Page 17 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Celestina

“The return of dragons?” I whispered. Could I truly be living evidence of the start of a new dragon age? And did that also mean the success of this new age depended on my ability to wield magic? The only magic available to me was the ability to compel other magical creatures. It was a powerful magic, but not exclusive to me. Vampires possessed a similar power.

Juniper shrugged. “There’s no way of knowing. There are other tales that say the moonlight dragon will return to protect the dragons from a new age of wars, that the moonlight dragon’s magic will be the only force that will allow what remains of the dragon clans to survive another wholesale vampire attack.”

I couldn’t believe that Soren would allow his warriors to attack the dragons. He might be the Beast of Fein who fiercely defended his people, but he was also fair and just. “The vampires wouldn’t attack the dragons without provocation.”

“Stop living in the clouds. They already do,” Amaya snapped. “They killed our main food source and shot me out of the air. Did we provoke them to do that? Did we do something that made them feel justified to hurt us?”

“It was the humans in Tiburnia who attacked you, not—” I tried to argue.

“I was told you bonded with a vampire. Are you seriously going to sit there and deny that Prince Cullen’s brother isn’t a vampire? Are you going to sit there and tell me that Prince Cullen and your vampire weren’t involved with imprisoning me? Because if you are, I can tell you now that you’re deluding yourself. The vampires were just as involved with keeping me in those enchanted shackles as the man who had shot me out of the sky with a vampire’s blood magic.”

“I think Cullen was trying to rescue—” I started to say.

“You can’t tell me what happened.” Amaya shot up from her chair so quickly that it toppled over with a loud crash. “I was there!”

I raised my hands, fully expecting her to hit me.

“Daughter, cease,” Juniper said sharply.

Amaya pressed her fists on the table and glared at me.

“Amaya,” Trace said soothingly. “Please. Celestina is not the enemy.”

“She has bonded with the enemy. She sides with them.” Her voice had softened, thanks to Trace’s urging. But she still made it clear with her facial expression that she didn’t like me.

I didn’t know what had happened to her, what the Tiburnians had done to her. Maybe Cullen had taken an active role in torturing her. I hoped he hadn’t. But I couldn’t forget how he’d drugged me, hit his own brother, and had me locked away with Amaya in the same horrid dungeon.

I’d convinced myself that Cullen had done those terrible things to bring the two of us together and to give Amaya a chance to escape. The explosion of power that happened when I touched her did free me from the collar and her from her chains. But had that been his goal?

Cullen couldn’t have betrayed us. The two brothers were close. They clearly loved each other.

Soren . How I ached to go to him. He must feel like he’s in hell right now.

“Celestina is no one’s enemy,” Trace said in his even-tempered voice.

Amaya snarled at him.

“Amaya,” Juniper said more forcefully. “Behave.”

“Yes, Mother.” Amaya finally picked up the overturned chair and dropped into it. She angled her body away from me and crossed her arms over her chest to let me know that even though she was giving into her mother’s demands, she wasn’t changing her mind about me.

“Amaya is your daughter?” I asked Juniper. “I thought you’d said we both came from dragon eggs that had been protected for eons. How is it that you’re her mother?” Were dragons immortal? I’d occasionally heard legends that would claim that dragons lived eternal lives, but then again, most people on the continent believed that dragons and dragon lore were entertaining myths and tended to embellish the stories.

Juniper smiled warmly. “She’s not my biological daughter. But she is the daughter of my heart.” She leaned over and kissed the side of Amaya’s head.

I had trouble accepting that Amaya was the same as me, that she was the midnight to my moonlight. If we’d hatched on the same day and were both dragons who were eons old, I supposed we should try to get to know one another. We should try to be friends.

“Amaya is a blessing and a miracle, just like you are, Celestina. If you hadn’t been stolen away from us, a dragon family within the clan would have raised you. You would have been loved.” Juniper swallowed thickly as tears clogged her eyes. “You are loved, Celestina. We never stopped loving you, never stopped watching over you.”

“That’s what you did,” I said, turning to Trace. “You were in the valley. You and the other dragons. You were there because of me?” Just like I’d dreamed—it had been the truth.

“I was. I’d bring younglings with me. They’d help keep guard and watch over you, make sure no one harmed you, and made sure Queen Frieda held up her end of the bargain.”

