The magic returned to my wand. It should have stayed there, but it continued to spread up my arm. I dropped my wand. I hoped that would break the spell. It didn't.

  I could feel the magic spark like flint striking steel. My arm lit with a flame that came from somewhere else, a fire too hot for human flesh to endure. If I wasn’t a vampire, it might have burned off my arm.

  "What the hell?" I shook my arm, but it did nothing to stop the magic from spreading up my shoulder and across my torso. The burning sensation reached my head. I tried to scream, but my ears were ringing so hard I couldn't tell if any sound was coming out of my mouth. It was like someone had cut open my skull and poured a pot of boiling water inside.

  My vision flashed between my room and bright open skies. Zale stumbled into the room and wrapped his arms around me as both of us hit the floor.

  All I saw next was the blue sky. The same burn filled my body. It felt like lava under my skin. My skin was warm, but my back ached as if someone had shoved a burning thorn into me.

  I looked around, but I wasn't controlling the direction my head turned. I was a dragon. My wings were burning, but my hide protected me from the sun. Three other dragons were flying around me. Two smaller dragons and one large one. I recognized the big dragon—that was Corbin. I couldn't forget this image of his dragon-shifted form charging after us in the streets of New Orleans.

  My spell showed me what Mercy saw—almost too well. It didn't show me where she was. It took me into her vision. I was seeing through her the way Sarah saw through other vampires' eyes.

  Now I knew what happened to Mercy and the others. Corbin changed them, somehow. Why were they flying with him? Was he also manipulating their minds? I'd expected that even as a dragon, Corbin would have to take cover under sunlight. The sun burned, but their dragon form was resilient. How was I going to find them, much less save them from Corbin, if they were free to move about during the day?

  I couldn't tell where they were. There wasn't a building in sight. They weren't in the city. They were flying over a bayou. It wasn't Manchac Swamp. If it was, I could have seen New Orleans in the distance. If my spell had the same limitations now that it always did, they must've been within a hundred miles. That was something. Still, there's a lot of marshland in southern Louisiana. Finding them based on what I saw in the moment would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

  My vision flickered back to my room. I was staring at the ceiling. It flashed back to Mercy's dragon sight for a split second, then I was back. A large hand was on my shoulder. Zale had lifted me into my bed.

  Another hand was on my other shoulder. I turned my head. Annabelle was there.

  "You back with us?" Annabelle asked.

  I pressed my eyes shut and opened them again. "He turned them. Corbin turned them."

  "We already know he's been turning vampires," Annabelle said.

  "Not that. He turned Mercy! Mel and Sarah, too!"

  "What do you mean? They're already vampires. Are you sure you're well?"

  I clenched my fists. "He turned them into dragons. I don’t know how he did it. I could see through Mercy's eyes. They were flying with him in broad daylight."

  Zale sighed. "They're following him because he's the alpha."

  Annabelle snorted. "We're talking about dragons, not werewolves, right?"

  Zale shook his head. "I don't know about werewolves. Among the wyrms, Nammu is the alpha. She's the first. The rest are her brood. They follow her lead. It's how La Sirene can control the entire legion. She speaks to Nammu. Nammu directs the others. It's one reason the wyrmriders are so formidable."

  I shook my head. "I can't imagine that Mercy would go along with that."

  "It's not a matter of what she wants to do," Zale explained. "It's a kind of compulsion. She won't have a choice so long as Corbin's directions are clear. Outside of his commands, though, she and the others might have enough flexibility to undermine him."

  I bit my lip. "That makes sense. Mercy has had the same experience with her vampiric compulsion abilities. Shortly after she became the high chancellor of the vampire council, she went to Europe to get Corbin and the others on board. That was then. This is now. To hear her tell the story, it was such a nightmare that she won't even use those abilities now unless there's an emergency. She says it brings a darkness out of her that she'd rather not awaken."

  "That's because Mercy has developed a conscience," Annabelle said. "She's never been the monster she believed herself to be. Screwing with someone's will can lead anyone to a dark place."

