I planted my hands on his chest, wishing there weren’t the layers of thermal suit and leather between my palms and his rock-hard chest.
He nuzzled the shell of my ear with his nose, then his lips. “Let me.”
His darkened voice pleaded and demanded at the same time, spreading warmth between my legs. What had gotten into me? I pushed him out of my way and stormed toward a densely wooded area.
“Where are you going?” he laughed. “Running away?”
“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom,” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Not by yourself, you’re not.” His footsteps crunched across the thin blanket of snow and leaves behind me.
I whirled, heat burning up my neck, now from anger not lust. “Whoa, there, big boy.” I threw up a hand, halting him several feet away. “Look. You’re not my keeper. And just because we shared one kiss doesn’t mean anything. I’m going to relieve myself by myself. Do you understand?”
His wings twitched at his back. Agitated. Whatever.
“And stop scowling at me,” I called back as I spun and trekked off the path into the brush.
How had I let this working relationship turn stormy romantic in less than twenty-four hours? This is why I didn’t date. Men were complicated. And domineering. And needy. I didn’t have time for this kind of bullshit. We had a mission to complete, and I’d be damned if I’d screw it up because my libido had suddenly decided to wake up and zone in on Conn Rowanflame as her primary target. Of all men. No matter that the damn man had charisma and sex appeal for days, he was off limits. I had to get that into my head.
I tromped off behind a cluster of evergolds and bent over to pull down the zipper looping my waist, splitting the suit in half. These thermals were ultra-designed with zippers and pockets and everything you’d possibly need, including zipping out of your bottom half for private issues. Like the need to pee in the middle of the woods.
I curved my thumbs underneath the thermal at my waist and the stretchy pants beneath, ready to squat and bare my ass to the extremities when my dragon senses shot to red-alert. I smelled it before I heard or saw it coming. Dropping to the ground, I pulled the knife from the sheath in my boot as I rolled sideways. A massive paw clawed the air where my head had been a split second before.
Launching onto my feet, I swiped at the blurry beast, scraping its shoulder as it hurled toward me. My wings beat me up to a branch for safety. I wobbled and caught my balance, one hand on the trunk, and then I quickly re-zipped my pants.
I gazed down at the enormous creature, a vitr’mir. I’d read about them. Gisa had included them on her warning page that listed the natural predators of Aria, but I’d never seen one face to face. Damn, did he stink.
The white, shaggy beast bellowed out a deafening roar and stretched the length of its body up the trunk, scraping with razor-sharp claws fifteen feet up the tree, still too far below to reach me. His wide-set eyes made him look sort of harmless, but then his snapping jaw and sharp canines proved otherwise.
Shavings of bark rained down onto him and the snow as he gouged the trunk. Apparently, he was too fat to climb.
“Hey! Don’t do that.”
He bellowed again, pounding both paws simultaneously on the trunk, barely shaking the two limbs beneath me.
“This is an evergold, Mr. Vitr’mir. You’ll never knock it down. Besides, looks like you could skip a meal.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Conn stood in the small clearing, a heavy broadsword drawn, poised for attack.
“Don’t hurt him, Conn.”
“Don’t hurt him?”
The hulking beast swiveled and cautiously began to circle wide around Conn.
“Him? What about me?”
The vitr’mir snuffed and scraped the ground, spraying the air with snow and leaves. A show of aggression.
“He’s only hunting for food.”
Conn mirrored the beast’s movements, moving opposite in a circle.
“Yes. And that food a second ago would’ve been you.”
“I smelled him before he caught me. As you can see, I’m fine.”
“And now I’m the fool who will be his meal if my lovely partner doesn’t permit me to kill him first.”
Lovely partner? First, he acknowledged that I was his equal. Second, he acknowledged that I was lovely. Why did that make my knees go weak?
The vitr’mir swiped his deadly paw in the air and roared again, apparently not at all happy with the second alpha male in the clearing with him.
