The Dragon Legion Collection(49)

“I have a good hold on mine,” Petra replied and arched a brow. “I think you’re stalling.” She didn’t think that, not at all, but she liked how he grinned when she challenged him, as if he wasn’t used to anyone provoking him.

“Protect yourself,” he said, suddenly serious. “I need to know that you will.”

Petra nodded, chastened by his concern.

As she watched, a pale blue glow appeared around Damien’s body, its radiance increasing with every passing moment. She saw Damien throw out his arms, then she felt a surge of power that was achingly familiar to her. She closed her eyes, following his advice, and she felt the force of a transformation wash over her.

When she looked again, Damien had become a dark green dragon with gleaming scales. Each scale looked to be dipped in gold and his dark wings stretched high overhead. His talons shone gold and his teeth were numerous and sharp. He was both beautiful and terrifying, but there was something in his golden eyes that reminded her of the confident warrior. He breathed a plume of fire toward the stars, as if overjoyed at his own abilities, then turned a glittering look upon her.

He was so beautiful that he should be overjoyed.

And she was just as thrilled to be in his company. Damien didn’t know it yet, but they were two of a kind.

When he offered one claw to her, Petra saw the firestorm’s spark leap from the end of his talon, arc through the air toward her. She closed her eyes as it struck her right in the heart, as burning a wound as one from Cupid’s own arrow. She took the step between them and put her hand in his claw before she dared him again.

“Take me for a ride,” she urged, then turned and pointed. “I want to be seduced on the top of that peak.”

She wanted to be surrounded by earth and stone when this union   was made.

Damien smiled, showing every one of his sharp dragon teeth. He inclined his head slightly even as his wings rose higher behind him. “Your wish is my command,” he said in that same wondrously low voice. Then he caught her close, holding her with all the care due a precious gem, beat his wings and carried her into the night.

It was perfect, every dream come true. As the wind rippled her hair and the distant peak drew nearer, Petra knew she’d finally met her match. This was the man who could win her heart forever. This was the man who would remain by her side. This was the man who would be unafraid of what she was.

He believed their union   would be fleeting but Petra knew better. The child would forge a bond between them, one that would encourage his return.

She would be his, forever.

Starting on this night.



* * *



Damien opened his eyes to find Petra in his arms, and the darkfire fading around them. She tasted like wine and sunlight again, a combination so seductive that he remembered every spark of their firestorm. He didn’t want to stop what they’d started, but wanted to explore the passion between them once again.

He was startled to realize that they stood in the shadows of the underworld, not on the peak of a mountain with the stars shining above. He was re-living the satisfaction of the firestorm and wanted to do it all again. The ripe curve of her belly was between them, a telling reminder that the firestorm had been consummated. Damien wondered whether she’d experienced the same vivid recollection that he had, but then noticed an amazing thing.

Petra was changing color. She’d been pale when he’d seen her at the gates, as pale and ethereal as a ghost. But now, he watched a flush of color suffuse her cheeks, spreading from her reddened lips to make her look as rosy as she had when she was alive. Her eyes became the rich dark brown he remembered, her hair looked thick and dark and lustrous. Her lips were red and her skin was warm. She caught her breath in obvious surprise, shook off his embrace, then backed away.


“What have you done?” she demanded, her fingertips rising to her lips.

“Proved you wrong, I think. You look alive again.”

Petra’s hands touched her cheeks, then ran over her body. It was clear she didn’t believe what she saw or felt. “You can’t do this. It’s not possible.”

“I have done it.” Damien winked at her. “Maybe you’ll have to write a new song about it.” He reached for her hand. “Let’s go.”

“It’s a trick,” Petra said, snatching her hand away from him. “Terrible things happen to the dead who try to leave the underworld. You’re trying to convince me to make a mistake.”

“I’m trying to save you.”

“It’s too late for that!”

“Then let me save my son!”

“You can’t,” Petra began and then she fell silent. Her face paled as if she’d had a shock. She turned away from him so abruptly that Damien knew she was trying to hide something.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“Nothing.”

She was lying and he knew it. “Something happened,” Damien began to argue, and Petra spun to confront him.

“Why did you leave me?”

“You know why.”

“I can guess why.” She folded her arms across her chest and challenge lit her eyes. “I want you to tell me.”

“Because of what you are, what you can do.”

“You’re afraid of me,” Petra asserted.