Page 24 of Don't Fae With Dragons

“How can you be Corinthian? You’re supposed to be a dragon.” I reply accusatory.

A little smile quirks the corner of his lips as he replies. “So you got scared of me when you saw I wasa man, and nota dragon? Well, that’s unexpected. I always thought the townspeople are frightened of me because of my dragon form.”

I look at him puzzled. Maybe I hit him in the head harder than I thought. He seems confused to say the least. He just said he’s a dragon, except he’s clearly a man. I decide to ask him slowly, spacing out each word: “So - you’re -a dragon?!”

He narrows his focus on me, flashing me a disarming smile (a beautiful charismatic smile!) “I ama dragon, adragon-shifterthat is,” he responds. “You didn’t know that about me?”

I know I’ll sound ungrateful but I’ll risk it. “So it’s your dragon-form saliva I have all over me?”

“Yes, sorry about that. I healed you in dragon form, but I shifted before you gained consciousness not to frighten you.” He responds with another dashing smile on his face. “Normally I would have asked you first - whether you wanted me to heal you - but given that you almost died falling into the abyss of the volcano, and you were unconscious after that... “

“I didn’t expect the volcano to be so dangerous,” I admit.

“It is. I mean for you it is. But I should tell you that it was actually my first in command, Mordtre, that opened the ground floor. He mistakenly determined that you were a threat, so he opened the abyss floor to stop you from entering the volcano. But, I saved you, so all’s well when it ends well, right?” He lets out an awkward laugh, absentmindedly rubbing his chin with his index finger.

“None of this is amusing Cory.” My words shift the mood in the room. “He thought the healer of Ethelinda is a threat? I mean you clearly knew who I was. You don’t exactly run a tight command around here Cory, now do you?!” The words spill out of my mouth quickly, and I don’t stop. “I hope you don’t expect me to thank you for‘saving’me. Now I understand how you’ve been cowardly living here while the beings of Ethelinda are wasting away. We suffer while you live here comfortably with your‘commanders’and without lifting a finger to help us. In fact, perhaps you’ve even been trying to keep me away on purpose. Realm forbid you risk the devastation in town spreads to the volcano - isn’t that right?”

His eyes gleam, the specks of gold in the deep hazel growing brighter, while his pupils narrow and darken, taking on a sharp reptile intensity. There it is, I think to myself, there’s the dragon. It doesn’t frighten me, instead it excites me. He slams his hands down to either side of me. With less than an inch between our faces, he responds in a low voice. “I am no coward. I stay where I am needed, where I belong. I guard what is mine. That is my purpose and my burden.” I feel his breath on my upper lip as he speaks. I suck down on it, try to taste his anger. It spices my senses sharper than before. How is it possible that even his anger smells good, and it tastes good too. I need to shut this down before he notices, but maybe I can enjoy it a little while longer since he continues to be upset.

“You are a fool for coming here, Milica. You’ve broken the ancient agreement between the dragons and the fae. The agreement forbids us from ever meeting. Surely you haven’t lost sight of this.I know I haven’t. I have this to remind me of itevery day.” He points at the scar on his face, then continues. “You risk disturbing the balance between our kind and ruining the peace and prosperity of Ethelinda. You risk yourself. You risk everything.”

I don’t understand what his scar has to do with the ancient agreement, but I’m determined to stay focused and to stand my ground no matter how worked up he gets. “What peace and prosperity? I came herenotbecause I wanted to, but because the land is dying, and you apparently can’t be bothered to use your powers to help us! It’s not that I risked Ethelinda by coming here, it’s that I would have risked everything bynotcoming here.”

“You know, I’ve thought about you many times, living your care-free life in town.” He replies as he backs away. “But I never thought you would be so irritating,” he growls. Then he dares to continue. “Max and Port didn’t think that either when they saw you in the forest.” Seems like the tables are turning and I can feel myself losing my composure again, just as he’s regaining his. The gravelly hum of his words set a flame alive in my chest, and I bite back a sensual gasp at the sound of it. Instead, I speak.

“Max and Port? Are they the two men that chased me?” The dragon-man nods, and I let out an exhale. They must not be assassins, after all. “Why were they following me? Did you send them?” I ask, my voice shaking, but somehow tinged with curiosity, too.

“They are still new here, they didn’t know what they were doing. But we are a pack and as their leader, they will do as I say. They will not hurt you.”

I look at him with one eyebrow raised. “A pack? You mean they’re your commanders too?”

He takes my hand in his. My eyebrows leap up at the sudden gesture, and I try to pull back but instead he grips my hand tighter. It’s hard to ignore the feel of skin on skin touching. My breath catches, and I feel my senses on fire again. Heat in my ears, goosebumps on my arms, delicious spice tickling my nose.

A previously-hidden frown line appears on his forehead. “No, not like my commanders who are shadow guardians, born here, meant to be here just like me. Max and Port are different. Even though they are dragon-shifters and they both have alpha genes, they are not from around here. Still, fate brought them to me. They swore their loyalty to me and I swore to protect them. As an alpha pack it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that kind of covers the basics.”

I knew we would get to this alpha nonsense eventually.

“You need to understand that I’ve always been here, not by myself but always alone, never leaving, always on guard. Pack life is an ... improvement.”

Cory’s words strike me. He and I are not so different after all. I also often felt alone, even around Aurora. I have also always been in Ethelinda, and as the healer I’ve never left. But I also never wanted to either. Not until now, that is.

I realize how much I don’t know about Cory, and how much I actually want to get to know him. I mean really know him. As I gaze deep into his eyes, I realize that our hands are still holding. I yank my hand away from him, but he still doesn’t let go. “Let go of me,” I say, attempting (and failing) to sound commanding.

He laughs at my effort to intimidate him, and says as much. “You don’t scare me, Milica.”

“You don’t scare me either,” I snap at him, playfully. It’s the truth, and he knows it.

We both smile to each other. I curse myself silently for being so drawn to this dragon-man, but the sight of him is so intriguing, I can hardly blame myself. Not to mention his mouth, his tongue was all over me moments ago. This is not what I expected from the dragon guardian.

We fell into silence for a moment, then Cory spoke again. “Your body should be healed now, dragon saliva is potent and acts fast. You should also be feeling better overall, I’ve been pumping out pheromones like crazy in order to calm you down.”

“What in the Realm? Are you serious, you’ve been drugging me on purpose? I knew you were doing something, but I thought it was magick, not your alpha pheromones.” I sound annoyed but in truth, maybe I should be grateful. He did make me feel better than slipping into a hot bubble bath on a cold rainy day. After the past few weeks, I’m grateful for the break from sorrow and pain... and guilt. But now it’s time to get back to reality.

“I mean, thank you ... Cory, but don’t drug me or whatever, again, please.” I try to redirect the conversation. “If I am healed, we need to talk about what you’re going to do to help me save our homeland. If the town perishes, how long before the volcano follows?”

“Well, wonderful, I’m glad to hear you’re sobrave,” he says through gritted teeth, “but you have bigger concerns right now than the entirety of Ethelinda. I healed your body, but yourmagick is weak, I can sense it. You must have exhausted your reserves pretty severely. You need to rest and find a way to re-charge. You know that won’t be easy, right? I can’t help you with that,youneed to find a way to do that.”

“I would trade all my magick to save Ethelinda. We need to talk about itnow, it’s urgent,” I choke out, already overwhelmed with emotion. “You have to come and help me save the town.”

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