For the Memory of Dragons (19 page)

Terra glanced between the two.
They’re
mates.
She paused as she tried to figure out how she knew that.
The bit of dragon inside of her stretched itself.
It
knew
.
The fact that it had supplied her with the information
surprised her.

“How?” she asked.

A wry smile crept across Carissa’s face as
she looked back down at Terra. “That’s a long story. But that’s not
important right now. What
does
matter are you and your
dragon.”

Terra waited as Carissa paused, trying to
gather her thoughts.

“I’ve been reading through the old texts,
and I think there might be a way to fix what’s wrong.”

Hope radiated through Terra. Now that she
knew what was curled up inside of her, she could separate it from
her own feelings. The poor thing was confused and scared. That made
Terra’s heart ache. “How?”

“Someone will have to share a part of their
dragon with you,” Carissa said very carefully.

Alex’s arms tightened around Terra,
squishing her against her chest. “How?” he asked.

Carissa looked up at him. “She already has
part of a dragon’s essence in her. It shouldn’t take much to
complete what’s already there. A scale from a bonded mate should do
the trick.”

Terra felt Alex draw in a deep breath as he
considered Carissa’s words.

“Use mine.” The answer rumbled out of
him.

A strange sense of contentment rolled
through Terra at his words. Even as messed up as she was, he wanted
her.

He’s only doing it because he got you
into this mess.
The nagging thought popped into her brain.
Terra wasn’t sure if it came from her psyche or the damaged dragon,
but it did have a point. Was he doing this out of duty? Or was
there more there?

“I think we should leave that choice up to
her.” Carissa turned her attention back to Terra. “Do you
understand what it means to be a bonded mate?”

A bonded mate?
Terra thought about
that for a moment. Alex had explained that dragons mated for life,
but they hadn’t had much time to talk about what it really
meant.

“No,” she answered. She needed to know what
was asked of her before agreeing to something that was
permanent.

Carissa gave Alex a surprised look.

He gave her back a shrug. “We haven’t had
much time to talk about it.”

A wry smile slipped across Carissa’s face.
“I suspect you haven’t.” Drawing in another long breath, Carissa
let it out slowly and focused on Terra.

Terra held her breath as she waited for the
woman to go on.

“Well, to start, male dragons mate for
life.”

This Terra remembered from her talk with
Alex, but something caught her attention. “
Male
dragons?”

Carissa nodded. “Only male dragons are
driven to mate for life. Once they find a mate, they will devote
the rest of their life to making her happy. On the other hand,
female dragons are not driven to take a permanent mate. Females are
driven to take the best male for their future brood.” A smile
spread across her face. “Knowing that their female may find a
better mate makes most male dragons very fussy over their chosen
mates.”

Terra thought about that for a second. “But
wouldn’t that cause problems?”

Kyle let out a bark of laughter, but it
didn’t hold any joy in it.

“Yes,” Carissa nodded her head. “It’s been
known to cause a few issues.”

“Bloody wars,” Kyle muttered angrily.

Carissa shot her brother a piercing glance.
“But that was a long time ago.” She turned her attention back to
Terra. “Back when the survival of the species depended on who had
the strongest blood. Nowadays, dragons tend to stick with their
chosen mates by bonding.”

“Bonding?” Terra asked.

“It’s when a dragon gives a piece of
themselves to their mate,” Carissa explained. “It’s a complicated
process, but it’s usually done by sharing a scale. I can tell you,
it’s not a very pleasant experience, but it joins the two mates
together for life. It also allows a human mate to share some of the
powers of their dragon mate. Like their longevity.”

That made sense!
That’s why Alex’s
dragon had seen her as a potential mate despite her being human.
Terra glanced over her shoulder to the man holding her. He had
offered up his scale to help fix her condition, but that would
leave them as a bonded pair, together until death. Was he doing it
because that was what he wanted? Or was he offering himself as
penance for leaving her unprotected? Terra focused back on Carissa.
“And what if I refuse?”

Alex drew in a sharp breath and squeezed her
tighter.

