Page 12 of Dragon Compelled
“They enthrall you with their beauty and lure you into the sea,” I explain, “pulling you under until you drown and then feasting on your flesh.”
“Feasting?” Mag doesn’t sound the least bit concerned.
Harmony and Choral give me murderous looks.
“Lies,” Harmony hisses, her voice losing its melodic tone.
Watersong speaks up, cooing at Mag. “How silly, we would do no such thing.”
He grins like a loon and takes another step into the salty waves.
I growl, causing Harmony and Choral to take another step back from me. They glance at one another and then move toward Mag instead. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do to stop them. Mag has made it more than clear that killing isn’t an option. In fact, any sort of fighting is a last resort since I can’t expect to take on three without doing fatal damage to at least one.
“Bro, there’s no way,” Mag says, his voice lilting like he’s drunk thanks to the brainwashing magic they’re using on him. “They just want to be protected is all. You know what? Why don’t you do another fly-by and come back for me later?”
“Come on, handsome,” Watersong says, tugging him harder toward the water. “We’ll help you look for your friend this way.”
Mag obeys, wading into the water until the waves crash around his hips.
My patience snaps.
With a roar, I shift into my dragon so suddenly it sends the sirens running and shrieking. Instead of escaping to the cabin, they sprint into the ocean and dive beneath its surface. My dragon’s breath nips at their heels, the flames I shoot their way dying quickly when the fire hits the water. Unscathed, the sirens race away into the depths but not before I catch sight of a mermaid’s tale bobbing once before it vanishes among the waves.
When I look back at Mag, he’s standing on the beach, pants dripping, face etched with a scowl. “Bro, you are the biggest cockblock I’ve ever met.”
I don’t answer, nor do I shift back to my human form until he’s stalked over and recited the spell that opens our portal home. A moment later, I shift and follow him through, ignoring his muttering about getting no action of any kind on these damned missions.
That makes two of us. If murder weren’t expressly forbidden, I’d kill him.
Chapter4
Paige
My head is throbbing by the time I close out of the application submissions program and lean back in my—Hoc’s—chair. It’s just past lunch time, and my stomach is already growling. But, knowing I have only so much time in a day, and since I’d really love to get to bed before midnight, I reach into the drawer and pull out a granola bar.
I’ve no sooner torn into the wrapper than someone is knocking at my door.
“Come in,” I call out, setting the granola bar aside with a disappointed glance.
Blossom breezes in with a cardboard box, and the aroma of hot pizza fills my lungs. My mouth fills with saliva, and my stomach burns with hunger.
“Hello, fearless leader,” the unicorn shifter greets with a smile. Her stark white hair is up in a high ponytail, and she’s wearing the same black combat boots I’ve come to know as her signature look. Blossom is one of two keepers assigned to patrol the Athenaeum’s most volatile shelves, and she’s damn good at her job. That is until I came along and screwed everything up. Truth be told, the library should have chosen her instead of me. Not that she’d want the position since she’s here by force and not by choice.
I shove those thoughts aside. “Hey, Blossom, I was just about to dive into—”
“This hot, cheesy, double pepperoni pizza? Yes, I thought so. But not in here.” She turns to leave, waving the box as if to lure me with it.
“Blossom, I can’t—”
“Yes, you can,” she interrupts. “Even Hoc had a life outside of this office. You can take a thirty-minute lunch break.”
“I really can’t,” I shoot back, agitation creeping up my spine. “I have to go through the incident reports, create catalog entries for the new submissions, and—”
“That crap might work with someone else, but we both know I am not so easily shoved aside,” she says, tone flat. “You have to eat. You can come with me willingly, or I’ll shift and poke you with my horn until you listen. Either way, you are bending to my will and coming to eat pizza. After that, you can bury yourself in work if that’s what you choose to do. For the record, it’s not what I think you should do, but I’ve come to understand that you have to process things on your own time.”
I stare at the pizza box, and my stomach lets loose a growl I imagine would rival Aries’s dragon. It’s been so long since I had a meal that didn’t come out of a wrapper. “Fine. But you’re helping me shelve new books when we’re done.”
“Deal.” Blossom grins in victory and shoves the door open farther as I stand and make my way toward her. The closer I get, the more my stomach rumbles.
