Summer and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 2) Read online

  All through her ten years of Advocacy School, Lily had been reminded over and over of how dangerous shifters were, and of how extraordinary precautions must be taken to ensure that shifters did not learn that wizards existed. It was almost unbelievable that she was about to spend her summer vacation with a clan of shifters. When she’d booked her plane ticket south, she’d felt almost like she was doing something wrong. A few years ago, a trip like this would have been breaking the law. Now, the High Council in Falcon Cross was encouraging wizards to interact with shifters as much as possible, in order to strengthen and improve shifter-wizard relations. In fact, even though Lily considered this trip a “vacation,” she was actually being paid for it. The Advocacy Bureau had given her a paid leave of absence for the entire summer when she requested time off to come see the Lily and the Redwood Dragons.

  A flash of movement just outside the window of the rental car shop caught Lily’s eye, and she nearly squealed with delight when she saw Bree walking toward the shop, trailed by two very tall, very muscular men. One of the men was Knox, Bree’s lifemate. The other one would be one of the other dragon shifters, although Lily wasn’t sure which one. She knew there were ten Redwood dragons in total, and she’d briefly met a few of them when they’d been in Falcon Cross on official business. But this particular shifter didn’t look familiar, so he must have been one of the ones Lily hadn’t met yet.

  Lily stood and started gathering her things noisily, earning her another glare from the shop owner, which she ignored. A moment later, the bell above the front door jangled loudly as Bree burst into the store.

  “Lily!” Bree cried out, running to envelop her in a warm hug. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

  Lily returned the hug, dropping all the things she had just gathered up. She didn’t care. It was so good to see Bree again. Lily couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous of her—in a happy way, of course. Bree looked so happy and full of life, and much less stressed than she had during the time Lily had known her in Falcon Cross. Working at the Advocacy Bureau required long hours, and most of that time was spent being stuffed up in a small office. Now, Bree spent most of her time out in the fresh air of the redwoods, and the change had done her good. Lily hoped that maybe by the time the summer was over, her skin would glow as much as Bree’s did now.

  Knox and the other dragon shifter squeezed into the small office behind Bree. When the shop owner saw Knox, his grumpy demeanor changed, and a smile actually passed over his face.

  “Hey, brother,” the owner said, standing to heartily shake Knox’s hand. “Always a pleasure. How are you?”

  “Good man, good,” Knox said. “Happy that summer is coming. We don’t have many artifacts to track down right now, so I’m hoping for a mostly chill summer with the crew.”

  “You deserve it,” the store owner said, then turned to the other dragon shifter and extended his hand. “And I’ll be damned if it isn’t Vance himself! I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to make it back home. You’ve been gone for months now.”

  Vance laughed. “Yeah, I had several missions back to back. It was brutal. But hopefully I’m home for the summer now. I’m planning to do nothing but sleep and barbecue for at least a week.”

  The men all laughed, and just then Vance looked over at Lily and caught her staring at him. She quickly turned back to Bree, but not before she felt a flush of pink heat creeping into her cheeks. Vance was gorgeous, and she could hardly believe she was about to be flown into the redwoods on his back. It had been a long time since Lily had felt a rush of excitement at the sight of a man, but seeing Vance sent an undeniable thrill through her body. Quickly, Lily started gathering up her belongings again, mostly to give herself something to do and to distract herself from Vance’s steady gaze.

  “How have you been?” Bree was asking, completely oblivious to the fact that Lily’s heart had just skipped several beats thanks to Vance. “How are things back at the Advocacy Bureau? I want to hear all of the latest gossip. But, of course, there will be time for that tonight—and time this whole summer, actually. I can’t believe you’re going to be here for three whole months!”

  Bree was talking a mile a minute, going almost nonstop. But Lily didn’t mind. In fact, she was glad that she wasn’t having to say much of anything herself right now. Her sudden attraction to Vance had taken her completely by surprise, and she needed time to compose herself before she had to ride on his back.

  Vance was still talking to the store owner, but Knox had broken away now to come greet Lily.

