Verdant Magic: A Standalone Dragon Shifter Adventure (Dragon Mage Chronicles Book 1) Page 11

  Well, it can’t hurt to at least try the gentlemanly approach first, Zane thought wryly. So, willing his scales to change color like the skin of a chameleon, he slowly flashed a message that the other dragon shouldn’t have been able to understand.

  Two slashes of red crossed his chest to symbolize clasped hands, then a starburst of yellow exploded in the center of the pictograph. “Welcome,” the pattern read.

  Behind his back, over-protective Nicholas huffed his disapproval. Fun-loving Alexander, in contrast, chuckled that long, rolling laugh dragon-form shifters were somehow able to force out of their throats without the benefit of human voice boxes and well-tuned vocal cords. A pause...then a harmonic note as Nicholas changed his tune and joined his sibling in amusement.

  Perhaps it was the laughter that did it rather than Zane’s carefully orchestrated message. But whatever the cause, the moon-marked beast hesitated then drifted down so he lay almost close enough for the Green to strangle within its vicious grip. Finally, slowly, the stranger rolled over, wings beating awkwardly as he strove to remain motionless with his tender belly exposed to the sky.

  His brother wasn’t displaying one of the patterns Zane had used in his own childhood. But the gesture was perfectly understandable nonetheless. “I surrender,” it read, clear as day.

  Only then did Zane remember why he had been so hostile in the first place. Beloved faces flashed before his mind’s eye, along with memories of his twin’s former disregard for the kinship created by their shared blood. Could he really afford to risk the safety of Sarah and Amber, Jasmine and Thea while gambling on an unknown entity like the moon-marked beast?

  Honor your brothers, his foster mother had once told her passel of dragonets on a long-ago winter night when Zane and his siblings lay in a heap before a raging fire. The warmth felt so good against their tender young skins that the infants had been nearly asleep as she crooned the follow-up message. I’ll love you as long as I’m able. But someday your brothers will be all you have left.

  Try as he might, it was impossible to disobey his foster mother’s admonition even at the ripe old age of twenty-nine. So Zane bent his head low in wordless acknowledgment then swung his tail like a rudder to steer him back toward the ship from which he’d come.

  The ebony dragon had surrendered, so Zane would mirror the former’s show of good faith. But he wouldn’t let the other shifter out of his sight. He’d follow Sarah’s advice to the letter, but not to the detriment of the people he loved.

  Chapter 17

  “Who’s the black dragon?” Jasmine asked as four passengers and one young sailor peered out through the transparent bottom of their inverted observation dome at the battle below. Amber’s hands clenched together so hard, she half expected to hear the crunch of breaking finger bones. But the dragons’ foster mother was untroubled both by the preceding battle and now by the moon-marked beast flying directly toward their unprotected ship.

  Of course, Sarah didn’t know this particular dragon the way Amber did. Sarah didn’t know that the fast-approaching shifter had murdered Greenwich’s former Watcher and his wife as if the pair were ants raiding a picnic basket—annoyances unworthy of being brushed gently aside. For picnicker and dragon alike, it was easier to slay than to save.

  “I’m not sure,” the older woman replied. She captured one of Jasmine’s gesturing hands and pulled it down into her lap to calm the overanxious child, her voice remaining serene and steady as she elaborated. “You don’t need to worry, though. My boys wouldn’t bring him home if he wasn’t willing to behave.”

  Behave? Amber had been impressed by Sarah’s mental and physical agility in the past. But now, she gazed over the older woman’s head at the friend she trusted not to compare a murderer to a truant teenager.

  Sure enough, Charlie’s eyes were already cutting to the carefully folded and presumably self-explanatory parachutes lining one wall. Shall we go? Her friend asked wordlessly, flared nostrils and lowered brows proving he was no more thrilled by the presence of a fourth dragon aboard the Intrepid than Amber was.