“Bargain? You made a bargain with the queen? You let her keep me even after she’d kidnapped me and killed so many of your clan in the process? How-how could you do that?” Was this how they showed their love? “Why didn’t you come for me?”

“I wanted to,” Trace growled deeply.

“We couldn’t,” Juniper quickly added. “Queen Frieda threatened to kill you if we ever made a move to retrieve you, or if we threatened Earst in any way. She kept you close at hand for that reason. She never let you leave the confines of the castle walls because she feared that we might try to steal you. And she wanted to keep you safe only so she could use you as a weapon against the other kingdoms, perhaps even against us. It took several years of negotiations for Trace to get permission to keep watch, even from a distance.”

“And then Queen Beatrice rose to power,” Trace added with a snap of his teeth.

Juniper nodded. “The agreement we had with her mother held for several years after her death. But then the new queen threatened to kill you if we didn’t leave the valley for good.”

“I didn’t leave,” Trace spoke up. “No matter what Queen Beatrice demanded, I wouldn’t leave you alone with that marsh-worm of a queen. I kept to my human form and went to work in the castle stables. Amaya’s brother joined me from time to time. And when Queen Beatrice trapped you even deeper with the slave collar and handed you over to that”—his lip curled with distaste—“vampire, I followed. I would have taken you then, but the collar wouldn’t allow you to stray far from the vampire without killing you.”

“You knew how the collar worked?”

Trace nodded. “Although you may have felt it was true at times, you were never alone, Celestina. You were never without friends who cared for you.”

I pinched my lips together to keep myself from sobbing in front of these strangers who seemed to know more about my life than I did.

Juniper smiled broadly. “And now we’re all together as it should be. The moonlight dragon is back home with our midnight dragon.”

“Has she returned?” Amaya asked. “She’s still trapped under Queen Frieda’s original spell. She can’t access her magic. She can’t shift. And she’s in league with the vampires. None of that feels like she’s with us. None of that feels like a reason to celebrate.” Amaya stood from the table, but this time when she pushed her chair back, it didn’t topple over. “You’re all acting like my bringing the moonlight dragon to Beithiria is a good thing. The way I see it, this is a disaster. She’s not one of us. She’ll never be one of us. I’m glad she can’t access her powers. Just think about how much destruction she and her vampires would cause us if she could!”

“Amaya! That’s uncalled for.” Juniper rose as well.

The midnight dragon gave a frustrated scream before charging out of the house, slamming the door on her way out.

“I’d better go talk with her,” Juniper said, her cheeks turning pink. “Growing up without you has been difficult for my girl. You’ll have to give her time to adjust to the idea that she now has someone else she can rely on, that she’s one part of a powerful team.”

Trace and I sat in silence after Amaya and Juniper left. Finally, Trace sighed.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, quietly. “Amaya has always been…spirited.” He stood as if he couldn’t contain his restless energy. “Let me brew you some of the healing tea.”

“No.” I rose from my chair as well, glad my legs felt sturdy. “Thank you,” I hastily added. Trace had been nothing but kind, which only made me feel bad about what I had to say.

He stopped halfway to the sink and turned toward me with his head tilted to one side. His bright blue eyes were alive with life and hope.

“Amaya is not wrong.” I placed my hand on the back of my chair to steady myself. “I’ve not returned. I’m sure it’s lovely here. But this is not my home. My home is with Soren. My life is with Soren.”

Trace drew a deep breath. As he released it, a gentle smile softened his features. “Celestina, I understand your reluctance to accept what we’re telling you. I don’t want you to think we’re trying to rip you away from the only life you’ve known. We’re not. What we’re doing is giving you another life, a life where you can grow into the dragon you are meant to be. Whether you can access your magic or not, don’t you think you deserve to learn about who you are? To spend time with your own kind?”

“I—” He wasn’t wrong. I had longed to find a place where I felt like I fit.

I want to keep you close because I think you and I might fit, Soren had once told me. And those words had served as a balm that soothed deep wounds I hadn’t realized had hurt so sharply before he’d spoken them. He was my home.

“Amaya is also correct when she told you that I’ve bonded with Soren,” I explained. “It’s an unbreakable vow that tied our lives together. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I can’t abandon him.”