  “Lily, so good to see you. How are you?” he asked, opening his arms for a hug. Lily smiled and gave him a big hug before answering.

  “I’m great! It’s really good to see you, too. You haven’t come up to Falcon Cross as much as I thought you would,” Lily said.

  Knox nodded. “I know. It’s been a really busy couple of months. We had a sudden rush of sightings of old artifacts, so we had to go hunt them all down. But it’s looking like it’s going to be a pretty quiet summer, work-wise. Should be lots of time for hanging out and having a good time.”

  A big smile crossed Bree’s face. “It’s going to be awesome! Two of my favorite people, hanging out all summer long.”

  Knox’s smile widened at Bree’s words, and he leaned over to plant a quick kiss on Bree’s lips. “It’s gonna be good, babe. That’s for sure.”

  Lily felt a small twinge of jealousy. She was so happy that Bree had found such a good man, but she wondered if anyone would ever look at her the way Knox looked at Bree. Lily was so busy with official wizarding business these days that she hadn’t been on a date in months, and it had been years since she’d had an actual boyfriend. But Lily quickly pushed away her jealous thoughts. She wasn’t here in California to have a pity party for herself. She was here to spend time with Bree and to get away from the stress of life in Falcon Cross.

  “You guys all ready?” Vance’s voice broke in to the conversation. “I know it’s early, but we have a bit of a trip ahead of us still. We should get going if we want to make it back to base in time for dinner.”

  “Oh!” Bree said, clapping her hands a few times in excitement. “Let’s get going then. I don’t want to miss dinner. It’s been too long since everyone was together for a barbecue. Besides, I have some peaches I want to grill for dessert. Have you ever had grilled peaches, Lily? They’re pretty much the most delicious thing you’ll ever eat in your life!”

  Lily and Knox both laughed at Bree and her excitement, while Vance rolled his eyes. But Lily thought she saw the hint of a smile playing at his lips, despite his seeming indifference. He glanced over at Lily again and she quickly looked away, embarrassed that he had caught her looking at him again. What was wrong with her? She didn’t even know the guy, so why was he making her blush like a schoolgirl? She hadn’t come here for a summer fling, and although Vance was gorgeous, she could already tell that his “too-cool for school” attitude was going to annoy her. When Bree reached for Lily’s arm to lead her outside, Bree was more than happy to walk as far ahead of Vance and Knox as possible.

  The group headed toward the edge of town, where a small, inconspicuous trail led into the forest. From here, they would hike a few miles until they came to an open clearing, where the men would shift and then fly Bree and Lily the rest of the way to the dragons’ base camp. Bree had explained the whole process carefully on the phone last week, and had seemed worried that Lily would protest at the idea of riding in on a dragon. It was possible to hike in, but it took significantly longer, and the dragons preferred not to leave trails through the forest that went directly to their hideout. They wanted to keep the place as secret as possible.

  Lily had had no qualms about flying in on a dragon. In fact, she found the idea rather exciting. How many other wizards could say they had ridden on a dragon? Lily was looking forward to the experience. At least, she had been looking forward to it until she’d realized that she was going to be riding on a dragon who made her he
art feel like it was going to beat right out of her chest with desire.

  Bree continued to chatter, but Lily felt distracted and only heard about half of what she was saying. Finally, Bree seemed to notice that Lily wasn’t replying much.

  “I’m so sorry, Lily,” Bree said. “Here I am talking your ear off when you’re probably exhausted. Don’t worry, though. Riding on the back of a dragon is surprisingly relaxing. You can rest up while they boys fly us to base.”

  Lily smiled weakly, but in her head she was thinking that it was going to be impossible to relax when she was riding on the back of a dragon shifter who just so happened to be the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

  Chapter Three

  Despite Lily’s misgivings, she had to admit that Bree was right about one thing: riding on a dragon was surprisingly relaxing. After hiking a little ways out of town, the boys had stripped and then shifted into dragons. Lily had looked away shyly while Vance stripped, although Bree seemed completely unfazed by it. It was another reminder to Lily of how Bree had managed to integrate herself into shifter life, which still felt crazy to Lily after a lifetime of trying to stay away from shifters.

