by Honor James
“After the shift, not during,” he said with a rough chuckle. “Yeah, those that are welcome here get to see us flying around. It’s rare to actually see the shift, it’s one of the few times we’re vulnerable. Though we can actually shift faster than that, he slowed it down so that you could see it all.” His arms dropped to take her hand as he slid the strap of her bag over his shoulder and head. “Let’s get up on him so we can get moving. I don’t like staying here where we just breached. Especially if they have someone who can work the Veil even half as well as you can.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t be coming through the Veil there,” she said with a grin. “They wouldn’t be able to come through there, because I ensured that they wouldn’t be able to. No one can reopen the Veil where I’ve closed it. Trust me. Are you going to fly with me? I would like to be able to lean against you if you wouldn’t mind.”
“I’ll be right there with you. Since you haven’t done this before it’s best to have someone up there with you. Besides, it’s chilly tonight, and you’re a little thing.” He led her to where Ladon had crouched down. Viper boosted her up and then followed her onto the back. He showed her where she could hold on and where she should never put her hands. Once they were settled, his arms around her, Ladon stood and then launched into the air.
She got up onto the back of the massive Draygon, her hand slightly caressing the scales as best she could without being harmed. “Amazing,” she whispered and then leaned back against Viper as Ladon took off into the air. A laugh of sheer joy escaped her when they moved into the air. Her cloak gave her some respite from the chill, but not enough, so she turned into Viper and held onto him, taking the heat that he gave her as hers.
He wrapped his arms around her, tucking her cloak tighter around her. The flight was smooth as Ladon mostly used the air currents to travel. At least once he figured out where he was going, which apparently he hadn’t known as he got in the air. Not much was visible, except for a few lights here and there.
“So do you know where we are going?”
“Absolutely,” Viper said. He pointed to her right. “We’re going over there. That’s Drake’s place in the distance, by the base of the mountain. Hopefully Ladon actually let him know we’re coming, otherwise we may have to risk Cook’s wrath and raid the kitchen, because I’m starving.”
“Very cool.” Violet laughed. “Oh Gods, I forgot about Cook. I can’t believe she still serves the Draygon Kings,” she said softly with a smile. “How would Ladon let Drake know? How would he do that is what I don’t get. So, want to tell me about it?”
“Either a phone call or just a text. A single signal of any sort would alert that we are coming in. If he didn’t get it, though, then we might have a very protective and pissy Draygon King to deal with.”
“Has he found a mate?” Violet asked as she was snuggled back in the arms of a very warm and very large Draygon male, one of her two mates. She found herself relaxing in his arms while waiting for him to tell her about the new Draygon King.
“Drake?” he asked. At her nod he squeezed. “Yes, he has. Her name is Azure. I met her briefly when Drake was bringing us up to speed on the where and when of our meet. He and Volos, a Vhampire you likely won’t know since he is rather young, are her mates. You’ll like her I think, she’s quite plain spoken.”
“She would need to be, in order to be mated to a Draygon,” Violet said with a grin. “That’s wild that a Draygon and Vhampire have the same mate. It’s good, though. Are they all okay together?” Violet asked quietly and then frowned. “What race is Azure?”
“Absolutely, Drake and Volos have worked together for a very long time. Besides Volos attempting to give Drake the occasional coronary or embolism, they seem to get along quite well. Azy is…” he trailed off. “Well, she’s Raythe,” he told her quietly. “Apparently they’ve decided to step up and out of the shadows and help out where they can to protect the Races.”
Violet tipped her head to the side and then gasped. “Oh Goddess, is she?” She couldn’t voice her thoughts, it simply wasn’t possible. Then again, Violet would know if the woman was the Necromancer of the Raythe or not when they met. If she were wrong, and cast that question of if the woman were the Necromancer of the Raythe and it not be true, well that wouldn’t be good. “I will know when I meet her.”
She could practically feel the question burning on his tongue. He didn’t ask it, though, just rubbed her arm as Ladon banked slightly and started a slow descent. “We’ll be on the ground in a couple more minutes,” he told her. “Hold onto me when we come in. There are some rough drafts that come off the mountain range and will make this interesting.”
“Don’t worry, I will hold onto you anyway, because you are so nice and warm.” And hard. By the Goddess he was hard all over and it made her want to shrink into him. He was massive, both men were, actually. She was happy she wasn’t an exceptionally short woman or she would feel like a child next to them, as it was her six-foot height was still swamped by their over seven-foot-tall bodies.
“Nature of the beast, Your Highness,” he said quietly. They began to dip down lower, occasionally lifting a bit before gliding down closer to the trees. As they got closer to the house they could see three people standing outside, backlit by the light from within. “Looks like Ladon did get the message through, after all.”
“Well, that’s good news, right?” Violet said with a smile and closed her eyes. “I love to fly, but I hate to land,” she told him in explanation as to why she suddenly closed her eyes and squeezed in closer to him.
He didn’t say anything, just held her closer as she felt them dropping toward the ground.
Chapter Four
“You found her, I see,” a deep voice called out as soon as they were on the ground.
“That we did,” Viper said softly. “You remember Drake, I’m sure. Drake, you likely remember Her Royal Highness, Violet King.”
