9. Bree

9

Bree

The first rays of dawn found me collapsed on the bench near the beach.

The trampled meadow was clear of refugees—they'd all been transferred to the Coliseum. Students had switched from feeding and caring for them, to cleaning up the debris of their passage.

I had not one iota of strength left in me. If Cara hadn't paused a few times to lend me her energy, I wouldn't have made it this far.

Adilyn, complete with the garbage sack she carried, plunked down beside me. "Wish I was half as effing scary as Sid," she snarked. "Lucky guy. Could have used his muscles for all this." She dropped the bag and shook some errant ash out of her cloud of purple hair. "Being able to shift to human size has its drawbacks."

A splash from the lake drew my attention to our other two teammates, who had escaped by shifting to beast and going for a swim. They'd left their bags of gathered debris on the beach.

All I could see was a roiling ball of fur and scales, and I quickly averted my eyes.

"Fun fact: Their boy and girl parts are compatible in their beast forms. You're welcome." Adilyn mused.

I winced. "I didn't really want to know."

Knowledge is always useful, Caliel weighed in.

You want to know if their beast bits can merge?

Some knowledge is more useful than others, he hedged, but I sensed his curiosity .

You just really want to know how his equipment compares to a Gryphon's. All guys measure dicks, I pointed out.

I just have an inquiring mind, he responded, sounding a bit miffed. And it is not like it matters, anymore.

My heart twisted.

It is not your fault, Breezy, he said quietly. You need to lie down before you fall down.

My mind was more fogged than inquiring, and my entire body hurt. "I want to go to bed," I told Adilyn. "But there are all those stairs…"

She regarded me with what appeared to be surprise. "I keep forgetting you're new. Come with me," she said, heaving herself to her feet.

We carted our bags to the pile and dropped them off. The moment she'd done that, she shimmered, and suddenly a two-inch Faerie was fluttering around my head.

I surveyed her wings with envy. "Can you glamor me some wings?"

"Don't need them," she stated, her voice much higher pitched at that size.

I sighed. Yes. Yes, I did. I followed her into the building. Maybe she could glamor us up to the fifth floor?

Don't think Faeries can do that, Caliel commented. Which, considering their quick tempers, is likely a good thing. We would have people regularly dropped into quicksand.

I sighed. Where was Riley and her Jumping talents when I really needed them?

Turned out we didn't need Riley or a glamor. The Faerie fluttered me to a set of elevators. Adilyn sent a burst of sparkles to the button, and the door opened immediately.

With a sigh of relief, I tumbled in. It showed clear evidence of recent heavy traffic, but we were the only ones using it now. When it opened on the fifth floor, the Faerie flew straight to our room. I used the facilities, contemplated, and dismissed, another shower, and staggered in her wake.

There was no sign of Adilyn when I entered—she was likely already out cold in her log home. I collapsed onto the bed. Closed my eyes…

And Caliel took us flying.

I relinquished control over to him and reveled in every tilt and flap of our wings. It was dawn in our dream, too. The sun's breaking rays painted the clouds with pink and orange—breathtakingly beautiful. And for that moment, we were in perfect accord. He was in charge. And I was completely okay with it. What had changed? Why did I no longer fear it?

The answer was obvious. I trusted him.

I could retake the reins if I pushed hard, but I didn't want that. It was enough to know that if I wished a say in what we were doing, he'd grant it. And that was because I'd return the favor if the situation was reversed.

He was no longer an entity trapped within me. We were now partners.

It filled a part of my heart that had become an aching hole since I'd left Victor and the others. But how did I really view Caliel?

He was so enraptured with the act of flying that he wasn't answering my random thoughts. And the rush of wind over our wings was glorious, the sun lighting the vapor trailing off them. No gallop across the grasslands could match this.

But suddenly, we weren't alone. We emerged from a cloudbank, and a huge shadow passed between us and the sun.

A Dragon. And not just any Dragon. This one was clothed in purple scales striped in black.

Razir.

The name dropped into my mind from Caliel, and he was right—because it was the Dragon prince that flew with us, not Riggs. The giant beast didn't even glance our way as he paced us through the clouds, and at times, the sunlight shone straight through him.

A ghost Dragon. Connected to us, and yet, unaware.

What did it mean? Was this a figment of my imagination? Why was a disconnected, lost part of Riggs in my dream?

