Page 32 of The Black Dragon
Though he’d chosen to take on the size of a large SUV, Justin knew he must lookintimidating.
With tentative steps, she approached and climbed onto his back. Ariel gripped the spikes rising from his neck. He, who never allowed riders, liked the feeling of her on hisback.
The liftoff was slow and deliberate, pulled with power. He did it more to accustom her to riding him than to show off hisstrength.
Like a helicopter, he rose vertically and then headed off for theredcliffs.
Ariel laughed, the sound filled with delight as he flapped his wings and sailed through the air. “This isfun!”
He followed her directions to an outcropping of red rock. Below, he saw a parking lot crowded withvehicles.
“Careful with the landing,” she called out. “Don’t squish the tourists. Sedona needs theirincome.”
Amused, he chose a flat boulder andblew a stream of mist from his mouth. Another trick Leo endowed him with after the Mage tampered with his DNA. The mist descended and shrouded the rock. No one could see them, but he didn’t want to flatten a hiker who decided the rock made a nice picnicspot.
After he shifted back to Skin, clothing himself in jeans, a black and white baseball shirt and sturdy hiking boots, pPain immediatelyslammed into him. Justin took a deep breath and relaxed, letting the powerful vortex energy flow through him as Drust had instructed. He glanced at Ariel, whose eyes sparked withjoy.
“That wasfun!”
Enchanted, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her laughter was worth the nasty tingles of energy bouncing off his skin like electrical shocks. “Saves on the parkingfees.”
He took her heavy pack and shouldered it, ignoring her protests that she could carry it. Soon he and Ariel were hiking the Bell Rock formation. Skins passed them as they trudged up the red dirt path leading up themountain.
He could save them time and fly them both to the mountain’s top, but Ariel had a specific destination in mind. Justin wasn’t surprised when she led him to a spothe’d already visited – the rocks where he’d talked with Drust lastnight.
She led him over to a large flat rock and patted it. Nearby, five Skins wearing shorts, T-shirts and wide-brimmed hats sat crossed-legged, palms open to thesky.
Ariel noticed his interest. “Students learning Reiki. It’s a great place topractice.”
She waved at them. A bearded man about her age wavedback. Justin growled at him. Flushing, the man turned away and shut hiseyes.
Ariel rolled her eyes. “Justin, don’t disrupt the positiveenergy.”
“Sorry,” he muttered. But it was hard not to feel possessive and protective of Ariel in this place that swarmed with so much power that it screwed up his senses while he was inSkin.
Justin set down her backpack. They sat on thered rock, cross-legged as the Skinsdid.
“The red rocks are famous for their energy. These vortexes connect to the earth’s natural energy. They’re popular with Skins who seek spiritual healing and transformation.” Ariel rubbed the red sandstone. “With Others, too. Sometimes I come here tomeditate.”
Interesting. He was learning more and more about this fascinating Mage who captivatedhim from the moment he saw her stranded on theroadside.
Don’t forget she’s the reason Leo captured you.But for today, he wanted to simply enjoy her company and not brood on thepast.
“I once tried meditating.” Justin looked around at the jutting rocks and the twisted, knobby trees. “Didn’t work. I don’t have that type of focus when it comes to staying still and doingnothing.”
“It’s opening your mind, not doing nothing.” Ariel jumped off the rock, bent down and scooped up a handful of red earth. She opened her palm and let it spill through her fingers. “Calming down all that noise in your head and soothing the soul. I came here a lot after the accident. I needed to derail the self-pity train because I was headed fordestruction.”
She’d only been fourteenyears old. Admiration filled him for her initiative and determination to heal herself. Then his temper flared. Leo had neglected his only child at a time when she needed him most. “You sought healing on your own? What about your father? Didn’t he get you the help youneeded?”
Her mouth turned down as she resumed her seat. “My father was too wounded to notice. My mother was his entire life.When we lost her he wanted his life to end, too. When he finally came out of his depression a year later, he became obsessed with finding dragons and experimenting with theirmagick.”
For a few minutes they sat in silence, Justin absorbed in his thoughts. Ariel endured a childhood much like his own. Maybe her father had lived, but he hadn’t been a parent,either.
“Let’s try meditating.Close your eyes and absorb the energy of the vortex. Feel nothing but the power of this place,” sheinstructed.
Doubtful, but what the hell. Justin closed hiseyes.
After ten minutes, he openedthem.
