Chapter 8
Desmon
By the time I’d seized back control of my body from my angry dragon, it was too late. A sizzling stream of our magical fire was already rushing toward Carly. It would reach her before I could do anything!
“ You idiot! “ I bellowed aloud to him.
My heart stilled in my chest as yellow and orange engulfed her small form. But no shrill feminine scream bounced off the concrete; Carly didn’t burn . Her clothes did, but she did not. Rather, she glowed.
She held her hand in front of her, her hazel eyes round and awestruck as she watched the flames dance on her fingers. Then she tentatively formed a ball of fire in one hand and tossed it up into the air before catching it again deftly.
See! Our fire cannot harm her. She is our mate. My dragon sounded smug and extremely pleased with himself.
You didn’t know that for sure. What if you had been wrong? She could be dead now! I wasn’t so calm. If we weren’t one and the same, and it was physically possible, I would wring his neck for doing something this utterly stupid.
But I wasn’t wrong. She is our mate, just like I said.
And if she hadn’t been ? I demanded.
Then no big loss.
A hundred years ago, I would’ve agreed with him. Anyone that wasn’t directly benefiting me was at risk of being sacrificed. There simply weren’t any reasons to make the extra effort otherwise, even something as minor as moving my stream of fire two degrees to the left.
In the past, I’d saved the lives of other dragons and several demons. But I could count on the talons of one claw the times I’d actively tried to help humans or other lesser monsters: a human prince, a very strong witch, a leader of a wolf pack. They had thus all owed me a life debts, which I’d made sure to call in before their time in this realm was done.
It was hard to ask for such favors after the reaper came for them. Death’s claim always came first when it came to such things. I’d tried bargaining with Death once, and it hadn’t gone well. There were some entities even dragons shouldn’t mess with; I’d been young and foolish at the time.
It seemed the reapers were on vacation today because Carly was whole. Even as I thought that, I spied two annoyed reapers standing off to the side of the burning bodies of the males who dared kidnap my mate, scythes in hand and cloaks swirling around their feet. They never liked it when souls refused to leave the mortal plane.
I hurried towards Carly, eager to get her out of here before the reapers noticed her and decided there’d been a mistake and took her as well. I took three enormous dragon-sized steps toward her, reverting into my human form as I did.
The flames had died down by now, but they had burned through all of her clothes, which I’d noticed before were the same set she’d worn yesterday. Now that I thought about it, I’d seen her clothes scattered all over her bedroom floor, and they were all quite colorful. Was this the only black set of clothing she owned?
Oops. I’d make sure to take her shopping later.
My fire not only refused to harm my one true mate, it had also protected her from the heat of her burning garments. Now she was frowning and stepping out of her shoes, which had melted to the point that they looked more like goo than footwear. The only thing still intact were her glasses, though even they were a little warped from the heat. My fire must’ve decided that they were a part of her and spared them.
I took another step toward her, afraid she’d shy away from me now that she’d seen what a monster my dragon was with her own eyes. But she seemed more worried about the fact that she was completely naked, apart from some soot from her clothes that was smudged on her shoulder. Humans were weird about clothing. It was the reason I had all my pants enchanted so they’d shift with me. Made it less awkward.
I didn’t give her time to focus on such trivial matters as clothing. The dislike of nudity was a human foible she’d cast off as soon as she got used to living with me.
“Are you hurt?” I pulled her into my arms and held her to my chest for a heartbeat before the acrid scent of her pain had me holding her at arm’s length to check her over for injuries. My fingers immediately went to her lips; the bottom lip was split open but had stopped bleeding. I continued looking for more injuries.
“I’m oka—” She hissed in pain and snatched her hand away when I touched her right wrist.
I reached for it again, more carefully this time, and felt around for any broken bones. No fractures, but her wrists were red and swollen, and there were horizontal angry red marks, not from my fire but from the friction of whatever they’d used to bind her wrists. A giant bruise was starting to form, too.
I cradled her injured wrist to my chest, wishing I’d thought to bring some healing salve.
“I killed them too quickly,” I growled. “I should have made them suffer.”
Carly giggled, partially from amusement and partially from nerves, her eyes studiously avoiding the charred remains of the two men I’d set alight. “I’m just glad you came for me at all. And a little surprised, to be honest.”
“Of course I came for you. You still owe me a lunch date.”
“A date? I thought you said it was a work thing.”
“I lied.”
“Oh.” Her lips froze in a cute little O, and I couldn’t help myself.
I leaned down and kissed the corner of her lips, careful to avoid the injured lower one. When she leaned into me, silently demanding more, I wanted to roar in triumph. I gathered her into my arms and nibbled on her upper lip, wishing I could really kiss her and taste her properly.
I still wasn’t sure how I felt about having a human mate. Some might call it a punishment. Logically, it was. Humans were weak and had a ridiculously short lifespan. But the joy and excitement my dragon was feeling right now was enough to mute the logical part of my brain…for now. I’d consider all this later when she was safe.
“I need to get you home and cleaned up.”
We also needed to leave before anyone arrived. While I could get away with a lot as the dragon of Darlington, I would prefer not to be there to answer questions when the time came. Dragon fire was thorough, and there wouldn’t be much left of the two men very soon, but just in case someone noticed something, I wanted to be long gone before the EA got here.
The EA, short for Enforcement Agency, used to be called the Secret Enforcement Agency back when all things paranormal were hidden from the human world. They were the international governing body that policed monsters and magic. Before the fall of The Wall they had worked solo, but now they teamed up with the human police force, though I heard that one hand frequently didn’t know what the other hand did.
“Wait! My purse. It’s still in their car. My phone too, he shoved it in the center console.” She glanced at the still-burning bodies before looking quickly away. “Do you think the key might still work?”
“No need for one.” I strode over to the car, shifted partially so that diamond-hard scales covered my arm, and punched through the window. I grabbed her purse and phone, then shook everything off to make sure I wasn’t bringing any broken glass back to her.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the bag from me. “That was, um, very effective.” She looped the strap over her head and one shoulder.
“You will not be able to hold onto me with your injured wrist, so I will hold you instead. My talons are sharp, but will not harm you if you do not struggle.”
“Hold me?”
“Yes. In my claws. It is the only way I can carry you while I fly.”
Her jaw dropped.
“Do not be frightened. I promise, my dragon poses no danger to you.”
“I’m not afraid of your dragon, even though he looks very strong and powerful. I don’t know why. But I’m not.”
My dragon preened at her words.
“But I am worried about the flying part.”
“I swear I will not drop you. Do you trust me?”
She considered the loaded question, her head tilting in the most adorable way. “I do,” she said after a long pause. “And thank you for not burning me.”
I didn’t want to tell her why she was immune to my fire. Not yet. She would need time to come to terms with being a dragon’s fated mate.
“Even if my wrist weren’t injured, I probably wouldn’t be able to hold on anyway,” she said. “I’m a bit of a klutz. I’d probably fall right off.”
“Then I will have a harness designed for you for future travels. For now, I will carry you.” Without giving myself time to change my mind, I let my dragon form take over.
It meant that I was much larger than her and could easily pick her up in my claws to bring her home. Magic really was a wonderful thing. I never quite understood how it all worked, but I wasn’t going to question my own existence too thoroughly, lest I ceased to exist.
Then, feeling as if I was carrying the most valuable treasure in all of history, I carefully wrapped my claws around her, forming a little cage. Soon we were in the air and flying home.