“It is the way of things,” Leslie said, eyes matching her mate’s.
I thought my own were doing the same, and from the look of wonder on Ryan’s face as he watched me, I was right. I felt them, the two dragons, much like I had with Zero. They were twin pulses in my head and heart, and though they were distinct from each other, they belonged together. One without the other wouldn’t carry the power they had when they were together.
“What can you do?” I asked.
It was Leslie who answered first. She leaned forward, neck stretching toward me. Her eyes were the color of the blue in her feathers—like a summer sky—and the plumage atop her head stood straight up, like a beautiful crown. The feathers rattled gently, whispering as they rubbed together, the barbs and hooklets sounding like bones.
“You know what we can do,” she said.
Pat too leaned forward, her feathers making the same rattling noise, and for a moment I thought the colors of the world began to bleed around us, running down like wet paint. I thought I was tipping—or slipping—into something… else, but everything snapped back into focus before I could follow it further.
“Dreamwalkers,” I whispered, and Ryan squeezed my hand tightly.
“Yes,” Leslie said. She might have been the smallest dragon present, but she was still very large, her head almost as long as my entire body. I tried not to flinch as her snout pressed against my chest. The feathers shook as she closed her eyes, and the heat from the breath in her exhalation warmed my skin through my thick coat, and I was—
standing at the edge of a cliff, Ryan falling behind me, blue eyes staring at me from out in the forest, and they were calling for me to
—breathing, breathing, breathing, and Ryan said, “That’s enough.”
Leslie pulled away, rubbing her face along Pat’s neck.
“You pulled us there,” I said, voice shaking. “Ryan and me.”
“We did,” Pat said.
Ryan took a step closer to me so that his shoulder was pressed against mine, our hands clasped between us. “It’s why we got here so fast. After you threw me off a cliff—”
“Yeah,” I said. “I feel real bad about that. No need to keep bringing it up, babe. Also? Just a dream.”
He scowled at me. “After you threw me off a cliff, I woke up in our camp in Tarker Mills and knew we had to get here as quickly as possible. I didn’t know what was going on, but you said it was real, and I believed you.”
“That’s because you love me.”
“Possibly.”
“I’ll still take it.”
His lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.
“Quite,” Pat said. “Though, we witnessed things we did not expect.”
“A lot of kissing,” Leslie cooed. “It was adorable.”
“So,” I said slowly, “you essentially just watched us make out. Lady-dudes. What the hell.”
Ryan stiffened beside me. “Maybe not insult the dragons.”
“What? They were the ones getting their voyeurism kink on!”
“Is he always like this?” Pat asked.
“Mostly,” Randall muttered.
“Only sometimes,” I corrected. “But you gotta admit that’s… not something I was expecting. It felt real.”
“It was real,” Pat said, glowing eyes blinking rapidly. “For all intents and purposes, you were corporeal. Your body and soul were split between two planes. If one had entered your room, they would have found you asleep on your bed, body warm, breathing slowed. But your spirit was elsewhere. And the spirit is just as real as the body that stands before me.”
“Always so serious,” Leslie said fondly. “Dear, must you make it sound so ominous?”
“I am stressing the point,” Pat said.
“Consider it stressed,” Leslie said, pressing her snout against Pat’s neck.
“But it wasn’t like….” I paused, considering.
Both dragons looked at me again. “Wasn’t like what?” Pat asked.
“Vadoma,” I said slowly. “My—my grandmother. She… the edges always felt… blurred. When she showed me what she did. Like I was lost in the dream. With you, I knew I was dreaming, but it was… I could feel the forest around me. Ryan against me. It—why was it different?”
“Because a dragon’s magic is different than that of a human,” Pat said. “This… Vadoma should not be dabbling in dreamwalking. A human soul cannot control what is shown to another.”
“So she could be mistaken?” I breathed.
I felt Randall’s gaze upon me, but I didn’t dare to turn around and look at him.
Leslie pulled away, but only just, remaining at eye level with me. And I didn’t know how, I didn’t know why, but right then, it was clear that she knew.
I almost took a step back. Somehow I stayed where I was.
I was proven right only a moment later.
I see what is in your heart, she said, eyes gleaming.
I know what you are capable of
I know your thoughts, your desires
But you cannot give in to the desire
If one has a power, it is not a given right that it should be used
There is temptation
There will always be temptation
Sometimes the true power is not to give in to it
Her gaze flickered between Ryan and me before she pulled away completely.
“All right?” Ryan asked me, squeezing my hand.
I smiled faintly at him, mind reeling. “All right.” I sounded gut-punched. I hoped everyone would chalk it up to the show of the dragon’s power rather than anything else. I needed to think about this. It was more information than I expected to get.
“We need to get your arm seen to,” he said. “The rest of this can wait until tomorrow.”
I winced. “That’s going to suck.”
“Probably. But it’ll be even worse to keep it as it is. I’ve dislocated my shoulder a few times. Trust me when I say it’ll feel better once it’s set.”
“You don’t need to try and impress me. You’ve already got me.”
“What? I wasn’t trying to—oh shut up, Sam.”
“Dude,” I said, grinning at him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He rolled his eyes, but his hand tightened in mine.
But before Ryan could pull me away, something happened that I did not expect.
Pat said, “Wizard, it is an honor to stand before you again, especially to see you still healthy and whole.”
And Randall said, “The honor is mine,” as he bowed low.
I narrowed my eyes. “You know him? And what do you mean healthy?”
Randall sighed.
Leslie blinked. “But of course. He is Randall of Dragons.”
“He served the Master,” Pat said.
“The Master,” I repeated.
“The one you know as the Great White,” Pat said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
“Oooh,” Gary said. “Twist. Draaaamaaaaa.”
I turned slowly toward Randall, who looked particularly grumpy. “Randall,” I said as evenly as possible. “Another secret? I thought we were past all of that.”
Randall smiled sweetly at me. He glanced between Ryan and me, and even before he opened his mouth, I knew what he was going to say. “Speaking of secrets, Sam, isn’t it time you share a few of your own with your friends? I should think they would be very interested to know what it is you’ve seen while they seemingly stood by your side.”
I gaped at him.
He arched an eyebrow at me.