Pax landed on a patch of grass at the edge of the village. For the past few days he’d set down in this same spot so often the grass had been ripped to shreds by his talons; mud had been slung for a considerable distance. He’d accidentally knocked over one sapling with his tail, and Val had done her best to right the sad little tree. The sickly plant that leaned precariously to one side might survive. It might not.

The crooked limbs made an acceptable place to hang clothing. He didn’t see anything wrong with his own nakedness, but others were alarmed. He shifted, then grabbed the red kilt from the crooked tree and wrapped it around his waist.

He was already tired of this war that was not his own, but he would not leave until Linara was well. Besides, he could not dismiss the joy he felt when he — with Val and Kitty riding upon his back — swooped in to take down a party of demons. There were fewer and fewer of them as days passed. Perhaps some hid. Others had somehow fought the evil inside themselves.

Still others, he had been told, had had the demonic half of themselves removed by a witch. Lyssa, they said her name was. She traveled with a skilled swordsman, her husband he had heard, and their children. Foolish demons had attempted to kidnap her, but they had not succeeded.

Could this witch help Linara?

Would the woman he loved still be Linara if a piece of herself was stripped away?

Linara did not have her mother’s goodness, and she never would. The streaks of black in her aura were a part of her. It would be foolish to pretend to be someone she was not. He cared for all of her; he wanted all of her. Even the demon.

All his life he’d searched for a mate who was like him. A dragon. One who had been hatched, not born. And now…he wanted none but Linara. She was his mate. She was all that he needed.

As usual, Val didn’t turn to face him until he’d had time to shift and cover himself. There had been a time when the child had asked him if he was “decent” before she’d turn around. The answer was always the same. No. He was not decent and never had been. Why pretend now?

As they walked toward the village, Val sighed in a girlish way. “I wish I could keep you.”

Pax was horrified. “Keep me?”

“My own dragon! How stellar would that be?”

The horror intensified. “I am not a pet!”

Val made a girly, disgusted noise. “I know. But you must admit, we make a fine pair.”

Kitty vibrated so strongly, Pax’s ears hurt.

Val heard it, too. “Team, I mean. The three of us make a fine team.”

“Our task is a temporary one,” Pax said. He was ready to leave, he wanted to leave, but he could not until things were settled with Linara. Would she come with him? Did she still love him?

“I guess you’re not a pet,” the girl said wistfully.

“No, I am not.”

She sighed, spotted her father standing with a group of soldiers, and ran.

“Pet,” Pax grumbled. And then he stopped.

There she was, awake and aware, standing outside the building that was still marked with her blood. Linara’s heart had healed, thanks to her mother and her aunts.

She wore a clean, unstained dress. Of course she did. Her own frock had been sliced and bloodied beyond repair. This one was a pale yellow, and did not suit her as well as the blue had.

He cared not about what she wore. He’d thought she was dead. In all his years, he had never known such pain.

Linara turned her head and saw him standing there. She smiled, and waited. She waited for him.

This was a pain he did not need, the kind of pain he had never wanted. He could not protect her from the dangers of the world. No one could. What if next time she did die? What if there was no healer, no witch around to save her? Love meant loss, loss meant pain.

Since meeting Linara he had known a pleasure greater than any other he had imagined, and yet he had also experienced that pain. Thanks to her his world had expanded, in ways that were both good and bad.

For a long moment, he stood there staring at her. He could fly away now, forget the war that was almost over, forget the woman who had the power to break his heart. He’d lived alone for a very long time, and he could live alone again.

Without companionship. Without love.

Without risk.

He continued walking, ignoring the greetings of those he passed, ignoring the stares and the whispers. No matter what happened, he was what he was. Shifter. Killer. Breather of fire. Dragon.

“You look well,” Linara said. She was still weak, though she tried to hide that weakness from him.

He could tell her the same, lie and ignore the paleness of her face, the frailty of her bones. He did not.

“I love you,” he said.

She smiled, and looked instantly stronger.

“I knew you’d come around.”

He wrapped his arms around her. She was small and fragile, but there was a strength about her, even now. “Come with me,” he whispered. “Return to the mountains with me. You will heal there. We will have everything we’ve ever wanted, just the two of us.”

“I can’t,” she said.

