by Eva Chase
The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “Following your precise instructions.”
“All right then. I think we can start letting people in.” I turned to Alice. “You want to help me see about some wine?”
Aaron’s sister grinned. “Absolutely. Especially if I get to drink for both of us.”
As the kitchen staff helped set up the beverage tables, the avian kin who’d responded to my widespread invitation to our Christmas festivities trickled in. By the time Alice finally got to partake of her first glass, the courtyard was buzzing with eager voices.
I stepped back to survey the crowd. The faces of the assembled shifters were as bright as their voices. And more than a few bellies as big as mine showed in the crowd. A swell of sorrow-tinged happiness filled me at the sight.
For the sixteen years before my return, with their dragon shifter missing and their alphas unmated, none of my kin had been able to have children of their own. I hadn’t seen any youngsters at all when I’d first toured the territories. They’d had to wait so long, but now there would be a whole lot of shifter children returning to our community alongside my own.
A pair of large hands came to rest on my waist. I leaned back into the familiar brawny form of the man who’d come up behind me, and my bear shifter mate’s arms rose to encircle me just above my belly.
“Keeping warm enough?” Nate asked in his low rumble of a voice.
“I definitely am now,” I said, resting my arms over his and hugging them to me.
“They really do get the best of all possible weather here, don’t they?” Marco said, sauntering up beside us. The feline alpha ran a hand through his spiky black hair and gave a shudder to match his mildly sarcastic tone. “Cold and wet.”
“Poor kitty,” I said with an arch of my eyebrow, and he laughed.
“Just as long as none of it touches my darling princesses,” he said more tenderly, giving my cheek a peck and my belly a brief caress.
West had ambled over at my other side, his lean arms loosely folded over his chest. “I think our dragon shifter can withstand a slight chill.” The canine alpha’s dark green eyes softened as he studied my face. “As long as you’re comfortable?”
I swatted him. “I’m fine.” But as irritating as the constant check-ins could be as the end of these nine months approached, I couldn’t deny that the way my four mates had been doting on me brought a flutter of pleasure into my chest more often than not.
We didn’t often get to spend this much time all together, rather than each handling his own kin’s business while I traveled wherever I was needed most. For the next five days—the four leading up to Christmas and Christmas itself—they were all mine. Barring any emergencies, of course.
The wolf shifter’s gaze traveled over the crowd of avian kin, the twinkling lights around us catching on the silver strands in his auburn hair. “Should we be heading out?”
“Soon,” I said. “I think if you leave when we set off, you’ll get there right in time to meet us.”
Nate’s embrace tightened. “Are you sure the flight won’t be too much of a strain when—”
I turned to shoot him a look before he could even finish expressing that worry, and he hung his head apologetically. The alpha of the disparate kin still needed occasional reminders to rein in his over-protective nature. I rumpled his thick brown hair and bobbed up on my toes to press a kiss to his lips.
“I’m a dragon,” I said gently. “I’m made to fly. And our daughter is too.”
Aaron joined us, his pale cheeks and the tips of his ears flushed from the cold. “That’s everyone,” he said. “The last stragglers just came in. Do you want to give the directions, Serenity?”
“Yes.” I gave Marco and West a quick kiss for good measure. “I’ll see you three in a bit.”
Aaron’s staff had set up a platform at the edge of the courtyard, similar to the one I’d stood on to meet this kin group when he’d first introduced me as his mate. A hush spread through the crowd as we climbed up on to it. The avian shifters turned to see what I would say.
“Joyful greetings to you all, avian kin!” I said, pitching my voice to carry. “It’s been an honor to work with you and for you over the last year, and I think after all the challenges we’ve overcome, every one of you deserves a fantastic celebration. What’s here is only the beginning. We’re creatures of flight, and I’d like the chance to fly with you all. Please shift with me and follow my lead to the main site of the festivities. There are warm clothes waiting for you there.”
Eyes glimmered with interest, and curious murmurs carried through the crowd. I shed my jacket and knelt down in the dress I’d picked precisely because I didn’t care if it got ripped to shreds. My mates had raised a rather strong objection to the idea of me stripping down totally naked in this weather.
The shift flowed through me as naturally as breathing. My body expanded, my neck lengthened, and hard scales sprang to the surface of my skin beneath the scraps of falling fabric. Fire smoldered in my throat. Vast wings flared from my arched back. And deep in my now much larger belly, my daughter somehow seemed to snuggle even closer to me, as if eagerly anticipating the ride.
All across the courtyard, hawks and falcons, seagulls and pelicans, sparrows and doves emerged from crumpling clothing. I launched myself off the platform toward the darkened sky, and a flurry of wings followed me.
Aaron, his golden feathers gleaming as brightly as his hair did, soared up over the estate right beside me. I reveled for a moment in the sensation of the wind buffeting my wings. Then I swooped over the forests to the south with a vast flock of avian kin surrounding me. The sound of all those wing beats carried through the air around me like a sort of music, and a grin stretched my dragon lips.
The broad field I’d picked out lay just a few minutes’ flight from the estate, still within the property that belonged to the avian alpha. As it came into view, my breath caught.
