Fate of Dragons Read online

  He coils around me, his body warm and solid, his wing pressing gently into my back as he holds me close to him. I resume running my finger gently over his forehead, down his skull and along his jawline, reopening the connection between us.

  And this time, a surge of possessive affection bleeds through. I feel him tug on my mind, drawing me into his memories, pulling me deeper into the connection.

  In the past, I’ve fought this. When he pulls me into his mind, everything feels too raw. Too uncontrolled. Too intense.

  But today, after how little time I’ve been able to spend with him lately, I allow it.

  Truth be told, I miss him.

  The world around me fades to black as I give in, and ghostly silhouettes of his memories blur by. It all happens so fast that it’s hard to register more than a mountainside here, or a blurry face there.

  He pulls me deep into his mind, where he’s trapped and barely holding control of his dragon form.

  Slowly, white light blisters through the darkness, and before long I’m standing inches from a familiar face—one I’ve seen before in his memories, in the moments like this where he’s stolen me away from the world for a while.

  His messy dark hair frames those piercing blue eyes of his, and the stubble along his jaw is delightfully tantalizing.

  “Hey, Levi,” I say with a small smile.

  He grins back and wordlessly brushes his knuckle along my cheek. But it’s not enough.

  Not for him.

  His fingers brush along my face. They tease and taunt me, sending delightful chills clear to my core with every touch. Cradling my head in his hands, he pulls me close, brushing his nose against mine.

  His touch is soft and sweet, like frost on a petal, and I find myself leaning into him.

  My Levi.

  “I thought you would fight it,” he admits, running his hand possessively through my hair. “Coming in here. You usually hate it.”

  I grin. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to this being so easy.”

  With a gentle kiss on my nose, he sighs. “So, when are we leaving?”

  I tilt my head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Tucker told me about Jace’s ultimatum. About your fury.” Levi grins mischievously. “I would’ve liked to see that.”

  My smile fades at the reminder of how much Levi is trapped in his own body—trapped by the very dragon who’s supposed to make him unstoppable.

  “Hey,” he says softly, gently lifting my chin so that I can’t help but look at him. “Don’t think that way.”

  I laugh. I guess there really isn’t hiding anything from him while I’m in his head.

  “Nope,” he says with a chuckle.

  I laugh. “Ass.”

  “So?” he prods, clearly curious.

  “We’re not leaving,” I say with a weary groan. “Not until we have a plan. In the meantime, Jace and I have a truce, of sorts. He’ll be training me after all.”

  Levi frowns. “Rory, he doesn’t control you. Even with his impressive knowledge of thunderbird magic—”

  “He doesn’t,” I interject, cutting this off before it can get too far. “We negotiated a tense peace, and that’s good enough for right now.”

  Levi studies me a moment, his eyes shifting between mine as he seems to read deeper, looking further into the statement than I intended for him to see.

  “Get out of my head,” I chide him, a bit annoyed.

  “Sorry,” he says sheepishly, grinning. “It’s tough to fight. When you look at me, I just want to know everything about you.”

  And just like that, he’s charmed me again. Only Levi can get away with saying cheesy stuff like that.

  To change the subject, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and grin wickedly. “So, how’s your boyfriend?”

  Levi laughs, and it’s a delight to see the joy on his face. He looks carefree, and I love it. “I assume you mean Tucker.”

  “Yeah.” I playfully roll my eyes. “Duh.”

  “You know I only want you.” Levi brushes his nose against mine, his stubble gently scratching my skin as he drinks me in, tempting me with his lips. I smile, loving the tease, adoring the way his eyelashes brush against my face.

  It’s insane how he breaks through my barriers. Levi makes me feel, makes me drop my guard, makes me happy and calm when everything else is falling apart.

  I should really come in here more often.

  His hand drops to my waist, and though he lowers his mouth to mine, he pauses, tempting me with a kiss he won’t give me.

  I laugh. “Tease.”

  In the recesses of his mind, I feel a shift. The air around us becomes heavier. Sadder. Almost mournful.

