Page 67 of Prince of Storms
“That would have been much nicer,” I admitted.
“But we’re here now, and if we’re technical, this wasn’t even your first time away from Earth. When I showed you my dragon, I brought you here. You’re basically an experienced realm traveler at this point.”
“Oh, yes. Like the experienced traveler who’s never left their country,” I said dryly.
“Close enough,” he joked. “All I’m saying is that you don’t need to freak out. Just stay calm. If you do freak out, I’m going to have to kiss you to stop you, and—”
I leaned in and kissed him. It could have been the adrenaline, my worry for his well-being, the fact that an hour ago, we’d been in bed together, and I wasn’t quite over that; I had no idea. But it felt like the right thing to do, and as he growled and kissed me back, I knew my decision wasn’t one I would regret.
Whatever happened to putting up a wall between you and him? Making sure he doesn’t find a way permanently to live inside your defenses?
The spine-tingling rasp of his stubble against my soft skin brushed that thought from my mind. I hung in mid-air, kissing a man with wings sprouting from his back, and suddenly nothing mattered. Not the near-death kidnapping I’d just experienced, not the insanity that had been my life the past few days, nor the implications for the future, which I refused to dwell on. Nothing. Just me and him, that was it.
Eventually, he pulled away, revealing that his face was already healing as the puffiness faded. The smile that lit his face distracted from it all anyway because the sheer joy was too much to ignore.
“Come on,” he said as we swooped lower over the huge complex of buildings. “I want to show you around.”
His enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself grinning like an idiot and whooping as we soared down the mountainside.
Storm Keep was built into the side of the mountain. I saw no road leading up to it, though perhaps it wound through the mountain. Several other dragons rested on perches above the castle, their postures leading me to believe they were not idling but rather watching, keeping an eye out on the skies nearby.
“Guards?” I asked, pointing.
He nodded.
“Are we in danger here? Do you come under attack often?”
“Almost never, actually. But better to be prepared in the event we are. I will double the guards, though. My sister is loose somewhere in here, and who knows what she’ll do.”
“I thought she was back on Earth?”
“No. She activated the Rift. That’s how the Vorgan was able to bring you home. Did you not see her?”
“No,” I said. “Though I was a bit concerned with trying to get free. But I don’t recall seeing anyone. The Rift-thingy, I’m pretty sure, was already up and going by the time we got there.”
He frowned unhappily. “She must have gone ahead.”
“Or she didn’t go at all and just snuck into the house to open the portal,” I pointed out as we descended toward an open space between a quintet of the tallest towers at the center of the complex. Different flags fluttered from the tops of long poles at the apex of each cone-shaped roof, snapping wildly in the constant mountain breeze.
“But why would she do that?” he mused. “There’s nothing for her on Earth, is there? The throne is here, at Storm Keep.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t really know your sister, or dragons, well enough to speculate.”
“Oh, I know. I was just speculating out loud,” he said hurriedly, spreading his wings wide to slow us down as we landed, his legs flexing to absorb the impact. The giant blue membranes swept up tight parallel to his spine, then began to shrink, absorbing into his back.
“That is both absolutely gross and totally cool, all wrapped up in one,” I said, watching the last lumps disappear under his skin. “Hey, your back is healing!”
“I told you it would,” he said, setting me down but taking my hand. “Come on, let me show you my home.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm. It was infectious, and we all but ran toward one of the nearby towers. It was the largest and grandest of all. Its windows were plain glass at the bottom, but as we went higher up, they changed to stained glass, full of beautiful blues and purples that reflected the light.
“So, this is the royal tower,” he said, though I’d already assumed it was probably the most important, given it was the largest, the only one with stained glass windows, and had an extra flag flying at the top compared to the others.
He dragged me inside, showing me around libraries, study rooms, training rooms, kitchens, guest quarters, and more.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite so animated and absolutely never this talkative, that’s for sure.
Eventually, we found ourselves on a balcony near the top, providing us with an uninterrupted view of the rest of Storm Keep and the vista below.
