Bound to the Dragon King (10 page)

“Asher…” I admonish him. “You know what I mean.”

“We have to do this, don’t we?” he finally admits.

“Yeah we do.”

“Fine,” he concedes, his hesitation obvious. “But you are just investigating, not breaking. Understand?”

“Of course. Once I see it clearly, we’ll go back Uptop and figure it out together.”

With a huff, he nods in agreement and we start to get ready to leave. I make a mental note of the landscape around us so I can portal back here. I need to renew the concealing spell on the dragon graveyard soon.

“Let’s go get breakfast first,” I suggest when we finish getting dressed. “My favorite restaurant is in Sedona, their omelets are incredible.”

“Hmm,” Ash grunts, looking me up and down. “I think I now understand the purpose of that breast armor I destroyed.”

“Ya think?” I laugh, staring down at my obvious nipples. Of course I had to wear a white shirt.

“Sedona wouldn’t happen to be populated exclusively by women today, would it?”

“What? You don’t want other guys staring at my boobs?”

“Do you even have to ask that question? Or use that ridiculous word?”

“Well, I guess you should have thought ahead before you threw my favorite bra into a campfire.”

“Oh, I was thinking ahead,” he chuckles. “Just not quite this far.”

“Lucky for you…” I say, pulling his hands off my boobs and down to my waist. “I’m all charged up.” I quickly work up a glamour for a more modest outfit. “There.”

“You look exactly the same,” he replies, confused.

“Just to you.” I remove the extra layer I added to the spell so he could see through it.

“Your hair,” he gasps, picking up a tendril to inspect. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Because I can, I guess. And I thought you’d like it, you were always asking to see it in black.”

“That’s because I was essentially asleep and thought you were a Native sacrifice,” he explains. “I like you just the way you are, especially the mane. And the… boobs.” The glamour makes them smaller, like the rest of me. “But feel free to keep that all a secret from the rest of the world and leave it just for me.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.” I work up a similar spell so that I’m the only one that can see Asher’s rippled torso. He’s still
way
too hot in this conjured baggy shirt. I’d give him a mole or a potbelly or something, but then all the girls that are bound to drool over him won’t know how lucky I am. And I am one very, very lucky witch.

I call Ruby from a payphone in Sedona once we’re ready to leave, even though I could definitely communicate through magical means at this point. It’s just too risky and we’ll be in enough danger today as it is.

____________________________

We meet up with everyone at Georgia’s. My coven is excited to see me until they get a good look at Ash. Then it’s all giggling and blushing, but they manage to keep their hands to themselves. They better, because I might start breaking fingers if they start getting too flirtatious, though I can hardly blame them.

Smuggling a dozen witches into a secret area in the Underground forest turns out to be quite a task. A few of the girls are so disoriented and nauseous from the portal journey that I’m afraid they’ll back out, but they all seem determined to carry on. It’s kind of amazing how it all fell together. I guess they’re all as eager to feel like they can work real magic as I am.

Thankfully, Asher remembers all the right twists and turns through the catacombs because I’m totally lost as soon as we step out of the desert sun. I was just too pissed off to pay attention to the path we were taking.

Excitement builds once we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Georgia quickly works up a spell to let her see ahead of us into the secret forest, but there’s no way to know for sure that we won’t be in danger. SIGMA might have decided to come investigate here after all.

Ash takes the first step inside with me close behind, but he throws his arms across my chest to stop my advance, causing an exceptionally giddy Ruby to crash into my back.

“Oh, crap,” I murmur.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby replies, glancing from me to Asher’s defensive posture.

I point at Colin leaning swarthily up against the stone wall. His leather jacket and tight pants seems to suit his personality. He looks almost like a completely different person. He’s obviously run a comb and some scissors through his dark hair which he’s artfully slicked back away from his ruggedly handsome face.

“Who’s that?” Ruby asks curiously.

“Colin,” I reply. “He’s the werewolf that I told you about.”

“He is
really
cute,” Ruby admits boldly. “I wonder if he’s single…” Based on the way that she’s watching him, I can tell that he’s definitely going to be a distraction. Just then a woman tentatively steps out from behind him, her head lowered cautiously. Ruby’s smile falls away, her question seeming answered and her disappointment obvious.

“That’s probably his sister,” I explain, noticing how much they look alike, especially the sad grey eyes.

“I doubt it,” she whispers.

“No, really. He talked about her. That’s the main reason he deceived Asher into thinking there was a shifter army to help him. I guess he changed her before he went full on wolf and he’s super guilty about it. It’s a very sad story.”

“Oh. But what are they doing here?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Asher grumbles, taking a step toward him with fists clenched.

“We just wanted to help the Dragon King,” Colin says calmly, holding up in palms in a gesture of his peaceful intentions. “I didn’t know where else to find you, I figured you’d come back here, but…” he trails off, looking at the large group of wide eyed girls he clearly wasn’t expecting.

“We don’t need your help,” Ash replies. “And I can’t have you around these women, not if you automatically start killing when you shift.
Leave
.”

“I don’t do that anymore. I’m still me when I shift now, and I can shift back when I want to. It’s just like you said it would be.”

“We can never fully repay you,” Colin’s sister says, her voice shaking. “But we can try. You have our allegiance.” 

Asher pinches the bridge of his nose, obviously skeptical. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a few eyes looking around in the forest for SIGMA,” I tell him. “We’ll all be too distracted once the ritual starts. Vulnerable.”

“We’ll stand guard over your witches,” Colin suggests, addressing Asher.

“Look, wolf,” Asher snaps. “These aren’t my witches. They’re Lindy’s. Things aren’t they way they used to be when you were human. I don’t own her. If she tells you to do something, you do it. No questions. If that’s a problem, you can show yourself out and never come back.”

