“Those were your cousins?” I shook my head, reminding myself not to complain about Bryce ever again.
“Yes, all dragons are considered cousins. My kind believe any weakness should be wiped out, and I am too small. The Gnat, as they called me.” Her big eyes blinked once, the lashes fluttering. She changed the direction of her words. “If you’ll let me, I can try to help you. Maybe if I do that, your friend Ish will let me stay with you. I have no home now. I can’t go back to Dragon’s Ground.”
There was a connection between this little dragon and myself, I wouldn’t deny it. That was the world of the supernatural: when a friend came along, you held on tightly. Because there was no telling when you might need each other. Or like Darcy, lose each other. I was afraid to trust Lila, though. Maks wasn’t wrong when he’d said dragons couldn’t be trusted.
How the hell he knew that was beyond me, but he had a point. Which meant I had to be careful and not let myself get too deep into caring for her.
I lifted a hand and ran my fingers along the top of her head. “I think that’s a great idea, Lila. I feel like I’ve known you for years.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “I like you, Zam. Not just because you saved me either. You’re what I want to be. Brave and fierce even if you aren’t the biggest supe.”
I smiled, my heart swelling a little, but it was strained as I stared into the distance, thinking about all we were going to face. This was the beginning of the journey, far from home and going deep into enemy territory. “Though she be but little, she is fierce,” I whispered softly.
“Shakespeare.” Lila bobbed her head. “I always loved that line.”
I laughed. A dragon who recognized Shakespeare? “How about this one. ‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here.’ What play?”
“Oh, please. That’s easy. The Tempest. How about, ‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.’” She scrambled off my shoulder and up Balder’s neck where she perched and faced me with a wide grin on her toothy face.
I pointed a finger at her. “Romeo and Juliet.”
Back and forth we went, throwing lines, trying to stump one another. I let Balder slow again and Maks eventually caught up but I ignored him. Because he was a human, a stupid, stupid human man who had no idea what this world was really like. I remembered something my father had told me, and it made more sense to me now than ever before.
Zamira, there are times you must take a chance. You. Because maybe tomorrow, you might not be alive. Live for the moment. In order to get up each day and face the darkness—you need to embrace the moments of joy in life. One day, the inevitable will come for you and you will have no more todays.
Death was always waiting, and I knew it better than most.
Lila’s eyes narrowed and she flashed a wink at me before she turned her head to Maks. She waved one tip of her wing at him. "Out of my sight! Thou dost infect my eyes."
“Oh, burn!” I turned my head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. “Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood." Take that, human. Use all the F-bombs you like, you won’t beat Will when it came to put-downs.
“Are you tossing Shakespearean insults at me? You two are out of your minds,” Maks said. “We have acid-spitting dragons looking for us, we’re racing to save Darcy, and have a killing winter ahead of us if the rumors of the Ice Witch are even half true, not to mention slipping past her three guardians. Do you recall these small yet rather important details? As in, we need to get the hell out of here? Not spend our time trotting out how many plays of yore you’ve read.” He continued to mutter under his breath and I chose not to listen. There might have been more than a few damned house cat mutterings and those burned my pride and hurt something deep inside of me more than anything else could have. He was right. I was just a house cat.
Lila stuck her tongue out at him. “More of your conversation would infect my brain.”
His face tightened and Lila howled with laughter, her whole tiny body shaking. I smiled. I might be stuck with Maks for now. But I had been right in saving Lila. She was a bright ray of light on what was otherwise a shitty fucking day.
I nodded to myself. “Though she be but little, she is fierce. And she’s my friend.”
Chapter Seven
Lila continued to throw insults at Maks even as the darkness began to fall around us on the edge of Dragon’s Ground. I was concerned for two reasons. One, we literally weren’t out of the woods yet, and two, the temperature was slowly dipping. That wasn’t good for any of us.
“Thou art a boil.” She flew between us doing barrel rolls and then shooting up into the sky to scout for any incoming dragons.
“You used that one already. Several times, in fact,” Maks drawled.
“It’s a good one. You look like a boil. Ready to pop.” She flicked her tail at him, catching the edge of his ear in a hard snap.
He clapped a hand over it with a grunt. “God save me from angry women, and even angrier lady dragons.”
Lila landed on my right shoulder, preening. “There is a place up ahead we could camp, if you want to stop for the night? The dragons don’t like it, so they won’t come close. And yes,” she looked at Maks, “you should talk to your deity about saving you from angry female dragons. We all bite.” She stuck her tongue out at him again, flipping it back and forth. I bit back a grin.
“If you have a place, then yes, lead the way, Lila.” I motioned with my hand for her to do just that. I was hoping for a trapper shack. According to Ish’s information, the old structures were still here and there, dotted on the landscape, left behind by the humans before they scattered as the wall went up. A trapper shack would be perfect, small and meant to blend in with the forest so the animals being hunted would never see it. An extra level of camouflage would not hurt my feelings at all.
She pushed off from my shoulder and flew ahead of us, the glitter of her scales catching the last of the dying light. As soon as she was well out of earshot, Maks reached across the space between the horses and tapped my arm.
“You really think we can trust her?” He kept his voice low. “It could be a trap. She could be working for the dragons, drawing us in. Looking for a way to get back into their good graces by bringing home dinner.”
I snorted, the desire to rub my face with both hands high. “Really? We aren’t any special prizes here, Maks. You’re a human, and I’m a freaking house cat. Even Lila is no big thing to them. They sent juveniles to dispatch her, that is how little they thought of her. If she’d had any value they would have executed her publicly. And we aren’t here to steal anything from the dragons, we’re just passing through. Dragons can pick up on the intentions of those they’re around.” That last bit was a fib, but I needed him to trust Lila, because I wanted badly to believe she was one of the good ones.
I rolled my shoulders and stretched my back with a big breath. Part of it was true, though, about the feelings. Lila had said she knew I truly meant to protect her, and because of that . . . well, I wanted to believe I had her loyalty. That I could trust her. I shook my head at myself. There was that T word again. Maybe this time, I’d be giving it to the right person. “I bet we aren’t even on their radar anymore.”
Again, that last bit was more hope than truth. I didn’t need him freaking out about me being impetuous, or foolish, or indecisive. I was a grown woman and I’d survived in this world when a lot of people would have given up, lain down, and died where their spirits had been broken. But that was a cat for you, nine lives and all that shit. I’d keep going even when I wasn’t entirely sure I should be still alive. I wasn’t sure how many lives I had left after the last ten years hunting jewels for Ish.
Lila ducked into the trees, flicking her tail at us to follow her. She disappeared into the thick evergreens and I grimaced. I did not want to go into the Dragon’s Ground until we absolutely had to, but it looked like the place Lila had in mind for us to stay was exactly there, into the den of the beast.
“See, yeah, that face you’re making right there, that makes me nervous,” Maks said. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it, following her?”