Page 35 of Here Be Dragons

I raised a single brow. “You?”

He shrugged noncommittally. “As a local, she should have known that the river she was crossing was the hunting ground for a particularly large anaconda. She really should have been more careful.”

“What happened to the other half of the key?”

“Well, I can’t very well touch it.”

True. That would’ve alerted the powerful demon that had set up this competition that something funny was going on. No one knew his name, but the one we called the Gamemaster wasn’t just any demon. He was one of the oldest and most powerful to have ever existed. It was rumored that he’d witnessed the destruction of the world once before and had watched it be rebuilt.

I was not so arrogant as to cross him, but if Emmett was willing to risk it all to win this bet, so be it. It wouldn’t affect me; the punishment, if he was caught, would solely be on him.

“But I took several detailed photos before letting the Amazon River swallow it up.” He handed me several Polaroids. They were vastly inferior quality compared to the detailed digital images I had gotten used to.

“What did you take these pictures with? A potato?”

He laughed. “Digital leaves too much evidence. With Polaroid technology, I know for a fact these are the only copies. Just promise me you’ll destroy them when you’re done.”

I held the photos between us. “And what do you want in exchange?”

I narrowed my eyes at him as he started to walk back out into the foyer and toward my front door.

“Just win the competition so I win my bet. Or else I will steal this pretty mate of yours, chain her up in my cave, and fuck her until she forgets you even exist. Who knows, by the time you wake from your century-long nap, she may have even decided she likes me better. Wouldn’t want that, would you?”

I gritted my teeth but couldn’t stop the snarl that tore from my throat. Emmett knew Carly was my mate. But as brothers, there was a chance that a female compatible with my dragon would be compatible with his too. Damn. I really should have found him after he hatched and belatedly shoved him off a cliff.

Emmett laughed. “I guess you’d better get working on cracking that code then. Honestly, I’d rather you won. But that pretty little thing would make a fine consolation prize, so I’ll start preparing my nest, just in case.”

I lunged for him, my fingers forming into sharp claws, but he nimbly danced out of the way and out the door with inhuman speed.

“You’re welcome, brother,” he sang. Then he was gone.

I was fuming as I made my way upstairs. I paused on the second floor, standing outside Carly’s room. I closed my eyes and breathed in her intoxicating scent, letting it calm me.

Something Emmett had said stuck in my mind. He’d mentioned preparing his nest. I never did that for Carly. I hadn’t known enough about her to know what she’d like. To be honest, I still didn’t.

I did know that she loved her pet rabbit and that when she wasn’t at work, she preferred to wear bold, colorful prints.

If she were a dragoness, I’d decorate with pieces from my hoard, surrounding the mating nest with treasure. That might not be the best option for Carly, but jewels and gems certainly couldn’t hurt. Yes. Colorful ones. In all the colors of the rainbow.

What had she called it, “dopamine dressing?” I would dopamine dress my nest.

Instead of continuing up to the top floor, I went to the nearest balcony and leaped off, shifting into my dragon form as I did. Then I muttered the lines to trigger the look-away spell I’d had put on my dragon centuries ago. I did a few test circles of Darlington to make sure no one could see me before making a beeline for the mountains to the west.

Time to visit my hoard.

My destination was a cave in the mountains securely hidden away from prying eyes by strong magic. It was nearly inaccessible unless one had both a smaller human form and the ability to fly, and even then, those seeking to enter faced twolocks: a physical one, for which only I knew the code, and a magical one that recognized my aura.

The surrounding area blocked any signals from entering or leaving, magical or otherwise, so it remained undetectable by any modern equipment.

I sped toward the mountains, soaring over the cities and towns that had popped up since I’d first settled on this continent. While those had grown, the mountains and their peaks still stood as they were when I first arrived, even if some of the details had changed thanks to avalanches and the changing climate.

Finding the ridge, which was indistinguishable from any of the others surrounding it unless one knew exactly what to look for, I zoomed in, located the chasm, which looked to be no more than a crevice from the air, and ducked inside, changing into my human form as I entered. There was no room for my dragon in here.

It wasn’t long before I was standing amongst my treasures, the cave bathed in the golden glow of magical lanterns and candles.

Suddenly, I had the urge to bring Carly here. I wanted to show her my life’s hoard and share with her everything I owned.

The feeling was something completely new and totally jarring, considering I had never had such an urge before. If anything, I’d spent my entire life hiding my treasures away from prying eyes.

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