“You look beautiful in crimson,” he breathed.
“Thank you,” Layla breathed back, not trusting herself to say more as she trembled with molten energy. Roaring between them, their combined heat and fire was almost catastrophic, and exquisitely pleasurable. Curls of etheric golden fire flared in the air around her as Layla felt that intense muscled sensation again; like her Dragon and Adrian’s were coiling through each other, winding into each other.
Mating magically – though their flesh had still been denied that same consummation.
As her heart hammered, Layla felt Adrian catch his breath by her neck. She felt him pause as that scalding sensation between their bodies intensified, twisting into a coil of searing desert heat and golden fire. And then with a sigh, Adrian fell into it; drawn by the power that bound them. Nuzzling his nose beneath her hair, he brushed his warm lips over her neck, pressing a soft kiss to her skin.
Making passion riot through Layla like a continent on fire, as her world burst into golden flame.
CHAPTER 8 – RISE
Layla’s head whirled, her entire body alight with pain as she felt herself being whisked out of the hall in strong arms. Cries surrounded her, a hubbub as she was carried out of the party fast and into the blustery night. Something had happened, but she couldn’t remember it. Inside her, her beast roared and roiled, insane. Cinnamon-jasmine wafted upon the air and her Dragon focused – rushing toward it again in a wave of blistering pain.
Layla screamed as her body arched, every limb roaring with fire as a rush of talons and burning scales tried to escape her flesh again. The pain was pure agony, like someone had poured molten gold through every vein and sinew. Vaguely, she felt herself laid upon a cold stone bench as her magics careened through her. Rain pattered her; heavy drops cooling her enough that her eyelashes fluttered and she saw Dusk’s face.
“Layla! Layla, can you hear me?”
Cupping her neck in his hands, Dusk poured a bolstering vibration through her body like a sluice of clear water, augmenting the cooling sensation of the rain. But Layla couldn’t answer him. Pain devoured her, consumed her from the inside out. She smelled jasmine, like the night had been washed with it as someone moved quickly to her side. Layla screamed as that scent triggered her; her Dragon suddenly clawing at her insides again, skewering her with its talons.
Fighting to get to Adrian.
Fighting to get out.
“Get back, Adrian! Can’t you feel her Dragon’s trying to rise to yours?!” She felt Dusk shove Adrian away, slamming up his crystal barrier between Adrian and Layla.
“Layla!” Adrian’s growl was passionate with rage and hunger as she felt him surge toward her again, hammering his desert-wind energy against Dusk’s barrier. At Adrian’s surge, another seizure ripped through Layla and she screamed, every nerve alight with burning wind. Her eyelashes fluttered, her eyes rolling back. Coils roiled within her; fangs tore at her insides. Her body spasmed as her Dragon surged with muscled intent – trying to break through the confines of her body to reach Adrian, even as Dusk poured his soothing currents into her.
Layla felt her Dragon fight Dusk, swiping at the flow of crystalline water he poured through her. But he was relentless, and at last the beast inside her was swamped by it, though she continued to roil, hot coils with barbs turning over inside Layla’s flesh. Layla felt her mind return as she gasped gratefully, tears squeezing from between her eyelids.
“Dusk!” She gasped, trembling. Her Dragon was still fighting Dusk’s but losing, their battle too great to be controlled by the hamsa cuff at her wrist.
“I’m here. Shh, easy…” Dusk soothed, redoubling his efforts until Layla felt like a crystalline waterfall poured through her veins. Her Dragon gave up the fight at last, and Layla was able to gasp another breath, though it came out in sobs. The pain was still scorching, like a burn over every part of her skin and blistering deep inside her. As if someone had taken her nerves and set them on fire, her head reeled, her stomach clenched in knots so hard she thought she would vomit.
“What’s happening?” She gasped.
“Your Dragon rose to Adrian’s call,” Dusk spoke softly, still pouring his wellspring-deep vibrations through her body. “It tried to shift you just now, a few times. I had to stop it. The Hotel doesn’t allow new Dragons to shift on-site. Not in public at least…”
“What?” Layla didn’t understand, only aware of the pain Dusk was gradually pushing back with his abilities.