  His plan was considerably more rational than Sarah’s easy acceptance of the situation. And yet...was Amber really willing to risk everyone’s safety in an overt attempt at escape? Perhaps she would have been had an old woman and an innocent teenage boy not been caught in the middle of what was bound to be a scuffle.

  Unfortunately, Sarah and the sailor were very much present, and Amber doubted either would let the witches flee unhindered. So, reluctantly, she pursed her lips and shook her head. No, she’d try a more head-on approach to the upcoming conflict first.

  Decision made, feet immediately burst into action. In fact, Amber was halfway to the exit—and how exactly had the previous occupants clambered out without a ladder to assist in the ascent?—when she remembered to throw a command back over one shoulder. “Stay here.”

  Unfortunately, her little herd was anything but obedient. Dainty hooves clattered along in her wake, then Thea screamed discontent as her mistress left the poor climber behind. Meanwhile, Jasmine called a confused query at her mentor’s retreating back. “Amber? Where are you going?”

  Despite complaints from pet and student alike, the Watcher didn’t hesitate. Instead, she ran down the hallway, pulling herself up rungs and dashing between hatches as quickly as she was able. One more staircase and she’d returned to the open deck at long last, out of breath but otherwise none the worse for wear.

  “Get back below!” the captain bellowed from somewhere above her head as she emerged. This time, though, Amber didn’t even bother glancing up. Instead, she darted toward the deck extension that the shifters had used as their launching pad when taking off in draconic form. If Zane was bringing the moon-marked beast back aboard the Intrepid, then this was where the squadron would assemble for landing.

  Sure enough, four dragons swooped up from below only seconds after Amber had attained her lofty perch. Their fire was carefully veiled to prevent setting the balloon above all of their heads ablaze, but warmth still beat against her arms like summer sun as they queued up to take turns stepping onto the ship. Then, in a rush of rapidly moving air that sent her reeling backwards, two red dragons paced together onto the metal flooring as smoothly as if disembarking from a well-anchored boat.

  But Amber didn’t watch the newly turned humans for long. Instead, her gaze flicked to Zane...and stuck.

  Despite fear of his companion, Amber was immediately lost in the beauty of her dragon. Scales glowed from within while sunlight turned surfaces pearly and iridescent. Meanwhile, the golden flier turned so gracefully through the air that he might as well have been dancing rather than soaring.

  Long ago, she and her father had watched a flock of starlings dip and rise, twisting around each other so agilely that their wingtips nearly touched...yet never quite filled the same space at the exact same time. Zane’s approach put those remembered birds to shame, and Amber forced herself to close her sagging jaw before an insect flew inside.

  As if sensing her awe, the golden dragon hesitated just beyond the deck’s outer limits. Then flames licked along an emerging torso as he shook himself back into humanity with one long shudder of agony...or ecstasy.

  For a moment, Amber’s heart stopped. She’d only known this shifter for a very short period of time, and yet she ached to throw herself into Zane’s materializing arms. To stand on tiptoes and kiss the golden-beast-turned-man until he, she, and the dragon were all completely breathless. In human form, he’d lift her off her feet with sinewy arms, hugging her close to his chest as heat merged two bodies and spirits into one kiln-hardened being of earth and fire....

  But the black dragon turned human one heartbeat later, forcing Amber to take another startled step backwards away from the object of her desire. It wasn’t just the newcomer’s presence that tossed cold water onto her obsessive embers, either. No, it was the way the second man appeared to be an imperfect mirror image of the first, like a copy projected onto the tannin-darkened
surface of a leaf-filled pond.

  Where her dragon was blond, this shifter was raven-haired. Where her dragon had always greeted her with a warm smile and welcoming flames, this man’s grin was all sharp teeth and dangerous invitation. The mere thought of her dragon had put a smile on her lips that morning as soon as she awoke, but this dragon had killed her parents and colored her nightmares for ten long years.

  The shock of combined similarity and dissonance froze her in place like a deer too terrified to flee from a mountain lion. Then—after one heartbreaking second—the moon-marked stranger turned back to his golden counterpart and released Amber from his hungry stare.

