Page 15 of So I Dared a Dragon (The Mating Game #6)

fifteen

. . .

Aarix

This was the first time I’d met the shifter known as Hugo in person. His reputation definitely preceded him—everyone on the production staff seemed to like him, but not everyone agreed he was the right wolf to lead security.

And Bibi was head over heels in love with him, which made me have questions.

“Hugo is Bibi’s mate?” I asked as Bjorn drove us out of Sunset Springs on a dark, windy road that led into the mountains. Playing by modern rules was an exercise in patience. It would’ve been easier to fly, to take whatever was causing this so-called hot spot by surprise in our dragon form.

“He is,” Bjorn said with a chuckle. “When she’ll let him be.”

“But if she’s his mate, how could he walk away from her? I was ready to burn down the world to claim mine. Didn’t you feel the same?”

Bjorn let out a long sigh. “Hugo’s putting everything on the line too. He’s just doing it his way.”

“Can we trust this wolf?” I asked. “He’s the head of security, but he left the show before the episode started. When there’s a threat against my mate. Is he taking this seriously?”

“Keep an open mind,” Bjorn urged. He turned off the road, following a narrow, dirt path up the side of the mountain. It was pitch dark, and one false move would send the van tumbling into a ditch.

He pulled in beside a pickup truck, pulled out his phone, and grunted.

“It’s supposed to be working,” he said quietly and shoved the phone back into his pocket before looking up at us. “Let’s go see what these hot spots are about.”

Luca’s concerned gaze met mine as we got out of the van.

These dragons had trusted me once before, and they’d paid for that mistake with centuries of their lives. Time I could never give back. And yet, they still followed me here. I had nerve questioning Hugo when I led those I cared about most into pain and suffering.

We found Hugo in a small cave-like room that looked much like what the security team had referred to as the hive back at The Mating Game headquarters. He sat at a desk in front of many screens and had a notepad in front of him. All we could see was the back of his bald head.

He was massive in his human form, with broad shoulders straining against a leather jacket. He turned and gave us a grin.

“The rumors are true,” he said good-naturedly as he rose from his chair. “People have a tendency to exaggerate when it comes to creatures they don’t often see around here. But you guys are the real deal.”

“We’re hoping you can help us find more of our kind.”

Hugo’s dark eyes lit up. “I can’t make any guarantees, but ever since I heard that there were possibly more dragons trapped in the Rocky Mountains, I’ve been looking for unusual activity.” He motioned to one of the monitors, which had the same heat map on it that we’d seen at HQ. “Usually, when we have rogue shifters in the area, they’re acting alone or in very small groups. They don’t stay in the same place for long. So when we saw this spot, we honestly weren’t sure what it was. We thought it could be deep, dormant volcanic activity. But then, once we were made aware there could be dragons trapped down there, I started looking at it differently.”

“Have you seen any signs of life?”

“Let me zoom in closer so you can get an idea of what we’re dealing with,” Hugo said. “There have been slight movements and temperature variations, which makes me think there’s life inside the mountain.”

“Someone’s in there.” Magnus stepped closer to the monitor as the bright yellow spot faded away, showing the steep red rocks and vegetation that covered the surface of the area.

“Let’s hope they’re friendly,” Bjorn said before he turned for the door.

I held my hand up. “Bibi told us about shifters being brought back from the dead. Any chance the operation you encountered was just a small part of a larger group?”

Hugo hesitated. “I certainly hope not. But we wouldn’t be able to rule anything out until we access that mountain.”

“What are we waiting for?” Magnus said. “If our kin are there, there’s no telling how long they’ve been without sunlight. How long it’s been since they’ve been able to stretch their wings and take flight.”

“It’s not accessible by car. We’d need to reach it by helicopter, which we wouldn’t—”

“Or by dragon,” I pointed out. “We can get you there.”

Hugo and Bjorn looked at one another.

Bjorn swallowed hard. “You want us to ride you?”

“We could carry you with our talons, but you’d be more comfortable on our backs.” I grinned. “Magnus is right. Now that we know someone’s down there, we have a responsibility to make sure they want to be.”

“They might not be friendly,” Hugo warned. “We’re skilled fighters, but it looks like we’d be outnumbered.”

“We’ll be more outnumbered if we go without you,” Magnus warned.

The blond bear shifter turned to us. “What do you need from us?”

“Space.” And a lot of it. “Get us away from anything you don’t want to burn.”

“Around the bend.” Hugo waved his hand. “There’s just brush and rocks out there.”

I nodded to Magnus and Luca and the air thickened with smoke as our body temperatures spiked in preparation for the shift.

I stripped out of the clothes as I walked. We’d have to recover these, since the wardrobe department worked hard on customizing them for us, and this town wasn’t accustomed to naked dragons.

These shifters had followed rules for far too long…

Sparks flew from my skin, illuminating the night. The air warmed to my right as the flames engulfed Magnus. My human bones melted away, never quite right in this form, and reality blurred, obscured, but only for a few moments, and then everything was right.

It felt so good to be a dragon. Free. After being stuck in my human form for centuries, I associated it with being bound. Confined. Restricted. How did we resign ourselves to being small again?

Your mate, my dragon reminded me as the rest of my scales blossomed over my skin.

Of course. If only she could join me in this form. Calista was meant to breathe fire.

Magnus and Luca were mid-shift, and when the flames subsided, there were three dragons and two shellshocked shifters in their human forms.

I lowered my wings. “Climb on.”

Bjorn straddled Magnus’s back, and Hugo climbed onto mine.

“Hang onto my scales. My wings will act as a barrier. You won’t fall.” I waited until I felt his firm grip. “Ready?”

“Let’s do this,” he said.

With a flap of my wings, we were airborne, rising quickly. The altitude was much higher here than in the Smoky Mountains, and we could fly much faster. I had to keep that in mind now that I had a passenger.

“Do you need me to give you directions?” Hugo yelled.

“I can sense the vibration, that’s what I’ll use as my guide.” I’d felt it, a faint thump I couldn’t identify but I knew was familiar, as long as we’d been in Sunset Springs. All I’d needed was confirmation.

I stayed close to Magnus, keeping an eye on his passenger. I trusted him implicitly, but flying with untrained riders was dangerous. Some would even say irresponsible. There were times I could be counted amongst those ranks, but there was no other solution.

That vibration grew stronger, more urgent. Luca soared ahead, leaving a streak of cobolt in his wake. He lowered his glide, easily navigating in between the craggy peaks of the mountains.

“This is it,” he confirmed. “I can feel it like it’s my own heartbeat.”

Same, brother, same.

“Do you see an entrance?” I asked. “Any activity on the ground?”

Luca swooped down, and Magnus and I followed. Our flight slowed as we surveyed the area. The buzz of activity practically burned my ears and rattled my veins.

“They’re in there,” I said. “And they must know we’re out here.”

“I can’t find a way in.” Frustration swirled like smoke with each of Luca’s words.

“We can blast it open,” Magnus suggested.

“No,” I said in unison with Hugo and Bjorn. “Too dangerous.”

“What do we do?” he asked. “Even if there was a door, it doesn’t mean there would be a welcome mat.”

“We can’t destroy the mountain. It could be an act of war. We’re outnumbered.” At least, as dragons. There were countless shifters in the area, but we could hardly count them as allies yet. And we had yet to know the history here. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“This isn’t like last time, Aarix,” Magnus groaned. “You can be a strong leader.”

He was right, and it solidified my decision. “We’ll free whoever is in there, but not tonight.”