  I lean back just enough to catch his gaze, and his smile is gone. He watches me with sad eyes, his brows twisted upward, like he has news he doesn’t want to share.

  “What?” I ask, concerned with the sudden change in his energy.

  “I haven’t known how to tell you this,” he says softly. “Especially given the countdown on Irena’s life.”

  “Say it,” I demand, my tone as gentle as I can manage.

  “It’s my dragon.” Levi’s jaw tenses momentarily as he searches for the words. “He’s taking over more and more each day. I lose track of time a lot. I find myself suddenly in a forest I don’t remember flying to. Sometimes when a scout flies overhead at the dojo, I feel a surging need to sink my teeth into his neck, to fight, to—” His voice breaks, and he sighs deeply. “Rory, I’ve held on to my sanity for three years. I don’t think I have much longer before it’s gone completely.”

  “Levi, I…”

  I’m at an utter loss for words.

  In the silence, he sets his forehead against mine and holds me tightly, pressing me against his muscled body, and the surging emotions blur around us like a fog.

  Sadness.

  Loss.

  Grief.

  And most heartbreaking of all, intense devotion.

  I grip his shirt collar, pulling him close to me, a little afraid he’ll dissolve into dust at any moment. “How do I fix this?”

  “You can’t,” he says quietly.

  “Like hell,” I mutter, louder and more severely than I intended.

  He chuckles weakly, but there’s no real humor in the sound. “I love your fire, Rory. I have from the minute I saw you.”

  “Don’t you dare give up.” I frown, gripping his shirt tighter, trying to make him understand.

  “That’s not how it works.” He looks away. “I don’t want you to see this. I should just leave the dojo. I don’t want you to watch me lose the last shreds of my sanity, to—”

  “Don’t you fucking dare.”

  His head snaps toward me in surprise, and I glare with the full force of my rage. My grip on his shirt is as tight as it can be, and I pull him close.

  And I kiss him. Fiercely.

  For a moment, it seems like he forgets everything but me—my body, my mouth, the way sparks dance along our skin as we lose ourselves in each other. He cradles my head with his hands, tender and loving.

  “I refuse to let you disappear on me,” I say in between kisses. “If you even try, I will hunt you down.”

  He laughs. “You’re goddamn terrifying, you know that?”

  “Thank you.” I grin, pausing only a moment before I press my lips hard against his once more.

  I lose myself—in the kiss, in him, in how deeply I feel for this shifter who’s trapped inside himself. I lose track of time, of how long he’s held me.

  Eventually, he sighs and leans away, looking off at something I can’t see. “It’s almost sunrise. I suspect you have an early training?”

  “Yeah,” I say, steeling myself, forcing myself to shift into the right mindset for the brutal training Jace promised. “But I won’t go until you promise me.”

  With that, he smiles affectionately and once more brushes his knuckle along my cheek. “I swear to you, Rory Quinn, that I will remain by you
until there is nothing left of me.”

  Before I can reply, I feel a tug at my navel. I’m pulled backward, through the darkness, past the whispers of memory that are slowly dissolving to nothing in his mind.

  Levi is convinced he doesn’t have much time left—and after the interactions I’ve had with him lately, I’m concerned he might be right.

  But I refuse to lose my Levi, and I will fight tooth and nail to bring him back. No matter what it takes, he will be human again.

  I’m too damn stubborn to give up on him. I just hope he doesn’t give up on me.

  Chapter Twelve

  As much as I hate to admit it, Jace was right.

  His training is brutal.

  I fall to the ground yet again, my body covered in bruises and blood as the sun begins to set. Even my lungs hurt from the fall.

  I gasp, briefly curling around myself, biting back the pained groan that’s trying to claw its way out of me.

  But Zurie’s training was worse, and this is nothing I can’t handle.

  I stand, teetering a bit as my world temporarily tilts. The forest around me shifts and slides, and for a moment, I can’t tell what’s up and what’s down.

