Page 47 of The Dragon Sacrifice

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Seela awoke to the sound of birdsong. Laying on her back, her eyes closed, she heard a bird twittering somewhere off to her left. But there were no birds where she had been in the cave. The cave where she’d nearly died. It was all coming back to her.

Stenton. Langdon. Jerrard. They’d fought the horde.

More curious than the birdsong was the wind blowing over her body, tugging strands of her hair back along her face. And she was noticing other senses, too—something soft and prickly under her back, the smells of pine and something floral, and heat on her skin, almost like… sunshine was burning down on her.

Her eyes fluttered open. She stared into a blue sky.

What in the heavens?

Seela sprang up, head whipping around to take in the sensory overload around her. She was in a field of downy green grasses that swayed in the breeze. Ahead, a line of soft pines stood tall. Beyond that was a dark ridge of mountain. The sun was indeed high in the sky, a round bright ball throwing down light and life on everything it touched.

Oh, how good to see the sun again. To feel its warmth. A bird arrowed across her line of vision, then dove into the grass after its dinner. Another called from the pine boughs. How could this be possible? They were trapped in a cave. Was she hallucinating?

“You’re awake.” Jerrard bounded into her line of sight. He looked fresh and happy, wearing a loose cotton shirt that showed off his rack of abs and round pecs beneath. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but he appeared larger, more virile. Then she remembered him shifting in that cavern, the giant dragon that grew out of him. He had magic pumping through his veins now. She could practically see it pulsing out of his green eyes.

“Where are we?” she asked, peering around again. She stared at Jerrard as he folded his big frame to sit beside her.

“We are outside.” He gestured around happily as if he, too, was trying to take it all in. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it was.” He sucked in a big lungful of floral-scented air.

“Yes, but how? We were in the cave. Then you saved us. Langdon took me to the kitchen.” She ran over the whole scenario again, still not tracing it back to this meadow.

“And then you fainted. When I arrived back with Stenton, Langdon had been caring for you. He was worried. We let you rest for a while, but when you weren’t waking up, nor showing any signs of worsening, they thought it might do you some good to get a bit of fresh air.”

Seela frowned. “How long was I out?”

Jerrard’s face was serious. “A few days.”

“A few days?” She gripped her head. How had she lost a few days?

“I was with you the whole time,” he said tenderly, taking her hand in his. “We all were.”

It was comforting, as were his fingers in hers. They were warm and reassuring. “I must’ve been very exhausted.”

“Langdon thought you were suffering from exhaustion, yes. We were out of herbal remedies or I would have tried some, though I doubt I would’ve had your skill in healing.”

She didn’t answer, still working this all over the way one might chew a morsel of tough food. “And where are Stenton and Langdon now?” She half expected them to pop out from behind a pine tree.

Jerrard frowned. “They can’t leave the cavern.”

She flashed him a look of confusion.

He inspected their clasped hands carefully. “When you and I… made love, I suspect it broke my curse. I’m no longer bound to the caverns. The magical membrane that kept me in for a century no longer does. And I can shift now. Whenever I want.”

She thought about asking him to demonstrate since he was a miraculous sight as a dragon, but she still had more questions. “I broke the curse?”

He smiled and pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it. “You did.”

She shook her head, but did not protest, though she did not entirely believe that could be possible.

“So now I must do so for Langdon and Stenton.” She started to stand, but Jerrard didn’t follow. “What is it?”

His frown was etched on his face. “We knew you’d say that, so we came to an agreement. The other two will spend time with you, get to know you, but you are not expected to mate with them on any obligation. In fact, that is the opposite of what we want. We want to woo you—have you fall madly in love with us. Only then would we consent to mate.”

Seela narrowed her eyes. “You and I have already… mated.”

Jerrard smiled at the mention of their tryst. Just thinking of it made her tingle.

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