Carissa raised an eyebrow at Terra. “Besides
shattering the heart of the man who’s spent the last three days by
your side?” She shrugged. “You would remain as you are—broken until
we could find a way to either remove the dragon or heal it.” An
amused grin crept across her face. “At least you would have company
in your stay.”

Terra peeked over her shoulder at Alex. He
had a grim-but-determined expression on his face. Yes, no matter
what her answer was, he would stay with her. Warmth washed through
her. The dragon inside of her liked the idea of being bonded with
Alex. She closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms to think. Before
everything had gone to pot, he had been interested in her as a
mate. So much so that he’d been fighting with his dragon. She drew
in a deep breath as she made her decision. It didn’t matter what
reason he had for offering himself up, his dragon had chosen her
well before things had gone bad. She opened her eyes and grinned at
Carissa.

“I’m already scared; I might as well be
Terra Fied.”

“Terrified?” Carissa asked, alarmed.

Terra laughed softly. “I’ll take the scale.”
She paused and looked back at Alex. “That is, if you’ll have
me.”

“Yes,” Alex answered without pause of
thought. He dropped his face to her shoulder and purred out a word.
“Mine!”

Carissa laughed. “Then let me find a
knife.”

Michael pulled a pearl handled switchblade
from his pocket and held it out.

“Always the Boy Scout,” Carissa teased as
she took the knife.

Michael shrugged and stepped back away from
the bed.

“Now,” Carissa turned her attention back to
the bed, “we need a scale.”

Alex nodded. “Right.”

Terra turned just in time to watch scales
shimmer over him as he shifted to his lesser form. He had been
amazing before, but now, with her vision still messed up, he was
dazzling. His scales caught the light and threw it out in rainbow
hues. Her breath caught as he circled around her to lie in her lap.
His tail wrapped up around her other side and draped across her
legs.

Carissa laughed at him. “You couldn’t get
rid of him if you wanted.”

Alex rumbled his annoyance with the woman,
but he turned a sparkling eye to Terra. “Pick whichever one you
like.”

Terra stared at him, awed. He had chirped
and squeaked at her, but she’d understood what he’d said.
How?
The dragon curled inside of her answered with a soft
purr. Terra looked up at Carissa but couldn’t find the words to
express what she was feeling.

“Pick a scale,” Carissa prompted her.

Nodding, Terra turned her attention to the
dragon in her lap. Running her fingers over his glittering hide,
she looked for just the right one. She petted him, feeling the
ridges in his scales. When her fingers ran over a larger scale on
his shoulder, the dragon inside of her gurgled.

“This one.” She touched the scale again.

Carissa looked at the scale. “Good
choice.”

Kyle made an agreeing noise and stepped back
out of Carissa’s way.

Walking around the end of the bed, Carissa
came up to stand next to Terra. Her hand came down to rest on
Alex’s shoulder just above the scale Terra had chosen. “Now comes
the hard part.”

Using the tip of the knife, Carissa wiggled
the blade under the edge of the scale. She chanted softly as she
worked.

Alex hissed and kneaded the bed with his
claws as Carissa cut the scale from his shoulder.

Carissa grimaced as she pulled the scale
free, and blood gushed from the wound. “Sorry,” she said as she
tried to press on the wound. “I had to take more than normal.”

“I got it,” Terra said as she covered the
hole in Alex’s shoulder and applied pressure. Magic tingled across
her skin as she brushed against Carissa and the loosened scale.

“Thanks,” Carissa said as she pulled back,
leaving Terra holding the wound. “Um, I’m sorry, but this is going
to hurt.”

Terra nodded and bit down, waiting for the
bite of the knife. It hurt as it went in, but the sharp edge
slipped through the skin over her shoulder blade with ease. A
tingle of magic washed over her as Carissa slipped the scale into
the open cut. It hurt a little bit, but that was nothing compared
to the burn that raced through her system as the scale settled into
place. Terra screamed and collapsed forwards onto Alex as her world
shattered apart.

