by Shéa MacLeod
***
If watching Inigo shift from his human form into his dragon form had been cool, riding a flying dragon from Portland to the Northern edge of England was a hundred times cooler. And I wasn’t just talking about the temperature, though believe me, that was plenty cold. Thank goodness for my newfound Fire affinity. It was a challenge keeping it harnessed, but it kept me warm.
Inigo had shown me a sort of complicated saddle thing which I’d had to put on him while he was in dragon form. It was made of soft, supple leather and a padded cushion and essentially involved me tying myself onto his back, closing my eyes, and praying to every god in the pantheon that I wouldn’t plummet to earth and die a horrible death.
As we flew, I realized that while he was too busy concentrating to speak to my mind, I could feel what Inigo was feeling. I could feel the thrill of flying, the joy of having me on his back.
Alongside that were the physical sensations: the cold wind against my face, the smooth scales under my palms. I could feel Inigo’s heat and the vibration of his flight even through the saddle. The sensations were incredibly erotic.
I wondered if he could feel what I was feeling the same way I sensed his emotions. The answer that came was a resounding Yes!
A laugh burst from my throat. I forgot my fear and gave myself over to the pure joy of flying through the night on the back of my lover.
Inigo was right. Dragons, even half dragons, could fly a heck of a lot faster than a 747. I don’t know how he did it without killing me in the process, some kind of magic I suppose, but we made it just in time. Midnight struck as my feet touched the top of Hadrian’s Wall.
Moonlight bathed the Wall and the valley below coating everything in shades of silver. I gazed around and sucked in a breath. On every side were the hulking shapes of dragons quietly watching me out of glowing golden eyes. I held back a shiver.
Inigo, still in dragon form, nudged me gently from behind. I felt a sudden wave of warmth and security and realized he was using his mental gifts to give me courage. I rubbed his forehead, grateful for the support, though most of my fear was for him.
“So, Halfling, you debase yourself to a mortal. Allow yourself to be treated as a brainless farm animal. Typical.” The low grumbling voice was familiar.
“Hello, Drago.” My voice was just ever so slightly tart. It wouldn’t pay to piss off the king of dragons, but I wasn’t about to let him insult my boyfriend. Lover. Whatever. “Is this the sort of hospitality I can expect from your kind?”
He was in human form, but I swear he suddenly grew bigger. “Pardon?”
“I am your guest, here at your behest, and yet you insult me.” Oh, look at me with the big words.
“Insult I may have given, but it was not meant for you, Morgan Bailey.”
“And yet your very inference that I am less than your equal is an insult. Not to mention, any insult to Inigo is an insult to me. Remember, it was a mere human who saved your asses.” He could stick that in his pipe and smoke it.
Drago inclined his head, his bearing regal. “The point is well taken, Morgan Bailey. I beg pardon for the insult to you and your ... friend.”
“Thank you. Apology accepted.” I turned to Inigo. “You should go now. You can pick me up later.” I so did not want to tempt fate, despite Drago’s promise that Inigo would be safe.
“There is no need,” Drago spoke up. “He is perfectly safe here.”
I raised both brows at that. “From what I hear you have a penchant for murdering Halflings.”
Drago snorted at that, a little wisp of smoke escaping his nostrils. “It has been many human generations since we ceased such barbaric practices. Even without my promised safe passage, he would never come to harm among us.”
I believed him. Or, to be more accurate, the Fire inside me believed him. It knew he told the truth the way I knew when a vampire was near. I tried really hard not to freak out then and there. Instead I turned to the matter at hand. “Now, may I ask why I have been invited to your Conclave?”
“Of course.” Drago smiled and took my arm, eliciting a tiny grumble from Inigo.
I shot Inigo an annoyed look over my shoulder and he quieted. Inigo jealous was a weird concept.
“First, let me introduce you to my other guests.” Drago drew me further down the wall to where two human men stood. I knew them both immediately. “These are the liaisons between my people and yours. Dexter Jones and Trevor Daly. Gentlemen, this is Morgan Bailey.”
They nodded politely and I followed suit, though I was somewhat surprised to see Dex. I guess that meant they’d arrested Alister, but apparently we were keeping our cards close to our chests. I wasn’t sure why, if we were all friends, but then I’d never been too good with political bullshit so what did I know.
I stepped away from Drago to shake hands first with my brother, then with Kabita’s brother. As we shook, Dex whispered, “Dad got wind of the investigation and disappeared.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding,” he sounded tired.
