It’ll do you a world of good. It certainly did for your father.”
Her words hit all of us with the shock of a thunderbolt. I knew immediately it’s why she used them. My mother rarely talked about our father. It caused her too much pain.
“Fine,” I said, dropping my head in deference to her. There was no use arguing. She was right and I knew it. We all knew it. The best way to control my dragon was to let him out. And I’d need my brothers by my side to rein him back in again.
One by one, we stepped up to the railing. Avelina stood back, crossing her arms. Our wind whipped up her white hair. I knew she enjoyed this though. Since the first time she’d taught us how to shift on command and take flight. She beamed with pride as Kian stepped up to the railing and let his dragon out. Finn and Loch followed him. Gideon gave me a sideways glance, a rare smirk on his face.
“Shut up,” I whispered. I let my wings out and stepped off the ledge. I felt Gideon’s hot breath on my back as he followed suit.
I soared. I felt free, powerful. There was no need to hold back. I flew at top speed, the skyline of Chicago shrinking to a dot below me. With it, a pang shot through my heart. Each flap of my wings took me further and further from Shae. It took everything in me not to turn back. I wanted her. I needed her. But, my mother was right. I was no good to Shae or anyone else if I couldn’t get a grip on what was happening to me. I just prayed she’d be all right for a few hours. I put my trust in Avelina and fell into formation with my brothers.
We crossed over the mitten of Michigan, then the East Coast. The Atlantic churned far below us. We had our pick of the world. Long ago, the Five Great Dragon Houses each ruled over their own dominion. Now, as far as we knew, it was just the six of us. My mother. My brothers. And me. Still, our father’s blood ran strong inside each of u
s. When it was time, we banked north toward the Scottish Highlands to the seat of the House of Brandhart. The Knoydart Peninsula.
There, beyond a lush, green valley and rising mountaintop, we landed in the hidden canyon no humans had ever seen. Though the rest of the dragons were long gone, their magic still lingered to shield this place to any eyes but ours.
Our ancestral lair was a deep cavern of black rock. An ancient volcano had carved it out. The rivers of lava still ran deep, but no one could see them but us. Dragon magic...Brandhart magic...had cloaked this mountain for thousands of years.
Gideon landed first, followed by Loch, Finn, Kian, then finally me. I settled beside them, reluctant to shift. It was Loch who reached out. His firm touch on the edge of my wing was just enough to tether me and bring me back into myself. I shifted and drew in a great breath of air.
“Damn it all to hell,” I whispered, as my vision cleared and my heart grew calm. “She’s right. She’s always fucking right.”
Finn laughed. “Yeah. It’s annoying.”
I turned to Gideon. If Avelina were here, she’d tell me to apologize. I couldn’t. As Gideon’s cool green eyes, so like my own, settled over me, I knew he understood.
“Xander,” he said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t have…”
“I know.” I put a hand up. “It’s just…”
“Say it,” Kian said, his tone sharp. Besides me, he was having the hardest time controlling his dragon.
“Kee—”
“Say it!” he shouted. “God. You’ve been dancing around it since you brought her here. And why exactly did you bring her here? Don’t give me your tale about saving her life.”
“She is my life!” The words just exploded out of me, making my whole body quake. They knew it. They all knew it. The telepathy connecting us had weakened over the years as we aged and didn’t take mates.
“Brother,” Loch said, his lips forming a grim line. “She’s human.”
“I know,” I said, my heart squeezing with emotion. “Don’t you think I know that? I know what it means.”