Dragul Dawn

Dragul Dawn

Marie Treanor

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Copyright ©2007 Marie Treanor

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ISBN: 978-1-59596-701-5

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Editor: Crystal Esau

Cover Artist: Zuri

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Dragul Dawn Marie Treanor The Dragul are as old as the Earth. Once, they retreated before the ignorant onslaught of men. But now they’re back. As the world recovers from nuclear holocaust, two cities vie for the right to colonize the empty Highlands. Beth, a restless scientist from the City of the Damned, is sent to test the environment. When she encounters the living embodiment of her erotic dreams -- a golden, winged man -- her whole life is thrown into confusion. Aurel is the powerful Keeper of the Laws for the rebel Dragul Kingdom. He will use any means to prevent colonization, including the sexual disturbance he causes in Beth…

Prologue

The shadow outside spread its wings across her bedroom window, filling her with intense joy. She sat up in bed, smiling her welcome, and the shadow folded and shimmered through the darkness until it rested instead on the inside. Not a huge bat or a rare golden eagle as she had once stupidly imagined him, but a beautiful, winged man -- her winged man, totally and gorgeously naked. Gracefully, he folded his wings behind him like a cloak, and stood very still, consuming her with his dark, grey eyes. Eyes that glistened with lust and power in equal measure. Eyes that melted her with memory and anticipation. Instinctively, she reached up her trembling arms for him, urgent, pleading, and he smiled, moving at last toward her with slow, sensuous grace. The bed sank under his weight, but he didn’t allow her embrace. Instead, he took both her hands and laid them on his hot, hard cock. Her breath caught. Without intending to, she wrapped her hands more securely around the huge, still-growing shaft and squeezed. A faint twitch of the lips was the only acknowledgement he gave. His own hands had already pulled open the tie of her night shirt, exposing her breasts. With slow deliberation, he reached out to stroke her nipple. Instantly, it hardened into a begging peak. He lowered his golden head and covered it with his mouth, languorously sucking. At the same time, he took her other breast in his hand and kneaded it until she moaned aloud, tugging his cock in unconscious reflex. He moved then, with easy, overwhelming strength that brushed aside her hands and brooked no argument -- not that he was getting one. Fluidly, he pressed her back into the pillows and covered her with his big body, parting her legs with his knee so that he could push his massive cock inside her. She gasped at the first contact, whimpered as he entered her, then moaned with sheer, unbearable pleasure as he slid slowly all the way inside. Always, it was this way when he came to her. His hands set her on fire. She began to come as soon as he touched her pussy. Yet he carried on pleasuring her as he did now, stirring her in leisurely fashion with the circular caresses of his cock, while he dragged his teeth across her throat to tease and bite her nape. And all the while, his bold, sensitive fingers plundered her breasts. Deep in the throes of the orgasm that seemed to go on forever, she raked her fingers through his hair, pulling it loose from the thread that confined it, and driving on around his neck and shoulders to his back. She found his wings, hard and leathery to the touch, and for the first time, his breath quickened obviously. He thrust into her a little harder, and her convulsing pussy tried to hold him, massage him. Her pleasure heightened impossibly, engulfing her in another tidal wave. Crying out, she reached below his wing to that gossamer soft underside, delicate as a bee’s wing, and stroked. A sound like a growl came from his throat. He ground his hips so closely into hers, she thought they would merge. Pressing back, she grasped some remaining self-control and squeezed him. He groaned as he pulled back and thrust, pulled back and thrust, slowly still, yet with new, determined power that ravished her all over again. Still caressing his gorgeous wing with one hand, she reached further down with her other until she found his tight, thrusting buttocks and pressed him into her as she bucked her hips upward into his. She cried out again as his teeth nipped her neck, burying her own in the hot, damp skin of his shoulder. His rhythm increased, pounding her as she lay helpless beneath him in a massive avalanche of bliss. When his groans of pleasure became that ultimate shout of triumph, it was so loud she was sure her parents would hear, and yet she could no more think of stopping him, or herself, than she could give up breathing. Slowly, he lifted his mouth from her neck, his face still clouded with passion, his eyes misted and blind with sexual pleasure as they gazed down into hers. But only when the embers of the fire died down did he finally lower his head once more and take her mouth in his for a first kiss. It was enough to seduce her sated body once more. Feeling it, he smiled against her lips, licked them, drove his tongue into her mouth.

“Again,” he commanded, his deep, low voice sending fresh shivers of anticipation coursing through her entire body, coming to rest at last on the part of her that gripped his still bone-hard shaft. His hand swept down the length of her thigh and back up on the inside until his fingers found her pussy and teased around the skin that wrapped him. “I’m going to make you come again.” A moan broke from her mouth into his, half anticipation, half plea. Words, it seemed, were beyond her. And then the light snapped on. Her mother’s voice said, “Beth? Are you all right?” Her heart thundered in her breast. Her nipples ached. Between her legs was wetness, hot pleasure and raging desire. But her arms were empty. “Beth?” Under her mother’s concern, she had to squeeze her eyes shut and pretend it was the light that bothered her. “I’m sorry,” she managed. “I was dreaming.” “Again?” Frowning, April sank down on the bed, in exactly the spot he had first sat. “What was it this time?” A pause, then: “I don’t remember. I never remember.” But she did. She always remembered. Every look, every tiny caress, every massive pleasure. The trouble was, she couldn’t go on like this, living vicariously through wild, sexy dreams. She needed a real lover. It was time to forget the shadow, her beautiful winged man, and move on. And fortunately, she was not the helpless, passive slave to passion that she always was in her dreams. She was strong, the daughter of two gifted parents, and she knew how to forget. All she really needed was the will.

Chapter One “I must say, you’re not what I expected.” Crouched on the ground to pack up the last of her equipment, Beth cast the speaker a quizzical look. “Because I don’t have two heads or bark like a dog?” Niall flushed slightly in the pale light of the early dawn. It made him quite appealing. “Well, you must know you City dwellers have a reputation for -- er -- strangeness.” With a lop-sided smile, Beth stood up. “Use the m-word, Niall. Where I come from, it’s not an insult.” “Especially when you’re not,” Niall said hastily. “Mutant, I mean.” “I know what you mean.” And you still might be surprised to run across my old mum during a full moon. Reaching up, she dragged her fair hair back behind her head and wound an old blue ribbon around it with the ease of long practice. She was aware of his lingering gaze, half-fascinated, half-admiring. It was how he’d regarded her since they’d first met in the inn outside the City and begun their northward journey. She wouldn’t have minded, if it hadn’t been for the hint of fear behind the eyes that somehow had never dissipated, even with three days spent in her unthreatening company. She dropped her arms to her side and reached for her bag. As she swung it onto her back, she couldn’t help glancing up at the tether. A technician she knew well stood in the open doorway of the carriage, clip-board in hand. He lifted it to her in salute and she smiled, dipping her head in return. “Amazing thing,” Niall murmured. He too stared upward at the tall construction disappearing into the distant sky. Beth, who never looked beyond the height at which the car now stood, turned away. Just thinking how high it went made her dizzy. A small settlement had grown up around the space elevator. There were only a few houses,

