Page 52 of The Dragon With A Girl Tattoo
“Yrian?”Xavier asked, one hand dancing in the air, smoky black symbols of a spell glowing briefly before disappearing.Protected as he was by a shield of dragons, he glanced over the scene, pausing on me with narrowed eyes that immediately made me want to run to the Beyond.
A roar went up, one that seemed to scrape the night sky, and suddenly, a wave of fire boiled forward, knocking down everyone in its path.
Xavier hissed something in a language I didn’t understand; then he was gone, having turned and fled into the night ahead of Yrian’s fire.
Since the other dragons—both friendly and otherwise—went down in the wave of flames, only Yrian was upright to chase him.He stumbled when I leaped forward to help, his eyes furious when he realized it was me.I made a mental note to ask him how he knew I wasn’t his father, since my glamours should pass muster so long as he wasn’t too close to me, but ignored that question along with my remaining caution, instead running after him.
There were still mortals in the car park, long lines of vehicles pouring out onto a narrow road, and to my relief, Yrian didn’t blast everyone there in an attempt to stop Xavier.I caught up to him on the edge of the road, panting as I asked, “Did he get away?Dammit, I really need to get back onto a treadmill.”
“Yes, he merged into the crowd of mortals,” Yrian said, turning to land a glare on me.“Why do you appear to be the First Dragon?”
I gave a half-hearted shrug, still trying to catch my breath.“I figured it was safer if Candy and Andy were here.Also, how can you fight like you did, then run all the way out to the road and not even be breathing hard?”
“You are female,” he said, taking my arm and heading us back toward the stage area.“Females are weaker than males.”
I stopped and punched his non-injured arm.“I don’t know where you got that bit of crap, but I can tell you right now that it won’t fly.Not here, not now, and most definitely not with me.Women are so much stronger than men.We cope with blood and pain every month.We can form new organs to grow babies.And we keep the human—and other—races alive.”
He made a scoffing sound that made me want to punch him again.“I will grant you the other examples, but as for the last, you must have a male to procreate.”
“You think so?”I made the meanest eyes I could at him.“If I wanted to, I could get pregnant without ever seeing a man.And just for the record, Mr.Two Thousand Years Old—”
“I don’t believe that age is correct,” Yrian interrupted.“My youngest brother mentioned something he called the Bronze Age.”
“Fine, then you’re, what, five thousand years old?Regardless, if you ever want into my pants, you are going to need an attitude adjustment.”
He took the hand that I had yanked away at his misogynistic statement.“Are you as physically strong as me?”
“No, of course not.”I tried to pull my hand back, but he just twined his fingers through mine and continued back toward the staging area.“I’m not an idiot, Yrian.I know that men are frequently—although not always—physically stronger, but that is only one type of strength.In all other ways, your supposition is false.And rude.And annoying.”
He was silent for almost a minute as we returned to where the others were just now picking themselves up off the blackened grass.“Very well, I concede your point, but only if you would explain to me why you believe I want to wear your pants.”
“Huh?”I watched as the women and my vampire guard, all thankfully out of the splash zone, were checking the downed dragons, part of Xavier’s attacking force.
“You said if I wanted into your pants, I would need to change my mind.”
I shook my hand free, then leaned in to whisper, “It’s a colloquialism.It means sexy times.”
“Bedsport?”His eyes went molten.
“Yes.Let’s see how many people you decimated.I hope none of your family are hurt.”I hurried forward, noting that although the wyverns all looked red and blistered, they were all alive.A few of the invader dragons rolled around on the ground moaning.
“What can I do to help you?”May asked Gabriel as we approached.
“Nothing.”He was sitting on a crate, his head down, blisters evident on his arms and hands.“I just need a few minutes to concentrate on healing.”
“Is there something we can do?”I asked, frustrated by so many things that, for a moment, I wanted to sit down and cry.Or scream to the stars.Or throw myself into Yrian’s arms and hide away from the world.
My inner narrator was startled by the last thought, but immediately approved it and moved it to the top of our to-do list.I nixed that, reminding myself that I couldn’t lecture a man about how strong women were one minute and, in the next, cling to him in order to hide from life.
“The urge to say Yrian’s done enough is strong,” Aisling said as she fretted over Drake, whom she helped to a nearby picnic table where Thaisa had Archer, with Hunter slowly dragging himself over to sit with them.“But I won’t say it because Drake will lecture me later about unseemly mate behavior in front of the weyr.I’m glad to see you managed to heal where that blue dragon gutted you with the sword ...oh, sweetie, no!How can you lose a tooth to fire?That makes two for the day.You’re going to have to eat ice cream for a week.”
“I am a wyvern.I don’t lecture,” Drake said, obviously trying for a dignified response, but his voice more of a croak than anything else.“I guide you to what is proper and right in a mate, and stop, Aisling.The tooth next to the one that exploded is loose, and you are making it worse.”
She stopped trying to stuff a tissue into the bloody spot in his mouth, murmuring an apology.
“I think you guys could do with more of that spicy wine—Yrian, what are you doing to that poor man?He’s burned to smithereens!”I had turned while speaking to see why Yrian was not offering to help his family, only to see him dragging one of the moaning dragons upward with one hand (causing my inner narrator to squeal to herself about just how very manly he was), before hauling him over to another picnic table, this one loaded with extra cables.
“That’s Deus,” Hunter said, lifting his head from where he was now flat out.“Also a son of Xavier.I’m surprised he didn’t disappear into the Beyond with the sire.”
