Authors: Jade Allen
****
While they remained in
Florence, April couldn’t relax. She jumped at the sound of every footstep in
the hallway outside her suite, and when they ventured out for dinner or gelato
or just to stretch their legs, she shied away from everybody who passed by,
subconsciously searching for the face that now haunted her dreams.
She knew Mads would
never let Savannah hurt her, and she knew she had nothing to fear, and yet she
couldn’t shake the feeling that things were far from over. Savannah had clearly
been wounded by the loss of her son, and that pain was not going to go away
anytime soon. It would only continue to feed her anger and need for vengeance.
She didn’t mention anything to Mads, but she wasn’t surprised when he announced
they were leaving Florence.
“You’re not
comfortable here. But I know where you will feel safe.”
They flew out of
Florence’s tiny airport early the next morning, landing in Frankfurt barely an
hour after they took off. From there, Mads rented a car and drove them out of
the city into the German countryside. They climbed into the Alps, the sun
falling lower and lower behind the peaks as they moved higher and higher, until
finally it was dark and April felt like they were on top of the world.
“Where are we?” she
asked when they stopped. In front of her was a fortress, its massive spires
outlined in the silver moonlight.
“April, my dear, this
is my home.”
“This is
your...castle?”
“It is.”
“Oh my god, I’ve
always wanted to visit a castle.” For the first time in days, she forgot
Savannah, Chester, and all of that unpleasantness. “Why did you never mention
it?”
He laughed. “I forgot how
Americans romanticize castles. For me, this is just home.”
“Home. Did you build
it?”
“No, not me. But I did
win it, fair and square.”
“You mean you
conquered it?” What medieval army would stand a chance against a dragon? Nobody
stood a chance against him today. It wasn’t exactly a surprise to learn that
his greatest competition in today’s world was another dragon clan. He crushed
all other forms of competition.
“Yes, but the person
who held it was a very bad man.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough to earn the
ire of a dragon.”
“Are dragons peaceful
creatures, by nature?”
“Not by nature, no.
But we may be very peaceful by choice.”
The castle was old and
drafty, and even with its modern comforts of electricity and running water,
April still had the sense of stepping back in time. She wanted to explore every
inch, search for ancient hidden passageways and ghosts and old tapestries. All
of the musty old books she lost herself in as a child came back to mind, urging
her to seek out great adventures.
“Are we the only ones
here?”
“No, I have a small
staff that lives here and sees to its upkeep.”
“Why don’t you live
here?”
“I find my penthouse
far more comfortable.”
April yawned.
“Speaking of more comfortable, can you please show me to our room?”
“It’s my pleasure.” He
swept her from her feet without warning, prompting a laugh from her as she
wrapped her arms around his neck. It was probably silly, but she loved it when
he lifted her like she weighed no more than a sack of feathers and carried her
to bed.
“How long are we going
to stay here?” April asked, trailing kisses along his strong jawline. He tilted
his head slightly, giving her greater access to the column of his throat. His
skin was rough with his five-o’clock-shadow, and she shivered at the thought of
those rough whiskers against her sensitive thighs. Maybe he wouldn’t shave at
all while they were in Germany.
“Until we get bored, I
suppose.”
Or until they screwed
each other silly on every flat surface in the grand castle—which was absolutely
April’s plan for their stay.
“And then where will
we go?” She rested her mouth against his pulse point; his heartbeat was already
elevated, as if to keep up with April’s own racing pulse.
“Wherever you wish.”
“I want to go to a
beautiful beach.”
“Then a beautiful
beach is where we shall go.” He stopped in front of a closed door. “Open that
for me, and you’ll find a light switch is to your right.”
She flicked on the
light and gasped at the sheer size of the room. On one end was a huge bed, a
massive television, a beautiful sound system, a bar, and a small kitchenette.
The rest of the expansive space was empty, though, and lines of discolored
stones showed her where the walls once were, dividing the space into six
different rooms.
April didn’t need to
ask why his private quarters were so large. “This is where you can...be
yourself.”
“I’m myself always,
but yes, this is where I can become the dragon.”
“Do you want
to...change right now?” Her voice didn’t betray her, and yet, butterflies
fluttered from her stomach to her throat. It might have been fear or
excitement. She could no longer tell the difference when she was with Mads.
“Do you wish me to?”
Her mouth felt dry but
she nodded. “I want to see him...you...again.”
“It doesn’t frighten
you?”
“No. Well, maybe. I
don’t know… I think it... it excites me.”
“Of course. I should
have known that it would not disturb you to see your mate. I’ll be happy to
change, but first let’s eat and I’ll show you more of the castle.”
April wrapped her arms
around him and pressed herself to his chest. “It’s not food that I’m hungry
for.”
He smiled wryly,
“First food, and then...then anything you want,
mein Schatz
.”
