Dragonbane

  Her eyes widened. "They can do that?"

  Aimee laughed. "Yes. We can when we have mixed parentage. I started out as a cub and switched myself."

  Now that was something Seraphina had never known about or considered. Could that have happened to one of her children? Edena had been acting very peculiar and secretive. Seraphina had foolishly thought it might stem from a crush on a male she didn't care for. But that might explain some of her daughter's more irrational behavior ...

  Could Edena have switched from Arcadian to Katagari and been too afraid to tell her about it?

  She wasn't sure what upset her more. The fact it could have happened or that her daughter wouldn't trust her with the truth. That Edena would be afraid of her own mother judging her for something the child couldn't help.

  As the women drifted away, Fury, who had white-blond hair similar to Blaise, came forward. He shifted Trace in his arms. "Don't worry. You'll learn our names quick enough. And I'm easiest to remember as I'm the one most likely to say or do something really stupid or offensive. But don't be offended. I'm socially awkward and mentally stunted." He wrinkled his nose in a very wolflike gesture. "Once they learned I wasn't Arcadian anymore, I was harshly ejected from my Arcadian pack before I got fully mannered up. Lia and Bride keep trying to school me on how humans behave, but I'm learning it's really hard to teach an old wolf new social skills. So don't let me hurt your feelings. I don't mean nothing by it."

  She smiled at him. "Same here. I don't really understand this time period or ... how all of you do things."

  He ran his gaze over her wardrobe. "Fourth century BC? Steppe tribe?"

  "Amazon. Not sure what you mean by fourth century BC."

  He stroked the sleeping baby's back in a very human, fatherly fashion. "What emperor or warlord got on your nerves the most?"

  "Philip of Macedon, and his son Alexander."

  He let out a low whistle. "Yeah, you're ancient. You pro-Rome, or hate their guts?"

  "Not my favorite group."

  "Fair warning, then. There are two of them in this city, Roman and Valerius. They're on our side. Try not to kill them. Especially Val. Once you get past his assholishness, he's actually a decent enough guy. And his wife's one of Bride's best friends. She'd be real put out if you killed him, which would upset Vane and, well ... you know, shit rolls downhill."

  Seraphina laughed. Yes, yes, it did. "Thanks for the warning."

  He inclined his head. "Let me go tuck my nephew in with my sons and I'll be right back."

  Isolated again, she returned to listen to the small group continue to discuss the best way to attempt a rescue for her children and not get eaten by gallu in the process.

  For the first time, Seraphina understood how Maxis must have felt when he'd found himself thrust into her tribe after their mating. How completely alienated he'd been, and how foreign the surroundings and customs and faces. Because she'd been born among the Amazons, she'd always known their traditions. Known their language and felt a part of them. How they fought and went to war.

  Yes, she'd been orphaned after the attack on her village, but she hadn't been the only survivor that night. Her aunt's Amazon tribe had welcomed them in with open arms and great compassion. Each of them had been given adoptive families and treated as natural-born daughters.

  From the moment of Maxis's arrival in her village, they'd received him as an outsider and had never allowed him to forget the fact that he wasn't one of them, and would never be fully accepted among her race.

  When Maxis had first seen the number of Drakaina tents, he'd slowed his horse and worn a look of feral reservation in his eyes.

  "Don't tell me you're afraid."

  "Not afraid. Only disquieted." His gaze had gone to the collection of cloaks and shields her tribeswomen displayed outside their tents that were made of the tanned scales and skeletons of past dragon kills they proudly flaunted as war trophies. "What is the penalty for killing an Amazon in combat?"

  "None, so long as it's fair and open. Murder, however, is punished swiftly and severely. I wouldn't advise doing that. No matter how tempted someone might make you."

  And when they'd neared Nala's grand tent where a row of dragon skulls were mounted on dragon-spine posts, he'd arched a brow at her. "I think I know that guy."

  She'd laughed, until she realized he wasn't joking. "Seriously?"

