Chapter Twenty

When Neona woke, she stretched lazily in bed as memories of Zoltan’s lovemaking meandered through her mind. She rolled over to look at him.

He wasn’t in her bed. Or Minerva’s. She sat up and gasped at the sight of him on the floor. What was he doing? She stiffened as another memory flitted through her mind.

Dragons! He’d asked her about dragons. She’d been half asleep when he’d asked her, but then the room had become quiet again and she’d fallen back asleep.

“How did you find out?” she whispered.

No answer.

“Why are you on the floor?”

No answer.

She tried lifting him, but he was like a rock. Giving up, she slipped a pillow under his head. He was fully dressed, so he must have gone out while she was sleeping.

“Did you sneak inside the cave?”

No answer.

With a sigh, she brushed his hair back from his brow. “Too smart for your own good. And too handsome.” She smiled to herself, remembering how she’d once called him seemingly intelligent. “The queen will be upset that you know, but I think it’s just as well. If you and your friends are going to protect our valley and our secrets, then you have the right to know what you’re protecting.”

After dressing, Neona removed the flask of Living Water from her chest. Then she opened Zoltan’s box and removed his bottles of blood. Carefully, she cracked open a window, making sure no sunlight hit Zoltan’s body. She peered outside. No one in sight.

She poured a little from each bottle out the window, then topped them off with Living Water. “There.” She gave him a wry look. “You’re not the only one sneaking around, breaking the rules.”

She hurried to the outhouse, then washed up in the stream before joining the other women at the fire pit. They were all there, except Winifred. Freddie was probably in the cave. Since she could also communicate with winged creatures, she took turns with the queen, watching over the young ones.

The women were sitting on straw mats, since the ground was still damp from last night’s rain. Their voices hushed as Neona approached and took a seat. She bowed her head in greeting, waiting for the queen to speak first. The women were all staring at her.

Finally, Queen Nima cleared her throat. “You’re late. You missed breakfast and the midday meal.”

“We saved you some food.” Freya ladled soup into a bowl.

“Thank you.” Neona accepted the bowl and a wooden spoon. She ate, aware that the women were still staring.

Nima’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t see any bite marks on her.”

Tashi snorted. “I guess he bit her where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Neona choked on her food. “Excuse me?”

“Didn’t that monster bite you?” Lydia asked.

Tashi leaned forward. “Did he finally get it up?”

“Of course,” Neona started.

“He bit you?” the queen shouted. “I should kill him!”

“He didn’t bite me!” Neona set her bowl aside. “He doesn’t bite anyone. He drinks fake blood out of bottles.”

“Fake blood?” Lydia asked.

“Yes, he brought some here from his castle in Transylvania.”

“He has a castle?” Freya’s eyes lit up. “How exciting!”

“Don’t be so easily swayed,” Nima grumbled at her.

“He and his friends want to help us,” Neona insisted. “I don’t see how we can defeat Liao without their help.”

Lydia shuddered. “I hate the thought of working with those monsters.”

Nima nodded. “I hate it, too, but sometimes it takes one monster to kill another. We will accept their help but watch them carefully for any sign of betrayal.”

Lydia sighed. “Very well. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“True,” Nima agreed. “It is always dangerous when we’re at the beginning of a new cycle. The young ones and the remaining eggs are defenseless. We must do everything in our power to protect them until they reach maturity. It is our sacred duty.”

Everyone murmured their agreement. Once the young ones were old enough to shift into dragon form, they would be able to protect themselves. But for now, they were entirely dependent on the warrior women of Beyul-La.

Neona picked up her bowl of soup and resumed eating. “When Zoltan wakes up, I’ll tell him we have accepted his offer of assistance.”

“As long as he understands our position,” the queen added. “Once our valley is safe again, the monsters need to go away and leave us alone. Your affair with Dohna’s son will be over.”

Neona took a few more bites of soup, then set the bowl down again. Steeling her nerves, she faced her mother. “I’m not giving Zoltan up. And if I have a son with him, I’m not giving him up, either.”

A series of gasps echoed around the fire.

The queen’s golden eyes burned hot as she stared at Neona. “You would knowingly defy our laws?”

“I question the validity of our laws.”

Nima stiffened, her face flushing with anger. “If you cannot abide by them, you must leave.”

“I understand how important our sacred duty is,” Neona said. “But I also believe we should be open to change. I see no reason why I cannot live with Zoltan and my children in the next valley. And since I’m the only healer, you should be willing—”

“You think to coerce me?” Nima cursed under her breath. “I knew we couldn’t trust that vampire. He’s been corrupting you—”

“I made this decision on my own,” Neona insisted. “I haven’t even discussed it with him.”

Nima snorted. “You know the man for a week, and now you wish to reject a way of life that is over three thousand years old?”

Neona shook her head. “You cannot blame this on Zoltan. I’ve been coming to this conclusion for a long time.”

Tashi cleared her throat. “I’ve been thinking about getting married, too.”

“What?” her mother gasped.

“I’m in love with a farmer from the village—” Tashi started.

“A farmer?” Lydia looked aghast.

“We want to marry and have children,” Tashi continued quickly. “And you could live with us, Mother. We could have normal lives.”

“We are the immortal women of Beyul-La!” Nima shouted. “Why would you want a normal life with a lowly farmer?”

Tashi gritted her teeth. “You don’t need me here. I can’t communicate with the dragons like you. Or Winifred.”

Nima huffed. “You ungrateful child. You’ve been blessed with a gift, and you will remain here, where it can be put to good use.”

