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“Could be. It appeared to be some kind of ceremony site, but I think a lot of digging would have to be done before we could even start to grasp what its significance is. What did you think of the rest of the information?”
“While there appears to be some hard facts, there’s an awful lot of conjecture, leaps-of-faith and assumptions involved. While those can be helpful, if we’re going to try and figure out what’s going on, we’re going to need to be more methodical. How did you get involved with those other sites and artifacts?”
“Mostly by happenstance,” she admitted. “I’m always really careful about researching an area and examining the dirt we move when we first break ground. But I’ve been involved with a number of projects where we needed to rethink the whole thing or move it because of things we found. I’m lucky that I’ve developed a good reputation with a lot of indigenous peoples so I’m not seen as the evil developer.”
“Are we agreed that Whistler is hiding something or at least not being transparent about his motives for picking a place in the Winds? I mean, I think he does believe there are some places that were imbued with power in the past, but I don’t think it explains everything.”
“Nor do I,” she said. “I never did. I don’t know that he’s really up to no good, but like you, I think he could be someone’s dupe. I did some geo mapping yesterday, and one of the places I want to explore is up that way.”
She pointed to an area that wasn’t far from the entrance to Dragonwyk. The Phantom Fire’s stronghold wasn’t easy to find. In fact, no one who hadn’t been invited had ever discovered its existence. But the fact that Whistler and Delaney were interested in the area was cause for concern.
“Any idea how he came by the information he’s shared with you?”
Delaney shook her head. “None, and he gets very dodgy when I ask about that. You really don’t like him, do you?”
“I don’t know him well enough to like or dislike him. What I do know is that I don’t trust him.”
“I wish I could argue that point with you, but I can’t. Like you said the other day, there’s just something off about him.”
The words had barely passed her lips, when Tevryn’s senses went on high alert. He could feel something moving, closing in on him. As they were standing with a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of their surroundings, it meant that whatever threat he was feeling was coming from above. The only thing that could make him become hyperaware in that manner was the presence of another dragon.
The screeching roar from the direction of the sun told him the dragon was on the attack and using the same tactic that he had the day before. Their position was less exposed than yesterday, but Delaney was definitely in a vulnerable position.
“Tevryn? Did you hear it?” Her face was turned up and she was scanning the sky. Spotting it, she pointed, as she exclaimed, “Look! Up there! It is a dragon. I wasn’t hallucinating.”
“No, you weren’t,” he said, shoving her behind a group of boulders. “I love you, and I’m sorry.”
“Tevryn, wait!” she cried as he ran out into the clearing, summoning his dragon on the fly.
Running toward a ledge, the swirling thundercloud rumbled and flashed lightning and color as it moved with him. Gaining momentum, he leaped from the edge and heard Delaney scream. His heart stuttered but there was no time for explanations. Those would have to wait.
In mid-air, the shift came over him, and he breathed fire as he beat his wings against the air, giving him lift and power. Once again, the dragon seemed intent on getting Delaney. That wasn’t going to happen. Tevryn closed on him, blinding the creature in one eye as a stream of fire hit the mark. The dragon was unlike any he had seen before. It was misshapen with smaller, deformed wings and dry skin as opposed to scales. It didn’t seem to register the threat that Tevryn posed. It screamed in pain, but instead of turning to face Tevryn or breaking off its attack, it shook its almost swan-like neck and resumed its course.
Tevryn was bigger and faster and easily caught up to the thing. Part of the deformity of its head were the rows and rows of teeth, which were triangular in shape with serrated edges. Tevryn rammed into the thing, sending it somersaulting across the sky. It roared in anger and turned toward Tevryn, trying to sink its talons into Tevryn’s flesh, but it wasn’t quick enough. Tevryn soared past it, smacking it with his tail as he did so, throwing off the thing’s aim as he shot a plume of fire that seemed intense, but short on duration and size.
Ducking below the creature, Tevryn dragged his claws along the thing’s belly, opening up several deep, lethal gouges. The skin felt like sandpaper and seemed tougher than the hide that normally covered a dragon’s body. Tevryn flew almost straight up and into the sun before turning and hurtling down at the thing, pulling up at the last minute to grasp its wings and easily tearing the membrane from which they seemed to be made.
Again, the creature roared in anger, pain, and confusion. Tevryn dragged his adversary across the sky, shaking him and ripping his wings to shreds. He meant to dash the thing against the rocks, killing it so he could take a closer look. As they approached the ground at terminal velocity, his opponent’s wings were destroyed, and the belly wounds were taking their toll.
Tevryn spotted a sharpened spire that formed part of the ring of stones he’d pushed Delaney behind for safety. He needed to ensure this thing was dead. Releasing its wings, Tevryn grabbed it by the throat, shaking it and slamming it onto the sharp, spiraling rock before ripping its head off.
Landing, he shifted back, kneeling on one knee and gasping for air from the exertion. He looked up to see Delaney staring at him, unable to speak. Before he could talk to her, he heard another screech and looked up to see two more of the mutant dragons headed their way. He reached for her, wanting to tell her he loved her and to establish a connection she could understand, but she recoiled.
He called forth his dragon and shifted, finding the strength, courage, and will to take to the skies to defend his mate once again.
Chapter 15
Delaney
The terrifying roar of the dragon she’d seen before made her blood run cold. It was back. Tevryn grabbed her hand and propelled her toward a group of granite boulders. But instead of ducking into the rocks where they might be safe, he took off running for the edge of the outcropping they’d been standing on.
There was a clap of thunder as a fiery maelstrom full of color and light swirled all around him. She screamed as he leapt from the edge and watched in horror and amazement as the man whose body she knew as well as her own shifted from man to dragon. He emerged breathing fire and beating his great wings against the wind, gaining altitude and speed.
She could see now the difference between the two. The dragon she now knew, or at least believed to be Tevryn, was a large creature with four legs, two wings and a long tail. The neck was thick and powerful, but not overly long. The head had a kind of symmetrical beauty and the plume of fire seemed to be lengthy and strong. He streamed fire into the other dragon’s eye, causing it to scream in agony, but it simply redirected its efforts to get to her.
She couldn’t watch, and yet she couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was terrifying and yet exhilarating, horrible and arousing. She couldn’t believe what she had seen, yet she had seen it with her own eyes. Not only was Elron Whistler right about the existence of dragon-shifters, the man she had fallen in love with so quickly and so deeply was one of them.
Tevryn was clearly larger, faster, and more powerful and easily caught up to the thing, slamming into it and sending it tumbling across the sky. Finally seeming to recognize Tevryn as a threat, it turned to face him. The smaller dragon seemed to roll as it tried to impale Tevryn on its claws. It wasn’t fast enough, and as Tevryn soared past, he swatted the smaller beast with his tail, seeming to disorient it.
