Double Dragons(32)

9





She ran forward and heard a poof beside her and then footsteps. Draven was running too. Somehow, he was still clothed, as was Ran. When he saw her shock, he shook his head.

“Our change isn’t purely physical. It’s hard to explain. I don’t have time.”

He knelt over Ran, and she put a hand over her mouth as she watched Ran’s beautiful features twist in agony.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, heart beating hard against her ribcage.

“Stay back,” Draven said. “It’s not safe.”

“I want to help,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest.

As Ran shook on the ground, a thought shot through her with expert clarity. She loved him.

She loved both of them. As she saw Draven kneel over Ran, a glowing shield came up around them. It was transparent gold, like gold dust sprinkled liberally over a glass dome, and she could see Ran start to calm.

What had happened? She could see little green particles in the air around him, slowly dispersing as his body calmed. His face was pale, his body limp. As Draven’s shield fell, Ran’s eyes slowly opened. His mouth was ajar, and he looked at her with slightly lost eyes.

She wanted to go to him.

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be here. He’d saved her life that night, he and Draven.

She didn’t care that his dragon was frightening or made the air hard to breathe. She just wanted to know what she could do to help.

He beckoned her forward and she came, ignoring the dark look on Draven’s face.

“Did you see?” Ran asked, reaching a hand limply toward her and then resting it on his own knee.

“I did,” she said, kneeling in front of him and putting a hand to his face. It felt burning hot, like a particularly bad fever. “What happened?”

He shook his head. “My dragon. Poison fire. Poison blood. Hard to contain. The longer I stay in the form…”

She frowned, drawing her brows together. “You shouldn’t have done it for me, then…”

“I needed you to understand. Needed you to see the un-beautiful side of me.”

Draven snorted, shaking his head, but she could sense he was disturbed as well.

“It’s been happening more often,” Draven said. “When Ran goes on a mission, especially if he uses his dragon fire, which is laced with a poison that prevents shifter healing, he’s been having seizures.”

She stroked his soft hair as Ran closed his eyes and rested on Dray’s leg. “But he barely was in form today, and he didn’t use his fire.”

“Ran’s been tired lately and stressed I’m sure about having to tell you and having to show his form to you. The last time we showed a mate, it didn’t go so well.”

Ran winced but didn’t look at her.

“What happened?”

Draven sighed and sat back on his butt, letting Ran rest on him. “Fine, I’ll tell you everything. I told you I would tell you this last, so here it is. When dragons take a mate, it’s as I told you. If it’s successful, you’re immortal; that’s what you get. A life with us. Not that dragons can’t be killed, but it’s hard. We live a long, long time, barring exceptional circumstances. Except the black dragon.” He frowned. “The toll controlling the dragon takes on the human form causes the human form to deteriorate at a more rapid rate. That’s why black dragons have been historically paired with blue dragons.”

Ran sighed. “And Draven’s never forgiven me for choosing him instead.”

Draven ignored him and continued. “As you’ve probably noticed, we all have different powers. Blue dragons can heal, and their fire is an even more powerful version of that. My dragon fire creates a potent, individual shield from even something as devastating as Ran’s dragon fire. Ran picked me because he was more worried about losing control and needing to protect innocents from his fire than he was about having someone to heal him when he was finished.”

“What’s the point of being healed when I can’t use my powers safely?” Ran murmured. “I wanted to make a difference. I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know others in the area were safe. Do you know what a weight that fire is? It destroys everything. Frankly, I don’t know why other black dragons haven’t thought of it.”

“Because other black dragons didn’t care about unleashing the destructiveness inside them,” Draven said. “And as long as the bad were killed, if there was collateral damage, they didn’t care.”

Ran harrumphed and went back to resting.

“Anyway, shhh,” Draven said to him before turning back to Melissa with serious blue eyes. “Anyway, the dragon-hearted thing. Dragons are cautious about picking mates because when we mate, we mix blood. When you share the blood of two dragons, several things can happen. One is you become immortal. The other, much more rare, is if you are dragon-hearted, considered worthy, then you will inherit one of the six dragon powers to enhance our triad.”