Chapter 11

The freezing rain had stopped and the skies were clear and blue, but I still didn't relish yet another hike through knee-deep snow—even if Baldric had given me a fur-lined oilskin that kept the wind from reaching my skin.

At least I'd have company for this trip.

Baldric slanted a glance at me as we stepped out into the bitter air. "Were you telling the truth about wanting to see my dragon form again?"

I beamed and clasped my hands together to keep from reaching for him. "I was. Are you going to show me?"

"It'll be faster if I fly us to the village."

My nose wrinkled. "How much faster? Because your claws weren't exactly comfortable."

"Since you're not freezing to death this time, you can ride."

My smile tipped into perfect innocence. "Are you inviting me to ride you, my lord dragon?"

Baldric's face darkened with hunger, and his fists clenched. "Let me kill the landlord and be done with it, then you can ride me as often as you'd like," he growled.

It was certainly tempting with Baldric's body taut with longing, but I sighed in resignation. "We should at least try not to murder him. Talking to his secretary is a good place to start."

Baldric grumbled something under his breath, then pinned me in place with a glare. "In that case, behave, my lady witch."

I grinned at him. "I don't think I will."

"Witch," Baldric growled, and it sounded like an endearment, prayer, and admonishment all wrapped into one. "Once I transform, I won't be able to speak, but I'll still understand you, so if you get frightened, let me know."

"I won't be."

Baldric didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue. "You will be able to sit just in front of my wings. I won't let you fall. But if you're not comfortable, I can carry you in my claws."

"I'll make it work," I promised. "I don't need to be carted around like a tasty sheep."

"So you don't want to be eaten?" Baldric asked with such a straight face that it took me a solid second to believe my ears.

Desire flushed up my body, and I shivered. "Now who needs to behave?"

"You're a bad influence."

"True enough, but you're stalling. Change, dragon. I promise I won't run away screaming."

"That's because you have no self-preservation instinct at all," Baldric grumbled. But he backed away, putting space between us. After another long look at me, his magic flashed and I blinked. When my eyes opened, a pale blue dragon crouched where Baldric had been standing before.

Even crouching on his four solid legs, he was as tall as the manor's first story, and the wings tucked against his back looked like they could blot out the sky. Two sharp horns swept back from his long, pointed head, and despite the cold, his breath didn't fog the air.

In fact, he blended into the wintry landscape far better than something his size should've.

"Can you really breathe fire?" I dared to ask.

That rumbling growl he sometimes made was deeper in this form. He turned his head carefully away from me and flame sprouted from his mouth, melting the snow in a wide path before him.

"Well that's a delight," I murmured in quiet awe. "No more shoveling snow for me."

Baldric snorted, then tipped his head toward his back. He crouched deeper so his left foreleg could be used as a stepladder.

I clambered up his side, then paused to lean against the firm warmth of his scales. "How are you so warm?" He made a sound that was impossible to interpret, so I guessed, "Magic?"

He nodded.

I climbed the rest of the way up and swung my leg over his shoulder, sitting where his long neck met his body. Sharp, armored spikes ran down the back of his neck, but they flattened into warm, slightly rough scales just ahead of where I was seated, so I was surprisingly comfortable.

I gripped him with my knees, and his wings were tucked just behind my calves. As long as he didn't do anything too extreme, I could likely keep my seat.

When he rumbled a question, I sucked in a surprised breath as the vibration buzzed straight between my legs.

I'd certainly felt that.

Then he took a few tentative steps and his scales shifted as his muscles bunched and moved. The slight ridges rubbed against me with tiny flashes of pleasure.

Oh no.I didn't realize I'd whimpered the words until Baldric froze. His head swiveled back toward me, and he chuffed out another wordless question that stoked the fire higher.

Then he took a deep breath and went rigidly still before a deep growl vibrated through his body—and mine.

"If you don't stop that," I gasped out, "then we're not going to make it to the village."

The growl deepened, and I squirmed, trying to escape and get closer at the same time. Magic flared and I had a single moment of weightlessness before Baldric caught me in his arms—his human arms.

