“I guess we should head back into the cave, then.” Nik moved toward the opening, but stopped when Puff didn’t follow. “You heard the big guy. We need to get you safe.”
*I need to hunt. I’m hungry.* He glanced at Anna. *I need you to watch her while I’m gone.*
“How are you supposed to hunt with a bad wing?”
Pops and Tyler approached and placed a bundled lump at Puff’s feet.
“Our friends on the outside considered that.” Pops opened the rags, revealing a very-dead young tahr. A stretch of its shaggy coat lay matted with blood, and one of its stubby, pre-pubescent horns dug into the soil, forcing the animal’s gaping muzzle upward. Nik cringed, glad he hadn’t eaten yet.
Puff’s eyes widened and an itch tingled across their bond. Nik’s stomach grumbled at the thought of the fresh kill sliding down his throat. He twitched, shaking the dragon’s thoughts away as Puff glanced at Anna. The girl’s brow furrowed. Her lips twisted in disgust.
*I can’t let her see me eat. She’s already terrified.*
“I kinda agree with you on that one.” Nik fell to one knee, re-wrapped the bundle, and slipped his arms beneath. He grunted as he stood. “This thing is heavier than it looks.”
Glancing over both shoulders, he found a large boulder and some trees that would afford Puff some privacy. He set the burden down and unwrapped it before returning.
He motioned to the rock. “Breakfast is served.”
Puff glanced at Anna. He seemed pensive, but no thoughts skittered across their link before he headed toward the boulder. *Thank you.*
Anna held her stomach, her lips still twisted into a frown.
“I think we can probably find something a little more cooked, if you’re hungry,” Nik said.
She gulped. “I might never eat again.”
Anna eyed Puff’s twitching tail sticking out from behind the boulder before scanning the rest of the camp. Her eyes kept skirting toward the path they’d followed up the mountain. Not that he could blame her. She hadn’t asked for this, but she was a part of it now, just as much as he was.
“No one brought any cars or anything like that up here, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. “Of course there wouldn’t be.” She glanced back at the boulder. “You seem like the most reasonable person here. Can you try to talk some sense into them? I need to get home.”
Home. The whole idea seemed a little transient these past few days. Before the dragon fell from the sky, everything had been crystal clear. Nik’s path had been set. Not that he was doing great on that path, but he’d have found a job eventually. Things would have turned around for him. He would have had a real life.
Then the creatures from the storybooks became real, and he let himself be bitten by a dragon. Now he had this otherworldly connection to a giant, intelligent reptile that he still barely understood.
However, he did understand Anna’s point of view. Two days ago, he’d have been using this opportunity to smuggle the girl down the mountain while Puff wasn’t looking.
But that bite had done more than simply given him the ability to translate for Puff. Nik understood the dragon at a deeper level than any of them could comprehend. The spirit of the Seventeen Year had emblazoned through his bones, becoming part of him. Every time Puff even had a passing thought about the current dragon king, the need to overthrow the beast became all the more concrete. This dragon, Gale, couldn’t be allowed to rule. And if bringing this girl up the side of the mountain was the only way to stop his tyranny, then so be it.
The old Nik cringed. Forcing a girl to do something she didn’t want grated at his humanity. He couldn’t force her. No, he wouldn’t. She deserved better. He loved her enough to let her go, if that was what she wanted.
Nik balked, gasping at his own thoughts, when a dragon-shaped shadow fell over him. He breathed a sigh of relief. These weren’t his thoughts, but Puff’s. Soon, hopefully, he’d be able to distinguish between the two.
He turned to the dragon. “Are you seriously going to let her go?”
*Yes.*
“But what about all that stuff with Connor? He went to get help.”
*I will accept any help to heal my injuries. I still want to return to the mountain, even if it will be in defeat.*
Nik stepped towards him. “But Gale will kill you.”
“What’s going on?” Anna asked.
*Tell her.*
Nik’s gaze dropped to the sand at his feet. So many dragons depended on this hunt. Hundreds lay in the back of dark caves under lock and key, hoping for the little dragon they’d sent out as a long shot to come home and save them from their oppressor. But Puff had failed them. He never had a chance to begin with. He never deserved the hope they had in him.
Grunting, Nik pushed Puff’s thoughts out of his head again and advanced on the dragon. “Now wait a goddamn minute. You are not giving up so easily.” He pointed at Anna. “You have the girl. You’ve already won. You just need to reach the finish line.”
“I’m not a prize in a game,” Anna cried. “I am a human being.”
Old Nik looked back at her, understanding. But the part of him that had connected with Puff, the part that allowed Draconic blood to flow through his veins, overpowered him. “This is bigger than you. It is bigger than both of us.”
*Stop!* Puff roared, his growl echoing through the clearing.
The Maori stood silent, staring at them. The dragon scanned the crowd before lowering his neck and caressing Anna cheek to cheek.
“He says that he doesn’t care about the Seventeen Year.” Nik grimaced. “Something about a bond and wanting you happy.”
Puff turned toward Pops.
Nik sighed in defeat. “He says he wants you to send her home.”
Tears filled Anna’s eyes. She slipped her arms around Puff’s silvery neck and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”
The Maori broke their statuesque poses. Most of them gaped.
Nik bit his lip, understanding their confusion. He was new to this believing in dragons thing, but most of these people had been waiting their whole lives for a dragon to appear. And then to be a part of assisting the next king, it was the makings of history—a dream come true.
The second Puff fell out of the sky, these people left their everyday lives to help him. And now he was giving up, just like that.
*I won’t force her.*
Puff loved Anna. It wasn’t a flighty, childish insta-love, but something deep, mature, and eternal. But how was that even possible when they’d barely even spoken?
*I’m a dragon. The second I recognized her as a viable mate, the process began. When I decided to fight for her, the Draconic instincts took over, and by the time I’d plucked her from the sky and won her, it was done.* Puff turned, walking toward the mountain. *She will always be mine in my heart, but my dragon soul will not allow me to make her unhappy, no matter the cost.*
Nik started after him. “What about the sadistic guy locking all your people up? What happened to saving all Draconi from tyranny? What happened to bringing dragons back into the open?”
Puff looked over his shoulder at Nik. *I already told you, I refuse to force her.*
Pops gripped Nik’s shoulder, pulling him away from the dragon. He spoke loud enough for the congregation to hear. “We’ll return the girl, but we cannot head down the mountain so late in the day. We won’t make civilization before nightfall.” He glanced at Anna, then back to Nik. “We will spend the night once more in the embrace of our sacred caves, and break camp at first light.”
Nik shook his head. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are giving up, too.”
Pops put his arm around Nik’s shoulder and walked him away from the crowd. “It is barely two hours past sunrise, is it not?”
“Yeah. So what?”
His grandfather snickered. “We have more than enough time to get down the mountain.”
Nik stopped and turned to him. “You bluffed. Why?”
“The Great One has bonded with the young lady, yes?”
“Yeah. He kind of explained the whole thing to me.”
Pops watched Puff climb the boulder pile and disappear back into the cave with a sense of childish awe that Nik had lost the second Puff gave up.
“Remember, Nikau, that our new king is quite young, and not yet familiar with just how great his greatness is.” He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and allowing the sun to caress his face. “Tonight is the Brigham Solstice.”
Nik huffed. He never really paid attention to the ancient Maori elemental calendar. “I guess. So what?”
Pops’s eyes opened, seeming somewhat brighter. “Do not underestimate the power of Ruma Marama on the most glorious night of the year.”