Trace gave a shallow nod. “It’s understandable that you’d have strong feelings for the first male to offer you kindness. I’d be more concerned if you didn’t feel… something …toward him.” He gestured toward the front of the house. “Take a walk through the village with me? Everyone here is like you. We’re all dragons living hidden away from the world. But I think you’ll find that the small world we’ve created on the top of this plateau isn’t a hardship. It’s quite comfortable. It’s a place worth fighting for. I hope once you get to know it like I do, you’ll agree.”

Since I doubted Trace would lend me a horse or offer to fly me back to Tiburnia or north to Fein, I followed behind him as he led the way through his home, through the weaving shop at the front, and out onto the cobbled market street.

The smell of freshly baked bread filled my senses as we walked down the street. He made no effort to touch me. He kept his hands buried in his trousers’ pockets. But every few feet he’d look over at me and the pleasure I saw in his expression sat like a heavy stone in my belly.

The others we encountered on the street nodded and smiled but kept their distance. I felt as if they were all treating me like one of the wild fillies Queen Beatrice would occasionally bring into the royal stables. The kind that might harm itself if you moved too quickly or stepped too close. That, too, sat like a stone in my belly.

This wasn’t my home. The plateau didn’t call to me like the Yurdu Mountains had when I’d ridden with Soren, Raya, and Gray toward Fein’s capital city of Sukoon.

Trace talked in that soothing voice of his as he described what was sold in each of the shops we passed—the bakery that offered the most delicious sugarberry tarts no matter the time of year, the tannery that could make leather clothing that felt like butter in your hands, the seamstress who produced outfits with magical spells stitched into the seams, or the toy shop that made the most imaginative items from wood, metal, and cloth for the children who called the village home.

By the time we’d reached the end of the street, the sun had dipped below the distant tree line, and it had gotten quite dark in the village. The windows of homes we passed as we turned down a street lined with charming cottages glowed with various soft flickering lights, suggesting lamplight and fireplaces. This was so different from the electric lights that lit up the castle in Earst and the palace in Fein.

“If you’re up to it, I’d like you to meet a few of my friends.” He’d stopped in the middle of the road and had turned toward me. “We don’t have to stay long,” he added as he raised his eyebrows.

Did I feel up to it? My neck, wrist, and dislocated shoulder still hurt with every movement. And I felt like I could easily crawl back into that soft bed of Trace’s and sleep there for another four days.

Honestly, I still found it difficult to believe I was a dragon. I didn’t feel like a dragon. I couldn’t fly. I didn’t have scales. The only fire I’d ever felt burning in my core was from indigestion.

And yet, everyone kept telling me I was a dragon.

“Sure,” I said before I found a reason to run screaming toward where the sun had fallen.

Trace nodded to himself as he led the way to a small cottage at the end of a dirt path. The pretty lavender walls vibrated with music and laughter. He paused at the door and pressed a finger to his lips. “My friends can be a little much at times, but they always mean well. It should be fine.”

And with that unsettling warning, he pushed open the dark purple door, and entered the cottage’s main living area. A large chandelier hung from an arched wooden beam in the center of the room, showering the people crowded together with a warm, yellow light. Two men stood next to a huge fireplace and strummed stringed instruments while singing a lively tune. A half dozen couples had hooked their arms and giggled wildly as they danced in looping circles.

Three people turned our way as we entered.

“It’s Trace!” a woman in a long, colorful flowered skirt and white sweater squealed.

A heartbeat later, the music and laughter and conversation all came to an abrupt stop.

Everyone turned to stare at Trace and me. Suddenly uncomfortable, I touched the bandages around my neck and took a hasty step toward the door.

A large hand landed on my shoulder as I bumped into a solid wall of a man with long, red hair and a bushy beard.

“I told them you’d bring her by to meet your best mates,” the wall said and then barked a laugh. “But they all said you were too kind to do that to the little one.”

“I thought she should meet some of the village and thought of you degenerates. Naturally, I’d forgotten about just how degenerate you lot are.” Trace lifted the man’s hand off my shoulder and stepped in closer to me. He opened his eyes wider like he was giving the man an unspoken warning. “We don’t want to be scaring Celestina off before she’s gotten a chance to learn about how special the village can be.”