I blinked at him, disoriented. "What—"

His lips covered mine in a kiss that was as hot as it was tender. When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard. "The village can wait," he half demanded, half pleaded.

When I nodded in wordless agreement, he shouldered us back into the manor and climbed the stairs to his room.

We didn't leave again until well past dinner.

* * *

The next day,when we finally managed to behave long enough to get into the air, I marveled at the strong beat of Baldric's wings and the rapidly disappearing ground. Rather than wading through deep snow for hours, the trip took mere minutes, and I was kept warm by Baldric's body and my new oilskin.

"I could get used to traveling like this," I told him as soon as we'd landed.

His eyes glinted with wicked delight. "You can rid—"

I pressed my gloved fingers to his lips. "Behave, dragon."

"Never, witch," he murmured, nipping at my mittens.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him into motion before we could get distracted—again. We'd landed at the edge of town, hidden by Baldric's magic, so it was a short walk to the landlord's secretary's office.

When I carefully hinted at what we were doing, the secretary let us look at the landlord's books and correspondence without even needing a bribe.

I gave him one anyway.

The solicitor a few doors down was a little more reticent, but a gold crest changed her mind. Apparently Lord Saario had neglected to pay her salary since the estate had transferred into his name, so she wasn't technically in his employ.

Since Baldric and I now were her employers—kind of—she let us use her meeting room. We settled down with the books and papers, and there, laid out in black and white, was the reason Lord Saario was so desperate to pull in more rent. Evidently the young lord enjoyed gambling and had accumulated quite the debt before serendipitously inheriting.

But the previous landlord had been very fair to his tenants, and most of the estate's value was in the land and the relationships, not in the bank.

The creditors who'd been promised payment in full as soon as the estate settled weren't interested in tenant relationships or unsalable land. Lord Saario was out of time. In fact, even if Baldric and I did nothing at all, I would still likely have a new landlord in the spring.

But the villagers would suffer this winter as they tried to make untenable rents.

I froze as I reread the letter in my hand. Perhaps the old landowner's passing hadn't been quite so much serendipitous as schemed. I passed the letter to Baldric. "Lord Saario killed the old landowner. Or had him killed. It's unclear."

Baldric frowned as he read. "This was with the papers the solicitor gave you?"

"Yes. And I'm going to be really upset if she knew about it and did nothing."

"Let's go ask her."

I nodded, and together we returned to the solicitor's office. Her lips pressed into a thin line when we entered. "I've helped as much as I can," she said before I could speak.

"Did you know about this?"

I handed her the letter. She glanced at it, then her eyes widened, and she read it more slowly. "Where did you get this?"

"From the papers you gave us. It was with the estate transfer stuff."

Her gaze snapped up to me. "I've never seen this before. But the paperwork was scattered over Lord Saario's desk, and he was in a hurry for me to leave because he had another appointment. When he gathered the papers, he must've included this by mistake."

"That's a pretty damning mistake," Baldric said.

The solicitor nodded. "It makes me wonder what else he's hiding." Her fingers tightened around the paper, and she leveled a surprisingly fierce glare at me. "It would be disastrous for knights to start poking around in the village. I'm sure I don't need to explain why to you."

The emphasis was subtle but unmistakable. When my eyes widened in understanding, she nodded very slightly. Her gaze flickered over my shoulder and a furrow appeared between her brows. I felt the tiniest shift in the air, like the heavy potential before a thunderstorm, and Baldric grunted. "I wouldn't," he advised, his voice mild.

She tipped her head to the side, and the feeling disappeared. "So you both understand why a slew of curious knights would be unfortunate."

"Does the estate have to pass to a family member?" I asked.

"Yes, but it doesn't have to be the next closest relation. The previous Lord Saario planned to give the estate to the current lord's younger sister, but he never got around to updating his will—despite my many attempts."

"So we just need the current lord to sign over the estate to his sister."

The solicitor snorted. "Good luck. Even if he can't sell it, it's still valuable."

"More valuable than his life?" I asked.

She chuckled bitterly. "Based on everything I've seen and heard? Yes."