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ONE

MAC

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

The chalice I just had to have clangs noisily in my bag, and someone shouts what I’m sure is Arabic for “ Stop, thief! ” from somewhere behind me.

I dart around the corner onto a busier street, hoping to lose the guards who have been chasing me for the past few blocks.

They have incredible stamina for humans; I’ll give them that.

My dragon purrs unapologetically, the sound rumbling deep in my chest. He wanted the chalice, but I’m the one who’s going to end up having to talk our way out of human jail.

Do they still cut off hands for thievery around here?

Shit, I hope not. My hand would grow back, but fuck is it a pain in the ass.

My dragon and I might technically be one and the same, but sometimes it feels like he’s the little devil on my shoulder or my impulsive, dumbass alter ego, constantly giving me terrible ideas that I just can’t resist going along with.

This is why my brothers think I’m such a fuckup.

Maybe if I just dropped the chalice, they’d stop chasing me and call it even.

I reach into my bag without breaking my stride, but as soon as my fingers brush the smooth gold, I know I’m not going to just throw it away.

It’s too pretty. It’s too shiny. I purr a little louder and a puff of smoke singes my nostrils on my next exhale.

Okay, so that plan is out the window. Thundering footsteps reach my ears again.

These guys take their jobs extremely fucking seriously apparently.

I duck around the hordes of people in the street and scan the nearby buildings for somewhere to hide.

There are shops and restaurants lining both sides of the street, but my eyes fall on a strange looking bar.

It’s out of place next to the other buildings, but I can’t put my finger on exactly why.

It’s the same stone style, similar architecture, but it doesn’t quite fit , like it was an afterthought, built awkwardly into the space between two other buildings.

It almost looks like it’s shimmering in the desert sunlight, like a mirage.

Without conscious thought, my feet carry me to it like a puppet on a string, in spite of whatever strangeness is raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

I push through the door, glancing behind me quickly to make sure the guards aren’t following, then throw it closed.

It’s oppressively hot inside, the air stale, the scent of sulfur heavy in every breath I take.

My stomach roils with the memory of the short, unpleasant time I spent in the underworld a couple of years ago, when a demon I stole from captured me and my brother’s mate.

“Get you a drink?” The voice seems to echo in the empty bar as I turn away from the door.

“Sorry, I thought…” I look around at all the unoccupied tables and barstools. Not a single other soul in sight. I swear there’s another shimmering ripple in my peripheral vision, giving everything a dreamlike quality.

Wait, am I dreaming? It would explain the sudden sense of calm I’m feeling, and the weightlessness in my limbs. My feet start to move without conscious thought again and I find myself approaching the bar.

I take in the man who spoke for the first time.

He looks even more out of place than the building itself did.

He’s tall, close to seven feet, with silky black hair that flows to his midback and moves as if there’s a breeze in the room.

His eyes are a glittering aquamarine, and his skin is pale, with an iridescent quality that reminds me of the strange shimmering I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye.

He’s wearing a white button-up shirt—open halfway down to show off the intricate tattoos covering his chest—and black leather pants that have no place in the desert.

He’s objectively gorgeous, but the feeling that stirs in my gut isn’t lust, it’s wariness.

He’s not human. I don’t know what he is for sure, but I’m positive about that.

“You thought what, dragon?” His lips twist into a grin, flashing a set of sharp teeth.

My scales ripple over my soft, human flesh protectively. I look back over my shoulder, considering whether I’d be better off going back out there and facing the human authorities rather than whoever this is.

“Sit.” His voice is deep and commanding. The nearest barstool screeches across the floor towards me, seemingly at his command. “Let me get you a drink.”

Could he be a faerie? Just to be safe, I shake my head, but I take a seat on the stool anyway. “No, thanks.”

He shrugs. “Have it your way, dragon.” He folds his arms on the bar top and leans over casually. “So, what’d you take?”

I bristle and clutch my bag tighter. “Nothing,”

He laughs, and the sound is almost like feedback from a microphone, making me flinch. I can feel my dragon pacing anxiously just under the surface, but for some reason, I don’t stand up and leave. Could he be casting some kind of spell over me?

He laughs a second time, a little louder. “Just a glamour. Other than that, you’re free to leave. I’m not doing anything to keep you here.”

“You… you can read my thoughts?” I blanch.

His only answer is another amused twist of his lips.

“You manage to get yourself in a lot of trouble, don’t you, dragon?

” He pulls a bottle off of the shelf and sets two shot glasses down on the bar top.

He fills both and I start to shake my head again to decline the offer, but he picks them both up and downs them one after another, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth when he’s done.

“No more than other dragons,” I mutter defensively. “It’s just our nature.”

He nods in understanding. “I’m Auri, by the way,” he says, pouring two more drinks.

It can’t be too risky if he just drank it himself, right?

This time I reach out and take one of the glasses, bringing it to my lips and swallowing it down.