“Layla, I’m so sorry.” Adrian stood beside the stone bench, and had finally ceased throwing his energy at Dusk’s barrier. He now stared at Layla as if he could finally see the agony she was in – the agony his kiss had caused her. He had control of himself, though Layla noticed Adam standing behind him, restraining Adrian by the arms from either touching Dusk’s barrier or Layla. She could see Adrian’s beautiful aqua-gold eyes; agony suffused him as his own Dragon still roiled inside, desperate to reach her. “I didn’t know our beasts would react like this—”
“Bullshit!” Dusk growled at Adrian, still pouring his river-water through Layla. “You walked away from her, Adrian! After binding her Dragon to yours by magics that haven’t been used incenturies! Howdareyou walk in here and pretend to care? You almost perpetrated her first shift – on Hotel grounds! You know what the Board would do to her if she shifted here, not to mention what the High Court would do to you both if they found out a Magna Dicta protector caused the first shift of his protectee in public! If I hadn’t been here to stop it, her death would be on you, you fucking dick. Goddammit!”
Dusk’s tirade fizzled out as he continued working on Layla. The next voice she heard was Adam’s, an apple orchard smell rising around her in the night. “Adrian. Come on. Give them some space, cuz. Let Dusk do his thing.”
Layla was more aware of her surroundings now as her body pulled back from excruciating agony to merely throbbing nightmare. She was in a secluded bower of willows behind the cathedral. Dusk sat on the bench with her, still pouring his cooling energy through her as rain pattered down, lightning flickering in the storm-clouds far above with low rolls of thunder. Adrian’s swirling desert-heat was tortured beside her, regal and devastated though still held away by Dusk’s barrier. Adam stood by Adrian, all the violet gone from his hunter-green eyes, his energy high like drinking hot cider under an October moon. Rikyava stood behind them, her violet eyes flinty as she murmured to a knot of Guards, ordering them to keep a perimeter.
Able to breathe at last, Layla finally pushed to sitting with Dusk’s hand at her back to help her up. Her head reeled and she clutched his arm, a wave of nausea passing through her as she bit back bile. “Holy hell, Batman!”
“Layla, I’m so sorry. I truly didn’t know my Dragon would try to raise yours.” Adrian reached out as if to touch her, but Dusk slapped his hand away and Adam pulled Adrian back again in a firm grip. Adrian glared at them both, but his hand dropped rather than try to touch Layla again. His brows knit, Adrian watched her with a terrible darkness as the rain came down, his blue-green eyes intense.
“So… what…?” Layla spoke again, trying to get a grip on what had just happened. “I almost shifted into my Dragon? For real?”
“About five times. It’s a miracle you didn’t, really.” Dusk spoke gravely as he moved one hand to Layla’s upper chest, the other over her spine as she sat on the stone bench. Rain pattered down around them, fat wet drops that helped ease Layla’s heat. She leaned back on Dusk’s thighs, drinking in his cool vibrations as he stood behind her. Strong like the caverns of the earth, Dusk shifted his hands so one cupped her forehead, Layla’s head falling back – exhausted now that the pain was rolling away.
“Why does it hurt so much?” Layla breathed, feeling exhausted to her bones.
“When we shift, our magic tries to spill out through our flesh to change us into our beast.” It was Adam who answered her, his voice level as he watched her with a curious glint in his forest-green eyes. “Your Dragon literally re-made every molecule in your body, preparing for the shift. Neurotransmitters, blood chemistry, structural proteins. The change is painful, but when it’s forced to halt, it’s quadruply so. Dusk forced your shift to stop five times, and he’s literally washing those chemicals out of your body with his vibrations right now. Be glad he’s here. It’s a unique talent of Crystal Dragon Royals that they can not only halt a shift, but also purify the body afterwards. Your sweat’s gonna smell like hell for a few days, though. Expect fevers as you clear everything out.”
