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“Were there any casualties? Do you know if anyone fell from the sky when they turned human?”
“Not that I’ve heard of. Most of us were on the ground with the women. Some dragons were stuck in their caves all night, as humans, and they flew down here to join us as soon as they reverted to dragon form.”
“You and I must address the clan,” I tell him. “First, however, I will confront the enchantress. You stay here and keep everyone earthbound and calm until we know if the change will happen again.”
“Agreed,” Varex says. “Do what you must to get the answers we need. But Kyreagan—don’t kill her.”
“Not until I find out what she has done to us.” I leap into the air, and Serylla gives a little yelp of surprise.
“Warn me before you take off next time,” she snaps. “I nearly fell.”
“You should always be prepared when you’re on a dragon’s back. It’s a dangerous place to be.”
“You should always be considerate when you have a rider.”
“I see you’ve returned to your usual mood.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” I growl. “Only that you were different, in the forest. You treated me more kindly when I was in human form. Perhaps because I was less of a threat. Weaker, softer.”
“I wouldn’t say softer,” she mutters. “You felt pretty hard to me.”
Heat and shame roll through me, and Mordessa’s image rises in my mind. What would she say if she knew how I was behaving, so soon after her death? She would scorn me for desiring a human. How could I thus dishonor the memory of the one who loved me?
I dive abruptly, and Serylla shrieks.
“Don’t mention that again,” I command her. “Not to anyone.”
“Asshole,” she gasps as I resume a normal flying pattern. “So you got hard when I kissed you. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
“I should not have such feelings prior to mating season. Especially not for you.”
“How do you think I feel? I kissed the dragon who ripped me away from my home, threw me into a cave, and intends to use me as breeding stock.” A wretched laugh bursts from her.
“Perhaps we both went a little mad, after we came so close to dying,” I concede.
“And with the unexpected change of your body—it was confusing,” she adds.
“We can forget it. Pretend it never happened.”
She shifts restlessly on my back. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what both of us want, is it not?”
“Of course.” A pause, and then she says, “But in such troubled times as these, if we seek physical comfort, it does not necessarily have to mean anything deeper. Two people can despise each other and have no intention of being together long-term, yet still use each other for mutual benefit.”
“Use each other… sexually?”
“Yes. Humans do it all the time. For instance, we could say that if you’re ever in human form again, we’re allowed to use each other purely for physical relief, without liking each other at all. No emotions or promises involved.”
She falls silent after that. I can feel her waiting for my answer, her legs pressed tightly to my scales.
Something ravenous inside me leaps at the opportunity she offers, its greed overwhelming my guilt. “If it’s a common arrangement among humans, I may as well follow that custom when I’m in that form.”
“Right,” she says eagerly. “In dragon form, you follow dragon customs, and in human form—well, no one has to know what we do.”
The subversive nature of those words appeals to the dark, wild part of me. “And it changes nothing between us. I can still feel distaste for your spoiled behavior, and you can hate my plan for mating season.”
