There was no screaming in terror. No running or attacking.
Instead, she approached him slowly and placed a gentle hand on his scarred wing that had never properly healed from his harrowing. While he could fly with it, it wasn't particularly comfortable to do so.
And no one had ever touched him like she did now when he'd been in his real body.
Like he mattered to them.
Not even Aimee ...
Lifting his head, he waited to see that familiar contempt in her gaze for his dragon form. Yet it wasn't there. For the first time ever, Sera ran a curious hand over his scales. And though it made no sense, it comforted him.
"You're so warm."
We're not like other reptiles. He sent his thoughts to her. My personal belief is that it comes from our ability to make fire. For some reason, it seems to elevate our body temperatures, especially when we're dragons.
She smiled sadly at him. "No. You're definitely not like anyone else." Biting her lip, she touched the scar on his hind leg that marked him as the firstborn of their race. The dreaded Dragonbane. "What do you need me to do?"
Trust me. You need to lie with me and let me guide you from this realm to wherever they've taken our dragonets. But if you fight me in this, you'll do irreparable harm.
"You trust me?"
Max hesitated. Honestly? He was terrified of what she might do to him. But he had no choice. It was the only way to locate their children. Since he'd never met them, he couldn't even begin to track them without her. Any creature could use their scent to lead him astray. Only their mother would be able to hone in on the real truth of them. Nothing would fool her maternal senses.
Yes.
And still he saw the fear she hid behind her eyes as she knelt by his side.
He rolled slightly so that she could settle comfortably in the shelter of his arms. Yet she was so tiny now. No wonder she feared him. One talon was almost the size of her entire body. A fact she didn't miss, either.
Her hand trembling, she reached out to touch his claw.
It's sharp, he warned. Mind the edge.
She drew back to rest behind his dewclaw. "How did you ever get captured by Dagon?"
Max came to help me, when Dagon had me trapped. Fury darkened Illarion's eyes. My powers were bound so that I couldn't fight or protect myself.
It wasn't your fault I flew in blindly, Illy.
Because I called in a panic and you were too worried to be cautious.
Max sighed. It doesn't matter. I don't really need a reason to be stupid. Can find plenty of reasons to partake of that particular vice on my own.
Illarion snorted as he and Blaise moved forward to help settle Sera against him.
Blaise stepped back. "I'll keep guard at the door to make sure no one disturbs you."
"Thank you." Sera was rigid in his arms.
Illarion moved to the curtains. I'll wait to join you.
"What do you mean, join us?"
He smiled, but didn't answer before he closed the curtains and left them alone.
She turned her face toward Max. "What did he mean?"
Nothing. Close your eyes and think of our little ones. Imagine being with them and let your thoughts stay with them. Whatever happens, don't let anything or anyone distract you.
Seraphina wasn't sure what to expect. Honestly, she was terrified. But there was something innately soothing in the way Maxis breathed. His radiating warmth seeped into her body, lulling her. It reminded her of the nights when he'd held her in his arms, waiting for her to fall asleep so that he could sneak away and seek his rest in his cave. Because his native form was that of a dragon, it took concentration and energy to hold a human form, especially during the daylight hours.
Very few Katagaria could hold human form while wounded or when fighting. Only the strongest of the strong managed. But no matter how powerful the beast, when they slept, they invariably returned to their native species. It was as involuntary as shapeshifting when struck by an electrical shock. Anything that disturbed the electrical currents around the cells would shift them.
So Maxis had always taken care to leave her tent and village any time he needed to rest. He'd never trusted them to not harm him.
"Why are your scales so soft?" she breathed as she struggled to stay awake against the sudden exhaustion caused by the warm, soothing comfort of his body.
"All drakomai have supple scales."
"They're like feathers."
"Are they?"
She nodded, sinking herself even deeper into them. It was the most pleasant and comforting sensation. Like a luxurious bed. Better still was the scent of sandalwood and vanilla that was uniquely his. She'd forgotten that delectable scent of his skin that had once caused her to covet any item of clothing he wore.
Why had she ever feared this?
Before she could stop herself, she turned her face into the scales and inhaled the masculine scent of them.
Maxis cursed as he felt her caress all the way through his body. For a full minute, he saw stars from the intensity of lust that struck him like a physical blow.
Damn it! He'd forgotten how intense these feelings for her were. How much he craved being with her. While his body could be mildly stirred by others, it was nothing compared to what it felt now that his mate was with him again.
Worse ...
"You're entering your fertile cycle, aren't you?"
She answered by burrowing deeper against him. By balling her fists into his scales.
Max sucked his breath in sharply as every hormone in his body was fired by her touch. "Sera?" he tried again. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes?" That breathless tone raised chills all over his body and was its own form of a caress.
Its own form of torture.
Biting his lip, he knew this wasn't the time or place. But it wasn't easy to distract himself from the warmth of her pressing against him. From the curve of her lush, full breasts that practically spilled out of her top, and the invitation of those lips that he wanted to taste until he made them cry out in pleasure.
He was just about to give in when he felt a strange break in the ether around them.
It wasn't Illarion.
