Claimed

by Sammie Joyce

  What would they do if they discovered she was talking to dragons in her mind? More to the point, why could she even do it? Rose barely knew the dragons. She could hardly be said to be in tune with them, other than the fact that she didn’t want to see them tortured. It didn’t seem enough to resurrect a long-dead connection from nowhere.

  “Are you okay? You’ve just gone pale. Is the spell tiring you out?”

  “No, I’m fine.” Rose frantically tried to think of something to say to distract Annabelle. “Have you ever tried to read their minds?”

  Annabelle snorted. “What would be the point? They’re brutal killers—that’s all they think about.”

  Rose knew better than to argue.

  For some reason, she found herself staring at the open doorway. She hadn’t been looking for more than a couple of seconds when someone walked past. It was Gavin, sweeping the floor. As he passed, his eyes met hers.

  Her necklace suddenly felt warm and heavy around her neck. She didn’t hear any words in her head this time. Instead, Rose felt something very physical, rather like how she always felt around the dragons, except this time, it was different. This time, she was feeling it from Gavin, not just from her.

  He clearly wanted her body. It seemed as obvious to her as if he’d just shouted it aloud for everyone to hear. She gave brief thought to the idea that she was imagining it, but dismissed the idea. This couldn’t all be a coincidence. Whatever the connection she had with the dragons, she may not understand it, but it was real.

  Rose wasn’t getting exact thoughts, only feelings, which just made it worse. He wanted her body, but for what? The way he was looking at her made her feel like a cheeseburger. She shivered, half convinced he was about to stride into the room and grab her. If he did, Rose didn’t see herself objecting.

  As their eyes met briefly, Rose tried to hear his thoughts, but she didn’t get anything from him, just the feeling of him wanting her. Then Gavin was gone, the moment vanishing as quickly as it had come.

  “Rose? Kaylee, I think she’s overexerted.”

  Kaylee was suddenly there, leading Rose to a chair. Rose gratefully flopped down into it. Kaylee crouched down in front of her. “It’s okay, Rose. You just expended a little too much energy on the spell. If you sit quietly for a while, you should feel better.” She pressed a hand to Rose’s forehead.

  “I don’t think you need a healer—you only pushed a little too hard.”

  Rose nodded, still too shaken to talk. She was certain that she hadn’t overexerted herself on the spell. It was the brief encounter with Gavin that had left her shocked and confused. Fortunately, Annabelle didn’t seem to have noticed him walking past, or the look he and Rose had shared.

  The rest of the class went back to their conjuring, leaving Rose to recover. She did her best to focus on the gouts of flame Annabelle was sending at the target. There would be time to sort out her thoughts and feelings about the dragons later. For now, she needed to make sure that no one else suspected anything.

  By the end of the lesson, she’d managed to get herself mostly under control. No one seemed to think anything of her episode. As they walked to lunch, Annabelle assured her that it happened sometimes and it wasn’t a big deal.

  Rose had been half hoping that her “overexertion” would get her out of bringing the dragons their food that night, but apparently, Kaylee thought she was recovered enough to proceed with her punishment duty.

  After spending the afternoon pretending to read, while really worrying about her evening task, Rose reluctantly wheeled the trays down to the basement.

  All four of the dragons were waiting for her. Rose started handing out the trays without looking at them, hoping not to pick up any of their thoughts.

  She might think we’re the danger, but she has no idea.

  Rose froze in place. That was Asher. She recognized his voice, even if it was in her head. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to push the voice away. She really needed to do some research into blocking the dragons’ thoughts, but where would she find that kind of information? The art had been lost for generations; it was hardly likely to be in the witches’ usual reading lists.

  As she turned to hand a tray to Mace, his eyes roved over her body. Rose got a sudden flash of him pulling her into his lap, kissing her. She felt herself blushing. Could Mace tell what she was thinking too? The thought was mortifying. It was bad enough having such uncontrollable fantasies without the dragons suspecting anything.

