Page 71 of Distinctly Daray
“He’s the one who did all the work. All I did was remind him to breathe and stay as connected as possible to his dragon. I have the easy part, but he’s already dealt with the tough stuff. Now he’s enjoying being a shifter and appreciating the gift Fate and Chand gave him. Oh, and being grateful that he has you two.”
“We’re the ones who are grateful to Fate and to you for your help,” Victor said.
“Hey, I love helping shifters. And Phillip has been probably the easiest person I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He’s never been angry that his journey wasn’t easy. From the start, he’s taken things in stride and worked hard. Everything I would expect from a sentinel.”
“Sentinels are incredible,” Victor agreed.
Keegan rolled his eyes. “Unless you put technology in their path.”
“They’re lucky to have a fallen knight devoted to their map project and willing to work so hard to figure out the best method for moving forward without losing his sanity,” Victor replied with a chuckle.
A gorgeous dragon made up of entirely dark gray bones emerged from behind the large office building that sat at the back of the mansion. His tail swung slightly as he moved forward on curved talons toward the deck. The dragon was a stunning mixture of danger and elegance.
“My turn,” Victor enthused as he kissed Keegan’s cheek, then dashed off to shift.
“I’m gonna go inside and invite everyone to come out to watch you guys as soon as you’re up in the air,” Jeremiah said. “Enjoy your flight.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah.”
Once the dragon shifter went into the house, Keegan went to his mate and laid his palm on Phillip’s snout. The smooth bone was warm to the touch.
“You’re so beautiful,” Keegan enthused. He got a dragony grunt in response. Earlier that week, Keegan and Phillip had been informed that the sentinel would be the last person resurrected by Chander with the ability to shift. While a small part of Keegan mourned that no other beasts as glorious as Phillip would be added to the world, he was grateful that no one else would face the struggle his mate had. Thankfully, Phillip had worked through everything with the aid of the Sentinel Brotherhood, and his days of stasis and potions were behind him.
Before Keegan could spend too much time reflecting on the rocky start of Phillip’s life, a small gray cat ran over on four petite legs. With a grin, Keegan picked up the Russian Blue. He chuckled as a rough tongue licked his cheek.
“Okay, now I have to figure out how to get us up on Phillip,” Keegan said, holding Victor close to his body with one arm.
Phillip immediately lowered himself to the ground and laid his wings flat. Keegan stepped around one of the appendages and used a front dragon leg as a staircase of sorts to climb up onto the bones of Phillip’s spine. The dragon was so large that Keegan figured he could balance himself on a vertebra or two between a row of ribs.
To keep Phillip abreast of his plan, Keegan explained everything. Victor hopped out of his hold and sashayed to the spot Keegan had pointed to as his aim. Following Victor, Keegan carefully shuffled forward on his hands and knees up the dragon’s back. For some reason, it was awful to consider leaving boot prints on Phillip’s bones.
Once he was in place, Victor pounced onto his thigh and Keegan tucked him into his arms again.
“Okay, Phillip, I think we’re ready to go,” Keegan announced as he held a purring Victor close. Keegan kept his frame loose as Phillip switched positions to prevent himself from sliding off their mate.
A second later, Keegan’s teeth rattled together. Sand flew into the air thanks to Phillip’s talons as he raced across the ground. It was jarring but also necessary to allow Phillip to gain enough speed to get airborne. Keegan had watched enough of the other D’Vaire dragons flying around on their visits to understand why he was being jostled. He shifted Victor to the crook of his left elbow and braced himself as Phillip flapped his large wings.
His hair lifted off his forehead as the air whooshed past him and they rose above the desert landscape. Although Keegan was no longer being roughly bounced, it was still turbulent thanks to the heavy rising and falling of Phillip’s wide wingspan. But within a minute or two, Phillip steadied and soared gently below the clouds.
It went from near violent to calm so fast Keegan swore his head spun. He grinned as he lifted his chin to best enjoy the sun on his face. From below, he heard cheers and applause thanks to the Darays and D’Vaires spilling out of the house to watch Phillip’s first flight.
Loosening his hold on Victor, Keegan was unprepared for the cat shifter to hop off his lap and saunter along Phillip’s vertebrae. After a little butt wiggle, Victor pounced onto the top of Phillip’s head and settled between two wide horns to enjoy their ride.
Deciding that Victor had a great idea, Keegan stood and tiptoed forward, hoping his boots wouldn’t leave any marks on the gorgeous bones. He flung his arms out to help him balance ashe moved close enough to rest his palms on Phillip’s skull. It was far more fun and exciting to fly standing up, Keegan decided. They glided through the air, but Phillip refrained from flapping again.
Instead, they zoomed around in the sunshine as they slowly circled above the mansion and the massive garden Killian the Dwyer and his other half, Drindyr Duke Dravyn D’Vairedraconis, tended to daily. Keegan wished he could name all the flowers and plants below him, but he was no horticulturist. That didn’t stop him from enjoying their beauty as he shared the lovely ride with his mates.
Slowly and gracefully, they descended closer to the spot where their flight had begun. D’Vaires and Darays trudged into the house to give them some privacy. With barely a jolt, Phillip’s talons landed close to the deck, and Keegan patted his head.
“Thank you,” Keegan enthused. “I hope you’ll let me fly with you again.”
Eager to go into detail about the wonderful experience, Keegan hopped off Phillip’s back. Victor jumped down too and meowed at Phillip. In response, Phillip laid his colossal head on the dirt. With an annoyed growl, Victor stalked off toward the changing room.
“You’re going to hear about that, Spicy,” Keegan told the sentinel shifter with a chuckle as he patted a bony wing. “I’m pretty sure he wanted you to shift first.”
A few short minutes later, Victor reappeared in bright blue shorts. “Next time, we’ll have to agree beforehand about who shifts first.”
“Told you,” Keegan said. Phillip trotted off on his sturdy legs as Victor rose up to kiss Keegan. “How cool was that?”
