Page 28 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Amaya

I woke with a startled jerk when one of those invasive green lizards— where are they coming from? —scurried over my boot.

“Dammit.”

The airship and Celestina were gone. Someone had draped a black, hooded cloak over me. The cloak held the remnants of the spicy scent that I associated with…

“Prince Cullen.” I spat his name from my mouth.

When I saw him again, I planned to chop off those warm fingers that had caressed my cheeks as if he cared for me, and stuff them up his—

“Amaya? What are you doing sitting on the grass way out here?” Anther’s red scales glittered in the morning light as he dropped out of the sky and landed on the grass a few feet away.

He took a sniff and stiffened. “Humans.”

“Mostly vampires.”

Anther showed his teeth. “Why didn’t the patrols sense them?”

“Not a clue.”

“What were they doing here?”

“Stealing Celestina.”

Anther shifted into his human form and grabbed my shoulders. “What do you mean, stealing Celestina?” he shouted in my face.

I gave him a shove. While we were used to seeing everyone else in the clan in their altogether, I didn’t enjoy being so close to my brother with all his nasty dangly bits hanging out like that. I pulled Cullen’s cloak around my body. “It means she’s gone.”

“Are you sure?” He kept his distance, thank the gods. “You must be mistaken. She can’t be gone. She’s sleeping in Trace’s home above his shop. He watches her day and night. There is no way someone could have taken her from under his roof.”

“I don’t know how it happened—blood magic, I imagine—but I saw her with the vampires. They had an airship.”

“Impossible,” he snapped. “And you just happened to stumble upon them here? In the middle of the forest? Why didn’t you stop them?”

“I tried!” I snapped my sharp dragon teeth at him. He was smart enough to back off. “I woke up last night and felt a strange pull to fly into the forest.”

Anther nodded. “Because of your connection with the moonlight dragon?”

Yeah, let’s grab on to that explanation .

But I knew something else had led me to this clearing, the same something that had been tugging at me ever since that cursed vampire had saved my life. Stupid Prince Cullen. I wondered how he’d react if I grabbed him by the ankles and flew him over to the nearby Flaming Basin and dropped him into one of the geysers. Could vampires survive being boiled alive? It’d be interesting to find out.

With an angry curse, Anther shifted back into his dragon form and took to the sky. “Can you communicate with her?”

I closed my eyes and tried to follow the pathway to Celestina. “Moonglow?”

Nothing.

I tried to follow the well-worn path I’d been using to try and connect with Prince Cullen. Almost immediately, our minds touched, but I couldn’t get past the wall he’d built around his thoughts. “I’m being blocked,” I told Anther.

“There’s no sign of an airship.” Anther continued to curse as he soared above the tops of the trees. He swooped and set this part of the forest on fire with his fiery rage. “Why the hell are you still here, Amaya? Send out an alarm! Tell as many in the clan as you can reach. This is war. Go! Go back to the village to prepare with the others! Move fast. We must get the moonlight dragon back. Go!”

I shifted to my dragon form, spread my leathery wings, and shot into the air like a meteor hurtling across the sky. But I didn’t do as my big brother had demanded. No. While Anther raged and set more of the forest ablaze, I flew in the opposite direction from the village.

I set out toward the Kingdom of Fein…and that bastard Prince Cullen.

Celestina

I enjoyed pretending.

Pretending meant I didn’t have to think about the lies that still hovered between Soren and me. It also meant I didn’t have to wonder about the troubles the dragons would make when they realized I was gone. There was going to be fire and deaths because of me, and I dreaded that more than anything else. When I pretended, I didn’t have to think about any of that.

Pretending also meant I could enjoy this quiet time on the airship as we flew over some of the prettiest landscapes I’d ever seen. Even the Rainbow Desert, which had looked so bleak and foreboding from the ground, glittered from this vantage point. Heavens, I enjoyed flying.

Soren hadn’t been joking about the airship’s lavish interior. It reminded me of one of Reinheart Palace’s plush royal chambers. There were sofas in the main cabin, bed chambers in the back, and food everywhere. The amount of food waiting for us had made me wonder if I hadn’t somehow drifted into the Great Beyond. Or perhaps I was dreaming.

