Lilly yawned and stretched. One hard body lay to her left, and another to her right. She smiled and snuggled in closer to her two men. She’d started to think of them that way at some point in the last day or so. She still wanted to meet with Gwen and talk to her about the life a latent could lead outside of dragon society. She owed it to herself to explore all the possibilities thoroughly. But more and more, her heart wanted to be with these two men. No matter how sudden or rushed it might seem to her head.
They hadn’t bonded yet—no way would she rush into such a step, but she had spent the nights with them. And they’d talked a lot, as well as other, more sensual activities.
They fit together so well, not only physically but emotionally, too. Callum ever the cheeky joker, the crude one, the outgoing one, but she sensed his deeper side. Then Rhyndor with his soulful eyes and his serious side, but who possessed a wickedly dry sense of humor. And she could be quiet and geeky at times, yet playful and boisterous at others.
Best of all, they never seemed to grow bored of touching her. And as someone who’d been starved of touch for much of her life, it meant her days were heavenly. Callum gave the best big old bear hugs, and Rhyndor held her tightly as he slept, spooning her and keeping her safe and warm.
She’d forgiven her mother for a lot of what Lilly viewed as her cold behavior. It couldn’t have been easy for them, adopting her so late in her life. She’d already been a formed personality by the time she joined her new family. Not some malleable toddler or young babe. And then the knowledge they’d carried of her true nature, which they’d been sworn to keep secret from her. She understood only too well her mother’s need to protect her heart. She felt a similar urge herself when it came to the two beautiful men currently keeping her front and back warm as toast. She wouldn’t allow herself to do it, though. She’d be brave and experience it all, even if it hurt like hell if something went wrong. It seemed like the worst kind of crime to hold the love you felt back.
Things with her father would take longer. He had no idea she knew about his other child, and she wasn’t going to tell him. It would take her time to forgive him for such a betrayal, not only of her, but of her mother too.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Callum opened his eyes and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re already awake.”
“Yep, I’m meeting Gwen for the first time today.”
They were staying in a guest house within the clan grounds in Wales. She’d been scared the first couple of days for Rhyndor’s safety in Steffan’s home village, but he’d been greeted warmly by all. Even Steffan treated him cordially. Mia had told her it would take her male some time to fully get over what Rhyndor had done, and Lilly couldn’t blame him, truthfully.
She loved spending time with her sister and had grown fond of Aiden and Steffan, despite the issues between Steffan and her men. Today, she’d meet Gwen and have a talk with the young woman about her life living outside of dragon society. Wherever Lilly ended up, though, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to open an animal shelter, and she wanted it to be unique. She’d spent days drawing up plans and ideas and couldn’t wait to share it with the guys, but she wanted to wait until things were more settled between them. Until after she’d talked with Gwen.
“Coffee?” Rhyndor breathed into her hair and ran his nose up her neck. She shivered at the lovely sensation and nodded.
Rhyn squeezed her once then clambered out of bed. “You too, C?”
He used the nickname for Callum every now and then, and for some reason, it always amused her.
Callum cracked his jaw on a massive yawn and nodded. “Love one.”
Rhyndor threw on a robe and padded out of the room.
“He meets with Rhiannon later today. I’m worried sick.” Callum rarely shared his worries, and the fact that he did so now scared her some.
“It’ll be okay, though, right?”
He looked at her and didn’t give her an answer. Instead, his amber eyes darkened with sorrow, and she rubbed her stomach where she suddenly became aware of nausea.
“I fear he’ll push too far to do the right thing and harm himself.”
She’d hope and pray he didn’t. Perhaps she ought to talk with Rhyndor. Tell him her feelings, how she wanted to stay? It might change his mind about doing this for Steffan. Then again, who did she think she was? He loved Callum deeply and still intended to do this, so she doubted her words would have any effect. And she owed it to herself to meet Gwen today and talk with her so she possessed all the facts before she made up her mind.
Placing a soft kiss on Callum’s gorgeous lips, she forced a smile onto her face. “He’ll be okay, I can feel it. Don’t worry. I’m going to get a quick shower. I have to be at Kate’s by ten to talk with Gwen.”
He sighed but nodded, and she got out of bed feeling like shit for some reason, as if she should do more. But, what? She didn’t want to give false assurances or promises she didn’t one hundred percent know she’d keep.
Her shower didn’t assuage her niggling sense of guilt or the increasingly heavy sensation of foreboding creeping over her, seeping into her very bones and weighing her down.
After a rushed breakfast and some delicious coffee, she found herself outside Kate’s home, nervous and unsure.
Kate opened the door before she had a chance to knock.
“Well, hello there, Lilly. Do come in.”
She’d met with Kate and Rhiannon a couple of times now and found them two of the warmest people she’d ever come across.
Kate ushered her into the house. “I’ve set up a tray with tea and some cakes and biscuits in the living room.”
She followed the woman through her home and into a welcoming lounge, and she recognized Gwen immediately from the description she’d been given.
She sat on the sofa, her light blond corkscrew curls shining in the morning sunlight. Her pretty face broke into a grin when she saw Lilly. “Time for our talk, eh?”
Lilly nodded, suddenly unsure what to say.
“Come sit by me.” Gwen patted the sofa next to her. She wore an off the shoulder, white cotton top with embroidery around the edges and tight pale blue jeans tucked into ankle boots. She was curvy, toned, and gorgeous. Gold hoop earrings shone in her small lobes, and a chunky gold and turquoise ring glinted on one finger. Gold stacking bangles jangled on her arm.
Her style was bohemian and casual, but sexy and stylish at the same time. Effortless.
She wiggled her feet and toed off her boots, tucking her legs under her, and Lilly crossed to sit by her.
“So…you want to hear what life’s like outside of dragon society for a latent?”
She nodded. Gwen watched her with shrewd eyes. “Well, let me say first, it’s different for me. I don’t have any males I match. Or, not to the degree you do. There were two a few years ago, but the match proved weak, and I didn’t want to pursue it.”
“But you did match them and still walked away. Why?”
Gwen smiled at her, displaying a perfect row of small white teeth. “My mum lives outside the clans, so it’s the way I’ve been brought up. The males I matched with, they were traditional. I’d have been stuck inside a clan forever, no offense, Kate.”
The older woman smiled. “None taken, and I’m going to leave you ladies to talk. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything. Simply shout.”
“Thank you,” Lilly said.
“So… You didn’t want to be stuck in a clan.” Lilly brought the conversation right back around to the matter at hand.