***

Alex kneaded the bed as the point of the
knife slipped under his scale.
God, that hurt!
He had heard
that the sharing of scales was a painful experience, but he never
expected to feel it clear to his soul. But then again, he would
give up a thousand scales for Terra. The fact that she nearly
refused him tore at his heart. Alex breathed through the pain and
thought about her reaction. She had asked the same question when he
had told her to refuse him at the hotel. The ache in his heart
eased. She wasn’t refusing him; she was checking all of her options
and their consequences before making an informed decision. A wise
choice. That, Alex could respect. One needed to know all the
options when making a choice that would change one’s life
forever.

Her play on words floated back to him, and
he smiled inwardly. Carissa had totally missed the reference.
Terrified. Terra Fied. Even faced with an unknown future, she took
the time to stop and crack a joke. It showed she had an indomitable
spirit—something she was going to need in the coming months as she
learned a new way of life.

Blood gushed down his side as Carissa cut
the scale free, but he didn’t hear what she said. More had been
pulled away from him than just flesh. He sat there, stunned by the
loss, as Terra pressed her hand over his wound. Her firm touch
pulled him away from the shock.

It’s for her,
his dragon rumbled with
contentment.

The loss was nothing compared to what he was
gaining in trade. He shifted his head so he could watch as Carissa
attached his scale.

Pain raced across Terra’s face. She let out
an ear-shattering scream and collapsed against him.

“
Terra!
” he roared and tensed up, but
he dared not move underneath her.

Carissa reached for her, but Michael was at
her side, holding her back. He shook his head and pointed at Terra.
Kyle froze on the other side of the bed, watching.

Alex focused his eye on Terra and watched as
patches of multicolored scales raced across her skin, and her form
twisted. He could actually hear her bones creak as she shifted. It
was the slowest and most agonizing shift he had ever witnessed.
When she was done, she leaned against him, unconscious, in the
perfect form of a lesser dragon. And blue as a star sapphire.

Shifting under her, Alex reached around and
nuzzled her side, but she didn’t respond to him.

“She’ll be all right.”

Alex looked up at Michael. Apparently, the
man had reclaimed his voice from Carissa.

Michael leaned over and carefully pulled the
IV away from Terra’s foreleg. Her body had pushed the plastic tube
out as it had shifted, and the liquid was leaking all over the bed.
“My first shift was just as bad,” he admitted, “only I didn’t have
the good fortune of passing out halfway through it.” Gently, he
lifted her off Alex and laid her back on the bed.

Free from her weight, Alex moved around so
he could see her. She was beautiful. Her scales glittered softly in
the light, almost the exact same shade as his. Two small horns
curved back from her head. She was nearly a perfect copy of him,
only smaller. He nosed her softly, trying to get her to wake
up.

Kyle ran his hand down Alex’s back, drawing
his attention away from her. “Just let her rest.”

Michael chuckled softly as he pulled the
blanket up over her. “She’s going to need it,” he said wryly. “That
first shift is exhausting. But stay with her. If she’s anything
like me, she’s going to need you when she wakes up.”

“Thank you,” Alex chirped. Even if Michael
hadn’t suggested he stay, he was not going to leave her side until
he knew she was okay. Carefully, he found a spot right up against
her side and lifted his wing over her. Drawing in a deep breath, he
relaxed next to her. Waiting for some change in her condition had
been tiring, but the last few hours had completely exhausted him.
With Terra’s form stable and tucked safely under his wing, he could
finally catch that nap he so desperately needed.

***

Damn, it was hot in here.
Terra
shifted in her sleep, trying to get more comfortable. She kicked at
the covers, but they didn’t shift as she wanted them to. Growling
her frustration, she tried to roll onto her side. Her back hit
something solid and stopped her from getting into a more
comfortable position. She had always been a side sleeper, and lying
on her stomach wasn’t comfortable. Growling again, she wiggled,
trying to reach her goal, but something tangled around her legs.
Visions of the men that had attacked her flashed in her head, and
she thrashed, desperate to get away from them.

“Terra!”

The chirp of Alex’s voice broke into her
fear, and she froze in her struggles. A tingle of magic washed over
her scales, and the weight that was holding her down lifted.