“Are you telling me that the all-talented, ever-charming, super-clever Conn Rowanflame can’t think of a way to rid us of a one little vitr’mir without killing him?”
The man actually laughed, stood his ground, and sheathed his sword in a cross-chest harness. Opening his wings angered the creature more. The vitr’mir launched into a full run, his shaggy coat rippling with the force of his movement across the clearing. I sucked in a breath, suddenly terrified. Conn stood perfectly still.
“Move, damn you!”
With a wink in my direction, he squatted and shot into the air, twisting into an aerial somersault, his wings landing him lightly on the ground where the vitr’mir had been seconds before growling and snarling up at me.
“You could ask nicely,” he called over his shoulder.
I rolled my eyes, then sucked in a breath. “Look out!” I shouted, pointing at the beast who dove at him again.
Laughing, he flew over the creature, nearly getting nicked by its open jaws before they snapped shut with a clack of teeth. Conn landed several feet away. “Now that was close.”
Sweat beaded along my spine and the back of my neck, my heart pumping hard. “Let’s just fly back to camp.”
Conn shook his head, eyeing the beast. “He’ll only follow, and we’ll make our whereabouts known to anyone nearby. The point to go to ground was to travel covertly.”
“Well, it won’t make a damn bit of difference if we’re chewed to pieces.”
“Never fear, sweetheart. I’m here to protect you.”
He knew just what to say to chap my ass. I was about to snap back with something else when the vitr’mir charged at super speed. This time, Conn planted his legs wide and inhaled a chest full of air.
“Oh, no,” I whispered, realizing he was going to burn him, my heart sinking at killing the creature, even if he was trying to kill us.
Yes, I understood the irony as an assassin for the Order. Killing a target who was a capital criminal? No problem. Killing a big, furry beast, even a stinky one? No way.
Rather than shoot the flame directly at the charging brute, Conn swayed his head back and forth while spewing a powerful line of orange flame. The vitr’mir ground to a halt as the flame spread itself into a flat wall, blocking Conn on the other side.
Conn stopped blowing and focused on the wall of flame. With a wave of his hand, the fire rippled right, encircling the creature and blocking him from returning to my side of the clearing. Conn nodded with his head, and the top of the wall bent inward, curving over the top of the vitr’mir. The terrible creature whined and backed away, slowly being pushed by the bubble of fire Conn controlled.
A firedancer. A truly gifted one.
By the time he’d edged the firewall out of the clearing, the vitr’mir had turned and galloped away into the underbrush as fast as he could, roaring as he went. Conn snapped his fingers and the fire snuffed out in a wink, smoke billowing into the ether.
“You can come down now,” he said, hands on hips, his head cocked casually to the side.
Taking a deep breath, I flew down to the ground to join him. His hazel-fire eyes glowed like the flame he’d created moments before.
“You didn’t hurt him,” I said, surprised by the fact.
“You asked me not to.” His voice rumbled low and soft, very unlike his usual swaggering self.
“How’d you know I had a soft spot for animals?”
“I didn’t. Not until today, that is.”
I cleared my throat, kicking a divot in the snowy ground that the vitr’mir had made. “I didn’t realize you were that good a firedancer.”
He shrugged, rather than pop off with another smart remark at my expense. “You could’ve done something similar, even with simple flame.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
His brow furrowed into a frown. “Why not?”
“I can’t breathe fire,” I admitted, something few people knew. Something I rarely admitted to anyone. It happened sometimes with Morgons. Some were born with the gift to produce fire. Some weren’t.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I have other talents,” I said, nudging him with my elbow as I walked past him in the direction of camp.
“That you most certainly do,” he said at my back in a tone so low a delicious shiver shot from the top of my spine to my toes.
“What?” I asked, pretending not to hear, hoping he wouldn’t repeat it.
“Nothing. Let me go first.” He passed me up, one wing sweeping over my arm. Not an accident.
I sighed heavily. “Fine, Conn. You can be all manly and lead but keep your big wings out of the way.”
