She boiled out of me in a fury, her anger greater than any fear Noth dished out. I jerked on her mental reins hard enough she didn’t swallow him whole, but she did grip him in her teeth and give him a violent shake. His screams sounded like music to our ears. Ward was laughing so much, tears streamed from his eyes. Noth might have hit the ground a bit hard a few times. Elves had tough bones apparently because I didn’t snap any, but I definitely messed up his hair. My dragon happily snagged some on our tooth and ripped it out.
Noth’s final yelp soothed my dragon enough to step away with her hair prize, prancing over to Ward. She deposited the hair clump into his hands and Ward chuckled as he rubbed our muzzle.
Noth collected himself off of the ground, staring up at me with wide, ruby eyes. He gave me a frightening smile. It was just a little too wide to fit on an elf’s face. “Ward! Why didn’t you tell me she was a dragon? I think I love this mate of yours.”
“You were slightly busy at the end of the last skirmish.” Ward blocked me with his body, which was only slightly amusing because he barely shielded my head. “And she’s my mate,” Ward snarled.
I shifted back so he could do a better job shielding me, totally not so he would band an arm around my hips and pull me across the ground until I was tight against him and pressed against every one of his muscles.
He won’t touch me again.
You were magnificent,Ward replied, his admiration spilling into my mind, filling up all my cracked places.
You are going to make me horny doing that,I told him. I can actually sense you through the mate bond now.
Ward laughed into my hair.I feel you, too.
He pushed a little lust in my direction.
I warmed at that, squiggling against him for revenge. Goddsdamn it, I was supposed to be paying attention to our life and death situation.
Noth scurried over, his posture completely different—almost deferential. Noth folded his hands together like he was praying. The intensity of his stare was unnerving. “Show me your magic.”
I tried to step back, but I was already against Ward, so he stepped back for both of us. “My what?”
“The light,” Ward said.
I shrugged. “Oh, I have no idea how to do any of that.”
Noth’s frown was almost comical. “How can that be? Are you an orphan?” Noth stared at Ward, affront on his face. “You haven't taught her anything?”
Ward laughed. “This is a fairly recent development courtesy of the relic of Veretis you had strapped to your head.”
Noth crept forward again, the smile on his face again. “We will teach you everything you need to know as a shifter.”
“Not everything,” Ward grumbled, pushing his friend away. Heat banked in his eyes as he looked at me.
“Let's get going, then. We should get another night's sleep before we tackle any asshats.” I turned to the brood. “This is your last chance to leave for somewhere safe. If you’re with us, we watch each other’s backs.”
A few shifters on the outskirts slunk away and Noth snorted his contempt.
“You’re welcome to leave too, your Highness,” I told him.
“And lose the chance to ally with the first dragon the realm has seen in a millennium? Never. If only I had mated you first.”
I gagged. Not a chance in the seven hells that would have ever happened. “Do I have to get the dragon out again?”
Ward bumped his friend out of the way and started us down the road as we continued to bicker. My teddy bear made me walk next to him rather than get on Greg so he could glue me to his side. I didn’t mind. Apparently, a dragon came with a store of walking energy.
The elf was irrepressible. He tried to hold my hand. Ward knocked him away. He pestered me to shift, and my dragon just snarled at him. He kept a respectful distance but barraged me with questions that made me more tired than Fallon trying to explain recipes to me. Weeks on the road were already tiring enough. I didn’t have answers to his questions about how my magic functioned. That was more Maggie’s realm, and even then I always thought she was just playing at it. We were supposed to be human! I didn’t understand how being a dragon worked or who I should ally with. When he asked if I was going to court the Siren Queen, I threw up my hands.
“The what?” I almost screamed.
Ward growled, “If you have this much energy, you can hunt for supper before you pepper Evie with any more of your nonsense.”
“Can I bring it back live and watch her eat it?” Noth asked.
“No!” both of us shouted at him before he bounded away.
