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THE EARTH FEMALE T’MAR had been ordered to collect wore a loose yellow suit and heavy boots. A boxy hood encased her head, leaving a slit of a window for her to see through. A huge apparatus strapped to her back hissed as it piped in an air mixture her fragile lungs could tolerate.
Green eyes peering through the tiny screen widened. “You’re human!” she gasped.
“No.” His lip curled at the insult as he eyed the interlopers accompanying her. He’d been told nothing about any other humans.
Forget the others. Only this one matters, the dragon said.
How do you know? Their suits prevent me from smelling them.
Not being able to catch a whiff made him nervous. Humans couldn’t be trusted. Had he been in demiforma, his olfaction would have been sharper, and he could have smelled them through their suits, but his dragon had insisted on meeting the female in man form to avoid scaring her. For the time being, his dragon called the shots—with respect to shifting anyway. Although the intelligent jumpsuit provided some protection from human weaponry, his present state left him feeling more vulnerable than he cared to.
“I was expecting Prince T’mar,” she said.
“I expected one human,” he replied.
“These are my frien—my associates—Patsy and Henry. They are coming with me to Draco. They were key advisors of my father, President Marshfield.”
He shook his head. “One human. You. That is all.”
“We’re a package deal,” one of the other humans, a female, spoke up.
“Where Helena goes, we go.” The male stepped up beside her. “Or she doesn’t go.”
King K’rah would spit fireballs if he returned without the consort. Of course, if the dragon allowed him to shift, he could grab her and take her.
No! We will scare her.
A little fear could be motivating. “We did not agree to a package deal. King K’rah specified one human female.”
Helena crossed her arms. Her hands were covered by gloves. “How do I know you’re the prince? You look human,” she insulted him again.
How dare she? His fyre flared with such heat, it almost felt sexual. He was the son of a mighty king, and she was a weak, perfidious human he’d been ordered to accept into his harem. “I am Prince T’mar ulu K’rah Qatin,” he reiterated. Let us show ourself. She does not believe we are dragon.
No. She will find out soon enough.
At least with the arrival of the female, his dragon had resumed speaking. Unfortunately, it was only to disagree.
She should see now, T’mar said. Putting a little fear into her would show her who was in control.
No.
I thought you wished to avoid scaring her. He switched tactics.
That is what I am doing.
Right now she is close to the settlement, and her friends are with her. She feels safe—or as safe as she will ever feel, he argued. Toying with her just for sport would be counterproductive, but as soon as they departed, he vowed she wouldn’t feel comfortable again. He felt a little guilty for deceiving the dragon as to his motives, but he’d caused him great consternation and inconvenience with his refusal to shift or speak. If we wait until we’re on the ship or on Draco before revealing ourself, she will be surrounded, and her fear will be much greater. Better to show her while she feels safe and let her adjust.
The dragon stayed silent for a long moment. Then he said, Perhaps you are right.
It pains you to admit it.
It does.
T’mar smiled.
“Is something funny?” Helena asked.
He almost thought he smelled pique.
“Private conversation with the dragon,” he said.
With exaggeration she leaned left then right, peering around him. “Aren’t you the dragon?” Her voice held a disbelieving challenge. Unable to smell her, he found himself listening to her tone.
He’d expected to savor her fear, but he enjoyed the spark of bravado. He wondered if her odor would be as rank as that of the other humans he had encountered years ago. They stank in general, but their emotions reeked even more, although his brother’s human mate Rhianna was tolerable. What did Helena smell like?
His fyre flashed bright and hot. He felt energized, purposeful, almost excited. T’mar shook himself. He needed to stifle his curiosity. He wouldn’t fall under a human’s spell the way his brother K’ev had. He wouldn’t allow this female to fool him into believing she was anything but the enemy, his forced consort. “Would you like to see?”
“Sure. Show me.”
“Let’s not be hasty...” the man objected.
“We’ll have to see dragons sooner or later.”
“I would prefer later,” the other female said.
“Biggs sent you, didn’t he?” Helena said.
“I do not know any Biggs. King K’rah sent me.”
“I don’t think he’s an enforcer,” said the other female.
“I have to make sure this isn’t a trick to take me into custody. I’m not going anywhere until I verify who he is. Or at least what he is.” Her breathing apparatus hissed. “Show me the dragon.”
Well? Are you going to deny her request? He counted on his dragon’s liking for the female.
It worked. His spine began to vibrate. “Remain where you are,” he said to the humans and marched ten paces away, making room.
Bones broke and reshaped in a pleasurable pain, his growing body engulfing the space he’d put between them. The jumpsuit split and fell away. His neck and tail elongated, and his face assumed its triangular shape, his jaw and nose merging into a snout. Fangs erupted. Leathery wings unfurled from his thorny back. Hands and feet curled into talons, completing the transformation.
“Holy shit!” the man gasped.
The other woman screamed and stumbled backward.
Helena stood there silent and unmoving.
Released from the captivity of his man form, T’mar felt himself filled with a sense of power and freedom. His fyre snapped and roared. How he’d missed this.
Towering over the humans, the dragon swiveled its long neck down to scrutinize Helena.
The other female crumpled to the ground. The man darted to her side. “I think she’s okay. She just fainted.”
Helena continued to gaze up at him. The dragon sniffed, picking up her scent with its enhanced olfaction. Her nervousness didn’t appeal as much as T’mar had anticipated. More intriguing, more pleasurable was the scent of awe, of fire and smoke. She was afraid, but also she was...impressed.
