For the Memory of Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  ***

  Damn, it was hot in here. Terra shifted in her sleep, trying to get more comfortable. She kicked at the covers, but they didn’t shift as she wanted them to. Growling her frustration, she tried to roll onto her side. Her back hit something solid and stopped her from getting into a more comfortable position. She had always been a side sleeper, and lying on her stomach wasn’t comfortable. Growling again, she wiggled, trying to reach her goal, but something tangled around her legs. Visions of the men that had attacked her flashed in her head, and she thrashed, desperate to get away from them.

  “Terra!”

  The chirp of Alex’s voice broke into her fear, and she froze in her struggles. A tingle of magic washed over her scales, and the weight that was holding her down lifted.

  “It’s all right.”

  Gentle hands rubbed down her back, pulling the blanket away from her. Rolling back to her stomach, Terra opened her eyes. Sleep clogged her vision, and she raised her hand to rub it way. It was an odd stretch, but she finally got her hand up to her face.

  Alex caught it before she could clear her eye. “Careful,” he cautioned as he rubbed her hand. “Your claws are sharp, and you could hurt yourself if you aren’t careful.”

  Claws? Terra blinked away the sleep and turned to look at the man lying on the bed next to her. Her vision was still funky, but he looked as handsome as she remembered him being. But, he was bigger than she remembered.

  Mine, some part of her purred in satisfaction.

  Shaking her head, Terra tried to sit up, but she didn’t bend right. She managed to push up to her hands and feet, but her balance was off, and she toppled over on her side.

  Alex caught her before she could fall off the bed. “Easy there,” he soothed. His fingers ran down her side in a soft caress. “You’re dragon now, so things are going to be a little different. I’ll help you as much as I can, but you might want to take it slowly.”

  Terra considered his words as she lay there. I’m dragon now. That she could believe. She felt different. Warmer. A stray thought raised her tail up and thumped it on the bed. She had a tail now! Another thought rustled her wings. She had wings! She felt both strange and wonderful at the same time.

  Rolling her head over, she stared at the man next to her. He stretched down the bed with his head propped on his hand, watching her with those gorgeous eyes. She loved his eyes. And with her new vision, the colors in his hazel eyes sparkled.

  All ours, that reptilian part of her purred.

  Fear rubbed at the edge of Terra’s mind. It felt as if something had invaded her brain.

  I am you, that piece said soothingly.

  No, you’re not, Terra argued back. She had never had any part of her talk back to her before.

  That part laughed. We are one and the same.

  Doubt crept into her mind. What do we do now? she asked.

  Go on, her dragon answered.

  Terra paused to think about that. Go on? But how?

  Another snicker crept out of the wayward bit. We both want the same thing.

  Terra studied the man next to her as she considered what her dragon had said. It was true; she did want him. In more than one way. And that, in itself, was disconcerting. She barely knew the man, but she couldn’t stand the thought of losing him.

  He will not leave us, her dragon reassured her.

  But does he love us? she asked, worried.

  The answer came back to her in a mix of emotions. Desire. Need. An overwhelming possessiveness. None of it was love as she had known it. It was something much stronger.

  But he’s human, and we are not, Terra complained.

  Then change that.

  How?

  The answer came rushing into Terra, and she instinctively knew what to do. Closing her eyes, she let go of the part of her that was dragon. Magic tingled across her skin as the scales slipped away, leaving her in human form. She heard Alex draw in a sharp breath and opened her eyes to look at him. Surprise rode his face.

  “Beautiful.” The words slipped from him in a soft whisper as he reached out and pushed a stray lock of hair from her face.

  See, her dragon gurgled at her, bringing the ghost of a smile to her lips.

  Curling her hands up under her head, she considered Alex. His fingers played along her cheek and shoulder, sending shivers of delight through her. After a few minutes of enjoying his touch, she let out a sigh.

  “Now what?” she asked, unsure of how to proceed. Everything about this situation was new and confusing. Not to mention, scary as hell.

  Alex let out a soft laugh as he reached out and drew her in against him. “Whatever you like.” He laid a kiss on her forehead. “We can take this as fast or as slow as you want.”

