Page 12 of Dragon Slayer

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EVERDALE

“It’s cavalry movements. But…no battle. Just presentation. Beauty and strength for the sake of enjoyment alone. It’swonderful,” Val gushed, eyes glued to the TV screen. He sighed dreamily, like a pining lover. “I wish this had existed in my day.”

“Uh huh.” Mia extended her legs out across her yoga mat, leaned forward and wrapped her hands around her feet. The deep stretch tugged at a sore spot in her lower back, and she winced.

“That, there,” Val said. She snuck a glance at the screen and saw footage from last week, her putting Brando through a rough attempt at a canter pirouette.

“Pirouette,” she supplied. “Or, an attempt at one.”

“Lovely,” he breathed, transfixed. And then, wistful, “I had a mare once who did them beautifully. A little Arabian, bright red with white markings.” He sighed. “God, I miss riding.”

Mia pulled up out of her stretch and stared at him a moment: the sparkle in his eyes, the naked longing on his face. “Hey.”

It was so much worse when he turned his head to look at her, the way her chest grabbed and squeezed. A long tendril of golden hair slipped from behind his ear and unfurled down his shoulder.

She cleared her throat. “I can’t do anything about the riding. But.” This was such a bad idea. “Do you wanna come to the barn with me?”

Such a bad idea.

But the way his face lit up made it worth the risk.

~*~

Mia went to change into breeches and a crisp white Everdale Farms polo, and when she got back to the living room, tote bag slung over one shoulder, Dansko clogs dangling from her fingers, she came to a grinding halt.

Val had changed, too.

Over his breeches, we wore an embroidered blue tunic, cinched around his narrow waist with a worn, brown leather belt. His boots were different, too, brown, scuffed, and bearing old horse sweat stains along the insides of the shafts. His hair lay over one shoulder in a single, tidy braid.

He tipped his head to the side, and she realized she’d been staring like an idiot.

“What?” he asked.

She swallowed. “Where’d you get the change of clothes?” She thought her voice sounded mostly normal.

“Oh. It’s just…” He shut his eyes, and his whole being seemed to shimmer. In the wake of the ripples, he wore his red velvet again. Another shimmer, and he was in heavy chain mail with leather shoulder guards, metal gauntlets and greaves, his hair braided in a tight crown around his head. A last shimmer, and it was the blue tunic, brown boots, and single braid once more.

Mia gasped. “Wow.”

Val’s eyes opened, and he grinned. “Astral projection, remember? I can look however I want.”

“…Good to know.” Her palms were a little clammy with something like excitement, but she didn’t dare set down her clogs and wipe them on her breeches. That would be too smitten-schoolgirl of her. “Ready to go?”

“Yes!” His fangs flashed when his smile turned delighted.

“Wait. Can you ride in the truck?”

His smile dimmed, grew thoughtful. “I believe so. We shall see, I suppose.”

And here came the big question: “Will anyone else be able to see you?”

Fangs again. “Not if I don’t want them to.”

Right. Because he was a…

Nope. She wasn’t thinking about that. She was living in the gorgeous, enjoyable moment. “Okay. Let’s go.”

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