There were broken branches lying in its wake, but many of those still attached to trees had already sprung back from the impact. Unless someone flew directly overhead and looked down at the right moment, the ship would not be seen.
Movement made me turn, and I squinted through the storm.
Considering that Earth had been conquered by them, we very seldom saw our overlords in their beast forms. I’d witnessed them as silhouettes, flying like giant birds against the clouds.
It was a very different thing seeing them up close.
I stood frozen for a few seconds before my brain kicked in to catalog the basics. Forty feet from tail tip to snout, with a wingspan at least as wide, adragonwas stretching up to wedge an entire uprooted tree over the top of theStardrifter. He was clothed in scales that gleamed in brilliant shades of red as the rain cascaded over them. The wings themselves were orange, like the sky above a dying sun.
But it was his head that captivated me. Framed in a crown of spikes, it had a broad brow and prominent jawbones that tapered to long jaws. Ruggedly beautiful, my gaze traced the features and the stunning blue gaze that gleamed sapphire…
Xandros. As clear as day, I knew it was him.
All around him were the bright yellow, feathered bodies of what looked like birds—but when one landed on top of his head and pecked it, I saw scales in places on its body and a long, whippy tail. There must have been a hundred of them, dipping and swirling around him with very annoyed sounding squawks.
The red dragon ignored them, even those daring enough to land and peck. While I stood there with my mouth hanging open, ashadow passed overhead. Another dragon coasted in on the gusting wind, deftly ducking the trees to land gracefully beside the ship. He balanced on his hind legs—his fore were loaded with broken branches.
He was dark, much darker than the other, with scales that were deep crimson to black, and auburn wings. His head was narrower, and his eyes shimmered a deep garnet.
Rhodes.
They were huge, and should have been terrifying.
I thought they were magnificent.
The dark dragon snapped at the lizard birds.
“Hey,” the red one rumbled. “We are clearly in their nesting grounds.”
“Are wenestingin their shaftzing grounds?” Rhodes snapped.
“We are here. We are gathering trees. To them, that is exactly what we are doing,” Xandros said calmly.
“Um…” I began unintelligently.
Both dragons turned to stare at me. For a moment, all three of us were like statues in the storm.
I spoke loudly into the wind. “Yani needs to talk to us. In the kitchen.”
As they writhed their way back to their humanoid state, I retreated up the ramp, out of the worst of the rain. I wanted to look away, but just couldn’t. The transformation looked torturous, but neither Drake uttered a sound.
In moments, they stood before me. As humans.Naked.
Cinnamon and auburn, they returned my stare. One a mountain of muscle, the other lean and graceful. Their bodies were different, but both were gorgeously—perfect.
I swallowed and turned away. These Drakes were getting under my skin.
My skin didn’t worry me nearly as much as my heart…
14
Jaz
I left them struggling to get their damp bodies back into their coveralls and beat them to the galley.
Zyair was already there with Yani and, unfortunately, Kurt. The human glared at the Drakes when they walked in after me. He’d sat at the head of the table, as if that honor belonged to him.
I ignored him and avoided Zyair’s gaze too, as I scooped Sookie off the counter and took snickerdoodles out of the cupboard. They were like gold on Earth, but the supply sergeant had a regular wholesaler. He also had a fondness for the hedgegopher, and made certain we had them on hand.
