A Turn of Tides (A Shade of Vampire #13)(37)

They all had dark skin, and their muscles looked inhumanly large.

I leaned in further, trying to get a better look.

They were all gathered around a pool of dark red liquid, surrounded by a ring of flames.

They all knelt around it, as though paying homage.

One man of the seven, kneeling on a platform a little higher from the ground, was leading the chant as they all repeated it after him.

A hiss came from behind me.

Whirling around, I gasped in horror to find myself staring into bright yellow eyes.

It was the swamp creature.

It had followed me up the mountain after all.

Its jaws were wide open, within three feet of my legs.

I lost balance and the next thing I knew, I was falling into the crater.

Since the entrance to the crater was almost directly above the tub of liquid, thankfully I missed the flames.

I fell head first into the liquid.

Had the vessel not been deep enough, I would have broken my neck.

But it was deep.

Alarmingly deep.

Even with the force of my fall, I didn’t touch the bottom.

I kicked hard and fought my way to the surface.

Gasping, I wiped the liquid from my eyes—liquid I was now certain was blood.

A deathly silence had fallen in the cave.

I looked around, now only a few feet away from each of the strange men.

They stood towering over me, staring at me with a mixture of shock and wonder.

I hauled myself out of the blood.

Balancing on the edge of the pool, I fumbled for the knife I’d fastened to my waist.

It was no longer in its sheath.

It must have been dislodged during the fall.

I looked upward, shuddering as I took in the height I’d just dropped from.

When I lowered my eyes to the men again, they were still examining me with the same mix of fascination and surprise, as though I were some kind of alien.

Much like the expression I was sure that I assumed when looking at them.

The man nearest to me spoke in a coarse, guttural voice.

Although he was looking directly at me, it didn’t feel as though he was speaking to me.

“Dressed in silk and borne from sky.

Skin soaked in the blood of enemies.” I gaped at him.

Huh? A dark-haired man beside him stepped forward closer to me.

“Maiden of fire?” he whispered, his voice assuming the same tone of reverence.

I was half tempted to blurt out that they’d mistaken me for someone else, but… Maiden of fire? I couldn’t quite find it in myself to turn that title down.

“Could it be?” A third man narrowed his bright eyes on me.

“She’s a human.” The man lurched forward and gripped my arm.

He pulled me toward him and pressed his nose against my wrist, drawing in a deep breath.

His lips parted as he looked at me.

“This is no ordinary human.

Her blood is not like any I’ve ever smelt before… What else could this be but an omen?” His response was met with silence as they continued to stare at me.

“She fell as we were paying homage to the fire that burns through our veins and devours our enemies.

We must take her as a gift from our ancestors.” I wasn’t sure what to do as he held out a hand to me.

I didn’t sense danger in his gesture, so I took it.

His skin was hot, almost scorching hot as he led me between two flames and onto the straw that had been his seat.

He gestured for me to step up onto it.

My throat was sore, and it felt like I’d swallowed some blood based on the unpleasant coppery taste at the back of my mouth.

My whole body was sticky from the substance as it began to dry on my skin beneath the heat of the flames billowing up around the pool.

The man let go of my hand and knelt on the ground on one knee, the other men following his lead.

I stood there awkwardly, waiting for them to face me again.

They exchanged glances among themselves, and then one of the men stepped forward suddenly and picked me up.

Shivers ran through my body as I felt his hot skin against mine.

Spines began to spread from his shoulders until he was completely covered with scales, and then his whole body began expanding—his head, his arms, his legs, until the creature holding me was no longer a man, but a dragon.

His heavy wings beat either side of him as he lifted me up toward the hole at the roof of the mountain.

The other men transformed too and flew after us.

These aren’t just dragons.

These are dragon shifters.

Chapter 22: Rose

I was relieved when the dragon finally touched down on the ground again.

His claws scratched my skin, and I was baking hot from the heat of his body.

I looked around at the clearing we’d landed in.

It was lined with tall trees and in the center was what appeared to be a well.

The other dragons touched down shortly after us and, remaining in their giant forms, formed a line across the clearing, their fiery eyes fixed on me.

I could feel the heat emanating from their bodies even a dozen yards away.

The dragon who’d been carrying me resumed his human form and strode over to the well.

He pulled up a bucket and, taking me by the hand, began to tip water over me.

I was grateful for the coolness, but it was bizarre being soaked down by this man.