  "Aye, but it's all right. I owed him money." He'd winked at her.

  His sense of humor and extreme intelligence had always caught her off guard. It was what had always charmed her about her mate.

  Maxis was never what she expected.

  "Are you all right?"

  She swallowed hard at Samia's question that dragged her away from her memories and back to the present. "Thinking about the past."

  Sam nodded with a sympathetic smile. "I heard you were recently awakened from a curse where you were all turned to stone? What'd you do?"

  "Fought for the wrong set of gods, and were too successful at it."

  Sam sucked her breath in sharply. "That would do it. So who did you piss off?"

  "Zeus."

  "Ouch."

  Seraphina didn't comment on that as her gaze dropped to the low cut of Samia's shirt where a part of a double-bow brand mark peeked out.

  The symbol of a Dark-Hunter--they were immortal warriors who'd sold their souls to the goddess Artemis to fight in her army and protect mankind from the Daimons who preyed on human souls to elongate their lives. Since they hunted the cousin race that had birthed the Were-Hunters, they were normally avoided or considered enemies to her people.

  How odd that Samia would end up mated to a Were-Hunter.... That had to be the strangest union of all.

  "Are you still in service to Artemis?"

  Sam shook her head. "I got my soul back." She jerked her chin toward Dev, who was shoving at his twin brother. "It's an adorable werebear who owns me now."

  "And you're happy?"

  A wicked smile spread across her face. "He's a very special kind of happiness."

  "Meaning?"

  "He loves to tease and nettle me to the brink of murder, but I wouldn't have it any other way. He is everything in this world to me." She wandered back to Dev to give him a hug from behind.

  A part of Seraphina envied Sam that easy camaraderie with her mate. She'd never really had that with Maxis. Some of it was the fact that he was so much taller and more massive than her, even in human form.

  But mostly it stemmed from the fact that she was acutely aware of the their "other" differences. The fact that he stood out radically from other males.

  Even in this group.

  Both he and Illarion, and Blaise. While they weren't the largest in their human incarnations, there was something more feral and innately powerful. Something about them that warned they were much more than they seemed. They exuded a quiet, lethal predatorial confidence that other species lacked.

  An air that said they were the pinnacle of the food chain and that anyone else could be added to their menu at any time.

  At their sole discretion. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.

  He also moved with an exquisite grace. A fluidity of muscle and sinew that was both beautiful and unnerving--like watching a sleek jungle cat stalking its prey on the savannah.

  Maxis was the perfect killing machine.

  It was what he'd been conceived for. All he'd been created to do. Since the dawn of time, his species had existed for no other purpose than to kill and breed. To guard and protect.

  To survive in solitary seclusion, under the harshest of environmental conditions, hot or cold, feast or famine. While other creatures needed social interaction to save their sanity, dragons didn't.

  Females were biologically driven to find males twice a year to spawn and carry on their species. Unless a male caught the scent of such a fertile female, they were content to remain celibate, and reclusive.

  Alone for centuries.

  Being merged with h
umans had changed that. Arcadians, because they possessed human hearts, formed communities and tribes or patrias of dragon clans, as did many of the animal-hearted Katagaria.

  But Maxis had remained solitary even after his transition.

  Until they'd been designated as mates. With her alone, Maxis had been unbelievably attentive and affectionate. Insatiable. And true to his dragon's blood, he'd made her his own sacred object that he'd held and guarded, and dared anyone to threaten or harm. She'd been the one thing he'd kept diligent watch over.

  He seldom even slept whenever she was with him. No one could come near her that he didn't watch them with careful suspicion, ever ready to attack if they said or did anything to hurt her.

  And the entire time he'd lived with her, he'd sought out her company, and made her feel as if she were the most beautiful and precious woman in all the world.

  Given that absolute hunger he'd possessed for her, she had no idea how he'd managed to leave and return to his monastic ways. Even now, he kept glancing at her with that familiar, scorching heat in his eyes that said he wanted to find a secluded nook for them ... kept holding his mouth as if he were tasting her already. It left her breathless and starving, and for that, she could almost hate him.

