Chapter 12
Ama’s quiet declaration rang in Arkyn’s ears as delightfully as her cries of pleasure had mere moments before. Without waiting for his response, she drifted to sleep in his arms, right there on the worn, scratchy carpet of her apartment. With any other woman, he might pride himself in his sexual prowess. He might cringe at her confession. He might carefully extricate himself so he could return home.
But not here or now. Not with Ama. Even as his heart still pounded in his chest and his body still tingled, latent effects of his powerful climax, all he wanted to do was follow her into blissful sleep. Because this had been so much more than mere mind-blowing sex.
Making love to Ama had marked his soul with indelible ink, never to be the same again.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, elskr.” He murmured in her ear as he lifted her lax body and carried her through her apartment until he found her bedroom. He laid her down and made quick work of discarding the condom he’d had barely enough presence of mind to roll on. Then he retrieved their discard clothes, shut and locked the windows and doors, and returned to the bedroom to join Ama.
She hadn’t invited him to stay, but he wanted to fall asleep with her in his arms. Wanted to wake up with her still there. If that was crossing a line, she could yell at him in the morning.
But he paused at her bedside, content to just watch her sleep. Her purple hair splayed like a lover had repeatedly corded fingers through the strands and fisted them—and he might have… he couldn’t remember the play-by-play of their lovemaking, it had been so intense and euphoric—and her skin was still flushed a deep pink. She was beautiful, full of lightness and wonder. Without any pretense or prejudice. Her strength was her spirit, her vibrant personality. Being surrounded by her joy was infectious. All this time he’d been looking for a woman with education and business acumen and management skills. Damn if Ulrik hadn’t called it; Arkyn had approached dating like it was a job interview, when what he really needed was a woman who made him happy.
Ama made him happy. Made him smile. Drove him crazy with lust.
Maybe he could talk her into pancakes and bacon when they woke up in the morning.
“There’s been a disturbance in the Force.” His father’s concerned voice in his head pulled Arkyn’s attention from the lovely pixie quietly snoring on the bed. “Council has called an emergency session.”
Fucking cock-blocking Dragon Council. So much for crawling into Ama’s bed with her and giving in to his post coital lethargy and the undeniable desire to curl around her slender curves all night. Instead, he needed to make haste to his parents’ house to see what this dire Council emergency his father so vaguely described was about. A heavy sigh in his heart, Arkyn threw his clothes on, left a brief note of apology on her night stand, cast one more longing glance at the vision of Ama sleeping peacefully, then pocketed Astra as he left the apartment.
The Drekison clan was too distant, too isolated, too… American… to offer the Motherland’s Dragon Council the respect they felt they deserved. And the last time his family had jumped when the Council had called had been the arrival of Níeh?ggr. Hopefully tonight’s emergency session wasn’t to announce another world destroying entity.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” His mother kissed him on the cheek when he walked through the door. Everyone else was already there, even Lin and Ty, although Ivar still wore his bowling shoes and listed a bit from too much beer.
Arkyn accepted the mug of coffee Lin offered him and joined the family around the television for the projected video conference with the Dragon Council. In her new role as North American Liaison, Lucia had insisted their Minnesota clan and the New York clan have fair representation on the Council—even though the Council had balked at granting them voting rights—and access to the meetings. Her biggest challenge had been setting the Council chamber up with WiFi.
The Dragon Council was nothing if not painfully slow to evolve. Not too surprising, given the fact they all carried ancient beasts deep within their souls. But honestly, even the crotchetiest Council member knew how to use a smart phone. Why was video conferencing such a stretch?
“Is this thing on? Can you hear me?” Lucia’s father, head of the Council Elders, looked around as if searching for a microphone to tap. Someone behind the scene mumbled an assurance, and the Elder cleared his throat and donned his mantle of self-importance. “Council members, and, uh, the others watching, we have a dire situation.”
He paused for dramatic effect. Ivar snorted with disdain at the theatrics. The Elder inhaled deeply as if bracing for his important announcement. “A rogue dragon has awakened.”
The Council chamber gasped as if this was worse news than the arrival of Níeh?ggr or Ragnarak. They screamed questions at the Elder. “How can such a thing happen?” “Who will bring it to heel?” “What if the humans find out?” “What destruction will it cause?”
