Verdant Magic: A Standalone Dragon Shifter Adventure (Dragon Mage Chronicles Book 1)

by Aimee Easterling

  “Thank you,” she whispered, pausing to pat a honeysuckle tendril on its softly furred tip. Amber hadn’t yet been allowed to tune back into the full sentience of the forest, but she could sense tidbits of information filtering in from random locations now and then. Thea had been delivered to the Aerie by airship a few days earlier, so caprine nibbles now filtered down the mycorrhizal network from not terribly far away. Closer by, a colony of oaks discussed whether the upcoming season might be the best time to drop a mast crop and confuse nut-hoarding squirrels. And acres of fungi worked a mile a minute to digest leaves that had fallen everywhere except directly in the city’s heated heart.

  Electra responded to her mistress’s heightening power by growing another five inches until the plant nearly toppled out of its small pot. Amber needed to find a place to plant this cutting soon. Needed to check in with her pet and make sure Thea hadn’t been too traumatized by another journey through the sky with their wind-witch friend. Needed to draft a list of hard-to-come-by supplies that Sabrina could spend the winter rustling up.

  But, first, Amber would be true to her word and meet her lover’s family with a smile on her lips. So she took a deep breath, then nodded her assent. And, once again, her dragon lifted her into his arms and carried her home.

  ***

  “...so glad to meet you!”

  “Zane, dude, I didn’t realize Amber was so hot. You done good.”

  “Thank you for coming, dear.”

  Faces and words swirled around her in a sea of greetings as the pair touched down atop one of the skyscrapers extending several stories above the Green. A small contingent of the welcoming party was familiar. Others, Amber gathered, were humans who lived and worked here in the Aerie by the dragons’ side. And, to her surprise, it was those strangers who gave Amber the most hope for her people’s future.

  True, she’d relinquished her childish vision of dragons as murderous marauders at the same time she’d set down the mantle of Watcher four months earlier. But it wasn’t until she saw how these magic-less humans interacted with her mate that she finally relaxed her final shred of concern. Humans pulled her favorite shifter into close hugs, teased him mercilessly, and generally acted less like lackeys and more like friends.

  So what would happen if Greenwich revealed itself to the world at large through a fluke of fate with no Watcher present to guard the colony’s back? If this mishmash of dragons and ordinary people living together in peaceful harmony was any indication, the answer was—old and new friends would get together and throw a pretty awesome party.

  All told, Amber was holding her own pretty well until Zane left her side, chill autumn air moving in to push remnant warmth away. Her mate strode across the intervening space so he could enfold his foster mother in strong arms, pausing to whisper in Sarah’s waiting ear.

  And Amber knew she shouldn’t have felt jealous. This was his mother for crying out loud. But Zane was well aware that the massive meet-and-greet freaked her out. There were just so many unfamiliar faces. Couldn’t he bear to provide moral support for a little while longer?

  As soon as the traitorous complaint materialized within her brain, Amber knew she was on the wrong track. Because Zane turned away from the elderly human as quickly as he’d enfolded her into a welcoming embrace, his eyes immediately meeting Amber’s again from across the small space that divided them. For her part, earth witch fell into shifter’s gaze just as hard as she always did, nearly missing the small parcel Sarah passed into her son’s waiting hand before the latter stepped away.

  Then Zane was hurrying back toward her, flames licking around his body as they tended to do whenever he was excited or worried or aroused. Amber lost her breath for a moment as he advanced relentlessly toward her. She hadn’t quite gotten over how beautiful her partner was, how his flames teased her skin into heights of passion she’d never before considered possible. But even more, how his beech-like strength buoyed up her more honeysuckle-like nature whenever she found reason to doubt the brightness of their shared future.

  Now, her dragon dropped down to kneel gracefully at her feet. And no, he wasn’t tying his shoe.

  A murmur rose from the crowd. But Amber didn’t listen, because she was instead envisioning the expression on her parents’ face if she’d come to tell them their only daughter was soon to be wed to a dragon.

  “Do you love him?” Momma would have asked.

  “Of course she loves him,” Poppa would have answered. “We raised her right. She’s only going to marry someone she loves.”