Ghost or not, it felt so right to have him there, flying with us. When we soared into a particularly dense cloud and emerged without him, my heart twisted at the loss. And as I looked for him, I saw the setting moons. Three of them, but only one shone brightly. The second was barely visible, and the third fogged with cloud.

Why did that bother me?

Rather than search for the Dragon, Caliel banked us away. I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to fight with him either. Our partnership was too fresh. Too new.

Too—valued? My mind struggled to define it.

Caliel dipped us low over the forest, and the trees thinned as we rose with the land below. The snowy peaks beckoned, and I sensed a pang—he'd been born in the mountains, and lived in them most of his life.

He missed his home.

It was a concept I'd not yet tackled. That he'd not only been ripped from his body, but also his life. I could give him freedom, by giving him my body. But nothing I could do would replace what had been taken from him.

It saddened me as he banked away from the mountains. The sun was no longer visible through the clouds, and as rain began to fall, the ground beneath us altered. Growing flat, with thick foliage interspersed with areas of water.

Why were we flying over a swamp? I didn't think I'd ever been here before. And Caliel seemed oddly entranced, as though he were listening to something I couldn't hear.

The rain increased, until it cascaded over our feathers. As we dropped below the clouds, we were joined by other winged forms—birds, of every size and description. A vast flock of feathered forms. We all seemed to be intent on the same goal.

I experienced the first shiver of unease and tried to get a response from Caliel. When he didn't answer, it scared me. Almost enough to entice me to try to seize control, but not quite.

But this bird thing was freaking me out. We were part of a giant flock flapping across the marshland, and through the driving rain I saw more, as far as my eyes could see. They seemed to be converging on a single point, and Caliel's keen Gryphon eyes focused on it.

What I saw, was a man.

He was standing on a rock ridge that rose above the marsh. Facing out over a stretch of water, his hands were held out to his sides, and his eyes were closed.

But I recognized him. Because I had seen him before. It was the young man I'd seen in Drosfi, when Nettie and I had been escaping the city. There was no mistaking those exotic features, coppery skin, and dark, thick hair.

Caliel took us straight to him. He folded his wings, and landed us along the edge of the water. The birds we'd arrived with joined others, thousands of them, perching in the trees or wading in the water.

And now, I pushed. I wanted to face this young man as me. Not as Caliel.

At first, the Gryphon resisted. Not in a focused manner, but almost as though he were preoccupied, his attention elsewhere. But then, he gave way, and took us to human.

He wasn't totally distracted. The fur and feathers clothed me to chin and fingertips.

I sighed, and looked up.

The man was watching me now. His eyes gleamed turquoise through the damp gloom, and this close, I noticed how the thick, dark lashes outlined them. He was clad only in a tight-fitting pair of pants, and the fine raindrops beaded on his skin.

His fingers gestured to me, curling in invitation. "Come to me," he said.

It wasn't a request. I felt it hook hold of Caliel, deep inside me. It towed us up the rock ridge, until I stood before him.

His eyes glittered. He was a very handsome young man. And standing this close, I realized he was also a very aroused young man.

He reached out, his hand cupping my jaw. "Why do you haunt my dreams?" he asked.

What an odd question. "I'm not sure who is haunting whom," I answered. I laid a hand flat against his chest. He wasn't heavily muscled like Riggs, but lean, like a runner.

His eyes sparked turquoise fire. "Who are you?"

Dammit. This was my dream. "Stop asking so many questions." I stepped close to him, until I felt the heat and hardness of his body against mine.

His brow rose. "Inquiring minds want to know."

I slid my hand along his abs, to the waistband of his pants. They were made from unusual fabric, and had a weird metal fastener rather than laces. When I reversed my hand and palmed him, his breathing hitched. "If you're going to do that, you'd better be serious about following through.

There was an air of command to his voice that had me pulling my hand away. He grabbed me by the wrist and held on.

Suddenly, I was engulfed in a powerful energy that urged me to fall to my knees. To unsheathe him, and take him between my lips ? —

I pushed back. Be damned if I was going to be ordered to do so. While Caliel quivered within me, I resisted.

"No," I said.

"Yes," he insisted. And the compulsion to kneel became, in that instant, nearly overwhelming. I wanted to do that. And so much more. Heat flushed straight through me, and my knees trembled.

But I gritted my teeth and pushed it away. Raised my chin, and said, "Do you treat all women like dirt?"

