Page 75 of The Mating Claim
“Spears and arrows aren’t enough to kill a dragon.” Horror filled her. “Unless they manage to take one of us down and attack all atonce.”
A wry smile touched his mouth. “Exactly. And then to leave you alive, barely, as their prisoner in exchange for peace and ending the war, a trade for Emer’slife.”
Lacey’s throat tightened. “How long did youlinger?”
Drust held up his hand. “Two weeks, three days, five hours and seventeenminutes.”
Now Lacey knew exactly what happened. “I heard about this, about you. The story has been passed down through generations. But they didn’t say it was you. The name of the dragon was lost intime.”
“Part of the deal I made. They erased my name from the dragon history books because they did not want my memory honored. And I did not wish my kin to avenge mydeath.”
The dragon mentioned in the books had died horribly. Lacey’s chest felt hollow. “You sacrificed your life for our people. Why then, did you remain in the Shadow Lands in theafterlife?”
Another wry smile. “Guilt, over something that happened with Tristan and how he died. We were best friends in our mortallives.”
As they finished the bottle of wine, he filled her in on the details. When the last drop had been drunk, Drust sat back and glanced at the sun, slowing sinking toward the Gulf ofMexico.
“There are no Skins for at least a mile in either direction. I warded the land for while we are here. I have the need to fly tonight. Do you care to join me in watching the sunset from the sky as only our kind cando?”
Lacey grinned. “Better than watching it on the beach. Let’s go. Can we breathe a few flames into the air just to scare the Skins into thinking the sky is onfire?”
“You are a naughty dragon,” he murmured. “Ah, let me think.No.”
She glanced at the dirty dishes and glasses. “You cooked dinner. I’ll cleanup.”
Drust arched a dark brow. “Notnecessary.”
He waved a hand and the dishes and glasses vanished, along with the tablecloth. Drust dusted off his hand. “I’mready.”
Lacey laughed. “That’s efficient. I bet you wizards don’t even know how to dodishes.”
“I believe Tristan’s mate Nikita has him do them once in a while, just to keep him humble. He’s a Lupine wizard, so he has the tendency to be arrogant.” Drustwinked.
Charmed, she laughed. “Unlikeyou.”
“Ofcourse.”
Drust stood and held out a hand. She slid her palm into his, feeling the tensile strength beneath skin and sinew, and yet his grip was gentle, as if he knew his own strength but didn’t wish to hurther.
They walked onto the beach. As predicted, no one was around formiles.
“Ready? Youfirst.”
Lacey walked off and then called upon her magick. This time, thanks to the beef she’d consumed, her powers flared easily. Laughing she twirled, and felt her bones transform, her body change without even a twinge ofdiscomfort.
When her eyes opened, her vision was sharper, but in shades of different colors. Drust appeared as a cobalt blue shimmering outline of a man. Startled, she realized how much power he manifested, even at rest. Her dragon had never deciphered this because she’d been too focused on maintaining her dragonform.
Lacey stretched out a wing, admiring how the dying sunlight picked out flecks of blue amidst the green on herbody.
Hey, I make a prettydragon.
All her senses sharpened. The briny smell of the Gulf, the taste of salt on her tongue, and the feel of the breeze against herscales.
Grinning at him, she stretched out her wings, indicating “let’sfly!”
When Drust did not move, she opened her mouth and blew a small puff of smoke his way. Then she lumbered over to him and nudged him with hernose.
Still, he did not move, merely stood there and slowly reached out to stroke hernose.
