Page 22 of So I Dared a Dragon

“No,” Bibi gasped.

Aarix nodded. “It was my job to guard the Night God, and it was a great honor, a position of status. He convinced me to lure the thunder underground. Of course, he wasn’t honest about his intentions. He meant to capture the goddess we worshipped. And he thought forcing us to serve him would help him claim her, but she rejected him. He took it out on us, on me. I’d made promises to our thunder, and he made a fool out of me. Once she claimed her true mate, they were able to free us.”

“That’s absolutely heartbreaking.” Bibi shook her head with astonishment. “I can’t wait to learn all the details of your story, and we’ll explore that soon. For the purposes of the episode, I’d love to hear more about how you and Calista met.”

“Some of this might need to be edited out of the broadcast,” I warned. “But I want to tell the whole story. I’m sick of holding back and having secrets. I’m hoping this can be a fresh start for all of us.”

“Absolutely.” Bibi brightened.

I let out a long exhale as I chose my starting point. “My friend and I were obviously fascinated by the prospect of seeing dragons, and then we got word there was a way we could meet them. There was a secret club, and they were looking for humans who were willing to entertain the dragons.”

“What kind of entertainment?” Bibi asked.

“We agreed to be a dragon’s plaything,” I clarified. “I had to sign an NDA before I set foot in the cavern. Which should’ve been a sign something was wrong. But dragons! Obviously, I’ve met many shifters, but I’d never seen a dragon. So I was willing to overlook the fact there were very few details given to us before we signed on the dotted line. We were brought deep inside the mountain, and I have to be honest, I was worried I’d never see daylight again.” It was painfully ironic. “We were lined up in front of the hungry dragons, and they bid on us.”

“We were dragons starving for a ray of sunshine,” Aarix added. “These humans were hope to us. The only proof we had that life still existed outside that mountain. We’d been in there so long, it was hard to remember what things were like before the capture.”

“Aarix chose me.” I smiled at him. “And I never had to go back to the auction.”

“Tell me more about the auction,” Bibi said. “Aarix, was it unusual for you to choose one…forgive me, plaything?”

“The others had given up hope for a life outside of the mountain,” he said. “But I never did. I couldn’t, since it was my fault we were there in the first place. Calista shined brighter than any other woman that had ever come into our caverns. Many of the ones who dared to visit us did it for the reward, hoping that we would send them home with a souvenir they could cash in. But my coy little wolf was there for the adventure. We hardly ever saw shifters—some had been captured and kept with us. It was dangerous for her to be there, but she kept coming back to me.”

“That’s beautiful,” Bibi gushed. “But something tragic must have happened to drive the two of you apart?”

“My friend was chosen to play with the Night God.” Chills ran down my spine as I said his name, just like it did every time I watched him lead Darcy into darkness. “At first, she was thrilledto catch the attention of the head creature in charge, but his games got more dangerous, and he started draining her to the point that she was becoming weak and ill when she left him.”

“She wasn’t the first,” Aarix growled. “All of us needed the fire from the sun to keep us alive, which is why they started bringing sun beings down to us in the form of humans. The Night God needed more of it, or so he claimed, and it was pretty well known that any playmate of his wouldn’t survive.”

Rage boiled my blood. “Darcy was like an addict. She only felt good when she was around him. Her whole world revolved around seeing him. Pleasing him, even as his requests grew more and more twisted. It was terrifying and heartbreaking, and I couldn’t just stand by and watch her die. I was so afraid every time she went off with him I’d never see her again. Things were good between Aarix and me, but I worried that our future couldn’t stay that way. That the Night God would punish him if he felt our love.”

“Sunshine, I would never hurt you.” He reached for me, and taking his hand gave me the relief I’d been searching for. It was crazy to think this dragon who’d been stuck in a mountain for longer than I could understand, and who couldn’t completely shift into his human form, would make me feel safe. There were still so many unanswered questions between us.

Could this really work?

“I never worried about you hurting me. I worried about him hurting you.” His energy filled me, and sweet moon, had I ever missed that feeling. Like I was the light of his world. “You’re so quick to trust me again, even after I left you.”

“Should I not?” His body stiffened, and the other dragons were at attention behind Bjorn.

“I’m afraid I’ve brought you back into the eye of the storm. That the Night God could be using me to get to you.”

“The Night God has been defeated,” he said with a growl. “But he is still alive, with the promise that he’ll let the dragons prosper. However, we’re not sure all dragons have been accounted for.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed. Bibi and I looked at each other, and her stunned expression had to mirror mine.

“If the Night God isn’t the one sending me those messages, who is?”

eight

. . .

Aarix

“Does the person threatening you know that you belong to me?” I was furious. My mate was in danger, and she hadn’t called for me. Of course, she thought I was still a prisoner of the Night God.

And why hadn’t I felt it? The guys were giving me a hard time for giving her the Guardian Stone, but I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to pick up on her vibration without it. It had been soft, all the way in Tennessee, like the thump of her heartbeat when she slept on my chest. It was a miracle I found her. My only mistake was not giving her more protection.

And where were the dragons that called these mountains home?

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