by Aaron Crash
Sabina, still on the floor, kissed her way up Pru’s thighs until she found the Texas woman’s sex.
Steven got behind Sabina and sank himself into her body. He started off slow. But watching the two, it wasn’t long before he was thrusting into her, loving her squeals so much that he was flung into an orgasm.
Sabina crawled up Pru’s body, straddled her, and held her.
It took a minute to realize that Pru was weeping softly.
Steven knelt beside the two on the chair. He kissed Pru’s face, then Sabina’s. He wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask Pru a question, but he was curious. “Why are you crying?”
Pru laughed through her tears. “I’m not crying. I mean, I am, but I shouldn’t be. And he asks me why I’m crying. Shit. I don’t fucking know. I’m a Wayne, and Wayne girls don’t cry. Uh. Much.”
Sabina kissed the woman softly, then turned and kissed Steven. “We are in love. We are daring. We are strong. Prudence, you took a risk tonight, being with us both, and it was scary, but we not only accepted you, we celebrated you. Cry all you like, mi amor, you have been mighty tonight.”
Pru shook her head, rolled her eyes, laughed a little, cried a little. “Well, dang, when you put it that way, I guess maybe crying is just okay.”
Steven saw how powerful their bond was. His conversation with Tessa came back to him. His doubts about marriage were gone. He wanted to spend ten thousand years exploring these women, getting to know every part of them, and like Sabina had said, celebrating them. If a tough soul like Pru could break down and show such emotion and vulnerability, it pointed to how deep the mystery of their marriage would be.
At that moment, Steven knew that Merlin had felt the same way about Guinevere. Losing her had shattered him, and he’d taken his vengeance out upon the entire world. Yet what had happened to him? And what had happened to his friend Arthur?
He didn’t know, but he knew he’d learn more of the story when they traveled south. He, Aria, Tessa, and Mouse would go to New York to find the red-star temples there. Sabina, Mouse, and Uchiko could journey to the Outer Banks, and that left the Wayne twins in the Florida Keys, though Steven was kind of sad not to be there when they went barhopping. Also, the Wayne twins in bikinis, on a beach, surrounded by palm trees? As a teenager, that would’ve been a poster he’d have bought twice.
The plan was solid.
He only hoped Javier and his troops held Kansas.
And that his enemies would be so focused on the battle, they wouldn’t look to the east, not until they had the location of Icharaam’s tomb and the gift that lay there.
Chapter Twenty-Two
STEVEN WOKE TO THE smell of bacon cooking. That would be Callahan Glick, hard at work in his diner, serving up breakfast to hungry travelers and his regular customers from Barlow, Maine.
Aria gave a last snort and then rose. She rushed over and jumped onto him and Tessa, kissing both their faces. The Indian woman was in a good mood. “Good morning, lovers. There is magic in the air today. Can you feel it?”
“I can.” Tessa’s sparkle wiped the sleep from her eyes. “The magic smells like bacon, which is the best thing anyone can ever hope to smell in the morning. We’ll eat bacon, and then we’ll road-trip it down to New York City, the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps. Heck yes.”
Steven pulled the two women to him. Aria’s kiss turned into something more. Steven felt her Animus spin in excitement. “Do we have time?” she asked.
Tessa kissed her quick. “We always have time for that. Keeps us safe and strong. You two go at it, and I’ll gather the troops.” The barista dressed quickly. By that time, Aria was naked. Steven felt her taut muscles under her skin.
Being with Aria alone felt special. She’d woken up excited, and it didn’t take long before both were satisfied.
They showered, dressed, and joined Steven’s Escort, sans Uchiko, in the diner. The rowdy women were eating big, round and crispy waffles, sausage links and patties, eggs cooked to order, and of course, bacon. Tessa gave Glick’s coffee a passing grade; it wasn’t good, but its level of bad passed the acceptable limits.
She took a sip and narrowed her eyes. “Yes, slightly scorched, this cup is weak, but the last one was strong, which points to a cavalier attitude toward the ever-important mid-pot pour. The beans are old, rather dry, and probably cheap. However, I’m not just drinking this cup. No, I’m drinking the ghost of coffee past, brewed day in and out, year after year. I am drinking in the history of a million breakfasts eaten by people who love each other.”