  I’m still dizzy after that last blow, but I’m not going to tell him that.

  Leaves crunch beneath my boots as I regain my balance. Jace stands roughly ten feet away, fists raised, ready to land another blow. We circle each other in the little clearing he found for me, where I can make mistakes with my magic without killing anyone.

  Well, except maybe him.

  White light curls around me, darting over my arms and legs like ribbons, and I take a moment to check in with the magic in my core. It pulses, erratic and wild. Violent.

  But as I pause to touch it, to soothe it, it calms ever so slightly.

  So far, this is the only thing that works—the only way to quell the rising tide of aggressive fury this magic can unleash on the world.

  And doing this—reaching inward to touch it—has an annoying way of distracting me.

  I notice a fist coming for my face, and I barely have time to roll out of the way. I slide across the dirt, kicking up dust as I train my focus once more on the thunderbird who has burrowed his way into my life.

  “You just tap out when you’re done, now, Rory,” he says, heaving and just as out of breath as me.

  He’s shirtless, and his hard abdomen is incredibly distracting.

  Worst of all, he knows it, and I’m pretty sure he took off his shirt on purpose, just to mess with me.

  He grins—cocky, infuriating, and hot as hell. With a subtle twist of his hand, he wipes a thin trail of blood from the corner of his mouth.

  At least I’m giving him a run for his money.

  “Oh, I’m just getting started,” I say, feigning strength in my voice that I don’t have.

  We’ve been doing this since dawn, and we have yet to take more than a five-minute break here and there.

  Nonstop.

  No food.

  No interruptions.

  No rest.

  Just brutal, intense sparring. My only task is to not have an episode—and, of course, to stay conscious.

  As Jace’s magic fizzles beneath his skin, dazzling sparks shoot across his body, arcing over his hard biceps like lightning across his muscles. Every spark is a reminder of the raw power burning within him—the magic that makes him so like me.

  He’s mastered his power. Hopefully, he can actually help me master mine.

  If he can stop turning me on long enough to actually do it, of course.

  I dart toward him, as fast as I can, with the intent of tackling him to the ground.

  It doesn’t work.

  At the last second, he wraps an arm around my shoulders. I feel the motion, knowing full well he intends to take me to the ground and probably pin me in an arm bar. To avoid the blow, I twist in his grip before he can lock my arm in his.

  With a strained groan, I toss him over my shoulder and take him to the dirt first, pinning him to the soil and grass with my knee as I lift my hand to strike a blow to that gorgeous jaw.

  After all, he wanted to train me. No sense holding back.

  Fast as lightning, he pivots and tilts his hips, throwing me off balance. My fist hits the dirt instead of his face.

  It only takes a moment, but in that brief gap of time, he throws me on my back. I gasp as the wind is kicked out of me yet again, and before I know it, he’s on top of me.

  His eyes are wild with the thrill of battle. He grins, full of fire and mischief, entirely focused on the match.

  He roughly grabs my wrists, pinning me to the leaves on the forest floor, and his touch is electric.

  Energy and a carnal yearning buzz through me as my treacherous body angles toward him, my hips unconsciously lifting to press against his thighs.

  “Seduction, huh?” He grins, and his gaze briefly drifts toward my waist. “I thought you would be above tricks like that.” He leans over me, his solid abs pressing against my navel, giving me a taste of my own medicine.

  For all his talk, though, he still lets his guard down. The sultry twist of my hips against his thighs distracted him, and his expression is a little foggy, now. Distracted by every shift of my legs beneath him, by my every breath as he pins me to the ground.

  He knows full well I have no control over my body, not when it comes to him, but I find myself grinning anyway. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  With that, I hook my leg around his and throw him onto his side. He rolls, but he’s not fast enough. As tired as we are, we’re both moving slower than we would like, but I have the slight advantage.

  I’m just naturally a hair faster than he is.

  Just enough to get the job done.

  I curl my leg around his and dig my knees into the dirt, pulling on every ounce of my enhanced strength to keep his wrists above his head. He laughs, and I can’t help but admire his smile.