  I sighed. "With Corbin, I'm not sure he cares. He's already in a dark place. He's embraced it."

  "He's after you," Annabelle said. "He probably thought you were in the car with the others."

  "I'm sure that's the case." I sat up in my bed. My head spun. My stomach churned. "I'm hungry."

  "We might be able to get some fresh blood from the Vilokan Asylum. We have donors to help with the youngling vampires there."

  I shook my head. "Even if Pauli brought it here, and I drank it, it's not what I'm craving."

  Zale took a deep breath. "You desire more dragon blood."

  I nodded. "I haven't had cravings like this in years. That spell took a lot out of me. I don't know how much longer I can wait."

  "You can't go back to the swamp," Zale said. "The sun is out."

  "I know. But if I'm hungry enough, you won't be able to stop me."

  "Can we get some blood from the dragon and bring it here?" Annabelle asked.

  Zale nodded. "It is possible."

  "Get Pauli," I said. "It needs to be fresh. If it takes too long to bring it here, it will lose its potency."

  Annabelle nodded. "I'm on it. Zale, can you keep Hailey company until we get back?"

  "I can try."

  I rolled out of bed and grabbed some chalk. I quickly drew a sigil on the ground. "Annabelle, I need you to invest this with a little power. If I do it, I'll be able to break it. It will keep me here until you get back."

  Annabelle nodded. She pressed her hand to the sigil I drew and released some green magic into the mystical prison. "I'll hurry."

  "Please do. If I don't get some blood in my system, soon, it'll mess with my mind. This prison should hold me, but it won't silence my abilities."

  “I’ll be here,” Zale said. He was about to reach out and touch me, but I shot my hand out to stop him. If he put his hand inside the sigil, he’d be stuck there with me. He nodded with sudden understanding. “I’ll stay right here with you.”

  Chapter 7

  I sat in my sigil, cross-legged. Zale sat on the edge of my bed watching me with wide, concerned eyes.

  I fixed my eyes on the door. I shifted my gaze to a stack of grimoires in my closet. I couldn't look at Zale. If I did, I was afraid all I'd see was his merman blood. It wasn't what I was craving, but when a vampire is consumed with bloodlust you don't see people and personalities. You see walking, talking, blood bags. Dragon blood was what I wanted. It was what I needed. If I was loose, I'd bite anything I could to give me the strength to get to the swamp. The sunlight wouldn't stop me. It wouldn't kill me. It would scar me for decades. Vampires can heal from most injuries faster than humans. Sunburns are the exception. Full of blood, I might last a few minutes without ill effect. I'd have to drain Zale completely to make it even that long. The scary thing was that I wouldn't care. Not at the moment. Once I had my fill, once I got the dragon blood I craved, the guilt would wash over me like a tidal wave. Or, maybe it wouldn't. This blood was doing something to me. I thought it was merely a delicious way of forming a bond with Drayke. Now, I wasn't sure. Not after I cast that spell and saw the world through Mercy's dragon eyes.

  "I can hear your heartbeat." I grunted.

  Zale tilted his head. "Sorry?"

  I shook my head. "It's not like I could ask you to stop."

  "Would it be easier if I left?" Zale asked. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone right now. If it's easier for you if I leave--"

  "No, please stay! Just talk about something. Anything that doesn't remind me of dragons, or blood, or dragon's blood, or how tasty it is, or anything to do with being a vampire."

  "I could talk about Fomoria."

  "Just don't talk about the wyrmriders. That involves dragons."

  "I was born there. Never lived anywhere else."

  "No shit, Sherlock. You're a merman and there aren't a lot of places you could go."

  "Not true," Zale said. "Fomoria has several other outposts all around the world. I've never spent a night outside of our Fomoria."

  "Until now." I smirked.

  "Right. I suppose I spent the night training with you."

  "Training..."

  "Right. Sorry, that involved dragons."

  "Tell me about your family."

  "My father was also a wyrmrider. Sorry, didn't mean to mention that."