“Of course I remember her. It’s been a couple years.” Drake grinned as he moved closer. “Pleasure to see you again, Vi. These two kept you in one piece, I see. Obviously Dad knew what he was doing.”
“I think that he knew exactly what he was doing, as usual.” She grinned at Drake and shook her head. “You look good, Drake. I see that happiness and being mated is good for you. You don’t look as serious as you did the last time I saw you.” He had looked as if there was a thundercloud over him the last time she saw him.
“Oh, he still has his moments,” a male voice said helpfully.
“Ignore Volos, I’m still undecided whether to kill him or not tonight.” Drake rolled his eyes and then put a hand on her elbow. “Come and meet our mate,” he told her. Guiding her toward the porch, he smiled again, wider, and happier than before. “Vi, this is Azure, our mate and Princess of the Raythes. Azy, this is the indomitable Violet King, Queen of all Spirytes.”
Violet grinned at the woman and shook her head. “Ignore him. I’m just me,” she teased. “A title is just something that you are born into.” Which was mostly true. “It is my pleasure to meet you.” Violet held out her hand, and when the other woman touched her Violet jerked.
She moved back to settle between Viper and Ladon, her breathing coming in hard gasps. “It is true,” she whispered and bowed her head. “It’s a pleasure. Your mother was just as you are. She was a wonderful woman.”
Confusion was clear in Azure’s tone when she replied, “Thank you, I think? As for my mother, she was a wonderful woman.”
“She was, as you are. However, she suppressed it so that the other didn’t have to die. As you well know only one Necromancer can be in power at a time. It cost her dearly to do so, however,” Violet told the young Raythe. “And you are her daughter, however you do not suppress, which is good. What you can do is a living and breathing necessity. Never deny it, except when you are with child. Do not allow the Dead to overrun you then or they can and will usurp the soul that is your child’s.”
“What?” Azure’s fac
e went pale, there was fear in her eyes.
“I didn’t say that to scare you, I just needed to tell you as no one else would. Be very careful in the coming days and keep one of your mates with you at all times. The Dead will try to take over the essence of a child as it begins to form.” Days, weeks, months, it wouldn’t be long, and Violet knew it. One thing she hadn’t told her mates. She was part of the cure for the infertility of the Draygon race. A touch of her hand, skin to skin, sadly was all it would take to help ease the curse that had been laid upon the Draygons by a jealous and hateful soul hundreds of years earlier.
“On that note, I think we should get inside,” Drake said quietly. He had wrapped an arm around Azure, more to support her than anything, given the look on the young woman’s face. She was pale, unsteady, and looked ready to crumble under a stiff breeze. “I’m sure you are all hungry from your travels. Cook has a bit of a snack ready, so come in,” he said. Ducking his head, he whispered to Azure as they walked along slowly, Volos shooting Violet a look of curiosity, but saying nothing as he caught up to take Azure’s free hand in his.
“Well, that was interesting,” Ladon commented. “Care to share what you’re keeping from the group, Vi?”
“I should likely share with everyone so that I don’t have to tell the story a second time. I know that I should tell Drake, Azure, and Volos as well since they will be the first affected.” Violet sighed and laid her head on Ladon’s shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Come, let’s go inside, and we will find a place to talk. Securely. It’s not time for the entire Draygon Nation to know yet. They will flock here when it’s known.” And she would rather meet them all on her own terms, thank you very much.
He wrapped an arm around her. “Why do I get the distinct feeling we’re not going to like whatever it is you have to tell us? No, don’t say anything.” Sighing, he squeezed her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Let’s go and talk with them and get some food, I’m starving.”
“That sounds wonderful to me as well. Food, that is.” Violet let Viper and Ladon lead her into the kitchens. Once they all had a few massive trays of food, they followed Drake quietly to what Violet knew had once been Drakos’s study. Once the door was sealed and the windows blacked out, she took a seat.
Violet didn’t speak for many long moments. She waited until everyone had food, herself included, before she began.
“It all happened many hundreds of years ago. Before I was even born.” She was retelling a story she knew as well as she knew her own name.
“My mother’s sister, my aunt, she was a very petty, vicious woman. She was vain and thought that all should bow before her beauty and was offended that not everyone wanted her. The Draygon, as you all know, have a far better sense of smell and, I think, sense of knowing the goodness or evil of a person as well.” No one had asked her for this story, but it was one they deserved to know, so she continued.
“One of my mother’s mates was a Draygon. My father,” she said with a soft smile. “But my aunt wanted him. Wanted Drakos as well,” she said, looking at Drake. “But as you well know he was utterly smitten with his mate, as was my father.” Violet shrugged. “To my aunt this was a heinous offense, one that she simply couldn’t bear to allow to happen.” Violet took a sip of her drink before continuing. “She was powerful. Even for a Princess of the Spiryte Realm. She was powerful, but not in a good way. She had learned of the Dark Arts, ones that had been banished from my people for millennia.” And longer. “Somehow, however, she found old scrolls, giving her knowledge that none should ever have.”
It had been terrible. The screams Violet could still recall, and she had been a baby at the time. But she was getting ahead of herself and knew it.
