Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Beaufort
My mind is so distracted about Arabella and everything that must be happening right now at the palace back in Onyx Quarter that I don’t realize we’re not walking back to the tower until we’re almost at the academy field.
“What are we doing?” I ask Briony, who’s been leading the way.
“Blaze,” she explains. “He’s been hiding out in the Highlands, but I think it’s safe to bring him back now, don’t you?”
I nod in agreement.
She peers out toward the forest that looms on the far side of the field, somewhere beyond its boundaries lies the beginning of the Highlands, although from here the slopes aren’t visible, even on a clear day like today.
“I just don’t know how to reach him,” she says. “Sometimes he seems to read my mind and comes when I need him. Sometimes I’ve called him and he’s come, but those times he was always much closer. And sometimes the little tyke just ignores me altogether.”
“I wouldn’t overthink it if I were you, sweetheart. Just call him. And if he doesn’t come, well, we’ll tackle that problem and we’ll work it out.”
She steps onto the field, the grass frozen with a layer of thick frost. She steadies her shoulders, looks up into the sky, and calls the dragon’s name.
We both stare up into the sky, light and wispy blue, not a hint of cloud.
Nothing happens.
She shifts on her feet, the frost crunching under her weight, and calls his name again. I squint at the horizon, peering over the tops of the tall trees of the forest.
I think I see movement.
I realize it’s just a crow.
I think I see a flicker.
It’s nothing but the wind and twisting air currents.
Then I see a dot. I squint harder. It catches the sunlight, shines golden under its rays.
“There!” I shout, pointing it out to Briony. “Is that him?”
She squints too, shading her eyes with her hand. “I’m not sure.”
After a few minutes, even over the distance, it’s clear – it’s the great dragon.
I’m amazed by how fast he is now, covering the distance in no time at all and soon swooping over the treetops and landing in front of us.
He grunts his unhappiness about the cold ground, lifting each foot in turn and shaking off the frost from the soles of his feet.
Then he nudges his snout against Briony.
She leans into him and slides her hands up and down his great snout.
“It’s good to see you too, boy,” she says, kissing his scaly skin.
I step forward too and pat his strong neck.
This creature still wows me every time I see him.
I spent my childhood obsessed with dragons – imagining them, reading about them, drawing pictures of them.
I never for one moment thought I’d get to meet one.
I’m utterly fascinated by him; the way he moves, the way he acts, the way he seems completely and utterly devoted to our little mate.
“Such a good boy,” Briony says, kissing his scales a second time. “Thank you for coming when I called you.”
“Yes,” I say, “and for rescuing her once more.” I shake my head, not wanting to think about the circumstances if he hadn’t whisked her to safety back at the Eros mansion. “I wish you weren’t the only dragon we had.”
I spend the next few moments watching, enraptured, as Briony fusses and coos over the giant creature. She’s leaning into his body, arms wrapped around him, cheek pressed against his scales, when her gaze finds mine and she frowns.
“Do you think those girls will ever stop trying to sleep with you?” she asks.
“What do you mean?” I say, my mind a little whiplashed by the sudden change in conversation. “What girls?”
“‘What girls?’ Seriously? Henrietta and Lynette, of course! Beaufort, Henrietta was practically naked back there, all laid out on that sofa, making eyes at you. She might as well have had a sign pinned to her forehead: ‘Come and get me, big boy.’”
I blink. “I didn’t notice.”
She takes a step away from the dragon, an eyebrow shooting up her forehead. She rests her hands on her hips.
“You didn’t notice,” she says, obviously not believing me.
“No,” I say. “Honestly, I didn’t.”
“A beautiful girl is dressed in very little clothing and you don’t notice.”
“Briony,” I say, stepping towards her and taking both her hands in mine. “I used to notice that stuff. I used to notice all the pretty girls. I used to notice when they were flirting with me. I used to notice when they weren’t. But seriously, since you came along, things have been different.”
“Different how?” she asks suspiciously.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I just haven’t noticed those things anymore. My attention has been focused elsewhere.” I smile at her. “On you.”
