Dragon's Mate (DragonFate #4) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,133
be greeted with joy, hugged and kissed and lifted off her feet. She was passed from brother to brother despite her protests then surrendered to Hadrian again.
“Where were you?” she demanded of Edred. “What took you so long?”
“We ended up in northern Spain, near our favorite places to stop on migration,” he told her, then gestured to himself. “But like this without any of the identification people seem to love now.”
“But how did you get here?”
“We stowed away on a freighter that seemed a bit shady, then worked for our passage. Then we hitchhiked north.”
“How did you know to come here?” Hadrian asked and the thirteen siblings all smiled.
“We’ve been here before,” Edred said with a mysterious smile.
“When,” she asked and he grinned at her.
“Haven’t you guessed yet?” Edred asked, his tone teasing. “The ruins in the town near here are from the castle our father stole, all those years ago.” He gave her a little squeeze and his voice roughened. “I like that your home is close to where it all began. I like that it all came right in the end.”
“Me, too.” Rania was blushing and blinking back tears. “You must be starving,” she said and urged them inside.
“No millet,” one brother said and they all laughed together as they crowded into the house. It was good to see Rania laughing and happy, surrounded by the family she’d lost and found again. Hadrian smiled as he followed, knowing that they were starting their own family, too. The future was bright—because the firestorm had been right all along.
Epilogue
On the winter solstice, the Pyr gathered at Bones for Hadrian’s scale repair. Hadrian and Rania flew to New York from Iceland in her plane. He was impressed with her piloting abilities and already thinking about getting his own license. He liked it much better than commercial travel.
For the first time, there were other shifters in attendance at the ceremony, as well as twelve mortal men. The coven of mercy had left their refuge for the evening to witness the festivities. The wolf shifters of Manhattan were there, along with Wynter Olson and the mortal mates from Alaska. Edred had come with another of Rania’s brothers at her invitation and stood a little apart from the throngs of Others. She’d invited her father, too, and Hadrian was a bit disappointed that the swan-prince hadn’t chosen to come. The djinns were in a celebratory mood—both Niall and Sloane had been conferring with Yasmina about Alasdair’s treatment. Hadrian thought that his cousin just needed more time with Yasmina. Murray and Mel were pouring drinks as quickly as they could, and many from the Circus of Wonders had shown up as well. The bar was crowded and the mood was festive.
When Quinn arrived with Sara and his small forge, there was a welcoming cheer from the Pyr. Sara and Quinn’s sons had gone to stay with Erik and Eileen in Chicago. Murray shouted to clear the dance floor and it was done more quickly than Hadrian would have expected. Quinn set up his forge and shifted shape, becoming a dragon of sapphire and steel. The sight of him working with such care at the jeweler’s forge silenced the Others in attendance. They stood in a ring around the dance floor, obviously fascinated.
Theo was the next to shift, becoming a dragon of carnelian and gold. The Others applauded his transformation and he blew a small stream of dragonfire, to their delight. Thorolf shifted next, becoming a massive dragon of moonstone and silver, followed by Balthasar, who was citrine and gold in his dragon form. Arach left Wynter and the light of their firestorm diminished slightly with distance. Hadrian knew he didn’t imagine that Arach took his alternate form with gusto, becoming a dragon of aquamarine and silver. If showing off would help with that firestorm, Hadrian wished him luck.
Alasdair was next, becoming a dragon of hematite and silver. Yasmina stroked his scaled side with admiration and he visibly preened, then swept his tail across the floor. He was looking more vital with every passing day. Would he have a firestorm with Yasmina once he was recovered? Hadrian hoped so. He wanted his cousin to be happy.
Kristofer changed shape next, taking his peridot and gold dragon form. Bree stood beside him, clearly proud of her dragon warrior, and Hadrian thought he could see the start of her baby bump. Rhys was next, becoming a dragon of garnet and silver. He’d catered the scale repair, his team having delivered many huge trays of food for the celebration afterward.
Then Hadrian took Rania’s hand. He smiled at her and loved how she smiled back at him, then changed shape in a brilliant shimmer of blue. If he was showing off a bit, too, he thought it was deserved. His emerald and silver scales shone in the light, but when he would have breathed fire, Murray protested.
“Remember the fire code!” the bar owner cried. “Keep the temperature down, please. It’s hot enough with so many dragons in here.”
The crowd laughed, their anticipation palpable.