****
Their time in the
castle passed as slowly, and as quickly, as a dream. She rarely saw any of the
staff members and they had no other visitors, and so the hours passed between
the two of them unhindered by outside considerations. April had never spent so
much time alone with another person, but she never grew tired of him, never
longed to be left alone or to find other company. Even when they were doing
nothing more but reading together in the same room, she was content to be near
him, to hear his breathing and the soft rustle of clothes when he shifted his
position.
April knew the real
world waited for them and they would have to return to it sooner or later, but
she never brought it up, never asked when they might be abandoning their own
private slice of heaven—primarily because she didn’t want to leave, but also
because she knew Charles and Savannah Maelstrom waited for them. They’d lost a
child. That anger was not going to fade just because Mads took them out of
sight for a few weeks.
Mads indulged her
every request, including her desire to see the dragon. In the privacy of their
master suite, he shifted for her, the magic working before her eyes, though she
could never track the moment when Mads disappeared and the dragon arrived. In
the close proximity of the well-lit room, he was even more massive than she
remembered. His head was the size of a car, and he kept low to the ground to
avoid scraping his wings across the high ceiling.
The first time he
shifted, she couldn’t quite bring herself to touch him, but she was still drawn
to the beast. He made her throat tight and her nipples hard.
The second time Mads
shifted, she did gather her courage enough to touch his great nose. His scales
were hard and
hot
. She could feel the fire burning just below his
scales, smell the hint of sulphur and brimstone every time he exhaled. Mads
snuffed air through his nostrils and lowered his head, like a dog submitting to
the touch of its master. Fascinated, emboldened and aroused, April continued to
explore the ridges and valleys of her dragon’s head, tracing his eyes, his
snout, the shape of his mouth and the horns on his brow. She was humbled by his
great power and by the way he ceded that power to her.
He didn’t just shift
when they were alone in the confines of the castle. He also took her out on
great expeditions through the mountains, letting her sit on his broad back as
he swooped over cliffs and waterfalls, peaks and trees. The air was thin and
fresh, cool and crisp. The sun at her back and the great furnace between her
legs kept her warm, no matter how high they climbed above the castle. She
shouted into the wind, laughed and sang at the birds as they fluttered beside
them, and felt free for the first time in her life.
“What’s it like when
you’ve shifted?” she asked after one particularly long flight. They’d landed in
the castle courtyard and raced to their suite, barely making it to the bed
before Mads took her with a powerful thrust. When they were done, she collapsed
into his arms, utterly exhausted and utterly happy.
“What do you mean?”
“Can you still
understand me?”
“Of course.”
“Are you still
you
or are you different?”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. I’m
just trying to understand what it’s like for you.”
“I’m still myself. I
still understand you; it’s just my outward appearance that changes.”
“How? Is it magic?”
“Yes, I suppose you
could call it that. A very old type of magic.”
“And how does it feel
when we’re home and you can’t change? Do you miss it? Does it feel like you’ve
lost something?”
“I don’t often think
about it, but it does feel good to stretch my wings when I can.”
“Do we have to go back
soon?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“But I like it here.”
“Yes, for the first
time in a long, long while, I like it here, too.”
April nuzzled in
closer to his chest and took a deep breath, filling her head with his scent.
She could lay there in his arms for hours and do nothing but listen to the
sound of his heartbeat and consider the texture of his skin. She imagined
living in this great fortress by herself, wandering from hall to hall, room to
room with no companion.
“You must have been
incredibly lonely.”
“I was.” She heard no
emotion in his answer, just a straight-forward declaration.
“Did you ever think
that I might be out there? Or that you were waiting for your mate?”
“I had long ago given
up on any hope of that. With so few dragons left, it never seemed likely.”
April frowned. “But
I’m not a dragon. I’m just a normal girl.”
“You’re not
just
anything,
mein Schatz
.”
“Okay, but how does
this work?”
“Are you afraid?”
“I don’t know. Are
you?”
“Never.”
April closed her eyes
and let her mind relax, focusing all of her senses on the man who held her. She
wished she could say the same, telling him that she was never afraid. But there
was always a current of anxiety running through her life, tinging each day with
its darkness. Nothing was free of its influence, not even her feelings for
Mads, which grew like a lush plant, a vine winding taller every day. If she
told him, he’d only assure her that she had nothing to fear, and she understood
that on an intellectual level. But that understanding wasn’t enough to stop the
current anxiety.
“One day, you’ll no
longer feel that fear,” he said softly. “You’ll wake and it will simply be
gone.”
“How do you know?”
“I know everything.”
She chuckled. “Oh
really?”
“Yes. I’ve been around
for a very long time.”
“Well, then, I guess
I’ll take your word for it.”
When she fell asleep
that night, she dreamed of flying.
