by Maia Starr
“He did?!” She nearly jumped toward the camera, the screen jostling in her grip. “Then what happened?”
I cringed inwardly at the lie I was about to tell, but I couldn’t think of a better way to smooth over the situation than to say: “Then I… let him go.”
The screen went deathly silent, and I could see her torn emotions playing over her face. If I really let him go, then I had betrayed our alliance. But I had also saved her son.
“It was just me and Haden. We told them that he escaped our shuttle, but really, we let him go in the old ruins.”
“So you told him?” came her terse, confused response.
“I told him I was doing a favor for a dear friend.”
A flush crept up her face as she looked at me and all at once her expression filled with tears of gratefulness. They spilled over her cheeks, and she buried her face in her hands. The next I saw of her dark eyes, they had flooded with mascara runs and a radiant smile.
“Thank you,” she said through her tears. “Thank you, Sarra. You don’t know what this means to me.”
This was everything I ever wanted, wasn’t it? Hadn’t I wanted Zaphira’s pride… or her thanks? To be needed by the woman whom I needed. There was something satisfying in that, even in the twisted way I had to achieve it. I swallowed hard and let her have her moment.
When she composed herself, I stared down into my lap and felt my heart start pounding with fear as the next thought crept into my mind.
“He was asking about a legend,” I mumbled.
“What’s that?” Zaphira said absent-mindedly as she wiped her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief. “He asked about a what?”
“A legend.” I cleared my throat nervously and hoped she didn’t catch on. “He said that there had been a couple taken from Udora secretly and he seemed to imply that they had given birth to some sort of super dragon?”
I winced at my choice of words, but my ineloquent babbling didn’t seem to have any negative effect on my boss. She stared with intrigue into the screen before resting her hand on her chin. “I see. Did he know who the couple was?”
“I don’t think so, but he seemed to think you had something to do with it.”
Zaphira gave me a pointed look that sent a chill down my back. It was her patented look that told me I’d stepped one foot too far into something that was none of my business. But this time she dismissed it.
“Ariella Klein,” she offered the woman’s name to me. “She and the Weredragon who chose her went missing less than a year after their match. She was with child when they disappeared, yes.”
“Do you know what it was?” I asked innocently. “The child?”
“The sex? A girl,” she said dismissively.
I stared numbly at the screen for a moment and gave an understanding nod, staring away from her gaze now as I ran my hand along the wood grain of my desk. “A bit rare, wouldn’t you say?” I asked. “A female Weredragon.”
She raised a cocky brow and smirked into the screen. “Why do you think she’s hidden?”
My mouth twisted into a half-smile and I looked into the screen. “You are a naughty girl.”
She bowed her head and then pressed her finger to her lips. “But that’s our little secret,” she warned.
“Of course,” I nodded.
“But if he wanted to know about her, then it’s likely that the rebellion is after her. Making it all the more important for us to keep this under wraps; do you understand?”
“I do.”
I did.
She nodded for a few moments and then looked back into the screen as though she were there in person, looking directly into my soul. “And on that note, I believe a promotion is in order for you, my dear.”
“Really?” I beamed; guilt washing over my sudden happiness.
“I have an assignment for you. A new charge. But it’s going to take a while.”
I smiled. “I think I can handle that.”
We talked for some time more in a way I always wished we would. She spoke to me as a friend and a respected colleague, not just the girl who ran her coffee. She expressed genuine interest in my relationship with Haden and confided in me about her hopes for the future of our alliance.
I wondered if maybe this was possible afterward. To have both sides. To work for Riddell and be with a man who would abolish the alliance I believed in. It sounded ridiculous, but I loved him too much to believe it was impossible.
Was this it for me? When talking to Zaphira, would I tell her about the dealings with the Koth and their unsteady structure, secretly hoping to repair their bonds before Haden had a chance to tear it all down?
When reporting to Haden, would I tell him Zaphira’s plans for the future of our alliance? Was this my new role… a double agent?
As I stared into the screen, Zaphira’s words seemed to fade into the distance; her lips were moving, but I could no longer hear her voice. I watched her elegant lips and charismatic demeanor and suddenly felt renewed vigor. Of course I could have it all. After all, when it came maneuvering events in my favor…
I’d had the perfect teacher.
Chapter Thirteen
Haden
The stale gray clouds loomed for miles as if they were warning of another flood. I stood in the growing ruins of Old Udora and stood in her waters. The deep moss that was filling with water with each passing day. Where my feet once hit the ground now sat warm waters, overflowing in an ancient city.
I couldn’t fathom for what reason the Koth was choosing to let our city die, but I wasn’t about to let it go. Not without a fight.
Unless she asked me to, I’d concluded.
If Sarra willed it, then I would so whatever I could to make her happy. I had been so sure. So certain that this was the right thing to do, and now I hadn’t a clue. If she came back to me and said she wanted to return to the Earth, I would have no choice but to submit to her wishes. To stop.