The burn of alcohol flowing down my throat is nowhere near as pleasant as the burn of my own flames coming out, but I’ve never minded it. Auri drinks the other.

I offer my name. “Mac.”

“It’s unfair,” Auri says thoughtfully, running his index finger slowly around the rim of his empty shot glass. “No one should be persecuted for the things they can’t control. It’s like you said—it’s just your nature as a dragon to see something pretty and have to take it for yourself.”

“Exactly.” I scoot forward until I’m teetering on the edge of my stool. “Why doesn’t anyone ever get that?”

He makes a sound of agreement in the back of his throat. “I could make things different for you, if you wanted.”

I frown and ease back again. “What do you mean?”

Auri shrugs again and flips his long hair off of his shoulder. “I could give you all the things you’re craving that no one else can. I can give you purpose, the respect you deserve, and a way to channel your natural instincts into something productive. Would you like that?”

My dragon had relaxed over the last couple of minutes, but my skin ripples with scales again.

“I… I don’t know.”

Both of his neatly shaped eyebrows jump up. “You don’t know if you want respect and riches and a deep, fulfilling purpose in your life?”

“Well, yeah, of course I want that,” I say without needing to think about it. Who doesn’t want those things?

He smiles at me again, and instead of terrifying, razor-sharp teeth, he has a neat row of human teeth.

The look in his aqua eyes is earnest too.

He just wants to help me. No one has ever respected me before, and up to this point I’ve just been drifting through life, looking for the next pretty thing to claim as my own.

“Is that a yes, Mac?”

“A yes to what?” I’m still not sure what exactly he’s offering me, but I find myself leaning forward again, drawing closer to Auri.

He reaches out and drags his finger along the underside of my chin, the faint scrape of a sharp claw dancing along my skin. He leans closer too, his hair fluttering in unfelt wind again.

“To letting me change your life. All you have to do is say ‘yes, Auri,’ and I can give you the life of your dreams. Do we have a deal, dragon?”

A loud banging on the door reaches my ears, along with angry shouting from the men who were chasing me.

“Or do you want to take your chances with them?” Auri asks. “Just says, ‘yes, Auri’.”

I stare into the deep sea of his eyes for several long beats, trying and failing to come up with any reason not to do this, whatever this is. With the threat of bodily harm on the other side of the door, I find myself nodding.

“Yes, Auri,” I rumble in a low voice, equal parts dragon and human.

Auri’s skin shimmers and his human glamour falls away.

Instead of pale skin, it’s black and leathery, his tattoos glowing pale blue on his chest, a pair of curling horns protruding from the top of his head.

His teeth are as sharp as they were the first time he smiled at me as he leans the last inch towards me and pecks my lips in a brief kiss to seal the deal.

“Good choice, pet,” he growls.

Without warning, the walls of the bar start to melt around me.

“Wha—” I don’t even manage to get the whole word out before the air in my lungs is squeezed too tight and my entire body is tugged into the space between planes. My stomach lurches at the familiar, unpleasant sensation and I stare in shock at the demon I just made a deal with.

Shit. What did I just agree to?

DRAX

Could I be any more bored? Things have been dull lately. No humans summoning demons, no spectacular deals made with Auri. Nothing. Just endless time spent sitting at a table with Auri’s other pets, waiting for orders.

I used to have a hobby of tracking time based on human concepts, but I grew bored of that after a few millennia. I need a new hobby. An interest. A spark of excitement.

The rest of the team are around the compound doing various things to pass the time. Cassius is probably brooding somewhere, reading ancient texts to regale us all with his discoveries later. He has a gift for dead languages.

Roman, he might be wrestling with Grim. Atlas is probably working on a sculpture from the many rock formations lining the halls of our corner of the underworld.

As for me, I’m organizing Auri’s trophy room for the millionth time.

He trusts me to treat his things gently, and as a bonus, I get to look upon all the beauty, some of which I was responsible for procuring.

As Auri’s pets, we go out on adventures to obtain anything from human souls to artifacts, and all the treasures are piled in this room, but I’ve made progress organizing and cataloging it all into something that’s visually pleasing.

I drag my finger across the shelf containing bottles and boxes filled with souls. They shimmer and vibrate at my touch, their desire to be released from their self-inflicted prisons palpable. My chest swells with pride. Auri likes this shelf the most. This room was such a mess before I got here.

Making a deal with Auri didn’t seem like my best idea at the time, but now this is home as much as my former one was.

I bide my time, waiting for my next assignment, which is weirdly more interesting than my life before Auri was.

Except when we hit these long dry spells like the one we’re in now.

I would give anything for a little excitement.

Maybe when Auri returns, he’ll have news.

He’s grown restless too, venturing to the human realm rather than waiting to be summoned. He’s done it before and come back with nothing, so I’m not too optimistic, but I am hopeful. There’s always room for hope.

Until there’s news, I’ll amuse myself with Auri’s treasures, waiting for the day when I get to level up and start collecting my own spoils.