temporary homes for the scientists and technicians who took turns to maintain the tether and monitor the atmosphere, occasionally sending more ionized gasses up to further clean the sky. Without the tether, it was hard to see how she could have watched the sun rise this morning. Without it, the world would still be in permanent darkness and anarchy. “Yes,” she agreed briefly. The very thought of her father going up in it the first time still made her feel physically sick. “So -- are you ready for this?” “Sure.” “Good. Let’s do it as quickly as possible then. You take the west side and I’ll take the east. Or the other way round,” she finished dryly, at the unhappy expression which dawned on his square, handsome face. “I think we’d be better doing it together,” he said carefully. “Why? Collecting samples is hardly a two-person job! No point in one of us going along just to twiddle our thumbs or -- oh. I see.” Understanding, she gave a sardonic grin. “You want to make sure I can do it properly? Because I didn’t go to school, or university, whatever you call it, in your Dome? You think I’m just along because the City has jurisdiction over this land, not because I’m any kind of scientist?” “Beth, I didn’t mean to imply any such --” She smiled. “Yes you did.” She shrugged. “You’ll just have to take my word for it, Niall. I’ve been measuring radiation poisoning of one kind or another for most of my life. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow.” “Tomorrow?” Now he was genuinely startled. “You plan to sleep out there?” Beth laughed. “Why not? There’s nothing to be afraid of -- no one’s lived here for more than fifty years! Even the animals moved out. You’ve got your sleeping bag, haven’t you? Cheer up, you’ll be home in a week.” And with that, she strode away from him, heading directly for the hills. Niall watched her go with mingled resentment and frustration. She was right: he wasn’t used to working outside, away from what he regarded as safety. It might have been true that nothing lived in the country beyond the tether anymore, but that didn’t make it seem any safer to him. Nor did it seem safe for her. A slip of a girl, not even a scientist, whatever she was pretending to him. So she could use the antiquated instruments in her bag, take accurate enough readings from them -if they worked reliably -- and collect samples without knowingly contaminating them. But -- she was just a girl without any training. A girl whose parents, he had heard, had powerful influence in the City of the Damned, the only city that still held out against the Dome’s superior leadership. The City thought that because it had discovered the tether and sent up the first cleansing ionized gas that it should remain at best independent. At worst, a rival power. And let’s face it, Niall thought grimly, no one but the Dome should be allowed to keep possession of so valuable a commodity as the tether…

*** Beth strode out with some purpose, as if trying to shake the dust of Niall’s amiable disparagement from her feet. She knew it was laughable. She had grown up among people so remarkable that she’d learned very quickly how to tell the seed from the chaff, the ordinary from the special. And Niall, she knew to be merely ordinary. And yet she’d wanted him to like her, to value her. Pathetic as it might sound. No doubt that too came from growing up among people so very remarkable. Laughing at herself, she walked into the pale, golden gleam of the rising sun as it peeped between the summits of the eastern hills. She raised her hand to shield her eyes and gazed directly into it. Her step faltered. Someone stood at the top of the hill. This land is empty! Yet there he stood. A tall, slender figure with a glowing golden aura like a halo around his head,

something like a black cloak falling from his shoulders to his ankles. A shape peculiarly familiar to her. Her heart lurched. In an old, self-protective gesture from childhood, one hand flew to her throat, the other to her stomach. She blinked, shaking her head to clear it. And when she opened her eyes, the figure had gone. “You’re dreaming, Beth,” she chided herself. Yet why should she think of that dream now? She hadn’t had it for years, not since she’d chosen not to. The beautiful, sexy man with the cloak-like wings was a fantasy of her seventeen-year-old self, not the reality of a grown woman, a scientist who knew she was at least the equal of “Doctor Niall” from the Dome. Several hours later, she placed her third soil sample away in her bag, and walked thoughtfully down to the stream. She began to think that maybe she should have let Niall come with her, if only to have access to his newer instruments, for she doubted now that hers were working. According to them, there was no excess radiation in the soil or the plant-life. None at all. Which was so unlikely as to be impossible. Even if this area had escaped the worst exposure of the war, it had still sustained enough damage to send the people who’d once lived here scurrying for cover. Now, it was not contaminated at all, not even as much as the area around the tether which had been deliberately treated. No one had treated the hills, and yet they were clean. According to her ancient instrument. No doubt a proper laboratory test of the samples would tell a different story. The stream, when she came to it, looked pure and sparkly in the mid-day sunshine, so much so that Beth knew a powerful urge to taste it. Smiling to herself, she scooped some into a jar, closed the lid and put it in her bag. Running the counter over the surrounding ground, hovering it over the stream itself, produced the same silence. No radiation. Getting to her feet, she followed the stream uphill, counter still in hand, still getting nothing. Meaning to take another sample when she found the stream’s source, she paused to look around her. It was beautiful up here, peaceful, silent apart from the singing birds… And if there were birds, maybe there were animals too. Maybe wolves… No one working at the tether had ever seen any sign of other living creatures beyond the tether, but despite what she’d said to Niall, that was hardly conclusive proof. On their journey together she had made sure he knew enough to light a fire when camping out -she just hoped he bothered without her to nag him. Without warning, someone else’s pain invaded the rambling of her thoughts. Pain, and fear, and a pitiful call for help, rising to a crescendo that made her gasp, and then fading quickly away to silence, as if to sleep. Or death. Shit. Beth’s telepathy was erratic, feeble because she had never trained it, had in fact hidden from it because to her it revealed not her strength but her weakness. When necessary, her parents battered their way into her mind, but only very occasionally did random thoughts connect with hers. Well, she’d discovered one thing -- there was life out here. That wasn’t Niall’s pain she sensed. Nor was it an animal’s. In fact, she wasn’t sure what it was; its thoughts were curiously un-verbal… Cursing under her breath, Beth tried to concentrate her feeble powers of telepathy, to re-connect, to find the source. Eyes closed, she wished for the first time that she’d tried harder at this, spent more time with Will… It was close. She sensed that much, a quiet despair fluttering outward without clear intention or destination. Beth moved quickly up the hill, over uneven clumps of coarse grass and springy heather, using her eyes as well as her head to seek. Approaching the summit, her step faltered. Slowly, she drew in her breath. Below her stretched a lush, green valley, with tall trees scattered in pleasing clumps. Two broad streams converged in a bubbling third, which led on into another valley that she could only glimpse. Somehow, she didn’t need instruments or samples to tell her that this land was not only clean -- it was pure. The very air was different, clear, bright, almost palpable.

