by KC Kingmaker
Ugh. What was this guy doing to me?
He was my freaking enemy! If not my enemy, then my rival, at least. We were both after the same thing.
The way he’d scooted close to me in the wagon, his eyes blazing brightly, I could tell we were both after more than just the sword. Our bodies hummed for a connection.
We had to keep things professional, no matter how much our bodies were drawn to each other. We had to use our heads, not our hearts.
Because the fact we were both hired to snag the dragonrune sword meant one of us would have to betray the other, in the end, and I didn’t think either one of us wanted that heartbreak.
I gazed around at the little village we’d reached on the outskirts of the woods. My eyes widened.
It was freaking nighttime! Had we really traveled for that long—all day—without me noticing? Had I been so caught up in trying to sneak glances at Coalt and having our spicy back-and-forth banter?
The village was small, made up of simple wooden houses and cloth tents. There were probably twenty structures in all with hardly any roads—just a few dirt paths people walked down. A small stream snaked through the middle of the village. I assumed it was their water and food source, while the nearby woodland was probably another place for foraging and hunting.
Women carried buckets of water from the stream to their abodes. Kids ran around playing. Big flies and mosquitoes buzzed.
Even though this place lacked the amenities and infrastructure of a town like Belfue, it seemed much more at peace.
I longed for something like this—to take my refuge of women somewhere that wasn’t ruled by bureaucrats and greed. These people had probably never even heard of Oblyx Scraps. There was a certain serenity in their apparent ignorance.
Then again, maybe I was being the ignorant one. This was only what I was seeing at face value, and I knew every town had its dirty little secrets. Darkness was part of Unscaled nature.
“Welcome to my home,” Clive said with a wide smile. He patted Franny’s mane and she neighed at him, snuffling her nose against his arm.
I smiled at him. “Franny seems to enjoy being home.”
“Indeed,” he said warmly. The tradesman grabbed her reins and unattached her from the wagon, then did the same with the other horse. He handed the reins to a young fellow, who left with the steeds in tow.
“I was going to lend Franny to you for the rest of your journey to Cerophus,” he said, “but I’m afraid she and Tovy are all my family has.”
“Oh, Clive, I couldn’t accept anyway,” I said with a slight bow. “I don’t think both of us would fit on her anyway, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her on my watch. But you are very kind.”
“The both of you?”
“Well, me and him,” I said, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder at Coalt.
Clive looked over at the taller shifter and something like intrigue flashed on his face. I desperately wanted to turn around to see what kind of expression Coalt was giving him, but I resisted the temptation.
“Oh,” Clive said. “I, uh, wasn’t aware you two were going to continue traveling together.”
My cheeks stoked like a bonfire. Shit! I probably should have discussed that with the dragon before blurting it out.
Coalt came up alongside me.
The jig was up.
“I’ve agreed to protect her until we reached Cerophus City,” he said valiantly, but also a little too dramatically for me, like he was doing me the greatest favor in the world.
I scrunched my face, irritated. “Except I don’t need protection. I’m not a little girl.”
“Oh, right,” he said with a cheery voice. “Then I’ll be on my way.”
And with that, he strode past me and started walking away from the village.
My jaw dropped as I watched him wander off. He was still dressed in only his fucking cloak, though I guess it didn’t bother him. Was he even going in the right direction?
I panicked. I really didn’t know what to do to stop him, short of begging him to come back and apologizing for being snarky, but that was not going to happen!
“Wait, hold up there, Vero,” Clive called. “I must insist you stay for the evening.”
Coalt froze and my heart leaped. He slowly turned, tilting his head. “Oh? Is that a custom among your people?”
Clive rubbed the back of his balding head. “Er, well, you need a fresh set of clothes, don’t you? You mean to tell me you’re going to journey all the way to Cerophus City wearing nothing underneath that cloak?”
Coalt looked down at himself. “I . . . it doesn’t bother me.” He was too proud to admit he’d forgotten that little tidbit.
“Yes, well, it gets quite breezy on the way, if you catch my meaning, man. I’m sure you fiery dragons don’t do too well in the cold—especially without any skivvies.”
“Ah.”
Clive motioned him back with a wave of his hand. “Come on and we’ll get you settled.” He smiled. “Also, you wouldn’t want to miss my wife’s cooking. She would never forgive you.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Coalt shrugged and started ambling back. “I suppose I could use a nice home-cooked meal.”
Clive smiled, draped his arm around Coalt’s shoulder, and gave me a wink when Coalt couldn’t see.
My face lit up like a candle. My heart was galloping like Franny in an open field.
Clive was my rescuer, again, after I’d opened my big stupid mouth and almost scared Coalt off. I couldn’t believe I was worried about scaring off the dragon shifter, but my heartbeat didn’t lie.
I watched them walk toward a small wooden house like two best friends. I shook my head before shuffling to keep up.
These two guys, it seemed, were giving me a whole lot to think about concerning my opinions on men.
CLIVE’S WIFE, LURY, was amazing. The stew she made was the best thing I’d had in months, and their four young kids were adorable. Theirs was a happy family. It tugged at my soul to see people enjoying themselves.
