“What would a sword do against a dragon? Let me by.” His hand was on my shoulder again. His gaze was on the dragon watching us. “You’ve scared her. Let me by.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Lucifer said softly behind us. “And I was.”
I glanced back at him.
“By the angels, those bastards,” he supplied, winking. He jerked his head at Cahal, who was walking forward slowly, his arms out. The dragon shook itself, still crouching, and ruffled its wings. “He’s hearing the call. The dragon has offered to spar with him—to see if he is worthy of a bond.”
“I mean.” I held out my hand. “It’s his favorite color.”
“Yes, it’s a hideous color for a hideous man. I hate pastel. There’s no life in it.”
I had to agree with him there, except for the bit about Cahal.
“Just so we’re clear.” I put up my hands and walked forward a little, speaking to the dragon. “I will not let you kill him. Beat the ever-loving shit out of him if you must, but do not kill him. Do you understand?”
The dragon rose slowly to its full height, the leaves sliding off its scaled back.
“Leave me. It’ll be fine.” Cahal waved me away before stepping toward it, his boots lost to sight amidst the dense greenery off the path.
I gritted my teeth but moved back slowly, stopping when I felt Lucifer’s hand on my other shoulder.
“I regret bringing him now,” I mumbled as the dragon lunged forward, its fangs reaching down from its open mouth.
Cahal dodged to the side easily before punching it in the side of the face. His whole body went taut, and he gracefully darted backward. He shook out his hand. Dragon scales were like armor. Now he knew.
“He should have his sword,” I mumbled, hands on my hips, adrenaline running through me.
“You really care for that druid,” Lucifer said.
“He’s a pain in my ass, but he’s my responsibility. I don’t want him killed.”
Cahal grunted as the dragon turned and whipped its tail around, lashing out. But he was already rolling to the side, still so graceful even while taking on a dragon single-handedly, with no weapons. He did have magic, though.
Shadows pooled and coalesced around him, blurring his form and making him all but invisible. The dragon roared, and the depression pushed on me like a weight, hard to carry.
On my first trip through the Underworld, a dragon’s roar had spread fear. Panic. Clearly they each had a different magic, and this one was just as effective. On me, anyway.
Cahal ran under the dragon, bending to do so, before punching upward and hitting it in the stomach.
The dragon belched out fire and hopped, trying to look under it, missing him running out to one side. His magic clearly worked on these creatures.
The dragon roared again, frustrated, I could tell, before stomping all around. Cahal started back in, launching onto the lowered head and scaling its neck to its shoulders.
“He should’ve tried for a larger dragon,” Lucifer said, a little bit of awe in his voice.
“It isn’t about the size; it’s about the motion in the ocean,” I said without thinking.
“I am thankful I’ve never had to give that excuse to a woman.”
“Ew.”
“You brought it up.”
The dragon trumpeted, surprised again, and its wings beat the air. Its body lifted into the air, and it was off and away, Cahal hanging on for dear life.
“Dang it,” I said, wanting to jog forward, to trap it in the air and lift Cahal to safety. But in a moment it was beyond my reach, soaring into the orange sky.
“And there you go.” Lucifer started forward. “The druid is powerful enough to attract a dragon.”
I jogged after him, watching the dragon continue to climb. “Are they going to keep battling in the air? We should stay here to make sure he doesn’t get bucked off.”
“The dragon would’ve thrown him immediately if she didn’t want him on her back. They will get to know each other now.”
“So that’s it?” I held on to his arm while I watched the dragon soar through the sky, my adrenaline still firing, my excitement growing, and a little jealousy soaking through the other emotions. I hoped I got to soar like that. That a dragon would choose me.
With my luck, the one I tried to bond with would stomp on me and then get its dragon buddies to help kick me out of their territory. I doubted my father would be very proud if that came to pass.
“That’s it for him, yes. For you? I doubt it. The higher-level dragons are this way, and I have a feeling you won’t be satisfied until you pick the most fearsome one you come across.”
Fifteen
He had me all wrong. I didn’t want the most fearsome dragon; I just wanted any old dragon. I didn’t care if it was the scrawniest dragon in this whole place.