Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Anna
Casimir flared his wings to catch a blast of warm wind, and we settled down onto the grass-covered edge of the plateau with the tiniest of bumps.
I immediately looked over at Ella to see how she was doing, but for the moment the awe of flying had taken the edge off what she’d gone through at the hands of Yarl and his associates.
We hadn’t had a chance to discuss it yet, but if they put slave collars on everyone at the estate, it wasn’t for a positive reason.
“This is a bit more exposed than I was thinking,” I said to Caz, leaning forward and resting my body against his neck, listening to the slow exhale of his lungs and the deep, sonorous beat of his massive dragon heart.
A heart he wanted to give to me, if I would just let him.
I bit my lip. Could he feel my heart against him? Did he know just how much of it he had come to occupy in a short amount of time?
“What were you imagining?”
“Some sort of bunker or rock fort inhabited by flights of dragons?” I patted the side of his neck. “But I’m sure you did your best.”
Caz snorted, and I was launched six inches in the air from the effort. Laughing and having prepared myself for something along those lines, I gave his scaled neck a few more pats.
“A large bunker is hidden under the cabin,” he explained. “But up here, seclusion is going to be the first line of defense. Few people know it exists. Even fewer know I own this land.”
I glanced behind us, where the plateau dropped away sharply. The sheer cliff face that surrounded three sides of the large flat area were no joke. No lip, no slope. Level ground one step, death fall the next. The grass grew up and over the edge as well, providing no break to help see it coming.
“Maybe,” I said, getting up and heading for the wing Caz now extended for me. “But calling this a cabin is a bit of a power move.”
The building in question was four stories tall with sharp sloped roofs to dump the snow that piled up and massive whole timbers used as the foundation pieces.
Each one had to be four feet across easily.
The brellwood didn’t need to be that thick to support such a construction, but it added a rustic charm that wasn’t unappreciated.
“You should see some of the other properties I’ve inherited from prior tyrants. If you think this is gaudy …”
“It’s not gaudy,” I said, staring at the front wall, made of mostly of glass to provide the best view. “But calling it a cabin downplays the size of it. This has to have, what, ten bedrooms? Twelve?”
“Sixteen,” Dirk grunted as he approached with Ella walking a foot apart at his side, keeping a strict distance.
“Yeah. This is a … compound,” I said, settling on the word.
“No, compounds have walls, I think,” Ella said, shaking her head and sending her brown hair flying. “This is a chalet.”
“A what?” The rest of us turned to look at one another in confusion.
“It’s, um, a term humans use,” Ella said hurriedly.
Dirk frowned at her, but I knew better. Ella didn’t talk about it much, but she’d spent the better part of a decade on the surface, living among humans on the run. Milly and I had broken her free from the hunter that had found her and brought her back.
“Well, this chalet is lovely. All that wood, it’s gorgeous, and so is the view.”
“There’s a pond so large it’s almost a lake out the back,” Dirk said, pointing to where we could just see water lapping against the shore at the base of huge needled trees that jutted high into the sky.
In the distance, behind the trees, a cliff face rose high in the sky once more, vertical and windswept. From what I had seen, the only way in or out was by air or mountain climbing.
A gust of wind tore at us, pushing us in from the edge of the plateau and highlighting how dangerous it would be to try to scale the cliffs.
“Okay, I guess it’s fairly safe,” I said, caving.
Caz led the way inside, chuckling to himself. Almost immediately, Florian planted himself in the kitchen and began prepping food.
“Do you just keep this place stocked all the time?” I asked, frowning at the fresh eggs and bread that appeared.
“Yes.” Caz rubbed his forehead. “You would not believe the amount of waste that happens. But every residence must always be ready to receive the tyrant at a moment’s notice.” He made it into a whiny tone, screwing up his face into a bug-eyed thing at the same time.
“Caz doesn’t enjoy the political part of his job.”
“I hate the flunkies who follow me everywhere,” he grumped, flopping down onto a sofa.
Durion disappeared deeper into the chalet, saying he was going to change and then scout out the back to ensure everything was safe and they truly were alone.
Holly yawned. “I think I’m going to take a nap if that’s okay with everyone? If this collar removal is as rough as you say, I’m going to need energy.”
“Food first,” Kolar grunted, shooting to his feet and stealing the first wave of eggs and toast that Florian had going. “Then sleep.”
Holly eyed him.
“I’d recommend it,” Kolar said, thrusting the food at her. “But you do what you want.”
