“Riding how?” I bit down on my lip as one of the guards cleared his throat.
“Our dragons,” Marco clarified, his smile making my heart race.
“I’m riding one of you?” I asked sincerely, feeling a jolt of excitement before frowning. “Well, that’s a bit difficult, asking me to pick. I want to ride all of you.”
“Fuck,” Anani muttered as I heard Ledger chuckle, his relaxed, warm laugh making my heart squeeze. I could feel how much more relaxed his dragon was now, and his happiness made me feel far more at peace.
“Not my normal policy to make you pick,” Marco agreed.
Okay, now I could tell he was trying to mess with the guards, because both of them were shifting uncomfortably, and even I could tell what he was alluding to. I mean, to be fair, he wasn’t lying. Marco had never asked me to pick before. I looked at my mates and mused. “Well, I have already ridden Sai—”
“Yeah you fucking have,” Sai mumbled under his breath before flashing a dangerous smirk. “Although, kitten, I am very much a fan of repeat performances.”
A small laugh almost slipped out as I bit down on my lip and tilted my head, attempting to play along. Not because I enjoyed making the guards uncomfortable, but because Marco seemed to find all of this very amusing, and seeing him smile made me more happy than you can imagine.
“Who would be the easiest to ride?”
Marco chuckled, his laugh dangerous and his smile absolutely elated as both guards cursed behind him. His answer was smooth as he approached me easily, gently smoothing a hand down my throat. “I don’t think any of us are an easy ride, to be fair.”
“Then you pick,” I decided, his dragon letting out a rumble of approval.
“Sounds like you’re coming with me,” he insisted.
“Goddamn it,” Sai muttered as Henry simply clapped a hand over his shoulder and offered him a somewhat sympathetic look that I didn’t fully understand.
“Henry, you got me?” Croy mused, looking thrilled with the conversation taking place and the way Henry narrowed his eyes at him. Except I could tell he found Croy’s question more amusing than anything, the tension in his body far less than before, which in return had me relaxing.
“Unfortunately, since Marco is being a bastard,” Henry muttered.
“I have Bella,” Atlas explained easily as the kitten meowed from his shoulder, regarding the guards with a look that I could only describe as judgmental. I knew that sounded crazy, but I swear that is exactly how she appeared to be appraising them.
“I’m excited,” I expressed, surging forward and grabbing Marco’s hand as he dipped his handsome face and melted his lips to mine. I followed him easily as he led me past the guards, a ripple of magic meeting my skin as we passed through the gate, both men looking anywhere but at the two of us. Which was good, because that meant they didn’t see the way my skin shimmered with a faint almost scale-like pattern in bright blue along my wrists and forearms before disappearing once again. My brows rose as I looked up at Marco, who was looking down at me with both a bit of awe and concern. The combination made me feel nervous. Marco didn’t get freaked out by anything, so if he was concerned, that was cause enough for me to be as well.
“I would have suggested flying for you,” he spoke quieter than the guards would be able to hear, “but until we see the royal physician, I am attempting to keep the fact that you are a phoenix a bit quiet. I don’t trust the assholes around here not to cause a problem.”
“Like the council did?” I offered.
“But worse,” he agreed.
As we stood at the edge of the stone ledge, my eyes widened in realization that we were truly floating on a piece of suspended land. There was no ‘bottom’ to this drop that I could see. Rather, heavy, thick clouds surrounded the space, dense enough that you almost felt like they were solid enough to step on. The bright sunlight from above glinted off them, making them sparkle like diamonds.
There was a part of me that felt exhilarated at the idea of taking a step off the ledge and letting nature take its course, my phoenix instinctively assuring me we would be able to fly. But there was also a secondary, more human part of me, that figured we should practice a few more times before taking such a large risk.
“Stay right there,” he insisted, stepping back. A small surprised noise left my throat as my mate essentially walked backwards until he dropped off the ledge. Immediately I ran towards the edge, feeling a sense of panic, before a laugh broke from my lips as a massive, dark form shot upwards right past me. A sense of danger and vicious lethality filled the air as a loud roar shook the island that we were on, making the fluttering in my chest only increase tenfold.
Holy crap.
I shouldn’t have been surprised by how intimidating his dragon was, yet I found myself in slight awe by how massive and dominant he seemed to be. A dark creature that filled the light space around him, bringing forth shadows and a dark flame-like energy that whispered against my skin. When he came right up to the side of the ledge, my lips parted in shock as my head fell back, wondering how it was possible that this dragon resided within Marco. How did he keep calm? I could feel the energy radiating off his dragon, and it seemed almost untamable.
“Show-off,” Anani claimed behind me as my smile grew. I couldn’t deny it anymore—I was starting to believe that Marco was exactly as dangerous as everyone insisted he was. Especially if this was what was constantly moving about in his subconscious. I had seen Atlas and Sai shift, and I had briefly seen my mates shift the night that I had, but it was nothing compared to seeing it in the light of day where I could fully focus on how perfect they were.
Where Atlas had been a smoky color and Sai a vibrant crimson mixed with ruby, Marco’s scales that covered his massive frame were a dark onyx shade that reminded me of a hard-edged sword in their shape. It almost appeared like he had battle armor on, everything about him dangerous and lethal. His large eyes were completely black and watched me with a predatory interest as he easily floated alongside the ledge, his snout dipping to smell me as my hand hesitantly reached forward to brush against him.
I found myself fascinated by the bright streak of orange that went up his snout and over his head, down his back, past the dangerous spikes that covered the area. His wings moved with an easy grace and left a smoky texture in their wake, filling the space with a dark, ashy magic. My hand finally grazed him, and a low rumble broke from his throat, shaking the land I was on as his tail whipped forward, wrapping around my waist before pulling me onto his back.
I let out a small giggle as I instantly tightened my legs to hold onto where I was placed near his neck, my fingers sliding against his scales to secure myself like I had with Sai. I placed my cheek against the hot texture as a low purr broke from his chest, making me smile, a lazy haziness crowding over me. A weird mix, considering the exhilaration I was feeling at the concept of flying.
“Be careful and do not let go,” Henry said, his voice hard and demanding my attention. I nodded, offering all of them a small, excited smile. One that only grew as Marco suddenly turned from the land we were on and took off, speeding through the clouds at a pace that had me letting out a surprised laugh.
I wasn’t positive how I could tell exactly, but the air here was different than on Earth. It not only smelled amazing, but it felt almost more dense and rich in texture, making me wish I was soaring through it myself. The clouds breezed over my skin as I turned my head but kept my cheek pressed to Marco, his magic wrapping around me as I began to notice objects forming through the cloud cover that we were soaring through. More specifically, a large, gleaming piece of land that appeared below us, a sense of excitement growing in my chest at its appearance. When Marco let out a savage roar, the sound vibrating the air around us, I leaned forward and held on as he made it clear that was exactly where we were going.