“So, you’re in charge?”
“Yeah. Not that I wanted this.”
I squeezed his hand. “That’s why you’ll be so good at it.”
“Hope you’re right.”
“And you, of course, know our dear friend.” Drago turned me slightly to face the large oak that grew up from the center of the Wall. A woman wrapped in a white cloak stepped from the shadows.
“Sandra!”
She smiled her winsome smile. “Hello, Morgan. Lovely to see you again. I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Yeah, great. Now will someone please be so kind as to tell me why I’m here?” I’d never had much patience and mine was rapidly running thin.
“We invited you here,” Drago said, “to honor you, Morgan.”
I turned to him, surprised. “Honor me? Why?”
“Two reasons. First and foremost by your faith and your action, you have saved our people from genocide at the hands of a madman.”
I wasn’t sure about the madman part. Alister Jones had seemed frightfully sane. “And second?”
“Second,” his mouth curled into a smile and his campfire/s’mores scent curled around me as he placed his right palm over my heart. The heat was intense and before I could stop it, the Fire inside me rushed out, across his hand and up his arm.
“We honor you, Morgan Bailey,” his voice boomed across the valley, “as Fire Bringer.”
Hundreds of dragons launched themselves into the air, fire gushing from their mouths. The shrieks and cries were deafening, but I could only stand and stare as the fire within me engulfed the king of the dragons.
***
“You OK?” Trevor plopped down beside me, dangling his long legs over the Wall.
“I just saw a man burn to death. By my hand. So, no. Not OK.”
“He’s a dragon, Morgan. He’s not just any dragon, he’s the Drago. He didn’t burn.”
I glared at him. “Like that’s supposed to make me feel any better? It creeps me out even more.”
Which was true. The Fire that had come from inside me to engulf Drago had left him completely unharmed. In fact, he’d seemed to enjoy it. Which hadn’t pleased Inigo terribly much, not that I could blame him. It hadn’t exactly pleased me, either.
Apparently tradition indicated that a Fire Bringer was property of the Drago. And not just any property. Sexual property. Like that was going to happen. I didn’t care if he did smell like a frigging s’more.
Trevor took my hand. It felt good to have a brother. “Hey, at least things are looking up. With Dex the head of MI8, the edict against Witches has been rescinded.”
I brightened at that. “They’re giving Ben his job back?”
He laughed. “Ben Landry is now a very rich man. Alison left him everything.”
“Awesome.” I was really glad things were turning out well for Ben. Though losing Alison wasn’t something he’d ever get over.
“He pretty much told MI8 where to s
tick it. He’s opening up his own consulting firm and charging triple for his services. Dex is furious, but Ben’s the best there is so he’s going to have to grin and bear it, thanks to Alister.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Daly. Might I have a word with Morgan?” Sandra’s musical voice broke into my thoughts.
“Of course, Ms. Fuentes.” He stood and gave my shoulder a squeeze. I was definitely starting to get used to this whole big brother thing.
Sandra took his place in a flurry of robes. She should have looked ridiculous, but instead she looked wonderfully ethereal. I had a feeling she’d spent a lot of time living between two worlds.
“So, you and the Halfling, hmm?”
I clenched my fist, anger coursing through me. How dare everyone treat him like some kind of freak. “His name is Inigo.”
“Yes, of course. I do apologize. I meant no offense.” She drew her knees up under her chin and let out a sigh. “That’s simply what the dragons call them. I forget sometimes that humans are more sensitive about such things.”
“What? About insults?”
She gave me a surprised look. “It’s not an insult, Morgan.”
I gave her a look of sheer disbelief. “Halflings are under order of execution. Or they were, anyway. How can it be anything but an insult?”
Her eyes grew wide. “Execution? Oh, my dear girl. That may have been true centuries ago, but not for a long time now. Halfling children are treasured just as dearly as dragon children. They are no less; they are equal.”
“But Inigo’s family, they had to protect him ... ” Except that the truth was the dragons had never known about him. What if his family had been wrong?
She shook her head. “Old superstitions. You can’t blame them. How would they know? Humans and dragons haven’t mixed in over a millennia.”
“So, he’s been hiding the last four hundred years for nothing?”
She shrugged. I burst out laughing. It was all so ridiculous. All this wasted time hiding. An entire family giving up their lives to protect their own. For nothing. Inigo hadn’t needed protecting. He would have been a cherished member of his clan.
“Gods. That’s bat shit crazy.”
