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“We are, aren’t we?” said Ellis happily. If Grissom could be happy as a lone dragon in a relationship with a human, then she could be too.

  All that’s left is for Frederica to find her soul mate too, thought Ellis. Then, to be fair, she mentally added, Or soul mates, I guess.

  They talked for a little bit longer – Freddie was excited about the university project that she was working on, but she was also worried about Ellis, Everett, Dafina, and their fire dragon cousins now that she knew that there had been an uptick in poaching that year – before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

  It was maybe four days back to camp in their little supply hauling trucks, but frankly, Ellis didn’t feel like making it. She wanted to see Benton now.

  Approaching the others, Ellis made what even she knew was a reckless suggestion.

  “So,” said Ellis. “How about I change shape and fly the supplies back to camp?”

  She’d still have to send someone back later to get the trucks so that they could haul almost everything back from the campsite at the end of the season, but Ellis was willing to cross that bridge when she came to it.

  In the present, the other four blinked at her.

  “That sounds like a great idea!” exclaimed Kris brightly. Her delighted expression briefly faltered. “Unless Talman and I have to walk back on our own, that is. Would we have to walk back on our own?”

  “No, of course not,” said Ellis. “I’d… let you catch a ride on me.”

  And they’d better be grateful for it too. Dragons were not horses.

  “During the initial briefing, you said that the locals would see us if we tried to change our shapes and fly,” said Everett warily. “You said that it would be dangerous if they did.”

  “Well, yes,” Ellis admitted, her own enthusiasm for the idea dimming somewhat. “That’s a… really good point. I guess I lost my head for a moment there. I just… ”

  She had just really wanted to get back to Benton as soon as possible. She would tell him that she was a storm dragon and he was her soul mate, and he would probably flip out a bit, but then they would live happily ever after. Probably. No, definitely. She’d make sure of it.

  But they couldn’t live happily ever after if she or any of the others ended up as ingredients in someone’s soup. She could… wait.

  Ellis sighed.

  “You’re right,” she admitted, feeling chastened even though no one had accused her of anything. How could she have lost her head like that? It would have been such a stupid and dangerous mistake to make! “We should definitely stick to the plan. Let’s go.”

  The sooner they got started, the sooner they would get there – or at least, that’s what Ellis told herself.

  It was going to be a long four days back to camp.

  They were less than half a day from camp when a large group of men burst from the bushes and surrounded their small caravan of slow moving trucks. The drivers stopped – they pretty much had to with four men standing in the road – and at the shouts from the second group, everyone disembarked from the trucks.

  Glancing around, Ellis estimated that the strangers outnumbered her little group by four to one. Worse, they were armed with machetes and what looked like blowguns. Some of them were obviously from the Bolundan Islands, but most of them looked like they were from elsewhere. None of them looked friendly though.

  It didn’t look good.

  We should have flown, after all, thought Ellis, annoyed. It was better to be annoyed than afraid. And looking at the armed men that surrounded them, she was very, very afraid.

  From the circle of men stepped a slim, handsome man with almond brown skin, pale blond hair, and large violet eyes; violet eyes like Captain Renau Tabor, his family, and all the other locals, all of whom could see magic.

  Raising a slim finger, he pointed at first her and then Donovan and Everett as he rasped, “One… Two… Three. Harvest them.”

  Ellis barely had time to be shocked before needle sharp stabs of pain lanced into her chest and arms.

  Looking down felt like it took a small eternity.

  Thump!

  When she finally managed to look at herself, Ellis saw about half a dozen red feathered darts blooming from her chest and arms. Some of them were lodged pretty deeply in her flesh. They probably should have hurt.

  Thump!

  Voices were shouting.

  Ellis’ legs gave out.

  Thump!

  She landed on the ground with a thump, her field of vision entirely taken up with the curve of Everett’s forehead and Donovan’s fluffy hair. Somehow, they had ended up on the ground with her.