I’d hoped she would come to me and say she believed me. Tell me she’d done her best to get whatever information she could from Zaphira. I wanted her to tell me that soon there would come a new Weredragon who would lead us to peace and prosperity. I wanted us to both believe in the legend and justify the lies we’d both been telling, been keeping.
But… if she wouldn’t come… if she wouldn’t relent… then I would give it up to have a lifetime with her before I made my move in the rebellion.
Looking out over the mossy field, I felt my anger let go. For all the wrongs the Koth had bestowed upon its loyal people, for all the hell Zaphira and Riddell had wreaked on my people, I would let it all go for Sarra.
And then I heard it, the most beautiful sound of all: splashing in the distance. I knew she was coming. What she was coming to tell me still remained a mystery, but as the splashing grew louder my heart began to soar.
“You were right,” came the smoothest tone of my beautiful love.
I turned around to see Sarra’s pale skin and raven hair, a mess of bangs falling in her eyes as she looked at me with a resigned smile. She wore a long white dress that was slowly becoming enveloped in the rising sea water. I could see through the layers of fabric to catch a glimpse of her perfect skin below.
“Come again?” I teased as I raised my hand to my ear. “Sorry, I’m going to have to get you to repeat that. It’s not a phrase I’ve heard often, especially from one so beautiful.”
“Stop it,” she batted me away as she approached. We looked into the distance at the crumbling city and suddenly there was an overpowering connection between us.
“You look beautiful,” I breathed as though I couldn’t hold the thought in any longer. She gave a passive smile at the compliment and came right up next to me.
Sarra grabbed my hand and turned her head to me, her bangs falling to the side and revealing her beautiful green eyes as she rested her head on my shoulder. “You were right,” she repeated with emphasis. “It’s a girl.”
My eyes went wide, and I looked do
wn at her with a fascinated smile. “Well, I’ll be…” I gasped. “So the legend is true.”
“I’ve been wrestling with that myself,” she admitted.
“And you didn’t invite me to watch?” I joked, and my love rolled her eyes my way. “So, what do you think?”
“I think… you were right. She’s coming.”
I looked down at her hand, her warmth covering over my scaled and calloused fingers. As I watched her long fingers, I couldn't help but feel rejuvenated. I had been fighting for so long, moving for so long that it was hard to feel comfortable. But she'd made me the happiest I had ever been. And best of all, she was ready. She was ready now to believe with me.
“What about Zaphira?” I asked warily, knowing the love Sarra had for her.
“I think I have her in line,” she said confidently.
“I know she’s important to you.”
“Yes, yes,” she dismissed. “I’ve made my peace. As it turns out, I may be able to stay in her good graces and save the world all in one go.”
“What can I say? You’re a talented woman.” I snapped my fingers in jest.
She narrowed her eyes at me and threw her head back with a laugh. “And I’m a lucky woman, isn’t that right?”
“That depends,” I said slowly and she knew my question was coming. “Sarra, did you find out where she is?”
She flinched under my question and narrowed her brows pointedly. “She’s young.”
“That’s a yes.”
“That’s a yes,” the black-haired woman admitted. Looking up, she spotted some stray hairs falling down from my mess of a mane and boldly reached over, pushing the strands away from my face and smiling down at me.
“But that means there’s still plenty of time before we act, right?” Her tone sat somewhere between pleading and warning as she carefully watched my eyes. “There’s no reason to find a child to enthrone, is there?”
“Well, the legend didn’t exactly specify that she would be a grown adult…”
“Legends are vague like that,” she shrugged.
“And we can probably assume that a little baby Weredragon taking over a civilization would probably not be a wise ending to the story.”
“It would probably lead to some pretty bizarre requests as well.”
“There’s time,” I nod, dropping our banter for a more serious tone. I watched her sigh in relief. If all she needed was time before she stood at my side and made things right with Udora again, then time she would get.
“But eventually…”
She gave a single nod and smiled. “Eventually, we’ll find her. I promise.” Then she looked at me sternly and pointed a finger in my direction. “But that means no funny business until then. You stay quiet with the rebellion, and I stay quiet with Zaphira. We live our lives together. We start a family. We take care of our alliances… Okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
“If this is really going to work, we’re both going to have to play our parts perfectly, especially if the Koth is already suspicious of a rebel in their midst. Understand?”
I gave a hearty laugh and wrapped my arm around her. How good it felt to feel her warm skin touching mine once more. To know that she was mine and I no longer had to worry about secrets. That our lives would be full of peace until the moment arrived. That I could start a family with the woman I had chosen to be mine.
“And what about us?” I asked solemnly, never daring to look into her eyes for fear I might see some falsehood there. “Are we pretending?”
“Us?” She smiled and turned my face to her. “We never pretend. We never lie. We… are all we have. Got it?”
Her stern expression soon doubled over into flirtatious laughter as I smiled down at her. “Got it,” I said. “Gee… is that what having a real wife is like? Eddrys has told me some pretty big horror stories about getting lectured, but I didn’t think it would be as scary as this.”
She batted me playfully on the arm and laughed into the air. “Better get used to it now, Haden. Because this is you and me forever.”