“Jesus,” she whispered. Something had happened here, something was happening here… “Hello?” she called out. “Where are you?” A wild fluttering of the frightened mind reached out to her with blind instinct, and then, just as quickly, was dragged back as if deliberately silenced. It didn’t matter, it was enough. Beth ran back down, but away from the stream now, over a clump of hillocks -- and there she found the child. It was a boy, maybe eight or nine years old. Half sitting, half lying between two hillocks that hid him from easy sight, he stared up at her, white-faced, blocking his mind, although pain and fear still trickled out of him like tears. “Don’t be frightened, I want to help you,” she said quickly. The boy continued to stare at her silently. Beth crouched down. “Are you hurt?” Even as she spoke, she saw his leg was bent under him at an angle that hurt her just to look at. “Oh dear, your poor leg! You must come out of there, and then I should be able to make it a bit more comfortable. Put your arms round my neck and I’ll lift you…” With fresh alarm, the boy shook his head. He seemed to shrink into himself as if trying to escape her. Beth sat back on her heels. “OK… where should I go to find help? Where are your parents?” At that, something happened. She wasn’t quite sure what, but some barrier slipped in his mind, allowing a blast of his personality to hit her. For a child’s, it was overwhelming -- strong, emotional. She heard no words spoken in her mind, as her parents occasionally did, just felt a rush of understanding. She said slowly, “You’re further away from home than you should be. And you’re going to be in deep trouble when you get back.” For the first time, a rueful grin passed across his white face. He was an extraordinarily handsome child, even-featured, with gorgeous clear grey eyes. And, surely, an aura that was almost visible -peaceful and yet curious, oddly exciting for a child… “Well, I think you’ll just have to grin and bear that -- it won’t be worse than a broken leg, trust me. And to be honest, your family will be so glad to have you safe home that you’re more likely to be spoiled than punished. Especially with a broken leg.” That’s what you think. Beth smiled. The words went clear into her head. “Can you not speak aloud?” I don’t know… I’ve never tried. “Wow…” Questions began to burst inside her, but she squashed them down. The first thing was to try and give the child some relief from his pain. And to do that, she’d have to hurt him worse first. “Will you let me help you now? Together, we can get you out of that wedge, and make you a bit more comfortable.” He looked uncertain. She had a feeling he was about to reject her again, only then words burst out of him. I’m cold, so cold! Instinctively, she reached down, putting both arms around him for comfort as well as warmth. No wonder he was so cold -- his coat was dragged open and he seemed to be wearing only a thin shirt underneath it. Still at least the coat she could feel at his back was made of some strong leather… “Come on, my son, help me here. We’ll get you out of this hole and nice and warm again. Just be brave, hold on to me tight…” To her surprise, he clasped his hands around her neck, and she lifted him easily in her arms. The blast of pain from his brain was harder to deal with, but she managed to lift him out and lay him on a flat hillock, sitting upright. When she laid his leg straight, his mouth opened in a silent scream. His coat began to move behind him like… Like wings. Took all sorts to make a world. Although it was rare to find mutants outside the city. Even inside it, she’d never come across wings before… “All right?” she asked, rubbing his arms and shoulders. He nodded shakily, the movement of his wings slowly calming. “OK. I’ve got a blanket in my backpack. We can put that round you while we decide what to do next.” But as she delved into her bag, another bolt of his fear pierced her.

“What is it?” she said quickly, and at once followed his gaze upward into the sky. Something was flying toward them. Something large and graceful and fast. An old memory stirred in Beth. A shadow outside her window that solidified inside… She remembered this morning’s imagined sighting of the winged man -- why had she not connected this child with him? And then all the old, half-forgotten dreams rushed at her, paralyzing her… The figure swooped down against the backdrop of the hills, like some monstrous golden eagle, heading straight for them. Oh Jesus… could this really be him? Aurel! Finally, the child’s despairing word of recognition broke through her disarray. Past dreams of sensuality shattered in the face of present reality, which was a frightened child who needed her protection. “Don’t worry,” she said grimly, rising to her feet as the creature swooped overhead. She wondered what kind of being could cause such fear in a child, but only vaguely. Nothing excused it. “No one will hurt you.” Deliberately, Beth stepped in front of the boy. In the same movement, she reached down and took the knife from its hidden sheath in her jeans. She hadn’t grown up in the City for nothing… Behind her, she was aware of the child’s wings fluttering in agitation. In front of her, the creature landed fluidly on his feet. Bare feet, bare legs, long and strong, his body covered by a kind of black shift similar in shape to the one the boy wore. His arms, partially covered by the same garment, bulged with muscle. He held them loosely by his sides. Slowly, the huge, bat-like wings folded in behind him like a cloak. They were the wings from her dreams, she could swear it… Power radiated from him, and menace. It wasn’t just his physical appearance which was awesome, it was his very presence -- big, certain, overwhelming. Golden-fair hair tied behind his head, all-consuming grey eyes that had looked at her with lust and passion as he thrust repeatedly into her body… Recognition hit her like a blow, and yet she couldn’t go there -- it left her weak and vulnerable. Beth stared at him grimly, forcing memory aside. If it came to a physical fight with this creature, her only chance lay in surprise. She knew she was quick, and her frail-looking body held unexpected strength. She would need all of it to protect the child from this… “Aurel. My name is Aurel. And why should you imagine you have to protect him?”

Chapter Two Beth nearly dropped the knife. Like the child, the adult spoke inside her head. But this was no mere impression of thought -- the words arrived fully formed, voiced and unmistakable. She heard only what he wanted her to hear -- and yet he had no trouble extracting her own thoughts. She hadn’t even felt him in her head. Worse, his deep, low voice was that of her dream, threatening to set her blood on fire. Panicked, she stared at him, tried to block her mind -- and yet surely it was already closed? Had she left some chink in her barrier by trying to communicate with the boy? He met her gaze with quiet amusement in his own deep, grey eyes. Like the child, he was incredibly handsome, though why she should concentrate on such trivia in this fraught situation was beyond her. Perhaps to keep from admitting to herself that she’d met him before, in those distant, paralyzingly sexy dreams… The adult moved, and she took an involuntary step backward. Then, angry with herself, she said aggressively, “He’s hurt and he’s afraid of you -- they seem good reasons to me!” “I’m not surprised he’s afraid. He knows he’s done wrong.” “Stop where you are,” Beth warned, but the man just curled his lip and kept coming.

“What are you planning on doing with that?” he asked, nodding casually at the knife as he brushed past her. And somehow, without meaning to, she had let him at the boy. Appalled by her own failure at the outset, she fell back, keeping his front in view -- she had no idea if the knife could penetrate his wings. But he didn’t touch the boy. He stood for a moment looking down at him. To her surprise, the child’s agitation calmed. “Your leg is broken,” Aurel observed. The boy nodded. Beth got a flash of further communication, understanding, even as Aurel continued to speak the words in her head as well as the boy’s. “And you hurt your wing when you fell.” He crouched down, reaching for the boy. “Wait, what are you doing?” Beth demanded, dropping beside them, determined to intervene. It’s all right, came through the boy’s jumbled thoughts, rueful, resigned. Aurel touched the injured leg, his long, tapering fingers closing around the knee and moving downwards. The child’s breath caught, and released in a sigh. The sense of his pain faded, flooding Beth with his relief. Aurel reached behind the boy, his hand moving over the left wing, apparently discovering unerringly the wounded portion. The pain was almost gone completely now. So was the cold. Beth stared at the adult. “You are a healer?” she asked incredulously. His gaze moved to her. “Hardly. I’m the Keeper of the Laws.” “But his leg is straight, you took away his pain…!” “His leg is straight but not healed. I have helped him deal with his pain until he gets home.” Aurel rose to his feet once more. Her eyes followed him. Very conscious of her heart beating inside her breast, she felt she was fighting a rearguard action not to appear foolish to this awesome being. “Why was he afraid of you?” Aurel cast her a look of patient amusement. “Were you never afraid of being caught in the wrong?” Beth swallowed. Slowly, she rose to her feet. “You are his father.” “I think that assumption says more about your culture than his. As does your protective instinct.” “Oh. Well, if that’s what you think, it must be right.” “Sarcasm is not becoming in one so beautiful.” “Nor is flattery,” she retorted, but annoyingly, a flush had begun to rise up into her face and neck. She couldn’t even turn away to hide it without acknowledging the weakness, so she simply stared back at him with a defiance that no doubt resembled the child’s. After all, she was battling a dream-memory that she would have died rather than reveal to this man, its very embodiment. This was so weird… He smiled. A devastating move that neither softened his face nor reassured her. Instead, it seemed to hit her somewhere below her stomach, spreading heat to her very core. Worse, he had smiled at her like that before, his head above her while he did unspeakably pleasurable things to her body, massaging that ache she could feel now rising between her legs… Catching her breath, she spun away from his gaze, appalled that the memory should surface so vividly now, when she wasn’t even sure he couldn’t read it. With relief, she focused on the boy, who was regarding her a little sheepishly. I misled you, I think. I’m a coward, not a liar. Aurel won’t hurt me as you seemed to imagine… but no one wants to be discovered breaking the law -- not by him. “Then don’t break the law,” Aurel advised. Like you never did? Beth didn’t speak aloud either, but he heard her anyway. “When I was young and foolish, who knows? I can’t remember that far back.” Unexpectedly, he caught her wrist in one hand, plucking the knife from her fingers with the other. She should have been angry -- with herself as much as with him -- yet the shock of his cool touch drove it from her mind. The firm, casual strength was terrifying, the feel of his fingers on her wrist electric. She wished it was shame that flooded her body with heat. “Before you hurt yourself,” he explained mildly, releasing her, and crouching down to put the knife in her backpack. His garment hung tantalizingly loose around his brown, muscled thighs. Beth tried not to look, tried to think of something -- anything! -- else.