“She went into the Draygon Realm. She wanted to know if it was just the two mates that caused the men not to want her or if it was more. When she was shunned by even more males, she raged. When she came home she was in a fit, according to my mother,” Violet whispered and felt sick and shaky.
“It was then that she decided that the Draygons must pay for the offense of not wanting her. You see, to her she was the most beautiful, the sexiest, and the most wanted and desired woman alive. To have a race that didn’t want her was an affront to her.” Violet sighed. “So she reacted, her madness was complete by then. She was utterly insane,” she whispered those words, the truth setting free upon the air between them all.
“She cursed the Draygons. I don’t know what the full curse was, none of us do, but I do know now that it was done in blood. She cursed the Draygons to never again have another child. To never know what it would be to hold your own babe. She was a monster,” Violet confessed and gulped. “But she didn’t want to use her own blood. No.” She was shaking and pulled up her shirt to show an obviously old scar that ran from her throat to her belly button. “I was only hours old,” she said quietly. “Instead of using her blood she used the pure blood of the Draygon and Spryte that I was. She used the magic of our own house, knowing that I had been born to be the Queen of all Queens for the Sprytes.” She shrugged. “She sealed her curse with my blood. If not for my father, I would have died. He heard me screaming, crying, and came to me. How he heard, I don’t know. She had created a shield over us that trapped all sound, or so my mother had said.” Violet sighed.
“It wasn’t until about a year ago, when I met a couple of Draygon males on Earth, that I realized that I was the key to curing the infertility. They were guards of mine for a very short time, and then they went missing.” She shrugged. “But I knew the moment that I touched them that they had been cursed, the curse lifting with the touch of my hand.” She lifted her hand and smiled. “A touch to cure the curse that had been placed with the blood stolen from an innocent. A knowing in my mind, willing the power to heal instead of allowing it to continue to fester. If only I had known earlier,” she whispered sadly. “I didn’t then, but now I do. And now, I am so sorry, Azure, but now you will become pregnant.” She did smile, however, truly a happy smile. “Not that you are sad about that. I have a feeling that you are over the moons with your happiness.”
Azure just looked at the woman, no words came from her, but there was a look that passed between Azy and her mates, one that Violet knew well.
“But I can’t go out into the Draygon cities and villages, to see and touch each person, not yet. Not until it’s safer. I am sorry but it’s just far too dangerous at this moment for me, and if I die.” She looked at Drake now. “If I die so does the hope of a future for your race.”
“The two guards that you met,” Azy whispered finally. “They were Draygon, both of them, yes?”
“Yes. The AEDA had assigned them to guard me just over a year or so ago. It might have been a short while longer than that. Why?”
Azy looked up at Drake and at his nod the young woman continued. “Because we found a Draygon babe. She was being tortured and her family dead. Two Draygon fathers and one human mother.”
Violet stood. “What?” She whispered in horror. “They hurt a child?” She demanded, anger boiling over once more. Why? Why did the AEDA feel that they needed to help these humans when all they did was hurt their Races?
“She’s fine now. We found her and adopted her as our own. Her parents are gone, but she’s safe now and will never be put into harm’s way again.”
“Good.” Violet had to beat her temper back into submission once more. She took a deep breath and then let it out. “I’m sure you have questions, please feel free to ask.”
Drake just shrugged, he was taking it all very well, too well. Azure still looked stunned. Volos, though, he looked like he was trying to either figure something out, or how to phrase something. “Well, hell,” Volos said. Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, he looked around. “I don’t know about you all, but I think a big ass bottle of something strong is needed, and we drink it all.”
“I could go for that,” Violet said with a grin. “Only one glass for me, though. I have to be able to
keep some shields up, or I will be like a shining beacon to those that want me dead.” She said it quietly, honestly. “And I have far too much to live for to give up to Death yet.” She looked at her mates and grinned. She then looked to Drake. “Your father has always known the names of my mates, funny how he sends them to me now. Finally,” she said with a slight eye roll. “The man has always been known for his timing.”
“Among other things,” Drake said quietly. Volos was digging through the bar and pulling out bottles and glasses. Drake got up and went to the desk, coming back a moment later with a thick envelope of heavy paper. “He requested I give this to you when next I saw you. Said that your mates would likely want to read it as it was declared and written down. There’s also a few other things in there, apparently. All I have is his word on it, but you know my father, he tends to understate everything he does.”
“He is rather like that.” Violet took the letter and put it to the side. “I will read that later. No offence, but I think that is something I will share with my mates when we retire for the night.” And that’s what Viper and Ladon were, her mates. She wasn’t going to deny them. Not now and not ever.
Volos came back over with the bottle and poured glasses for each of them. He passed them around before he sat down, settled the bottle on the table. He held up the glass. “To meeting new people with whoppers for tales of their history,” he said.
Drake shot him a look and then shrugged. “Works for me.”
Violet lifted her glass and with a shrug and waited for everyone to join in. When they did she tossed her drink back and settled back into the seat, no longer hungry but feeling drained and vulnerable. She had opened her soul and told her deepest, darkest secret, and she felt as if it had been possibly for naught with the reactions she got.