“You know what they say about a man with big wings, don’t you, Valla?”
He paused to hold back a limb crossing the path. I froze within the warm circle of his arm arching above me.
“That’s right.” He grinned like the devil he was. “Big heart.”
“Pfft. Move out of my way, Rowanflame.”
He laughed at me, right back to his old self.
But the truth was, I saw him differently now. Even from that small act of kindness, Conn Rowanflame was more than a swaggering, macho playboy.
Now he was even more dangerous.
CHAPTER 8
By the time we’d returned to the camp, Bowen had skinned and skewered a snow hare and was roasting it on the hotplate. True to his name, he was a hunter. I found myself strangely comforted when Valla finally ate something other than a protein bar. She needed more calories in these kinds of conditions whether she wanted to admit it or not.
The rest of the morning had passed without incident. No predators ambushed us on the path through the evergolds. No troops of Morgons flew above us. The three of us had walked at a quick pace, mostly in silence. Myself at the head, Valla behind me, and Bowen in the rear.
Where we’d camped for lunch, snow had barely covered the ground. But over the course of the day, a steady fall thickened the woods and paths. We’d donned full headgear as the temperature dropped, using heat vision on our visors to keep watch for danger along the way. Now trudging through ankle-deep snow for several hours, the strain had finally begun to slow our gait.
“Bowen, how far is the Huntergild clan from here?” asked Valla as our path wound alongside a gurgling brook, sheets of ice crossing from one side to the other in patches.
“I’d say two days’ journey.”
“Really?” She stumbled in a tall drift. I refrained from stopping to help. She righted herself quick enough and pushed on, adding, “I had no idea you were raised so close to Aria.”
“We rarely come here. No reason really. Except for Arian moonshine on occasion.”
I laughed and glanced over my shoulder. Valla refused to meet my gaze. “I suppose that’s how you know Orlik?” I added.
“Yeah. Orlik traveled south once, looking for traders who would deliver fresh game in exchange for his homebrew of mead and moonshine. My brothers and I would often make the trip together into Aria for the trade. Other than that, we preferred the more hospitable environment of our home.”
“I’ve heard Wilding Wood is beautiful, though I’ve never been myself,” said Valla.
“It is. There is no place lovelier than my homeland.”
I ducked an overlying branch on the path. “Watch your heads and wings here,” I called back. “I saw on Brother Silvanus’s map a scouting fort at the southern perimeter of Aria.”
“That is ours,” said Bowen. “It’s more of a small cabin and a tower in the foothills than an actual fort.”
“The Huntergild keeps watch over Aria?” asked Valla.
“In a manner of speaking. Bands of criminals in Aria are notorious for pillaging in our region. We make sure they don’t come too close. If they do, we steer them in another direction.”
“Politely, of course,” I added with a smirk over my shoulder.
“As politely as a blade in the back can be.”
We rounded the bend and came to a stop at once. The source of the brook was a trickling waterfall sliding down a tall, sheer cliff-face. Peering to the left and right, there was nothing but more rock and mountain. I tapped my wrist comm for the map. “We’ve reached the end of the evergolds. We’re at the foot of Mount Flyr.”
“Yeah,” said Valla. “Looks like Brother Silvanus has marked this area as a no low-flight or travel zone. We’ll have to fly from here.”
Valla was huffing out white puffs of air faster than Bowen or I. Though strong, her stride was shorter, and she’d pushed herself harder to keep up. I scanned the cliff-face above us. The light waned. Billowing clouds blocked out the sun, but the dark was taking hold.
“I say we find a spot to rest, then head out again when it’s dark. We could all use a few hours of sleep. We’ll be stronger and less visible if we travel by night.”
Waiting for Valla to shoot down my idea, I was pleasantly surprised. “Okay. But where? We need some cover from the air.”
“How about there?” Bowen pointed off to the right.
Midway up the mountainside, there was a crag that jutted beyond the slick side of the rock.
“Let’s check it out,” Bowen suggested, lifting off ahead of us.
