A Dragon Revealed (5 page)

“I wish just once I could talk to my mother, hear her voice, and tell her I’m here,” Michelle admitted. “Maybe she knows, but after fifty years I can still hear her voice.”

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Mursi’s voice held a hint of acid. “My mate Larissa has gone to the other side and yet she visits me. I cannot touch her, and she tells me of this new destiny that involves you.”

Michelle rolled her eyes. “Well, be angry at her not me. I never asked for you to come to me or be part of this destiny. I was doing just fine by myself.”

Mursi laughed and said sarcastically, “Yes you were, weren’t you? Slowly slipping into mortality and killing the dragon inside, but minutes after you came through the portal you were able to best me.”

“I could do it here or there, you’re an easy read,” Michelle retorted.

“We’ll see when we have a rematch,” he said.

“There won’t be one,” Michelle answered and pushed up on her hands to leave.

She was going to head back to the palace and to do so she had to step over his extended legs. He tripped her. Michelle fell against him, and she was pressed against his chest. He looked down at her and she could feel herself being lost in his gaze. The dragon in her purred in pleasure and even as her mind said no she pressed her body closer to his. She felt glorious when a low growl escaped him.

“I don’t want you,” he said huskily.

“Lucky for me I don’t like you either,” Michelle shot back.

“I cannot love you, I refuse to.” Mursi ran his hands down her thighs.

“Then let me go and let me walk away right now,” she bit her lip as his hands made her ache for more. “Bior can be a suitable mate for me…”

The rest of her sentence was cut off because Mursi took her lips in a kiss that devastated her senses. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced and she opened her mouth willingly to take his tongue. He tasted like heaven and burned her like the fires of hell. Nothing was meant to feel this good or make her crave that much. Mursi rolled and she was under his large, sculpted frame. He felt so good pressed against her core that Michelle raised her hips and whimpered in delight at the feel of him. Mursi growled low in his throat and amped up the heat of the kiss. He was devouring her lips, and if they’d gotten naked under the tree with the moonlight caressing their skin, Michelle wouldn’t care. She wanted him.

Suddenly he pulled away, breathing harshly. “This can’t happen.”

Michelle lay where she was. “You didn’t hear me complaining.”

“You’d take me even though my heart lies with another,” Mursi laughed coldly. “Are you that easy?”

It was like being doused with cold water. Her eyes narrowed. “Point taken.”

She rolled to her side and got up to leave. As she passed him he grabbed her hand.

Michelle looked down at her wrist and his fingers wrapped around it. “Careful, that’s how we got started before. You’re not into me, remember?”

“You are so different to Larissa, she was gentle and sweet…” Mursi began.

“While I’m apparently a rough and tumble sour-natured person.” Michelle didn’t know if she should kick his ass, cry, or both, because he’d managed to kiss her senseless and insult her by comparing her to his dead wife in less than half an hour.

“You’re different, more outspoken.” He ran his hands through her hair. “Hell, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.”

“I do. Your wife used to bring you your slippers and make you pies and rub your shoulders for you when you came in on the evenings, she pampered you,” Michelle said. “Yeah you’re right, we aren’t suited because I would fight right next to you and we’d figure the hell out who’s going to make dinner or do it together. Your loss, the sex would have been epic but I need a man, not a little boy to take care of.”

His nostrils flared in anger. “Take care of how you speak. Larissa was not one to hold her tongue when it came to me, we were kindred spirits.”

Michelle sighed. “Then I’m sorry for your loss, but I need to find my own kindred spirit and obviously it’s not you. Heat and sex can’t be the only thing in a relationship.” She smiled. “But hey, I’m in a place where there are others like me and for the first time I can actually be free to choose a mate.”

Mursi took a deep breath and his eyes opened wide. “You’re in heat, your mating cycle has begun.”

She stepped back warily. “It has not and I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

He stood and took her by the shoulder. “Vatryn had to have told you, your scent is in the air and it will get worse. Everything will be heightened, Michelle, the need, the craving, and the urge to find a mate to nest with. Larissa was in the beginning of her heat when she was killed.”

Larissa again
. Michelle wanted to be sympathetic but here she was live, flesh, blood, and bones and he was pining over a love that he lost. How could she not feel jealous? It was like being in competition with a ghost and it was no fun.

Michelle pushed him away. “Let me go, I’m fine and it’s not your concern.”

“Talk to one of the healers here, they can help with the effect. Our queen will summon any of your choosing, so they can talk to you and give you aid,” Mursi said.