“Then I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The water continued to rush up under our feet, and I knew within just a few minutes we would be forced out of the ruins. We could see the purple glowstones beneath the surface of the water lighting up with a wild ferocity, shining brighter than I’d ever seen them before.
Regardless of our standing now… I believed one day we would find each other again, even if we had to fall in love with these newer versions of each other. From here on, I would continue to love her, refusing to let go of what we were building together.
My faith in our love, in my choosing, was only strengthened as she stood with me in the deep waters of a soon to be glowing city and kissed me.
Book 3: Galsthenn
(Dragons Of Udora)
By Maia Starr
Chapter One
Rosalyn
“Rosalyn Westfall!” came the stern call of the Riddell organization’s leader.
Riddell was the human organization run by a strong, well-respected, and well-feared woman named Zaphira Reneau. The organization had provided peace between planet Earth and the alien planet Udora by means of “Choosing Ceremonies.”
During these rituals, twelve females called forth to join in the yearly ritual performed as an alliance between Earth and Udora.
Udora was a planet approximately 3 weeks from Earth at light speed. The planet contained alien Weredragons known as shifters. Half man, half dragon. Spattered with fine physiques and beautiful scaling, the winged men would come and choose mates to bring back to their cold planet to breed with and continue their dragon race.
The choosing ceremony was a respected service that was a great honor for the women involved. This year, I was to be chosen.
Me. Rosalyn Westfall.
I stared into the mirror as the program coordinator called for me once more from the hallway. My long, mousey-brown hair was curled and styled, and I had packed on as much mascara as was humanly possible to make sure when I batted my lashes at my shifter-to-be, he could actually see them.
I pursed my lips and shrugged helplessly at my reflection. I wanted so badly to be one of those girls who was effortlessly sexy and desired, but I was just the girl next door. Simple. Educated as hell, sure. Funny? I’d say so. But not a ‘take me now’ kind of gal.
With a sigh and one last adjustment to my pinstriped skirt suit, I decided I was done fussing over my appearance.
“Coming!” I yelled, grabbed my purse, and took to the hallway.
Outside my door stood the program coordinator’s assistant, Amelia. This woman was one of Zapphira’s two right-hand women, the other being a prodigy named Sarra Hayes. Both women had started out as low-level assistants, and both ended up in high positions of power, married to shifters themselves and both having given birth several times now.
“You all ready?” came Amelia’s sweet-yet-formal tone. She looked me over once and made no expression. That in itself made me feel nervous in a way, like I’d done something wrong.
I wasn’t the usual type that Riddell chose as a potential shifter mate. I wasn’t in government, I didn’t have a particularly great job, just part-time nursing, and I wasn’t strikingly beautiful. Yet, when the obligatory call came out for the choosing ceremony contenders, I was chosen.
Tugging at the collar of my shirt, I noticed that the buttons around my bust were pulling, as they always did. This was the cross we large-chested women had to bear. No button-up shirts, no low-necked shirts… in fact, shirts in general just weren’t our friends.
I wanted to ask Amelia if I was dressed alright but the sudden look of annoyance she shot my way reminded me how many times she must get such questions.
As one of the potential choosings, I had spent weeks living at the Riddell space station headquarters to receive training for life on another planet.
Walking with Amelia, we began to collect other girls from their rooms, all of us
having been informed this morning that we had a matter of hours to get ready before the choosing ceremony would finally begin.
“The Weredragons have already arrived,” she said happily as she walked us toward the shuttle grounds. The building was vast and white; sterile and stylish was the joke the girls and I had come up with. The hallways were long and mostly made of glass, with bright white lights that lit up every inch of the station.
The panes of glass gave us a direct glance out toward the dragon shifters, who were all standing in a row, eagerly awaiting their potential mates. Awaiting us. My stomach suddenly began to flip as I realized this was real. This wasn’t training anymore.
While I tried not to be nosey, I could see in my peripheral that nearly all the girls were looking over at the dragons. Some were cool and collected, while others began to shake and seemed unable to participate in Amelia’s small talk any longer.
As a blue shifter dragon outstretched his wings in the distance one of the girls behind me fell to the floor.
“Stephanie!” one of the girls shouted and rushed to the redhead’s side.
“Clear the way,” Amelia said, shuffling us away from the tall and beautiful ginger who had collapsed before our very eyes. We followed her direction and watched as our director knelt down beside the girl, all business.
Reaching down to a tablet, Amelia made a few keystrokes with her fingers and then called for medical. We waited for just a few minutes before they arrived to resuscitate the girl.
My eyes went wide as I made contact with an icy blonde named Carolina.
“I swear they do that on purpose,” she said with a feminine droll.
“What?” I asked as Amelia began leading us out of the hallway and away from our friend. “Make people pass out?”
Carolina gave me a perplexed look and scoffed a small laugh. “No, Rosalyn. Those windows,” she gestured back to the hall with her eyes before snapping them forward and pretending to listen to Amelia. “They just want us to get a glimpse of the men,” she whispered. “See how we’ll react.”