  “Thank you for the welcome, brother,” the former said, holding out one hand to be shaken. “I’m Baine.”

  ***

  As Zane leaned forward to take his brother’s hand, a wisp of aromatic apple filled his nostrils. He’d been so intent upon the dragon behind his back that he hadn’t bothered scanning the deck as he touched down. Now, though, he realized his witch was here, behind him. Then, in a scuffle of pounding feet and gasping breath...she was gone.

  Turning, he followed the retreating figure with his eyes. No, wait, those were his feet pulling him along like a weak flier riding the calm eddies in a stronger dragon’s wake. Swept up in the current, it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done to force himself to pause and glance backward at the grouping of shifters rather than run as far and fast as he was able to catch up to his witch before she completed her escape.

  Don’t let Baine out of your sight, he begged with his eyes instead, wishing he was able to change the color of his skin to relay the message properly without barring himself from the ship’s belly where Amber now hid. His more responsible foster brother, Nicholas, could probably be counted upon to doubt first and make friends later. Alexander, on the other hand, was likely to let the newcomer set fire to the airship’s envelope if devastation seemed like the key to a rousing good time.

  Zane knew he should have stayed and mediated between childish pranks and mature good sense. But he cared more about losing sight of the woman who had so recently fled than he did about making a good impression on his newfound twin. So he turned without another word, ignored dignity, and ran.

  The woman was gone by the time he breached the top enclosed level of the ship. The observation bubble, perhaps? He thought, remembering how the passengers had gathered with noses pressed against glass as he winged his way back aboard. After all, a skybound earth witch would be wise to react to danger by seeking out the company of her loyal friends.

  And yet...the predatory senses of a dragon slowed his feet instead of speeding them as he paced across the metal decking three levels above the most obvious goal. Instinctively, he paused beside Amber’s cabin, held his breath, and listened.

  Nothing. For all he knew, the woman he craved was already breaking free of the ship. She might currently be checking the straps on her apprentice’s escape parachute then clutching that endearing, floppy-eared goat to her chest as all four—three humans and one pet—dropped together into the endless wilderness of the Green.

  If so, he’d never see her again.

  The thought spurred his feet to move without permission, drawing him closer to the ladder leading down. But the tiniest tendril of apple aroma crept out from the crack beneath the door and stilled his steps before he’d gone far. Was he sensing Amber’s former presence, or was the witch herself cowering within the tiny room she probably thought of as a prison cell? Was she hiding from his brother...or from Zane himself?

  Forcing his fist to tap lightly rather than to push its way through the barrier he itched to breach, Zane announced his presence. “Amber?”

  In response, quiet footsteps padded toward him, a warmth leaned against the other side of that annoyingly solid door, and Zane sighed in relief. She was there. She was listening. Maybe she’d let him in?

  He was tempted to imbue his voice with the same seductive glamour that had prompted the younger earth witch to do his bidding the afternoon before. But this conversation—the first one they’d held alone since he broke free from that dratted collar—shouldn’t be lubricated with honeyed words. There could be no question later about whether Amber chose his presence of her own free will.

  So, instead, he merely said her name one more time. “Amber.”

  “Zane.” Her reply ended with choking laughter as if the hidden woman was shocked by her own choice to break the silence. Then the door swung slowly open as the room’s inhabitant fled back toward the most distant corner of the dimly lit space on unshod feet.

  It wasn’t the most promising welcome he’d ever received. But Zane would take it.

  Following the earth witch inside, he pressed the door closed behind them both before sinking down cross-legged onto the chilly floorboards beneath his feet. There was one tiny window high on the wall above his companion’s head, and the illumination shining through turned Amber into a figure out of a dream, all soft curves and unexpected magnificence. Zane found himself purring with pleasure at the mere sight.

  Unfortunately, his companion was far less willing to melt into the moment. “Are you using your magic on me now?” she demanded.