Mel gave Quinn the scale that Hadrian had lost, and the Smith of the Pyr began to heat it on his forge. Rania presented her katar to Quinn for the repair of the scale. Hadrian particularly liked the weapon, a push dagger with gold ornamentation, and liked that it had played a part in breaking Maeve’s spell forever. He was honored that it would be fused with his scale, a gift from his mate to ensure that he was armed.
Quinn straightened and turned, the scale glowing red in his talons. “Fire!” he cried, and the Pyr echoed the word. “One of Hadrian’s affinities, a sign of passion and his very nature.” Hadrian made a little plume of dragonfire, despite Murray’s earlier protests.
“Earth,” Quinn said then and pressed the hot scale into the gap on Hadrian’s chest. “Governing his smithing abilities and his practicality.” The skin scorched and Hadrian tipped his head back, exhaling dragonsmoke instead of fire.
“Air,” Sara said and Hadrian felt Rania blow upon the hot scale. “One of the affinities his mate brings to the union, symbolic of intellect and problem-solving.”
“Water,” Rania whispered and Hadrian caught his breath as her tear fell on the scale, cooling it. He opened his eyes to find her smiling up at him, her hand on his claw. “The affinity I only regained because of my dragon shifter, who thawed the splinter of ice embedded in my heart. Because of him, I can love again.”
The Others cheered at this sentiment and Hadrian shifted shape in a glorious blaze of blue light. He caught Rania up and kissed her thoroughly, knowing that he was the luckiest Pyr alive.
The firestorm had made his every dream come true.
Sign up for My Newsletter, Dragons & Angels
For More Paranormal Romance
My Dragons & Angels monthly newsletter features my Deborah Cooke paranormal romances . Subscribers get the first peek at new covers, a look behind the scenes at what’s coming, special offers and content only for subscribers, as well as notifications of sales and new releases - and more!
Sign up for Dragons & Angels today!
About the Author
Deborah Cooke sold her first book in 1992, a medieval romance published under her pseudonym Claire Delacroix. Since then, she has published over fifty novels in a wide variety of sub-genres, including historical romance, contemporary romance, paranormal romance, fantasy romance, time-travel romance, women’s fiction, paranormal young adult and fantasy with romantic elements. She has published under the names Claire Delacroix, Claire Cross and Deborah Cooke. The Beauty, part of her successful Bride Quest series of historical romances, was her first title to land on the New York Times List of Bestselling Books. Her books routinely appear on other bestseller lists and have won numerous awards. In 2009, she was the writer-in-residence at the Toronto Public Library, the first time the library has hosted a residency focused on the romance genre. In 2012, she was honored to receive the Romance Writers of America’s Mentor of the Year Award.
Currently, she writes paranormal romances and contemporary romances under the name Deborah Cooke. She also writes medieval romances as Claire Delacroix. Deborah lives in Canada with her husband and family, as well as far too many unfinished knitting projects.
Visit Deborah’s Website and Blog
Visit the Dragonfire Website and Blog
Visit Claire Delacroix’s Website and Blog
More Paranormal Romance
Paranormal Romances:
The Dragonfire Novels
KISS OF FIRE
KISS OF FURY
KISS OF FATE
WINTER KISS
Harmonia’s Kiss
WHISPER KISS
DARKFIRE KISS
FLASHFIRE
EMBER’S KISS
Kiss of Danger
Kiss of Darkness
Kiss of Destiny
SERPENT’S KISS
FIRESTORM FOREVER
HERE BE DRAGONS: A Dragonfire Companion
The DragonFate Novels
Maeve’s Book of Beasts
DRAGON’S KISS
DRAGON’S HEART
DRAGON’S MATE
Paranormal Young Adult:
The Dragon Diaries
FLYING BLIND
WINGING IT
BLAZING THE TRAIL
The Dragons of Incendium
WYVERN’S MATE
Nero’s Dream
WYVERN’S PRINCE
Arista’s Legacy
WYVERN’S WARRIOR
Kraw’s Secret
WYVERN’S OUTLAW
Celo’s Quest
WYVERN’S ANGEL
Nimue’s Gift
Urban Fantasy Romance
The Prometheus Project
FALLEN
GUARDIAN
REBEL
ABYSS
Learn about Deborah Cooke’s
contemporary romances at
DeborahCooke.com
Learn about Claire Delacroix
historical romances on
Claire’s website.