Page 441 of Kingdoms of Night

“Not right now, you aren’t.” He waved up and down her body. “Dragons can do this? Or are you... can you... Are you different?”

Had none of the other keepers told him that dragons had two forms? Of course they could change into this. They’d always been able to change into a more human-like form if they wanted to, but apparently all the myths and legends had forgotten that fact.

It was cruel that no one had told him how dragons could change to look more like them. Of course, most dragons didn’t. There was no reason for them to change into anything other than the form they preferred.

“We don’t have time for me to explain,” she muttered. Tanis reached for the crystals around her and used them to pull her body forward. “There are soldiers coming to the island, or did you not hear that part?”

“I heard it.” He lunged forward and caught her by the forearm. “Careful, you’re going to fall and you shouldn’t do that in... your state.”

Did he just gulp?

She followed the line of his gaze to look down at her belly and realized it was more rounded than she remembered. Of course. She still had her eggs, although she had no idea what they looked like at the moment inside her.

“I have a clutch to lay soon,” she mused. “I don’t know where I’m going to lay them in the midst of a war.”

“A clutch?” His face had paled. “You have a mate?”

Why was it that the man could work with her for over a month and not realize how stupid a question that was? Tanis wrenched her arm out of his hold. “I do not have a mate, and I do not wish for one. Laying eggs and raising a clutch has nothing to do with mates, you ridiculous man. It has everything to do with keeping our species alive and well.”

“But don’t you have to...”

She lifted a single finger. If he voiced that question, then she would throw him off the cliff before they even made it to the other dragons. “Don’t say what you’re thinking, Rowan. Dragons are not like elves. I can choose a mate for myself who isn’t a dragon if I wish, and many dragons do so. If we do that, however, we cannot continue the species because we will remain loyal to a single mate for our entire lives. We mate for life. That decision is not made lightly, especially without a past clutch to continue the line. Do you understand now? Is that satisfactory enough so that we can go warn the others?”

Nodding sharply, he reached for her arm again and clasped her to his side. She hated how weak this form was. She couldn’t pull herself out of his grip again, no matter how hard she tried.

“Stop fighting me,” he grumbled. “There aren’t any crystals for you to hold on to up here, so you’ll need my help. You look like a baby deer trying to walk.”

“At least I’m doing something.” A prideful part of herself wanted to rip away from him again and insist on walking on her own. However, logic knew that she couldn’t do this without him.

Together, they made it to the mouth of the cave, where she sagged against him, looking down at the long walk. “I don’t remember it taking such a long time to get to the village.”

“That’s because you’re usually about twenty times larger,” he muttered. “Can you make it?”

“I don’t know.”

She didn’t have much of a choice. Her people needed to know what was happening and what was coming for them. So few of them had even stopped to see what was happening.

If she didn’t do this, then their people might die.

She looked up at Rowan and watched the breeze ruffle his long, dark hair. A tendril slid over his cheekbone and traced the graceful line of his jaw. She’d always thought him small and delicate, but standing next to him like this proved how wrong she was. He was handsome. That surprised her.

“Here,” he gruffly said, stooping in front of her with an arm at her back. With a quick movement, he scooped up her legs and swung her up into his arms.

“What are you doing?” she cried out.

“Getting us down there faster.”

Oh, she hadn’t felt her stomach flutter like that before. She settled back into his broad, muscular arms, and told herself that the flutter was because of fear. Not something else entirely.

CHAPTERSEVEN

CHAPTER 7

Rowan carried her down the cliff and toward the only place he could think of. The community space with all the other dragon keepers.

He knew without a doubt that the dragon in his arms was in no shape or form to warn the others of the danger that approached their home. Tanis would fall over. Pass out. Trip over something because her legs were confusing at her, and then she would land belly first and... and...

His thoughts had wandered away from him, but wasn’t that to be expected when he found out that dragons could change into forms like his own?

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