Seraphina let out a slow, nervous breath as she cast her gaze around the huge attic where Maxis had made his home. It held “modern” things she couldn’t even begin to comprehend, but aside from a few of those, it reminded her so much of his sparse cave that it raised chills of déjà vu on her body.
Those were definitely the same trunks from his cave that lined the right brick wall. This was his home in a way her village had never been.
And that made her saddest of all. He’d found a comfort here with strangers that he should have known with her. His mate.
Maxis used his powers to light four huge iron candle stands. The light flickered and merged with the rays of the dawning sun to cast their shadows against the wall.
Illarion and Blaise followed them into the room and closed the door. By the way Maxis continued to grimace and act toward his brother, she assumed they were having a private conversation in their heads.
Sighing, she met Blaise’s blank stare. “He doesn’t think much of me, does he?”
“I’m trying to remain impartial, but if one-quarter of what Illy is saying is true … do your people really make jewelry from the tusks, scales, and bones of dragons?”
She felt heat creep over her face. “We don’t hunt mandrakes.”
“From what I’m hearing, you don’t know. Your people don’t exactly bother to find out if they’re hunting Katagaria or not. You basically kill indiscriminately and go after any large serpent that isn’t Arcadian.”
“Stop, Blaise,” Maxis said in a gentle tone. “She’s not to blame in this.”
No. We are, you and I. I curse the day I ever let you talk me into saving their kind. Illarion raked her with a chilling stare. We should have let the gods have them all.
“Enough, Illarion. And I didn’t talk you into shit, as I recall. You were in it more than I was. Besides, what’s done is done. Now either choose to be part of this solution, or leave. I’m not about to tolerate your incessant bitching. I have to focus.”
Illarion threw his hands up. Fine. Let’s see how she handles this. After all, she never bothered to ask you anything about what you really are. Where you came from. How you were dragged into her world to become part of it. The three years you lived with her, she never once cared enough to learn.
Maxis growled at his brother. “Stay out of my head and thoughts.… I swear, I should have eaten your egg instead of nesting it.”
Seraphina arched her brow at that. “You nested him?”
“Sadly, yes, and I did a piss-poor job of it, too. As you can see.”
Illarion rolled his eyes.
Blaise laughed. “Max attempted to nest all of his siblings. At least those of us he could find. Once a year while she lived, he’d journey to where our mother placed her eggs and collect them so that they wouldn’t have to hatch alone, and flounder for survival.”
The irritated look on Maxis’s face told her he didn’t want his brother sharing that tidbit with her. But she was glad that Blaise had spoken.
And Illarion was right. There was a lot she’d never bothered to learn about her husband.
“Did you nest Hadyn?”
Maxis nodded. “He was the first I found, just days old. Wandering and lost, like a little bug.”
No wonder they’d been so close.
Max taught us the Bane-Cry to clear our lungs and so that no matter how far apart we were, we could always call out to each other for help, should we need it. And while the rest of our siblings might not respond, Max would always come to us if he was physically able to do so.
That thought brought tears to her eyes. And it was that capacity for love that she missed most about her mate. No, he wasn’t the animal her tribe had accused him of being. How could I have ever let you go?
“Neither here nor there,” Max said, passing an annoyed grimace at each brother in turn. He led her toward a large area of the attic that was curtained off.
It wasn’t until he pulled the heavy, dark blue brocade curtains back that she realized this was where he “nested” nowadays.
It actually made sense. Since he slept in dragon form, he’d be far too large for any kind of bed. And again, it reminded her of how different they were. Of the fact that in spite of his male beauty and form, he was still an animal at heart.
As if he heard that thought, Illarion sneered at her. This is a bad idea.
Sighing heavily, Maxis passed an aggravated stare at his brother before he took her hand and pulled her inside the curtained-off area. His gaze scorched her with that peculiar mixture of jaded worldliness and precious innocence that was uniquely his. “I know that you’ve never seen me as anything more than an animal and I’m well aware of what you think of my species. Just remember this is for your children and hold that thought tight.”
She opened her mouth to deny it, but he placed a gentle finger over her lips. “Don’t lie. We both know the grisly truth. I am an animal. Hatched and spawned.” He stepped back. “Blaise? Can you hold her for a minute? I’m not sure how she’ll react to this.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him not to treat her like a child when he shifted so fast that she almost screamed in terror of it.
She’d forgotten just how large his dragon’s body was. How massive and terrifying.
Even as spacious as the attic was, Maxis had to crouch low and could barely move about. He completely filled the area. For that matter, he couldn’t turn around. Rather, he had to back himself against the wall where she assumed he slept. Heavens, he was humongous.