The Drekison living room was quiet, but for Ty’s snicker. “They act like it’s Godzilla tear-assing through Tokyo.”
Arkyn frowned and looked at his father and spoke softly enough the question didn’t get picked up by the mic and projected through the Council chambers. “Rogue dragon? What does that even mean?”
Jo?lnir steepled his fingers. “A rogue dragon is one without a host. The opposite of NeiDreki.”
“So, like a NeiHuman?” Ulrik asked with a shrug. “Can we just get it together with Eydís?”
“Dude, this isn’t a Tinder date.” Eydís swatted his knee.
Ulrik’s suggestion made sense on an academic level. Eydís was a shifter who had been born without a dragon, so could conceivably attach to one that was currently without a host. But the relationship between dragon and host was much more intimate and elemental than merely filling a gap.
“You know it’s not that simple.” Father shook his head. “They are rare, and shrouded in more rumor and mystery than fact. But the assumption is a dragon ungrounded by the tempering influence of its host—” Ivar snorted at that— “will become even more predatory, ravaging the plane of existence where our dragons reside and killing indiscriminately in its desire to eradicate all competition. Much like any apex predator when it feels threatened by another.”
“Woah, so that weird space place Ty and Lin told us about is a real thing?” Ivar sounded shocked, as if they’d concocted the lie for mere giggles.
He referred to the dark plane seeming to exist in an alternate dimension, surrounded by space, where Ty and Lin’s dragons had reunited with one another. The place must be vast if two massive dragons had lost touch with one another for centuries. If two lovers couldn’t find one another, what were the chances a rogue dragon could truly threaten other dragons? And how did the dragons even know there was one?
Arkyn glanced at Father, who merely nodded his chin toward the television set and the crises unfolding in the Council chambers. The meaning was clear: Father wanted Arkyn to take the lead representing the family to the Council, just as he so often did in matters of the family business. Part of his heir-alpha training. The initial uproar in the Council chamber had died a bit, so Arkyn raised his hand to get the Council’s attention. “Elder, what evidence do you have that there is a rogue dragon?”
The Elder placed his hand against his chest. “Can you not feel it? Our dragons are agitated. Panicked. In fear for their lives.”
Arkyn hadn’t felt any of that. But then, he’d spent the evening distracted by a certain beautiful woman in the most pleasant way possible. He glanced around the living room to see the others shrugging or shaking their heads. Apparently, they hadn’t felt anything either. “Aside from a general feeling of panic in some of our dragons, is there actual evidence a rogue dragon is threatening them?”
Another Elder threw her hands up as if he was dense. “Our dragons are in danger. A rogue dragon is a scourge and must be eradicated or else our dragons will die!”
“Drama-mama much?” Lin muttered under her breath.
Arkyn bit back his smile. They’d agreed not to use their mental communication just in case someone from the Council had the ability to listen in. But keeping a straight face with his family’s editorial comments was a challenge. “Council Elders, how do you propose we eradicate this dragon?”
“It must be hunted and killed.”
Good gravy. So, the plan to save the dragons that were currently threatened by the possibility of a rogue dragon killing them, was to kill it first. And those doing the killing would be the same dragons so afraid of dying at the claws of a supposedly more vicious and brutal dragon?
“No offense Elder, but hunting something makes it prey. Prey are not a threat to us.”
“A rogue dragon is a threat, young Drekison.” Lucia’s father glared into the camera. “It is unnatural. An abomination. Its presence disgraces?—”
“So, it’s not as much of a threat to our dragons as it is something that offends your sensibilities.” Arkyn interrupted the tirade. It was disrespectful, but he was so done with the artificially elevated emotions and grandstanding.
Dragons were naturally volatile creatures, prone to lash out quickly when threatened, as any apex predator might. But they were also ancient beasts, and should have the calm confidence their age and experience brought. Apparently, his Earth Dragon had the lion’s share of that temperament, his naturally stable, constant, unwavering personality the main reason why he was heir-alpha of their clan.
And he’d fallen for a woman who was anything but. He’d have to unpack that luggage some other time.