  The witch had seemed so sure of herself while snaring a dragon and standing up to her fellows down in that dank cavern beneath the earth. Here, though, she was quite literally out of her element. No wonder her clenched fists trembled while her back tensed with fear. No wonder she perched on the edge of the bed as if poised to flee.

  Zane ached to clasp smaller hands between his own and massage them back to quietude, to rub harsh lines out of his companion’s torso and neck. Instead, he shook his head, unsure if he could risk speaking without driving his companion further away. After all, she’d never rescinded her walnut-enforced gag order. And his repeated use of glamour in her presence—was it three times now?—wasn’t likely to engender trust in future auditory endeavors.

  For a long moment, silence stretched between them as the ship swayed gently in the breeze. Only when the witch slumped back against the far wall did Zane dare to open his mouth at last. “It’s called glamour,” he offered. “And, no, I’m not using it now. I don’t call upon my knack often and most people can avoid it if they know it’s coming.” He paused, then tried for a hint of humor to lighten the tense occasion. “It’s really just a party trick. My ace up the sleeve when trying to bamboozle hollow-legged brothers out of the last slice of pie.”

  Her lips quirked up, then just as quickly turned down. “Your brothers,” she started.

  When no further words were forthcoming, Zane filled in the blanks. “Nicholas and Alexander. And Mason, but he lives back at the Aerie so you haven’t met him yet.”

  “And Baine.”

  Ah, so that was the problem. Zane chose his words even more carefully this time around, mostly because he wasn’t certain how much trust anyone should harbor for his moon-marked twin’s continuing loyalty. So rather than lead his witch astray, he told her the honest truth. “You’re right—Baine’s my brother too. But today is the first time we’ve ever met. Well, yesterday, if you call an aerial battle meeting.”

  He stopped, realizing he was rambling...and that Amber had curled back in on herself as if protecting her tender belly from further attack. Zane growled in annoyance at his own ineptitude. He’d barely strung two sentences together and had already managed to say the entirely wrong thing. Conversation with a beautiful woman was hard, especially when he couldn’t utilize the mellowing effects of glamour.

  But before he could figure out how to disentangle his foot from his mouth, Amber had gathered her courage back around her. Looking up from the floor, she turned gaze into glare as her eyes glistened and jaw clenched. If the witch had been a shifter like himself, she would have erupted into a pillar of damaging flames. Zane could almost feel the virtual burn from across the room.

  “Baine may be your brother,” she said at last, “but he’s my enemy. Ten years ago, he killed both of my
parents. And I plan to do everything in my power to make sure he never harms anyone I care about ever again.”

  Chapter 18

  “I’m sorry,” Zane said, apologizing for a deed Amber was abruptly certain he’d shared no responsibility in either before or after the fact.

  It was exactly what she’d needed to hear...and at the same time exactly what she’d hoped not to have to respond to. Because how much easier would it have been to continue vilifying the entire dragon race? How much easier to create an artificial roadblock to defend against attraction that hummed through her veins like a swarm of passing honeybees?

  Now I have no choice but to risk being stung.

  Amber couldn’t quite manage to resent being forced out of her comfort zone, though. Not when Zane’s brilliantly blue eyes bored into hers from across the room. Not when his carefully banked fire tickled sun-kissed curls into a mess that matched her own in form if not in color.

  Her dragon’s voice was the deep rumble of distant thunder when he spoke again. “If I’d known about Baine’s past, I would never have allowed him to set foot on this ship in the first place. I promise you now that he won’t harm you or Jasmine, Charlie or Thea. My brothers are guarding him at the moment. But if you want, I’ll go find that murderer and toss him out....”

  “Shh,” Amber hushed her dragon, standing and taking a step toward the being who was completely unlike anyone she’d ever met before. The low-grade ache that had settled into the pit of her stomach a decade ago was gone, she now realized. The twitchy uncertainty that made her think perhaps she should go somewhere else, do something else. Had that been a dragon-shaped hole that closed seamlessly the moment Zane walked into her life?

  So instead of continuing to tease apart the issue of Baine, she merely asked: “Why are you so far away?”