Lyndi had chosen neither door A nor B, instead going with door C, where she’d followed the only brother she liked to the Americas—though door A wasn’t locked. An arranged mate could come knocking any day. But “out of sight, out of mind” had worked for her so far.
For one weak moment, she allowed her gaze to linger on the back of Levi’s head—dark, golden hair cropped short, the swirling lines of his family mark on the back of his neck, the strength of broad shoulders that were always trying to bear the weight of the world for the people he protected.
Her dragon, who’d always liked him, threatened to purr—she’d enjoyed that dream a little too much—and Lyndi shook off the mounting tension that had been growing like a cancer inside her since the moment she stepped foot in this mountain.
She was perfectly happy, dammit. Without him.
Giving in to wanting him wouldn’t be fair to either of them, a decision she’d made the day she’d first met him and her dragon had whimpered her approval.
Not that he was interested.
Even if he were, mating him—or what that looked like for female-born dragons, at least—wouldn’t be advantageous to her family, so her king wouldn’t allow it. But an even bigger reason, for her at least, was the fact that female-borns could never be a true mate. Not like a human mate. The bond a dragon could create with a human was soul-deep and incredibly special, a connection that extended a dragon’s life by another thousand years until he and his mate died together, never to be apart in this life or the next.
She’d seen what not mating had done to Drake. The slow, torturous deterioration he’d tried to hide. Cami saved his life. To not find a fated mate would be cursing Levi to an early death.
He deserved more than what she could give him.
Or, more accurately, what she couldn’t give him.
“Please tell me you weren’t out late looking for that orphan,” he shot at her next, still not turning around.
“What do you have against my boys?” she shot back, keeping her voice hushed.
His back stiffened visibly, like a golden marble statue. “Nothing. I have a thing against you being out there on your own. It’s dangerous.”
Misogynistic ass.
Levi spoke louder, to the entire room. “This fire is in western Nevada. We shouldn’t need the entire group.”
Implying that they didn’t need her. Yet again. Levi always seemed to be trying to keep her from going out with the enforcer team. Or was it from going anywhere with him?
“Bite me,” she muttered. Then glanced around for something to throw at his thick head.
He would have to be on call with her again. Especially maddening given that his smooth as sin voice gave her highly inappropriate, and even more annoying, thoughts, no matter how hard she tried not to think them. Thoughts like what it might feel like if he growled against her skin—
“You’re late, Lyndi.” Drake’s voice broke through the start of a horribly detailed fantasy.
Lyndi smoothed out her scrunched-up face and stepped out from behind the human wall in front of her. “I’m on my period,” she announced.
She had to swallow a chuckle as the men in the room shuffled their feet. Poor male suckers. The period excuse worked like a charm to shut them up. Every. Single. Time.
Well…all except Rivin and Keighan. The two white dragon shifters—best friends, incessantly horny, and known to be up for a threesome or more—shot her twin grins of devilry.
“Really?” Rivin smirked, dark hair flopping over one eye.
“Let’s go get messy,” Keighan, taller and blonder and less swarthy, followed up immediately.
Lyndi wrinkled her nose. “Gross—”
A low rumble of a growl reverberated from Levi, cutting her off, and Lyndi wasn’t in the least surprised to find his eyes glowing copper with fire, setting a glittering glow to his already gold-toned skin. She crossed her arms and sent him yet another glare. The down-and-dirty dorks meant nothing by it, and Levi knew that. Besides, she could damn well stand up for herself, and, unlike the humans in this era who seemed to exist in a state of constant offense, she could also tell when the guys were joking.
Keighan held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “Just kidding, Lyndi.”
“Yeah, L,” Rivin said. “Call off your guard dog.”
“He is not my guard dog,” she snarled at the same time Levi uttered a level but firm, “I am not her guard dog.”
“Let’s stay on topic,” Drake snapped. “Lyndi, I want you at center.”
Meaning the protected spot in the formation.
“Center, but—”
“You show up late, you don’t argue. Deal with it. Period or not.”
Lyndi snapped her mouth shut but nodded. Drake was right; she should’ve been better prepared. “Where’s the fire located?”
“Smith Valley, southeast of Lake Tahoe.”
“Hot?”
“Yes, but small so far. Spreading fast thanks to the winds and the dry winter,” Drake confirmed with his usual grim-faced expression.
On his nod, they all headed up several levels and out through the secret door into the exterior building that covered the main entrance to the mountain. Set up to look like the headquarters for a human hotshot firefighting crew—their cover story these days—the space was both a training room with various workout equipment, offices, and small bunk-style living quarters.
Lyndi ignored the way Levi held the door for her, stopping and pointedly waiting for him to go through first, which he did after a pause and shake of his head. Like he was disappointed in her.
They exited the building into the chilly night air, lovely against her dragon-hot skin. Under the cover of a moonless night, the five of them shifted. Lyndi turned her back on the men and closed her eyes, smiling as she brought forth her dragon. Soft as a whisper, at the lick of her will, her form changed, absorbing her humanity, even her clothing, and shimmering, mirage-like, into her dragon.
As she grew and her body reformed, she pitched forward onto taloned claws. Razor sharp spikes protruded from her back, lying flat against her scales. Wings near to thirty feet in length extended to either side of her. She gave them a satisfying flick before settling them against her sides.
If it hadn’t been nighttime, her scales would look much different, the dark, glittering red brought out by direct light. Like hidden fire. It made it almost impossible to camouflage for daytime flying, but in the dark, she was damn near invisible.
Okay, maybe she had two vanities.
Lyndi gave herself a shake, stretching and arching her back like a sleepy cat waking slowly from good dreams. Also like a cat, without warning, she sprang into the crisp night air, her soul soaring with each stroke of her wings. Gods she loved to fly. Once she reached altitude, she tipped to the left, circled around, and came in line behind her brother with Rivin, Keighan, and Levi in a row behind her.