Aurel paused, his gaze on the jars inside her bag. “You are a collector of soil and water,” he observed. “And -- er -- leaves. Do you eat them?” “You know I don’t,” she said with frosty certainty. Something told her too that he knew exactly what she did with them. He wasn’t even surprised to find them there. Unabashed by her discovery, he only smiled. His teeth were very white, strong. The sun glinted off his golden head as he gazed up at her. Infuriatingly, her heart lurched. It wasn’t just memory. It was reaction to the present. “It’s been a long time since a human scientist passed our way,” he observed. He rose fluidly to his feet, maintaining eye contact. “But then, you’re a little more than human.” More than human. She’d never heard it called that before. In fact, without her own admission, she couldn’t recall anyone ever spotting it before either. “You’re a little more than human yourself,” she retorted. He smiled again with genuine amusement. “That’s different. I’m not human at all.” “Because you have wings? I’ll admit it’s a rarity, but you’ve obviously been away from the City too long. We discovered years ago that mutants are still human.” “Ah yes, the famous ‘City of the Damned.’ A place I would like to visit…” Was that the source of the dreams? Had she seen him once in the City, a strange, devastatingly attractive man who caught her imagination and managed to bury himself in her subconscious? She said curiously, “How long since you left?” “I’ve never lived there.” “You were born up here?” “Oh no -- much further south.” Beth frowned. Something wasn’t right. She had never heard of any mutants outside the City -- or at least outside the old range of its water supply. He watched her, radiating superior amusement at her thought processes. She said slowly, “How many of you are there?” “In the world, or in these hills?” “Hell, both!” “A few thousand all together. Here…” He regarded her, head to one side. “You could come and see, if you like.” Did he think she was stupid? There was a faint glint in his intense eyes that told her he was not completely unaware of his physical effect on her. It’s only memory, only a stupid dream! And he would never know how tempting his offer was. “Thank you,” she said dryly. “I’m working.” “So I see.” Bending from the waist, he picked up her backpack and began to fasten the straps. Beth had to blink away an intrusive flashback to those deft fingers working on her body. “What exactly are you looking for?” “Radioactive contamination mainly.” “Why?” “To see if it’s possible to farm up here. We need our own food source.” Just in case the Dome chose to cut off the City’s contacts with shared suppliers in the south… He nodded, as if this wasn’t news to him, and held the bag out to her. As she took it from him, his gaze held hers. “You want new communities here?” “If possible, yes.” “And is it? Possible?” She gave a smile that was more a twist of the lips. “Who knows? My instruments appear to be faulty.” “How can you tell?” “Because they’re detecting no contamination at all!” “Which is good for your proposed community.” “Which is impossible,” she corrected. She regarded him thoughtfully. “And your community…

does it grow food?” He shrugged. “Not as such.” “Is your soil contaminated?” “You can come and check, if you like.” “Maybe I will. When I meet up with my colleagues.” His lips curled into a faint smile of amusement. “You don’t need to be afraid of us, you know. We never bite without permission.” Turning away from her, he caught the boy staring and said something that made him blush before he stepped over and picked him up as easily as if he were a baby. Realizing he was about to go, Beth felt panic rise. Was she really about to let this embodiment of her dream walk away? What else could she do? Walk with him into a trap? Oh, no. He might set her blood on fire with a look -- but that was the dream memory playing tricks. She wasn’t desperate enough to deliver herself into what she suspected was his considerable power. Keeper of the Laws… “Who is ‘we’?” she blurted. “Who are your people? Where did you come from?” The winged man smiled. Behind him, his wings spread and began to move in slow, graceful beats until his bare feet actually lifted off the ground. “We are the Dragul. And we come from the Earth.” The wings beat more powerfully, faster, and he soared up into the sky with his burden clinging round his neck. He flew high, soaring over her head and off over the hill and the green valley she had glimpsed already, disappearing quickly into the distance. Well, at least I know which way to go to find him. Them…

*** Beth’s tent was a little spring-up affair. Aurel, Keeper of the Laws, watched her pitch it with practiced efficiency while her fire warmed. She was cooking something in a little pot and seemed quite un-fazed by her solitude -- rare in humans. But then, he reflected as he sat back against a boulder to observe in greater comfort, she was rare in several ways. In her unusual mix of species, in her pale, piquant beauty with those incongruously dark eyes… and in her reaction to him. He definitely bothered her. And it wasn’t a race thing -- Rad she had helped and talked to as she would anyone. It wasn’t the Dragul she feared. It was him, Aurel. Interesting. There was a jumble of frantic emotion and memory locked up behind her desperate mind block. It had been tempting just to brush that feeble block aside -- except that to do so would have admitted her importance. And he didn’t want her to be important. Only the samples she carried -- the means of destroying the newly planted Dragul kingdom -- only they were important here. On the other hand, she wasn’t indifferent to him. It might have been fun to explore that aspect too. He wouldn’t have minded a taste of that delicious little body, to lose himself for a little in its hot, wet depths… Below, in the valley, Beth poured the contents of the pot into a large mug and sprawled against her backpack to watch the hazy sun set. It was a sight Aurel himself never tired of. Centuries of darkness, and years more of perpetual twilight, had made the rising and setting of the sun daily miracles of beauty. Yet tonight, he found his eyes riveted to a different kind of loveliness: the changing light and shadows that fell across the pale skin of her face, the soft curves of her cheek and lips, the natural poise of her relaxed body. Without warning she turned her head, seemed to look right at him. His heart gave an unexpected leap -- a fear of discovery maybe. Or an elusive recognition. Frowning, Aurel tried to catch at the memory. He had felt it before, when she first stood between him and the boy, glaring at him with fear and excitement and some unreadable confusion blazing in her dark eyes. Someone he had noticed, perhaps, on one of his sorties to the City? Maybe. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t even see a speck on the hill. He was only here to contaminate her samples, send her home with the firm belief that developing this northern land was impossibly difficult. He stayed very still as she drank the contents of the mug, drawing her coat more closely around her against the cold night air. Then, she banked the fire a little, and retreated inside the tent, taking her