  Darkness was creeping across her vision, separating her from the dead leaves and the feet, Everett’s smooth forehead and Donovan’s hair.

  There was no way for a human to recognize a dragon when they were in human form. It was impossible. And yet… somehow he had known.

  “Don’t worry,” rasped that same voice. It was very near, and her head was spinning. “We won’t hurt the other humans.”

  Ellis’ darkness was filled with cool violet eyes.

  Can he really see us as we truly are? Ellis wondered muzzily. Even in our human forms? Could they all? Why didn’t… they ever… say anything? Why… didn’t… I? Benton…

  He was her last thought as unconsciousness claimed her.

  Chapter 12 – Benton

  Benton…

  It was Ellis’ voice, and Benton would have thought it a memory, save for the rush of pain and fear and dizziness that accompanied it. Those weren’t his emotions. He was fidgety but safe and waiting for her in camp with all the others.

  Somewhere, something had gone very wrong for her, he just knew it.

  Direct mind to mind communication wasn’t an ability common to phoenixes. In fact, he hadn’t ever heard of a pair of mated phoenixes sharing such a power. But that didn’t mean it was impossible.

  Ellis’ niece, nephew, and their cousins were all fire dragons. She wasn’t, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t any kind of dragon at all. Benton didn’t know much about dragons or anything about their various powers, but maybe –

  Cameron shifted, drawing Benton’s eye as he threw a smooth stone up in the air and then caught it again.

  His train of thought disrupted, Benton glared at Dafina and snapped, “What kind of dragon is Ellis?”

  “Storm,” said Dafina automatically, and then looked appalled with herself a moment later.

  “And can storm dragons speak directly mind to mind?”

  “We all can with –” Dafina’s expression briefly faltered, as did her words. More slowly, she said, “We all can with our soul mates.”

  Benton’s heart squeezed in his chest.

  With their soul mates! How long has she known? And why didn’t she say anything? Benton wondered, heartsick, even though he had a pretty good idea of why she hadn’t said anything. He hated to imagine them both knowing such an important thing about the other, but biting it back because they both feared that the other wouldn’t understand.

  And now Ellis was in mortal danger, she might die, just when they were on the verge of truly understanding each other without any secrets lying between them.

  A world without Ellis in it wasn’t one that Benton wanted to face.

  “The other group is in trouble,” Benton said briskly. “We’ve got to go rescue her – them.”

  “How are we going to find them?” asked Landon.

  “Soul mates can find each other,” said Dafina quickly then faltered. “Or at least, my parents always can.”

  “Phoenixes can too,” said Benton grimly. Over the others’ exclamations, he snapped, “Never mind that! C’mon! we have to go find them!”

  “We shouldn’t all go,” said Marc. “That would be noisy. It should just be me, Benton, and –”

  “And me,” said Emilio quickly.

  “And you,” agreed Marc.

  “And me and Dafina!” interjected Cameron excitedly. “You don’t eve
n turn into anything! We can at least blow fire! We’re dragons!”

  “Who said that I don’t shift?” asked Marc with a sharp smile. “Some of us know the meaning of the word subtlety.”

  “And what if the other group was split up during the ambush?” inserted Emilio. “What if some of them got away? If they make it back to camp, it’ll be better if there’s someone here waiting for them.”

  “That makes sense,” said Dafina. “So who goes and who stays?”

  “I’ll stay,” said Landon, and off of the others’ looks, he shrugged. “I’m no good in a fight, and my abilities wouldn’t be very helpful in one anyway.”

  He had abilities?

  Useless abilities, amended Benton, refusing to be distracted from the topic at hand: namely, saving his mate. And everyone else that had gone with her, if they needed it.

  “I wouldn’t be any help either,” said Parker.

  “I’ll come with you,” said Marissa. “I’m quick and quiet, and in my other form, I can find things out for you. My other form won’t draw much notice – not on this island, anyway.”

  Marc’s mouth began to move, and Marissa shot him a challenging look.