Fully alert, he lifted his head to search with all his senses. The ancient, arcane evil was one he hadn't felt in a long, long time.
And it wasn't alone.
"Maxis?"
His heart pounding from the sudden adrenaline surge, he manifested the two of them in the darkness and tucked Sera behind him to protect her. He searched the nebulous area around them that reminded him too much of Irkalla.
And now that he thought about it ...
Why would they be here? Was he mistaken?
Every single nerve ending in his body crawled with warning.
Well, this can't be good. Terrified of what Kessar intended, Max shifted back into his human form and faced Seraphina. Gods, he'd forgotten just how beautiful she was. How much she'd once meant to him.
How much she still did, in spite of his common sense and best denials. But no time now for dawdling. It was time to do what he'd brought her here to do.
Cupping her beautiful, round cheeks in his hands, he smiled down at her. "Do you trust me?"
He saw the uncertainty in those hazel eyes as she searched his gaze warily. "Yes. Why?"
Max didn't speak. He couldn't. What he was about to do, she might not ever forgive. Yet it was something that had to be done. Let her hate him if she must.
At least this time, her hatred would be justified.
Seraphina knew something was wrong by the light in those golden eyes, but she didn't know what it was. Instead of speaking, Maxis tightened his arms around her and pulled her flush to his hard, muscled chest. Leaning down, he nuzzled his face against her neck. His warm breath scorched her skin and raised chills all over her body. Worse, it made her breathless with a heated longing that wanted him inside her so badly it was almost impossible to resist.
Just as she was about to
ask what he was doing, she felt the sharp sting of fangs sinking into her jugular. She cried out and started to fight, but it was useless. He had her completely subdued.
Completely at his mercy.
Weak and confused, she didn't understand why he was doing this to her. Was he trying to hurt or kill her? To punish her for what she'd done to him? Did he intend this to be his revenge? Kill her and their children?
Her head reeling, one moment she was in his arms in the darkness. The next, she was back in his bedroom, lying on the floor behind the closed curtain. Alone.
"Maxis?"
What? Why was she here?
What was he thinking?
The curtains parted instantly to show Illarion, looking every bit as befuddled as she felt. What happened?
"I don't know." Feeling sick and weak, she wiped at her neck to find the smallest trace of blood there. "He drank from me?" She hadn't even known that dragons could or would do that.
The color drained from Illarion's features. What?
She showed him her bloodstained hand. "He bit me ... bit me," she emphasized, gesturing toward her neck, "and then I woke up here. Why?"
Blaise came rushing up behind Illarion. "What's going on?"
Illarion let out a deep, guttural growl. Max just took her blood so that he could track their dragonets on his own, then sent her back here without him.
Cursing, Blaise ground his teeth. "Why would he do that? We had a plan! A fairly, almost decent one ... That could have almost worked. Maybe, in the right light and with good timing. Why would he alter it?"
Because this was his plan, all along. To face them without putting any of us in danger. The stupid bastard plans to battle them alone. 'Cause he's an effing idiot! I knew better than to trust him. I knew it! He shook his head. Why did I ever trust him?
Horrified, Seraphina pushed herself to her feet. "We can't let him do that! One bite. One scratch and he'll become a gallu!"
Illarion laughed bitterly at her concern. That's not our worst fear.
"How in the name of the gods is that not our worst fear? Barring his death, that is."
Illarion sobered as he faced her with a dry, cutting glare. You really, truly don't know anything about my brother, do you?
8
Max felt the forbidden darkness that stalked him. It was the same one he'd battled the day Hadyn had died. The same evil that had been after all of his kinikoi since the hour they had taken up their sacred posts. Because of who and what they were, danger was a natural part of their existence. They'd always known of it and accepted it as an ever-present threat waiting to explode and kill them and anyone in their vicinity.
It was why they kept to themselves and did their best to let no one close to them. Because anyone they cared about could be used against them, at any time.
Given that, he should have known better than to ever try to have a family with Seraphina. But she'd been so irresistible that night when he'd been in mourning. He'd needed physical comfort to ease his grieving heart and she'd needed a male to ease her cravings.
Now ...
In dragon form, he banked a hard right, skimming away from the foreign sounds he'd never heard before. In his mind, he carried Sera's memories of their children. And the total love, devotion, and adoration she bore his dragonets warmed him deeply. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that she loved him, too.
And what he hated most was how much he wished he had that part of her. But at least she loved a part of him.
The best part.
Quick-tempered and lighthearted, Edena was the very image of how her mother had looked in the bloom of her youth. Long, flaming red hair with bangs that were forever obscuring her eyes and causing her mother to chastise her for hiding their vibrant gold color from the world.
His son was strong and tall, defiant, and far too quick with his snarky comebacks for his mother's patience and sanity. Hadyn's hair was a deeper shade of auburn, and his skin the dark olive of Max's. Where Edena had her mother's porcelain skin with a bit of freckling across her nose, Hadyn had none whatsoever. Both had Max's high cheekbones and the sharp catlike shape of their mother's eyes. But it was Edena's deep dimples that weakened his heart most. Like her mother, she had a smile that could light up the darkest night and weaken the sternest resolve.