bag with her. Aurel waited, giving her plenty of time to settle down and drift into deep sleep. Then, in the darkness, lit only by the distant stars winking between bands of cloud, he flew silently down to her camp, coming to land between the fire and the tent. For an instant, he held his wings out steadily, listening with all his senses for any reaction from the girl. Nothing. Slowly, he folded his wings behind him and reached for the tent flap, noiselessly breaking the ties and stepping inside. Behind him, the fire flared, throwing a red and orange glow across the face of the girl. Who wasn’t sleeping at all. She sat bolt upright in a blanket, her tangled blond hair falling about her shoulders, and her beautiful dark eyes blazing at him with terror and excitement. Aurel, never one to let a set-back throw him, said politely, “Good evening.” The girl swallowed visibly. “What do you want?” she said hoarsely. “Actually,” Aurel lied, “I came to talk to you.” For some reason, the girl laughed, a breathless, throaty sound that sent electricity tingling round his wings and down to the region of his cock. Well, her whole response to his presence, that odd, powerful mixture of fear and arousal she radiated, was curiously exciting. He found himself wondering irrelevantly what she wore under the blanket. “So talk,” the girl snapped, clearly not one to let fright overcome her. “And then get out.” Hastily, she brushed a lock of hair off her face and Aurel saw that she was shaking. He took pity. “I have a better idea,” he said smoothly. “I see I make you uncomfortable here. Why don’t you come out, and then we’ll talk? I’ll build the fire a bit more to make it warmer.” And without waiting for her response, he backed out of the tent. Carefully, his eyes picked out the precise location of the backpack as he went.

Chapter Three By the time she emerged a few moments later, the blanket still clutched round her shoulders, her lower legs tantalizingly bare, he was sitting by a merrily roaring blaze. “How did you do that?” she asked abruptly. “There was no more wood.” “Oh there’s always wood,” he said vaguely. “Please, sit down. I’m sorry I startled you. I wasn’t sure if you were asleep.” She gave an uncertain smile. “I suppose it’s difficult to knock at a tent door.” “Precisely.” He smiled back, wondering why he hadn’t sensed that she was awake. It seemed she was a more powerful blocker than he had given her credit for. Yet now that she faced him, churning, unreadable emotion was seeping from her, mixed still with a little fear, a little wariness, and a lot of desire. Aurel’s cock twitched further. He liked that she wanted him. He would have liked to do something about that too. He had never had a human woman. He wanted to run his hands all the way down her smooth, wingless back to cup her pert little buttocks. Dragul passion was fierce. He wondered if hers was too, or if it was softer, gentler, sweeter… Discreetly altering his position -- no point in scaring her with the sight of his upright member, which began to feel like a wayward tree-trunk attached to his body -- he said mildly, “What’s your name?” “Beth.” She sank into a sitting position, not too close to him. To his disappointment, her legs disappeared under the blanket with the rest of her, and he had to content himself with watching the flaring firelight shadow different planes and hollows of her face. “So what did you come back to talk about in the middle of the night?” “You, your tests, your City… What made you choose this region?” “There are several areas under consideration. It makes sense to cultivate land around the space

elevator, to develop the temporary community there into a permanent one.” “And to make sure the City keeps control of the elevator?” She gave a flickering smile that he found unexpectedly enchanting. “That too.” “Still playing politics,” he murmured. “Even after almost annihilating yourselves.” “We found the elevator,” she protested. Under his deliberate influence, she had relaxed a little -not enough to drop her guard, but enough to stop radiating alarm. “We used it to clean the environment and break up the cloud for all of us. And now the Dome seems to think it has the right to take control over it as well as over the rest of us!” “Well,” Aurel observed. “You seem to think you have the right to take over this land too.” “That’s different, we use the tether…” Aurel looked around him theatrically. “I see no tether.” She frowned at that, but rather to his surprise, she didn’t get angry. Instead, she met his gaze properly for the first time, searching his eyes. “You’re concerned for the independence of your own people? The Dragul? Aurel, I don’t even know where they are…” Confusion entered her eyes again, something excitingly intense and hot, swiftly veiled. Her gaze fell. “Would they -- you -- not benefit also from agricultural development here?” “No,” he said regretfully. Another idea began to form in his head, a far riskier one, but one which, if it worked, might well be more reliable… And more enjoyable. Her desire was a gift to him. Beth pulled at some grass by her feet. She said abruptly, “How is the boy?” “Rad? He is well, if somewhat chastened. He won’t stray so far again. Tell me, what would you do if you discovered your development plans would ruin our society?” Her eyes flew to his, and held. “I suppose I would look elsewhere.” “But you’re a scientist. You don’t rule the world, or even the City. Would your masters see things the same way?” “Some wouldn’t,” she conceded. “But some would. And some would see no reason why we can ’t all live together. As an ideal it’s become a bit of a sacred cow in my City. It wasn’t easy for mutants and humans to trust each other, or for mutants to trust other mutants, for that matter.” Something sparked in her eyes. “No one knows you exist, Aurel. But we’re no threat to you. One thing we have learned in the City is that to mix is good.” “And what mix are you, my more than human friend?” She blinked at that, surprised, wary. Yet her answer was quite matter-of-fact. “My mother is a lupi -- a werewolf, if you like. My father is a vampire.” “Explosive combination. So do you shift?” “I can. I don’t choose to very often. I can control it. And before you ask, I eat normal food too and feel no compulsion to rip the throats out of passing strangers.” She glanced at him and added sweetly, “Or at least not very often.” Aurel grinned. “I’d like you to try.” It was only a very light flirtation, but it brought out all the confused rush of feeling again. Before she could bolt, as was her clear intention, Aurel said, “I was joking before. I knew you wouldn’t come with me then. But I want to ask you now, in all seriousness. Let me take you to the kingdom, introduce you to the Dragul. You can decide for yourself whether mixing would be good for us, or for you.” Her eyes widened. A momentary chink in her armour revealed her temptation, her curiosity, and he was sure a lot of it centred on him. Delicately, he radiated trust, soothing calm. She said slowly, “How long would it take to get there?” “Not long.” She smiled. “You can fly. I can’t.” “You can with me.” “No!” A flat denial, which came out with rather more aggression than she intended, judging by her embarrassment. “That is, no thank you, I’d rather walk. I’m not good with heights. Even though I spent my childhood in an apartment at the top of a high-rise block.” Something stirred again in Aurel’s memory. Something to do with the girl, and his vague feeling

that he’d seen her before. But that was of secondary importance. The main thing was to get her to the Dragul, to persuade her to see things his way. “You’ll lose all reference to the ground when we fly -- so you won’t be afraid.” “You might drop me. Trust me, I’m no light weight.” He let his eyes flicker over the blanket. It had begun to gape temptingly at the throat. “You will be no heavier than Rad -- possibly lighter. Dragul have heavy bones. I will not drop you. But if you’re worried, I can tie us together. Go, put your clothes on, you’ll need them against the cold.” There was a pause while she stared at him. Then, “You can’t push me into this.” Oh yes I can. But he didn’t need to. She already wanted to go with him. “Please,” he said quietly, and her gaze fell. He had won.