Aaron and the people he’d asked to help had set up the lights exactly as I’d sketched them—and they shone even more spectacularly than I’d imagined. Strands of them hung between posts set up across the field in interlocking lines, forming a pattern like a vast sparkling snowflake, one you could only fully appreciate from far above.
I glided over it and circled around, wanting to drink in the sight for as long as I could. The avian kin followed me, keeping up with my leisurely pace. Right now, we might as well be the same kind of being, united by this act of propelling ourselves through the air and the love of the feelings that came with flying.
My wings flapped easily against the damp air. These days, I could hold my dragon form for hours at a time without the faintest prickle of fatigue. But hundreds of bird shifters were wheeling over the field with me, and their feathered bodies didn’t come with quite the same inner heat source.
I drifted through one last circuit of the field, and then I dove down to the grass at the end by the lodge.
That building’s windows were already beaming with light. Stacks of clothes arranged by size stood on tables on either side of the door, which stood open wafting heat and the scents of the feast awaiting us.
My three mates whose animal forms didn’t come with wings were waiting for me. I shifted as I dropped the last short distance, landing on the wooden boards of the porch with my human feet, and Marco wrapped a thick velvet dress around me. Nate was ready with a long wool coat to drape over that. West tugged a scarf around my neck and gave me a tender smile I’d never seen him offer to anyone but me.
“This is some light show, Sparks,” he said.
The avian kin had descended all around us. After they’d dressed on the porch with the ease of people who had to make quick changes on a regular basis, we poured into the broad open room on the other side of the doorway. I scooped roast beef and mashed potatoes and carrots drenched in butter onto my plate and then headed back outside to eat under the lights.
The display was pretty spectacular even from below, if
I did say so myself. I meandered deeper into the field, swiveling on my feet between bites and taking in the sparkling patterns all around me, even brighter against the stark black of the sky. The music Aaron had suggested was playing—the first lilting tune in an album recorded by a band composed of avian shifters. The speakers around the field pitched the spirited melody across the entire open space.
The avian kin explored the field around me, murmuring to each other with unrestrained awe. Another grin I couldn’t contain crossed my lips.
I’d pulled it off—everything I’d wanted this celebration to be. And I could see the pleasure it had brought this group of my people reflected in every face.
But this was only the beginning. No getting cocky yet, not when I had three more epic revelries to pull off.
CHAPTER 2
Aaron
AS THE STACKS of cleared plates along the edge of the porch grew, more and more of my fellow avian shifters got caught up in the rhythm of the music and started to dance. Watching them dip and spin under the arcs of glittering lights brought me back to the first celebration my kin had enjoyed with Serenity—one they’d organized for her instead of the other way around.
It was hard to believe that had happened less than a year and a half ago. We’d all come a long way since then.
I caught a glimpse of my mate whirling in the midst of the crowd, her dark brown hair streaming around her, one arm resting protectively over her belly. Beautiful, as always. I would have gone to join her if one of my attendants hadn’t hurried over to me just then.
“She’s here,” he said, with a twitch of his head toward the far end of the field. “You wanted her to wait for you?”
My pulse skipped with both nerves and relief. “Yes. I’ll go speak to her right now.”
“Do you need company?” the attendant asked respectfully.
“Did she bring any?”
He shook his head.
“I think I’m well covered then,” I said. My sister had already caught sight of us talking and was weaving her way through the crowd. Alice knew about the arrangements I’d made, and she did enjoy her role as bodyguard. I didn’t want to give the impression of distrust, not when the trust we’d managed to build so far was still somewhat fragile. “Thank you.”
I skirted the edge of the field, and Alice fell into step beside me.
“Do you think she’s really going to go through with this?” she asked.
“I can’t see why she’d have bothered coming at all if she changed her mind.”
“The fae aren’t exactly known for their transparent natures.”
I had to laugh. “Fair enough. I suppose we’ll just have to see, then.”
My sister rubbed her bare hands together in the chilly air. She’d never liked wearing gloves, even when we were kids. “I’m surprised you went for this idea at all. Mysticism and secrets aren’t usually your thing.”
No, they weren’t. And that was why my stomach was knotting as we made our way toward the stretch of forest beyond the lights. But I kept striding on regardless. Because…
“We can prepare in all sorts of practical ways as well. This mysticism served us awfully well last year. I can’t see how it hurts to prepare that way too. And I think it’ll mean a lot to Serenity.”
Alice dipped her head. “That’s true. You don’t think we still need to be wary of the fae?”
“Oh, I doubt it’ll ever be wise to trust them blindly. But they have proven themselves true allies since that battle with the vampires.” I glanced at my sister. “I wouldn’t be letting you join me if I didn’t think it was best to err on the side of caution and have a bit of back-up along.”
“I’d like to think I’m more than a bit of back-up,” Alice said loftily, and bumped me with a playful elbow I returned with a chuckle.
The music fell away as we stepped from the field into the thicker darkness of the woods. I didn’t need any more direction than my attendant had given me to find the woman we were looking for. A faint glow glimmered amid the trees up ahead.
