Page 7 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“Then I will try to see it as a good thing.”
I gave him a peck on the cheek. “Very wise of you.”
Chapter 2
Bailey
The afternoon sun shone brightly outside. Thankfully, early September proved less scorching than the previous summer months. I estimated the temperature to be in the high eighties, perfect for an outing. Orion had jumped for joy when I told him we would go to the field beyond the fortress so he could play with other shifter children.
“Be careful,” I shouted, wincing when he tripped and almost face-planted while chasing a small female dragon.
He’d insisted on switching to his other form like the half dozen “hatchlings” already running around when we arrived. His golden scales stood out against the red bodies of all the others. I’d worried he’d be seen as an interloper, but everyone had made him feel welcome from the start, regardless of his coloring or parentage.
If only the whole world worked that way.
The other Taugud children on the field were at least a couple of years older than him, though, so he struggled to keep up when they ran. He hadn’t built the habit of keeping his wings closed, so when he started to sprint, they’d flare open, and he’d crash to the ground. Aidan assured me that was normal. Hewould get better in a few more months with a lot of practice—supposedly. At least all of Orion’s cuts and bruises healed within a few hours, or I might have gone crazy seeing my son banged up all the time.
“I thought I might find you out here,” Ozara said, walking up with her little girl.
Leilany was only two and unable to shift yet. She just enjoyed toddling around on the grass and watching the big kids. At first, she stood by her mother’s side, twisting her black hair around her fingers as she took in the scene before her. Then she caught sight of Orion, giggled, and ran toward him. They’d become close since Aidan and I often took our son to Ozara and Phoebe’s place when we needed someone to watch him.
I looked up and smiled at the clan’s best spy. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to know her job, but my mate had trusted me enough to reveal the big secret. She was stunning in her natural form—she could alter her appearance as a human or dragon to fit into her surroundings—and chose to wear a green knee-length camrium dress that day. It hugged her tall, slender frame. She’d left her shoulder-length black hair down and appeared content as she stood there. I’d grown to like her. Ozara had a quiet demeanor about her, but she could turn cunning and ferocious when the situation called for it.
“What made you think I’d be here?” I asked.
She shrugged. “You hunted yesterday, did you not?”
“Well, yeah…why?”
Ozara looked at me pointedly. “Every time you go on a hunt, you take Orion out to play the next day.I’ve noticed the pattern.”
I frowned since it hadn’t occurred to me that I’d been doing it quite that regularly. Had I become so predictable? Of course, I was dealing with a spy, so she’d be the first to notice.
“Guess I gotta work on breaking up the pattern.”
She shook her head. “No. I suspect you do it that way because you are most relaxed after a hunt. It is the best time to be among shifters without the fear of wanting to attack us, and you can enjoy yourself.”
I supposed the hundred and twenty years she’d been alive and her job made her rather clever. Everything she said made sense.
“True,” I agreed as I watched Orion pick a flower and tickle Leilany’s nose with it, making her laugh. He’d shifted to human form as soon as he saw her, having become faster at transitioning in recent weeks. “Also, I just feel bad for leaving him so often. Bringing him out here is my way of making it up to him.”
Back when we lived in NAC—New American Coalition—territory, I’d always tried to make extra time for my son after missions. I couldn’t quit my job if I wanted to, but I could give him extra attention whenever possible. Mostly, I wanted him to feel loved.
“We have that in common,” Ozara said, gaze watchful on her daughter. “Difficult jobs that we are destined to work until we can’t anymore.”
No one else in the clan could change appearances, and she could even pull off looking like a pure green dragon. That blew my mind. I knew she had done it while we were out on the mission to find my father, but she’d kept her distance from us so the others in our group wouldn’t discover the truth. They allassumed she’d been flying as a red dragon and serving as a relay for telepathic messages if we got into trouble. Most shifters in the clan outside her family had any idea she blended in with the enemy to avoid detection.
The thought of the mission to find my father brought me up short. The pain of his death remained too fresh, and I hated that we still couldn’t recover his body. According to Kade, Aidan’s seer uncle, the Kandoran watched that area carefully, suspecting I’d return for Wayne.
I rubbed my face and took a calming breath. Orion would know if I got sad again, being remarkably in tune with my moods for such a young child, so I had to set aside my pain. Today was about him.
“I can only imagine what it must feel like to leave your daughter for work,” I said, giving her a sympathetic look.
She drew in a deep breath as she gazed into the distance. “Your mate is sending me away tomorrow for a difficult mission, so today is my last chance to enjoy time with Leilany before I go. It is for her safety as well as thetoriqthat I do it.”
Toriqwas the dragon word for clan.
“What?” I asked, surprised. “Where?”
