AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Besides we dragons are rather possessive and tend to want our mates where we know they are safest, and that is by our sides,” said Warrick.
They spent the rest of the afternoon eating and breaking down their camp. Tevryn stowed everything but their clothing and food in a small blind that he constructed for that purpose. When they were ready, Warrick shifted first, hovered over the prisoner, wrapping the net in his talons and lifted off.
Tevryn moved away from her and was almost immediately enveloped in a swirling cataclysm of lightning, fire, and color until he emerged as a dragon. He was enormous. Lucy had once taken her to see the famous Clydesdale hitch, and she’d thought the horses were huge. But Tevryn dwarfed them.
Bowing down, he extended his front leg, and allowed her to grab onto his scales. He used his muzzle to support her as she climbed, settling on his withers—where his neck met his shoulders.
“Just grasp the spikes in front of you. You’ll be safe…”
“Can other shifters talk in both their human and animal form?” she asked.
“No. Dragons are the only known shifter species that have the ability to speak in their animal form. Many of the large predator species can communicate along a bonding link with their mate, which we can also do, but they cannot vocalize words that others can hear. Now hold on. I’m just going to lift off gently and we’ll fly up to Dragonwyk. The night is falling. I think you’ll enjoy flying amongst the stars and the clouds.”
Tevryn was as good as his word. He took a few steps at a jogging pace, flapping his wings as he gained momentum. She could feel them lifting off, and it wasn’t long before she’d released her death grip on the spines and had her arms spread wide to embrace the night.
Chapter 16
Tevryn
He had thought she would have put up more of an argument about being basically kidnapped and taken to Dragonwyk, but then again, as she pointed out, because of what she had experienced and seen and the things Whistler had told her, she’d been prepared to accept shifters and dragons.
They arrived at Dragonwyk while it was still night, but the stronghold had been lit with torches.
“Yurts!” she said excitedly, leaning down along his neck.
He chuckled. “And ours even has mostly indoor plumbing and a polished wood floor.”
“Mostly?”
“Yes, but we’re only missing the shower. We have communal showers down at the great lodge, but I do have a copper bathtub. If you want, we can build an outdoor shower that will be private. And before you worry about your career, I think things are changing for those of us who comprise the Phantom Fire, and like Warrick, I am willing to live with you in Issaquah.”
“Aren’t you even the tiniest bit concerned that I might not want to live this life with you?”
“Concerned? No. Terrified? Yes. But I am choosing to believe that what we feel for one another will more than suffice. Our lives and our destinies are intertwined.”
“Okay, but for the record, I was going to basically tell you the same thing. I’m more worried about Lucy.”
“There are humans who know about us. If Lucy does not want to join us as a shifter, she will simply be added to their number. Lucy would never betray us of that I have no doubt.”
“She wouldn’t.”
Tevryn landed gracefully, bowing and extending his foreleg so she could climb down. Sobek was waiting for them.
“Welcome, Delaney Pierce. I am Sobek, second in command of the Phantom Fire. Normally, our alpha would be here to greet you, but his mate just presented him with a beautiful daughter. I’m afraid he’s rather enraptured and enamored of them both. He will greet you in the morning.”
“A daughter,” said Tevryn, wrapping a large cloth around his mid-section to cover him from waist to just below the knee.
“Falkor has called a meeting of our warriors,” said Sobek before he excused himself and went to see to the prisoner.
Dani had greeted her husband and now turned to Delaney. “Surprise!”
For some reason that tickled Delaney, who started to laugh. “Are you a dragon? Wait is that rude to ask?”
“Drakaina. Female dragons are drakaina, and yes, I am, and no it’s not rude. After a while you get a sense about people and whether or not they’re shifters. Sometimes you can figure out what kind, but not always.” She turned to Tevryn. “Several of the women, who weren’t helping Kessily, helped me get your home in order, and I filled the tub with hot water. I thought your mate might enjoy a nice soak.”
“That was kind of you, Dani. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for you, Tevryn, I did it for her. This,” she said, indicating Dragonwyk, “is a lot to take in. And seeing dragons battle and then flying up here for the first time, I wanted the transition as easy for her as it could be.”
