There was something in the air that made Gilbert nervous. The night seemed still enough, with a bright moon in the sky and thousands of stars shining in the dark velvet abyss. He couldn’t relax enough to sleep, though. He tossed and turned, until he decided that there was no use. He wasn’t going to get any sleep. His mind turned to Polly, and the urge to go to her was overwhelming.
When he checked her tent, he found her outside, sitting cross-legged as she stared up at the sky. He sat next to her silently. She wiped her eyes, embarrassed by her tears, and he slowly reached to put an arm around her.
“I’m sorry. All those years and I didn’t tell you about the truth of your heritage. I can understand if you’re furious with me.”
“I’m not.”
Gilbert frowned, doubting that.
“Don’t give me that look.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “I’m not furious with you. I understand why you did what you did. That’s a terrible burden to have on your shoulders. You wanted to be able to give me good news, not hand over my death certificate.”
Gilbert flinched. “Polly, we have time.”
“To go skydiving?” She shook her head. “It was a mistake to leave Belize. Whatever we can do here to try to make my dragon emerge, we can do there. You’re right. We have time. But my dad? He doesn’t. And I did the same thing my mom did, took off. Disappeared because I couldn’t stand the pain. He deserves more than that, Gil. I need to be there for him.”
His heart felt heavy, but he nodded, understanding where she was coming from. He had thought that Bryant would be able to do more for them. But by his own admission, he knew nothing about breaking curses. So why had Shane sent them out here?
“I’m not going to give up,” he whispered. He sought her out in the darkness and pulled her closer to his chest. “I swear. I will dedicate every last second of my life to finding out how to cure this. I’ve made huge strides so far. Just because I didn’t find a cure in time, doesn’t mean that there isn’t one. I swear, I will not let you die like this. I won’t let your children be cursed. I swear, with every flame in my breath.”
Polly buried her face in his chest. To his surprise, she gave a little giggle as she did so.
“What?”
“Flames in my breath? Is that a normal thing with dragons?”
“Ah… well, no,” he admitted. “It’s an archaic oath. But don’t worry, I’ll catch you up on everything you need to know about our culture.”
Polly, her face still in his chest, shivered. “Yeah… cause that’s a thing, too. I don’t know anything about Dragon culture except what I’ve learned from Tyler and Shane, and neither of them have a clan. They’re not from your—our—clan, either. That’s going to be a hell of a culture shock, isn’t it?”
She lifted her head at last. Gilbert tangled his hand into her curls and gave her the lightest of kisses. “I’ll be here for you every step of the way. I promise.”
Her eyes glittered in the moonlight. She leaned forward, sliding her arms around his chest. Their lips pressed together, parted, and met again. His fires flared, filling his body with heat. He started to lay Polly back as he eased her legs apart. She caught his hips between her thighs and arched, grinding herself against him—
A flash of light caught his eye. He jerked back from Polly, his gaze raking over the forest that surrounded them. Polly’s hands were clutched around his shoulders and she glanced in the direction he was looking.
“What is it?”
A dark shape moved. Too big for a bear. Another flash of light glinted from that same place. He hissed under his breath.
“Dragon,” he whispered. “Get to the camper; warn Bryant. Stay low.”
Polly’s eyes widened. He rolled off her and, crouching low to the ground, made his way around the tent. Polly hurried toward the camper while Gilbert watched the dragon slink around the edge of the camp. His fires flared to life, but he held them in; if he released them now, he’d give away his position. He tensed, watching, waiting.
When the dragon emerged near the kitchen, he threw himself forward. His clothes ripped apart at the seams as he shifted. The enemy dragon shot a jet of fire towards the kitchen, but Gilbert was there before the flame could reach the building. His jaws crunched down on the dragon’s neck and he twisted around sharply, dragging it away. The dragon let out a muffled roar and clawed at his face.
Polly started shouting; from inside the tents, students gave sleepy cries. Gilbert wrenched at the dragon’s wing. It threw itself at him and flung him to the ground; he made a mental note to do more sparring with Shane as he got back on his feet. There was a roar from somewhere behind him. The dragon launched itself at him, but he ducked, making it overextend its reach, and flipped it to its back. He pounced again and locked his teeth around its throat and squeezed. His teeth ripped through scale, blood filling his mouth.
A gunshot rang out across the campsite, and Polly’s voice cried out. “We have your queen, stand down now!”
Gilbert released the dragon he had a chokehold on. It gasped, but didn’t move to attack again. He spared a glance around the camp to see flashlights gleaming on two more dragons. One of them, a tiny green one, dropped and shifted back into human form. The other one shifted into Bryant, who threw the intruder onto their stomach and called for a rope.
Gilbert looked back at his prisoner, who had shifted as well. Blood dribbled from his throat as he glared up at Gilbert.
“I need rope over here, too.”