Chazzie and Pru glanced at each other, and then they applauded Tessa. She stood up and took a bow.
Cal Glick came over and told them that Chosen Ben had paid their bills.
That drew more applause.
Inside the diner was cozy; outside, a cold mist hung trapped in the trees. It wasn’t raining, or maybe it was. Steven found the weather baffling. Growing up on the Great Plains, which was semi-arid at best, a full-on desert at its worst, all that moisture felt cold, wet, and wrong.
Yet it was pretty, the vapor drifting through the budding trees.
While the twins packed up a Macy’s worth of clothes, the rest of them mingled around the vehicles, stowing their own gear. Uchiko, helmet on, remained aloof by her motorcycle, watching them. Her kusarigama filled a saddlebag.
Zoey was hugging Mouse, and it was funny to see the two women together, a great big bear girl embracing the prickly blonde half her size. But the two were as thick as thieves, without a doubt.
Sabina drifted over to Steven. She took his hand. “You’ll need as many of your Escort as you can get in New York. There will be trouble there, I can see it.”
Steven grinned. “Trouble in New York City. I thought Giuliani cleaned it up?” He lost his smile and shook his head. “Never thought I’d leave Denver, and here I am, traveling all over the world. Will you, Zoey, and Uchiko be okay in North Carolina?”
Sabina drew him in and kissed his cheek. “Si, we’ll be fine. But maybe Uchiko won’t be there. You don’t need to ask about the twins. If they can stay just a little sober in the Florida Keys, they’ll be fine.”
She drew back. “But I feel like I have to tell you something.” She had a strange expression on her face.
“What is it?”
Sabina lifted her head. She sniffed at the wind.
A breeze blew droplets on them, and she laughed, brushing the water off her face. “This is the end game. I feel it. I know it. And I am glad to be a Dragonskin as well as your Magician. Yet, I feel the pull of her, this little life, wanting to exist.”
At first, Steven didn’t get it. Then he saw what she was getting at all too clearly. “You mean Reggie.”
“Regina Maria Drokharis.” Sabina nodded. “Our daughter. You will marry us. We will have your children. The others are satisfied waiting. I don’t think I can.” She pulled him away from the vehicles so they could talk in private.
Steven followed along, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Being a father was a stupendously big responsibility, and already he felt bad for not visiting the kids in Australia. Cooper, Isla Kellar’s little boy, looked up to Steven as a father, and yet he didn’t see the Three Queens or their children much. Time, distance, and responsibility separated them. If he could take out the distance part by using portal magic, the situation would be far better.
Once under a tree, Sabina touched the bark with a dark hand. “I think of myself as a Magician, first. Your Magician. I am part of Steven Drokharis’s Escort, and you took me in when I was helpless. Then, I am a Dragonskin. I can fly. I am working on the Inferno Exhalant, but I’m not there yet. Soon I will be your wife. I love all of these roles, I do, and they bring me meaning and joy. Am I ready to be a mother? Maybe not, but I can’t wait. Reggie calls to me. Her soul longs to exist. It makes me happy. ¡No manches! It also scares me!”
Steven was reminded of the Wayne twins. “You know, Chazzie and Pru had to go through their fear to join us. Like Mouse did. They w
eren’t sure about me. And Pru didn’t think she could let herself be vulnerable, not after all the time she’s spent playing games with Dragonlords. Now, they’re a part of the team. You are strong, Sabina, so strong. If you want to be a mother, you’ll be great. I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”
Sabina shook her head. “But you won’t. Once you find Icharaam’s gift, you will need to gather up the rest of this world’s Dragonlords, and then you’ll have the war of wars to fight. That is why I am torn. Do I start Reggie’s life now, or do I wait? Can I wait? I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either.”
Car doors slammed. Chazzie and Pru were almost packed.
“You and I will walk through our fear,” Sabina said. “Getting married scares you, I know, just as being a mother scares me. You and I, though, are accustomed to walking through our fears. How hard can family be when compared to fighting dragons?”
Steven rolled his eyes. “You and I both know that fighting dragons is far easier than family. Family tests us like nothing else.”
