Page 32 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Amaya

“Are you searching for secret documents?” Prince Cullen asked in an “I’m merely curious” tone of voice.

My heart stuttered. I jumped up and spun to find him still dressed in the same black tunic and leggings he’d worn when orchestrating Celestina’s escape from the plateau. I couldn’t stop wondering how Cullen and his brother had managed to get Celestina away from the plateau without any of the dragons seeing them coming or leaving.

His clothes were now singed in several places from Celestina’s fiery explosion back at the court. Her use of her fire had been a surprise. She hadn’t pulled that power from me. I would have felt it if she had.

“If I were interested in finding secrets, I could dive into your thoughts,” I said softly, tauntingly. “You’re the kingdom’s top spy, I hear.” I’d thought I’d found a good hiding place in the shadowy alcove tacked away in some royal snob’s private library.

“You must be a talented spy yourself, what with being able to become air and the ability to tap into anyone’s mind.”

“The individual has to be thinking about me for me to visit their thoughts, which must mean you’re pretty obsessed with me.” I wouldn’t have had such easy access into his head otherwise.

“Right.” A faint blush colored his dark cheeks. He adjusted his glasses before tilting his head to one side. “What are you doing here, Amaya?” The crease between his eyebrows deepened. “And where did those awful clothes come from?”

I glanced down at what I was wearing—a gold brocade jacket with the most ridiculous epaulets and a King’s Guard’s pants, no shoes, no underwear—and winced.

“I hope the owners of those clothes are still alive and breathing,” he added, sounding more serious now.

“That’s offensive. I’m a dragon, a superior being in every way. I move like the air. You should be able to deduce from that fact alone that I can filch a few clothes without having to resort to murder.”

“You’ve also promised destruction with nearly every breath.”

“They’re still living, I suppose.” I shrugged. “I didn’t take the clothing off anyone’s dead body if that’s what you’re wondering. Though, if I had, I might have incinerated the one wearing this jacket on the spot for crimes against fashion. It’s quite…” I made a rocking movement with my head that would have made more sense if I were in my dragon form. I then turned my back on Cullen and wandered over to one of the room’s many bookshelves. I ran the tips of my fingers over the leather spines, inhaling the sweet scent the books released in response to my caress. “To answer your question, I don’t know why I escape to a library when I need space to think. It’s not like I’m a big reader.”

“You like the silence.”

“It’s quiet in other spaces,” I pointed out.

“True. But the quiet you find in a library is different. It’s the kind of silence someone experiences when a mentor or a scholar pauses to take a deep breath before imparting an important piece of knowledge. It’s a silence rich with the best kinds of anticipation.”

I chewed on that thought for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense.” This room, with its dark paneled bookshelves covering every available wall and crammed into the spaces in the middle, felt safe to me. Even safer than the library back at my family’s manor house. There was something soothing about it. Perhaps how it smelled—slightly spicy. Perhaps the cluttered organization made it feel as if this were a library that was well-used and well-loved.

“I’m glad you like it here.” Leather creaked as he settled down in a deep burgundy chair next to a large window. The sky outside was turning several shades of orange as the sun began to set over the ocean. I hadn’t turned back around, but I watched his movements from the corner of my eye. “It’s interesting how you chose this library from the nearly five dozen libraries scattered throughout the palace to hide in.”

“Hmm?” I pretended to be extremely interested in the titles of the books on the shelves in front of me. The History of Aquamining . The Migration of Chorts . The Personal Diary of Private Draver . I pretended I was too interested in these mind-numbing titles to pay any attention to the pretty vampire behind me.

“This is my personal library.” He swung his legs up and onto the arm of the chair as he lounged sideways on the seat like an idle lord.

His library. Of course. I closed my eyes and berated myself for not realizing I’d slipped into Cullen’s private domain. Now that I knew better, I recognized the comforting scent as his.

“These aren’t yours, are they?” I asked gesturing to the jacket with enough glitter to lure ravens into a trap.

He chuckled. “Good gods, you must have a low opinion of me if you think I’d wear that.”

I turned to openly glare at him. “You helped a human scramble my thoughts and kept me captive even after I’d begged you to help me escape. You also helped kidnap the moonlight dragon. Do you really think there’s any good involved when it comes to my opinion of you?”

He waved his hand as if he really didn’t care what I thought of him. “You’ll have to excuse me for not being a better host. I haven’t slept for two days, and I’m tired. I hope you don’t mind, but I came in here to take a nap.” His eyes drifted closed. “I assume you’re here to try and kidnap Celestina, so you can return her to the dragons.”

