Page 65 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Zak turned to her, joy and surprise lighting his face.

Their voices made the music visible around them. It expanded like blooming flowers and fireworks, as though the very air was exploding with happiness.

Zak reached out and took her hand, and somehow the sounds and colors came alive inside her, in every cell of her body, in her heart, in her soul. She and Zak and the gold and the music—even the earth underneath the castle—were all one. One being, one song.

After a long time the music wound down, until it was just their two voices, a soft harmony above the lingering hum of gold. And then it was silent, but the joy remained, embodied in the glowing necklace around her neck.

Zak picked it up, the light playing around his fingers as he looked at it in wonder. Then he laid it gently on her chest and cupped her face, pulling her in for a long, slow kiss.

Dragon-heart, she heard in her mind. Heart of the hoard.

And then she lost herself in Zak’s kisses, and they made love to the music of the hoard.

Chapter 28

The next day, the Al-Maddeiri clan threw a barbecue in Zak’s honor. It spread out from a stone terrace outside the man cave, where there was an outdoor kitchen, and there were at least fifty or sixty people there.

It was exuberant and chaotic, what with people blowing flames out of their mouths and randomly turning into animals, and the occasional full-out brawl with blood and claws, that no one but her seemed to be disturbed by. Sometimes they even gathered around and cheered the combatants on.

She could tell Zak was pleased they were throwing him a party, but also kind of overwhelmed, so of course he responded by being rude and surly to everyone except Kendra.

No one seemed to mind; they appeared to take it for granted. Cazbek kept plying him with liquor and letting him win at lawn darts, teasing Zak until he actually got him to laugh.

Maddie herself remained mostly on the sidelines, observing. Despite the brawls, she could see the tight bonds between the shifters. Zak had good friends here; no, better than friends. They really were his family, even if he believed he was the black sheep.

Except for Cazbek and Lucinda and Zak, though, Maddie was mostly on her own. A lot of the shifters ignored her; the ones that didn’t were reserved. She even got some looks that were downright hostile.

She understood that better now, though, after talking to Lucinda. So many of these people had been captured and abused by people like Eric. And like her, she had to admit, shame washing over her. She’d played a part in the misery of so many shifters, even if she hadn’t understood what she was doing at the time.

It would take them a long time to warm up to her, if they ever did.

And why should they? She knew Zak cared about her, but their relationship had been created out of his pain and need. Now that he had his family back, why would he want to be with someone who obviously would never be a part of his world?

Who couldn’t be, really. She had to go back to earth; Troy needed her. And he couldn’t know about shifters, so how could she possibly be with one?

But the thought of leaving Zak behind for good made her feel like her heart was being torn out. As she watched him, Zak beat Caz and Lucinda again at lawn darts, and the three of them stood in a tight little group, laughing over something. Caz wrapped his arm around Lucinda, looking down at her with undisguised adoration. None of them looked in her direction.

Tears unexpectedly filled Maddie’s eyes, and she ducked inside, ignoring the wolves playing pool. They didn’t speak to her, just fell silent and watched her go by as she headed for the bathroom.

Luckily no one was in there, and she leaned against the wall, letting the tears fall.

Finally she straightened up. Zak would probably be wondering what happened to her—if he noticed she was gone at all. She splashed cold water on her face, and then looked in the mirror to fix her hair.

Oh, hell. The cold water had barely helped at all. It was obvious she’d been bawling her eyes out—her nose was as red as a stop sign. She couldn’t go back to the barbecue like this.

She left the bathroom and went further down the hall to the secret door Zak had showed her yesterday. She lifted the painting of the poker-playing dragons and pressed her hand on the block, praying it would open for her.

She felt a little vibration from Zak’s necklace, and the door slid open. The necklace must contain some of his magic, she thought. She wondered how that worked. Residual energy? But she was too dispirited for scientific speculation.

Maddie sat down on the stone floor near the top of the stairs and tried to think of happy things, so she wouldn’t cry again and she could go back to the barbecue without her clown nose giving her away. She should have brought some ice to cool it down faster.

She’d only been there for a few minutes when the secret door opened. She looked up quickly, hoping it was Zak, but it wasn’t. It was Mikah. She hadn’t talked to him much; all she knew was that he was King Emon’s steward, which meant he oversaw most of the administrative functions of the kingdom. But he’d seemed nice. Not hostile.

“Hey,” she said. “Mikah, right?”

“That’s me.” He loomed over her in the dim light, as big and gorgeous as the others, but his eyes were unexpectedly kind. “I saw you escaping into the secret tunnel. Zak didn’t say something especially obnoxious and hurt your feelings, did he?”

That made her laugh, although it came out kind of a gulp because for some reason his kindness made her want to cry again.