“Come on!” Mouse called. “I want to sleep more, and I want to do it after we get the mandatory morning road-trip banter out of the way. Ugh, people are the worst.”
Steven took Sabina in his arms and held her close. She was wondering who she wanted to be: Magician, Dragonskin, or mother. Well, like Eve Downfyre had said, she could choose.
Yet her choice affected his life as well. And that was family, when you were so connected that your choices affected the web of people around you. He took in a deep breath, kissed the top of Sabina’s head, and then let her go.
He and the Latina Magician walked back to the three vehicles. Zoey grabbed him and pulled him into a not-quite-literal bear hug. Again, he felt his spine crack. She growled into his ear, “I understand that I’m going to the Outer Banks to protect Sabina and help, but I hate being away from you. I hate it.”
“Soon, we’ll be together for a long time,” he said, trying to ease her.
She nipped his ear. “You better be right. I’m getting stronger, but I never want to be so strong that I don’t need you.”
He hugged her and cracked her back. His embrace said it all.
Zoey laughed, kissed his nose, and got into the Poupon with Sabina.
Chazzie stood on one of Jeeves’ running boards. “Let’s get to it, Primey-boy. We have shit to do and Icharaam’s gift to find!”
“And the rest of Arthur and Merlin’s story,” Pru shouted and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Steven got into the Orange Crush with Aria, Tessa, and Mouse, and they took off with Uchiko following them down the wet pavement. It was six hours to New York. That was where they finally split. Sabina and Zoey, with one Animus dagger, would drive to Wilmington, North Carolina. There, they would find passage to an island in the Outer Banks. Uchiko would ride her motorcycle to protect the Latina Magician and the Morphling. The twins had the other Animus dagger, and they were headed toward the Florida Keys.
The Dragonlords had found them at the Sapp Brothers. They might still be on someone’s radar. However, no one had attacked them since Nebraska, and there was the Kansas war to consider. Day two, and Javier Jones and the rest were holding U.S. 283. Liam Strider and the Five Widows had landed in Denver and used dragon flight to rendezvous with Javier. With the Five Widows around, any enemy Prime and his vassals weren’t just going to waltz into central Kansas without having serious life-threatening issues. Good.
Steven’s team turned into the heavy traffic of New York. It was 3 p.m., and already things were slowed to a crawl. The Hutchinson River Parkway was basically a parking lot. They inched across the bridge spanning the East River, and traffic stayed bad in Queens. Or was it Flushing? He was having a hard time keeping all the various places he’d heard about in a zillion movies and TV shows straight. Yonkers was a thing, right? Some kind of play? He didn’t know. He did know he hated being trapped in his car with everyone in their cars equally trapped. He struck the wheel in frustration.
Tessa sat next to him, the Dragonknight book on her lap. A piece of paper lay on the book—it was the Dragonsoul marriage vows. She’d been looking them over, memorizing them. Steven had also given them a glance or three, but every time he read them he felt like hyperventilating. The other women in his Escort already knew the ceremony by heart.
“It’s okay, baby,” Tessa said. “I know you’re nervous about splitting up, but you’re with me, and I’m amazing.”
“Totally amazing,” he agreed.
“Aww, you guys are cute in a fuck-me-I’m-going-to-puke way,” Mouse griped. “Where are we going anyway? New York is not a small place. And it smells like crime pizza and hooker burgers. I won’t have fries with that.”
Steven glanced in the rearview mirror.
“I will find the red-star chamber,” Aria said, raising a hand.
“How?” Mouse asked. “You’re not the Divination magic maven.”
“I’m Thirteen.” Aria let lightning crackle around her hand. “I’m the torch. We have opened both eyes.” A map appeared there, snapping and hissing, and she moved it to hover over the dashboard.
The two other teams would use the Animus daggers to cast similar magic.
Steven had to smile at the map in front of him. This brought back memories of their first adventure together, when they’d searched for the first Drokharis Grimoire, the power of the pen, and the magic of ink. It was like a GPS map made of electricity. He saw the Orange Crush on the streets, and the numerous rivers and canals running through New York City like veins. The red-star chamber gleamed on a triangle of land sticking out of Brooklyn.