“You kidnapped her! I freed her from the dungeon you dumped us in.” And I followed Celestina here. Not to force her to return, but to make sure the vampires didn’t harm her.

I’d nearly revealed myself after Celestina had made that spectacular outburst of flames. I’d expected the vampires to descend on her like a pack of wild animals with their fangs bared. But even though she’d singed half the court with a huge fireball, no one had attacked her. Soren had given a cry of pleasure when her rage had exploded, like a male cheering on his female’s accomplishments. I’d seen the same look on Gregory’s besotted face whenever Ivy brewed a new flavor of ale.

Soren’s look of pride then crumpled when, her fire spent, she’d collapsed. He’d rushed forward with dizzying speed and wrapped his arms around her, catching her before her head hit the floor.

Celestina’s rage had punched a hole through Queen Frieda’s muting spell, but the muting spell had recoiled, hitting Celestina with twice as much magic, and slamming the hole closed. Even in my air form, it felt as if someone had punched me in the gut from the magical reverberations that had rocked the royal court.

And, although I’d expected Celestina to be punished for destroying the gilded throne room, Soren had petted her head and whispered how much he loved her as he’d carried her back to his chambers.

The clan had locked me away for two and a half weeks when I did what had to be done to save my fellow dragons from Celestina’s out-of-control magic. And the vampires hadn’t punished Celestina for her wholly unnecessary—but fun to witness—outburst. Why weren’t they punishing her? They should be locking her in irons. Not kissing and petting her.

After leaving Soren’s bedchamber, I’d whirled like a confused tornado through the palace, only stopping when I’d reached the calming silence in this library.

And since I couldn’t sit in a library in the nude, I had to go search for clothes. But I returned after I’d taken my human form. I needed the quiet of this place. I needed time to think.

Celestina’s vampire warrior had treated her with kindness. Trace had been kind, too. But…

Fine . Perhaps Soren wasn’t completely evil. Yes, he was trying to use Celestina. And his niceness could be a trap to brainwash her into believing he loved her and wanted to protect her. But what I’d witnessed, the tender way Soren had carried her and whispered to her, he didn’t have to do any of that. She’d been unconscious. So, why would he fawn over her like that? I’d stared into the silence of the library trying to figure out why seeing Celestina so well cared for hurt like a thousand pins in my heart. If only I could talk to the old human woman. I wished her ghost would find me here, bake me more cloudberry muffins, and offer me more words of wisdom.

The decisions you make—you, specifically, not the moonlight dragon—have the power to rewrite the lines the fates put down eons ago. You, my beautiful dragon, can save countless lives, but only if you decide to follow that amazing heart of yours. She’d already returned from beyond the grave to tell me what I needed to do.

But hell, couldn’t she have been more specific? I had no idea what my rusty heart wanted me to do.

My gaze drifted over to where Prince Cullen was resting as if nothing in the world could harm him. He’d been working against the dragons, helping the man , putting Celestina into the dungeon, and helping Soren steal Celestina away from the clan. I’d promised him that I’d kill him the next time we were in the same place. I’d let him get the best of me back in the field with the airship. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Like a silent predator, I circled his chair. “Something is troubling me.” My fingers elongated, noiselessly transforming to sharp talons. “How did you and your brother evade our patrols?”

“Ah-ah, my lovely menace, that would be giving away secrets,” he murmured without bothering to open his eyes.

I kept circling him. “You used blood magic.” My teeth sharpened into deadly points.

“I’ve told you more than once that vampires don’t use blood magic. Don’t need to. The Tiburnians, however”—he did that hand-roll thing again—“did you know their magic doesn’t come from dragons?”

“I didn’t know that.” Should I slit his throat or bite off his head? What did it take to kill a vampire? “I should have smelled the lack of dragon ancestry on the man . But he stank so much of pig, I didn’t really wish to take a more thorough whiff.”

“Tiburnian society is much different from any of the other kingdoms. It’s really rather interesting. The Tiburnians overthrew their magical royal family with dragon ancestry during the War of the Magics. Their kingdom is now ruled by elected tribunals. And magic is available to anyone…well, anyone”—he gave a jaw-cracking yawn—“with the money to pay for a mentor or who can afford one of their exclusive magic academies. Very few in their society possess natural-born magic. That’s why they use blood magic.”

“Vampire magic,” I corrected.

He still had his eyes closed as he turned his head drowsily from side to side. “It’s not at all the same.”

“Isn’t it? You consume blood to allow you to have the power to draw magic into your body so you can direct it. Those who practice blood magic use blood to capture magic and trap it in objects. Like those manacles that nearly killed me.” Blood magic was a corrosive deviation of a powerful and beautiful force in nature.

