The queen’s voice echoed in the narrow corridor. Zoltan looked around for the likeliest place to hide, then teleported to the stalactite forest overhead. As soon as he materialized, he levitated to keep himself hovering close to the ceiling. Most of the stalactites were twelve feet or more in length, so he was well hidden in the dark recesses between them.
The queen entered the giant room with the boy, who skipped happily over to the wall on the left. There, Zoltan spotted a row of pallets. The boy settled in one, drawing a blanket up to his chest.
The queen hunched down beside him, and with a smile, she tucked him in. Two more children sat up, and she glanced their way. No words were spoken, but Zoltan could sense there was a conversation going on.
Queen Nima hurried over to them and gave them reassuring hugs. The children clung to her as if she were their mother.
Zoltan frowned, not sure he could believe his eyes. This was the coldhearted bitch who was always threatening to kill him? The grandmother who had ruthlessly given away Minerva’s son? Why was she here, mothering these children with such tenderness?
As far as he could tell, there were two boys and one girl. The boy who had breathed fire looked about twelve, while the other two appeared about half his age. There were more pallets in the row, but they were empty. The queen settled on the first and largest pallet, and they all went to sleep.
Another tug of death-sleep pulled at Zoltan and his levitation slipped, dropping him down a few inches. He shook himself. He’d have to teleport back to Neona’s house soon. He pivoted, scanning the large cavern to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.
There, behind some stalagmites, was another corridor with a light inside. He teleported to the corridor and eased quietly down the narrow path.
Another room lay before him. A much smaller room with only one torch. He passed by a heap of hay, hollowed out in the center like a giant nest. It was empty. A second one was also empty. He came to a stop. There were three more nests. And inside were eggs. Large eggs. Two in the third nest. Three in the next one, and two more in the final one.
Death-sleep tugged at him once more, but he shook it off and stepped closer to the eggs. No bird was this big. What the hell was going on?
He glanced at the two empty nests. Had the sleeping children come from those nests? No, that couldn’t be right. Since when did children come out of eggs?
Confused, he teleported back to Neona’s house. He only had a minute or so left, and he still needed to spike his blood supply with the Living Water. There were six bottles in the ice chest. One empty, and another half empty. He opened all six, then poured blood from the full ones into the other two. Soon he had six bottles about three-quarters full. He topped them off with the Living Water, then shook each bottle and put them back into the ice chest.
With that job done, his thoughts returned to the children in the cave. Clearly, they weren’t normal. Or even human. The oldest one could breathe fire. And they all seemed to communicate silently with the queen. What was her gift? The special gift that allowed her to be queen and made Winifred the heir to the throne. An ability to communicate with . . . birds?
Death-sleep pulled at him harder, and he stumbled toward Neona’s bed. What was the term she had used? Not birds.
Winged creatures.
He glanced at the fireplace that was lined with the odd black tiles. A scale, Milan had called it. A cross between a turtle shell and a reptile scale. But too large. Much too large for an iguana.
A winged creature. With scales. That could breathe fire?
He inhaled sharply. It couldn’t be.
Death-sleep gripped him, and he collapsed onto Neona’s bed. “Neona, wake up.” He shook her shoulder.
She moaned. “Not another climax . . .”
“Not that.” Death-sleep crept over him, making it difficult to talk. Or even think. “The big secret . . . the pact you made . . . are you protecting . . . dragons?”
With another moan, she rolled over.
An intense pain struck Zoltan in the chest. The pain of death. So close to Neona. He reeled away from her, falling off the bed and landing with a thud on the floor.
The pain subsided as he fell into a pit of darkness.
Chapter Twenty
When Neona woke, she stretched lazily in bed as memories of Zoltan’s lovemaking meandered through her mind. She rolled over to look at him.
He wasn’t in her bed. Or Minerva’s. She sat up and gasped at the sight of him on the floor. What was he doing? She stiffened as another memory flitted through her mind.
Dragons! He’d asked her about dragons. She’d been half asleep when he’d asked her, but then the room had become quiet again and she’d fallen back asleep.
“How did you find out?” she whispered.
No answer.
“Why are you on the floor?”
No answer.
She tried lifting him, but he was like a rock. Giving up, she slipped a pillow under his head. He was fully dressed, so he must have gone out while she was sleeping.
“Did you sneak inside the cave?”
No answer.
With a sigh, she brushed his hair back from his brow. “Too smart for your own good. And too handsome.” She smiled to herself, remembering how she’d once called him seemingly intelligent. “The queen will be upset that you know, but I think it’s just as well. If you and your friends are going to protect our valley and our secrets, then you have the right to know what you’re protecting.”
After dressing, Neona removed the flask of Living Water from her chest. Then she opened Zoltan’s box and removed his bottles of blood. Carefully, she cracked open a window, making sure no sunlight hit Zoltan’s body. She peered outside. No one in sight.
She poured a little from each bottle out the window, then topped them off with Living Water. “There.” She gave him a wry look. “You’re not the only one sneaking around, breaking the rules.”
She hurried to the outhouse, then washed up in the stream before joining the other women at the fire pit. They were all there, except Winifred. Freddie was probably in the cave. Since she could also communicate with winged creatures, she took turns with the queen, watching over the young ones.
The women were sitting on straw mats, since the ground was still damp from last night’s rain. Their voices hushed as Neona approached and took a seat. She bowed her head in greeting, waiting for the queen to speak first. The women were all staring at her.
Finally, Queen Nima cleared her throat. “You’re late. You missed breakfast and the midday meal.”
“We saved you some food.” Freya ladled soup into a bowl.
“Thank you.” Neona accepted the bowl and a wooden spoon. She ate, aware that the women were still staring.
Nima’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t see any bite marks on her.”
Tashi snorted. “I guess he bit her where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Neona choked on her food. “Excuse me?”
“Didn’t that monster bite you?” Lydia asked.
Tashi leaned forward. “Did he finally get it up?”
“Of course,” Neona started.
“He bit you?” the queen shouted. “I should kill him!”
“He didn’t bite me!” Neona set her bowl aside. “He doesn’t bite anyone. He drinks fake blood out of bottles.”
“Fake blood?” Lydia asked.
“Yes, he brought some here from his castle in Transylvania.”
“He has a castle?” Freya’s eyes lit up. “How exciting!”
“Don’t be so easily swayed,” Nima grumbled at her.
“He and his friends want to help us,” Neona insisted. “I don’t see how we can defeat Liao without their help.”
Lydia shuddered. “I hate the thought of working with those monsters.”
Nima nodded. “I hate it, too, but sometimes it takes one monster to kill another. We will accept their help but watch them carefully for any sign of betrayal.”
Lydia sighed. “Very well. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“True,” Nima agreed. “It is always dangerous when we’re at the beginning of a new cycle. The young ones and the remaining eggs are defenseless. We must do everything in our power to protect them until they reach maturity. It is our sacred duty.”
Everyone murmured their agreement. Once the young ones were old enough to shift into dragon form, they would be able to protect themselves. But for now, they were entirely dependent on the warrior women of Beyul-La.