  She had seriously underestimated how much impact his presence would have on her. How traitorous her body would be once it was this close to his. Dear gods, it was unbearable to be under that golden scrutiny again and not have some way to taste those lips. To run her hands over his long, languid body and enjoy the wealth of tawny skin ...

  Did all mated couples feel like this? Did they have the same overwhelming need whenever they were together?

  But then Seraphina knew from experience that the other Arcadian Draki didn't respond this way to their mates. In fact, the females of her tribe, even those already mated, had been drawn to Maxis in a way that had viciously pissed her off. Any time they thought they could get away with it, they'd cornered him and called it "curiosity" over the fact that he was Katagari and they'd never been that close to a Katagari Drakos before outside of battle, especially one in human form. They'd claimed they only wanted to see if there was any difference between his kind and male Arcadians.

  It was that very thing that had led to their first real fight when she'd returned to her village from a hunt to find him gone. Her tent empty.

  No sign that he'd been there at all. Something that was a viciously rude public slap in the face, as it was expected for mates to receive their warriors on their return. He should have been there with the rest of the males and children and elder villagers to celebrate as the returning war party rode in a parade to Nala's tent. Since Seraphina was the queen's champion, he was supposed to be waiting outside Nala's tent to greet both her and Nala.

  As her mate, his absence was well noted, especially since they'd left a space of honor for him to stand.

  Instead of cheers, smirks, and snide innuendoes had greeted her.

  A quick interrogation of her neighbors and she'd learned Maxis had left her village just after her raiding party had ridden out. No one had seen him since.

  Angry and concerned, Seraphina had headed into the woods, with her tribe's wild speculations about his activities ringing in her ears. Everything from he'd gone hunting humans, to he was practicing the black arts and conjuring foreign gods.

  Because they were mates, she had no problem picking up his scent to track, even though it was days old. It was the same ability that had enabled her to locate him here in Sanctuary.

  Unless Maxis blocked his scent and used his powers against her, Seraphina could find him with ease.

  That was also the first and last time she'd seen him as a dragon.

  Without thinking, she'd tracked him into a dark cave where he'd taken refuge to await her return. Because it was a full dragon's den where he'd placed his own belongings without her knowledge, she hadn't realized it was his.

  Until that moment, she hadn't given any thought to the fact that Maxis had come to their marriage with nothing more than the dragonslayer's sword he'd taken from his brother's killer, the clothes on his back, and the horse she'd given him as a wedding present.

  As she'd stumbled upon the sleeping dragon, she'd unsheathed her sword, intending to kill the beast. His ears had twitched as he detected the subtle sound of metal scraping.

  With the fierce rumble that said he was preparing to let loose fire, he'd opened his eyes and turned toward her with a vicious, feral growl. His deep blue scales had turned bright red--a battle color ... then green as he focused his gaze on her and relaxed. He'd folded his wings down to lay against his back, and slid his tail beside his rear left foot--a dragon's position of peace and acceptance.

  "Sera?"

  The shock and horror, as she realized this was what the gods had mated her to, had claimed her so fully that she really didn't remember the next few minutes. Only that when she returned to her senses, Maxis was human and holding her against his chest as she sobbed violently. Something that wasn't in her nature.

  "I'm so sorry." He'd kissed the tears on her cheeks as he sought to soothe her. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

  Once the shock had worn off and her mind worked again, she glared at him.

  He's a dragon. A full-blooded, horrific dragon.

  A dragon.

  Yes, she knew how stupid that sounded. She'd known what he was.

  But knowing and seeing ...

  It was so different.

  He was one of those awful, murderous things that had brutally slain her entire family. Her mother and sisters. Without regard or mercy. One of the animals that held no care or concern for her people. Who preyed on them as if they were cattle.

  As if they were nothing.