  Rose had never had desires as strong as this about any guy, and now she was having them about four. Worse, these weren’t ordinary guys. These were dragons. These were the enemy.

  Another flash showed Asher pulling her pants down, putting his mouth on her clit. It was all Rose could do not to moan aloud. She backed away as Asher reached for his tray, knowing he’d be able to tell that she was reading his mind. Would he be angry? She certainly would be if they started picking her fantasies out of her brain, like she was doing to them. She wasn’t doing it on purpose, but Rose suspected the dragons might not care much for that distinction.

  “Relax.” Gavin took his tray, smiling at her. “We won’t hurt you.”

  But Rose had been told they would hurt her. She didn’t know what to believe. They didn’t seem belligerent toward her, but their thoughts were overwhelming. She wanted to run away, but her ever-present curiosity overwhelmed her.

  “Why can I read your thoughts?”

  All four dragons exchanged looks of shock.

  “You can… read our thoughts too?” Asher asked cautiously.

  Maybe she’s the one.

  No, she can’t be.

  Then how can she hear us?

  It’s probably witch trickery.

  Look at her, she’s not advanced enough for that.

  To hope would be foolish.

  If she can hear us, she has to be the one.

  The jumble of thoughts hit her so fast that Rose struggled to pick out who was thinking what. She didn’t know what was going on, and it scared her. The last thing she needed was to be someone important to the dragons. They were supposed to be the enemy.

  Rose had had enough. She turned to leave, abandoning the trays. She’d come and get them later. For now, she just wanted to get out of here.

  As she spun around, Asher grabbed her wrist. “Wait. We need to talk.”

  Rose yanked her arm away in panic, but Asher was much stronger than her and didn’t let go. Her necklace suddenly pulsed and shot off a bright red glow.

  Asher cried out, crumpling to the ground, letting go of her.

  Rose stood frozen in shock. What had she done? She hadn’t been trying to do magic. What had happened?

  “Asher?” She knelt down beside him, worried about how badly she’d hurt him. Asher seemed okay, though. He was already sitting up, shaking himself slightly.

  “Rose!” Kaylee hurtled into the room, her hands raised, clearly ready to cast magic at a moment’s notice.

  “I’m okay.” Rose quickly put herself between Kaylee and Asher, not wanting him to get hurt again.

  “What happened? Did they hurt you?” Kaylee put an arm around Rose’s shoulders, drawing her back protectively.

  “No—they just scared me, that’s all. I think I overreacted.”

  “There’s no such thing as an overreaction as far as dragons are concerned. You did well. Was it the pain spell I taught you?”

  “I—um, yes,” Rose lied. She didn’t want Kaylee knowing that her necklace had reacted without her own conscious direction. Necklaces of power weren’t supposed to work. For it to work, she’d have to be committed to the dragons’ wellbeing, and the last thing she needed was for Kaylee to suspect that Rose cared what happened to any of the dragons.

  “Well done. I can see that your attitude is already improving.” Kaylee turned her glare on the four dragons. “Food is a privilege you earn. If you ever again try to scare one of the people bringing it down for you, you won’t eat for a week.”


  As one, all four dragons fell to their knees. They were silent, but Rose could easily tell by their jerky movements and contorted expressions that they were in pain.

  “It’s not their fault,” Rose said quickly, unable to tear her eyes away from the horrible sight. “They just reached out for the tray, and I got spooked. It’s me, not them—you don’t need to punish them.”

  Kaylee didn’t seem to hear her, or if she did, she ignored Rose’s attempts to diffuse the situation.

  “If I hear about you misbehaving again, you will get much worse than this.”

  The dragons abruptly collapsed, panting.

  “Come, Rose.” Kaylee turned away. “Let’s go.”

  Rose didn’t want to go, not like this. “I’ll stay.” She offered Kaylee a brave smile. “I’ll never defeat my fear unless I face it. If they try to hurt me, I’ll put them down, just like you did. Let me stay and take their trays when they’re done. They have no power over me.”