Gwen shuddered. “Gods, no. I am used to being free, doing what I want. Traveling. Mum and I go all over the place. She’s an artist, quite well-known. I’m into surfing and traveling and learning about new cultures and places. We’re due to spend the rest of the winter in California and then spring in Cornwall. After that, not sure. Mum loves the light in places like Cornwall, California, and Greece.”
She paused and took a sip of her tea. “I like humans, too. Some Dragonea don’t. Nathan, for example, your other sister’s mate, doesn’t have a high opinion of them. But I like them. I find the shortness of their life makes a lot of them passionate. They take pleasure in the flesh, in eating and drinking and fucking.”
Lilly flushed at Gwen’s words. Her two men certainly seemed to have the taking pleasure in the fucking part of the equation figured out. As if understanding her thoughts, Gwen smiled. “Ah, but you see, it’s only this way because you match. If you didn’t, it wouldn’t be the same. Dragons need the match for sex to be amazing. Otherwise, it’s kind of like scratching an itch, nice…pleasant, but nothing like what you’ll have experienced.”
Lilly didn’t tell her that, apart from the first time, they had not had actual sex since. They’d messed around a lot, but the guys didn’t want to take it any further until she knew what she wanted. Said it might push things too far. It irritated her at times, especially when she was burning up with lust, but she understood.
“Dragon folk are…I don’t know, sort of Zen I suppose. We don’t tend to binge on food or get drunk off our heads. We don’t get lost in the sins of the flesh in the same way humans do, and I’m convinced it’s to do with their short life span. After all, when you live for hundreds, or in rare cases, thousands of years, time holds a different meaning.”
Lilly swallowed hard. She still had not gotten used to the idea that she might live for hundreds of years. Some of these dragons were seriously old. And Rhyndor was one of them. It completely freaked her out to think he’d been roaming his earth so long he hardly even knew his age anymore. And he looked all of thirty-five! She shook her head.
Gwen laughed and dragged her attention back. “I find I quite enjoy experiencing these fleeting pleasures with the humans. I’ll be blunt. I like to party and drink and sometimes smoke, and I sometimes have sex. Hot, sweaty, filthy sex with human men who do it because their shitty lives are so short and tragic. Guess it makes me kind of sick or something? But I enjoy living amongst them. My mother and I move around a lot and will continue to do so, in order for our lack of aging not to become evident. But we have a good life. We’re best friends. Confidantes. She’s more like my sister than my mother, and of course, she adopted me. As a fellow latent, she can’t have biological kids of her own. We’re a wonderful team, and I don’t see any need to change it. But…”
She trailed off, and Lilly prompted her. “But?”
“I don’t want to sway you, but if I found the sort of match you have? Then I can’t say I’d make the same decisions I do now. I like pleasure, as I’ve already explained. And I can’t imagine a greater pleasure than being with two males who match me so perfectly. I’ve heard it’s like a drug, an addiction. Is it?”
Her eyes were bright as she watched Lilly, and Lilly realized she may have come for advice, but Gwen wanted to know about her life, too.
“It’s as if I’m ravenous or so, so thirsty, and only Callum and Rhyndor can stop the ache.” She frowned. “Kate and Rhiannon have told me it should ease in time if I decide not to stay with them, but I’m not sure I want it to.”
“You’ve a huge decision to make, but it’s easier in some ways for you than it was for your sister Claire. Your males don’t live a stiff and formal clan life. You wouldn’t be stuck up in the mountains for centuries. You’d be living a varied life. Best of both worlds in many ways. But, of course, once you commit to them, it’s forever. Your souls merge, and I have to be honest, that bit scares me to death.”
Lilly, too. It was the one thing she kept coming back around to. Mia explained what happened to her, how it occurred without her knowledge or consent, and Lilly found the story both terrifying and exhilarating. Wanted it and wanted to run far from it at the same time.
She didn’t know these men. Not deep down. Her knowledge of them lay in the way their bodies felt together, how she reacted to the touch of their flesh to hers. The look in their eyes when they saw her. The way their scent hit her in the gut every single time. She both knew them intimately and didn’t know them at all.
She couldn’t say what Rhyndor’s favorite food was or if Callum liked old movies, whether or not they had any phobias or secret fears. What made them laugh, what pissed them off? She’d been learning, but she’d only been with them a short time. She’d swear they were both good men. Decent men. And she knew, soul deep, they’d never hurt her. Would protect her with their dying breath, but that came back to the weird biological trick of their perfect bond. What if she found them insufferable after one hundred years in their company? She couldn’t get her head around living for such a long time, never mind being with the same people for it.
After having a long chat with Gwen, she wandered back to the house they’d been staying in and grinned when Mia opened the door. Steffan was with her, and he looked damn serious. Rhyn stood to one side, a strange, calmly happy expression on his face, but Callum’s tense jaw told another story.
Not sure what was going on, she flicked her gaze from one face to the other.
“Hey, sis.” Mia wrapped her in a warm hug. Lilly loved having a sister; it never got old, and she doubted it ever would.
“What’s going on?” She pulled away and glanced at the men again.
“We’re organizing the healing session to try to rid Steffan of the poison in his leg.” Rhyndor gave her a small smile.
“Ah.” It explained Callum’s deathly countenance.
“And.” Mia clapped her hands together. “Tonight, we have a feast. Robert has decreed it, kind of on Steffan’s orders.” She giggled. “And you’re going to get to fly with a dragon.”
“What?” Oh no. Watch, yes. But not fly with them. How?
As if reading her mind, Mia continued. “There’s two ways. Informal, where you kind of bareback it and have some reins to hold on to, or the formal, where you ride in a ceremonial chair. The formal feels safer, the informal is way cooler.”
“You ride the dragons… Of course.” She’d forgotten Claire’s promise from her early days at the Scottish clan.
Rhyndor nudged her foot with his. “I want you to ride my dragon, to be up there with me when I’m in my dragon form. You’ll be safe. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“I’ll be there, too,” Callum added. “You’ll be totally safe.”
Nerves squirmed in her belly, nipping like little fish at her and making her stomach hurt. “I don’t know, guys. I mean…”
She’d never seen her guys in their dragon form. It might put her off, hit home too hard how strange and unreal all this was.
“Sis, it’s a blast. Trust me. I won’t steer you wrong.”