The dragon preened, showing off its gleaming scales, its long neck, and its face-framing frill.
T’mar wished she wasn’t wearing the ugly suit so he could smell her better.
Yes! We need to smell her more! the dragon agreed.
No! T’mar responded before the creature shredded her suit with a swipe of his talons. She can’t tolerate Elementa’s atmosphere.
“You really are a dragon.” A funny sort of half laugh snorted out her nose. “I guess you don’t work for Biggs.” At the mention of the name, her fear scent spiked. It did not smell good at all.
Who is Biggs? I will kill him. His dragon bugled into the sky.
Helena recoiled.
You’re scaring her. Change back so we can talk to her, ask her. After not having shifted for so long, he would have preferred to remain in form for a while, but he couldn’t communicate with Helena. Who was this Biggs whom she feared more than a dragon? The other female had collapsed in terror. Even the man was scared, although he tried to hide it. Helena had stood and faced him.
The dragon shifted into man form.
Helena gasped.
“What’s wrong?” T’mar asked.
“You’re naked!” She whipped around, turning her back. “Put your clothes back on.”
He gathered up the tatters, scrunched them into a ball, and then shook out an intact jumpsuit. Intelligent fabric had knitted itself back together. He donned his clothing.
“Is it safe yet?” she asked.
“No, but I’m dressed. Who is Biggs?”
The man assisted the fallen female to sit. “What happened?” she asked with a moan.
“You fainted. Take some deep breaths,” the man said. Henry, T’mar recalled his name. The female’s appellation he couldn’t remember. She was inconsequential. Weak. Unlike Helena who hadn’t fainted at the sight of him.
“Who is Biggs?” he repeated.
“He’s a man...who, uh, works for my father.”
“And why does he scare you?”
“I didn’t say I was afraid of him.”
He snorted and warned, “Humans should never lie.” He had no intention of explaining emotions emitted odors. He doubted she could block or mask them, but he wished to get a clean scent on her without the taint of dissemblance. Once they were on the ship and she was out of the suit, reading her would be no problem.
“Are you all right, Patsy?” Helena asked.
“This is so embarrassing,” the female replied. “I’m fine,” she said to a hovering Henry.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he replied.
“Of course not.” Helena touched the female’s arm. “Don’t be silly.”
“You didn’t pass out.”
“Physiological reaction. You can’t control it,” Henry said, his concern for the female evident.
“Are you two mated?” He couldn’t detect any mating hormone because of the suits.
They are not, the dragon said. I smelled them after we shifted.
T’mar had been too focused on Helena to pay attention to the others.
“Henry and Patsy are brother and sister,” Helena said.
“What is your relationship to them?” he asked.
“As I said, we are colleagues and friends. They worked for my father. They came to support me.” Through the hood’s visor, green eyes challenged him, expecting him to deny her and preparing to fight. It was amusing, charming, touching...
It took courage to leave one’s home and people and face the unknown. She probably expected Draconians to be as perfidious as her own people. Dragons were the most trustworthy beings in the universe. They followed through on their word—which made them all the more dangerous. They acted fairly and justly, but mercifully? Never. Mercy was for the weak.
Dragons and humans were enemies, and the latter were wise to fear the former. Draco had acted in good faith, but Earth had broken their promises. If not for the king’s inexplicable change of heart, Draco would have obliterated everything on the surface of the planet, leaving nothing uncharred, resolving the human issue once and for all. This brave and foolish female and her companions would have been among the immediate casualties.
Strangely, he was inclined to be indulgent. What would it hurt to bring the friends along?
No. I don’t like them, the dragon disagreed. Those who are weak are too easily swayed by others.
All the more reason to bring them along. Intimidation of the friends could help to control Helena. However, since his first inclination had been to leave them behind, if that’s what the dragon wished, he would concede. Co-existence necessitated give-and-take. He’d learned long ago to pick his battles. If that is what you want—
Besides, the male might decide he wants our mate. She is brave and beautiful...
Mate? Oh no. Where had he gotten that idea? She is not our mate. She is a consort, a political pawn, an appeasement for the king.
She is our mate!
Helena shrank back. Her gloved hand came up to press against her chest. “You growled at me!”
Her two friends closed ranks, rushing to her side.
She’d heard the dragon? Impossible! T’mar cocked his head. “I believe you’re mistaken.”
I told you I would recognize our mate when I saw her. When she removes her suit, we will shift, and then you will recognize her, too.
The dragon needed to understand a human could not, would not, be their mate. The Dragonish word for human translated to “one who lacks fyre.” Perhaps T’mar owned some culpability for the confusion by having admired and found amusement in Helena’s spirit and by having abstained from his concubines’ services. Now that the ennui had vanished like it had never been, and his fyre burned hot and bright, when they got to Draco, he would seek out A’riel and the others and prove Helena was just another female. But until he could disabuse the dragon of his illusion, it would be wise to bring along a buffer.
“Your friends may accompany you to Draco,” he announced. “We will find a role for them.” What it would be, he had no idea. Perhaps Prince K’ev would have some suggestions. The king wouldn’t be happy—but maybe his father didn’t need to know—at least not right away.
“Thank you.”
The dragon was annoyed with him but pleased by her happiness.
If the male showed interest in Helena, and she reciprocated, that would prove she wasn’t their mate. Of course, the dragon would toast him.
T’mar shrugged. No great loss.