****
There were very few
people in the world Savannah Maelstrom hated as much as Mads Durkheim. Before
they were Savannah and Mads, they were known as Cecilia and Carl, and she hated
him then, too. Before that, they were Marie and Edgar, Lisle and Hans, Anne and
Jurgen, and before all of that, they had no human names, they were simply
Dazenth and Rugarth, squatting in caves and claiming the skies. She had a long,
long memory, but no matter how far she stretched through the years, she could
not remember a time she did not despise him.
As they aged and their
respective clans began to disappear around them, her hatred shifted but it
never mellowed. She understood it was in her best interest for Mads to be
alive. There were so few dragons left in the world that the loss of any one
caused a deep sense of sadness. Her Chester had been one of the last dragons
born to the world and had been her last hope in continuing not only her clan,
but their species. Now Chester was gone and Savannah had nothing to keep her
alive—except her desire to see Mads destroyed.
She ate only to keep
her strength up and slept only to keep her mind sharp. Charles mourned the loss
of their son, but his chief priority was always gold, so he returned to work
and left the suffering to Savannah, who agonized enough for the both of them.
She suspected Charles blamed her for Chester’s death. He never came right out
and said it, but he knew she’d developed the blackmail plan with Chester, and
they both knew she should have never allowed it to backfire so tragically.
But there was still a
chance to fix everything. True, she could never bring Chester back, but she
could give Charles another heir. It might take years to do so, but once she
had Mads out of the way, she would have nothing but time to provide reparations
for her terrible mistake. It wouldn’t be easy to remove him, but he had a
weakness now—a weakness Savannah would have never anticipated, but one that she
was grateful for all the same.
Who would have thought
that the ancient and powerful Rugarth would find himself bound to a humble,
pitiable human? A human girl who could be so easily tracked, found, and plucked
from her insignificant life. A human girl who didn’t even put up a fight when
Savannah roared through the clouds a few weeks later, swooping down to grasp
the girl by the shoulders and lift her into the heavens. She did struggle once
they were in the air, but a quick blow to the head knocked her unconscious.
When the girl woke
again, they were safely ensconced in Savannah’s secret lair—a ranch in the
middle of the Wyoming Badlands, several hundred miles from the street where
Savannah had found her little treat. She jerked into a seated position when she
saw Savannah, immediately wincing and holding her head.
“I wouldn’t move
around too much if I were you,” Savannah said in a sing-song voice. “You have a
nasty bump.”
“Where are we?” The
girl demanded, her words laced with pain.
“Nowhere you’d
recognize.”
“Mads will come for
me.”
“Of course he will, my
dear. In fact, I’m counting on it.”
April’s eyes widened
and then narrowed into pained slits. “This is a trap.”
“It is indeed. But
don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. Much.” Savannah grinned a toothy,
dragon grin. “Just enough to get his attention.”
“Why don’t I just call
him?”
“Call him?” Savannah
pretended to pout. “Now where’s the fun in that? I think that’s what I hate
most about this century. Everything’s so damned convenient, nobody is willing
to go the extra mile. Not for work or for a good time. But I’m still willing to
do what it takes.”
“Look, I know you miss
your son—”
“You know
nothing
,”
Savannah growled. “What do you know about a mother’s pain?”
“He tried to kill me!”
“No great loss there,”
she snickered.
“Well, obviously Mads
disagreed.”
“Mads is an idiot. He
always has been. He thinks he’s smarter and better than everybody just because
he’s the oldest, but he’s done
nothing
for us. He won’t even mate with
another dragon to ensure our species’ survival! Now, we need to get started. I
don’t want to rush things, but I do have a full schedule this week.”
“Savannah, please.
Please don’t do this. It’s not too late to just...turn things around. You
haven’t done anything yet. Just take me home and Mads never has to know.”
“That speech started
great but the ending was very weak.” She grabbed April’s small hand and
squeezed her fingers, bending her wrist backwards nearly to the point of
snapping. She could tell the girl wanted to keep her mouth shut and hold onto
some scrap of pride, but April’s silence broke before her wrist did, howling
with pain.
“Aww… what was that,
dear?”
“Please,” April
panted. “Please, stop.”
“Better. That was much
better. But I already told you, I can’t stop. We have work to do.” She shifted
her hold, applying pressure to April’s index finger until it did snap, like a
branch breaking in a cold November wind. The girl’s scream of pain was like
music to her ears—a concert she did not want to end anytime soon.
“It is a shame that
Chester never got to eat you,” Savannah said, almost conversationally. “You
look like such a delicious, tender morsel. I’ll simply have to do the honors
for him.”
April’s middle finger
snapped then and oh the girl’s agony was exquisite. If Mads didn’t feel her
earlier pain, he definitely felt this one. “We don’t have a lot of time. Let’s
see what else we can break before he tries to save you.”