AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The spell fell away, along with my lily earrings, and the dragon backed off with what could only be a smile on its odd, reptilian mouth. I stretched, retracting the claws and reveling in the sheer joy of owning my body again, including the magic, which roared up in a wave as the dragon backed off in urgent need of direction. With nothing in mind to wish for, now that the crisis seemed to be over, and the dragon apparently going nowhere, I reached around in the stones of the tower I stood on. Partly threaded through with Rogue’s blue-black brand of magic and also older, other varieties. A definite whiff of Titania, but different than how she came across these days. Her younger, possibly less corrupt self.
Finding a grip in the interweaving, I wished the circular turret larger.Muchlarger, into a platform big enough to hold a dragon at repose, and the tower itself strong enough to hold it.
With what looked like a pleased expression, the dragon landed, neatly furled its wings and lay on its belly, taloned front feet and head dangling over the edge, looking down at the courtyard below with great interest. Like a knife to the heart the image reminded me of how my cat, Isabel, had loved to do that.
One day I would stop missing her so much.
And feeling so guilty that I’d abandoned her, however unwillingly.
Noises rose up from below, shouting and various cries. I ventured toward the edge—not too close, because I’d left off any kind of barrier, thinking the dragon wouldn’t like it—to peer down. Humans, fae and Black Guard alike teemed and scurried, the military sorts forming regimented groupings and the fae, well, looping about unhelpfully.
“Day late and a dollar short, guys,” I said out loud and headed for the stairway to go tell everyone I’d rescued my own damn self. It kind of pissed me off, after Rogue’s grand and persuasive talk about protecting me. Our first public event and he gets suckered in by one of the oldest tricks in the book and nearly lets me get kidnapped.
Not nearly. Ihadbeen abducted. Never mind that I’d escaped the worst consequences—Rogue had not stopped it.
Just as I reached the stairs, the devil himself launched out at top speed, long black hair tossing in the crosswinds, platinum sword at the ready, a viciously feral look on his face that transformed to searing relief at the sight of me. Okay, he’d been seriously worried, which made me feel a damn sight better.
Also the crushing embrace and kiss filled with all sorts of emotions edged in desperation went a long way too.
Chapter 15
In Which I Acquire a New Pet
‡
The shift to, or, more precisely, release of an animal form, while largely involuntary for all, seems be less wrenching for some fae. I can’t draw a direct conclusion, but I’m toying with the notion that there is a correlation between difficulty of shift and power of the animal forminvolved.
~Big Book of Fairyland, “The Black Dog/WhiteCat”
Okay, Rogue mightnot have rescued me, but I clung to him as any damsel in distress might, beginning to shake with the adrenergic reaction. Having him arrive, even belatedly, helped to steady me again. Bonus points for being on top of a tower.
I buried my face in his chest, my fingers wound around a lock of his hair and I breathed him in. Stargazers, sandalwood and mace. The scent of security and home. Rogue held me close, pressing more kisses to the side of my face. Then pulled back upon finding my bare earlobe.
“What happened to your earrings?” he demanded.
Not really the first thing I’d expected him to say to me.
“Duh,” came Athena’s voice from behind him. She stopped cleaning her nails with the point of the dagger long enough to use it to point with. “Did you miss yon dragon?”
Apparently Rogue had been focused enough on me—also making me feel much better—not to have paid attention to the dragon that was now watching us with amber-fired interest.
“Yes, the earrings are here somewhere.” I scooped them off the ground and pressed them back to my lobes, their magical tendrils weaving back into my skin like another kind of kiss. “I hope you don’t mind that I modified your tower. The dragon seems to be happy though.”
“Indeed she does.” Rogue had an odd expression on his face. “You mentioned before that one gave you a ride. Were you planning on going somewhere?”
The pissed-off feeling returned in force. I planted my hands on my hips. “Oh sure! While Fafnir and his fucking ‘cabal’ had you chasing after my doppelgänger—which Itriedto warn you about—I thought it would be fun to be magically immobilized by him and kidnapped via dragon back.”
“Fafnir.” Rogue ground out the name and ignored the rest of what I said. “He will answer for this. Where is he?”
I threw up my hands. “Who the hell knows? After I sliced him up, he turned into his snake self and slithered off. He’s no doubt holed up somewhere. Or has escaped. I would have stopped him, but there was that whole magical immobilization thing I mentioned. I’m fine now, by the way.”
“Are you?” Rogue looked me up and down, amusement at me transmuting his anger into desire. “You seem to be concerned that I don’t care enough, my valiant Gwynn. Maybe I should check you for injuries you may not know about.” He vanished the sword and pulled me into his arms again, running his hands over my body and seizing my lips in a fervent kiss. Surprisingly, my own smorgasbord of disrupted emotions seemed happy to convert into answering lust. I returned the kiss with interest.
And ignored the little voice that noted how we returned to sex to reconnect. I needed whatever connection I could get.
Athena cleared her throat ostentatiously. “I’m gonna get the search going for snake-boy.”
Rogue paused long enough to say, “Do that. The Black Guard will assist you,” before resuming the torrid kiss.”