  Terra curled in his arms, thinking about that. Whatever she liked. She drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs with his scent. It was clean and rich, with a hint of spice and musk. Desire pooled in her core, and she knew where she wanted to start.

  “Anything?” She pressed herself against him.

  He laughed, and as he slid his hand down her back, he pulled her harder against him. “Anything,” he purred as he leaned in and captured her lips for a kiss.

  She savored his kiss as the passion built between them.

  When he pulled back, the color of his eyes had darkened, and the evidence of his arousal was pressed firmly between them. “What does my lady desire?” There was a suggestive tone to his voice.

  Terra bit her lip and looked up at him hopefully. “A big, fat, juicy steak. And a baked potato,” she answered as her stomach rumbled.

  Surprise flashed on his face from the unexpected answer, but he smiled. “As you wish.” He kissed her quickly and went to roll out of the bed.

  Catching him by the shoulder, she stopped him from getting up. It made her happy that he would give in to her demands even though he clearly wanted something else.

  Alex looked at her, confused.

  She smiled at him. “That is, as soon as we finish what we started back in that hotel room.”

  Letting out a growl born in desire, he pounced on her, reclaiming her lips.

  Terra let out a giggle before letting herself be swept away in his passion. This whole dragon thing was going to take some getting used to, but as long as she had Alex there to help her, she could face anything.

  15

  Daniel sat at his desk and looked over the stack of files spread out before him. He had triple-checked each file, trying to figure out who could have leaked the information about either the solitary dragons list or Alex’s use of the rest house. Hours he had spent, checking phone records and alibis, trying to come up with some answer. Hours he had wasted. Everyone he had checked had been airtight. How had the information slipped out without anyone knowing?

  Letting out a deep sigh, Daniel gathered up the files and slid them neatly into the box next to his desk. He would keep these files and watch these agents. Someone was going to slip up sooner or later, and he would be there to catch them. Now, he just had to worry about what to do until then. There were still a lot of people on the solitary dragons list that needed to be notified and relocated, just in case that was the common link. But who should he trust to do it? Only his finest agents had access to the entire list, and Alex was right. The dragons who had come up missing had been on all parts of the list.

  How could any agent in Eternity give up dragons to be murdered? That thought ate at him. Their entire sworn duty was to protect dragons. These men had trained hard to achieve the status and rank they had, and for one of them to betray the very people they were sworn to protect was unthinkable. Or more. Daniel growled in anger. One of his men had already proven to be an agent for the group killing dragons, but he wasn’t being any help to them. Somehow, even under lock and key, the man had found a way to take his own life before Daniel could get the chance to beat the information out of him.

  Hell, they didn’t even know who this group was. The only information they had was Alex�
�s sketchy memory, the medallion he had recovered, two dead men, a few burner phones, and a car. Of all of that, the car proved to be the most useful. It contained several vials of some serum—the stuff they had injected Alex’s girl with. He had every one of his scientists and mages researching the stuff to find out what it was and how it had changed the girl into a dragon. The idea that they could use a drug to change a human into a dragon was preposterous, yet it had happened.

  Daniel clenched his jaw as he thought of the consequences of that. How much would people pay for the ability to become a dragon? A lot! Was that why dragons were disappearing? So that someone could use them to make this wonder drug? Holy hell! If that were the case, things were going to go to hell as soon as this group figured out how to make it work properly. If they found out it had only taken a bonding to complete the transformation, then all hell was going to break loose.

  Daniel shoved the rest of the stuff off his desk and got up. He needed to get down to medical and get Alex put on the disabled list as soon as possible. With the gap in his memory, no one would question Daniel’s decision. Then, he had to get Alex and the girl out of there before word got around that she had recovered and could turn into a dragon. Kyle had brought that information back to Daniel this morning, so suppressing the fact shouldn’t be too hard. Daniel had a few old friends that he could send them to stay with until they could find the leak and stop this group. The next question was… how?