Something told her Mia would indeed steer her wrong if she got the chance. She seemed more impulsive and daring in some ways compared to Claire, which was surprising given Claire’s previous trade as an MMA fighter. Mia grinned at her. “I’ll come around this afternoon, bring some vodka, and we’ll have a small drink. Loosen up those nerves. Once the sun goes down, we’ll go meet the guys out by the edge of the mountain plateau where it drops down to the valley.”
She pecked Lilly on the cheek. “Trust me.”
Famous last words. Lilly watched Mia and Steffan go with a heavy heart as she thought of the possible danger facing Rhyndor from their plan to heal Steffan.
“Hey.” The man in question tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “You don’t have to ride tonight if you’re scared.”
She smiled at his misunderstanding her concern, but she didn’t correct him. She wanted to talk to Callum about her worries, alone. Instead, she forced her smile wider and patted his arm. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She suddenly meant it, as the possibility of losing Rhyndor hit her hard.
Her heart ached and burned at the idea. She swallowed down the need to rub a soothing hand over the center of her chest and tried to calm the horrible uneasiness stealing over her.
The rest of the day, Lilly spent reading. She didn’t get a chance to talk to Callum alone as he and Rhyndor were going over their investments. The guys had serious money, she realized as they talked. Way more than her parents or Zach and his family. Not that she cared how much money they had hidden away. They could be paupers for all it mattered. But it did make one thing easier. She wanted to set up a shelter. It had been niggling away at her since she contemplated leaving her home to be with the two men. She’d miss the dogs and the friends she’d made there. But more than anything, she’d realized, she’d miss the work she did and the good it contributed.
If they did indeed make a go of this strange but wonderful relationship, she had one request. Wherever they ultimately decided to settle, she wanted to ask the guys to loan her some of the start-up money for a new shelter. She’d employ a qualified manager, as she didn’t fool herself into believing she could do it all. She didn’t know enough. But she knew she wanted it to be caring and bright and clean, but more than anything, comfortable. She wanted blankets and toys in the dogs’ cages. Soft lighting, not the strip lighting of the shelter back home. And she wanted lots of volunteers to spend time with the animals and to set up a network of foster carers, so as many dogs as possible stayed in a home environment between their assessment and adoption. She’d always felt more comfortable with animals than humans, and maybe now she had a clue as to why. She was part animal herself. Part human, too, and part something preternatural and powerful. The more she got used to the idea, the more she liked it.
She nibbled on her lip as she thought about her plans for the shelter. These things cost money. And she wasn’t above asking the guys. After all, it wasn’t for her, not as such. It was to make a difference in the lives of some neglected and needy animals.
“Princess, Mia’s here.” Callum stuck his head around the door of the conservatory where she lay on the sofa, book in hand.
“Okay.” She shook her head. “I must be crazy doing this.”
“Nah. You’re crazy if you turn the chance down.” He kissed her cheek and then ran his nose up her neck, taking a deep inhale. “Drive me fucking crazy, you do.”
She glowed at the compliment, but then remembered her wish to speak with him. “Hey, Callum. Can we talk? Maybe tomorrow? About Rhyndor and what he plans?”
Callum’s face dropped the smile, and his eyes narrowed. “Sure, Princess. We can talk, but we won’t stop him. He’s made up his mind. I’m fucking livid with him, and trust me, I rarely get angry with him. It’s too dangerous. Selfish. But he insists on doing it. If anything happens to him…and if you decide not to stay…”
His voice cracked, and he looked away, blinking hard as he stared out of the window. She swallowed and wiped away her own tears at the rare show of such strong emotion from a guy who normally played the fun, happy-go-lucky character.
“Fuck. Be the death of me, the pair of you. Get your ass out to see your sister.” He began to walk away, but he turned at the last minute and pulled her in to plant a harsh, demanding kiss on her lips.
Wow. Every now and again, he did or said something to slay her.
Heading into the den, she smiled at Mia sprawled out on the sofa, flicking through a magazine. “Hey, sis. Let’s get you liquored up, not too much though, because it’d be dangerous. And then you can fly.”
Mia put her arms out and did an impression of a plane, and Lilly laughed. Mia always cheered her up. She loved both of her sisters, but she found Mia less intimidating than Claire. Less put together and perfect. A bit more ditzy and silly, like her.
“Pass me some vodka, then. I’m dreading this.”
“You’ll love it. They were gonna do the whole ceremonial chair thing, but I begged them not to. I’ve seen it once, and it’s a load of faff and hassle. Instead, they’re going to put a sort of deep saddle on Rhyn. I’ll be on Steffan.”
“You’re going up there, too?”
“Of course. I’ll be with you. Only, I’ll be bareback, because I’m daring like that.” She snorted.
Pouring a small measure of vodka, she handed it to Lilly. “Here. A wee sip to loosen you up enough to get up there, but not so much you fall off.”
“Oh God! Don’t say that. I won’t do it if I think about falling.”
“You won’t fall, babe. You’ll be tied to Rhyndor. He’ll be tuned in to you the whole time. But if you did, you’d be caught. Callum will be up there, as will Aiden, Rhiannon, Kate, and a whole host of people, not one of whom will let you fall.”
Sipping at her vodka, Lilly smiled as the fiery liquid instantly relaxed her tense stomach muscles.
“You guys ready?” Aiden walked into the room.
No, nope. Not ready at all. She downed the rest of the vodka and cursed the measly measure, then she stood on shaky legs.
“Remind me again. Why am I doing this?”
“You don’t have to.” Aiden shrugged. “Rhyndor will understand.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to. You can miss what will be one of the most epic moments of your life because you’re chickenshit.” Mia winked at her and it took the sting out of her words, but Lilly didn’t want to miss it. Not really. Her legs, on the other hand, they kind of wanted to sit back down on the sofa and take a break.
Forcing herself not to be a chicken, in Mia’s words, she moved through the house and out the door as if in a dream. The hastily imbibed alcohol gave her a floaty feeling, and the nerves shrouded her in a fog of anxiety.
She got near to the gathering point and stopped dead. In front of her stood the most awesome sight she’d ever seen. Dragons, lots and lots of them, milled around. Some were small, some huge, some brightly colored, and some dull, but they were all beautiful. And terrifying.
A tiny yellow dragon came to her and smiled. The damn thing smiled and showed a row of fearsome teeth.
Aiden laughed. “Ignore him. That’s Daffyd. Six foot seven in real life, built like a rugby forward, and his dragon is tiny and bright yellow.” The dragon narrowed its cold eyes and then shot a perfectly aimed tube of flame right at Aiden’s crotch. Aiden yelled and jumped back and opened his own mouth to breathe flames back at the yellow menace. She stared at Aiden with her mouth hanging open. She knew both dragons and latents could conjure up fire; she’d seen it happen and done it herself. With her hands. She’d had no idea until now they could breathe flames too. Maybe only full shifters did such a thing?