They were not like any family I’d ever seen.
I kept sneaking peeks at Coalt during dinner, where we all sat around a table and the kids ran like rampant wildebeests through the small abode. It was constantly loud and rambunctious and I wanted it.
Coalt seemed a bit disgruntled and confused at first. It was actually cute, seeing the big shifter so out of place among the kids, who obviously wanted to know every little detail about dragons.
He was stiff and standoffish for a while, but after eating he finally relented and regaled us all with a few tales of the Summer House.
The dragon recounted a war between the Summer and Winter Houses, but in simple language and a vibrant and adventurous tone, with wild hand gestures that made the children laugh. It was like he was telling a story over a campfire. It showed me a side to him I hadn’t thought possible.
In his eyes, though, I could see the true melancholy of his tale. A perverse sadness and anger resided in those amber orbs. It was just one more thing I wanted to find the truth about regarding the dragon shifter.
I didn’t catch most of his tale because I was too focused on his lips, his face, and the fascinating scar running up the side of his chin.
It was also interesting to see him dressed in coarse peasant’s clothes. Though Clive’s wardrobe was a bit tight and small for him, it gave the dragon shifter a more mundane, casual appearance.
We all slept shortly after—me and Coalt in separate rooms, of course.
In the morning, refreshed after plenty of sleep, Clive saw us off. The whole family did.
Clive took me aside and presented me with a bag of food. “Lury prepared some things for your journey. I told her you wouldn’t need all this for the three days you’ll be in the wilderness, but she’d have none of it.”
I grinned. “She’s a keeper, that one.”
“And stubborn as a mule. Just how I like ‘em.”
I chuckled and glanced over at Coalt
, who was strapping on the two swords at his hips. The four knee- and waist-high kids surrounded him in awe, wanting to touch the swords, and Coalt kept recoiling from their tiny hands.
With a sigh, I said, “I’m afraid I’m traveling with my own stubborn mule.” I drew my gaze back to Clive, who was staring at me intently.
“Maybe it’s how you like ‘em, too.”
I averted my gaze, wanting to change the subject. “Your family is wonderful, Clive. And so is your village. Everyone here seems so . . . content. Happy.”
When I looked up, his forehead was creased with wrinkles. “Yes, on the outside. Though you’re only seeing what I’ve shown you. The truth is a terrible drinking problem afflicts many of us, like it does many of the smaller villages around Cerophus. So much that the city is dry—booze is illegal, and probably for the best. But we do what we can.”
I clenched my jaw. Like I’d suspected, not everything could be taken at surface level. Darkness plagued this place just like it did Belfue. But Clive was an honest man trying to make his way in the world and support his family.
He pointed over my shoulder. “Cerophus is three days out, over those hills. The river passing through here will parallel you most the way, and when it begins to widen, you’ll know you’re close.”
I smiled at him as he handed over the large bag of food. I still had my heavy backpack to worry about, so I was going to definitely make Coalt carry this.
Before the trader could leave, I said, “Clive, can I ask why you’re helping me so much?”
His smile was warm. “Perhaps it’s in my nature to help people,” he said, echoing my words from the day before. Then he shrugged lightly. “And maybe I want to see you succeed, Leviathan Sunfall.”
Damn, he heard me tell Coalt my full name in the wagon? What else did he hear? “But what does the dragonrune sword have to do with you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He scoffed incredulously. “Oh, I don’t give two shits about the dragon sword, Vera.” He glanced over at Coalt, faced me once more with glittering eyes, and winked.
His message was clear.
COALT AND I HIT THE road. Due to my heavy backpack, it was slow going.
The morning was bright and warm. The grasslands were in full bloom. It finally felt like I was on a real adventure. Just the two of us.
We traveled from the village in silence for most the first leg of the journey, trying to focus on making it up and over the many grassy hillsides.
About midday, when we prepared to climb another hill, I realized I couldn’t get through the trek in complete silence. I had too many questions on my mind.
Eventually, I cleared my throat. “You know, you never told me about the sword and what it means to you,” I said aloud, lumbering over a rock and hooking both my hands in the straps of my backpack. “I have the sneaking suspicion you’re not in this for the Oblyx Sheets.”
He grunted. His shoulder-length, dark red hair looked magnificent fluttering in the breeze. “If I tell you, do you promise not to use the information against me?”
I had expected some sarcastic barb and to be shut down immediately.
It seemed we were actually getting somewhere.
“Of course,” I said. “How could I use it against you?”
He eyed me warily. “The dragonrune sword belonged to my father, and his father before him.”
I stifled a gasp.
“It’s an heirloom belonging to the Firesworn family. All royal shifters have weapons like that, and ‘dragonrune’ is not just a fancy name. It’s a material imbued in the essence of the blade itself. Imbued in me.”
My head spun. He’d just opened up so many more questions than he’d answered.
“Did you say royal shifters? Like, you’re nobility among your people?”
“Yes. My father was the alpha of the Summer House. Or the chief, in your people’s terms.”
I gulped. “You said ‘was’ . . .”
“He’s dead. He died in the Summer-Winter War I spoke of last night.”