“Yeah whatever, thanks.” Michelle began to walk away.

“I’m sorry,” he called behind her.

She could only assume he meant for everything that just transpired.

“I’m sorry too,” she replied.

She said the words without turning and then moved quickly back to the palace and the safety of her rooms. There the ache of her so-called heat gripped her and she stumbled to the bed to curl into a ball. She tried to breathe through the pain that was worse than any menstrual cramp she’d ever had. Her body flushed with heat and her loins ached as a spontaneous orgasm ripped through her and she screamed into a pillow. She lay there for a half an hour until the effects subsided and left her soaked in sweat.

Michelle took a bath and changed her clothes. Her panties were soaked with her own juices and so were her jeans. She washed them out as best she could and left them over the tub to dry before crawling into bed. Tiredness engulfed her and she turned over sleepily. She would ask Valencia in confidence tomorrow to speak to one of Paladin’s healers. She was a warrior and while she longed for a mate and family now was not the time. Especially when there were no takers and the one who set her soul ablaze belonged to another. Mursi craved his Larissa. He frustrated Michelle and insulted her, but apparently even so she wanted him.
Well this sucks
, was her last thought before she fell into a deep but troubled sleep.

Days passed before there was a meeting of the warrior court. Orin said it was so Michelle could get acclimated to Paladin and regain her strength. He saw her training in the dark when no one was around. She looked more than fine, and she was magnificent.

Finally, he was summoned to a meeting of the Warrior court and Mursi sat in his usual seat thrumming his fingers against the marble and stone table. He was the first there and he knew soon Michelle would be walking in. They were supposed to be discussing what they knew about the Shen, and she in turn would explain how she had been fighting them alone for so long. But his mind was on that kiss and how she felt in his arms. His bed had been empty since Larissa and while his body ached for Michelle his guilt and honor still lay with the woman that had been his mate.

Let me go….

He heard the whisper of Larissa’s voice. He growled softly and pretended not to hear it. Fine, if she wanted to be free of him then he would take Michelle to his bed.
Is that
what you want,
he mentally goaded.
Do you want her in my bed instead of you?

Not in anger, you’ll hurt her, yourself, and me.

Mursi sighed. That was pretty much the gist of it. Michelle would know he was using her body and the mating wasn’t true. She’d probably detach his balls from his body with her family sword for being such an ass if he tried it. He was essentially trapped between a rock and a hard place.

“You’re here early.” Bior walked in and sat in his usual seat. “I feel invigorated today, how about you?”

Mursi cast him a glance. “Why are you so happy? You’re the surliest person I know.”

Bior grinned. “You now have that distinction. What’s not to be in a good mood about, the air is crisp, the sky is blue, I had a great night’s sleep.”

“Did you see Michelle?” Mursi asked, instantly jealous at the thought.

“And if I did, why would it concern you? You said you didn’t want her or your destiny. She is stunning,” Bior drawled. “So fiery, those bronze scales capture the sunlight and she certainly planted you firmly on your ass. So lithe… Mmmm.”

“You’ll kindly stay away from her,” Mursi said calmly even though he wanted to beat Bior with a club. Usually he could take the egotistical attitude of Bior but not at that point.

“I’ll kindly do no such thing,” Bior responded, mimicking Mursi. “After the meeting I plan on taking her to the waterfall for a swim. The air is warm enough and then maybe we’ll shift and fly the skies.”

The other dragon warriors filed in before Mursi could respond. Orin looked from one to another and rolled his eyes.

“Are the two of you being children again?” Orin asked. “Don’t we have enough to deal with instead of this bickering?”

Bior shrugged. “I did nothing, sire, he is trying to tell me that I cannot pursue the lovely Michelle.”

“My king, she is in the beginning of her heat, her choices won’t be the best ones,” Mursi explained.

“And you’re the best choice, hmm?” Bior said. “How about we let her decide for herself who she wants to mate with?”

“I thought it was Mursi’s destiny to be with the Michelle we have not yet met?” Raul asked as he sat down. “I’m curious to see why she is causing such a stir between these two.”

Hawke took his place next to Orin. “If you recall, Mursi wants no part of his destiny. I say Bior is a fine choice if Michelle chooses him. They would make a strong lineage of children.”

“Can we stop discussing this please, and get down to business?” Mursi said. Hearing about any prospective children Michelle could have with Bior was not doing anything to improve his mood.

