The tent exit loomed just inches away. In a few moments, everyone outside would see with their own eyes what had fallen from the sky last night.
Nik stood on the Dragon’s right and held the injured wing just off the ground. “Is this okay? Am I hurting you?”
The dragon’s voice bubbled up from within. *It’s fine. But you don’t need to serve me.*
“No, but it’s a little easier to handle this mind-meld thing when your pain isn’t lancing through my cranium.”
The creature turned toward him. *I’m sorry. It’s not my intent to hurt you.*
Anna was cradled between the un-injured wing and the dragon’s hide. She wasn’t quite a hostage, but she was close enough that the dragon could furl her back inside his wing at the slightest hint of danger.
*Or her trying to run away.*
I don’t think she’s going to run. Where would she go? Nik pulled back the opening of the tent and peeked outside.
“Is it talking to you?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. He’s a little nervous about what’s going to happen outside.”
Tyler exited, and Nik stole a glance through the tent flap. Outside, many of the people who’d fled the previous evening mulled about. Nik could tell from the look on most of the younger people’s uninterested carriages that they still didn’t believe their elders had saved a real-live dragon last night. They were all going to pee their pants when they found out everything they’ve been discounting for years was actually true. He let the flap fall closed.
“Does he have a name?” Anna traced her fingers down the ridge on the dragon’s neck.
Ummm. Nik turned toward the creature. “I feel incredibly stupid for never asking you that.”
The dragon preened his scales. *It hadn’t mattered, but she should know.* He lowered his snout and nuzzled her cheek. *She knows me. Tell her I am Joesephutus.*
“Ja-who-what-is?”
Anna laughed. “Is it hard to say?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s Draconic.”
*Tell her it’s Joe.*
“Joe?”
Anna took a step back, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?”
She continued to stare at the dragon.
*Tell her not to be afraid.*
Nik reached for her. “Are you okay?”
Anna slapped him away. “This isn’t funny. Do you know Joe? Were you in the bar last night? Did you watch them take me?”
Nik held out his hands in surrender. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The dragon said that he knows you, and his name is Joe.”
She turned to Puff. Her nose flared as her face reddened. “You are not the cute guy from the bar.”
*Cute?* A smug flush rushed from the dragon.
I’m not sure that’s what we should be focusing on right now.
*She needs to trust me. She needs to understand.*
Nik turned to the girl “He says…”
Her face twisted into a sneer. “I am not calling it Joe.”
Nik’s heart raced as the dragon moved from side to side.
It lowered its head. *She’s angry.*
Yeah, I’m getting that.
*She doesn’t believe me.*
Nik couldn’t really blame her. Dragons were one thing, but magic? I’m not really sure I believe it, either.
The dragon jerked his head up.
Nik Shrugged. Well, if you really are this Joe person she knows, then go ahead and shift. Show her.
The beast lowered his snout. Its nose wrinkled and it clawed the earth several times before Nik’s right arm and shoulder exploded in pain. His sight blurred. Then the pain—No, the agony disappeared like someone had thrown a switch.
The dragon held his right claw off the ground. He trembled, his breaths staggered.
*I can’t shift. The pain is too much.*
Nik massaged his own arm and side. “Yeah, I’m getting that.”
Boss raised his head as the girl approached and reached for him.
She held the dragon’s face. “He’s making all of this up, isn’t he?”
Seriously? “You think I’m lying?”
*Tell her yes.* The dragon pulled himself back up to standing. *She can’t know I’m weak, and I can’t chance her being angry.*
“But—”
*Tell her!*
“Okay, okay.” Nik huffed out a breath. “Yeah, I made it all up. He’s just a dragon. His name is Joes-hopping-with-figs or something like that.”
A puff of hot, smoky air blew from the dragon’s nose, but the creature’s irrational anxiety about what this girl thought of him melted when Anna smiled.
She ran her palm down the creature’s jawline. “How about we call you Puff?”
“Puff?”
“Puff the Magic Dragon. I like it.”
Nik narrowed his eyes. “That’s kinda stupid.” The dragon growled at him. Nik held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Apparently if you’re happy, he’s happy. Puff it is.”
Anna petted the dragon’s mane like a horse. She whispered something into the creature’s ear that Nik couldn’t make out. Warmth spread through Nik’s chest as the boss lifted his nose to allow her to scratch under his chin.
Nik folded his arms. I thought you wanted her to know you were this Joe person.
The creature lowered his gaze to Nik. *I do, but it was too much, too soon. I can’t chance any negative emotion now. Besides…* He lifted his chin again.