Gods, I knew there had been sadness and anger in his eyes when he’d told that exciting tale. His morose tone, now, sounded much more akin to his actual feelings about the war.
“I’m sorry, Coalt.”
“For what? You didn’t kill him.”
Frustration pinched my spine. “Um, well, if your father’s gone, doesn’t that make you alpha?”
He nodded. We’d made it to the base of the hill and started up another. “The sword does more than give me strength. Not only does it ground me—or unfetter me, rather—but it also gives me the authority to lead over my people.”
“So with the sword, you’ll be able to ‘focus’ on your shifting, so you won’t be weakened?”
“Indeed,” he said, his low voice almost a growl.
I could tell I was getting dangerously close to pissing him off, bringing up these grim memories. And he obviously didn’t like being called “weakened.” Weakness was not a word in Coalt’s vocabulary.
Perhaps it was time to change the subject. But I couldn’t. I was captivated. And shit, clearly this sword meant a lot more to him than it did me.
Nevertheless, I had to think of my own people, too. We needed the Sheets that came with retrieving it.
“My people can’t have an impotent leader,” Coalt snarled, shaking his head. “We are still at war—always at war—though with a different enemy, perhaps. My people need me.”
“I-Impotent?”
He shot me a sly grin, and it made heat churn through my belly. “Not in the way you’re imagining.”
“Hey! I’m not imagining anything!”
He chuckled to himself. We reached the apex of the hill and readied to descend the other side. My butt and legs were burning from the climb, but more than that, the churning heat had made its way between my thighs, and the sudden desire rippling through me made me uncomfortable.
“How did the sword end up lost? It seems so important to you, I mean.”
“I ask myself the same question every day.” He sounded exasperated. He stopped at the top of the hill and I joined him for a short rest.
“You understand now why I will go to any length to retrieve my sword, Levia?”
I bit my bottom lip. “I do, and—”
His head jerked so fast to the side I thought his neck would snap. He sniffed the air.
“Coalt? What is it?” I took a step back and let my heavy pack thud to the ground.
The dragon shifter growled deep in his throat. His hands went to the handles of his blades. Mine went to the dagger I kept hidden.
I followed his gaze down the hill.
Five armored riders were ascending the hill toward us. And they were drawing their weapons.
14
Coalt
“Get behind me,” I barked. I put myself in front of Levia but knew my efforts would be futile as the men surrounded us on their horses.
When the petty troop drew their swords, I glanced at each of them in turn, wheeling.
My eyes burned with unchecked fury. My body pulsed, muscles flexing. I unsheathed my blades in a whirl of steel, crossing them in an X as they whipped out.
I could sense the men’s fear. I could also sense Levia’s, and it nearly drove me into a berserk rage. The horses stepped skittishly in place, more afraid of the beast within me than their riders. At least they knew common sense.
I wouldn’t let these fools stand in my way of the dragonrune sword. More than that, I realized, I wouldn’t let them hurt Levia. I had grown a bond with her over a short time. I saw her as my charge.
Our time in the wagon had shown me something. She had awoken my animal instinct. I had nearly made a terrible mistake in kissing the woman. Or perhaps it wouldn’t have been a mistake . . .
I had always known, deep inside, that Leviathan Sunfall would play a part in the search for my heirloom. But I hadn’t expected that part to be falling in love. It had happened so instantly that I couldn’t pinpoint the exac
t moment it overtook me.
These bastards would not stand between us.
They wore piecemeal armor, not the regimented uniforms of a true military power. I had fought dragons and things much worse than these barely-stubbled, lanky miscreants.
“Stand down, Vero,” the lead man in front of me ordered. He rested the flat of his blade across his steed’s neck. The animal flinched.
It wouldn’t take much to scare this one away. But then I’d have four others to deal with.
“I don’t take orders from you,” I snarled, flaring my nostrils. “In fact, I don’t take orders from anyone.”
The man scoffed. He was skinny, with a graying mustache, and clearly the oldest of the troop. The other four could have been his sons.
Maybe if he fell, the others would flee.
I watched his throat bob in hesitation as he seemed to study me. “Who do you think you are? You have entered the territory of Cerophus City. You must pay the common toll to safely pass. Everyone must.”
“I am Coalt Firesworn, Prince of the Summer House,” I said, reaching wide with my swords. “And Cerophus City is still two day’s march ahead.”
He narrowed his brow. The helmet he wore was too big for his head and it gave him a comical air. “Yes, well, our territory is vast.”
“You say ‘our.’ Who are you?” I pointed one of my blades at him.
He balked as if I’d offended him. “We are the Cerophus Defenders.”
“You can’t defend Cerophus way out here,” I said matter-of-factly. “They will never find your bodies.”
Two of the men gasped. I sensed Levia going rigid behind me.
“E-Excuse me?”
I took a deep breath. “I said, if you continue this line of intimidation, the city will never find your bodies when I’m done with you. You’re too far out.”
His sallow skin paled. He looked suddenly less confident. “How dare you!”
He made no move to advance. His hesitation would be the death of him—I’d make sure of it.
“What is this ‘common toll’ you speak of? And who are the Cerophus Defenders?” Levia asked, taking a step beside me.