Darkness had fallen by the time the battle ended, the Northmen having fled for safety, weakened by the unexpected arrival of all the princes prepared for battle.

Max was left to explain to their overwrought father what had happened while the others wrangled the females back, led by Esme and Delilah.

“We had no choice, our lords,” Delilah sighed. “They threatened the children, and there were five of them. If we had known they lacked our power, we could have stopped them, but our intention was to keep the children safe from harm.”

“You did nothing wrong,” Titus assured them as Cassius rounded up the children who had not been swept up with the Northmen. The women explained that the dragons had turned some of the boys into soldiers for their cause, but the princes were unconcerned by the revelation.

“They will still never be as powerful as we are,” Marcus said. “Even with our best boys. They will never be strong enough.”

“But they are getting braver,” Anders warned. “This has kept them at bay, but for how long? We have to kill them.”

A heavy silence fell over the courtyard.

“How did she know how to kill them?” Marcus asked, looking about, as if realizing for the first time that Sawyer was not among them. “Who told her that? What does she know about us, Anders?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I think she’s been onto this weyr for much longer than we have. She will be a benefit to us. She’s already been a benefit to us.”

“She’s a mortal,” Esme warned. “She can’t be trusted with our secret.”

“What would you have me do?” Anders snarled, his blue eyes flashing. “We live by a code. She is not a threat to us unless she becomes one. There’s nothing we can do unless she tries to hurt us. Anyway, there have been other mortals whom we have trusted.”

“Ones who know how to kill us?” Esme barked back.

“She’s not going to hurt you, Anders,” Max volunteered. “She’s in love with you. Go to her now. Your work here is done.”

Anders looked at his brother warily but nodded slowly. Whatever waited for him in that clearing, he couldn’t avoid it. He needed to see Sawyer face to face, no matter how painful the result.

“Stay in touch,” he told his family before shifting, soaring off into the rain splattering down upon them from the sky. It was black when he landed where he had left Sawyer, but she was not there any longer, and his heart filled with dread and disappointment.

She didn’t even wait for me to come back. She would rather brave the woods alone at night than look me in the eye.

He couldn’t blame her, not really. She was apparently a dragon slayer, someone sworn to protect the mortals from the likes of him. He could not fathom the betrayal she must have felt knowing that he was one all along. On the other hand, she had never asked.

That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard, Anders thought to himself. And I’m a lawyer.

Above his head, thunder crashed, and a streak of lightning lit the sky. He saw a form along the tree line, and his heart stopped.

“Sawyer?” he yelled. “Is that you?”

Heart hammering, he started toward the shadow, the darkness making it impossible for him to see the hand in front of his face. But as he moved, another spark of lightning showed him he was headed in the right direction. And that Sawyer was headed toward him, too.

He felt her even before he touched her. When he did, a buzz of electricity charged through him, and he pulled her toward him, his lips grazing the wet of her cheek. A part of him expected Sawyer to pull back from his embrace, but when she didn’t, he felt his pulse quicken, and he braved a soft, slow kiss to her mouth.

There was a slight hesitation, and he felt a pang of regret in his heart.

“You’re safe now,” Anders muttered, his hands encircling her face. “I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Sawyer breathed. “I—I’m trying to process all this, but it’s just so crazy.”

“It is,” he agreed, squeezing her close. “And I know you’ve committed yourself to fighting my kind, but we’re not a danger to you. Not me, and not my family.”

“I know that, too,” she sighed, and he could feel the race of her heart beneath the damp clothes clinging to her body.

“Tell me what you want me to do, Sawyer,” Anders said, “and I’ll do it. If you want me to find a way to change who I am, I will.”

Sawyer’s body tensed, and she drew her head back. He could see only the whites of her eyes in the blackness. “You would give up being a dragon to be with me?”

“If it meant I would lose you otherwise? Of course I would.”

“You would forsake all that power?” she choked. “For me?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Anders asked, slightly amused. “You are worth so much more than you have ever given yourself credit for. I don’t want to lose you because of something I might have the ability to change.”

“You can’t change who you are,” she murmured. “And I would never ask you to do that for me.”