  “And does he love you?”

  “Like the sun and the moon and the wind and the stars,” Amber would have answered.

  And then her parents would have squeezed her between them in a daughter sandwich. Now, Amber almost thought she felt her father’s arms holding her tight, her mother’s joy buoying her up. She was standing alone in the midst of dozens of strangers she’d barely met or didn’t yet know at all. But she’d never truly be alone again. Instead, Amber had found the heart of her new family...and the center of her own heart.

  As if proving her point, a throat cleared from the audience behind Zane’s back and Amber wasted a precious second scanning the crowd for the source of the sound. Yep, there was Nicholas, looking as dour as ever. Nicholas who had joked with her only once and that while she was imprisoned by a magic-quenching collar to which he held the key. Nicholas who was least likely to accept an earth witch into this family Zane had built around himself since birth. Nicholas who deserved the title of Dragon Most Likely To Wish Her Gone.

  The square-jawed shifter met her gaze solidly. Then, to her surprise, down-turned lips lifted skyward. Eyes crinkled ever so slightly by way of welcome. Finally, Nicholas nodded once before pointing his chin toward the brother who still knelt patiently at Amber’s feet. Get on with it, he seemed to say. Zane is waiting.

  As if sensing her returning attention, the dragon who owned her heart reached up and gathered Amber’s left hand between his super-heated palms. “Amber Gardner, you are the light of my life. I wake up every morning with a smile on my face knowing that you’ll be the first thing I see when I open my eyes. I love your dirty feet, your agile brain, and your steadfast goat. I love how deeply you care about the people around you and how brave you are in the face of danger.”

  He paused, clearing his throat, and Amber was pretty sure a tear glimmered on the rim of one eyelid before sizzling away into nothingness. Then her dragon removed one hand so he could dig into pants pocket in search of the item Sarah must have slipped him a moment earlier.

  “I’ve been putting off popping the question for weeks because I couldn’t find a ring good enough to suit you. But Sarah finally tracked down a metalsmith who would work to order, and he made something almost as beautiful as you are.”

  Zane was right. The ring was a work of art—twisting tendrils and leaves and flowers all intertwined into a delicate portrayal of the Green itself. And, running through the center, reddish flames to signify her dragon’s inner and outer fire.

  Zane’s words, though, were ten times more beautiful than any jewelry. “Amber, you would make me the happiest man alive if you’d consent to be my wife. What do you think? Am I worth teaming up with?”

  A witch who had once thought all dragons were murderers now peered down into warm, blue eyes within a face she knew as well as her own. Zane wasn’t telling; he was asking. He wasn’t trying to broker a bargain; he was begging her to formally accept the joining of mind, body, and soul that they had already forged together during their long months tending to Electra’s needs.

  Zane wouldn’t require his mate to relinquish her identity to boost his own waning power. No, he possessed enough magic to fill himself to the brim and still share the bounty with her, with his family, with all of these people gathered together in the Aerie’s heart.

  But, in the end, the only truly relevant question was the one Poppa would have asked. Did she love this man, this dragon before her? And did he love h
er back? Did Amber know this was the right decision deep within her gut?

  Those queries were the easiest to answer of all.

  So she put her lover out of his misery. Pulling her dragon back to his feet, Amber rained kisses upon his cheeks before deigning to reply.

  “Zane Pendragon,” she whispered for his ears alone, “I’d like that very much.”

  ***

  I hope you enjoyed Verdant Magic! If so, please vote with your fingertips by leaving a review, lending this book to a friend, or otherwise spreading the word. Your help is invaluable in getting a book off to a good start, and I’ll be eternally grateful for any assistance you feel comfortable providing.

  Next, why not dive into my backlist? My first werewolf novel, Shiftless, is FREE on all retailers, and you can download a free copy of The Complete Bloodling Serial as well if you sign up for my email list.

  Or perhaps you only enjoy dragon shifters? If so, don’t despair. You'll learn all of Sabrina's secrets when Cerulean Magic hits Amazon this summer. And you can also check out exclusive extras, including images of airships and adorable goats plus a short story about Sarah’s life during the Change, on my website in the interim.

  Thanks for reading. You are why I write.