Page 33 of So I Dared a Dragon (The Mating Game #6)

thirty-three

. . .

Aarix

I rose from my seat, and the humans at the other tables started screaming at me.

“Hey, stretch, you’re blocking my view of the Hunks!”

“Maybe he’s gonna get on stage.” From the cheers, the other humans seemed to like that option.

Their wish was about to come true. Calista grabbed my hand, but I shook her off. I wouldn’t let the Night God think for another second that he could continue to intimidate me, my mate, or anyone I cared about.

“Wait, does he have scales?” someone asked.

“This ends tonight. Right here.” I wasn’t familiar with the source material, but it had become obvious that the show was a thinly veiled metaphor to deliver the Night God’s message. But I was the one who’d write the ending to this script.

It took everything I had not to breathe fire. These buildings were huge and filled with innocent humans, caught in the middle of an ancient dispute they couldn’t begin to understand.

“He’s going on stage!” someone from the crowd exclaimed.

Security beat me to the stage. They were big, muscular human men, but no match for me.

“Aarix, no!” Calista cried, but there was no more playing nice or waiting until the end of the show so we could film the rest of our date.

“Aarix.” Luca stood in front of me. “He wasn’t really here. Only we could see him.”

“Impossible.”

Luca pointed at the stage. “Look. The unicorns are in the middle of their next number. I know it seemed real and solid but he’s playing with magic that’s not available to the rest of us.”

“Where is he getting the power?” Were there more dragons in captivity here? The city was surrounded by mountains smaller than the Rockies, but there was no telling who could be trapped there.

“It’s Sin City. The options are endless.” Luca shrugged. “In my research I’ve found evidence of an underground prison, in the pipes below the city. Seems like a ripe opportunity.”

“He must be stopped.”

I turned to my mate. Her eyes were wide, her body tense. Ready for action. “Sunshine, I promise to bring you back here for a no-holds-barred weekend of your dreams.”

“Where are we going?” Calista asked.

“To recover the Guardian Stone.”

“You can’t go alone.” Bibi came between us.

“No. You’re not going at all. It’s too dangerous.” Hugo shook his head at his mate. “You’re still healing from the last fight.”

“We’re in the middle of filming the date. How do we edit it if it ends in an epic dragon battle?” Bibi asked.

“Film Darcy and Luca,” Calista suggested, giving her friend a sly smile. “Am I the only one who’s noticed they’re getting awfully cozy at the end of the table?”

“We’re coming with you,” Darcy said.

“No. This is a fight between me and the Night God.” And it was beyond time for it to be over. “I need Calista’s powers.”

“She’s inexperienced,” Luca said, but I waved my hand.

“That’s exactly what he wants all of us to think. It’s time for all of us to stop underestimating her.” I slipped my hand in hers. “Are you ready, sunshine?”

“I was born ready.”

But her body was tense, temperature rising, and her breathing had quickened as we left the theater.

“You’re ready to fight,” I said as we reached the same entrance that we’d used to come into the resort. It was eerily quiet compared to what we’d seen outside the Alta Vista.

Calista turned to me, taking both my hands in hers. “This god—I hate giving him such an exalted title—kept us apart for centuries. He’s got this coming.”

“We still have centuries ahead of us, sunshine.” I kissed the top of her head.

“I’ll wrap my mind around that one of these days.” She smiled at me. “I’d like to run an idea by you.”

“Of course.”

“We’re not sure that’s actually the Night God, right? It could be another supernatural being doing his bidding, especially since he’s not even supposed to rise until after the Summer Solstice.”

“True.”

“And we can’t kill him, because then there would be no night,” she continued.

“What do you propose?”

“Whoever that was is probably licking his chops, waiting for us to come for them. There’s probably a whole group of them waiting to catch us outnumbered.”

“I can signal Magnus and Luca if we need them.” I was surprised Magnus hadn’t caught up to us yet. It was a giant leap of faith for him to trust Calista in a fight. I was proud of him.

She shook her head. “We won’t, because we’re not going to fight him.”

I quirked a brow. “Do tell.”

“We go get the Guardian Stone. Then we head back to Sunset Springs and free the dragons before the Night God has a chance to catch up with us. Then we’ll never have to worry about being outnumbered again. If I remember correctly, they’re a fierce group of fighters. That’s where Bibi gets it from.”

“You do remember correctly.”

She turned around. “Would you unzip my dress? It’s to pretty to get burned in the shift.”

“You never have to ask me twice.” The tiny zipper was hard to grasp with my talons, but the effort was quickly rewarded by Calista’s glorious body as she stepped out of it.

I undressed, and she texted Bibi, letting her know where we left our belongings. Hugo had told us about how the various internet systems worked, and how they went wrong. For a moment, I worried that someone might intercept the message. That they’d hurt our friends in retaliation for our plans.

But our friends could more than handle themselves. They were proud dragons who’d been denied their power and some of the fiercest wolves I’d ever met.

The Night God didn’t stand a chance.