Chapter Twenty-Three
Lily was nervous. Intellectually, she understood that after she mated with Birk, she’d be able to turn into a dragon. But what if she was the first human to fail?
He’d taken her to a corner of the Caspian mine where no one could watch them just in case the worst happened. “Ready?” he asked.
“To turn into a dragon?”
“How about we start with partial shifting first? It comes in very handy, especially in confined spaces.”
“Like when you cut off those plastic wrist ties?”
He smiled. “Yes. Let me show you what to do.”
Birk lifted his arms, and right before her eyes, his hands transformed into claws, like she’d seen him do before. A second later, fire shot out of the ends.
She stepped close but not too near. “How did you do that?”
He smiled. “I imagined my talons growing, and they do. Try it.”
Lily was highly skeptical, but she closed her eyes and lifted her arms, mimicking Birk’s actions. With the image of his claws in her mind’s eye, she concentrated on doing the same thing. Not only did she worry about succeeding, she was also concerned that if she succeeded, she might not be able to return her hands to human form. Before she could think about that dilemma, her skin stretched, and then her bones cracked. She jumped back and shook her hands, not liking the strange feeling of something exploding inside her.
While the discomfort wasn’t too great, having her body change so quickly had her heart pounding.
“Open your eyes, Lily,” Birk said with pride.
She did, and when she saw how distorted her arms were, she immediately hid them behind her back. “They’re ugly.”
He frowned. “What are you saying? Are you put off when you see me in my dragon form?”
Oh, shit. She hadn’t meant that. “No. Only on me.”
The lines around his eyes softened. “You’ll get used to it.” He stepped close and drew her arms to the front. “They are perfect.” He ran a finger over the back of her hand—or rather her claw. “Look how special your scales are. They’re seafoam green—so delicate, like you. It is now my favorite color.”
He let go and she twisted her arm, letting the sunlight reflect off her body. The green scales were pretty. “I do like the color, though I was hoping I would get the same deep, ruby red color like yours.”
Birk’s lips quirked upward. “No one knows how that works. Now hold out your hands and imagine shooting fire out of the tips.”
She aimed at a patch of grass away from Birk and pictured a little flame coming out of them. Only that didn’t happen. Instead, a fireball a foot in diameter shot out and caught the grass in front of her on fire. “Oh, shit.”
Birk laughed, and together they stamped it out. “Lily, you are going to be one powerful dragon.”
“Me? I’m just a little bit of a girl.”
Birk hugged her. “But you’re my beautiful little bit.” He leaned back. “Trust me. When you transform into your dragon, you will be as powerful as I am. Maybe not as skilled, but you’ll have the potential. In your human form, yes, you’ll still remain a lightweight.”
She chuckled and punched his chest. “Then you better watch out.”
The air seemed to leave his body, even though his eyes were glowing teal. “Watch out? Does that mean you plan to train to become a Guardian and fight beside me?”
“No,” she shot back without thinking.
Birk held up his hands, and his eyes slowly lost their luster. She hadn’t meant to disappoint him, but she hadn’t had time to think before blurting out that one word.
“That’s okay,” he said, his voice softening.
“I mean, can I try being a dragon for a while before I decide?”
Without concentrating, her claws retracted and returned to their human form. Birk hugged her then kissed her quickly. “You can be or do anything you want.”
Now she felt bad. “Okay, so tell me how to shift.”
“The same way that you transformed your hands into claws. Mentally picture your whole body changing. Once it does, move what will become your wings up and down to simulate flying. At least that was what Nessa told your brother to do, and it seemed to work. We’ve been shifting for so long, I don’t think about the mechanics.”
“Okay, so once I’m a dragon, I just flap my wings, and I will be flying?”
“That’s the idea, but it’s a little more complicated than that. At first, you should stay low and remain parallel to the ground. I’ll be right next to you to make sure you don’t plummet.”
“That’s not very encouraging.”
“Please don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She smiled, encouraged by his confidence.
“Here goes then.” She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. Picturing a dragon, her hands changed first, then her toes stretched, and finally her hips widened. The process seemed to tear her apart, and while quite uncomfortable, it wasn’t as painful as what Kyle claimed. Her face changed shape, and Lily was quite thankful she wasn’t watching herself in a mirror. That would have totally freaked her out.
“Flap your wings,” came a voice from inside her head—Birk’s voice.
It took a moment to remember that he had told her they could now transmit their thoughts. How cool was that?
“Flapping,” she sent back, almost giggling at the power.
A second later, her feet, or rather her claws left the ground. It was time to look. Holy hell. She was at least ten feet above the ground. Looking right and then left, she was shocked to see she was about the same size as Birk.
“I did it!”
“You sure did. You are incredible looking, Lily. I am so proud of you.”
Had she been able to transform her mouth, she would have smiled. For a few seconds, she forgot she needed to continue flapping her wings or chance falling—at least until she learned how to glide on the currents.