“Mursi is right, whomever Michelle chooses to be her mate or her personal business is none of our concern,” Aki said quietly from his seat. “We are the warriors of this court, bickering and dissension between us cannot happen.”

“Thanks for having my back, Aki,” Mursi said gratefully.

Aki smiled and inclined his head. “You are by far more like my brother than anyone, but you’re being a fool when it comes to this area. Tread wisely when thumbing your nose at the gods and a destiny that is bigger than you. I know how it feels to succumb to desolation, and you’re suffering Larissa to the same fate. She meant a lot to all of us and you do her a disservice.”

Aki’s words hit him with the force of a punch and ate through his anger down to the core of his guilt. It was so easy to judge because none of them were in this situation, to know what it was to feel loss and be thrown into a tailspin. But he was so wrong, Mursi understood that when he looked at his warrior brothers, Kalv, Orin, Aki, Raul, Hawke. They’d all suffered the loss of someone and Aki saw his mate killed in front of his eyes. He was selfish but by the gods he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have a chance to ponder anymore because Michelle walked in. She stood there as they all looked at her until the silence dragged on too long.

“What the hell, do you need me to leave or something?” Michelle demanded. Her eyes went to everyone in the room and no one would meet her gaze.

Orin cleared his throat. “No, and I apologize. We had some hard words to digest a moment ago.”

“Since everybody was staring at me, I assume I was the topic of conversation,” Michelle said.

“In a roundabout way, but there’s nothing to worry about. This is the warrior court and we are honored to have you in our midst,” Orin said.

“Okey doke, thanks.”

She sat in the empty chair that used to be Orin’s. She didn’t know that of course, and Mursi kept his mouth shut. It seemed lately everything he said came out wrong or made things worse. He was going to be quiet.

“So I’m assuming we’re here to discuss the Shen threat and what we know,” Michelle said.

“That and to offer you the twelfth seat at this warrior’s table,” Orin smiled. “You are one of us, you’ve come from a long line of warriors and with my ascension to King the seat has been left vacant for far too long.”

“I thought you fought with them?” Michelle said.

Orin nodded. “I do, but as Hawke likes to point out, there is more risk each time I leave Paladin, and while I want to fight my place is here for my people. This is your home and we are of the same blood, this seat is rightfully yours.”

Mursi gave an incredulous laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She faced him and raised an eyebrow. “You have a problem with me because I’m a woman or because I kicked your ass?”

“Mursi, this is my decision and that of Hawke who leads the court now,” Orin said coldly. “I’ll ask you to hold your tongue.”

“I will not. First, you tell me to follow my destiny and all that comes with it, and that happens to be her.” Mursi stood and braced his hands on the granite table. “Then, in the next breath you people put her in the seat on the warrior court. Into inherent danger and possible death. So in essence I’m supposed to be mated with her and watch her go out to fight and worry about if I’ll watch her die.”

“Wait, whoa, I don’t know who makes this destiny crap, but seriously, as you can see he doesn’t want me and I sure as hell do not want him,” Michelle said.

“Hmm, good to know,” Bior murmured and Mursi felt the urge to knock him across the room.

“Mursi, regardless of what you think, it is her choice to make,” Kalv pointed out.

Mursi met his gaze. “Is that why you roamed around the earth realm for a hundred years when your mate fell in the first battle? Or would you be saying such things now that you have a son and Ginna is a mother? Would you let her stand beside you and fight?”

Kalv slammed his hands down on the table and the entire thing shook. “Yes I would, Mursi, and why? Because I believe in her and she saved me. I learned I can’t live in fear and I have no doubt that to protect our young she would raise a sword and fight to the death. You want to live steeped in grief and fear it is your choice, but by god, spare us watching the demise of the piteous shell of a man you used to be.”

“Damn you for sayin—” Mursi began.

“Damn you for not honoring your wife’s word,” Kalv roared.

“She is in the beginning of her heat, her hormones are going to be all over the place for the next few weeks!” Mursi yelled.

The entire room erupted in chaos and in the midst of it Mursi felt as if he was being ganged up on.

“Okay, enough with the damning,” Michelle yelled and everyone went silent. “Are you all fucking kidding me? Now let’s gets this clear, if I’m in heat or cold as a witch’s tit in a steel bra it’s none of your business.”

Bior laughed and she shut him up with a cold glare in his direction.

