To Enchant a Dragon by Amanda Milo Page 0,25
were his parents ever surprised to see us.
His drakaina (his dam)—a dull-scaled purple-blue mottled Crested Merlin—had gaped. “You let a human touch you?”
Kalos had kept his tail wrapped around my shoulders as he leaned forward and butted his head against his drakaina’s. “I would never touch a human,” he promises. Then his smile turns sheepish. “I wanted to taste a mermaid,” he admits.
His drakaina’s wide eyes shutter and she deadpans, “You forgot to crisp her first.”
“I got excited and didn’t crisp her first,” he agrees. “And we both gained humanlike forms just before the blood moon.”
“Good thing you timed this visit well after the blood moon,” a loud voice booms, and a dragon bigger and shinier than Kalos enters the cavern through an antechamber. “Your drakaina and I would have scarred you for life while we enjoyed our own blood moon celebrations.”
“Each and every night,” his drakaina agrees. “And day. After day, after day...” Her smile is a touch evil.
Kalos is grimacing, his neck scrunched in a tight ‘S.’ “No more information, please.”
I pat his side, sympathetic.
His tail winds around me tighter.
“Mykonos,” says Kalos’s Drakaina, “come meet Kalos’s mate. He says she’s a mermaid.” Her voice goes reedy when she tells him what I am. But when she looks down at me, her face isn’t unkind. “I’m Corfu.”
“I’m Adella,” I tell them, and I bow a little to be polite.
“I could have guessed she was a sea maiden,” Mykonos announces.
“Really? How?” his wife asks, twisting her neck to see him past her wing.
He gestures at me with his tail. “The seashells strapped to her, ah—her chest. They sort of give her away.”
Corfu cocks her head. “Really? I thought the grass skirt makes her look like one of those girls who dance at the bottom of the volcano. You know the ones I mean? The ones you like to watch?”
Mykonos’ eyes change from light yellow to an abashed orange. “I recall seeing some humans dance there once or twice.”
Corfu snorts, little peaks of fire popping up under the smoke and she shakes her head. “He never bites me harder than after he’s watched them dance.”
Kalos gags, and for the first time, it has nothing to do with his biological need to expel select sections of stomach contents. In fact, he looks so green at the idea of his sire breeding-biting his mother, he may not ever eat again.
Corfu is grinning like she knows exactly what she’s done to her offspring. “Nice to meet you, Adella. Welcome to our cave. Normally we’d show guests our castings collection, but since you’re not dragon, I’m not sure you’d have much interest…?”
I shake my head. “Thank you, but his castings collection isn’t my favorite treasure of your son’s.”
“Judging by the way his tail keeps feeling up your behind, I’m guessing you two are more interested in his jewels,” another voice pipes up, a new dragon this time. He’s shiny black, and unlike Kalos but just like Kalos’ mom, this dragon has an ornate grouping of horns coming off its skull like a headdress. “Mmm-mm!—damn, Kalos, I bet mermaid tastes good,” he says, looking me up and down.
Kalos growls.
Corfu’s tail comes up just as Mykonos’ tail does the same, and the new dragon gets whacked twice for his smart mouth.
“Adella,” Kalos murmurs, “this is one of my brothers. He lives in the caves just down the cliffside.”
“Nice to meet you,” I tell the new dragon. “You must be Sifnos.”
The dragon looks me up and down with some surprise that has nothing to do with my species. “I am.” He glances at Kalos then back to me. “Have you by chance come upon any of our other siblings?”
Kalos shakes his head. “No.” He glances at his drakon and his drakaina. “Where is everybody?”
Mykonos doesn’t seem to notice. He’s shaking his head. “No one has seen them. They all disappeared around the time of the Blood Moon.”
Corfu’s lip scales pull down in a frown, and I get the sense that the pair misses their children. “We hope they’re all so happily settled they just haven’t been able to visit.”
“Probably for the best you’ve not crossed any. Damndest thing, I could have sworn I saw Halki a few lunations back, and he was trying to hunt me,” Sifnos informs everyone.
“Why would he do that?” his dam sputters, shaking her head, clearly not putting weight to the possibility.
Sifnos and Kalos give each other meaningful looks. Obviously both of them believe this brother of theirs is capable of stalking his own