She stared at Aiden a moment longer, and then something nudged her leg. She turned around and stared some more. A massive, astonishing dragon with scales the color of the deepest blues and indigos stood behind her.
“Meet Callum.” Mia grinned, her face lit up, and damn it, but Lilly had to grin too. Callum was beautiful.
Another huge, lumbering beast walked toward them, this one a dull red. “Steffan, baby.” Mia ran to the ginormous monster, and it put its head down and she kissed its nose.
Lilly snorted with laughter.
“What?” Mia cocked her head to one side.
“He’s not a damn Labrador puppy.”
“No. He’s my mate. And here comes your other one.”
Oh my! If she’d thought Callum and Steffan big, then the dragon walking toward them put them in the shade completely, size-wise. He also terrified her. She tried to calm herself by stating over and over it was Rhyndor, but holy crap!
Completely black, with no color to its scales whatsoever, the beast glistened all over as if wet, the scales reflecting the dying light of the day. Spiked horns guarded his great head and ran down his neck. They stopped over the main part of the massive body but continued down to end in one large, pointed spike, where the other dragons had tapered ends to their tails.
She saw the hurt in the creature’s eyes as plain as day as she took another step backward, but she found it hard to control her fear. Good Lord, Rhyndor scared the living crap out of her as his dragon.
“Honey, it’s Rhyndor. Don’t be scared. He won’t hurt you. In fact—” Mia made a gesture to the dragons and then took her arm, leading her away for a moment. “Let me tell you something. When I fully figured out all the power Steffan held, I got scared. I mean, scared. I said to him, you scare me, you’re so powerful. And he was so hurt. He told me I’d got it wrong. He said, and I remember this so well because it was beautiful. He said, this power, this thing about me which scares you, it’s for you.” Her eyes turned misty, and she blinked a couple of times. “Same with Rhyndor. Look at all the strength and menace in that beast of his. It’s all for you, if you decide you want him.”
Lilly nodded. She got it, but trying to make her brain relate the facts to her swirling stomach and pounding heart seemed another matter.
“Come on, let’s go say hello.” Mia pulled her forward and went right up to Rhyndor and patted him on the neck. He snorted and then blew a load of air out of his nose in something sounding a little like an elephant’s trumpet.
“See, he likes to be stroked. I bet he’d like it a whole lot better if you were doing the stroking.” Mia tossed her an exaggerated wink.
Lilly went up to Rhyndor and reached out a trembling hand. He put his head down and touched her palm with his nose, blowing a gentle stream of warm air against her skin. He nudged her once, twice, and then a third time. Emboldened, she ran her hands up over his great head and touched his gnarly skin. He felt like centuries-old leather to her fingers, but as she reached his neck and the scales that began there, the sensation changed. They were hard and cold and slippery. Like armor growing out of his skin.
“Wanna go for a ride?” Mia walked over to Steffan’s dark red beast and patted his neck. She got help to clamber onto his back by a few of the people milling around. Then long, thick ribbons in bright colors were brought to her and wrapped around her waist, wrists, and the dragon’s neck in a complicated pattern. By the time they’d finished their handiwork, Lilly had to admit Mia looked safe and secure. Some of the ribbons wrapped around her waist and then looped under Steffan’s belly, and others were wrapped around her ankles and wrists, and she held them loosely in her hands like reins.
“You’ll be riding in a saddle,” Aiden said. “You’ll be totally secure.”
At that moment, a group of men emerged carrying a large, leather saddle with a deep bucket dip and a grip at the front to hold on to. It looked like an exaggerated version of the western-style saddles she’d gotten used to riding on in America. They were followed by more men carrying the same sort of ribbons as were wrapped around Mia. They went about their work, and the time came for Lilly to be helped up into the saddle.
Rhyndor lay low on the ground, making it easier for her to get up onto his back. Her legs shook as she climbed up, getting a boost from Aiden. He handed her a headpiece. “So you can communicate with Mia. You want to stop and come down, let her know. Try to tune in to Rhyndor, too, though. He’ll be aware of your feelings. It’ll be scary at first, but let it pass and you’ll love it. Swear to the gods, Lilly. You’re about to fly with your dragon. Doesn’t get any better.”
She marveled at how friendly Aiden had been toward her in the last few days. She’d dreaded coming to the Welsh clan after how tense things had been between Mia’s mates and Rhyn and Callum. She understood why Rhyndor felt he needed to do what he planned, despite not liking it. He wanted to make amends, and furthermore, she secretly believed he wanted his friends back.
Apparently, back in the day, way before he’d gone off the reservation and become some bitch of a witch’s pet dragon, he’d been on good terms with Nathan and Steffan and close friends with another powerful dragon named Awen, from the Cornish clan.
She sighed as she settled into her seat. The politics of it all tired her. She only wanted to get to know these two men…males…and somehow figure out her heart and where her future lay.
Steffan roared. He lifted his head and roared into the sky, and two medium-sized but stunning dragons ran past her, surprisingly quick for their heft, wings flapping, and went straight off the edge of the plateau. She raised her hand to her mouth as they disappeared, but a moment later, they soared back into her eyeline, wings flapping lazily as they swooped in big, beautiful arcs.
After turning and twisting, the two dragons flew out in a straight line, high over the valley. Rhyndor stood, making her cry out in fright. Good God, even on the ground she shook at the height. He ambled to the edge and put his head down so she had an unobstructed vision of the view below. The two dragons were racing back toward them, when they changed course and headed at breakneck speed toward the valley floor where massive wood pyres were stacked one after the other. Both dragons opened their mighty mouths and blew out fierce orange flames as they neared the floor. The wood caught fire quickly.
Their magic protected their land from prying human eyes, and thank God because they were a spectacular and attention-grabbing sight.
“Oh my God.” The words were out before she could stop them, the sight truly awe-inspiring.
“Good stuff, eh?” Mia’s voice echoed in her ear, and Lilly squeaked before she remembered she wore the headset.
“This is weird as fuck, you know?”
“Which bit, in particular?”
“Wearing this call center getup while riding a dragon.”
“Well, we like to mix modern technology with our ancient dragony ways. Hold on tight, sis.”