“Don’t you worry,” said a woman with long blonde hair. She hooked her arm with my undamaged one. “We’ll show you how happy we are that you’ve found your way home. And not just because that means we finally have Trace back with us after keeping watch over you for more than twenty years. We’re also excited to get to know you.” She patted my hand. “Don’t look so worried. We’ll be gentle. Gregory, what are you standing around for? Bring Trace and Celestina flagons of ale.”

“Of course, my love.” The large wall dipped his head to the woman and lumbered off.

“I’m Ivy. And that big oaf is my mate, Gregory. We’ve been together for nearly as long as Trace has been away looking after you. Oy! Why’d you stop the music, boys? Let’s keep the party going.” The musicians shook their heads as they picked up their instruments and started up another lively tune. Someone began clapping.

Ivy, stepping to the beat of this new song, spun me away from Trace. “I bet you’re tired of looking at his face for the past four days. Let’s have some girl talk.”

“Um…Ivy, no,” Trace said as he hurried after me. “She’s still—”

“Pish.” Ivy nudged Trace out of her way. “She’ll be fine, won’t you, dear?”

“I don’t—” I started to admit I didn’t know if I’d be fine with her or not. But she didn’t give me the chance to protest.

“Sure, you do. You’ll be fine. We’re all friends here. Soon, you’ll be as comfortable here as a fuzzy caterpillar is in its cocoon.” She pulled me over to a table that was as far away from the two musicians near the fireplace as she could get in the room. She pushed me into a chair and then sat in the one across from me.

Trace grabbed a chair from a nearby table and dragged it over to our table and plopped down next to me. “You okay?” he asked.

Was I? I wasn’t in danger. Ivy was…enthusiastic. But her over-the-top excitement had to be far better than Amaya’s hostile vibe. And I didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side here. Not when every single person in the room had the ability to change into a dragon and roast me.

I still had trouble believing it. Every. Single. Person. In. This. Room. Is. A. Dragon.

A month ago, the thought of meeting so many dragons would have thrilled me. Now, it made my stomach twist.

That red dragon had caught our ship on fire. If not for Trace dousing us with that wave of icy water, we’d all have ended up on the bottom of the ocean. Dragons were beautiful and magical and the stuff fantasies were made of.But they were also dangerous.

My favorite stories had never explained just how dangerous a dragon could be.

Before I could answer Trace, Gregory showed up with four clay goblets filled to the rim with a bubbly, yeasty ale. He set them in the middle of the table. Ivy immediately pushed one toward me. “Drink up. It’ll make whatever hurts feel better.”

She demonstrated this by picking up a goblet and guzzling the entire drink in one gulp. She smacked her lips when she’d finished.

“You have always been the definition of grace, Ivy,” Trace said with a laugh. But when he looked at me, his cheeks turned pink. “This isn’t like Earst’s royal court. We’re much more casual here in the village.”

“It’s—it’s fine.” I tried to sit back and enjoy myself, but every move felt awkward. And worse. Every move I made felt watched.

“Of course, it’s fine,” Ivy said, shouting over the music and loud chatter. “Nothing can bother you. You’re the moonlight dragon.” She shook her head. “After all this time, I still can’t believe we finally have you back. Things are going to change now. Things will be better. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.” She rubbed her arms.

“I’m not sure—” I started to explain that I wasn’t whatever they expected me to be.

“It’ll take a while for you to get accustomed to us and your homecoming,” Ivy said. “But wow, can’t you just imagine our bright future? Do you think this could be the start of a new age of dragons? A time when we can come out of hiding and stop living like primitives?”

“I don’t know.” They did have a simple life here, much simpler than any of the three kingdoms I’d experienced. But what did she expect me to do about it? I leaned toward her and said, “I’m not who you think I can be. I can’t take a dragon form, you know. I’m as human as the life I’ve been living.”

“Nonsense.” Ivy gave a laugh. “Now that you’re back where you belong, the elders will be able to get that sorted. You’ll be soaring above the clouds with the rest of us before the next full moon. And what you don’t know, we can teach you. Tell her, Gregory.” She nudged the giant slouched beside her. “Gregory is our historian and one of the village schoolteachers. Tell her, Gregory. My man could teach a rock to sing if he wanted to.”

