Page 41 of Dragon Revealed (Dragon Kings 1)
“I knew he would.”
So had she. Her head swung to Varek. “What now? Do you shift and fly away?”
“That would alert him we’re here.”
“He’ll find out soon enough. Is he alone?”
Varek’s dark eyes were somber as he shook his head.
She steeled herself. “How many?”
“Fifty warriors.”
“How do you know?” she asked in bewilderment.
He shrugged and looked around. “Dragons have enhanced senses.”
“Oh. We can make a run for the mountains.”
Varek smiled then. “Do you forget which side of the border you’re on, lass?”
His magic. She had forgotten. It was something that was going to take some getting used to. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re going back to Orgate.”
She gaped at him in shock. “You can’t be serious. They’ll be waiting for us.”
“They’ll think we’re headed anywhere but there,” he told her.
Jeyra looked over her shoulder to where Rankin and the other warriors approached. Her head swung back to Varek. “You have magic now, but you won’t once we cross the border.”
“I’ve got a plan,” he told her with a wink.
She couldn’t get over how easily he accepted things and adjusted to them. He held out his hand. Jeyra took it, even as her gaze darted in the warriors’ direction. “I don’t like what my people have done, but I don’t want you to kill them.”
“Lass,” he said with a shake of his head, his smile filled with sorrow, “I wouldna do that. I’m going to make it so they doona see or hear us.”
“And the other dragons?”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “I’ve alerted them that humans are after me, but I’ll keep them running in circles for a wee bit while we save the dragons in Orgate.”
She needed to remember that dragons spoke telepathically. And, apparently, over some distance since she hadn’t seen any since they had crossed the border. Jeyra issued a nod, and she and Varek began running back the way they had come the day before.
Even though he’d told her that his magic would allow them to go undetected by the warriors, she still slowed when she saw the group, waiting for someone to spot them. But none of the warriors even looked in their direction. All her life, she had been told how dangerous magic was, but she was beginning to realize that applied to everything. Magic wasn’t all bad. Varek had shown her that.
Once at the river, they paused long enough for her to catch her breath and get a drink. Varek wasn’t even winded, and she had to admit, she envied that.
“It’s too bad you can’t use magic to get us to the city as easily as you did to remove our clothes last night,” she said, hoping that maybe he just hadn’t thought of that.
His lips twisted ruefully. “Unfortunately, that isna an option. The only beings who can do that are the Fae. And Death, of course. The only way dragons can do that is with specialized jewelry made by the Fae.”
“Death?” she asked.
But Varek wasn’t listening to her. He had lifted his face as if searching for the sky through the trees. Then he said, “Erith? Can you hear me?”
A woman materialized before them, causing Jeyra to stumble back in surprise. She tripped over a rock and started to fall when someone caught her. Since her gaze was locked on Varek as he stood next to the woman, she had no idea who was behind her. Once on her feet, she spun around and saw the tall, black-haired man with purple eyes.
He bowed his head to her, then lifted his gaze to Varek. “There are those worried about you.”
“Very,” replied the woman as her gaze swept over Jeyra.
Neither had the same accent as Varek—or each other, for that matter. Jeyra could only stare in fascination at the petite woman, her blue-black hair pulled away from her face in intricate plaits. Her lavender gaze swung back to Varek. The woman wore all-leather armor on her torso with forearm bracers. Small metal chains were mixed in with strips of black leather to make a short skirt. Her legs were bare except for tall, black, knee-high boots. No weapons could be seen.
The man wore a long-sleeve black shirt and pants not that different from what Varek had on when she captured him. There were no visible weapons on the male either.
Varek smiled at the pair. “I’m verra glad to see you.”
“What happened?” the man asked.