Lilly did as Mia suggested and gripped the brightly colored reins as tightly as possible. The seat seemed secure enough but still… Oh shit, there went the ground. A gust of cool air blew past her face, and she struggled to take a breath in for a moment. Fuck, they were flying.
She glanced down, and her head spun at the sheer drop below them. Her breathing became faster and faster. She didn’t seem to be able to get enough air in. Try as she might, her lungs were working like bellows but not giving her any of the lovely oxygen she craved. A moment of dizziness overtook her, but then they were heading gradually down, down, farther down. Thank God, they neared the bottom of the valley floor, avoiding the fires, and now she could breathe. Now, she wasn’t terrified but beginning to experience the first stirrings of excitement and exhilaration.
“I think he brought you down because you were panicking.” Mia spoke in her ear, and Lilly turned to see her sister riding right alongside her on Steffan’s back. “We can stay down here as long as you like, okay?”
She nodded, still too winded to speak, but grateful for the chance to regain her equilibrium. Time passed, maybe five or ten minutes, and she began to be lulled by the sure, rhythmic beat of Rhyndor’s wings. Something else began to happen to her, something strange and wonderful but terrifying too. She became ultra aware of him, to the point she almost felt what he did.
Nothing as straightforward as reading his thoughts, but it was as if she understood his mood. Sensed the peacefulness he experienced in that moment. A deep feeling of contentment and belonging washed over her, and she understood with startling clarity it echoed his own emotions. Moved to tears, she dared to lift one shaky hand to wipe at her cheeks. How did a person walk away from something like this? Something so elemental and downright beautiful? But how did someone give their life to two men they’d known weeks? The whole thing churned her emotions and tired out her overthinking brain.
On impulse, she leaned forward and hugged Rhyndor’s neck, surprised at the warmth she found there when expecting the same cold hardness she’d experienced when she’d touched his scales earlier. After a few more moments, Rhyndor began to climb higher again. Slow and careful, and he looked back at her as they ascended, clearly waiting for her to give him a sign she wanted to be up there with him. On her nod, he powered those great wings of his and pushed them ever higher.
Once they reached a great height, he stilled, wings beating in the air but not propelling them forward, and Steffan pulled alongside. The fires had all been lit now, and the valley floor blazed below them with ten great pyres and lots of smaller fires in between. Suddenly, something exploded below her, making her jump and squeal. Bright shards of color lit up the now dark sky, blues and greens and reds, all burning brightly for a moment before dying down to nothing. Fireworks! She loved fireworks.
More bangs and flashes burst into the night sky, some gold, some white, and others a riot of color. She watched in awe as the display lit up the mountains and valley below them, turning stunning into transcendent. When it finally ended, Rhyndor turned to her and made an odd sound. Steffan followed suit, and then they flew fast and straight across the expanse of sky, swooping down low and fast toward the fires and accelerating back up at breakneck speed. She screamed, but in exhilaration rather than fear. Since the moment she’d tuned in to Rhyndor, she’d stopped being afraid. Her heart and soul knew he’d never let harm come to her if he had a say in the matter. If she fell, he’d hurtle down through the sky after her. If anyone ever came after her, to harm her in any way, he’d stand between her and the danger. Hell, she’d bet everything she owned this male would die for her over and over again. No one. No one in her life had ever loved her in such a way, except for the mother who gave her up to save her life.
Callum would be the same way, too. It was how these males ticked. Mia understood it, as did Claire. Now, Lilly needed to make her mind up. To stay and take the ultimate step, make the big, scary leap. Or run away from all this and go back to her old life, albeit with a tentative plan. Should she try to make some sort of a go at it on the outside, living as a human? Or see if she could put her plan into action here? At least here she belonged. She had kin and a clan and men who wanted to lay down their lives for her. The only thing stopping her, the thing getting in the way was her damn human logic. The rational, stern voice that whispered to her how only insane people committed to a centuries-long lifetime with two people they’d only just met.
Finally, they landed, and by the time she climbed down from Rhyndor’s back, Callum had already changed into his human form. His face glowed with health and vitality as he strode toward her, and she wondered if changing form did something for them. The dragon equivalent of a smoothie detox, maybe?
“Did you enjoy it?” Callum took hold of her face and kissed her hard on the lips before she answered. “You tuned in to him. I felt it while up there, flying. I want you to do the same with me.”
Her legs turned to jelly all over again at his kiss and his words. “When we get the chance for me to ride you, I’ll try.”
“Oh, you don’t have to ride me, Princess. Or least, not in this way. You can tune in to me anytime, but getting down and dirty always helps.” He waggled his eyebrows.
She clucked her tongue at him. “Do you ever miss the chance to turn things around to sex?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Wasting such a chance would be criminal, in my humble opinion.”
Rhyndor came over to them, also back in his human form. A few dragons around them changed back into their human forms, and each one seemed surrounded by a mini tornado. Her hair blew about her face, and leaves and small debris floated in the air.
“How did you find it?” Rhyndor’s eyes searched hers.
“I loved it, once I got over my panic attack. Loved how we connected, too.”
He beamed at her words, flat out beamed, and she wanted to see the expression on him more often.
Callum started to explain to her in some detail how the magic protecting their land worked, and she tried to follow some of it, but she found it hard. She looked forward to starting up her own magic lessons again, though.
She realized Rhyndor no longer stood by her and turned to look for him, but she couldn’t see him. She chatted with Callum and then Aiden and Mia when they turned up five minutes later. She kept glancing around for Rhyndor, wanting to talk to him about what they’d shared up there, but she couldn’t find him. Then finally, on her last glance around, she spotted him. Sitting toward the edge of the plateau, facing out over the valley floor, he spoke with Steffan. A small fire flickered in front of them, casting their faces in shadow, and they appeared to be seated on beer crates or something similar. Both men’s faces were serious, their conversation evidently deep and meaningful.
Steffan shook his head at something, but Rhyndor clasped his shoulder and rose to stand. He headed their way, and she looked away, a strange sense of foreboding taking hold in her stomach, souring the food she’d eaten earlier.
As Rhyndor came to stand by them, Callum looked at him then shook his head. “Hell no. Not tonight, Rhyn.”
“Yes, tonight. I want it over and done with. It’s going to exhaust me for a few days, and I want it done so we can take Lilly back to the Scottish clan while she decides what she wants to do.”
“What’s the rush? We’re fine here. No need to leave yet.” Callum sounded panicked, scared.