Birk swooped in next to her and shot fire out of his mouth. Wanting to mimic his actions, she turned her head away from him and opened up, but nothing came out. “It didn’t work for me,” she grumbled.
“Concentrate. Picture fire. After you do it a few times, it will come easily to you.”
This dragon stuff took a lot of mental work. She imagined the heat, the intensity, and the different colors. Inhaling first, she then blew out a breath. Victory! A ten-foot long blast of fire shot out of her mouth. How cool was that? She was a real dragon.
“Oh, Lily, you are so powerful. We will definitely need to train you.”
“I don’t mind the training process, but I’m not really up for doing battle. I’ll stick to my day job.”
“That works.”
While Birk sounded nonchalant, she could tell he wanted her by his side in all aspects of their life, but that just wasn’t who she was—or was it?
“Follow me,” Birk telepathed. “I want to show you how to ride the currents.”
By the time Lily landed, her wings were weary. Flying took effort, more than she’d realized. Birk shifted back into his human form and for a moment, a streak of panic grabbed her. What if she couldn’t change back?
“Just relax, Lily. Picture what you looked like this morning.”
Birk’s calming words were just what she needed. One second she was a dragon and the next she was human again. She looked down at her arms to make sure she wasn’t covered in scales. Wait a minute—the bruises on her wrists were gone. She held up her arms. “How did I heal so fast?”
Birk smiled. “You’re a full blooded dragon now. I bet everything on your body has healed. After all, if you’re going to live for another five hundred or a thousand years, you need to be in tip top condition.”
She was aware that dragons aged slower than humans, and that while Birk was one hundred and nine years old yet only looked thirty, she never thought she’d live that long. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Though which part surprises you? Living longer or being healed?”
“Both, I guess.”
Birk moved close and slid a hand up her scarred back. “See? All gone.”
Her heart dropped to her stomach. “What are you talking about?”
“The scars are all gone.”
Her pulse raced so hard, she almost became dizzy. She reached behind her and touched her lower back. It was smooth. Elation weakened her legs. “How did that happen?”
“Your dragon is powerful, baby. She healed you.”
“Did you know this would happen?” Why hadn’t he told her?
He shrugged. “I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Personally, I’m good either way. I love you for who you are, not for what you look like.”
Only Birk would say and mean that, and it made her love him all the more. Lily wanted to dance. Not only could she fly and shoot fire, she was whole once more. For a split second, she wanted to find that asshole Nelor Dobbins and show him that his handiwork was gone.
The next few days were totally hectic. First, they flew back to the eternal flame, found Fay, and returned the amulet. Their fairy friend was thrilled everything went well.
Back in Edendale, Lily did double duty. During the day, she went to work, but at night, she and Birk would take to the skies. Not having to worry about being attacked was glorious. Even Birk was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him.
While he didn’t bring up her fighting with the Guardians anymore, she sensed his small disappointment. As she gained more confidence in her abilities to fly, dive, and soar, a plan formed in her mind, but she wanted to learn as much as she could from Birk before she did anything about it.
“Show me how to dive to the ground and recover,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. One never knows if I’m out and about, some jerk might decide he wants to harm you by attacking me. I need to be able to defend myself.”
Birk stroked her face. “It could be dangerous.”
“You do it all the time,” she said.
“I’ve had a few years to practice.”
The man was infuriating but adorable. “Just show me, okay?”
“Fine. Watch while I do the maneuver. Take note of how fast I am moving, and then when at what point I pull up. You’ll see that I lift my head and swish my tail to slow my descent.”
She kissed his cheek and then stood back. “Good luck.”
He grinned. “Funny girl.”
Birk shifted and was in the air before she could blink. He rose higher and higher until he was a small speck in the sky. Turning, he came barreling toward her, and her pulse soared. She dragged her hands down her shirt, fearing he was just showing off and might crash. He came closer and closer to the ground.
“Pull up,” she telepathed, trying not to let him hear the fear in her voice.
“Not yet.” Birk’s words came out tight and full of tension.
She swore he would crash, but twenty feet from the ground, he swung his tail back and forth, lifted his head, and stretched his wings wide. The wind from his maneuver nearly knocked her over as he leveled out and swooped upward again. Probably just to show her he had everything under control, he faced his snout to the sky, and when he came to a full stop, he let gravity take him down again. He must have built-in radar regarding his location, because two quick wing flaps later, he was hovering just above the ground. Birk then landed and shifted.
Lily ran into his arms. “Don’t do that again to me.”
He hugged her tight. “I was good. Remember, I’ve been practicing for a long time. One can improve a lot in a hundred years. Besides, Thane trained me and keeps us doing drills—like the one I just did.”
She snuggled against his chest. “I think I need to take my time and not rush into anything.”
He kissed her forehead. “I couldn’t agree more. Say, I’ve worked up an appetite. How about we head back to the condo and see if we can scrounge up something to eat?”
“Just as long as I can be dessert.”
Birk picked her up and spun her around. “No meal would be complete without you.”