“You okay?” Blaise rubbed her arm for comfort.
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “It’s just been a long time since I was this close to a living dragon. And never one that wasn’t trying to kill me.” Because they prided themselves on being human, her tribe rarely took dragon form. It was considered a loss of control … similar to throwing a temper tantrum.
Maxis’s iridescent scales glimmered like jewels in the dim light. And as he moved, she saw on his wings the vicious scarring Nala and her tribe had left behind. Guilt stabbed her hard for the part she’d played in that.
“I’m so sorry, Maxis,” she breathed.
Max froze at the sound of her earnest words. This was a far different reaction than she’d had the last time she’d found him in dragon form.
There was no screaming in terror. No running or attacking.
Instead, she approached him slowly and placed a gentle hand on his scarred wing that had never properly healed from his harrowing. While he could fly with it, it wasn’t particularly comfortable to do so.
And no one had ever touched him like she did now when he’d been in his real body.
Like he mattered to them.
Not even Aimee …
Lifting his head, he waited to see that familiar contempt in her gaze for his dragon form. Yet it wasn’t there. For the first time ever, Sera ran a curious hand over his scales. And though it made no sense, it comforted him.
“You’re so warm.”
We’re not like other reptiles. He sent his thoughts to her. My personal belief is that it comes from our ability to make fire. For some reason, it seems to elevate our body temperatures, especially when we’re dragons.
She smiled sadly at him. “No. You’re definitely not like anyone else.” Biting her lip, she touched the scar on his hind leg that marked him as the firstborn of their race. The dreaded Dragonbane. “What do you need me to do?”
Trust me. You need to lie with me and let me guide you from this realm to wherever they’ve taken our dragonets. But if you fight me in this, you’ll do irreparable harm.
“You trust me?”
Max hesitated. Honestly? He was terrified of what she might do to him. But he had no choice. It was the only way to locate their children. Since he’d never met them, he couldn’t even begin to track them without her. Any creature could use their scent to lead him astray. Only their mother would be able to hone in on the real truth of them. Nothing would fool her maternal senses.
Yes.
And still he saw the fear she hid behind her eyes as she knelt by his side.
He rolled slightly so that she could settle comfortably in the shelter of his arms. Yet she was so tiny now. No wonder she feared him. One talon was almost the size of her entire body. A fact she didn’t miss, either.
Her hand trembling, she reached out to touch his claw.
It’s sharp, he warned. Mind the edge.
She drew back to rest behind his dewclaw. “How did you ever get captured by Dagon?”
Max came to help me, when Dagon had me trapped. Fury darkened Illarion’s eyes. My powers were bound so that I couldn’t fight or protect myself.
It wasn’t your fault I flew in blindly, Illy.
Because I called in a panic and you were too worried to be cautious.
Max sighed. It doesn’t matter. I don’t really need a reason to be stupid. Can find plenty of reasons to partake of that particular vice on my own.
Illarion snorted as he and Blaise moved forward to help settle Sera against him.
Blaise stepped back. “I’ll keep guard at the door to make sure no one disturbs you.”
“Thank you.” Sera was rigid in his arms.
Illarion moved to the curtains. I’ll wait to join you.
“What do you mean, join us?”
He smiled, but didn’t answer before he closed the curtains and left them alone.
She turned her face toward Max. “What did he mean?”
Nothing. Close your eyes and think of our little ones. Imagine being with them and let your thoughts stay with them. Whatever happens, don’t let anything or anyone distract you.
Seraphina wasn’t sure what to expect. Honestly, she was terrified. But there was something innately soothing in the way Maxis breathed. His radiating warmth seeped into her body, lulling her. It reminded her of the nights when he’d held her in his arms, waiting for her to fall asleep so that he could sneak away and seek his rest in his cave. Because his native form was that of a dragon, it took concentration and energy to hold a human form, especially during the daylight hours.
Very few Katagaria could hold human form while wounded or when fighting. Only the strongest of the strong managed. But no matter how powerful the beast, when they slept, they invariably returned to their native species. It was as involuntary as shapeshifting when struck by an electrical shock. Anything that disturbed the electrical currents around the cells would shift them.
So Maxis had always taken care to leave her tent and village any time he needed to rest. He’d never trusted them to not harm him.
“Why are your scales so soft?” she breathed as she struggled to stay awake against the sudden exhaustion caused by the warm, soothing comfort of his body.
“All drakomai have supple scales.”
“They’re like feathers.”
“Are they?”
She nodded, sinking herself even deeper into them. It was the most pleasant and comforting sensation. Like a luxurious bed. Better still was the scent of sandalwood and vanilla that was uniquely his. She’d forgotten that delectable scent of his skin that had once caused her to covet any item of clothing he wore.