They held each other, listening to the sound of the rain hit the trees in a sweet, wet melody.

“We can’t tell Vander about you,” Sawyer said. “His obsession with this is becoming unnerving.”

“Vander is like you, then? He kills dragons?” Anders asked.

“He’s the one in charge,” Sawyer said. “He has a lot of knowledge that can help us track the other rogue dragons, but we must never let him know about you or your family.”

“I can agree with that. You’ll have to tell me how you and Vander came to know one another one day,” Anders remarked dryly.

“It’s a long story, but we can never speak of what just transpired. I think I just killed his lover. He will never forgive either of us.”

Another silence fell between them.

“I didn’t know there were female dragons.”

“Of course,” Anders said. “There are children, too. When the curse fell over the castle, it affected everyone in its walls.”

“Including the prisoners in the dungeon,” Sawyer concluded. “I know. I spoke with a witch.”

“Opal?” he demanded, his brow furrowing. “Is she still alive?”

“Ruby.”

Anders wracked his brain to place her. “I don’t know her.”

“It doesn’t matter. She filled me in on what happened over there all those centuries ago.”

“I see,” Anders said, unsure if he did see. “Do you understand better now?”

“Not really,” Sawyer replied, half laughing, but there was sadness in her voice.

“What can I do to make this easier for you?” Anders asked urgently. “What do you need me to do?”

“I’m not sure if it’s possible,” she mumbled.

“If there’s one thing I have learned about being alive this long is that anything is possible. Tell me.”

Sawyer inhaled shakily. “I want to become a dragon, too,” she murmured.

“Oh…” Anders’ arms grew tighter, his hold on her almost suffocating. “We have looked for a way to do this forever, Sawyer. We’ve traveled all over the world, speaking to sorceresses and gurus. We’ve dealt with every denomination of religion and every crackpot conspiracy theorist on the planet. Whatever Opal did to us seems to have died with her.”

“No,” Sawyer replied. “That’s not true.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Northmen have a witch,” she went on. “Her name is Cerys, and she transforms certain mortals into dragons, but they must have the right gene.”

“What gene is that?” Anders asked skeptically, not wanting to crush her hopes but highly doubting that Sawyer had found a solution to a centuries’ old problem. But why? Why does that surprise you? She kills dragons. She’s more powerful than immortals.

“Don’t laugh, okay?” Sawyer glanced up at him, water droplets falling into her earnest brown eyes.

“I would never.”

“Royalty,” she answered. “If someone has royal blood, they can be changed.”

“Why would I laugh at that?” Anders demanded.

“Ruby says I carry the gene,” Sawyer told him. “She saw it in my palm.”

“I’m not surprised in the least,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her lips sweetly. “You will always be my queen.”

“Maybe your dragon queen,” she murmured, placing her head on his chest to hear his heart beating through his shirt.

“Are you sure this is something you want to do? I mean, I’m fairly sure it can’t be undone. Unless, of course, you have found someone who does that, too.”

Sawyer slapped his chest. “Don’t mock me, Anders.”

“I am doing the furthest thing from mocking you, Sawyer!” he chuckled, his grip on her tightening. “I am awed by you like I have never been by anyone in my life. You take my breath away.”

She chuckled. “Yes,” she said. “I’m sure I want to do this. Why should you guys be the only ones allowed to live forever?”

“Touché.” Anders said. “So, what’s next? Do you want to come to New York, or should I relocate to Nashville?”

“That depends… Can I bring my dog to New York?”

“Of course,” Anders said as a smile spread across his lips at her simple request. He felt his body respond to her closeness as it always did, a surge of heat rushing toward his crotch. She arouses every part of me, mind, body and immortal soul. “You know what dragons really like to do?” he whispered.

“What’s that?”

“Have dirty sex in muddy, rainy fields.”

Sawyer laughed. “I think I’m going to really enjoy being a dragon,” she joked, grabbing his rear and thrusting her hips against his.

“I can’t wait.”

And Anders realized that he meant it. The thought of living another day without Sawyer was insurmountable.

He wanted his dragon queen.