Page 1 of Singing the Dragon’s Heart

Chapter

One

“ Y ou’re going to have to take them and run, Talon. We’re almost out of darkness.” Kami knew it. The sun was creeping up on them, the sky beginning to whisper with pinks and oranges, and they needed to fly.

There was no way they were going to get all the omegas out if they didn’t move now, and he was slowing all of them down. He wasn’t trying to, but he was exhausted. He hadn’t known how badly it would hurt, to be without a stone, to do what he’d done.

But he had, and he didn’t regret it.

But he couldn’t…he just couldn’t do this anymore, and faced with the cliffs before him—there was no way he could shift, much less fly.

He met his best friend’s gaze, the huge scarred dragon glaring daggers at him. “The needs of the many, right?”

“I’m not going to leave you here to die, you stubborn ass,” Talon growled, the ground beneath them rumbling, some of the children beginning to cry.

“What does it matter?” he snapped back, his temper flaring. They didn’t have time to argue. It wasn’t as if no one would know who had done this. They’d made enough magical noise to wake the dead, smashing the wards to make it seem as if someone was invading so they could escape with a mass of unmated omegas and little ones, all eager to take their chances in a wild new world where they were free to come and go as they would. “What does it matter if I die here, or I die free? I’m dying one way or the other. Take the omegas and run.”

“Seriously, you two? You both have damned martyr complexes, and it’s going to get us all killed!” Katerina, one of the omegas with a child wrapped close to her chest, snapped at them, her eyes flashing with lightning. “Put him on your damn back and carry him, alpha. We’re not idiots; we are omegas. I swear by all I hold holy. You two are determined to out-sacrifice one another. Not only is it irritating, but it’s becoming boring.”

The rumble of the other omegas surprised him, but apparently, they were all in agreement.

They’d managed to sneak out of the keep in the dark of night, staying low and along the edge of the water until they reached the rocky edge of the mountains. The dawn was about to come, and they had very little time left to fly up and over to the human realm. From there, they were going to have to head up into the Rocky Mountains to find the sanctuary.

Talon had heard a rumor that his brother, Triton, had escaped to the freehold, that the entire place was protected from danger.

That they could all be free.

That didn’t matter now. Now they had to get up and over the rocky cliffs before they were in danger of being spotted. They had to slip into the human realm. Find a place to spend the day. Find transport, food. There were so many parts to this and… Kami just couldn’t think.

“All right. There’s no time to argue. We have to get up over those cliffs. We have to do it now.” Talon gave him a judging glance, serious as a heart attack. “Do you think you can fly, or do you want to ride me? As a human, I can carry you no problem, but I’m not leaving you behind. So either shift and fly, or let’s go. I can feel the warriors; they’re getting close.”

Kami shook his head, so frustrated, but there was no time to argue. “I can’t shift. I think… I think that’s done for me now.”

“Fine. Then we’ll fly.” Talon nodded. “All right, let’s do this. Everyone, you’re going to go up and over. As soon as you get on the other side and into human air space, you go down and you shift back so they can’t catch you. There’s a hotel right on the other side. There are eight reserved rooms, they’ve already been paid for. Katerina, they’re under your name.”

“Wait, what?” When had Talon done any of that?

Talon just ignored him. “I’ll send transport; they’ll pick you up, and they’ll bring you to us.”

Katerina nodded. “Then let’s do this. Is everyone ready? We have to move now. Dawn’s about to come, and if they catch us on this side…”

No one wanted to think about that.

The dragons began to shift, two dozen of them, six with little ones, swarming up along the cliff face.

“I don’t understand, Talon. Why aren’t we dealing with all this?”

“Because I’m taking you to the keep. The rumor is that there’s a seer there that can fix this, and my brother knows things I don’t. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to just let you die. Not for me, not like this.”

“I don’t think that you get a choice in that.”

“You haven’t given me a choice in a lot of things,” Talon snapped. “But that’s really not the issue. Now let’s go. It’s time to fly. When I shift, you grab on and hold on tight.” Talon wrapped him in warm layers of blanket.

“I’ll do my best.”

“You do that.” Talon shifted, his huge dragon form so impressive, even if the scars were worse in this form, slashing across his scales. Still, he was a massive warrior alpha, and he gleamed an iridescent platinum color.

Healthier now that he had a new heartstone.

Well, new to Talon.

He put a foot on Talon’s foreleg, and he was lifted up. He clambered over Talon’s back, sliding in between wing ridges and neck scales. Now all he had to do was hold on. Mostly with his legs. He could sleep right here, to be honest. He would just have to not slide off…

Don’t you dare slide off. You are my hero, my best friend.

I’m no one’s hero. The words made him smile, though, pleasing him down to the bone.

Shut up, Kami. I can have you for a hero if I want. Talon sounded so affronted.

You can. He squeezed Talon with his legs. I couldn’t let them kill you. You are— Talon was willing to help him smuggle dragons out. They’d been doing it for months, going keep to keep, gauging interest, slowly bleeding them out so they could fly free.

Not everyone wanted to go; in fact, it was the smallest amount, and?—

Kami! Hold on!

Talon wheeled around, roaring furiously as a wave of warriors came screeching toward them. The stones from the mountain seemed to be hurling themselves off the cliff face itself and lobbing toward the dragons.

Most of the omegas were well over the edge, moving to the human’s air space.

But he knew they had to give them more time, and that Talon would have to be the one to turn and fight. So Kami had to hold on for dear life.

He bent down to Talon’s neck. Don’t drop me.

Doing my best.

Three dragons appeared behind them as Talon wheeled about. More rocks rained down, the earth along the edge of the opening rising and spitting itself out at the dragons coming their way, spitting fire.

Stay down!

He nodded against Talon’s neck, his heart racing, his body feeling weaker by the moment. Oh, he wasn’t dying. Not yet. But he was not well.

He heard some of the children screaming, and he closed his eyes, trying to call up his magic. The water would dance for him if he could call to it. It wasn’t like breathing fire, but sometimes he could do it.

He sucked in a deep breath, then concentrated on making a funnel of water. A water tornado, or cyclone. He just needed it to put a wall between them and their attackers. Just long enough.

Be careful! Talon roared. Not too close.

I’m trying. It’s not an exact thing! Water did have a mind of its own, based on wind, waves and more. And the beating dragon wings were stirring up crazy air currents.

Talon back winged, and dragons roared, great gouts of steam geysering as bursts of fire met the water. They had to get away, or they would be flash steamed like a limp vegetable.

A glance told him that all the omegas were now in human territory and on the way to safety.

“Go, Talon! Go now.”

Hold on! Talon shouted at him again, then swooped low, drawing one dragon to crash into the cliff. Then Talon rose sharply, and G forces pulled at him, making Kami dizzy.

He fought for purchase, but as soon as they evened out over land, human land, he let go of his waterspouts, and gray mist of a different kind crept into his vision. His grip weakened on Talon’s neck, and he gave a weak cry.

He was going to fall.

Kami! No! Talon’s mental shout was the last thing he heard, and then everything went black as he spun off into the air.