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“No.” The hair on my nape stood on end as I searched the darkened forest for threats. “Why?”
Nothing, the dragon grumbled before resting his chin on his paws.
“I remember you saying something about a strange smell last time we were on the islands.” I leaned forward, eyeing him intently. “What do you smell?”
He looked away. It must be my imagination.
I wasn’t reassured.
“I didn’t think dragons had imaginations,” Shiri said aloud.
My gaze snapped to my sister.
Radnor snarled at her, crouching on all fours like a cat prepared to pounce. How do you hear me, witch?
Shiri’s mates jumped to their feet, their wings snapping open while they stood protectively beside her. Finn stood, pushing the girls behind him while Ash sat up on his knees behind me, the tension radiating off him a palpable thing.
What’s he saying? Ash asked me through thought, his voice ringing in my skull.
He’s just being his usual grumpy self, I answered back to both my mates.
Shiri laughed out loud, and I realized she’d heard our conversation. Then she tilted her head, appearing unbothered by Radnor’s dragitude while giving him a curious look. “What do you mean?”
Dragons can only talk to their riders, he said on a snarl.
“Obviously not.” She gave him a dismissive look. Either she was oblivious to the dangers of pissing off a dragon, or she didn’t care.
Shiri’s mates tensed, their feathers ruffling when Radnor growled again.
I’m tired of playing your games. He pulled back his lips, exposing his long, sharp fangs. How do you speak to me, witch?
Shiri threw up her hands. “How should I know? Maybe it’s because I can listen in on the telepathic conversations of fated mates.”
That didn’t make any sense. “Radnor isn’t my fated mate,” I answered. “I’m not his rider, and I can mind-speak him.” Why was that? For over a week, we’d tried, and failed, to come up with an answer.
“Perhaps we can mind-speak because you are bonded to Helian,” Shiri said to me.
I cringed at the mention of Helian’s name, for I could feel his eyes upon me from across the clearing like a dog salivating over his master’s steak.
Ash growled behind me, every muscle in his body feeling as hard as iron before he loosened his grip.
“We aren’t bonded,” I grumbled, still refusing to make eye contact with Helian. “We haven’t taken each other’s blood.” And I’m not sure if we ever would, I wanted to add.
“Then I’m not sure how.” Shiri shrugged as Radnor narrowed his eyes while snarling. “Perhaps it’s a white witch thing.”
“Perhaps,” I said, my gaze flitting to Radnor as he huffed out a plume of smoke before plopping back down and shaking the ground beneath us.
It took a bit of convincing for Shiri to get her mates to sit back down. Finn and the girls returned first. They clung to his neck while warily eyeing Radnor.
I patted the seat beside me while offering them a reassuring smile. Finn sat beside me, and the girls crawled into his lap, both sucking their thumbs while their gazes flitted from me to Radnor.
“He won’t hurt you, girls.” I stroked each of their cheeks. “His smoke is worse than his fire. Trust me.”
I can hear you, witch. Radnor’s voice echoed in my mind.
I shot him a cool look. “Good. Remember to mind your temper around my children.”
He arched a scaled brow, but then Helian cut in. “Not around the children, Radnor.”