  Marc said nothing.

  “Cameron and I will stay behind,” said Dafina firmly. When Cameron opened his mouth, she quickly added, “We’ll protect Parker and Landon – and Kris and Talman, if they make it back to camp – and all our stuff.”

  “Use our sat-phone to call for help,” said Marc. He tossed the device to Dafina.

  And at that, Cameron finally settled.

  The members of the rescue party finally decided, he, Marc, Marissa, and Emilio set off into the jungle.

  Now that he knew that there was a double bond between them – his as a phoenix and hers as a storm dragon – Benton used both to track Ellis. The dragon’s bond pulled at his guts, directing his feet in unexpected directions. They had been walking for hours, when his own phoenix’s bond twitched his pinkie in the same direction that they were walking. Feeling it, Benton’s heart soared, and his knees wobbled under the weight of his relief.

  The duel pull led Benton to a large shack near one of the beaches on the western side of the island. From the safety of the trees, the small group studied the shack.

  The shack, like every other permanent dwelling that Benton had seen on the island, stood on stilts. Made from uneven grey boards, the shack had large windows, a thatched roof made from dried palm fronds, and the occasional gap between the boards. There was only one entrance, which stood at the top of a short ladder. Hanging over the windows and door were thin, off-white curtains that fluttered in the breeze coming in off of the ocean.

  “It’s going to be difficult to sneak in there,” said Emilio.

  “And if we don’t do it right, they’ll have no reason to keep her or any of the rest of them alive,” added Marc.

  “I’ve got this,” said Marissa confidently.

  Quick as a wink, she slipped out of her human shape, her empty clothes falling to the ground around her. A few moments later, a tiny pink nose poked out of the collar of Marissa’s discarded shirt. It twitched, sniffing the air, before she emerged: a common house cat with sleek fur and a pair of tiny gold studs in each of her pointed ears.

  On silent paws, Marissa trotted away from the group, quickly covering the short distance to the shack. Benton’s last glimpse of her was as Marissa wriggled through the gap between two battered boards.

  She was gone for a long time.

  Marc didn’t move or say anything – he barely breathed – but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he wasn’t taking it well.

  He and Marc were staring at the shack, and Emilio was dutifully watching everything but the shack, when three men stormed out of the building. Well, they stormed as much as one could while forced to scramble down a ladder.

  As Benton and the others watched, the three men went around the back of the shack to disappear into the forest. A few minutes later, there was the sound of an engine driving away.

  A few seconds after that, the dark feline that was Marissa wriggled through that same gap in the boards. She darted over to where Benton and the other men were waiting for her.

  Marissa shifted back to her human form behind a large tree, Marc passing her folded clothes around the tree’s trunk to her.

  While she dressed, Marissa said, “They have Dr. Hale, Everett, and Donovan. They’re all drugged, and none of them looks great.”

  Benton’s breath caught in his throat. Fear roared through him. Didn’t look great? What did that mean?

  “But Dr. Hale is probably the one that’s most with it,” continued Marissa. It didn’t ease any of Benton’s fears, but it was still good to hear. “From what they said, their group plans to, er, harvest dragon’s parts from the three of them and sell them to buyers on the international market for a lot of money.”

  Benton sucked in a sharp breath. They were going to butcher his Ellis – the happy, big-hearted, beautiful woman who worried about her assistants and her firebirds and strangers that she had never met – like a pig and sell her parts to human-shaped monsters?

  Stupid fucking Cameron and his stupid fucking need to look cool, thought Benton furiously. If anything happens to her, I’ll show him what it means to burn! I’ll show all of these men what lies at the heart of my flames!

  “Anyway, there are only four guys guarding them right now,” said Marissa, as she emerged from around the side of her tree. “They don’t seem to have guns, but we have to hurry. The rest of the group is going to come back soon.”

  “Good job,” said Marc, briefly pulling Marissa into a hard hug. “Stay here.”