“Child?” Tashi yelled. “I’m almost five hundred years old! And as for my precious gift, all I do here is occasionally fuss at the donkey for being lazy or tell Neona what her pet cat wants for dinner! If I have to live like that for another hundred years, I’ll go crazy!”

“Then leave!” Nima rose to her feet. “If you are so useless to us, go!”

Lydia leaned close to her daughter and whispered, “Apologize!”

Tashi remained silent, but tears glistened in her eyes. “I’m not abandoning our sacred duty. My sisters died to protect this valley, and I won’t leave until it is safe. And when I do leave, I’ll be only fifteen miles away. If you send your owl to me, I will know I am needed, and I will come.”

Nima scoffed.

Freya reached over and touched Tashi’s arm. “I never thought you were useless. You make beautiful pottery. You tell great stories, and you have such a pretty voice. The young ones love it when you sing. So do I.”

“I’m grateful you told me about Zoltan being gifted,” Neona said. She stood and faced her mother. “I’m going to the monastery tonight to find Minerva’s son. And if I can, I’m bringing him back to his rightful home.”

Another series of gasps went around the fire.

Nima’s eyes narrowed. “You wish to defy me at every turn?”

“I wish to do what I know to be right.”

“I decide what is right!”

Neona lifted her chin. “We should put aside our disagreements for now. Liao is coming, and our first priority must be to protect this valley.”

“Now you’re telling me my job?” Nima snorted. “I know we have to work with those monsters to save our valley and the young ones who depend on us. I also know those monsters will seek to destroy our way of life. And you seem content to help them.” She stalked off toward the cave.

When Zoltan woke, he sat up, wondering why he was on the floor. Then it came back to him. Dragons. He’d been asking Neona about them when he’d fallen into his death-sleep.

He headed straight to the ice chest and grabbed a bottle of blood. It was a shade lighter than normal, probably from the Living Water he’d added.

“It can’t kill you,” he whispered to himself and drank the bottle down.

“You’re awake!” Neona entered the house and smiled as he turned toward her. “I have good news. The queen will accept you and your friends. That is, for the time it takes to defeat our common foe.”

“That’s a relief.” He stuffed the empty bottle back into the ice chest. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t having any sort of reaction to the Living Water. But he was still hungry. One bottle wasn’t filling him up. He pulled out a second bottle.

“Are you all right?” She glanced warily at the ice chest.

“I guess I’m extra hungry tonight.” Probably from all the sex. Just thinking about last night made his groin tighten. Made him want more. He guzzled down the second bottle, wondering how much time he would have before Emma called.

“Are we going to the monastery tonight?”

“Yes. After my friends arrive, we should be able to go while they get settled in.”

“All right. I—” Neona shifted her weight. “I need to ask you something. I’m not sure if I dreamed it. I was so tired last night—”

“From all the sex?”

She nodded. “I think you—”

“I gave you three more cl**axes.”

“Yes, but then later, you came—”

“I came, yes. Biggest damned orgasm—”

“You came back to bed and asked me—”

“You want to have sex?”

She blinked. “That’s not what you asked. You wanted to know if our secret pact was with—”

“Oh, the dragons. Right.” He adjusted his jeans. They were already too confining against his groin.

“You don’t find it shocking?”

“No. My pants are always too tight when I—”

“I meant the dragons!” She gave him an exasperated look. “Are you always thinking about sex?”

He shook his head. “Not until I met you. I . . . hunger for you all the time.”

Her eyes softened. “Your mind is still working well enough to figure out we have dragons. You weren’t shocked?”

“I was. A bit. So the kids are shifters? They’ll turn into dragons?”

“Yes. About the time of puberty.”

He nodded. “That figures. It’s the same for the other shifters I know.”

“Other . . . shifters?”

“Werewolves, were-panthers and tigers, were-bears—”

She gasped. “Such creatures exist?”

“You didn’t know? You’ll probably meet some tonight.” He glanced at his watch. If he was going to give her cl**ax number five, he’d better hurry. “Let’s go to the waterfall to shower.” He grabbed his toiletry kit from his duffel bag. “Bring some towels.”

She selected two towels from her shelf. “Do we have time before your friends come?”

“We’ll have to hurry.” He grabbed Neona and teleported her to the waterfall that burst through the rock wall.

She looked around, then stared at him as he stripped with vampire speed. “Why are you moving so quickly?”

He untied her sash and pulled off her tunic. “Once my friends start moving into this valley, we won’t have any privacy.”

“Oh.” She glanced at the waterfall. “It’s our last chance to shower for a while.”

“Among other things,” he muttered as he removed the shampoo and bar of soap from his toiletry kit.

Using vampire speed, he was able to finish washing by the time she joined him, na**d, in the spray. He shampooed her hair, enjoying her little moans as he caressed her scalp. With her hair rinsed, he lathered up his hands with soap and started on her body.

She laughed. “You seem to think my br**sts are extra dirty.”

“Extra beautiful.” He wiped the soap off her hardened ni**les and gave them a kiss.

“You’re the beautiful one.” She smoothed her hands down his chest to his stomach. “Do we have time for another healing session?”

He inhaled sharply when she cupped his balls with one hand and squeezed his dick with the other. “Neona.” He grasped her hips. Within seconds, he could feel the tingling sensation, then the hum of vibration. His vision turned rosy pink as his eyes glowed red.

“You’re getting so thick,” she whispered. “And hard.”

He groaned. “Are you ready for cl**ax number five?”

“We don’t have to count them anymore. The plan worked, and I trust you.”