  I scratched my head. "I didn't think the wyrmriders had been around that long?"

  "He died a couple years ago. There was a zombie shark epidemic. Nasty business."

  I winced. "I'm sorry to hear that."

  "I never knew my mother. She was exiled by the former king."

  "The king before Joni?" I asked.

  Zale nodded. "It's a long story. Suffice it to say, King Conand liked to pretend he was a benevolent monarch. He had little tolerance for outsiders."

  "Your mother wasn't a mermaid?"

  "She was," Zale said. "Her father wasn't. He was human. It was forbidden. Thankfully, my mother came out with a tail. When she gave birth to me, she shifted back into human form during labor."

  "Didn't she drown?"

  Zale shook his head. "The priestess intervened. She used a spell that saved her life. It allowed her to breathe. It's the same magic that La Sirene used the first time Annabelle visited us. However, one of the midwives reported what happened to the king. After I was born, and tested to ensure that my mer-nature dominated, he had my mother expelled. I was raised by the priestess."

  "Where did your mother go?"

  Zale shook his head. "There is an exile colony of merfolk a few miles off the coast of Haiti. I was told she went there. After La Sirene became queen, she took me there to find her and welcome the people there back to Fomoria. I was told my mother was killed by harpooners ten years before."

  I sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. That's horrible."

  Zale nodded. "I never knew her. It was disappointing. I won't say it didn't depress me for a time to learn of her fate. Still, I never knew her. All I could mourn was the idea of a mother. I couldn't mourn my actual mother because I never knew her."

  "Still, that's a kind of grief I'm not sure I could possibly comprehend."

  "I was already a legionnaire. I focused on my training. I worked my way up until they selected me to join, you know, the group of people who ride certain creatures who should not be named."

  I snorted. "I know what you mean."

  "Sorry."

  I shrugged. "No, it's alright. Hearing you tell your story is helping. I'm sorry if it's painful for you to talk about."

  Zale shook his head. "It's not so hard, really. I'm at peace with it."

  "Why were you raised by the priestess if your father was still alive?"

  "My father was a prized member of the king's legion. The king would have exiled me along with my mother if it were not for my father. He interceded on my behalf. The cost of allowing me to stay was his continued service. I saw him from time to time. He was kind but distant. I think I reminded him too much of my mother."

  "So you followed in his footsteps?" I scratched my head. "Finflaps, I mean?"

  Zale chuckled. "I suppose you could say I did."

  I pressed my lips together. "What's it like having legs? Taking a human form for the first time, knowing you have a little human in your family tree, must be meaningful for you."

  Zale shrugged. "I hadn't thought about it like that until now. I guess you're right. I've never thought much about my grandfather's life before. I've always had a lot of mixed feelings about it all. The tryst between my grandparents was ultimately what got my mother exiled, despite the fact she didn't have any say in it. I always hated that. Then again, I wouldn't exist if that never happened. How can I resent my history when it's a part of who I am?"

  I sniffed. "I've often wondered what my life would be like if I'd never discovered Moll's grimoire. If I never did that spell, I'd have grown up like a regular girl."

  "Do you regret what you did?"

  I shook my head. "I can't say I do. I love my life. I like what I've become. At least I did. This craving, now... it's awakening a part of my vampiric nature I never really had to deal with."

  "You're doing well."

  I smiled. "Thanks to you."

  "Are you sure drinking more dragon blood is the best idea?"

  I took a deep breath. "What choice do I have? I need it to maintain a connection with Drayke. Besides, I might be handling myself well for the moment, but if I don't get it soon, no amount of conversation will be enough to distract me. I need it."

  "What are you going to do when this is over? If you're hooked on dragon blood, short of Drayke staying here and feeding you forever, you're going to have to get past this, eventually."

  "Eventually, yes. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I need it. If Corbin can change vampires into dragons, I doubt that Mercy and the others are the only ones. He's probably making more, even as we speak."