  “But –”

  “Please stay here,” repeated Marc. “I need – Marissa, it’ll be easier for me if you’re –”

  “I get it,” said Marissa, scowling. “And I’ll stay here.”

  Looking relieved, Marc nodded at her. To Emilio, he said, “Do you think you could jump up and grab onto one of the windows?”

  “Yes,” said Emilio immediately.

  “I can too,” said Marc.

  “Then I’ll go up the ladder,” said Benton, thinking that he knew where this was going. When the others stared at him, Benton said, “Because someone needs to distract them, while you’re pulling yourself in through the windows, right?”

  Slowly, they nodded.

  Their plan made, the three men split up. Marc and Emilio disappeared into the trees surrounding the hut, while Benton waited a few minutes to give them time to circle around the shack.

  Then, his heart racing in his chest, Benton briskly walked towards the shack.

  No one stopped him.

  No one even challenged him.

  Grabbing a rung on the ladder, Benton began hauling himself up to the shack. He reached the platform without incident.

  Slapping the hanging curtain aside, Benton stepped into the shack – and nearly into the tip of a filthy looking bayonet.

  Looking up the length of it, Benton found himself looking into violet eyes. Past the man’s shoulder, Benton could see three other men, one standing by each of the dragons. All three of the dragons were sprawled out on the floor, their bodies lying on an ominous plastic tarp.

  Everett and Donovan were clearly unconscious, their faces slack and drool pooling at the corners of their mouths. Ellis’s body was just as lax as theirs, her face just as empty, but her dark lashes were fluttering. Benton wasn’t sure but he thought – he hoped – that she was watching them through slitted eyes. He hoped that she knew that he was there.

  “Interesting,” rasped the violet-eyed man, drawing Benton’s attention back to himself, and Benton scowled.

  “I’ve come for the dragons.”

  “I think not,” said the other. To the three men behind him, the violet-eyed man said, “They will pay well for this one too. He is nothing that I’ve ever seen before. He burns.”

  From the corner of his eye, Benton saw a flicker of movement at the window beh
ind the dragons and their guards. Benton very carefully didn’t look at it, as he said, “I’ll burn you, if you don’t give them back.”

  The man with the violet eyes grinned, his teeth white against his dusky skin. From a sleeve, he produced a blowgun.

  Benton tensed.

  He was bringing the blowgun up to his lips, an unpleasant gleam in his violet eyes, when Benton lunged at him, knocking into the other man with bone jarring impact.

  They hit the floor of the shack hard enough to clack Benton’s teeth together. It hurt, and he was breathless, but Benton didn’t let it slow him down either.

  Neither did the violet-eyed man.

  They wrestled around on the floor: punching and kneeing and biting each other. His hand found the blowgun, and Benton wrenched it out of the other man’s hand. A knee found its way into Benton’s gut, knocking the breath out of him, and Benton’s hand came up, cracking his opponent across the side of his face with the blowgun.

  His opponent grabbed his wrist, and Benton slammed his forehead against the other man’s nose hard enough to feel it crunch against his skull. The other man cried out, his grip on Benton’s wrist faltering, and Benton yanked his arm away.

  He cracked the violet-eyed man across the side of the head again, harder this time, and then did it a third time for good measure. Under him, the man’s blue-purple eyes slid shut, and he slumped bonelessly to the cabin’s floor.

  Breathing hard, Benton scrambled to his feet just in time to smack his ill-gotten blowgun against the side of another man’s head. A second hit delivered in swift succession, and the other man fell down unconscious.

  Looking up, Benton realized that there was no one else to bludgeon into submission. Marc and Emilio had gotten to them first.

  The two ex-military men smiled sharp, wolfish smiles at Benton, and Benton automatically grinned back at them, fierce pride thrilling through his heart.

  He had done it!

  He had saved Ellis!

  With a little help, Benton amended, as he tenderly gathered Ellis into his arms.

  She flopped against his chest, warm and limp, and deep in her throat, Ellis made a groaning noise.