*** She tried to tell herself she was mad. But the truth was, she could barely control the excitement screaming through her. Because she was going to meet a new people? Or because she was going with him? In his arms. Perhaps dreams meant something after all. Perhaps it had been no sex-starved post-adolescent fantasy, perhaps it was prophecy. A foretelling of what was to come. And suddenly the prospect of all that with this very real winged man made her breathless. When she emerged from the tent, Aurel had stamped out the fire and spread the ashes. You couldn’t tell anyone had been here. Uneasily, she suspected that was his aim. Without a word, he un-pegged her tent and rolled it up, stuffing it into her bag. “I can leave this stuff,” she protested. “It’s not as if anyone’s going to steal it!” “We’ll take it,” he said briefly, swinging the bag over one shoulder, delicately avoiding his wing. Then he turned to her. “Come here.” It was ridiculous. She had got used very quickly to his voice speaking without his lips moving. Yet the voice itself melted her bones. Trying to be brisk about it, she marched the few feet and stood before him. From an unseen pocket in his shift, he took out what looked like a jumble of thread. He sifted it once through his fingers and the jumble resolved into a long string. Stepping closer, he passed it around her waist and his. Unexpectedly, his arm swept round her, drawing her right in to him before he wound the thread around them again. Shock kept her silent. The shock of his body-heat, the shock of the huge, hard shaft she could feel against her abdomen. She should have been outraged, even afraid of assault. Instead, she was aware of fierce triumph that she could arouse this strange, powerful being. And the feel of it rubbing against her every time he moved was delicious enough to send a gush of hot moisture to the juncture of her thighs. And yet he seemed quite unaware of it. Certainly he was not remotely embarrassed by his obvious arousal… Or was he aroused? Perhaps Dragul cocks were always like that -- ever-ready, as it were… Hysterical laughter gurgled up her throat before she cut it off. Aurel glanced at her, a faint, quizzical smile on his full, sensual lips. His gaze held hers, searching. He said, “Do you want to tell me now?” “Tell you what?” It was difficult to concentrate on anything other than the rock-hard rod still now against her belly. She remembered writhing on it in those hot, ecstatic dreams and the memory didn’t make his perceptive gaze easier to bear. “What it is about me that so disturbs you?” “Nothing,” she muttered, trying and failing to draw her gaze free. “You’re a bit outside my experience, that’s all.” “So is Rad, yet you accepted him immediately. Is it sexual desire?” Heat galloped through her body. “In your dreams!” He smiled, a devastating, half-teasing smile that softened his eyes and face without removing a trace of the immovable power. He touched her cheek with his long, sensitive fingers and she shivered in his hold. “Perhaps,” he allowed, “but it’s yours that concern me here. If there’s something I can help

with, you only have to say.” She remembered to close her mouth. “No thank you,” she said faintly. Gracefully, his wings unfolded and spread out. Beth was glad to have something to watch other than his all-seeing eyes. His fingers moved to her lips, tracing their outline. Her breath caught. “You can speak to me with your mind if you’d rather.” She swallowed. “I can’t control that…” But neither could she bear this discomfort under the assault of his prying questions and his tender fingers. Aggressively, she slapped his hand away. “Listen, you don’t disturb me more than any other flying stranger who’s taking me out of my world into his. So stop being an arsehole and get on with it.” He wasn’t remotely offended. Instead, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkled attractively as he laughed at her. “Arsehole? What colorful terms you humans use.” His wings began to move in slow rhythm, and it came almost as a shock to realize how much a part of his body they were. He looked like an ordinary man -- well, quite an extraordinary one, but a man nonetheless -- with wings stuck on his back, like an angel in a human play. But in reality, when he moved them, it affected muscles all over his body, sending ripples through his hard chest and abdomen. Against her breast, it felt unbelievably sexy, like a caress of her pebbled nipples. Worse, it made his cock move again, in small, gentle thrusts that came too close to sex for comfort. Jesus, how do I survive this? “Just hold on. Put your arms around my neck. You’re bound safely to me, so I couldn’t drop you if I tried.” Hell, he heard me. Thank Christ he misunderstood! I have got to get a grip on this… The thread wrapped round her waist and hips, joining her to him, seemed more than a little flimsy for its job, but when she instinctively strained against it to test, it held as firmly as a rope. Slowly, she lifted her arms and laid them around his neck, grasping her own fingers rather than his warm skin. His hair brushed against her hands. When she finally felt brave enough to meet his gaze once more, she caught an instant of confusion that might have mirrored her own. “I won’t hurt you.” There was no teasing in his voice now. It was softer, gentler, only a little puzzled. “You don’t need to be afraid of me.” “I’m not.” It came out in a strangled choke, because his arms had closed around her and the beat of his wings had increased, lifting them both off the ground. “I’m afraid of heights!” That at least was true. “Oh Jesus Christ! Oh fuck!” She squeezed her eyes shut as they rose into the air, quickly soaring toward the level of the highest hill. Why was it easy to climb a hill and yet unbearable to be suspended over it at a lower height? Aurel said, “Hold on to me with your legs too -- you’ll feel more secure.” “Don’t bet on it,” she muttered. But taking a deep breath, she swung her legs up around his hips and since it was convenient, buried her face in his shoulder. The filmy garment he wore felt unexpectedly cosy under her cheek, yet was quite thin enough to reveal the contours of his nether regions as they fitted neatly between her thighs, competing with the height fear for her attention. This was ridiculous. She was a grown, capable, trusted woman not entirely inexperienced in sexual matters. She wouldn’t go on playing the confused little girl. She didn’t like the role. “It’s not you. It ’s dreams I had when I was younger, about a winged man. He looked very much like you. It does confuse me. The dreams were very vivid. You -- he -- appeared outside my bedroom window -- which was weird enough. We lived on the twenty-fifth floor. Then you -- he -- spread his wings… you looked just like that outside the tent tonight. I thought I was dreaming again. Actually, I still think it.” With conscious courage, she opened her eyes and tilted her head to see his face. He was staring at her, as if he had just remembered something. He said slowly, “Were these sexual dreams?” She opened her mouth to deny it -- but what was the point? She had nothing to hide, and nothing to gain by behaving like the adolescent she’d been then. “Very,” she said dryly, and his serious look vanished. “Was it good?” he asked, and she found herself answering the smile in his eyes.