  Zale shook his head. "Hopefully not too many more. The wyrmriders are formidable, but we have our limits. If his dragons outnumber us, and he can replenish his forces by recruiting more vampires into his brood, we might only have one chance to stop him."

  My stomach growled. "Back to your family, maybe your life in Fomoria. I don’t know how we got back on this topic, but my hunger is coming back. I'm not sure how much longer I can last."

  Zale nodded. "Maybe I can tell you about the time we defeated the zombie sharks."

  "Mercy was involved in that ordeal. She's told me some of it."

  "I can tell you about some of our battles. It was epic."

  I chuckled. "I'm sure it was. I'd love to hear about it."

  Chapter 8

  I wasn't sure how someone could make a war with zombie sharks sound boring. It wasn't the events that Zale described, or even his enthusiasm about his role in it, but the incessant and irrelevant details he was compelled to inject into his story that gave the impression it wasn't so much a war as a series of unfortunate, devastating events separated by long periods of thumb-twiddling. Maybe Zale wasn't the best storyteller I'd ever met, but there was a charm to it all. He was droning on and on, telling me about how he flossed his teeth with kelp between zombie slayings, to distract me.

  It was sweet. Granted, it was more like an attempt to woo me by reading me entries out of the dictionary than a collection of sonnets, but it was the sentiment that counted. Note to self: if a man ever intends to romance me in the future I should let him know I prefer Shakespeare to Webster.

  Then again, maybe romance had nothing to do with it. Zale wasn't great at hiding the fact that he found me attractive. That ship sailed at full mast when he rode naked on my back across New Orleans.

  My attraction for him was growing by the minute. At the moment I wasn't sure if it was because I liked him or wanted his blood. Then again, the blood I really wanted was dragon blood, and I didn't find Drayke remotely attractive. Then again, the last guy I liked was a part-time wolf. Zale was half-fish. Was I really working my way through the animal kingdom, leaving their furry or scaly hearts broken in my wake?

  Distractions are good. Especially when I'm hungry. The cuter the distraction, the better. In that respect, Zale was ideal.

  A flash of rainbow colored light in my peripheral vision arrested my attention. Pauli in his boa constrictor form and hung from Annabelle’s shoulders. She had a bag of blood in her hand. I sprung to my feet.

  "Gimme! Gimme!"

  Annabelle laughed and tossed me the bag. I tore it open and gulped it down. My hunger pangs faded instantly. I resisted the urge to belch. A handsome merman was present. A girl doesn't let the bodily functions loose until she's had at least a couple dates.

  "Are you good?" Annabelle asked.

  I nodded. "I'm satisfied for now."

  Annabelle touched the sigil beneath me and dispelled it. I stepped out of the circle and sat on the bed next to Zale. Pauli flopped off of Annabelle's back and onto the floor. He slithered his way over toward Zale and wrapped himself around his ankle. He started squeezing repeatedly.

  Zale lowered his eyes. "What is he doing?"

  I smirked. "I think he's snake-humping your ankle."

  Zale shook his leg. "Get off of me!"

  Pauli uncurled himself from Zale's leg. He re-shifted into his human form. His very naked human form—with a few inches added to his special bits.

  Annabelle sighed. "Stop showing off, Pauli."

  Pauli groaned and reduced the length of Pauli Peter to a more believable size. "You're no fun."

  I reached into my closet and grabbed a nightgown. I threw it at Pauli. "Put this on."

  "It has lace! I love lace!"

  Pauli wrapped my gown around his body and did a little spin.

  "How was Drayke?"

  Annabelle shrugged. "Compliant. I don't think he'll be doing much flying tonight."

  I tilted my head. "Why not?"

  "He overstuffed himself on aligator."

  Zale waved his hand through the air. "He'll be just fine. Dragons have a high metabolism. I've seen wyrms eat entire whales before. They're sluggish for an hour or two, but then they're back to their vigorous selves. Watch out for the dung, though. You wouldn't believe the amount they can produce."

  I smirked. "That doesn't sound at all pleasant."

 

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