In the creek nearby, the crystals vibrated as if raising their hands. I couldn’t take my eyes off Quinn for a moment, but my chrysalis magic was quick to respond to them in kind. My wings pulsed in time to them. Teddy and Everett cursed beside the stream. Even without them, I felt the moment that several gems flew from the water. Several quartzes, staurolites, garnets, and amethysts were sharp shards floating in front of me. I could feel them like extensions of myself, ready to strike at any time. Their energy was exhilarating, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Quinn wore that smoldering smirk that I loved so much and made me want to melt in place. She paced for a moment, taking in the display, but my mate didn’t seem like she felt trapped. No, she considered me and my crystals like this was simply a game of chess, and I had made an impressive move, but nothing game-winning. Each step she took was measured and sure. Her daggers glinted in the rising sunlight, and her eyes sparked just as bright.
Gods help me, why the fuck was this so hot?
Just when I wondered if she was going to attack at all, Quinn darted forward. My fingers twitched, sending the crystals toward her. Quinn’s smirk grew like she was fully anticipating this. Using her blades, she deflected each shard. They flew off in different directions behind her, falling to the ground or stabbingit to stand straight up. A few did manage to graze her arms or snag on her shirt and joggers, but they didn’t slow her down. Her scratches even healed before a drop of blood could seep out. My eyes widened as she ended up in front of me faster than she should have been able to.
She swept her feet and Amy in an arcing feint, but it wasn’t to knock me down. It was to make me reposition, pushing me to where she wanted me to be. I leapt back, using my wings to carry me out of her reach. But Quinn was already in front of me, controlling the space between us. She went to slash me with her blade, but I dodged and aimed for her arm, claws out and flexing.
Her smirk widened.
I realized too late that that was exactly what she wanted.
Quinn caught my wrist and twisted her whole body with mine. With a smooth, vicious snap of her elbow, she pulled me into her chest. Somehow, she was able to catch my tail under the toe of her shoe, so I couldn’t slash it against her like I wanted to get out of her hold. My wings fluttered between us, stuck, with little wiggle room. Quinn’s huge arm kept my arms in place at my sides. The flat side of Amy against my arm was warm, even hotter than Quinn’s body heat. I expected it to burn or sting like Lilah’s or Cooper’s weapons, but it felt more like a bath that was too hot and needed to cool.
“Don’t look at the blade,mi libélulita,” Quinn’s low voice kissed my ear warmly. “You have tofeelwhat it’s doing and what it might do next. This is going to hurt, but it’s going to help with that. I’m so very, very fucking sorry in advance.”
Before I could ask her what she meant, Tina flashed out of the corner of my eye. She sliced the dagger across my thigh in one precise, clean movement. She ripped through my leggings straight to my skin underneath. However, the skin didn’t meet the obsidian edge.
My scales did.
My scales were already sensitive as fuck. The slightest touch was enough to overwhelm my senses. When Quinn grazed them with her fingers or lips or tongue or teeth, it wasmaddeninglysexy, and I couldn’t get enough. But, feeling Quinn’s blade cutting into them? It felt more like a kiss of fire. I roared as the heat flared, burning me all the way to the bone. Even Quinn flinched behind me as the bond sent my pain to her. It wasterrible. But it was nowhere near as bad as anything touched by Lilah’s magic. As quickly as it exploded through me, it dulled to a hot ache. The blood from the cut hardened and jutted out from the rip in my leggings, crystallizing into rubies with opalescent sparkles shimmering within them. Quinn used her finger to touch them and make them crumble away, revealing my healed scales underneath.
“That is sofuckingcool,” I heard Teddy gasp, seeing how I healed for the first time. Even Everett had raised eyebrows in admiration.
I, on the other hand, felt a spark of anger. My tail thrashed under her hold. “Was thatactuallynecessary? What happened tonothurting me?”
“I’m so sorry, baby girl. Please don’t be upset. I promise I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t, and I hated that I had to,” Quinn kissed my head. I could feel her sincerity rippling from her. “Your scales are sensitive for a reason. They can sense energy. Once you are hit with something magical like a hunter’s weapon, it’s like your scales remember it and can track it so you can avoid being hit by it again. It’s another reason why hunters hunt dragons in teams. Too many weapons with too many different strains of power hitting a dragon overwhelms them.”
So, that’s how my mom and Pops were able to be taken down, at least part of how,I thought, and the realization clicked something into place in my head. Even truer to Quinn’s words,my scales rippled up and down my arms, feeling the power of her blade against them. It felt familiar now, and my dragon growled at its proximity. She wanted to rip it out of Quinn’s hand and shatter it into black shards.
I couldn’t say that I disagreed with the idea.
Sensing this, Quinn caressed my arm with her hand that wasn’t holding me in place. She intentionally caught on my scales flickering in and out of existence from her blades. I bit my lip to swallow a breathy moan at the shiver rippling through my body.
Leave it to our mate to make something annoying into something pleasurable, my dragon huffed. I bit down harder to resist smiling.
Quinn continued. “The other thing to keep in mind is that hunters are trained to fight as if our weapons are extensions of ourselves. You aren’t dodging ablade. You are dodgingmeand everything that I am. If you can anticipate where my daggers are going next, you can easily get the upper hand. Does that make sense?”
I nodded, excited to try once more. “Got it. Let’s go again.”
Pride cascaded through our bond as Quinn gave me one more kiss on my forehead before she let me go. I turned, blew her a kiss, and flew to land a few feet away from her. I rolled my shoulders before I relaxed into my stance again. My scales hummed in tune with the pulse of magic from Quinn’s daggers. My focus was sharpened on that.
I breathed out slowly.
Quinn advanced first again.
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
I met her halfway.
Tracking the rhythm of her daggers and her entire body, I easily felt her swing coming. I darted, low and fast, underneath it. Before she could twist to respond with her other blade, my tailwrapped around one of her knees and brought her to the ground.Hard. As the air left her lungs, I blurred to plant my knees on either side of her waist and pin her wrists onto the ground on either side of her head. My tail arced wide to hover the crystal spikes at her throat.
We were both breathing hard, our chests rising and falling in tandem with each other. Her daggers were still in her hands, but she didn’t dare move to use them and risk her throat being slit.
Gotcha, my sweet knightmaiden.
I twisted around to Everett and Teddy. Teddy’s jaw was wide and on the ground, while Everett’s eyebrows were in the sky. I chuckled breathlessly. “So, how’s that jury doing there, Eevee?”