Don’t you dare pinch me!

Soon after we’d soared into the air, Soren had tugged me onto his lap as he sank on to the nearest sofa. He hand-fed me sweets and little bits of meat that had been waiting for us on the silver trays scattered throughout the ship.

In that moment, we were a bonded pair, happy, and together in a way no one could pull apart. We had our entire lives in front of us. We were heading to Soren’s home to start our new life. Together. I trusted him, and he trusted me. Completely.

It was a beautiful lie, one that made me happy.

“I still can’t get over seeing you without that awful collar,” Raya said as the capital city of Sukoon glinted in the distance. She dropped on to the sofa next to Soren and me, making the overstuffed cushions bounce.

“I’m still getting used to being able to say and do things without the collar punishing me for it,” I told Raya and leaned toward her to whisper, “I’m a dragon.”

My muscles tensed, expecting the worst to happen.

And…and nothing bad happened.

I leaned back against Soren’s chest. “See?” I said with a smile that was a mixture of relief and joy. “I can talk about dragons. I can talk about anything I want. I can do anything I want. I’m free.”

“You still have that binding charm holding back your magical powers,” Driscoll reminded us with that gruff voice of his as he walked over toward us. He stopped near the sofa, hovering in a way that felt as weird as it looked.

“No.” Soren draped his arm over my shoulder and planted a sweet kiss against my cheek. “She’s been feeling her magic lately, haven’t you?”

He didn’t know the half of it, and I didn’t want to tell Soren what had happened between me and Amaya when I was living with the clan. Not when I was still pretending that everything was perfect.

Driscoll sat down next to Raya, who glowered at him so hard, her expression mirrored Gray’s scowling face. Driscoll didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t care.

“So, Celestina. Tell us everything you learned about the dragons living on the plateau.”

Soren shook his head as if to say not now . I wondered if Soren was also pretending.

Undaunted, Driscoll pressed on. “We’ve never been able to get much intel on the dragon clan. They protect their secrets with deadly ferocity. Tell us, do they live as humans, or do they stay in their dragon form? Where do they live? How do they provide food for the clan?”

He’d shot so many questions at me, I didn’t know where or how to start. For one thing, I didn’t want to think about Amaya or the dragons I’d left behind. I didn’t want to think of how I was failing them.

“We need this information to help us form battle plans, attack strategies,” Driscoll persisted.

“No.” I jumped up from Soren’s lap. “No, I’ll not help you harm them.”

“Driscoll,” Soren warned.

“Putting together a battle strategy now is vital. The dragons won’t let you go easily, you know that. It’s morning already. You tell me, Princess Celestina, do you think they’ve discovered that you’re gone?” Driscoll continued.

“No,” I repeated more forcefully than before. Why couldn’t he let me enjoy this time on the ship? Tears filled my eyes as I whirled around to plead with Soren, “I’ll not help you with this. I can’t.”

Soren nodded. “Now is not the time.” With a gentle tug, he had me back on his lap. The warmth of his body calmed me. “We can protect ourselves against the dragons.”

“We can?” Driscoll’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “May I ask how?”

“No.” Soren pressed his lips together and gave Driscoll such a sharp look, I felt like I’d been cut. Driscoll merely shrugged and walked away.

“May I ask how?” I repeated Driscoll’s question. Raya leaned forward as if she, too, wanted to hear Soren’s answer.

“It’s nothing I want you to worry about.” His arms tightened around me. “I’m going to keep you safe.”

A loud bang had us all jumping to our feet. The airship lurched. A heartbeat later, Gray came running out from the pilot’s area where he’d been watching Cullen fly the ship.

“Cullen says there’s nothing to worry about. We hit some air turbulence.”

“Didn’t sound like turbulence,” Raya muttered. “It sounded like we hit something.”

“Or something hit us,” I added.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Gray said, although he did look paler than usual. “Prince Cullen started smiling after that thump.”