  And as she'd glanced around the dark cavern and saw his trunks of treasure and lair--the things he valued--she'd realized that this was what he considered his home.

  Not her tent. Not her tribe.

  Not her.

  This was his home. His den.

  He's an animal. The pile of straw on the floor attested to that. Straw like what her horse slept upon. No bed or pillow. Or blanket.

  He even had a trough of water.

  Disgusted, she'd shoved him away and risen to her feet as the brutal reality slapped her hard.

  His expression shocked, he stood. "What's wrong?"

  She didn't know where to begin. The question wasn't what was wrong. It was what was right. "You were supposed to be in the village to welcome me home. Why weren't you there?"

  He'd laughed derisively. "Really didn't want to see the lot of you returning home with the bloody hides and scales of my brethren dripping from the backs of your horses as you dragged them through the village. Damn sure didn't want to celebrate your sneaky victories and bloodshed."

  Sneaky? That had only made her fury grow. How dare he dismiss the danger in what they did! "I'm your mate!"

  Heat had darkened his deceptively human cheeks. "And I'm yours! You just took one look at me in my real body, and screamed for an hour, and then went into shock at the sight of me. How would you have felt had I done that to you the first time I saw you naked?"

  "It's not the same!"

  "Isn't it? Or better yet, what if you'd come here to find human skulls and bones littering the floor and decorating the walls? Huh? How would you react to human fat burning as oil for my torches? Yet you left me alone in your village that's held together with the remains of dracokyn. And that includes the tent where you sleep. Do you really think it's escaped my notice that the posts of it are made from the bones and tusks of drakomai? Or that the candles that burn throughout the village are made from dragon fat? You think I don't know that smell?"

  Unwilling to cede the point since he was right, she didn't bother to contradict him. Instead, she moved on to something he couldn't argue with. "Your place is at my side!"

  "Aye, at your side. Not beneath your feet to be trod upon. I am not an Amazon male who caters to your every whim and begs for a kind
word from you. You do not own me. I am not your property! And I will not allow you to treat me as such!"

  "And I will not allow you to embarrass me in front of my basilinna or my tribe. I've worked too hard to reach my position--"

  "As a murderess?"

  "Dragonslayer."

  "Nay." He shook his head. "Sneaking into a lair while a dragon sleeps and cutting his throat isn't noble. It's murder. You don't hunt. You tiptoe to slaughter."

  "And what do dragons do? You attack sleeping villages! Is that not murder?"

  "No, we don't. We don't attack, ever. Katagaria are not drakomai. Do not insult me by mistaking my brethren for one of them. They are a different breed entirely. Made by an Arcadian king and a psychotic god who wanted to please him. Merged with Apollites by dark magick. 'Tis the bloodline of your kind that taints those poor bastards. Drakomai are not raised to attack unprovoked. We don't hunt for any reason except to eat, and we don't prey on man. That is not in our natures. So long as you stay out of our territory and dens, we leave you in peace."

  "You lie!"

  He shook his head. "We are solitary beasts who only war when confronted."

  She'd gestured at the trunks of treasure that surrounded them. Gold and jewels that glimmered in the dim light. "And what of that? Are those not your war trophies?"

  Sincere shock had marked his handsome features. "Hardly. I have no need of treasure or money. Those are things given over to me for my protection. I hold them in trust for their rightful owners."

  "You expect me to believe that?"

  "Believe it or not, that's up to you. It's the truth. Everything I own, I placed in your tent."

  "And why weren't you in my tent on my return?"

  He'd stared at her in sullen defiance.

  "Answer me!"

  His eyes had snapped the same fire he could have easily breathed all over her. "You don't take that tone with me. I don't speak to you in such a manner and I demand from you the same respect I show my mate."

  Fury had simmered deep in her and she'd wanted to beat him for that. In Amazon culture, the men bowed down to their women and were, in truth, subservient to them. But she knew he didn't come from that kind of environment. And she did her best to understand and respect it.