“Thank you,” Holly said, smiling as she took the plate and glass of water. “Can you show me to a room?”
Kolar swept past her and toward the stairs while I settled in next to Caz who sat upright. His arm came around me and pulled me in tight, rubbing my shoulder slowly while he rested his chin on the top of my head.
I sighed and cuddled in tighter, seeking out his body warmth. But I couldn’t stay for long.
Ella found herself a seat nearby while Dirk waited until she had plunked her butt on the cushions before sitting himself between her and the door.
“How are you doing?” I asked before the silence between us could deepen.
“It hurts,” she whispered, fiddling with the collar. “But not unbearably so. I’ve had worse. Like when we had to run through the Glass Forest to escape those hunters.”
I felt her guard go up as she mentioned the hunters.
“It’s okay,” I reassured her, gesturing at the men. “They’re my …”
“Flight,” Caz growled possessively. “We’re her flight.”
My flight of dragons. I smiled. The term was perfect, sitting right with me from the instant Caz declared it.
“You two are mated, then.” Ella looked between us quizzically.
I twisted my head to look at Caz.
“Turn your head,” he ordered to Dirk.
Dirk sighed dramatically, and, just to disobey, covered his eyes with a pillow from his chair instead.
I pulled away from Caz, ignoring the whine from my dragon at separating from him. Then I lifted my shirt, showing Ella the mate marks on my skin. Caz started to lift his shirt, but my dragon growled, so he stopped, looking at me with a grin.
Mine, I mouthed at him. His grin only grew broader, but he pulled his shirt back into position.
Ella was gaping. “I don’t believe it. How?”
“I don’t know. Neither of us do,” I admitted, sinking back in next to Caz, who planted a gentle kiss on the top of my head, chortling away to himself about how I had put a claim on him just there in front of another woman.
I thought about calling him a child, but he was so obviously happy about it, I just let him be.
It felt good to make him happy. I liked it. He had done so much for me, including rescuing Ella, so I could give him this one.
“And now you can use alpha command too?” Ella asked. “I heard you do it back there.”
“That’s new,” I said, chewing on my lower lip in thought. Caz’s thumb dropped between my eyebrows, smoothing out the frown lines.
“There will be time to figure that out later,” he rumbled as I playfully swatted his hand away. “Don’t need to worry.”
I smiled, nuzzling my head against him once more. He responded by squeezing me tighter.
Damn, I loved when he did that.
“That’s unbelievable,” Ella said.
“I know. Trust me. I’m still struggling to believe it. But I can feel it, and that has never wavered,” I told her. “If you could only know, Ella. It’s … I can’t describe it.”
“Must be nice,” she whispered. “Though I don’t know if I could trust anyone right now anyway.”
“Was it bad?” I asked in a soft tone.
“Only when Yarl or one of his sycophants was there,” she said with a tremor.
Dirk’s hand twitched in his lap. I didn’t know if he wanted to comfort her or throttle someone. The distant look on his face could have meant either.
“I’m sorry I didn’t find you earlier,” Caz growled. “Whoever bought you worked hard to hide where you went.”
“Some might say too hard,” Dirk put in.
I frowned. This was the first I’d heard of that. “What are you saying?”
“Dirk suspects that someone has figured out you were the reason for the market raid he carried out,” Caz said. “That they linked you and your friends and thus made it even harder for us to find them.”
“Oh.” Ella and I traded worried looks. “That sounds bad.”
“It could be,” Caz agreed. “But we don’t know. They’re covering their tracks very carefully if so.”
Dirk looked at me. “I don’t have proof, but I can feel it. You know?”
I nodded.
Ella hissed, her hand going to the collar. Dirk’s face clouded over with fury as he watched her fight back whatever was going on.
“I think I’m ready for this to come off,” Ella said, whisper-quiet. “If you think you can truly do it.”
“I can,” Caz rumbled, sliding me aside so he could get to his feet. “The bond is only as strong as the dragon who creates it. So any stronger dragon can break it.”
Ella looked at me and then back at Caz hesitantly. “How do you know you’re stronger? What happens if you aren’t?”
Caz paused, obviously gauging something. Then he nodded slowly, flicking a look my way.
“You should tell her,” he said, turning and motioning for Dirk to follow him to the kitchen.
Dirk hesitated, his eyes on Ella, but in the end, he went after his older brother.
“Tell me what?” Ella asked when they were out of easy hearing.
“That Caz knows he can break the collar because there isn’t a stronger dragon.”