May the gods have mercy on any man she ever turned that smile against.
And he was so grateful that they'd been born human. That they'd both been spared their mother's hatred for his kind. That neither child had ever seen in Sera's eyes the contemptuous condemnation he'd glimpsed directed toward him at times, whenever he did something too dragonesque around her.
But those days of hiding his true nature were behind him. If they wanted to tilt the dragon ...
The dragon was here and he was ready for war.
Bring it, bitches.
Angling his wings down, he swooped low, following their scents until he was sure his children were near the crumbling remains of an old temple. Then he partially changed over to his human form, leaving only his wings so that he could keep a lower, yet equally lethal, profile as he scouted the entire area. A chill raised the hair on the back of his neck as he listened to the winds rustling the ground around him.
He still felt the presence of haunting evil. It caressed everything around him. But more than that, he caught the scent of something even more peculiar....
Arcadian.
What the hell?
His nose twitched at the familiar odor. It was similar to Illarion and yet entirely different. Not his child, but a relative.
Dissolving his wings, Max crept along the shadows, listening intently for any sign of his enemies.
This was a den of dragons. But not just any den ... Scowling, he peered through the window at the people inside. They were both wolf and drakos. Two groups that didn't normally associate together.
Even more peculiar, they were speaking an older dialect of medieval English. Mercian? Or Saxon? He really needed Cadegan, Illarion, or Blaise here for this. It would be right up their alley.
As it was ...
He could only vaguely remember their language and pick out a few stray words that made no sense to him.
Not that it mattered. He wasn't here for them and he didn't care about their discussion. Closing his eyes, he used his senses to hone in on what had led him to this dark place. He felt his daughter's presence first.
Her fiery anger that was so similar to her mother's made him smile. Until he understood the source of her fury and why it was so intense at present.
His sight darkened instantly. Wanting blood, he headed straight for the oldest temple a few yards away, where his son and daughter were being held in a large arena that appeared to have been designed for games or events.
That alone would be enough to piss him off. But what set his blood to a boiling heat was what they were doing there. The elder males were fighting his son in an outlawed game of Prine to see who would be the first to sleep with his daughter.
With only a shield and sword for protection, Hadyn stood bleeding and beaten in the center of the arena with one leg held in place by a large chain. Even so, he didn't give up or show his weakness. Rather, he fought them off with a gladiator's courage.
When one of the men rushed his son, Max almost made the mistake of heading him off, and charging in to save his boy. But he was seriously outnumbered.
Not that he needed to worry.
Hadyn caught the bastard with the shield, flipped him to the dirt, and stabbed him before he turned and caught the next one who came at his back. Seraphina had trained their son well. He fought like a champion.
Taking advantage of their distraction as Hadyn cut through them, Max moved quickly to his daughter.
The moment he touched her hands, she tried to fight and attack. "Shh," he breathed in her ear. "I'm here to save you both."
Turning her head to look up at him over her shoulder, she widened her eyes as if she might know who he was.
r /> Max tore apart the chains that held her to the steel post. "Can you ride?" he whispered.
Careful not to alert the others about what Max was doing or that he was there, she nodded in silence as she bravely pulled the gag from her lips.
He took one moment to cup her bruised cheek and admire her courage and beauty, as love, joy, sadness, and grief overwhelmed him. This was his flesh and blood. His child. Something he'd never thought to have. Especially once he'd left Seraphina behind. He'd relegated himself to living out his life in complete sterile solitude.
Now his beautiful daughter stood before him, all but grown perfection. Not quite a woman, yet definitely not a little girl.
More than anything, he wanted to crush her against him and hold her for the rest of his life. To keep her safe and treasured.
If only he had more time.
But he still had his son to secure. Kissing her lightly on the cheek, he turned and took his dragon's form.
"Get on, child."
As the others screamed and ran for cover and weapons at his sudden appearance in their midst, she jumped onto his neck and secured herself.
Max flew for his son.
Hadyn started to attack him, too, until he saw his sister on his back.
"It's all right, Hade! He's here for us."
Still, he hesitated as he stared up at Max. There was no fear in his eyes, only a healthy appreciation for Max's size and ferocity. With one claw, Max pried up the stake that held the boy in place and lowered his head so that Hadyn could join his sister.
"Don't worry. I'll have you to your mother in a few minutes."
Yet before Max could withdraw, the Arcadians unleashed a full volley of electrified arrows down on him with a frenetic craze.
Well, shit, this is new.
And it wasn't the pain of the arrow wounds that was bad. Not that they felt good ... particularly. It was the jolts of electricity they sent through his body that forced him to change from dragon to human and back again. Something that felt like the worst kind of muscle spasms imaginable.
His children rolled to the ground and landed near him, out of harm's way. Max stumbled away from them, terrified he might inadvertently crush them while changing. Face it, no one wanted to be caught beneath a nine-ton dragon. The reinforcements the bears had made on the rafters of Sanctuary to support his weight were the stuff of legends.
The Arcadians rushed forward to attack while he was weakened and unable to fight.
Throwing his head back, Max cried out and summoned every bit of magick he could.