She took his hand, pressed her lips to it. “Oh! Look. There’s no burn now. Love healed you. The strongest magic.”

“Moira.” He kept her hand in his, then laid hers against his chest. “If it beat, it would beat for you.”

Tears stung her eyes again. “Your heart may be still, but it isn’t empty. It isn’t silent because it speaks to me.”

“And that’s enough?”

“Nothing will ever be enough, but it will do. Come, we’ll—”

She broke off when she heard shouting from outside. Turning, she rushed to the window, drew back one of the drapes. Her hand went to her throat. “Cian, come look. The sun’s low enough. Come look.”

The sky was full of dragons. Emerald and ruby and gold, their sleek bodies soared above the castle like flashing jewels in the softening light. And their trumpeting calls were like a song.

“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

When his hand laid on her shoulder, Moira reached up, clasped it. “Listen how the people cheer them. Look at the children running and laughing. It’s the sound of hope, Cian. The sound, the sight.”

“Getting them here, and getting them to be ridden, and to respond in battle like warhorses, two different matters, Moira. But yes, it’s a beautiful sight, and a hopeful sound.”

She watched as they began to land. “In all your years, I imagine there’s little you haven’t done.”

“Little,” he agreed, then had to smile. “But no, I’ve never ridden a dragon. And yeah, damn right I want to. Let’s go down.”

There was still enough sunlight that he needed the bloody cloak in open spaces. But despite it, Cian discovered he could still be enchanted and surprised—when he looked into a young dragon’s golden eye.

Their sinuous bodies were covered in large, jewel-toned scales that were smooth as glass to the touch. Their wings were like gossamer, and kept close into the body when they grazed along the ground. But it was the eyes that captivated him. They seemed to be alive with interest and intelligence, even humor.

“Figured the younger ones would be easier to train,” Blair said to him as they stood, watching. “Larkin’s best at communicating with them, even in his regular form. They trust him.”

“Which is making it harder on him to use them in battle.”

“Yeah, my guy’s a softie, and we went around and around about it. He was hoping to convince everyone we could use them for transportation only. But they could make a hell of a difference on the field. Or above it. Still, I have to admit, I get a little twinge at the idea myself.”

“They’re beautiful—and unspoiled.”

“We’re going to change the second part.” Blair let out a sigh. “Everything’s a weapon,” she murmured. “Anyway, want to go up?”

“Bet your ass.”

“First flight’s with me. Yeah, yeah,” she said when she saw the objection on his face. “You pilot your own plane, ride horses, leap tall buildings in a single bound. But you’ve never ridden a dragon, so you’re not going solo yet.”

She walked slowly toward one of ruby and silver. She’d ridden it back, and still held out her hand so it would test her scent. “Go ahead, let her get acquainted.”

“Her?”

“Yeah, I checked out the plumbing.” Blair grinned. “Couldn’t help it.”

Cian laid his hand on the dragon’s side, worked his way slowly to the head. “Well now, aren’t you a gorgeous one.” He began to murmur to her in Irish. She responded with what could only be termed a flirtatious swish of her tail.

“Hoyt’s got the same way with them you do.” Blair nodded toward where Hoyt was stroking sapphire scales. “Must be a family trait.”

“Hmm. Now why is it that Her Majesty there is mounting one by herself?”

“She’s ridden a dragon before. That is, she’s ridden Larkin in dragon form, so she knows the ropes. Not all she’s riding lately.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Just saying. You two look a lot more relaxed than either of you did yesterday.” She gave him a wide, toothy grin, then swung onto the dragon. “Alley-oop.”

He mounted the same way he’d scaled the walls. With an easy and fluid leap. “Sturdy,” Cian commented. “More comfortable than they look. Not so very different from horseback all in all.”

“Yeah, if you’re talking Pegasus. Anyway, you don’t give them a little kick like a horse or cluck. You just—”

Blair demonstrated by leaning down on the dragon’s neck, gliding a hand over its throat. With a sound like silk billowing, it spread its wings. And it rose up into the sky.

“Live long enough,” Cian said behind Blair, “you do every damn thing.”

“This has got to be one of the best. There are still logistics. The care and feeding, dragon poop.”

“I bet it’ll make the roses bloom.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “Could be. We’ve got to train them, and their riders. But these beauties catch on fast. Watch.” She leaned to the right, and the dragon swerved gently to follow her direction.

“A bit like riding a motorcycle.”

“Some of that principle. Lean into the turns. Look at Larkin. That showoff.”

He was riding a huge gold, and doing fancy loops and turns.

“Sun’s nearly set,” Cian commented. “Give it a few minutes, so I won’t fry, and we’ll give him a run for his money.”

Blair shot a look over her shoulder. “You got it. Going to say something.”

“When did you not?”

“She’s carrying the weight of the fricking world. If what you two have going lightens that a little, I’m for it. Being with Larkin shifted some of mine, so I hope it’s working for the two of you.”

“You surprise me, demon hunter.”

“I surprise myself, vampire, but there it is. Sun’s down. You ready to rock?”

With enormous relief, he shoved back the hood of the cloak. “Let’s show your cowboy some real moves.”

Chapter 12

D avey had been Lilith’s for nearly five years. She’d slaughtered his parents and younger sister one balmy summer night in Jamaica. The off-season vacation package—airfare, hotel and continental breakfast included—had been a surprise thirtieth birthday gift from Davey’s father to his wife. Their first night there, giddy with holiday spirit and the complimentary glasses of rum punch, they had conceived a third child.