Page 109 of Wickedly Ever After
“Wicked magic has them, although, I admit, I’ve been breaking Hector’s magic long enough to know he doesn’t leave many.” Ida glanced thoughtfully at him.
He squirmed uncomfortably.
Hari, sitting close to Tinbit and holding his hand, asked, “Well, what about that?”
“What about what?” Tinbit asked.
“The loophole in Hector’s spell? What is it?”
Tinbit grunted. “Probably the usual. A kiss from a handsome prince can break the curse. I don’t suppose Prince Archie would be up for kissing a dragon’s scaly bonce, though.”
“That’snotthe loophole I left. I didn’t want the princess ever becoming human again, not when she is mated to the future Flamelord.”
“Well, what is it?” Ida asked.
He told her.
She hadn’t talked to him since.
He’d wanted the impossible, and a dragon surrendering a firstborn child was about as impossible as it got, especially as it looked like Amber might be doomed to spend the rest of her life with a mate who couldn’t even wake up, let alone be a Flamelord.
***
Adair banked sharply. Hector saw Ida clutch hard at the Flamelord’s neckplates as he descended to a ledge with barely enough room for all three dragons to rest in reasonable comfort. Morga landed next, and Amber crashed between them. The two dragons kept her from spilling over the edge.
“I’m sorry,” she panted, stepping all over Adair’s feet and leaving bloody claw prints.
“Quite all right,” Adair said with a soft grunt of pain. “Next time you turn a human into a dragon, Hector, give them muscles to obey their instincts.”
“My shoulders feel like they’re separating. I don’t know if I can keep flying.” Amber started crying.
“There, there.” Morga bit Amber affectionately on the neck. “It’s not much farther.” She’d been saying it at every resting ledge to keep Amber going.
Amber leaned into the bite and even let Morga shake the nape of her neck a few times. Mothers-in-law were easily the biggest force in a young mated female’s life, and Morga’s affection and Amber’s willingness to accept it were what Hector had hoped for. She was part of the family now. Of course, it also meant that if Alistair was stuck in an enchanted sleep for the rest of his life, they would undoubtably all eat Hector together.
“Do you have a feel for where he is yet?” Ida asked Amber.
She nodded wearily. “Yes. It’s like a line from me to him. I would follow it until I fell from the sky. I can’t tell if it’s three miles or thirty, only that it’s closer than before.” She flopped down on the ledge. “I’m so tired.”
Morga stretched her left wing over Amber. “I know, dear. Adair, let her draft behind you. I’ll be on the side in case she falters.”
Adair launched himself off the rock with Ida clinging on for dear life.
“Now, watch me,” Morga said. “Let the thermals lift you. It will help. Even fit dragons get tired flying long distances. I’ll show you.”
Hector braced himself, but the fall into space sent his gut churning. Before he vomited with the dizziness, Morga rose, swirling in circles as the warm wind from the valleys carried her upward.
Amber launched herself. She flapped helplessly for a moment while Morga observed. Just when Hector thought she’d need to go after the girl and was preparing his stomach for the drop, Amber quit flapping and spread her wings. Slowly, inevitably, the current carried her upward.
“I must admit,” Morga said, “she makes a good dragon. Once I teach her how to prepare a proper nest cave and give her lessons on fighting and hunting for her young, she’ll fit right in. She has the fire for it.” She swept after Amber as the girl set off more confidently into the mountains.
***
They reached the cave around sunset.
Amber veered suddenly south with a cry like a strangled scream and plunged toward a snowcapped peak lit with the last rays of the setting sun. A cunning place, it was accessible only from a narrow ledge. Amber landed. Adair tried and was forced to flap backward when he couldn’t find room to stand. Morga landed and immediately condensed herself as Hector slid off her rapidly shifting mass. The cave entrance was far too small for a dragon to enter, but Amber clawed plaintively at the doorway. “Alistair!”
“He can’t hear you. He’s in an enchanted sleep,” Ida said as Adair made another attempt and managed to shift down to hishuman self. She slid from his shoulders and landed on her knees. “Ouch!”