And there it was, that agony he had known was coming, the pain of loving and losing.

“Not yet,” she added, and the pain subsided. “Mama and Papa will leave tomorrow. My aunts and their husbands departed today.”

“Because you are well,” he said.

“Yes.” She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. “I need to find a way to tell them that I probably won’t see them again. They might not take it well. Mama always wants her children and grandchildren close by. Family is important to her.”

“And yet you will leave with me.”

“You are my family now, Pax. I have told you many times, I love you.”

He kissed her. He wanted much more than a kiss, but they were not alone. They might not be alone for days to come. He did not share her human need for privacy, but he did understand it.

When he drew away, he saw that there was more color in her cheeks, a new sparkle in her eyes. He fed her still.

He would feed her always.

* * *

Val was pleased to see that Cyrus stood near her father. He’d been hidden from her vantage point before, but as soon as she moved to the side…there he was.

Handsome, talented, more powerful than anyone had imagined he might be.

Since their arrival in the village, it had become clear that her friend and her father had come to a truce of sorts. They listened to one another. Neither bristled. It was an improvement, one for which she was grateful. She didn’t want the two most important men in her life to be constantly at odds.

Perhaps she could not keep her dragon, but she would keep the wizard.

Cyrus said they’d marry one day, and she could see no reason to argue with him.

You will keep me, too, Kitty whispered.

I never imagined any other possibility.

“Valora,” Cyrus said, nodding in her direction.

He always insisted on calling her by her full first name. She was never “Val” to him. Somehow that was all right with her. The name sounded kind of pretty when he said it.

The war would not be a long one. There were pockets of resistance, small groups of demons who had resisted Stasio’s leadership but still fought for dominance. It would soon be over, and maybe then she could think about pretty things. Dresses and hair styles and hats. Well, no, no hats. Ewww. But maybe she’d learn to braid her hair, or at the least tame it. Somehow.

As she drew near, the others, even her father, departed. They had things to do, as did all soldiers. They nodded or waved to her as they hurried away. They acknowledged Cyrus, too. They respected him now. He shared valuable knowledge, about where the demons they needed to eliminate were located, and where some witch woman who could help had been living.

Cyrus was no longer a farmer’s son. He was a seer. A wizard.

His eyes wandered to the couple standing on the other side of the village, and he nodded in that direction. “You like him.”

“Pax? Of course, I like him.” Duh. “He’s a dragon. A dragon. He flies and breathes fire upon our enemies, and when we’re in battle he protects me. Just this morning, he used his tail to…”

“Yes, yes, I know. He’s a dragon.”

“One of a kind, I suspect. Some men say he’s the only one, that there won’t be another like him, not ever.”

Cyrus sighed, and his eyes kind of…flashed or twinkled or something. And then he said, “That’s not true.”

“There are others?” Val whispered. More dragons? Where? Were they friendly? Could they join in the war, as Pax had?

“Not yet,” Cyrus answered, his voice as soft as hers. “Can you keep a secret?”

She hated secrets! Hated knowing anything she could not tell, hated keeping secrets from those she loved. Okay, from anyone she knew. And yet, she lifted her chin and answered, “Of course I can.”

Cyrus placed a hand on her arm, and together they looked at the man who was the subject of their discussion. The man and his woman, who were so intensely focused on one another they had no idea they were being watched.

“The demon…”

“Linara,” Val corrected. “Her name is Linara.”

Again, Cyrus sighed. He did that a lot, these days. “Linara has much to discover about herself. She has incredible powers she’s not yet discovered. She has…truly amazing capabilities.”

He stopped speaking. That was the secret? That Linara was more powerful than she knew? No, there was more. There had to be.

Eventually, after several excruciating moments of silence, Cyrus continued. “She can become anything she wishes to be. Demon, human, witch, shifter. Dragon.”

Val grabbed Cyrus’ arm and held on tight. “Seriously? Linara can turn into a dragon like Pax?” How on earth was she going to keep this secret? How was she not going to tell someone? Anyone? Drat. As hard as it would be, she’d keep the secret. Because Cyrus had asked it of her.

“One day, she will. She has much to learn about herself before that happens, but…”

“And then she’ll what…lay eggs? Make more dragons?”

Cyrus smiled. “She will not lay eggs.”

“But you said…”

“He will.”