“Careful, firstborn son.” Ivar snickered low so it didn’t project across the video screen. “Or you’ll ingratiate yourself to the Elders as much as I did.”
Meaning, not at all.
“Councilman, not everything deemed an abomination should be assumed useless or dangerous.” Eydís leaned forward, an eyebrow raised in challenge.
“You are neither a shifter nor clan member.” Another Elder glared imperiously in response. “You have no right to speak on Council matters.”
The living room growled as if a single, enraged beast. The Elder’s words were technically the truth, but that conveniently narrow interpretation of the rules was, at best, painfully shortsighted.
“I beg to differ, Elder.” How Eydís maintained an unruffled attitude in light of the Elder’s dismissive tone was impressive. Her years wrangling chauvinistic boardroom meetings had honed that skill. By contrast, the rest of the Drekisons were ready to go to war for her. “I am exactly the person who should speak on this matter. As a shifter-born-NeiDreki, I am proof that what shifters have traditionally shunned can possibly still prove beneficial.”
“Yes, we’ve all read the report about how your lack of dragon seemed to help with a little bug problem.” The female Elder spoke like she was washing crushed worms off her feet. “Funny how that report was submitted months after the discovery of your special talent.”
“We felt it important to fully vet the discovery so we didn’t waste the Council’s time.” Arkyn ground out between gritted teeth, trying unsuccessfully to keep his disappointment at bay. The Council had sent his parents to the new world over thirty years ago with instructions to begin a new clan. Then had promptly turned their backs and forgotten them, leaving the Drekisons to set down roots with no support from the Council or the Motherland.
In spite of that, their clan had flourished. His parents had raised four powerful dragon sons. They’d saved the world when Ty had realized Lin was the missing piece that would help them defeat Níeh?ggr. They’d discovered the Councilman’s own daughter, Lucia, was a powerful light dragon and not the weak, worthless dragon he’d assumed. They’d welcomed a shifter with no dragon and learned she was a formidable amplifier for their own dragons’ powers. And the Council barely had the grace to acknowledge any of it. In fact, they chose to focus on an administrative issue rather than one of true note.
Fuck, they would eviscerate Ama if he ever brought her to them.
Arkyn cleared his throat and shoved those thoughts away. “We are happy to discuss the details of the report at your convenience. But perhaps we should get back to the current situation.”
“Elder, how can you know for certain this dragon does not have a host?” Lin jumped in. “Your Dragon Council was not even aware my own clan ever existed. Perhaps this dragon simply has a host you’re not aware of.”
“I am very much in touch with my dragon. And it tells me there is a dangerous rogue dragon intent on harming us.” Lucia’s father spoke, throwing his shoulders back and puffing out his chest as if his was the final word.
“So tell your dragon to hawk a loogie on the damn thing.” Someone muttered under their breath—it could have been any of the other brothers mocking the Councilman’s dragon which spit acid—and the tension in the Drekison living room fell into laughter.
The Councilman understandably took offense.
Before the Elder could work up a proper reprimand, Arkyn apologized. “Please forgive our mirth. It’s late on a Saturday night here in Minnesota, and most of us have been drinking. Please keep us posted on the Council’s plans and what it needs from us.”
He hit the Off button as Ivar booed him. “You’re no fun! Did you see how red he got in the face? Another minute and his head would have popped off! Not… that I would ever… wish that on my… future father-in-law.”
Ivar backtracked as best he could, although he didn’t sound a bit contrite. And not that Lucia seemed to care as she slumped into his embrace with a dejected sigh. “I’m sorry the Council is so… insulated. They struggle to consider anything from opposing views.”
Ivar placed a tender kiss at her temple. “They don’t struggle, ástin. They don’t even realize someone might possibly have a different viewpoint.”
Arkyn looked between his parents and Lucia. “Will the Council really pursue a plan to eliminate the rogue dragon?”
When they all nodded, obviously disliking the answer as much as he did, he stood and faced his family. “Anyone else feel like this is a preemptive strike to take out the competition?”
This time, everyone nodded, a mix of determination, disgust, and outrage in their expressions. Each one mirroring his own.
“Let’s get some sleep. Then we can come up with a plan to see how we can get to the truth of this whole mess. And possibly save a dragon in doing so.”