  It seemed she’d said the right thing. “I’ll be right outside, then. Don’t hesitate to shout if you need anything.”

  Kaylee gave the dragons one last murderous glare before stalking out.

  Rose reached out to help Asher and the others up. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, quietly enough that Kaylee wouldn’t hear her. “I never wanted her to do that.”

  Asher accepted her hand up, staring at her as though he’d never seen anything like her. “Why? You should hate us—all the other witches do.”

  “I know,” Rose admitted. “I just can’t, though. You don’t seem bad. You’re just people.”

  Jagger snorted a laugh. “You’d better not let Kaylee hear you say that, or you’ll be locked down here with us next.”

  “Would she really stop bringing you food?”

  “If we displease her enough.” Gavin shrugged. “We’ve endured worse from witches.”

  “That’s horrible. If she tries it again, tell me. I’ll sneak food down here or something.”

  They were now staring at her in awe, which made Rose uncomfortable again. “What? I don’t believe in starving people. It’s a common sentiment.”

  “Not among witches and dragons.” Mace gave her a shy smile. “You’re a rare person, Rose.”

  “Here I certainly am. Among humans, I’m pretty average.”

  “You are anything but average.” Asher’s steady gaze had Rose flushing, remembering his thoughts from earlier. “I’m sorry I grabbed you. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s not your fault that you reacted out of fear.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Rose admitted. “It was this necklace. I don’t know what happened—a kind of pulse went through it, and the next thing I knew, you were on the floor. I couldn’t control it.”

  “May I?”

  Asher reached out to touch the necklace. Rose let him, her eyes on his fingers as he gently held the pendant. She wondered what those fingers would feel like on her skin. If her dreams were anything to go by, she’d be mad to turn down a chance for Asher to touch her like he was currently touching her necklace.

  He didn’t touch her, though, even though Rose could clearly read from his thoughts that he wanted to.

  “You should go. You’ll get into trouble with Kaylee if you stay down here too long.”

  Rose knew he was right about that much. She reluctantly gathered the trays and started wheeling the trolly away. Though she didn’t turn around, she could feel four sets of eyes on her back.

  Chapter Eight

  Rose wandered up to her room, her mind still on the dragons. She still didn’t understand the rush of thoughts she’d received from them earlier. The mystery was nagging at her, and it was infuriating that she’d have to wait a whole day before getting another chance to question them.

  Or would she?

  She didn’t know how far this thought thing ranged. If she could have a mental conversation with them when she was in the same room, was there any reason she couldn’t do it from here? It was worth a shot.

  Asher? Rose felt silly, calling his name in her mind, but to her great surprise, it worked.

  Rose?

  It’s me. I didn’t know if we’d be able to talk from this distance.

  Me neither. This is all new to us too. Though if I got a choice for who to share thoughts with, I’d still choose you.

  It was easy to pick up his flirty tone, even when his voice was only in her head. Rose found herself grinning. I don’t know. There are some pretty beautiful witches in this coven. I’m not sure you’d want to make a choice hastily.

  They are nothing compared to you. Do you know that I can smell you coming? Your scent is intoxicating.

  Rose felt herself blushing. I bet you say that to all the girls.

  Dating opportunities here are pretty scarce, to be honest.

  The two of them chuckled. Rose would have thought that Asher’s flirting would make her uncomfortable, but it didn’t.

  “Rose? Are you okay? You’ve just been staring into space for the past ten minutes, grinning at nothing.”

  Annabelle’s voice jolted her back to reality. “I—yes, of course, I’m fine. I was just daydreaming.”

  “Must have been some daydream. You want to share?”

  “Not particularly,” Rose muttered. Annabelle just winked at her. Rose suspected that her flushed face told Annabelle all too clearly what she’d been daydreaming about. As long as Annabelle didn’t suspect the subject of her fantasies. Surely she didn’t—she certainly wouldn’t be so relaxed if she did.