Anna laughed as she scratched under his muzzle with vigor.
*This feels so incredibly good.*
Nik smiled. If he were being honest, he wouldn’t want to piss off a girl who was running her hands up and down his body, either. So, Puff it is, for now.
From outside, Nanna pulled back the tent flap. “It is time, Great One.”
Nik held up the injured wing as a collective gasp, followed by a numbing hush, fell over those outside. The dragon stepped into the light, and Nik walked alongside, squinting. The wing barely weighed a pound. He could practically see through the thin membrane once the light enveloped them.
A middle-aged woman in the crowd swayed. The man standing beside her caught her as she fell, but his gaze remained fixed to the creature as they emerged.
Pops stood alongside the opening, brandishing the extinguished torch he’d held the night before like a scepter. “Behold, the dragon lord who fell to his people last night. Once again, the Maori are called to stand with the Draconi.”
“Is it dangerous?” someone asked.
“Look at the size of it.”
The dragon recoiled. *Even among humans I’m looked down on for my size.*
Nik gazed up at Puff. “I don’t think they’re remarking on how small you are. You’re kind of scary, to be honest.”
“I don’t think he’s scary.” Anna patted the creature’s shimmering hide.
Puff turned to her. The injured wing twitched beneath Nik’s fingers as a raging warmth trickled across their bond. Sweat beaded at the Kotahi’s temples, and he let go for a moment to wipe his brow.
Beside the dragon, Anna’s hair glistened in the sunlight. Her smile reached into him, warming him with an abandon that riddled each cell in Nik’s body before it settled, throbbing against his zipper.
This was not the time to be thinking about bending this girl over the arm of a sofa, yet his hand twitched as he considered dragging her back into the tent and showing her what a real man could…
He shook his head to clear it. What was wrong with him? This girl was barely out of high school.
A numbness swirled around him as he watched the dragon’s talon twitch in time with the tick in his own hand. By God, these weren’t his thoughts, but the dragon’s. This Seventeen Year thing was serious.
You really snatched her to be your mate?
Puff startled before turning away from the girl. *That is the basic idea, but I never dreamed I’d actually find one.*
So it’s true? All you have to do is find a girl and you become king?
*Not just any girl. We need to find a match, one whose genetics can support the Draconi.* He looked back to Anna, warming again before he returned his attention to Nik. *The odds against finding a match are astronomical. That is why the grays tried to take her from me. They knew the chances of them finding their own were slim.*
The people started to move in. Each bowed before they came too close.
Why her? What makes her special?
*Her blood is different from yours and from anyone’s. As your bloodline can be elevated to Kotahi, her blood allows a Draconic breeding match.*
A few reached out their hands to be sniffed like a dog. Idiots. They had no idea how incredible this creature truly was.
The dragon tilted his head toward Nik. *You think I’m incredible?*
“Don’t get a big head.” Nik smiled. “Well, don’t get a big-ger head.”
Puff snorted then lowered his snout so the people could touch him.
It was amazing, the more Nik thought about it. Last night, most of these people were just playing a game or appeasing the elders. Then they were running for their lives. He doubted half of them really believed that what had fallen from the sky was a dragon, yet they’d stayed. Now here they were, paying homage to this thing like a god.
The creature jolted its head back up with a growl. The onlookers backed away. A few cried out.
*I am not a god. I’m just a Draconi.*
“Well, yeah, but you have to understand the magnitude of this. I mean, most people think dragons are a myth. Being here to see this, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Pops raised his voice above the clatter. “The Seventeen Year continues tonight. More dragons will come, hoping to find and overpower the Great One.” He paused, surveying the gawkers. “We cannot allow that to happen. This Seventeen Year will see the crystal dragons rise once again.”
The older people in attendance cheered. The younger ones seemed dazed.
Nik leaned towards the dragon. “We’re not really talking about you ruling the islands, right?”
*I don’t really want to rule the dragons, let alone the humans.* A deep-seeded disgust rolled over the bond between them. It didn’t seem like disgust of humans, though. In fact, a small sparkle of pride swept through the air between them when the dragon’s gaze roamed over the smiling faces. So, if not the humans, than who?
“Are these other dragons really that bad?” Nik asked.
Puff shuddered, but remained silent.
Pops turned toward Mount Cook’s great peaks. “We need all who are able to make the journey up the mountain to join us. Tonight, we shelter with the dragon lord within Ruma Marama.”
Nik balked. “I thought The Light Chamber was a myth?”
Pops smiled. “So are dragons.”