“Aiden has a dig in a week, some archaeological find he wants to explore. I want to get it done tonight, so Steffan can recover in time for the dig, and so can I. Even if Steffan stays here, Mia will go with Aiden. Which means Lilly will be stuck here without her sister. I want her to be able to go visit Claire. Be with her family while she mulls all this over. It makes sense, timing-wise. Steffan gets the chance to recover in time to go with his mates, and we can go to Scotland and spend some time there while Mia is away.”
“I don’t want you to do it at all.” Lilly blurted the words out before she’d considered them, and she realized they were true. She hated the idea of him hurt or sick.
He cupped her cheek with one large hand. “I know you don’t, Lils. But I need to do this. I have to make it right. It’s the only way the three of us can ever be together without the past hanging over us like some sort of poison cloud.”
“The past doesn’t hang over me at all,” Callum scoffed. “I’d gladly leave here tonight and never come back. Steffan’s okay. He’s not in danger from the poison.”
“Oh, but he is.” Soft tones made Lilly look around to see Rhiannon approaching their small group. “He is in much danger. At any time, the poison can overrun his system. Kill him or make him exceedingly sick. As he ages, his strength won’t always be a match for it. You wish to do this tonight?” She gave a nod of her head toward Rhyndor.
“Yes. Let’s get it done.”
“I’m coming.” Lilly shocked herself again.
“I’m not sure, child.” Rhiannon regarded her with sad eyes. “It won’t be pleasant to witness.”
“I’m not a child, and I want to be there for Rhyndor.” She jutted out her jaw.
“Me too,” Callum said.
Rhiannon pursed her lips. “All right, but you cannot interfere at all. You might harm either dragon if you do.”
They both swore not to interfere, no matter what they saw or heard, and then they were following Rhiannon and Kate in a somber procession toward Kate’s house in the village.
When they got there and trooped into the living room, Lilly struggled from the beginning to keep her promise. Steffan lay on the floor in front of her, on a bright rug, his pants ripped on his thigh and revealing an awful scar. It made her sick to look at it, so she avoided it.
“Once I start the ceremony, it cannot be stopped.” Rhiannon placed a metal bowl on the ground, full of something looking like oil. “This goes wrong, it cannot be undone. Rhyndor, you must bring forth your dragon claw. When I instruct you to, you must reopen the wound, and in the old language, ask for the poison to return from whence it came. Steffan, you can’t move, no matter how much it burns and hurts. As you do this, Kate and I will be saying the incantation as Rhyndor takes the poison back into his body. Then we will apply the salve to Steffan’s wound, and you, Rhyndor…you must summon all your strength to heal. You may seem fine at first, but the coming days will be rough.”
“I can do it.” He looked right at Lilly, his eyes burning into hers, then turned to Callum. “I’ve got two people to live for.” Then he frowned and added, “Not saying it to pressure you, Lil. I need to live for you whether you are here with us or out there in the world. I need to be here in case you ever need me. And, Callum, you might think you don’t need me, only want me. But it’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not true, you arrogant shit. I do need you, hence me thinking this is a very bad idea.”
“You dare stop this, and I’ll end you.” Aiden spoke from the other side of the room, giving Callum a fierce glare.
“No one’s stopping anything. Let’s get this done with.” Rhyndor took off his shirt and placed it carefully on the side. In only his jeans and shoes, he knelt by Steffan.
Then he extended his arm, and Lilly gasped as part of it began to twist and change right in front of her eyes. Where before there’d been a human forearm, now grew a huge, lizard-like appendage with a terrifying set of claws at the end.
Kate and Rhiannon started to chant, and despite not understanding one word, Lilly swore she began to sense magic in the air. The room seemed to heat and the light to dim. Their words washed over her, lulling her somehow despite her terror at what was to come. Both women held their hands aloft and pointed up to the sky, bundles of herbs in their right hands. The herbs caught alight, and the women began to turn, one clockwise, one counterclockwise. They chanted faster and faster, never raising their voices. Suddenly, all movement ceased, and Rhiannon pointed to Rhyndor.
“Now. Do it now.”
Rhyndor took a long, lethal claw and began to slice into Steffan’s thigh, right along the livid scar line. Mia gave a sob and looked away. To say Lilly experienced conflicting emotions would be the understatement of the century. She felt empathy for her sister, but for the first time, she resented her. Mia’s mate was being healed, but Lilly’s might become sick, or worse.
Her thoughts registered, and she almost bolted upright from the shock. Her mate. Fuck it all, she thought of him as her mate, and she’d only realized it in this moment of great danger. As he dug his claw into Steffan’s leg and began to chant, she understood, with sickening clarity, that she may have left it too late. She wanted this man…male…and Callum too. However crazy, however fast and fucked-up this thing between them might be, she wanted it. And he might never know.
Fidgeting in her seat, she tried to contain her need to speak, to move, to stop this. The urge built within, and she tried to remember what Rhiannon had said about why no one should attempt to stop things. For the life of her, though, the words evaded her. Her legs tensed and she pushed off from her seat, but a strong arm fastened across her chest, holding her in place. Callum turned to her and shook his head once, his eyes as somber as she’d ever seen them.
She stayed stuck in place, Callum holding her there, his eyes never leaving hers as chanting once more filled the room. She didn’t watch Rhyndor take the poison back into his own body; she didn’t wish to see such an act of vandalism occur. Then it all ended.
Silence and stillness filled the room, and slowly, oh-so-slowly, she and Callum turned to look. Steffan groaned softly in pain, and Rhiannon poured the thick black liquid all over his wound, muttering quietly under her breath.
Rhyndor turned to look at them, and he grinned. Her heart soared. Thank God. As he watched them, Rhyndor’s grin began to fade. He rubbed his sternum, once, twice, and then gave a small moan. A tiny sound, before his face turned white and his eyes rolled back in his head. Like some mighty oak felled in the forest, he dropped to the ground, silent and still.
“What’s happening?” Lilly tried to move, but Callum’s arm remained locked over her.
Rhiannon stopped tending to Steffan and turned to Rhyndor. She looked at him and then glanced at Kate, eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” Steffan sat up with a wince. “What’s with the looks, you two? Fucking tell me what’s going on.”
“This should not have occurred.” Kate’s voice wobbled.
“What occurred?” Steffan roared.
“Rhyndor’s dead,” Rhiannon sobbed. She held her hand over his heart and gave a moaning cry. “He’s dead. Oh gods, how did this happen?”
“You!” Callum shot out of his chair and grabbed Rhiannon by the throat. “You did this. You swore it might indeed hurt him, maybe badly, but it would not kill him. How can he be dead? Take the spell back, take it back, right fucking now. You take the poison back, Steffan.”