She took a deep breath and spoke firmly. “Let’s do an Earth type thing and not discuss a woman’s private bits or her cycle or any such things.” Mursi’s eyes tracked her as she paced the room. “Orin, I am honored to be asked to join your warriors, but I have to think about it. I work with humans in the Earth realm and I can’t abandon them and live here protected. They don’t have the luxury and I’m telling you right now more people are dying than you think. You guys go in and out of Earth and I’m thinking very rarely sleep there, but I’ve been there from the beginning fighting alongside my mother, while the Shen problems seem to be more recent for you. They’ve been trying to make a comeback since the late eighteen hundreds in Earth years.”

“Shit, for that long?” Kalv muttered. “We only saw the resurgences a few months before Orin saved Valencia in New York City from a group hunting her. That was three years ago.”

“We caught a scent in the badlands and did a search, we thought it was only a small group nesting and in discord. That means a new King has been breeding for longer that we estimated.” Aki slammed a hand on the table. “We could be way off with the numbers.”

“You probably are. We estimate that where they’re hiding the king has to have at least ten cells in that area alone and each cell has to be at least five thousand. The numbers are growing because it was only me after mother died.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “My mother formed the group I work with now, they are hunters trained specifically by my mother and now me to fight the Shen. We chose carefully and the right to be part of the group is passed down through generations.”

“That’s a hard load for them to bear as humans,” Bior said quietly.

“It is,” Michelle answered. Mursi watched her because all of a sudden it was if she wanted to go home. He could see it in her face, that she was worried about her people. In actuality humans were more her people than anyone on Paladin. “They have been my family for longer than most realize, we’ve seen births and deaths in the group. I’ve been gone too long from them and they know I take off but now they will worry since I’ve made no contact in a few days.”

“I’ll go with you to check in and let them know you’re okay.” Bior smiled. “I can gauge their strength and in turn learn and new information they may have.”

“I’ll go with her,” Mursi growled.

“Oh, here we go.” Kalv rolled his eyes.

“As your king I decide who does what, and Bior is best to go,” Orin said in a voice that brooked no argument. “Mursi, you are too volatile at this present time.”

Bior smiled. “You’re stuck with me, babe.”

Michelle laughed. “I could do worse. You’ll be a hit in the group. We can leave tomorrow. The main group is in Florida with me, but we have people in as many places as we could find. Training others for the war that will come.”

It ripped into him being the one called volatile, but Mursi accepted his leaders answer with a curt nod.

“I shall take my leave then, my services aren’t needed at this moment.” Mursi rose and strode out of the room.

He didn’t stop walking until he was outside with the sun of Paladin beating down on him. He was walking through the streets, smelling the meats being grilled over hot coals, the sweet fruit, and baking. Birds sang and blue hummingbirds took flight easily from the flowers. Despite all this beauty, internal turmoil boiled inside him.

“Mursi, Mursi!”

Children in the village called his name as they ran up to him with eyes alight and smiles on their faces. How had he seen past this for so long? He used to sit on the steps of Paladin and make them kites or fix a toy. He used to do simple magic tricks or tell corny jokes, and when they laughed it filled his heart. When he lost Larissa it was like everything inside him that brought him joy died.

“Show us your magic, Mursi please,” one little girl said shyly.

Mursi nodded, unable to speak for a moment, and sat crossed-legged on the warm stone street as they crowded around him. He had a little magic beyond his dragon, a gift from the gods to his bloodline because they were known for their love of children and being jokesters. Odin was the brunt of his ancestor’s tricks when the universe was young. The story was that they had both laughed at the joke, but the next day his ancestor woke up with a little something extra in his blood.

He smiled as he remembered the story, and he lifted his hands and closed his eyes to bring the magic to his fingertips. He created starlight and rainbows, drawing patterns of color in the air amidst their happy laughter and sounds of awe. Thirty minutes later he was able to pry himself away from the kids and continue to his destination. Finally, he sat under the tree where he’d found Michelle before, his heart a bit lighter from doing something he enjoyed.

“You’ve forgotten that part of yourself for so long I thought you’d never do it again.”

Larissa’s voice was clear as day and when he looked at her she was staring out over the land in front of them with a smile on her face.

“I forgot how good it felt,” he admitted. “Here to chastise me? You’re late, I’ve already had my flogging for the day.”

“Mursi, I have no intention of flogging you in the least,” she answered. “You are a very stubborn man, I’ve known this from the beginning. Whatever choices you make have to be made by you and no one can push you into it, not even me.”

“But you wish I’d accept my destiny,” Mursi added.

“I’m gone, Mursi, no longer flesh and blood.” Larissa sighed. “Holding on to me will not bring you happiness. I’ve accepted my fate long ago.”