  But any feelings of awkwardness quickly melted away as Lily took in the magnificent sight of Vance’s and Knox’s dragon forms. The two of them standing next to each other were enough to fill even the most unenthusiastic heart with awe. They both had thick dragon hides that were covered in iridescent scales. Wherever the light streaked through the treetops and hit them, their scales glittered purple, blue, and even pink. They had long, spiked tails that twitched now and then with pent up energy, and their wings looked large even folded up against their bodies. Their heads were the most impressive part, though. They were large, with sharp horns. The tips of their razor sharp teeth could be seen poking through their dragon lips, and every now and then wisps of smoke curled up from their nostrils, hinting at the fact that they had the ability to breathe fire at any moment. They were true dragons, mighty in every sense, and Lily had been filled with a strange sense of reverence as she stared up at them.

  That sense of reverence had only increased after she had climbed onto Vance’s back and he had flapped his giant wings, lifting her effortlessly through the high treetops of the redwoods. The forest was thick, but he seemed to know by heart exactly where every branch was. He moved through the air like a ballet dancer might move across a stage, powerfully and gracefully. Lily was surprised by how at ease she felt. She had worried that riding up so high would make her scared, but Vance flew so smoothly and his back was so broad that she never worried that she might be thrown off of his back.

  And when they finally rose above the treetops and kept going, higher and higher, she felt a sudden sense of privilege. How many mortals had been privileged to ride on the back of a dragon? Perhaps in ancient times, when these mythological creatures had been more prevalent, riding on a dragon had been more common. But today, when most humans thought that dragons had never actually existed, Lily guessed that the experience she was having right now was quite rare.

  The air up here was quiet and calm. Lily had never experienced a silence as deep as this, with only the occasional, hushed pumping of Vance’s wings to break up the stillness. When Lily glanced behind them, she could see Knox’s dragon, with Bree sitting upright on his back and taking in the beauty around them. When Lily looked forward, however, was when she felt like she was truly in another world. Gently sloping, mountain-like hills stretched before her, covered in thick, green redwoods for as far as the eye could see. For the next few hours, Lily forgot about everything, even about the fact that she had an undeniable attraction to the man behind the dragon that she now rode.

  All she could see was beauty. Tears of wonder filled her eyelids, and she glanced down at her magic ring, a thick onyx stone, black as midnight. Her clan of wizards used magic rings instead of wands to cast spells, and Lily’s ring was a special one. It had belonged to her grandmother, and, although Lily had lost her grandmother years ago, she felt the ring kept her grandmother’s spirit close to her. Overcome by the magic of the moment, Lily suddenly had an urge to add her own magic to the moment. Raising her ring high above her head, she yelled out a spell.

  “Magicae scintillula,” she said. Instantly, shimmering orbs of light that looked like hundreds of shimmering diamonds came shooting from her ring. The sparkling light spheres left what looked like a trail of stardust behind them, and a big smile crossed Lily’s face. She’d been doing magic her whole life, but she had a feeling that this was going to be the most magical summer she’d ever had.

  * * *

  Vance turned his head and a hint of a smile played at his dragon lips. Lily was doing some sort of cool trick that was leaving a trail behind them of what appeared to be shimmering diamonds. She really shouldn’t be doing something that attracted extra attention to them, but Vance didn’t care that much at the moment. Lily didn’t know all the rules about keeping a low profile when in shifter form, and besides, they were out in the middle of nowhere right now. The odds of anyone seeing her little magic show were absurdly low, and Vance had to admit that he was rather enjoying it. The diamond trail sparkling in the sunlight was beautiful.

  Just like her.