“The Red Hook neighborhood,” Tessa said. She had her phone out. “Yeah, that’s convenient. The red-star chamber is in Red Hook.”
Steven gave up on fighting the traffic. He exited the jammed highway and immediately found a parking garage and took a hard left into it. It would cost them several hundred dollars a second to park there, but money wasn’t the issue. He wanted to find the red-star chamber and soon.
“What are you doing?” Tessa asked.
“We’re dragons,” Steven said. “Dragons don’t sit in traffic. We’ll fly there, if that’s okay with you.”
She grinned. “Uh, yeah, I can fly now. Merlin’s daughter here, but with less maniacal revenge rage. Yay, me.”
Aria furrowed her brow. She let her Animus map fade. “But we have the time. The B team won’t get to the Outer Banks for another fourteen hours at least. As for the C team, it’s more like a full day of travel.”
The twins had thought about using dragon flight to get there, but they didn’t want to abandon their guns. And long-distance dragon flight was uncomfortable and a lot of work. The Wayne twins did what they could to avoid discomfort and work.
“Ha,” Mouse barked. “The twins are the C team. That makes sense. Both of them are such cun—”
“Wow,” Tessa cut her off. “Just wow. They’re trying.”
“I should’ve been on the B team, since I am such a B,” Mouse joked.
Steven parked them at the very back of the underground garage. They got out, gathered some bags, and then walked up to street level. It was a busy place full of cars, people, and restaurants, a busy little city inside a huge city. Steven had Samael’s Lash, but no one gave him a second glance. They were busy, he was weird, whatever. Even Aria didn’t garner much attention. She was just another person in a city crammed full of people. Beautiful? Sure. So were fifty thousand other actresses and models walking around.
They found a dark alley full of trash and dumpsters. It ran behind a strip mall and a taller apartment building behind it. It was the perfect place for transformation, a Defensio spell, and flight.
“Flying around in New York City.” Tessa couldn’t stop smiling. “Is this really our lives?”
“To quote Sinatra, we’re going to get a bird’s-eye view of the city that never sleeps. And we’re going to do it our way,” Mouse said. “Let’s get this sh
ow on the road.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
STEVEN ROSE ON WINGS, a long black glistening dragon soaring above the cityscape. The traffic was snarled at every turn. They had several Defensio spells going, so no humans would see them. That protection extended to Tessa, who floated in a glow of pink magic that was part shield, part telekinesis, and all awesome.
Aria led the way, eyes sparkling with white electricity. She said knew where the mysterious red-star chamber was, and they would follow her.
Mouse trailed them, keeping watch. Sabina hadn’t been very specific about the trouble they’d find in New York, but it was clear they were not going to get out of this encounter unscathed. Did that mean another Dragonlord attack? Or would there be guardians like at the Bali waterfall temple?
He closed his eyes and reached out with AnimusChain. Millions of humans were below, living fast, full lives. The amount of energy was staggering. Buildings, streets, houses, they stretched out to the horizon. This was a city. Denver was a cow town compared to this mass of humanity.
Aria flew toward a body of water splitting the buildings. The skyscrapers of Manhattan rose like manmade Mount Olympuses, each and every one of them. Was that the Empire State Building? He wanted to take a picture. He had his phone, but it was in his bag, and he wasn’t there to be a tourist. Later. He promised himself he’d come back. Chosen Ben could show him around. New York was part of the New England Primacy, and Ben was friendly to Steven. Or he seemed to be at least.
They flew over rougher parts, more urban blight, big warehouses that looked empty. Some lots were nothing but tumbled-down piles of bricks. Abandoned cars littered the streets. Aria landed on a ten-story apartment building clearly ready for the wrecking ball.
Tessa floated down gently, and her pink energy blinked off.
Steven and Mouse joined them. In front of them, across the water, was the Statue of Liberty. Each of them was speechless for a second.
“Okay,” Tessa said, laughing, “this is pretty freaking amazing. I mean, Seoul was awesome, but I’m looking at landmarks that are as American as type 2 diabetes, BBQ, and Mom’s apple pie.”