When Valla went to take a step, I grabbed her arm, stopping her mid-track. Crossing in front of her, I dusted off a low-lying bush completely covered in snow. Beneath the blanket of white were tiny buds, one of them recently opened into a sturdy white flower. I picked the frozen bloom.
“Lunaflyr,” said Valla, stepping closer and peering down at the flower in my hand. “I’ve never seen one before.”
The petals curved outward in long sweeps. It had a golden heart with a single line of yellow shooting up the center of each petal.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
“Yes,” I agreed, capturing her gaze as she peered up from under her lashes. “Quite beautiful.”
Her eyes dilated and her mouth fell open, but she said nothing. When I was sure she understood I was not talking about the lunaflyr, I handed her the flower, then stepped back and beat my wings for a hard lift-off. The wind shifted unpleasantly in this pocket between mountain and open sky. She was right behind me. We soared upward and landed on the ledge where Bowen was already investigating. When I realized the ledge led into a cave, I snapped my wings tight against my back to give her space on the landing.
Bowen stood at the entrance, peering inside. Suspecting wulving or some other predator to have made this his home, I eased around him.
“Let me go first. I’ll blast it with fire to be sure it’s safe.”
I stepped deeper into the dark, removing my visor so my dragon senses could take over. Sniffing the air, I could smell no sign of an animal. Nothing recent, anyway. Musty and cold, the cavern opened slightly to allow all three of us within an open space easily. I blew a lungful of fire into the opening which flamed bright, then snuffed out. No animals lurking in any corners.
Bowen shuffled around in his pack behind me and snapped his blue-light on—an invention created specifically for the Morgon Guard to provide light and heat. The blue-light illumined a space in a hazy dome shape, the gray-blue hue a soft shade that wouldn’t be detected from long distances, nor with heat vision goggles, not like firelight, which was a beacon to any Morgons or wild predators. For those traveling incognito, the blue-light was a necessary tool.
The cave dead-ended and curved, though craggy toward the back�
��a perfect hideout for a few hours.
“This may be as cozy as Orlik’s Inn,” said Bowen.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” I said, turning to Valla. Again, she avoided my gaze, staring down at her wrist comm.
“We’ve still got a ways to the Syren Sisters Coven,” she said. “We can’t afford to rest too long.”
I removed my pack and pulled out the thermal blanket, which would block the cold from the ground. “We only need a few hours’ sleep, I’d say. Then we can fly through the night and be in a safer zone near the break of day. One more rest-stop, and we’ll be at the coven.”
Valla nodded. And something warm swirled in my gut at her approval.
“I’ll take first watch,” I offered.
“Nah. I will,” said Bowen, opening the base of his blue-light, which split into a standing tripod similar to the hotpad. He set it on the ground along with his pack. “I want to make contact with my brother in Wilding Wood anyway, let him know we’re close by in case we need some of the clan.”
Bowen strolled back to the mouth of the cave, tapping on his wrist comm. I unharnessed my pack and leaned it against the wall. The blue-light radiated heat and began warming the space. Valla had busied herself spreading out her thermal blanket on the opposite side of the blue-light from me. Neither of us said a word as we settled onto our make-shift palettes.
Soft blue colored the walls. I couldn’t help but examine her every curve as she lay on her side, facing me, one arm tucked under her head for a pillow. She draped one dark wing along her body for warmth. I longed to drape my own over her, to feel her tucked close in the cradle of my arms. I’d desired women before, but never like this. The ache grew daily. She stared at the blue-light. I stared at her. Damn, she was beautiful.
When she finally caught my gaze, she didn’t seem surprised to find me watching. I wouldn’t pretend that I didn’t feel something for her anymore. I couldn’t, even if I tried.
“I wish we could have a real fire,” she said quietly, pretending there was no tension filling up the space between us. Steering my wayward thoughts away from dark corners and sensual couplings, I gave her what she wished.
Dragon in the Blood (Vale of Stars Book 2) Page 7