“Very,” she said again. His head bent a little, and his breath teased her lips. “I’m glad of that, at least… Later, I’ll tell you something that might explain your dreams.” Beth swallowed. “What’s wrong with now?” He gave a little breath of laughter that stirred her lips and spread heat from them all the way to her core. For the life of her, she couldn’t prevent the upward surge of her hips, fitting her hot, damp pussy more closely around his cock. Her breath caught. “Now,” he said, “I’ve other things on my mind.” “Like what?” she asked breathlessly. “Like kissing you.” She gasped, and his lips sank onto her open mouth. He caressed her trembling lips with his, touched them with the tip of his tongue, and then, with a sigh, he pushed deeper, turning her mouth over and drawing her tongue around his own. He tasted divine. She couldn’t get enough of him, licking his sharp teeth, caressing every corner of his mouth with her lips and tongue. He used only his mouth to arouse her and yet the fever built impossibly fast. His cock pressed into her, but apart from the movement of his flight, he held it still. Beth moved against it, wanting it, wanting him. Memory mixed with reality as she lost herself in him, the feel of his hard, strong body, the devastating caress of his mouth and the relentless, rhythmic beat of his wings carrying them through the cold night air. Slowly, he released her mouth and stared down into her eyes. He brushed his lips against hers. “Did I kiss you like that?” “No… yes… I don’t remember. You were stingy with kisses.” “Then it wasn’t me. I love kissing you,” he said, and did it again. Beth accepted him eagerly, opening for him. But it was he who controlled it, and he who ended it long before she was ready, smiling against her lips. “I could fly with you forever. Sunk deep inside your body, pleasuring you over and over… would you like that?” “A flying fuck?” she said on a shaky laugh. “It’s the best kind.” She tangled her fingers in the short hairs at the back of his neck, and reached up for his mouth. “Then what are you waiting for?” His arms tightened. For the first time his cock moved deliberately, sliding against her, thrusting until it found the hot dampness of her pussy, and there he stilled it once more. His forehead touched hers. “For truth and love,” he said with the ghost of a laugh. “Or at least true lust. Look down. You’ve conquered your fear of flying.” It was true she had been far too caught up with lust and longing to pay any attention to her surroundings, but as she looked down now, she felt a rush not of fear, but of wild excitement, like being swung round by her father when she was a child, only with a far more spectacular view. In the pale, orange light of the new dawn, she could see a whole range of hills and valleys stretching out below. The air rushed past her, catching her breath while the warmth of his body invaded hers, making her secure. She smiled. “So I have.” His wings stilled, taking them into a swooping dive. She clung to him, not because she was afraid, just because she liked it. “And here is my home, the Kingdom of the Dragul.”

Chapter Four She didn’t see it at first. It looked just like some misshapen hills in strange formations, but then

they seemed to come into focus and she realized she was looking at a village, a city, of huge, spacious houses roofed with shrubs or grass, of gardens filled with bright-colored flowers, and walking among them, lots of beings like Aurel, tall and winged and graceful. Other figures, wings spread in flight, dotted the more distant sky. Beth drank it all in, the strangeness of the community lay-out, the sheer numbers of Aurel’s people -- too many for one mutant human species… And the last of her doubts melted away. “My God,” she whispered. “You really aren’t mutants, are you?” She dragged her eyes back to him with fresh wonder. He said, “Does it matter?” “Of course it matters. It’s… astounding!” She drew in her breath. “Who are your people, Aurel, where did they come from?” His lip curled slightly. And for the first time in her presence, he spoke with his mouth, intoning the words in a deep, impressive voice that carried through the wind as clearly as a bell. “In the beginning, when the world was young and magical, the Dragul ruled with justice and wisdom. The many species of the Earth honored them for their power, their tolerance and their oneness with all Creation. For the Dragul lived not off the lives of other creatures, but on energy -- on fast flowing streams, rushing air, warm, pumping blood. Nothing died to give them life, and they alone of the Earth’s dwellers did not die. “But when men came to dominance, the magic faded, the Dragul were feared, hunted and dishonored. And so they took themselves below the Earth, depriving men of their magic and their wisdom. While men strived for power through violence and science, the Dragul lived peacefully below, taking their nourishment from underground streams and energies, adapting to life without sun and learning constantly about the workings of the Earth. “Only when men began to destroy the world itself were the Dragul disturbed. Huge explosions disrupted their home and humans began to retreat into the Earth’s depths to hide and to fight. “Some of the Dragul grew curious about the world above once more, and one tribe, led by the great King Vasil, emerged from below the mountains and found the land deserted. While war raged and poisoned darkness blocked out the sun, Vasil’s Dragul built their own kingdom among the dark hills and glens, and they healed the land…” She wanted to touch his lips, feel them moving as he spoke, but suddenly she was overwhelmed again. His voice was the voice that spoke so beguilingly in her head, but now his tone was awesome, authoritative, like a highly respected teacher, or parent. She said, “You sound like a book.” His eyes came back to her. “I am a book. Several books. That was from The Shortened and Abridged Overview of the History of the Dragul.” “Snappy title.” Unexpectedly, the laughter came back to his eyes. The awesome moment appeared to be over. “You will be good for my people,” he observed. He banked his wings, making her stomach lurch as they descended. She couldn’t help clinging to him, but the gut-wrenching fear seemed to have vanished. Though she might have closed her eyes as the land rushed up to meet them, it was done more from habit. For some reason she trusted the alien being who held her. He brought her in to land in the middle of the settlement -- a light, easy landing that encouraged her to open her eyes. Under her feet the ground was spongy. It seemed to be a sort of wide grassy road, or square. Certainly, Dragul passed up and down it, swerving to give them space, but bowing quaintly to them as they passed. Their eyes flickered over Beth, alight with curiosity and astonishment -- no doubt mirroring her own -- but they never stopped to speak. Most of them wore similar garments to Aurel’s, some in bright or dark colors, other in skin tones. No one else wore black. Beth felt a little snap, as the cord binding her to Aurel was broken. Weirdly, she felt bereft, even after he took her hand. “Come.”

He led her across the grassy square toward the enormous building at the head of it. It was made of stone, with beautifully carved ornamentation -- a lot of dragons, other less mythical animals and Celtic-type interweaving circles. The front was huge, but as she grew closer, she saw that the building couldn’t be very deep since it backed into the hill behind. “Where are we going?” she asked at last. “To introduce you to the king.” She glanced up at him. “It crossed my mind that you were the king -- Keeper of the Law and all that.” He shrugged. “Different jobs. Vasil is king.” “The same Vasil you spoke of before? Then you really never die?” “I wouldn’t say never. For centuries it has been a matter of choice. Vasil is young and powerful. He has no reason to die.” “Do you?” she asked curiously. She wasn’t quite sure where the question came from, but it earned her a rare, all too brief glimpse into his mind as his control slipped. He retrieved it almost instantaneously, but she was left with an impression of grief and loss, and a woman. For the first time, she thought of him as part of a family. A son, a husband, a father. He had implied Rad was not his son, but that didn’t mean he had no other children. She had no idea what social and sexual customs prevailed here, but they weren’t necessarily monogamous. She had to learn not to be so influenced by her parents’ exclusive relationship that she was blind to alternatives. And dear God what had she been thinking of to flirt with this Dragul? To kiss him, and even to invite him to have sex with her! Her whole body flushed with new embarrassment. What had got into her? And how would she face Aurel’s mate? “We are going to meet the king,” Aurel repeated gently, “not my family.” “Will you stop doing that?” she exclaimed. He laughed aloud as they passed inside the building into a huge, open hall that stretched high into several glass domes, allowing light to spill down from several angles. The floor was stone, with some brightly woven carpets scattered throughout. There were polished wooden tables and chairs covered in colorful, embroidered cushions, tall, vivid vases full of flowers, elegantly carved statues -- again dragons and animals were prominent -- and in the centre of the room, a stone fountain gurgling and rushing. It was beautiful, yet totally empty, save for the one Dragul hurrying toward them, his wings flapping slightly as he ran. “No matter,” said Aurel casually. “We’ll go in anyway.” “What?” Beth looked from the flapping Dragul to Aurel. “Did he say something?” “He said the king isn’t up yet.” “Why couldn’t I hear him?” “He was talking to me.” “You’re going to beard the king in his bed?” Beth asked, trotting to keep up with Aurel’s strides across the hall. The unhappy Dragul trotted too, apparently trying to remonstrate further, for Aurel suddenly looked at him directly, and at once, he stopped. Beth couldn’t hear what Aurel said to him, but it made the other Dragul drop his eyes submissively and stand back. Aurel swept on, leading her by the hand, past the fountain and on through the open archway at the back of the hall. Now they were in a lower hallway, with rougher cut walls, leading to a stone spiral staircase with a beautifully curved and ornamented banister. The steps were covered in a thick red carpet. Without pause, Aurel led her up the steps. All the light here was from open flame torches. “Are we inside the hill?” Beth asked, awed. “Yes.” The room at the top of the stairs was full of natural light. The sun shone directly in the huge window, dazzling Beth, reminding her of the apartment she’d grown up in, surrounded by glass at the top of a rare, surviving tower block. She had liked the windows, the light and the sky. She just never went near enough them to look down at the ground…

