“Defensive magic is easier to learn first, Ward,” Noth butted in, braiding his hair back from his face.
“You’re right. Evie, try to go invisible again,” Ward said.
They’re ganging up on us,I complained.
My dragon snorted in frustration.If we do this one thing, he might let me lick him without his clothes on.
It was kinda nice to have someone in my head finally be on my side, even if she made me blush. It must not have translated to dragon because Noth and Ward continued with a dizzying set of instructions and contradictions that brought us nowhere. The sheer volume of advice made my head spin. Noth was a little too gleeful to test his combination of Nightmare and Elven magic against me in the form of thorny vines, illusions and shadow warriors. None of which I countered worth a Godds damn. Even my scales smarted by the time the sun set.
Ward opened his mouth to issue another round of commands when Declan came between us and growled. “Stuff it, bear.”
Noth laughed.
Declan’s eyes sparked. “You too, long ears.”
Noth abruptly shut his mouth.
“You’re both acting like she’s going to be a grandmaster mage tomorrow.”
He wasn’t wrong, but I was determined to be helpful and not slow us down. We had a Brad to confront.
Ward grimaced. “This is getting serious. That human captured the King of the elves.”
“Sounds like the elves captured the King of that dumbass kingdom. This has been serious from the beginning and you weren’t torturing her then, I assume.” Declan turned when Noth scoffed.
“What do you know, dog? Your magic could fill a thimble.” Noth sneered, stopping just short of shoving Declan out of the way.
“You would tremble at my magic if it was worth showing you,” Declan taunted him and skipped out of the way of the elf’s swipe.
It was an effective distraction. Declan led Noth away with their bickering while my sides heaved to catch my breath and my snout almost touched the dirt. Ward finally seemed to take in that I was exhausted and turned to the brood.
“Find a campsite and some food. We will gather our strength for tomorrow.” He didn’t sound happy about it.
I shifted, my kaftan floating around me, hoping he wouldn’t try to test any magic on my human form. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” he grunted.
I pulled him off to the side of the road as the brood filtered around us, setting up camp for the night. Greg ambled by and I snatched his reins from Noora to nab our stuff in his packs. I didn’t know if I could take another day of teaching.
“What was that today? I’m pudding. Was this a test of the mate bond?”
Ward easily pulled the saddle and packs off Greg with one hand. I would never not be impressed with that. “I’m not only my bear, but a powerful mage as well. Mixing our magic can have unpredictable results. We can’t find that out on the battlefield.”
That was sweet, really sweet. But I definitely heard the worry behind his words.
My dragon spoke up. What he really means is: what if I hurt you? What if we’re still somehow not compatible?
“I can’t claim to know much about magic, but there’s no use worrying about it. I would much rather sex the worry out of you. We both can’t be this nervous. I don’t know who this guy is that has been using the relics, but we won’t get to the bottom of it if we’re not a team.”
The v of worry between his brows didn’t smooth as I had hoped. In fact, he growled in frustration. Not exactly the reaction a girl hoped for when she talked about sexy time. “I can’t teach you anything about being a dragon. Only magic. So I will show you everything I can.”
I ran my hand through Greg’s mane. At least the brood took good care of him. “You don’t have to. You just need to love me and believe in me. Especially when I don’t trust myself. And, you know, hulk out into a giant bear who can crush enemies with a look. That’s helpful, too.”
“You don’t even need me to do that,” he said in a small voice.
“I always need you to do that. What if I get soldiers between my toes? I couldn’t even touch a pig. Or pretty much walk at the start of this. Who is going to carry me when my thighs get chafed? Better yet, who’s going to fix it?” I attempted an eyebrow waggle, but Ward stared straight ahead.
“You trust me?”