Colin’s lips part in surprise as his sister’s spread into a wide grin that mirrors my own. “But… uh…” he stammers. “Alright. Whatever you need.”

“Them too,” Asher adds, gesturing toward Ruby and Georgia at my side.

The werewolf’s eyes widen as the skin on his cheeks flushes red. At first I suspect the idea of listening to three witches is just too much for him, but then I follow his gaze to Ruby.

“Hi my name is Ruby and it’s very nice to meet you and I promise I won’t boss you around unless I have to,” she squeaks out so fast all the words run together, making him grin.

“Just let me know if you need anything, doll face,” Colin replies, his earlier surprise fading away into his normally suave demeanor.

She just stares back at him, blinking. I elbow her in the ribs, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to jolt her out of her stupor. A flirtatious smirk crosses his face as he maintains eye contact with her. “Focus Ruby,” I say with a laugh. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry today!” She giggles in response.

Ash grabs my hand and we walk with fingers entwined. A wave of satisfaction washes over me. I hope that I don’t have anything to worry about with my new coven but this show of affection will leave no doubt as to whom the Dragon King is with.

“That way,” Asher and I say in unison when we spot the glimmering shadow we saw earlier.

Colin and his sister both growl suspiciously. “It won’t hurt us,” I assure them. “It’s not really even there, it’s just a beacon.”

“One that we must follow,” Asher says.

Chapter Eleven

We wind our way through the forest, following a skinny path until we find ourselves in a huge outcrop of boulders. “This is the place.”

Up close, I can see that what I thought were rocks are actually pieces of a crumbling stone wall. What is this place? This building has to be thousands of years old… I wonder if it has something to do with the dragons. My heart flutters nervously. I hope Ash doesn’t shift in a rage in front of all these people again. Aside from the one lady who seemed to worship dragons, I’m not sure that the other women wouldn’t freak out and run for the hills. I can’t lose my coven now, I’m too close.

Massive columns loom over us as we pass through the ruins. The air feels lighter here, almost
brighter too, like the dusk of early morning. My witchsight isn’t showing me anything unusual or magical but it’s definitely getting brighter! I don’t see any lingering spells on the stone steps as we start up them. I look back and give my coven a brave smile before ascending. The women whisper amongst themselves and carefully navigate the steps in pairs.

“What is this place?” Ruby wonders aloud in amazement.

“I don’t know…” I reply.

“I believe it was a temple,” Ash answers. He looks at me and smiles. “There were rumors of witches traveling underground to work their magic. My father tolerated it, but I’ve never been here before.” My nervousness dies down at his words.

Colin and his sister disappear into the forest as the rest of us make our way to the top of the steps and into what had to have once been a great hall. The marble floor is still stunning. Even with gaping cracks and huge chunks missing, it’s not hard to imagine what it would have been like in its prime.

“The perimeter is secure,” Colin calls out. “We will alert you if there is any issue.”

“Ladies,” Georgia says. The giggles and nervous whispers die down. “We will be starting soon. If you have reservations, now is the time to speak up or leave.” She pauses dramatically. I look around, expecting at least one of the women to say something but not a single person moves. They are riveted with eager, determined looks on their faces. I guess we picked the right women. “As we have discussed, once we begin there’s no going back,” Georgia continues. “Melinda, it’s time. The rest of you, take your places.”

They move as a group, with precision and grace, until three circles have formed with space in the middle for Ash and I. We find our way into the inner circle where Ruby, Cera, and Cadence smile at me before closing their eyes and focusing. The rest of the coven follows their lead.

“You’re just going to get a look at the curse and we’re done. No trying anything heroic Lindy,” Ash says sternly.

“Of course,” I lie. I know that if the opportunity presents itself, I will lift the curse no matter what the cost is. I feel a little guilty that I could be risking the lives of my coven but it’s worth it. Ash is worth it.

Ash takes my hands in his and closes his eyes as well. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and start to find the sparks in the outer circle. With my witchsight, it’s a lot easier than the first time. Not to mention the fact that I personally picked all of these women to join me. They are more than just random witches who were asked to be here. They all chose to join us, chose to follow me as their leader. We finally have the chance to work real magic, together, with other women who have struggled their whole lives too. Our bond feeds the circle, it’s tight-knit and unfaltering. Their sparks eagerly add to my own and the magic that is growing in my core is much stronger than I ever imagined. Not a single woman struggled with pushing her essence to me, no doubters amongst them. With the outer two circles complete, my core is bursting with energy.

I pull in the sparks from my inner circle and the magic flows through me. This is different than before. The energy, instead of balling up within my magical center, is moving throughout my whole body. I am the energy and it is me. I open my eyes and look around at a world that is suffused in magic. I see the lingering impressions of the temple that once stood in all its glory with crenulations and arches that reached dizzying heights. Friendly flames dance through each of the circles, swirling and moving beautifully in a dance with each witch. The forest in the distance glows and pulses with Fae magic. A hundred thousand fireflies couldn’t put on a show as spectacular as this! Ash’s tattoo is glowing red like embers against his skin. His face, set in grim determination and his hands gripping my own tightly, ready for the magic that I’m about to cast.

I eagerly cast the spell to focus our energy and reveal the inner workings of the curse and suddenly I can see it shifting against his skin. Glowing words of a strange language wrap around his body. I watch as they fade slightly and then become stronger. His power must be able to circumvent this somehow, but where? Where is the weak point? I prod the magic with my own, trying to shift it when I notice a glowing script not attached to the chains of words that’s glowing red like the tattoo. I push at it even harder and find that instead of pushing back my magic is being sucked into it. I feed it, hoping that if enough flows through, perhaps it will break the spell.