Why had she ever feared this?
Before she could stop herself, she turned her face into the scales and inhaled the masculine scent of them.
Maxis cursed as he felt her caress all the way through his body. For a full minute, he saw stars from the intensity of lust that struck him like a physical blow.
Damn it! He’d forgotten how intense these feelings for her were. How much he craved being with her. While his body could be mildly stirred by others, it was nothing compared to what it felt now that his mate was with him again.
Worse …
“You’re entering your fertile cycle, aren’t you?”
She answered by burrowing deeper against him. By balling her fists into his scales.
Max sucked his breath in sharply as every hormone in his body was fired by her touch. “Sera?” he tried again. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes?” That breathless tone raised chills all over his body and was its own form of a caress.
Its own form of torture.
Biting his lip, he knew this wasn’t the time or place. But it wasn’t easy to distract himself from the warmth of her pressing against him. From the curve of her lush, full breasts that practically spilled out of her top, and the invitation of those lips that he wanted to taste until he made them cry out in pleasure.
He was just about to give in when he felt a strange break in the ether around them.
It wasn’t Illarion.
Fully alert, he lifted his head to search with all his senses. The ancient, arcane evil was one he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
And it wasn’t alone.
“Maxis?”
His heart pounding from the sudden adrenaline surge, he manifested the two of them in the darkness and tucked Sera behind him to protect her. He searched the nebulous area around them that reminded him too much of Irkalla.
And now that he thought about it …
Why would they be here? Was he mistaken?
Every single nerve ending in his body crawled with warning.
Well, this can’t be good. Terrified of what Kessar intended, Max shifted back into his human form and faced Seraphina. Gods, he’d forgotten just how beautiful she was. How much she’d once meant to him.
How much she still did, in spite of his common sense and best denials. But no time now for dawdling. It was time to do what he’d brought her here to do.
Cupping her beautiful, round cheeks in his hands, he smiled down at her. “Do you trust me?”
He saw the uncertainty in those hazel eyes as she searched his gaze warily. “Yes. Why?”
Max didn’t speak. He couldn’t. What he was about to do, she might not ever forgive. Yet it was something that had to be done. Let her hate him if she must.
At least this time, her hatred would be justified.
Seraphina knew something was wrong by the light in those golden eyes, but she didn’t know what it was. Instead of speaking, Maxis tightened his arms around her and pulled her flush to his hard, muscled chest. Leaning down, he nuzzled his face against her neck. His warm breath scorched her skin and raised chills all over her body. Worse, it made her breathless with a heated longing that wanted him inside her so badly it was almost impossible to resist.
Just as she was about to ask what he was doing, she felt the sharp sting of fangs sinking into her jugular. She cried out and started to fight, but it was useless. He had her completely subdued.
Completely at his mercy.
Weak and confused, she didn’t understand why he was doing this to her. Was he trying to hurt or kill her? To punish her for what she’d done to him? Did he intend this to be his revenge? Kill her and their children?
Her head reeling, one moment she was in his arms in the darkness. The next, she was back in his bedroom, lying on the floor behind the closed curtain. Alone.
“Maxis?”
What? Why was she here?
What was he thinking?
The curtains parted instantly to show Illarion, looking every bit as befuddled as she felt. What happened?
“I don’t know.” Feeling sick and weak, she wiped at her neck to find the smallest trace of blood there. “He drank from me?” She hadn’t even known that dragons could or would do that.
The color drained from Illarion’s features. What?
She showed him her bloodstained hand. “He bit me … bit me,” she emphasized, gesturing toward her neck, “and then I woke up here. Why?”
Blaise came rushing up behind Illarion. “What’s going on?”
Illarion let out a deep, guttural growl. Max just took her blood so that he could track their dragonets on his own, then sent her back here without him.
Cursing, Blaise ground his teeth. “Why would he do that? We had a plan! A fairly, almost decent one … That could have almost worked. Maybe, in the right light and with good timing. Why would he alter it?”
Because this was his plan, all along. To face them without putting any of us in danger. The stupid bastard plans to battle them alone. ’Cause he’s an effing idiot! I knew better than to trust him. I knew it! He shook his head. Why did I ever trust him?
Horrified, Seraphina pushed herself to her feet. “We can’t let him do that! One bite. One scratch and he’ll become a gallu!”
Illarion laughed bitterly at her concern. That’s not our worst fear.
“How in the name of the gods is that not our worst fear? Barring his death, that is.”
Illarion sobered as he faced her with a dry, cutting glare. You really, truly don’t know anything about my brother, do you?