“That’s right, my love,” he said after taking a swig of the ale. “The plateau is filled with singing rocks thanks to me.” He laughed so loudly that people turned their heads to stare at us. “We’ll set you up with a full regiment of study and a tutor. It might take a couple of years, but we’ll get you caught up.”

“Years?” I felt myself pale at the thought. How did I tell them that I couldn’t stay? How did I dash their hopes?

Apparently, I didn’t need to say anything. Ivy seemed determined to tell me all about life in the village. She talked nonstop, gossiping about this dragon or that dragon. All the while, dragons constantly interrupted her as they came up and patted Trace on the back or hugged him. Two dragons even pulled Trace out of the chair and kissed him full on the mouth in quite an eyebrow-raising way. The female dragon who’d kissed him was beautiful with blue-green eyes so bright they seemed to glow. The male dragon who’d kissed him had also grabbed Trace’s ass and thrust his hips a couple of times. When they parted, Trace’s eyes were large and black. And when Trace looked over at me, he shrugged and gave me a goofy grin.

Those same dragons who’d greeted Trace so warmly also introduced themselves to me, shouting their names and offering a hand for me to shake. Their greetings were brief. Unlike with Soren’s troops, no one was openly hostile, but at the same time, I felt like an intruder. I felt like they wished I wasn’t there. I cradled the goblet of ale with both hands and slumped down a little in the chair, unconsciously making myself smaller. I supposed if I could have gotten away with it, I would have crawled under the table.

Trace leaned toward me and frowned. “You’re not having fun.”

“I-I—” I gulped the ale. It was nutty and strong.

Trace swore softly. “This isn’t the best environment for you to get to know us. It’s too loud. Too chaotic.”

“Too Trace-centric,” Ivy shouted over the music with a laugh.

“That, too,” Trace admitted with a lopsided grin.

“You’ve been gone a long time,” I guessed. “You were missed.”

“You’ve been gone longer,” he said. “And they’ve missed you even more.”

That might be true, but I wasn’t real to any of them. I was an ancient dragon, sprung to life like from a fairytale. These villagers expected me to protect them and to bring about a new dragon age. I’d become a symbol, a vague hope. And—I slumped even lower in my chair—I was doomed to become a disappointment. I had no plans to stay in the village. Could they sense that? Did they know I was planning to run back to their enemy at the first opportunity I got?

Trace took my goblet and placed it back on the table. “Let me take you home.”

Home . My thoughts immediately went to Soren and Gray and Raya and Patty and Mary. Those were the family I’d lost when Cullen had drugged me and locked me in a cell with that cranky midnight dragon. Sure, his action had freed me from the slave collar, but at what price?

“We’re going,” Trace announced to Ivy and Gregory as he stood.

Ivy jumped up from her chair. “But I’ve barely had a chance to talk to Celestina. I know nothing about her.”

“Another time.” Trace wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me tight against his side. The movement hurt my dislocated shoulder. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a yelp.

“Tomorrow,” Ivy insisted. “I’ll come by with fresh meat cakes for lunch. We can talk then.”

“Meat cakes?” Gregory’s head popped up. “I’ll be there.”

“Very well.” Trace gave Ivy a side-hug and Gregory a fist-bump before leading me through the crowded room and out the door.

His hand lifted off my sore shoulder as soon as we were back in the quiet of the evening. He pulled his fingers through his blond hair. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Your friends clearly love you. That’s never anything you should feel sorry about.”

“But they made you uncomfortable.”

A dragon shot across the dark sky. It looked like the red dragon that had set fire to Cullen’s schooner. I flinched.

“That’s Anther, Amaya’s brother. It must be his night for patrol duty.”

I shivered as I searched the sky for other dragons. “There are patrols?”

Trace nodded. “Ever since Amaya’s abduction, we’ve increased the number of dragons patrolling our borders. Nothing can get close to the village without our knowing about it. Not even a field mouse.” He stepped closer to me. “You’re safe here, Celestina. We won’t let any outsiders get near you again.”

I knew he’d meant for his words to comfort me, but they only made me feel as trapped as I’d been in that Tiburnian dungeon. And I worried all the more for Soren and my friends’ safety. If they were coming for me—and I knew with all my heart that Soren was out there searching for me—they were walking into a death trap.