Steffan began to nod. “Yes.”
“No.” Aiden ran to Steffan and began to pull him to his feet. “No. He deserves this. He tried to kill you. We’re leaving. You’re not putting yourself in danger for him.”
Steffan pulled his arm out of Aiden’s and shook his head. “I’m not leaving. There must be something we can do. Something.” Steffan looked at Rhiannon, his eyes wild.
“This shouldn’t have happened. The danger comes slowly over the days and weeks to follow the ritual. This is wrong. This is dark magic. We need to counter it.” Kate rubbed her eyes, which were streaming with tears.
“Yes.” Steffan pushed.
“There’s only one thing. And it’s dangerous and risky and may not work.”
“What is it? Anything. I’ll do it.” Steffan’s eyes pleaded with her.
Rhiannon’s face turned grim as she spoke. “It’s not you who needs to do anything.”
She turned then to look at Lilly and Callum. “His true mates, they need to be the ones to do this. But mark my words. It’s dangerous.”
“I’m in.” Callum didn’t hesitate.
“Me too.” Lilly didn’t need time to think. She didn’t care if this put her life at risk. The big, beautiful male lying silent and unmoving on the floor was an affront to everything good in the world, and it shocked her to understand she didn’t want to be in a world where Rhyndor didn’t exist.
“Lilly, you’re not sure you want to mate these guys.” Mia came across the floor. “I’m so, so sorry.” She sobbed through her words and wiped at her eyes. “But you can’t do this. You’re still undecided, unsure. You can’t risk your life for him. Rhyndor wouldn’t want it.”
Callum sighed, and it seemed to empty him of more than air, as if his life-force itself had vanished. “She’s right. He wouldn’t.”
Lilly squared her shoulders. “Well, Rhyndor isn’t always going to be the one to decide who does what in this triad. When I join you two old-fashioned idiots, there are going to be some changes. Now—” She turned to Rhiannon. “What do we do?”
Lilly didn’t need more time to think. In that moment, she took a huge leap into the unknown and didn’t fear it. Not one bit. Her only fear was Rhyndor not waking up and her never being able to see his face again.
“Christ, Princess. You slay me.” Callum lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Rhiannon stood and moved to the kitchen. “Lilly, you come with me. Aiden and Callum, you carry him upstairs and place him on the bed.”
“Lilly, this is dangerous. You may lose part of who you are. Some of your memories, some say part of your soul.”
“Will it kill me?” she asked Rhiannon.
“No. It won’t kill you…or, it shouldn’t.” She stopped and bit her lip. “But after tonight, I’m not sure what’s going on. Even if it goes as planned and doesn’t kill you, it may leave you…not yourself. Worst-case scenario, you lose an essential part of yourself. It’s bordering on messing with the dark arts, do you understand? And all sorts of things can happen when you do that.”
Lilly shrugged to hide the sick feeling the idea churned up inside of her. She’d only just found herself. The idea terrified her, but she couldn’t leave Rhyndor dead. There simply wasn’t a choice, because her heart screamed for him to come back to her. She’d gone and fallen in love and not realized it. Love and lust, and something much more earthy and fundamental. Something purely dragon she’d only listened to for the first time while flying with Rhyndor.
“This is grave and, some might say, unnatural magic we meddle with, child.” Rhiannon began to root through Kate’s cupboards, gathering things together. When she seemed satisfied with her haul, she handed some over to Lilly, and they walked through the living room and up the stairs.
When they reached the bedroom, Kate had lit candles all around the room, and the blinds were drawn. She gave them all a serious look. “We must never talk of what is about to occur in this room. Some of our kind think this magic is too far… Dark arts.”
There she went again with her ominous warnings. Lilly shivered and placed the herbs and bottles of potions in her arms onto the dresser. Rhiannon followed suit, and then she and Kate began to mix things into bowls.
Soon they were finished, and they turned and faced Callum and Lilly. “We need you to drink this. It will put you in a trancelike state. You’ll be aware of everything happening around you, but won’t be able to move. We’re going to summon your dragons and then their shadow selves.”
“I don’t have a dragon. I can’t change form.” Lilly didn’t believe this! They’d come this far, and now they’d have to stop. The two magic women surely understood she was latent.
“You do have a dragon, my dear.” Kate came toward her, holding a bowl aloft. “It resides within you, even though you can’t change form. She’s going to come out tonight, or I should say, one part of her is—her shadow soul, and it may hurt. A lot. But there’s more.”
Lilly braced herself as Kate continued to explain.
“Because your shadow dragon will have been out of your body, it may make her more vulnerable to magic, bad magic, in the future. This magic we are about to do also means you three will be more closely bonded. It’s not the same as the mating moment—when your spirit dragons merge—but it will still mean you each hold a tiny part of the other. Do you understand?”
Lilly nodded. It all sounded scary, but she couldn’t not even try.
Things passed in a blur then. Chanting began once more, but this time urgent and low. The flames in the room flickered, and her fear built as the chanting increased. She and Callum sat on the edge of the bed, side by side. Rhyndor’s still, silent body was behind them, laid out on the mattress. She didn’t dare bring herself to look at him. How he’d gone from being such a larger-than-life character to this silent, unmoving shell in a blink of an eye killed her.
“Drink, Lilly.” Kate held the bowl to her lips and tipped it up.
Rhiannon did the same to Callum. They both drank, and at first, she felt nothing but a slightly pleasant buzz. Like she’d downed one too many vodkas. Then the buzz intensified, and her face went numb, quickly followed by her neck. When the sensation reached her chest, she panicked at possibly not being able to breathe.
“Keep your breaths shallow. You’re fine.” Kate’s voice soothed her some, and Lilly focused on taking shallow but slow breaths.
Bit by bit, her whole body tingled, followed by cold and numbness. Soon, she might as well have been a statue, not a living person, for all she could move. But she remained horribly aware of everything in the room. Her breathing continued in the low, slow way she’d focused on, and her eyes blinked every now and again, but nothing else moved. She tried to swallow and found she could, but like her blinking and breathing, it took much effort. She wiggled her fingers and they moved a tiny amount, but when she tried to move her legs or lift an arm…nothing.
“Now we begin.” Kate raised her arms, as did Rhiannon, and they began to chant. Wind blew into the room from nowhere, chilling and icy on Lilly’s skin.