His eyelids opened just a smidge but dropped closed again. “I am sorry about that. I allowed myself to get put into…into a bad position, one that made it impossible to help you.”

I sniffed, not willing to let him off the hook for what he’d done. I continued to circle him. I could go feral and eat him raw. I’d like to see how he would react to that. Would he quiver and cry? Somehow, I doubted he’d give me that satisfaction. He’d likely enjoy it.

“The Fein have never used blood magic. I agree with you that it’s corrosive, especially to the wielder. Shortens their life.”

“I didn’t say it was corrosive.”

“But you thought it.”

He had to be guessing. It wasn’t as if he could hear my thoughts. And why was he still breathing? Why was I hesitating to use the skills I’d been born with? I could shift into air and let him breathe me into his lungs like I’d done with the rat-viper. A vampire wouldn’t survive being blown apart. But blowing him to pieces felt too quick, too impersonal.

I moved so there wasn’t the slightest jingle from the heavily spangled jacket and continued to circle my prey.

What I really wanted to do was to tear open his chest with my talons. Feel his warm flesh as I dug into him. Watch as his eyes grew wide with shock. While he suffered, I’d lick his blood from the tips of my talons. I could almost taste the spicy tang of his blood now.

I looked down at him. He had to be sleeping now. His hands rested on top of each other on his chest. They were too far away from any concealed dagger he might be wearing to be of any use. The tension in his face had smoothed out. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, making me wonder what he was dreaming about. Foolish vampire prince, he shouldn’t leave himself vulnerable to me, a superior predator. The clan would be pleased that I’d struck back at the vampires after they’d taken Celestina from us. Just like Anther had killed the old woman because the humans had taken me. This was our way. This was our justice.

A red haze coated my vision as I raised my arm.

His arm shot out and, before I could react, he grabbed my taloned wrist. “You don’t want to do that, my beautiful, bloodthirsty Amaya. If you kill me, all the fun we’ve been having together would come abruptly to an end.” He opened his eyes. “You’d miss this.” That damn smirk returned. “You’d miss me.”

“How did you—?”

“Amaya.”

“No.” I tried to back away from him. He tightened his hold on my wrist.

“Amaya.” He sounded so damn calm. He caressed the back of my hand with his thumb. The tender motion settled my boiling blood and caused my talons to return to my fingers.

“How dare you be kind to me.” He’d caught me in the act of plotting to rip out his chest. He should be furious. He should be shouting for the King’s Guards to come and drag me away. Not that they’d be able to. I’d turn to air before anyone could touch me.

“Why aren’t you turning to air to escape me?” he asked.

I looked at my wrist still trapped in his warm hand. His thumb continued to trace those silly little circles. Why wasn’t I running away? “Turn to air and lose this stylish jacket? Never!”

Prince Cullen snorted.

It was such a surprising and welcoming sound, that I couldn’t help but smile…and laugh, just a bit.

“Was that—?” Cullen jerked upright in the chair. With one hand, he adjusted his glasses. He kept hold of my wrist with his other, tugging me a little closer as he peered at me. “Was that delightful sound a midnight dragon’s laugh?”

My smile faded at his teasing. “No.”

He pulled me even closer. I nearly tripped and landed in his lap. “No, no, no, Amaya, don’t stop smiling. Please. You haven’t smiled or laughed in my presence. I’m thrilled to see you can.”

I bent down and pressed my nose to his. “I would have laughed my head off if you hadn’t stopped me from tearing out your entrails.”

His lips curled up into a look of delight. Not the reaction I’d been going for. His warm brown eyes sparkled. “I would have liked to hear that.”

“Hear what? Your entrails being torn out?” He was demented.

“No, I would have liked to hear you laughing so hard your head fell off. And to know I caused you such joy doesn’t make me demented. It means I like you, my sharp-fingered Darkness.”

I spun away from him so quickly, I snapped free from his grip. “You can hear my thoughts!”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t important. “You grabbed for my mind so many times over the past two weeks, you blazed a permanent connection between us. Can’t you hear my thoughts?”

“Not unless I’m trying!” This was so, so unfair.

“Not unfair, Amaya. We have a connection. Which means you can hear my thoughts as clearly as if I were speaking to you…”

“Like this.”

I moved closer to him. “That-that shouldn’t happen. That’s not how my powers work.”

He looked absolutely pleased by that. “The two of us must have rewritten the rules.”

“Or you broke the rules.”

He reached around me, pulled open a desk drawer, and stuck his hand inside. After a moment of rummaging around, he withdrew his hand. He had a triumphant look on his face as he opened his palm to reveal a small golden box. It shimmered in a way that made my dragon heart beat faster.