His dark brows dropped, and the compulsion vanished as if it had never existed. I saw the flicker of confusion in his gaze. "Why does this not seem like a dream?" he breathed.

The question caught me off guard. This was a dream—wasn't it?

"I control the birds," he said. "These came because I called them." He waved to the birds around us. "I thought you came because I'd called you." I met his gaze and saw a muscle jump in his jaw. He was uncertain now.

"There is more to life than control," I stated.

He frowned. "Not to me," he replied. "If you don't control a situation, it will control you."

It sounded oddly like a quote. I took a step closer to him. As I met his gaze, I reached out trembling fingertips, this time to his jaw.

He flinched, but held his ground.

I called upon my recent experiences with Caliel. "The true magic happens not when you dictate what another does, but when you don't."

His jaw tightened beneath my fingers. "That can get you into big trouble in my world."

"Or send you to a new one," I whispered, sliding my hands across his chest. His skin was like silk that sheathed steel, an impression magnified when I once again lowered fingers to touch what quivered between us.

His breath whistled between his teeth. And when I slid them along his shaft, he shuddered. Almost as though it were against his will, his hands drifted along my shoulders, and one dropped to my breast.

I wanted them on me. I wanted more. But I also wanted to drop to my knees, and ? —

No. Not on command. Not for Victor. Not for anybody. Not even in a dream.

So, I turned the tables, coming at it from a more subtle request for control. "Say please," I teased, circling my fingers around the turgid tip.

His lips pulled back from his teeth, but his eyes were incandescent. I could lose myself in those eyes. Instead, I dropped my other hand to the heavy weight of his balls, and squeezed.

He groaned, and pushed into my hand, ever so slightly.

"Say it," I repeated.

"Never." The word was so hoarse I could barely decipher it.

I tilted my head, and slid my fingers off him. "Well. That is too bad, then, isn't it?"

He moved so fast I didn't see it coming. One long-fingered hand sank into my hair, and he dropped his head to plunder my lips with his own. A hot, questing tongue pushed between them, claiming my mouth while his other arm pulled me tight to his hard body.

Every probe sent electricity zinging through me. I rubbed my midriff against him. Then I pushed back, ever so slightly.

"Say please," I insisted.

I could feel his pulse beating through what was trapped between us. He growled, and his fingers tightened in my hair. In that moment, he looked both frustrated and dangerous as hell.

"I never beg," he repeated, and backed away.

He took the entire world with him. Trees, water, rain, clouds, all the birds—they simply vanished.

Then Caliel and I were airborne again, above the mountains, as though the entire thing hadn't happened.

We were flying rather fast. And suddenly, I had the impression we were being chased.

When I caught a glimpse of red-scaled forms winging behind us, my pulse raced. Wyverns. Pursuing us. Why was I dreaming of this?

Then the sleet rained down on us from the clouds above, and below us, I saw a lake…

The scene changed again. We soared over a forest, and wind riffled gently through our feathers. I relaxed, and we fell deeper, until even the dreams let us go…

I blinked up at the ceiling. The sunlight coursed through the window, the shadows surprisingly long. Afternoon? How long had I been asleep?

My body had the languid heaviness of having slept long and hard. Remnants of my dream drifted back to me. That young man had been so intense. So gorgeous. And so demanding . A pulse of heat shot through me, and I longed to explore that, to push myself to enjoy the memories. Even the thought made my body ache?—

Dammit. I needed that powder. And Caliel's magic fingers. But I glanced at the log sitting on the dresser. No way to know if Adilyn was asleep in there, or peering out the curtained window.

And Caliel was oddly silent. Asleep? Did he rest when I did?

My stomach growled. Loudly.

I sighed and pushed myself up to a sitting position on the bed. Something glimmered in the sunlight, and I lowered my hand to the scattering of feathers lying upon the pillow. They were Caliel's deep blue, gleaming in the light.

But as I raised one, I was, again, curiously reluctant to touch the tips. I finally convinced myself to do so and wondered at my surprise that they were soft.

Like a feather.

What did I expect? Why did I keep having this impression that they could cut me?

That dream was odd, I sent to Caliel.

At first, I didn't think he'd answer. But then he did, in a rather vague tone. You have vivid dreams.

I got the feeling he didn't want to discuss it. Which only added to my sudden restlessness.

Powder. I needed powder.

I put the feathers on the dresser and got out of bed.