  Rose climbed into bed and pulled the hangings shut. Are you still there?

  Asher’s response was instant. I’m hardly going anywhere, am I?

  Could you, if you wanted to? Kaylee says you can’t escape.

  I suppose we might be able to escape, but not without cost. The witches are more powerful than us right now. Escaping would do no good—they’d simply track us down.

  Rose knew she was treading in dangerous waters. She didn’t want to hear about any possible plans the dragons might have for gaining their freedom. Whose side would she choose? She couldn’t very well let the other witches here be slaughtered, but revealing what she knew would only mean torture for the dragons.

  She steered the conversation to another subject, the one she’d been intending to discuss in the first place. What did you mean earlier, when you and the others were thinking that I might be “the one”?

  Asher hesitated, as if wondering how much to tell her.

  You can trust me.

  I know. I don’t know why, but I do.

  Me too, Rose admitted. She was drawn to the dragons, but more than that, she was becoming increasingly sure that they’d never hurt her. Even though there was quite a lot of evidence to the contrary, at least according to Kaylee, she found herself trusting them.

  Asher seemed to overcome his doubts about being honest with her. How much do you know about Hellith?

  I’ve never heard the name before. Who is it?

  Rose could feel the surprise in his thoughts. The witches haven’t told you about Hellith?

  No, not at all. I’ve never even read the name.

  That’s surprising. I’d have thought they would use her as an example of what happens when witches and dragons get too close.

  What do you mean?

  Many generations ago, long after the times when witches and dragons cooperated with each other, there was a taboo relationship between a witch and a dragon. They had a child, which was half witch, half dragon.

  Rose winced. I don’t imagine that went down well.

  Not at all. The parents were ostracized and the child was spurned by both clans. While she might have grown up to be a force for good, her treatment at the hands of her own kin twisted her. She became not only dangerous, but monstrous. She took the form of a huge serpent, her intent to destroy both witches and dragons forever. Her original name has been lost in history, but now we know her as Hellith.

  Where is she, then? Why haven’t I heard of he
r?

  She’s been dormant for over a thousand years. There are a number of theories as to why she disappeared. Most think that a group of dragons or witches was able to weaken her somehow, and she’s been regaining her strength for when she can renew her assault and bring us all down.

  The thought sent a shiver through Rose’s body, even though it was a warm night. What does all that have to do with me?

  There’s a prophecy that’s been around since before the great divide between witches and dragons. It says that in a time of great danger for both species, one witch will unite us again, giving us the only chance we have to defeat Hellith.

  And you think that witch is me? Panic was pooling inside Rose’s belly. How could she be some kind of prophesied messiah? She barely knew how to use magic!

  The fact that you can speak to us like this, and that you’ve managed to get a necklace of power to work for you, means that you might well be.

  But Asher, I can’t. I’m just a normal girl—a bookworm, a nerd. I can’t fight some giant serpent monster. I know nothing about my powers compared to the other witches here.

  Even if it is you, Rose, you won’t be alone. The one in the prophecy is to be mated to four of the strongest dragons. If it is you, I will fight to protect you, as will Gavin, Mace, and Jagger. We won’t let anything hurt you.

  Perhaps he meant his words to be reassuring, but his promise brought up more worries than it soothed. Your mate?

  That’s right. Don’t tell me you don’t want us.

  I—that’s not the point. Don’t I get a say in all of this?

  Of course you do. We’d never touch you without your permission. I hope you know that.

  I know, Rose admitted, chagrined. She did know that the dragons wouldn’t hurt her, but it was still an overwhelming thought that she had some destiny written down from thousands of years ago. I don’t know if I can be this person you want me to be. I’m still so weak with my powers. I’d probably be killed within minutes in a fight with Hellith.

  We’d never let anything happen to you. Besides, knowledge and strength are not the same thing. You don’t know how to use your powers yet, but they are strong. With some training, you’ll be the equal to any witch here.