  With no real leads, Daniel didn’t know where to start. There’s the medallion. He paused as the thought passed through his brain. This group had been very insistent on getting that thing back. Right now, it was locked up in the hidden safe in his office, and he was the only person who knew it was there. Maybe he should let that information slip out and see who came to collect it. No. This group was covering their tracks pretty well; they wouldn’t be foolish enough to try anything in his office.

  Daniel shook the idea away. Right now, he had to get Alex and his new mate to safety before something happened to them. Then, he could think about how to catch their mole. And once he did, someone was going to pay dearly for betraying his trust.

  Acknowledgements

  Dragons. Be them Asian dragons with their long bodies or European dragons with their strong wings, they are beautiful. They have always been one of my favorite mythological creatures. So when Marya asked for dragon stories, I was happy to offer up my contributions with On the Accidental Wings of Dragons. But I never expected it to go any further than that. So I was surprised when Rebecca came back and asked if I could expand the single novel into a series.

  I said yes, but honestly, I was at a loss as the where I could go with the story. I could have followed Michael and Carissa as they learned to live with each other, but I wasn’t sure if there was enough plot line in just that to give me a good story. I didn’t really want to write a novel based solely on their romance. Sure it would make a fun read, but I like a little more plot in my novels than the traditional guy-works-to-get-girl motif you see in most romance novels.

  I had to step back and reread the story to find the loose thread, but it was there, dangling in my face the whole time. I hadn’t even considered the unaddressed mystery left hanging in the story. To me it had been a convenient reason to chain poor Michael up, not a plot device to drive a whole series. But in that one idea, I found enough fodder to drive this story on in to several books. It’s amazing what you can do with a little loose end.

  And of course it takes more than a plot device to make a book. It takes people. I have plenty of those supporting me on my way. I would like to thank all those that helped me on my path: my mother for listening to me and helping to bounce ideas; my family and friends for being there for me and understanding as I pounded away at my keyboard; the ladies at Crimson Tree for believing in me; my blogger friends for supporting me (even the ones that don’t do fantasy…Ethan); and last but certainly not least, all of you readers that have made it this far with me in this journey. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

  About the Author

  Originally from Ohio, Julie always dreamed of a job in science. Either shooting for the stars or delving into the mysteries of volcanoes. But, life never leads where you expect. In 2007, she moved to Mississippi to be with her significant other.

  Now a mother of a hyperactive red headed boy, what time she’s not chasing down dirty socks and unsticking toys from the ceiling is spent crafting worlds readers can get lost it. Julie is a self-proclaimed bibliophile and lover of big words. She likes hiking, frogs, interesting earrings, and a plethora of other fun things.

  Subscribe to our newsletter so you can be the first to learn about the next book in the Dragons of Eternity series by Julie Wetzel. For the Heart of Dragons will release in early 2016.

  If you enjoyed For the Memory of Dragons, we recommend you read Kindling Flames: Gathering Tinder by Julie Wetzel. Book one is currently FREE!

  Fresh from college and with no real work experience, Victoria Westernly considers herself lucky to land the coveted position of personal assistant to Darien Ritter, the CEO and owner of a multibillion-dollar company. His busy schedule and eccentric ways are enough to keep her on her toes. But, all is not what it seems when she discovers the handsome man employing her just happens to be the most powerful vampire in the area.

  Kindling Flames is a new adult paranormal romance series that readers will fall in love with.

  Do you love fantasy? Check out Dreamthief by Tamara Grantham.

  Visiting Faythander is a nasty business. Forget the fairies and unicorns, most people come back with lost memories and mental problems. Olive Kennedy knows. She's the therapist who treats patients suffering from Faythander's side effects. Despite her empty bank account, she takes pride in her job as Houston’s only Fairy World medical doctor. She's never failed to cure a client—until now.

  Traveling back to Faythander wasn't on Olive's to-do list. But she has no choice. The fate of both Earth and Fairy depends on her ability to stop an ancient being called the Dreamthief. To complicate matters, she may be losing her heart to someone who can’t love her in return. Saving the world, she can handle. Falling in love—not so much.

  As if battling the forces of evil wasn't difficult enough…