“We have many things to solve, my friends, and there is no time like the now,” Mikkel says with his go-go-go nature again as he grins, glancing around. “Ström’s emerging memories have given us the first real clue in decades about who erased our own memories, and why. If this is all somehow connected to your enemy Bone Mages and that Black Dragon you hunt, and why the Knights’ Council is on all our asses, we need to solve it. I say we divide and conquer. You: Big Muscles?—”
“Bjorn. Bjorn Magnussen. I have a name,” Bjorn says as he growls at what Mikkel’s just called him.
“Magnussen? Really?” Mikkel blinks, and I understand he knows that surname. “Fascinating. In any case, you’re big: you fly back to the place you’re storing your scrolls and get them here, pronto. We’ll stay here and go over Ström’s memories, see what we can piece together about Alfhild’s more nefarious dealings, and what she was really up to.”
“The scrolls and artifacts are back at the Gilded Cage, under Emil’s protection,” Ström says as he looks at Mikkel. “I have them secured in a magical lockbox of my design. If anyone should head back there to get them, it should be me.”
“I’ll go with Ström,” Lærke says, glancing at him. “You need more magical protection than any of you can provide right now, with the Black Dragon Knights after us. Your protection from Emil has worn off by now. I’ll lend you some of my own, so your items can make it here safely.”
“What assurance do we have from you that our artifacts will be safe here?” Bjorn crosses his arms, making his nice tux bulge as he eyeballs the twins. “For all we know, you’ll kill Ström, or leave him for the Knights andtake our artifacts for yourselves. Figure this entire thing out on your own to save your asses.”
“Firstly…” Lærke says, not intimidated by Bjorn as she gets right up in his face and sticks a finger in his chest, though she’s half a head shorter. “I wouldneverabandon Ström to the wolves; you haveno ideawhat you’re talking about where he and I are concerned. Secondly, any ally against the Knights is a friend to us—and you three are stronger than most, so Mikkel and I would do better to keep you as friends, now that we know all our aims are aligned. And last, we want our missing memories back. Andshe—” Lærke points at me, “is the only person who can help us with that, if she already helped Ström. So back off, big Magnussen drake. Or you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt.”
“I’m not scared of you.” Bjorn snorts, his eyes searing all-gold with the furious power of his drake.
I see Lærke’s eyes flash then, like a snake. I know she’s about to get Bjorn in her impressive Bone Magic vise-grip.
So I step in, getting between them.
“Bjorn, stand down.” I place a hand on his chest. Next, I turn to Lærke. “If you want our help to get your missing memories back, don’t be a bitch. If we can play nice, asking for your help, you can too, asking for ours. What we’re proposing here helps us all; there’s no need for threats. And Ström’s life-mated to both me and Bjorn… what you do to one of us hurts us all. Think about that.”
Lærke blanches now as she takes a step back. I see her cool-as-cucumbers personality return, now that I’ve given her something to think about. Her eyes flick to Ström, and I see that old longing in them again.
Clearly, she still cares about him, regardless of her ire. I’m learning that Lærke’s icy cool is just as much a front as Mikkel’s devil-may-care rush; she’s a tempest of passion, deep inside.
And Mikkel is a devil in truth—dark and cold in ways I can’t even begin to fathom.
His black eyes regard me now as I stop Bjorn and Lærke’s fight.I see deep calm and icy precision in him, as he watches me with those eyes, somehow darker than any snake. It makes me shiver and does incredible, hot things to my insides as I watch him watch me. He says nothing, doesn’t even nod, but I feel his dragon curling all around me now.
Like it just might reach out and get the tastiest lick.
I don’t give him that opportunity, as I flare my magic now, forcing my power to become a Bloodshield all around me. Mikkel doesn’t flinch, though Ström, Bjorn, and Lærke do, at what I’ve just raised in this tight space.
But Mikkel just keeps watching me, like the dragon in him wants to eat me alive. His eyes pin to Aesa’s stone on my chest, even as it begins to hum and simmer with an incredible energy.
Knowing the truth we’re both trying to resist—that he should be mine.
No matter the cost.
“Bjorn, Ström, and Lærke, you will go back to the Gilded Cage and retrieve the cypher items we need to translate,” Mikkel says softly now as he watches me from the other side of my Bloodshield. “Rikyava and I will stay here. She and I have a few things we need to hash out before any of this can continue.”
“Absolutely not.” Bjorn steps in front of me to protect me from Mikkel, though I still have my shield up. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave her with you?—”
“Bjorn, go with Ström and Lærke,” I tell him now, though I don’t turn around because some part of me knows I can’t take my eyes off Mikkel right now, even for a moment. Like he just might strike if I lower my guard. “Mikkel and I need to talk. Privately. Just for a little bit. I’ll be fine. I’m a big drakaina and can hold my own while you’re gone.”
Even as Bjorn growls, Mikkel sets a palm to his chest. “Rikyava shall not be harmed while you’re gone, I promise it. If you know anything about me, you know I take my promises to the grave.”
“Mikkel’s right.” Ström sets a hand on Bjorn’s arm, holding him back. “His promises mean everything to him, Bjorn. He won’t harm Rikyava, or let any harm come to her while we’re away.”
“The two of them throwing down in a life-bonding fuck right now wouldn’t harm her physically,” Bjorn snarls protectively. “But it would fuck up everything for us. And you know it, Ström.”
“It would fuck up everything for us, too, Lærke and me,” Mikkel says quietly now as his dark eyes continue to pin me, as if he’s afraid of glancing away from me, either. “Life-bonding your mate isn’t in the cards for me, I’m afraid. She and I need to talk, however, if we are all to work together. We must come to some accord with our dragons… before any of this can continue.”
I know he’s right, as my united Bloodwalker magic roars all through me now for the power it wants to take from Mikkel.
And his snarls right back.
For the power it wants to fuck out of me.