  Vance didn’t even try to push away the desire that filled his heart when he looked at Lily. Usually, he kept his guard up around woman. Being one of the Redwood Dragons was a dangerous, solitary life for the most part. Despite the fact that his work took him to many wonderful locations, where he often met beautiful women, Vance knew better than to risk his missions by getting involved with someone. Women were distracting, and they were also good at pretending to be your friend when they were actually spies who wanted to derail a mission. Perhaps Vance was overly paranoid, but he figured it was better to trust too few people than too many.

  He couldn’t help but wonder, though, if it might be possible to woo Lily. Since she was one of Bree’s best friends and from the Falcon Cross wizard clan, he knew Lily wasn’t secretly trying to spy on the Redwood Dragons or disrupt their missions. And, of course, she was going to be here all summer. If things went well, Vance would be home most of the summer, too. Was it possible that he might actually have an opportunity to have a girlfriend?

  Vance felt his stomach tightening up with nervousness at the thought, which was a strange sensation for him. He was usually brazenly bold, and nothing scared him. But it had been ages since he tried to impress a woman. Did he even remember how? And what if one of the other guys took a liking to her and claimed her first? A wave of jealous anger washed over Vance at just the thought, and he found himself suddenly desperate to find a way to amaze her. He looked behind him, seeing that the stream of shimmering light was ending as she lowered her hand with the magic ring. She caught him looking at her, and a small smile played across her lips. Vance was surprised at how quickly that smile affected him. It sent a thrill through his whole dragon body, and he couldn’t keep himself from looking up at the sky and letting out a stream of fire. So much for not drawing attention to themselves. Knox was probably going to chew him out for breathing fire for no reason, but Vance didn’t care that much at the moment. All he cared about was impressing Lily.

  Vance could see the spot up ahead where he would need to begin descending down into the forest, and he realized he was rapidly running out of time to impress Lily before the other dragons met her. He found a strange feeling of urgency come over him, and he quickly made the decision to show off his flying skills. The only one in this crew who could fly better than him was Knox, and, even then, Vance kept Knox on his toes by constantly striving to improve. Vance felt his dragon chest puffing up with pride. If he flew down at top speed in an acrobatic spiral, Lily was sure to be impressed with his skills. He knew Knox would probably yell at him for that, too. Knox hated how much Vance always tried to show off, but Vance didn’t really care what Knox thought right now. He just wanted to prove to Lily that he was the best dragon on the crew. And so, without fully think
ing through what he was about to do, Vance reared his head back and gave a giant roar, shooting another huge stream of fire into the air. Then, he dove.

  He went slowly at first, giving Lily a moment to realize that they were descending so that she would have time to hold on extra tightly to his back. As soon as he felt her hands digging deeply into his back, he increased his speed. He dove straight down at first, then quickly jerked upward to change his direction. He heard Lily gasp, and he smiled, feeling pleased with himself. He flew in quick, rapidly descending circles, twirling through the air in every direction and showing off his amazing flying skills. He expertly maneuvered through the trees, dodging branches by mere inches, but never so much as scraping the side of his wing against one. When he finally landed with a resolute thud on the forest floor, he felt extremely proud of himself. He stood still long enough for Lily to slide off of his back, and then he let another proud, celebratory stream of fire spring from his dragon mouth. He flicked his tail and stretched his wings, doing his best to show off his dragon form to its fullest before transforming himself back into human form. With a loud pop, he began the transformation back into human form. His tail and wings disappeared, and his body became covered with human skin once again. He shook out his arms and legs as they returned to those of a man, and then he reached to grab his backpack from Lily so that he could get dressed once again.

  He smiled as he reached over, hoping she wouldn’t be looking away from his naked body in embarrassment as she had back at the beginning of their flight. But his smile faded as he reached for the backpack. She wasn’t looking away from him, but she didn’t look happy. In fact, her eyes were flashing with anger, and she almost seemed like she was trying to catch her breath.

  “Lily? Is something wrong?” Vance asked, instantly concerned. He’d been expecting a round of applause and looks of awe. At the worst, he’d expected her to be feeling shy that he hadn’t put clothes back on yet. He had not in the least expected to see her face turning red with rage.