I peered out the nearest window, wondering if we’d banged into the side of a mountain. But there was nothing outside other than blue skies and high wispy clouds. Below us, Fein’s capitol city of Sukoon spread out like a necklace in a jewelry box.

Not long after, the airship set down on one of the military training fields outside the city. A small army of King’s Guards and two horse-drawn carriages were waiting for us.

“If you don’t go and find Patty right away, I’ll never hear the end of it,” Gray warned as we approached the carriages.

“Is she back in the city?” I asked.

“She is. We all returned to Sukoon on Cullen’s schooner after dragons chased us out of the forest when we were searching for you. And, let me tell you, Patty fought like a wild weasel, trying to come with us on this rescue mission.”

“Well, then tell her to come see me,” I told him, knowing Patty would love it if Gray showed up at her house. “I want to see her, too.”

“Is that a royal order?” Raya asked as she came up behind me. She nudged my arm with her elbow and smirked at Gray who’d started to scowl again.

“A royal what?” I asked the same time Soren said, “Yes, anything Sky Girl says is a royal order.”

I opened and closed my mouth like a stranded fish.

Soren looked at me and shrugged. “That’s how being a royal works, Princess Celestina.”

“Don’t look so horrified,” Raya said. “Enjoy having some power for a change.”

I didn’t feel worthy of the power. Was it even mine to take? I was a princess only because Soren felt the need to bond with me to prevent the other members of the royal court from killing me.

He also loves you , a voice in my head reminded me.

He’s using you , another intrusive voice put in.

And wasn’t it funny (not in a ha-ha sort of way) that the first time I had access to a little power, I questioned whether I deserved it? What was wrong with me that I needed to put myself down like that? I was just as deserving as anyone else…wasn’t I?

Yes, I was.

I was a moonlight dragon, for goddess’s sake, one of the most revered dragons to ever exist. I didn’t need the title that came with Soren’s bond to prove I was deserving. I held power all on my own. And I needed to start acting like I believed it.

“Your father wants to see you right away,” one of the guards informed Soren. “He wants to brief you about what has been happening at the border while you were gone.”

“I was gone from the palace for less than twelve hours.” Soren sighed. “Very well. I’ll attend him as soon as I wash off the grime and change my clothes.”

“What’s happening at the border?” I remembered that Queen Beatrice was bringing her army to the border. “Is it still Queen Beatrice?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s talk about it later,” Soren said as he guided me toward one of the waiting carriages. The toe of his boot dislodged a rock that glinted in the sun as he crossed the field. I scooped down and picked it up without breaking my stride. The yellow-blue stone had sharp edges but a glassy surface that glinted as I turned it. The stone smelled sweet. And so shiny.

“Later had better come soon,” I warned Soren. I tucked the pretty stone into my skirt’s pocket. “Otherwise, we’re going to have a serious problem.”

Soren raised his hands. But a corner of his mouth lifted as if he were looking forward to a fight. “I’m not trying to keep secrets.”

I harrumphed. “Prove it by talking to me.” I paused. “And that’s a royal order. I can make those, right?”

“You can. We’ll talk in private,” he promised.

When I was wearing the slave collar, I’d been forced to accept that “later” might never come. “When?”

He paused by the open carriage door and studied me, maybe to gauge how serious I felt about this. “Tonight,” he finally answered. “We’ll talk immediately after dinner.”

I gave a tight nod and started to step into the carriage. I barely had a foot inside the contraption when a loud, animalistic scream sounded from inside it.

Soren grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away from the carriage before I had a chance to react. A scaley arm with blood-red claws swiped at where I’d been standing not even a heartbeat earlier.

“What is that?” I screamed the question at Soren’s face.

Soren shook his head as if I’d rendered him temporarily deaf. “A rat-viper. What I want to know is how the hell something like that has gotten into a royal carriage.”

“Maybe it crawled in looking for warmth while the carriages sat empty?” I guessed as I pushed Soren further away from the carriage.

He shook his head. “Those nasty bastards aren’t native to our area.” Gray and Raya now flanked us with their swords drawn. The rest of the King’s Guards had fanned out around the carriage. “They live only in the Kingdom of Tiburnia.”