One of the students jogged over with baler’s twine. Her eyes were wide, but Gilbert ignored the look. He flipped the dragon around and tied his hands tightly behind his back, making sure to get it tight enough that he wouldn’t be able to wriggle free. He then pulled the dragon to his feet and shoved him over to the camper, where Bryant made his dragon sit.
Polly stood next to the camper, her mother beside her and a gun in her hand. A thin, red-headed woman sat at her feet. From inside the camper came cries from the twins. Gilbert snarled as he went to them.
“Hello, Claire.”
The redhead gave him a cool glance. “Gilbert.”
“She tried to get into the camper.” Polly kicked Claire none too gently. “I think she was going to try to kidnap the twins during the commotion out here. Force Bryant and Esther to hand me over to her in order to save their babies. You’re disgusting,” she added, kicking Claire again.
Claire made an angry noise in her throat. “You don’t even know if that was my plan.”
“Then what was it?”
Claire didn’t respond, which was answer enough for Gilbert. If the situation was different, he might be tempted to attack Claire himself. She’d attempted to kidnap Polly twice, and then to attack this place? To go after children?
The twins continued to cry. Smoke billowed from Bryant’s mouth, and Gilbert quickly inserted himself between Claire and him; while he felt like burning her himself, they needed answers. They wouldn’t get that if Claire was dead. Not to mention the trouble he’d get in if he killed a human in front of all these students.
He didn’t doubt Bryant’s self-control, but it would be difficult to repress that anger at having one’s children threatened. Gilbert grabbed Claire by the arm, eliciting a hiss from the two tied-up dragons, and jerked her to her feet. Bryant brought the other two up, and with Polly still holding the gun behind them, they headed for the kitchen. That would at least give them some privacy.
“Where did you get a gun?” Gilbert asked Polly once they were inside.
She glanced at the gun, then pointed it at the ground. “My mom had it. I don’t actually know how to use one of these, though.”
“Here.” Bryant took the weapon and removed the magazine before putting it on the table. He shook his head. “How’d she get that through customs? Never mind. Not important. You.” He turned a black glare on Claire and stalked towards her. She shrank back and the two dragons snarled. Gilbert quickly joined him, in case something went wrong. “What are you after, Perry? Why is Polly so important to you that you’d be willing to terrorize two babies?”
Claire glared at him. “If everything went according to the plan, they would not have been harmed.”
“Just tell us what you want.” Polly’s voice was cutting. “Before I decide to see if I can awaken my dragon by beating the crap out of you.”
Claire rose her chin and sneered. Then the sneer disappeared, and a look of true fear entered her eyes. “I’m here because my mate is dying.”
That was the last thing that Gilbert had expected to hear; he knew the king she had mated. He was still in his prime. There was no reason for him to be in such bad shape. He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but Claire continued without needing to be prompted.
“My mate, as it turns out, is the second cousin to your father,” she said, glancing at Polly. “Recently… he started to exhibit the same symptoms. He’s unable to shift and he’s had a loss of coordination. He’s growing weak. I have done everything I can. I’ve searched and searched for any treatments that could help him. I think that if he… drinks your blood, he will be cured.”
Gilbert lunged. Bryant caught him and threw him back with a warning growl. Gilbert snarled back, but then Polly was there. One of her hands pressed against his chest. He became aware of the heat in his mouth, the flame flickering over his tongue. He swallowed it down and backed up, struggling to keep his temper in check. His chest heaved, but he was able to keep himself still now.
“Please. I just want to save my mate,” Claire whispered.
“You will be dealt with, according to law,” Bryant said, ignoring everything else she said. “And as for your mate… well, maybe it’s what he deserves.”
Gilbert gave him a surprised look, but didn’t get any explanation for that statement. They scrounged up some more materials to keep the prisoners tied up, then stuck them in various car trunks to keep them from shifting. Not that Claire could shift. Still, Gilbert did not feel sorry for her. This was the woman who wanted to turn her mate into a vampire.
Once they were secured, Gilbert volunteered to watch over them while Bryant returned to Esther and the twins, as well as call up the local dragons to help them deal with this.
Polly stayed with him. She shivered as she stared at the car that held Claire. There was some thumping from inside, but it quieted soon enough. Polly turned to him, her expression resolute and determined.
“You have to promise me something.”
Gilbert nodded.
“Don’t do this.” She gestured at Claire’s trunk. “Don’t go crazy to save me, Gil.”
“What?”
“Don’t go crazy. I don’t want you hurting anybody to save me. Understood? I know that this isn’t what we wanted. I know that… I know that you love me. But you can’t lose yourself.”
Gilbert had no response to that other than to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Her fingers curled into his shirt, tears spilling onto her cheeks. He wanted to wipe them away, but she held him so close, he couldn’t reach her face. He rested his forehead against hers and let out a shuddering sigh.
“I won’t lose myself, I promise. And I know you love me, too.”
She kissed him again, wild, desperate, passionate. And he kissed her back, trying to give her everything that he was.