Lulled by the chants and the lack of anything happening, Lilly began to find her fear replaced with a sense of calm, but then something tugged at her. Deep in her chest and belly, something moved. Something so elemental and part of her, it felt as if her insides were tearing from their moorings. She tried to scream, but her vocal chords simply didn’t have the energy, and a squeak of air blew from her lips instead.
What the hell was happening to her? The tearing sensation intensified, and then something burst free from her. One moment, it resided inside her, a part of her she’d never acknowledged but had always known on some deep level, and then it was clawing its way out of her.
A vivid, emerald green dragon floated out of her and drifted toward the wall on the far side of the room, where a shadow separated from it.
From Callum emerged a smaller replica of the dragon she’d seen earlier in the day. And from behind them came Rhyndor’s much bigger beast, but still massively scaled down.
As the two male dragons reached her female, the shadows of their forms separated and joined with her shadow dragon. Lilly watched in fascination as the brightly colored dragons returned toward their hosts, hers flying back into her body in a rush of endorphins and feel-good hormones as an essential part of her came home.
The three shadow dragons began to move around one another, against the wall. Dark and dangerous-looking, they reminded her of scary shadow puppet shows she’d seen as a child. Suddenly, her dragon stretched her wings and held them aloft, her chest out and proud. Lilly recognized it for its smaller size, despite the lack of color to help tell the creatures apart.
Callum’s shadow dragon approached hers and merged with it. Where before there’d been two, now there stood one. Then Rhyndor’s big beast approached, and it too merged with her smaller dragon, disappearing completely.
Her shadow dragon flapped her wings, and Lilly swore her stomach fluttered as the beast inside her mirrored the movement.
“Well, that’s unexpected,” Rhiannon muttered.
Great, not the words you wanted to hear during a dangerous magic ceremony. Rhiannon turned to her. “Your dragon is strong, child.”
Then the shadow dragons separated again, and hers blew fire from its mouth, as did Callum’s.
“And we’re back on track. This is what’s supposed to happen.” Rhiannon gave her a reassuring smile.
Rhyndor’s bigger shadow beast moved closer to the two other fire-breathing shadows and opened its own mouth. Their fire filled the shadow until it glowed so brightly it hurt her eyes. She couldn’t look away though, still stuck, unable to move.
Rhyndor’s dragon grew brighter and brighter, and a fierce heat filled the room. Then it flapped its wings and roared. It flew high, toward the ceiling, and swooped back down toward the bed.
Her own shadow dragon flew back to her, as did Callum’s. When it entered her body, she sensed an awful moment of sickness and something wrong, but then things were back to normal. Only, she retained a heightened awareness of her inner beast.
Rhiannon brought a different liquid to her and made her swallow it. Kate did the same to Callum. Almost instantly, she found herself able to move.
She turned around and watched Rhyndor. He still lay unmoving, but his skin, which had turned pale, started to warm as she stared. A golden glow began in his chest and moved out toward his limbs and head.
She turned to Rhiannon, and the healer smiled. “’Tis working, child.”
Rhyndor took in a huge breath and began to cough. He gasped through four more wracking breaths then turned on his side and threw up all over the bed.
His body kept getting wracked by great big, ragged breaths in and out, and he vomited three more times. She began to cry, terrified the cure was killing him all over again. He gave one final heave, and something dark and repulsive came out of his mouth as he vomited.
Rhiannon cried out, “That vile, evil witch.”
Lilly didn’t understand what Rhiannon meant, but the words didn’t do anything to calm her fear. Rhyndor finally stopped being sick and lay back on the bed. A horrible stench filled the room, and Kate shouted for someone named Peter.
A middle-aged man came running into the room and covered his nose with his sleeve.
“Go fetch an airtight container. Something strong. And rope and tape, the type to bind something well. And bags.” Kate grabbed his arm as he made to leave. “Garbage bags, the strong ones, lots of them.”
“What’s happening?” Callum voiced the question Lilly wanted to ask.
“We know why the original healing ceremony killed Rhyndor. Celine left a tiny gift in him all these centuries. It ensured if he ever tried to reverse any of her magic, he’d die. That…thing on the bed. It’s part of her disgusting, black heart.”
Lilly wanted to vomit herself. She’d never smelled anything so foul.
“Oh, fuck,” Callum said. “He’s always feared something like this. Worried she’d still somehow retain control over him, make him attack Steffan if they ever met again.”
“No. Instead, she made sure Rhyndor would be the one hurt if he tried to stop her magic.” Rhiannon shook her head, her lips pursed. “She’s a truly evil being.”
Rhyndor groaned. “I need a drink, and can someone please get this thing away from me?”
“How do you feel?” Rhiannon asked.
“As if I’ve been hit by a truck.”
Callum started to laugh, but the tears running down his cheeks weren’t from mirth. “Oh no. Nothing as dramatic, my love. You merely died.”
“What?” Rhyndor sat up.
“Yes, keep still. You died. Only your mates saved you. Lilly, most of all. Her dragon may be latent, but she’s powerful.” Rhiannon looked at Lilly. “You should train your magic. We need powerful females like you, and something tells me you’ll need to know what to do should that bitch come for your male.”
Her male. She liked the sound of it. She also liked the idea of becoming a protector and not merely someone to be looked after and mollycoddled. In a way, it was what she’d done at the shelter, and if she could do it for these two strapping men, she would.
“I’ll train. I’ll learn all I can.” She smiled at Rhyndor and then at Callum. “And I’ll keep both of you safe.”
She tried hard not to laugh at their expressions, but her joy at Rhyndor speaking and breathing next to her was uncontrollable, and she laughed out loud.
“Does this mean you’ll stay?” Callum looked at her, his gaze serious. “You were confused, not sure what you wanted.”
“Nearly losing someone you’ve grown to love, in however short a time and fantastical a way, tends to clarify things for you.”
“You love us?” Callum breathed.
“I didn’t mention you, did I?” she teased.
Rhyndor coughed and groaned.
“You’re going to need lots of TLC.” Rhiannon took his pulse as Kate busied herself clearing away the paraphernalia they’d used for the magic.
“When can I begin to train my inner dragon and learn your magic?” Lilly asked.
“As soon as you wish. You can stay here and train with Kate and me or head back to the Scottish clan and work with Morag and the healers there.”
She quite liked the idea of staying with the Welsh clan for a while. They’d figure out what they wanted to do next while she trained. Lilly looked around the room and realized she had a family here. And another one in Scotland. If she and the guys lived their lives doing their own thing but visiting with Mia and Claire often, she thought she’d be happy. Very happy indeed.