The fae monarch gave the two of us a measured look as we approached. She stayed where she was in her formal silvery gown, a shimmer of light rising from the fabric and her pale skin and hair. Her crown of vines was nestled on the top of her head, the leaves a crisp golden brown they’d stay until the trees’ first buds opened in spring.
“Monarch,” I said, with a moderate bow that Alice echoed.
“Alpha of the avian kin,” the monarch returned with a bob of her own. “Are you ready?”
“You’ve brought the crystal?”
She motioned to the thick folds of her dress. “Yes. You provided a temporary resting place?”
“Everything is set up,” I said. “Will you join us, then?”
She stepped forward to walk with us back toward the field. When we reached the first ring of lights, she paused, her dark eyes widening with reflected sparkles. I shifted my weight uneasily at her stare, taking in the huge gathering of my people in revelry, but the expression that crossed her face after a moment looked only like awe.
Did the fae even have celebrations, or at least any that came close to this? There was still a lot I didn’t know about our nearest neighbors. As the tension in my chest ebbed, I made a note to myself to rectify those gaps.
The more we knew, the more we wrote down for future generations to learn from, the less chance there was that we’d end up at each other’s throats all over again.
Some of the dancers nearby glanced over, and their eyes widened in turn. They eased to the side to part a way for us through the crowd. As the path opened up and we walked along it, I spotted Serenity swaying with Nate by the center of the field.
The attendants I’d given advance warning to must have gotten word. The music turned off. My mate lifted her head in confusion and went still when she saw me and our guest approaching.
“Monarch,” Serenity said, easing away from Nate. She bowed, only a little, as one head of their kind to another. Her gaze slid to me, and I gave her a reassuring smile.
“Dragon shifter,” the fae woman said with equal respect. “I hope I can contribute to your celebration here. Your alpha made a suggestion that struck me as wise, given the strides our two peoples have made toward a long-term alliance.”
She reached into the folds of her dress and drew out a crystal so large and clear it was my turn to stare in awe. The carved stone, which filled her entire hand, caught the lights overhead and bounced them back in every color of the rainbow.
I kept enough wherewithal to motion toward the low column set in the middle of the field. The slight indent on its top held the crystal perfectly when the monarch set it down. Serenity looked from it to me and back to the fae woman.
“Your presence is welcome,” she said, not forgetting her role even in her confusion. “I’m pleased to take part in any activity that would strengthen the bond between our peoples.”
The monarch gave her a thin smile that held about as much warmth as I ever saw any fae offer.
“It’s to replace the one you smashed in the mountains,” I said quietly. “Just in case, if there’s ever a need in the future…”
Understanding dawned on the dragon shifter’s face. When she spoke to the monarch again, her voice trembled, but her eyes had lit up. “We can do that? Recreate the magic that was in the other crystal, that will give another dragon shifter the flames of truth?”
“We can,” the fae monarch said. “I believe the first crystal was put there for good reason—I believe you’ve proven that our ancestors were right to provide that option for times of need. If you would join with me in creating the power it will contain?”
“Of course. You’ll just need to tell me what to do.” Serenity’s mouth formed a crooked grin. “I’ve never imbued anything with magic before.”
The fae monarch motioned for Serenity to join her on the opposite side of the podium. All around us, my kin had fallen silent. Several breaths drew in around me with a quiver of
anticipation. My heart was thumping fast, but it was all enthusiasm now. Yes, I’d made a good choice, arranging this ritual for tonight.
“The magic will come from me,” the monarch said to Serenity. “You will contribute your flames. Let your usual dragon fire flow into the crystal, and I will shape it into the power to be claimed.”
Serenity nodded. The crowd had stepped back enough to leave her room to shift. She shed her coat. I caught the eye of one of my attendants and signaled her to collect another change of clothes for our dragon shifter.
The sight of my mate taking on her animal form still filled my chest with wonder. The lovely woman rose and lengthened with a gleam of bright red scales and a fierce glint in her draconic eyes. She held her narrow head at a regal angle and looked toward the monarch. The fae woman stretched her hands toward the crystal as if to say, Be my guest.
There were shifters in the crowd who’d never seen Serenity let loose her flames. She hadn’t had much reason to use her dragon fire since we’d fended off the vampire threat the summer before last. When she bared her curved teeth and sent forth the first burst of flame, a collective gasp ran through our audience. Everyone stayed completely still, transfixed.
Her regular dragon fire, streaked red and orange and yellow, coursed down over the crystal with a crackle and a wash of heat I could feel from where I was standing several feet away.
The fae monarch made a scooping gesture with her hands as if to encircle the crystal and Serenity’s fire at the same time. A fizzing glow lit up around the top of the podium. A sudden wind gusted up, tossing the fae woman’s long silver-blond waves. A thrum of energy washed over me that tickled my skin and made my ears pop.
The glow contracted around the crystal and seemed to pull Serenity’s fire with it. She raised her head, letting the flow of flames ebb. The ones she’d brought forth danced within the sphere of magic as it closed in around the crystal and then seeped into its polished surface.
A sharper light beamed from inside the stone. It flickered and danced like a miniature flame contained within the gem. Which I supposed it was. A flame giving the power to uncover the truth and burn away to the heart of the matter, like the gift Serenity had earned for herself all those months ago.