Page 52 of Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice

Perhaps kissing was inspirational. Because just then, the answer struck me with such force it distracted me even from the quite consuming kissing.

I yanked away from Evander so fast that he fumbled to tighten his grip around me before he dropped me. I didn’t squeal this time. I knew he had me. Instead, I met his gaze. “I know how to end the sacrifices.”

Evander blinked at me, his gaze still a bit kiss-befuddled. “Pardon. What?”

“The sacrifices. I know how to end them.” I rested my hands on his shoulders and stared him straight in the eyes. “You don’t make maiden sacrifices to a married dragon, now do you?”

For a long moment, he continued staring at me. Then a slow smile spread across his face. “No. No, you don’t.”

Chapter Fourteen

The answer, in the end, was quite simple. Though the preparation was not. After all, we only had one chance at this, and if we messed up, there was every chance someone would die.

“Are you sure about this?” Evander had to raise his voice to be heard before the mountain wind snatched his words away.

I hugged my arms to my chest, trying to ward off the biting breeze sweeping down from the mountains. We stood just outside of the doors of his eyrie, the path to the village winding away to one side, sheer cliffs dropping hundreds of feet to the other.

Dorrian and Clarissa stood a few feet away, neither of them interrupting just yet, though Dorrian was already smirking. Though that could be due to the large leather item he held.

“About riding on your dragon form or visiting your parents? Neither.” I gave another shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.

Visiting your future in-laws for the first time was always intimidating. It was even worse when they were a pair of dragons who had been waiting for ages for their son to settle down. There was no way a little human girl from a superstitious village was going to be good enough for their boy.

Evander tugged at his collar, sending another grimace in the direction of the leather item Dorrian held. “No. About the saddle.”

“That’s the one thing I’m very certain about. There is no way I’m flying on your dragon back without a saddle.” Just the thought of trying to hang on to slippery scales while speeding through the air churned my stomach. “Besides, nothing says I’ve tamed the dragon like him wearing a saddle. If I need to practice riding on dragon back so I don’t tumble off and embarrass myself before my village, then you need to get used to the saddle so you don’t itch at it the whole time we’re trying to make an impression.”

Evander sighed, though his smile held more fond chagrin than true annoyance. “Fine. I’ll wear the saddle. I always said I’d do whatever it took to end the sacrifices. I just never thought I’d have to sacrifice my dignity to do it.” He shot a glance at Dorrian and Clarissa. “Do we really need spectators?”

“Oh, I’m not missing this.” Dorrian hefted the saddle slightly higher.

“No one is missing this.” Clarissa grinned and pointed toward the windows of the main dining and sitting room, where everyone from Phoebe to Daphne had their faces smashed to the windows watching. Even some of the gnomes with their hats pulled over their eyes pressed against the glass.

With one last put-upon sigh, Evander shifted, his face changing, the wings spreading from his back. He leapt from the ground and swept into the air, wings beating at the flakes of snow gently drifting on the light breeze.

Once he was in the sky, his form changed even more. The blue of his tunic blurred while a haze seemed to cover him as his figure elongated.

Then in a breath, a huge dragon filled the sky, his deep blue scales shimmering in the morning sunlight. Spikes grew in a row along his back all the way to his ropy whipping tail. Fangs filled his huge maw.

For a moment, I found myself frozen where I was, heart pounding, instincts screaming that I was about to be eaten by a dragon.

Then I drew in a deep breath and willed the impulse away. He was still Evander, even as a massive dragon with fangs as tall as I was. Maybe someday, after we’d been married for years and years, I wouldn’t feel this spike of fear when he turned into a dragon. But not today.

He soared higher over the mountains, and his whole body shook like a dog shaking off water. Then he swooped into a spiral, skimming impossibly close to one of the mountain peaks before he leveled out, his huge wings spread. He beat his wings, shooting high into the sky once more before he dove into a tight loop.

The tightness in my chest eased further. Scary though he was, the might of his dragon form was magnificent to behold.

Then he swooped low over the ledge where I stood. He folded his wings and dropped, landing heavily as he tried to fit his full dragon form on the narrow ledge.

“You looked like you were having fun.” I forced my legs to move. I was torn in two, part of me still screaming that he was a dragon and I should run in terror. The other part wanted to lean closer to him, awed by the wonder of his power and strength in this form.

Evander dipped his huge head to me, his voice rumbling deep and growling. “I was.”

“Well, the fun’s over.” Dorrian strode over and hefted the saddle. “Let’s get you saddled up.”

Evander puffed smoke in Dorrian’s face. “You’ve been waiting to say that all morning.”

Dorrian coughed, his arms too full of saddle to wave away the smoke. “Of course. Now hold still so I can get this on you.”

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