“What is that?” I demanded at the same time the door to the library swung open.

A woman wearing a sunny yellow dress breezed into the room. She had finely chiseled cheekbones, a pretty pink mouth, and the most glorious head of black hair. It made my hair look like a tangled mess. At the first sight of her, I panicked and dissolved into air.

“Dammit,” Prince Cullen growled as the clothes I’d been wearing clattered to the ground at his feet. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking, sister of mine?”

The beautiful princess glanced around the room. “Why? No one’s ever in here with you except for me or Soren.”

“Did you ever stop to think there might be a reason for that?”

“I already know the reason for that.” She crossed the room to him and kissed the top of his head. “It’s because you don’t have any friends.”

He pushed her away. “No, it’s because I don’t want anyone coming into my library.” He didn’t sound angry with her, just annoyed. “What do you want, Priscilla?”

She looked down and kicked the pile of clothes I’d left behind. “What in the four kingdoms are you doing with Sir Godfry’s ugly blazer and a pair of one of the King’s Guard’s pants? You aren’t planning on wearing that mismatched outfit for a spy mission, because if you are, you’ll immediately be found out. Oh! Is that Fireborn Chocolate?” She made an obscene sound in the back of her throat. “You said you didn’t have any left.”

She tried to snatch the box from him. But he snapped his hand closed around it. “The chocolate isn’t for you.” He glanced around the room as if searching for me. “I was saving it to give to a friend.”

“A friend?” She stamped her pretty foot.

“Yes, Priscilla. I do have one or two of them.”

“Who are you looking for?” She turned a full circle. “You don’t have a female hiding away in here somewhere? Lady Smythe? Are you in here? I’ve seen the way she looks at you, like she wants to—”

Cullen jumped out of his leather chair and slapped his hand over his sister’s mouth. “That’s inappropriate. And wrong. So wrong. You’re my sister. I’ll not talk about that with you.”

“That’s not fair,” she said after she’d shoved his hand from her face. “Just because I’m a female, I don’t get to have the same conversations you and Soren have?”

“I don’t talk to Soren about my personal life, either. Are you happy?” He pushed her toward the door. “Now, if you don’t mind, I was trying to get a few minutes of peace so I could rest.”

“But, Cullen, you need to talk to someone about your personal life…or apparent lack of one.”

“No, I don’t.” He swung the door open. “I’ll see you in the morning, Priscilla.”

She opened her mouth as if to argue, but then smiled. “You do realize you’ve never thrown me out of here before? And that, my dear brother, is telling.”

“I realize that. Good night.” He closed the door on her smiling face and turned a key in the lock. After a few moments of silence, he walked back to his leather chair.

“Amaya?” He tossed the box of chocolate in the air and caught it again. “She won’t be coming back.”

That didn’t matter. I refused to reappear in front of Cullen without clothes. Usually, nudity didn’t bother me. And just that morning, he’d seen me… all of me. So, I didn’t understand why I felt all hot and nervous about standing in front of him naked now. I must be too close to a heat source .

“I know you’re still in here,” he said, slowly spinning in a full circle as if he might be able to catch sight of me. “I’ll turn my back and promise not to peek, even though you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You have a lovely body.”

I stilled my thoughts. I didn’t want him to hear them, especially when I suddenly started to picture what his fit body might look like if he stripped off all his clothes.

“Amaya?” He sighed. “About tomorrow’s ball. I’ll leave a gown and dance slippers in this room for you, so you don’t have to come dressed as raven bait.”

He walked over to one of the many bookcases and pulled a book bound in blue leather from one of the higher shelves. “I don’t ever give out books, and I’m breaking at least three laws by sharing this one with you, an outsider and enemy of the Fein. But you deserve to have this one, even if you say you aren’t much of a reader.”

He set the book on his desk. He placed the golden box next to it and gave it a light pat. “Until tomorrow, my lovely Darkness,” he said softly. He walked toward the door but paused for a moment. “And Amaya? Please, don’t roast or maim anyone in the palace before then.”

After he was gone, I turned back into my human form and rushed over to the desk. I ripped the box open and popped the chocolate into my mouth. The treat exploded with a rich symphony of cacao flavors. Gracious, that was good.

After I’d licked the box clean of chocolate crumbs, I opened the book he’d left on his desk and read the title page aloud, “A Compendium of Dragon Lore and Facts, translated by Cullen Kitmun. The original text penned prior to the War of the Magics by Draco Falco , a self-proclaimed midnight dragon.”

While I didn’t like books all that much, I sat down in his leather chair, turned the page, and started reading.