“That might change though, eventually, don’t you think?” she says, tilting her head. “It can’t always be like this. That kind of thing fades, dies, withers away. There might be a time when you do start noticing all those pretty girls again.”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “I’m all yours now, Briony Storm.”
She grins at me. “And talking of which…”
“Talking of which?” I repeat, wondering where the hell this conversation is going next.
She keeps smiling at me and tugs up the sleeve of her coat, revealing her bare wrist. Across the skin are the dark patterns of a fated mate mark. I stare at it in disbelief.
Then I pull up my own sleeve and hold out my wrist too.
The patterns aren’t identical, but it’s clear they’re matching.
No one and no thing could ever convince me that Briony Storm is not my fated mate.
It’s as clear as the sunshine falling down onto our skin.
Destiny has chosen us to be bound together.
“It’s beautiful,” I mutter, my voice catching in my throat. “So damn beautiful.”
I pull her closer to me until she’s flush against my chest.
“You see now, Briony. You see, you belong to me.”
“Yes,” she admits. “But you also belong to me, Beaufort Lincoln.”
“Absolutely,” I tell her, curling my arms around her waist. “I’m yours. All yours.”
That confession has her biting down on her lip, and that does something to me. I kiss her mouth. A long, hard kiss that tells her she will be mine forever, that I will never let her go.
She kisses me back, moaning sweetly into my mouth. And if it wasn’t freezing out here – if we didn’t have hundreds of obligations and the weight of the whole realm resting on our shoulders – I’d be dragging her into that forest and pressing her up against the nearest tree.
But the dragon, as usual, has other ideas.
He snorts, thick puffs of black smoke blowing right at us, and we’re both choking, coughing, and spluttering in the next few moments.
“He’s really not a fan of public displays of affection, is he?” I mutter.
“He is – if they’re directed at him.” She giggles.
And I catch her hand again, wanting to admire those marks.
I cradle the back of her hand in my palm, trace the fingertips of my right hand over the pattern, drawing it, tracing it, making her gasp as if the skin here is tender and sensitive. I lean down and press my lips to the marks next, kissing her there.
And as I do, it happens.
A flash of light in my brain.
And I’m somewhere else – some place different – seeing something that fate wants me to see.
Slate Quarter, I’m sure of it. Snow on the ground. The sky thick with smog. Bitterness in the air. And a forest. Something is calling to me. I let it lead me through the trees, racing after its tugging force.
And then I find them, hidden beneath water.
Two jet-black firestones.
I crouch down, reach out my hand to touch them—
And I’m back at the academy, lying on my back, looking up into the bright blue sky.
“Beaufort!” Briony is kneeling by my side, anxiety written in the wrinkles of her brow. “What happened? Was it another vision?”
I groan and turn to roll up. The action has pain stabbing through my head. I flop back down onto the wet grass. “Another vision,” I say, my voice slurring in my mouth.
“Are you okay?” she says, stroking her hands down my face, peering into my eyes.
“I’m fine,” I say. “They hurt my head.” Immediately, she rubs at my temples, attempting to use her magic to soothe away the pain.
I catch her wrists, marveling again at those patterns as I pull her hands gently away.
“Doesn’t work, Briony. And the pain’s already fading anyway. Don’t worry about it.”
I hesitate, then pull her down onto the grass too. It’s wet and cold, but I can never resist the opportunity to have her close to me, lying across my body.
“What did you see this time?” she asks, resting her forearms against my chest, her fingers stroking the stubble on my chin.
“Firestones,” I tell her. “Two firestones in the water.”
“More firestones?” she says, her voice full of incredulous amazement. “More dragons?”
“Perhaps,” I say. “I think fate wants us to find them.”
“Oh my goodness,” Briony mutters. “I can only just about cope with one dragon. Not sure I can with two.”
“Think of all the times Blaze has saved your life, Briony – gotten us out of all sorts of difficult situations. Situations that I think are about to become a lot more difficult for us. Imagine if we had more dragons.”
“Yes, but we don’t know where those firestones are. How are we going to find them?”
“I do know where they are,” I tell her, peering into her green eyes. “And I think we’re going to have to go there.”
“Go where?”
“Slate Quarter.”