"It amazes me that the silver would be strong enough to cut through bone."
Zev's smile was distinctly wolfish. Clearly he had a few secrets when it came to making his weapons. Fen needed those secrets. He glanced at Tatijana. She nodded.
"Let's go, Zev, before it gets much later. Unlike you, I have to be aware of time," Tatijana reminded gently. "I'm going to shift and you'll have to climb up my wing to get onto my back." She looked around. "I'll need a little room."
She didn't wait. Tatijana was so fast at shifting into the form of a blue dragon, and so completely engulfed, mind and body, immediately, that Fen realized she was far more comfortable in that form than in her own.
By dragon standards, she might have been considered small, but there in the forest and so close to them, she seemed enormous-and beautiful. Her scales were iridescent blue, shimmering in the surrounding mist. Spikes ran along the ridge of her back down her long tail to end in a lethal-looking spear. Her eyes were large and emerald green, faceted like sparkling diamonds.
"Magnificent," Zev said. "Tatijana, that's incredible." He glanced at Fen. "Did you see how fast she was? I would have thought a dragon would take a few minutes." He attempted to rise, holding on to the tree trunk for support.
Fen could see the extent of Zev's injuries. He'd been badly wounded in dozens of places. Deep chunks of flesh had been torn from him. His face was etched with pain. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He didn't make a sound, as stoic as ever, but his skin looked a little gray.
"Hang on," Fen ordered, using his most compelling voice. Low. Velvet soft. A sneaky compulsion that slipped in on an alpha when the most commanding voice would never work. He stood up himself, blocking out the rush of pain as he got to his feet.
His respect for Zev was growing with every passing minute spent in his company. He'd met many tough Lycans, good men who knew how to fight in a battle, but clearly Zev was a cut above the rest. Lycans couldn't cut off pain the way Carpathians could. They endured it and fought on. The really great ones, like Zev, stayed in the battle even when others would have passed out.
Fen crossed the distance between them, one hand sliding over the body of the dragon in a long caress. "You're a lucky man, Zev," he observed.
"A privilege," Zev agreed. "I never thought I'd ever get this close to one. They're long gone now from this world."
He didn't protest when Fen slipped an arm around him to aid him. That told Fen more than anything, that Zev was badly injured. Tatijana extended her wing toward Zev. Fen helped him cover the ground to get to the wing.
He can't walk up your wing, Fen told her, using their telepathic link. He was beginning to worry about Zev's condition. Just how bad was he?
He'd been so concerned with Dimitri's horrendous wounds he hadn't considered that Zev had borne the brunt of the attack right along with Dimitri. He'd known, but Tatijana hadn't really told him just how bad Zev's injuries were. She'd been concerned with protecting Fen's secret as well as getting to him quickly to see to his wounds.
He didn't have intestines hanging out like Dimitri, Tatijana said. But it was very bad. A lesser man would be unconscious right now.
If I use my abilities as a Carpathian to get up on your back he'll know immediately that I am more than Lycan.
Tatijana made a little sound in his mind, a very feminine humph of annoyance. All you had to do was ask.
He found himself smiling. Maybe he did try to annoy her just a little bit on purpose. He liked her fiery little temper. He could feel each time that temper flared, bursting across his mind like stars across a sky on a hot summer's night, warming him. He found comfort in her explosive reactions, small as they were, but still directed at him. Engulfing him. Surrounding him. Sinking into his bones. His blood. She was his.
You wish.
She gave a little delicate sniff, but there was growing affection in her teasing tone. He felt surrounded by her warmth. She seemed to pour into his mind, liquid fire, filling every empty, dark place with light, laughter and her incredible natural sensuality.
Why is your dragon blue when you burn so hot?
Have you never seen a blue flame? Tatijana asked. When I was a little girl I would see the flames dancing blue in Xavier's secret caverns. I could never touch or feel them because they were always far away and I was often encased in ice, but they looked so beautiful.
Which was why she had been so intrigued with flames earlier in the tavern.
The blue dragon looked at Zev with worried eyes. She projected her voice through the great beast. "If you will allow me, Zev, I can float you up to my back. It will be easier on both of us."
"Thank you, of course I don't mind if it's easier for you. You're already doing me a huge favor." He looked up that long wing. The climb would be quite difficult with his wounds.
He was weak from loss of blood. I gave him blood, but was careful it wasn't so much that he would know. He was in and out of consciousness for a few minutes until I got enough blood in him.
I could kiss you for making it easy on his pride, Fen told her.
There are much better reasons for kissing, Fenris Dalka. Perhaps you might consider one or two in my absence.
Tatijana floated Zev up to her back and waited until he was seated comfortably.
And wolf man . . .
Her voice had turned dark. Sensual. The blue dragon turned that wedge-shaped head, lowered her neck until her multifaceted emerald eyes were on the same level as his. His breath felt trapped in his lungs. His heart stuttered. Every muscle in his body tensed.
You haven't seen just how hot I can burn yet.
Fen nearly choked. He watched the dragon maneuver its long body through the trees until the mist swallowed them up. He let himself sway, one hand on a tree for support, just for a moment until the world stopped spinning. He kept pain at bay, even though that also cost in strength, uncertain whether or not Tatijana would touch his mind.
He still had the dead body to take care of, and he needed to find a warm body to provide enough blood to sustain and heal him. He would provide sustenance for Dimitri. It would take his brother a longer time to heal due to the extent of his injuries.
Fen had always, always stayed as a Lycan, thinking and acting as one, which helped him to keep the darkness at bay until this last century or so when his mixed blood began to add to the pull of darkness. Now he needed to go back to being Carpathian, at least until this night was over. He was going hunting, wounds or no. That was what Carpathian hunters did.
He took to the air, a long trail of mist streaking through the denser fog.
What do you think you're doing? Tatijana's voice was deceptively mild.