“Indeed. But I think everything will turn out all right in the end. Things have a way of working out the way they’re supposed to.”
I didn’t know that I had her faith. But I hoped for Inigo’s sake she was right. I wanted him to have some peace about his past. About his family. He deserved that.
“I’m not Drago’s property,” I blurted.
“You mean the Fire Bringer thing?” She looked surprised. “Of course not. That’s just another one of the Old Ways. Fire Bringer is an honorary title now. Very revered by the Clans, but nothing more.”
“What is it?” It was obviously a major honor from the way the dragons were acting, but I didn’t have a clue. I’d just gone along with it, bowing and thanking everyone.
“Put your hand in mine. Palm up.” She held her hand, so I did as she asked. “Now watch,” she said softly.
As I watched, the center of my palm began to glow orange, then flames danced just above, swirling into a circular pattern. I could feel the Fire inside me being pulled up through my hand ever so gently, but it was as though someone else controlled it.
“This is the Fire that now lives inside you.” Her voice was low, rhythmic.
I felt my eyelids grow heavy and my eyes lose focus as I stared into the swirling flames dancing above the palm of my hand. Sandra’s voice was hypnotic, pulling me deeper and deeper.
“Millennia ago,” she continued, “the tribes of man first met with the Clans. Surprised by their wit and intelligence, the Clans swore never to harm the tribes of man. To cement their new friendship, the Drago of the Clans gifted one of the humans with the ability to channel Fire.
“This human was called Fire Bringer by the Clans, though her people called her a Fire Mage. She became the Drago’s lover and the intermediary between the Clans and the tribes of man. Her presence could soothe even the raging anger of a dragon.”
Somewhere in a distant corner of my brain, I remembered Eddie telling me about the Fire Mages. “Atlantis,” I whispered.
“Yes.” Sandra’s voice stayed low and even. “The first Fire Bringer was of Atlantis and every Fire Bringer thereafter was one of her descendents. But the Fire Bringers began mating with ordinary humans and each generation grew less powerful until one day, there were no more Fire Bringers. Thus was born the first Rogue.”
I frowned. Drago had told me a little of the Rogues. My mind tried to grab hold and connect the dots, but the flames above my palm brightened and swirled and I was dragged under again.
“Without a Fire Bringer, the Clans could not ease the troubled mind of the Rogue, not even with the help of a Dragon Child. And so thousands of humans died.
“Over the centuries with the ability to create Fire Bingers lost, dragons have gone Rogue in greater and greater numbers. And without the Dragon Hunters, the Drago has been forced to kill his own time and again. The only chance for survival of the race was to find another Fire Bringer. You, Morgan, are the last human able to channel fire. And so you are the Fire Bringer.”
She sat back and released my hand. Suddenly I could think again.
“So, I’m some kind of peace maker?”
“For dragons, yes. Now that you’ve infused the Drago with your Fire, the effect will trickle down to all the Clans. Hopefully, it will prevent future Rogues. At least for a while. In the human world, it is only a weapon.”
Yeah, I had that figured out already. Crap. Could my life get any more complicated?
“So, he doesn’t expect me to, uh, you know ... ”
She laughed. “I think his wife might have something to say about that.”
I blinked. “He’s married? Then why does he keep doing that scent thing?”
She raised a brow. “Well, he is the Drago. It’s a power display.”
“Men,” I huffed. She just laughed.
We were quiet for a minute, our eyes on the dark valley. A few dragons still wheeled against the night sky, the occasional spat of fire giving away their presence.
“It’s weird, though. Inigo and Drago smell a lot alike.”
Both brows went up this time. “Are you sure? The human sense of smell isn’t as keen as a dragon’s.”
I didn’t bother to tell her that I was a little more than an ordinary human, Fire Bringer business aside. “I’m sure.”
“Oh, dear,” she sighed. “That can only mean one thing.”
I glanced over at her. I knew exactly what she was thinking. “Should we tell them?”
We both turned to look at Inigo, still in dragon form, and Drago in his human form. They were doing the male staring contest thing. The testosterone could have killed an elephant at forty paces.
“Oh, hell, no!” we both said at the same time. Then we laughed.
Sometimes it was better to let the boys figure things out for themselves.
“You know, Alister Jones is still out there, free to do this all over again,” she said quietly.
Freaking fantastic. “I know. Dex told me.”
She gave me a long look. Finally she spoke and her words sent chills racing through me.
"So, Fire Bringer, what are you going to do about it?”
* * *
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Tw
enty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two