  For a man who frowns as much as he does, he has such a dazzling smile.

  “Is this how you feel every time you lose a match to me?” He laughs, narrowing his eyes playfully, taunting me in the one way he knows for sure will get under my skin.

  I roll my eyes. “Ass.”

  “Check on your magic.” He knocks aside my hands and tries to flip me again, but I roll out of his reach before he’s able to.

  He begins to circle me as I indulge his order and check once more on the bubbling magic in my body. With every step, he’s looking for an opening, another chance to attack.

  All he really has to do is wait—because as soon as I touch the magic within me, I lose touch with the world around me.

  It’s infuriating.

  We’re trying to make these check-ins with my power unconscious, something I can do even while utterly exhausted and distracted.

  Still, he has an uncanny way of knowing exactly when to strike.

  But I’m a fast learner.

  He darts toward me, and I duck out of the way just in time. I quickly check with the magic in my core, and it’s burning bright as ever despite my exhaustion.

  “Do you really think I have a dragon?” I ask, wondering if this magic will ever be more than a pulsing light within me.

  “Possibly.” He shrugs and throws a punch at my temple, but I easily duck out of the way.

  “How would I know?” I lift my hands, palms out, ready to parry his next blow. “I mean, if a dragon starts growing?”

  “Look for a second pulse.” He shrugs, his eyes on my shoulders as he no doubt tries to anticipate my next move. “Energy and emotions that aren’t wholly yours.”

  “Am I a thunderbird?” I dart toward him again, but this time I feign to the left at the last minute and land a blow hard on his spine.

  He grimaces from the blow, rolling out his shoulder as he tries to shake the pain. “Damn, Rory. Good hit.”

  I wink at him. “Want another?”

  He chuckles and resumes his fighter’s position. “We have no idea what
you are, Rory. I’ve never seen a thunderbird with your level of potential. That’s what makes this training so crucial.”

  With that, he takes my arm and flips me. I land hard on my stomach and gasp in pain. My vision briefly spots, the white and black dots dancing across the forest.

  “Yikes.” He leans over me with a concerned expression on his handsome face. “I think that’s enough for today,” he says, offering me a hand.

  It takes a moment for my vision to clear completely, but even a girl as stubborn as I am knows when to call it quits.

  I nod and take his hand, letting him help me to my feet. He drapes my arm over his shoulder and begins to lead me back to the dojo.

  “You, uh,” he clears his throat. “You did good today. Better than I expected.”

  Through the bruises and jolts of pain, I chuckle. “God, does it really hurt you that much to give a compliment?”

  He laughs. “Just say thank you. Jesus.”

  Covered in bruises and blood, the two of us limp our way to the back stairwell, near Levi’s courtyard. I pause at the base of the stairs to look around for my ice dragon, but all I see is Tucker sitting alone amidst a pile of semiautomatic rifles.

  “Hey, guys,” Tucker says, glancing us over. “Did the wood-chipper survive your encounter, too? Or did it get destroyed trying to eat the two of you?”

  “Har freaking har.” It’s a dumb joke, but I still can’t suppress the grin that tugs at the corners of my mouth.

  “And where did you get those?” Jace asks, voice suddenly tense as he glares at the weapons expert.

  Just like that, Jace is back to normal—a little soft toward me, and pretty much just angry at everyone else.

  Tucker, to his credit, just blows Jace a sarcastic kiss.

  “Where’s Levi?” I ask, scanning the courtyard once again. I’m tired, sure, but I’m positive I didn’t overlook a massive blue dragon.

  “He’s gone most evenings, lately,” Tucker says, his smile faltering. “A lot, actually.”

  Beside me, Jace tenses. I glance him over, and he’s doing an awful job of trying to hide his concern. He scans the horizon, frowning deeply.

  Briefly, our eyes meet, and I already know what he’s thinking. He knows this is a bad sign, and he’s afraid Levi’s going fully feral.