“Wasting the day, Vasil?” Aurel said jovially inside her head, and belatedly, Beth became aware of the room’s other occupant. Seated on a stool by something that resembled a very strangely shaped harp, a dark young man appeared to be mending a string. He didn’t look up as he said with his mouth, “Good morning to you too, Aurel.” A moment later, the string fastened to his satisfaction, he glanced up directly at Beth. “And to you. You are welcome in the Dragul Kingdom.” Like Aurel he was ridiculously handsome, but his beauty was very different, dark, brooding. Aurel said nothing. Yet Beth had the impression he was slightly piqued that the king was already aware of his prize visitor. The king rose to his feet, clad in a plain, dark red garment, and came toward them. “Vasil, King of the Dragul,” Aurel said casually. He leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. “Vasil, Beth, a scientist from the famous City of the Damned -- daughter, if I’m not mistaken, of the so-called vampire Max, who first broke up the cloud.” Beth swung back to him in surprise. How do you know that? Aurel smiled amiably, but there was no time for more, because the king had taken her hand and was bowing over it like in the ancient films she’d seen as a child in her Uncle David’s house. Wildly, she wondered if she were meant to curtsey or something, and the very thought of trying brought back the hysterical laughter. “It’s not necessary,” said the king, again speaking with his mouth. His dark eyes held tolerant amusement. He turned to Aurel. “So, you rejected Plan A in favour of Plan B, which is…?” “To show our guest the Kingdom, and let her see our right to existence here.” Beth protested, “I don’t deny your right to existence here! If I deny anything, it’s that you cannot co-exist with other species. If we manage it in the City, I don’t see why you can’t!” “The world is bigger than your city,” Vasil said regretfully. “And understand, we speak from experience.” “So do I!” Behind her, she felt Aurel’s breath of laughter. In the king’s eyes, amusement began to replace surprise. “I respect your experience,” he said gravely. “In a superior Dragul sort of a way?” The king’s gaze flew to Aurel, and Beth, who felt slightly ashamed of acting like a defiant teenager, said more placatingly, “Look, I don’t mean to be rude. I really do respect everyone’s right to live in their own way -- I came with an open mind, but I hope you have the same.” Vasil smiled slightly. He said to Aurel, “How did you know?” “I sensed it. And I watched her.” The king’s gaze returned to her as he inclined his head. “Respect, and open-mindedness, is mutual.” “Thank you,” said Beth weakly, feeling a little as if the wind had been taken out of her sails. “Spend the day with us. Aurel can show you and tell you everything about the Dragul. And in the evening, I hope you will join us here for my birthday celebration. Understand that Aurel will return you to your people whenever you wish.”

*** “How do you know about my father?” Though many questions were bursting from her, this one spilled out first as they left the palace. He no longer held her hand. “I watch beyond the boundaries of the Kingdom when I think it necessary.” He glanced at her, then added ruefully, “And when I simply want to. I have a restless spirit for a Dragul.” Something in her leapt to meet that confidence. She too had a restless spirit -- always seeking, never satisfied. Who had told her that? An old lover as he’d left her for someone more predictable. She had been hurt, not sorry… Hastily reining in her wandering thoughts, she said curiously, “And during one of your travels you

met my father?” How curious he never mentioned a being like you… or any being living out here! “Not exactly met,” Aurel said cautiously. “I watched the activity from a distance as they repaired the space elevator. I saw the man, the vampire, who went up in it and made the first hole in the cloud. I admire human ingenuity… though all too often it concentrates on destruction. Like yours, the vampire’s mind was open to telepathy. I learned enough to know his name, his home and his motives.” Beth nodded slowly. They were back in the grassy square. Aurel began to stride across it, veering left toward another grassy street. How did it stay like that? Why wasn’t it mud? She opened her mouth to ask, then forced herself to stick to the point. “But how did you connect me with my father? Did you read that from my mind?” “Don’t be so hostile. I’m very honorable when it comes to prying. Everyone deserves some privacy. And between you and me, the less one pries, the more bearable a person is.” She regarded him quizzically. “What a cynical old Dragul you are. You’re right of course. Beneath this amiable exterior lies a heart of corrupt and twisted evil. Where are we going?” “To the beginning. Which happens to be my house.” Her heart gave an unexpected lurch. Catching it, his eyes gleamed. “Calm the fluttering of that corrupt and twisted heart, human. My mind is on education, not seduction, although I confess the latter would be a lot more fun. At least for me. My house is also the Place of Laws. An office and -- a library, I believe you would call it.” Though not as big as Vasil’s palace, Aurel’s home appeared to be the second largest house in the settlement. They entered into a hall which, unlike the palace reception area, was teeming with activity. It was filled with wooden desks, at which sat busy young Dragul of both sexes. Others sat talking together. To her surprise, they all rose and bowed. Accepting it with casual impatience, Aurel waved a seating motion with his hand and led her through the throng of curious eyes to an office beyond. Here, a sleek male Dragul, more mature in appearance than either Aurel or the king, rose to greet them. It seemed he spoke too, for Aurel said impatiently, “Speak aloud, Avram, in courtesy to our guest. Beth, this is Avram, Assistant Keeper of the Laws. Avram, Beth, from the City. She has come to learn about our people, and I think some written words might help.” “Shall I have a selection brought to you upstairs?” asked Avram in slow, careful speech. His eyes were respectfully lowered, his tone civil -- and yet to Beth there was different meaning behind his words, an insulting inference about her purpose here. Or maybe she was just feeling guilty because her motives, after all, were not beyond reproach. She had been attracted here as much by Aurel as by curiosity or any desire to help his people. Or her own. In any case, Aurel brushed him off with a brisk, “No thanks. We’ll go down. Call if you need me.” “I don’t envision that I shall,” said Avram. “I know you don’t,” said Aurel sardonically, lifting the gossamer curtain that covered the archway beyond. “Are you on horn-locking terms with everyone here?” Beth asked as Aurel led her down a bare, stone staircase. “Avram? He thinks he should have my position because he’s older and better at it.” “Is he?” “He’s certainly older.” “Then why did you get it? You’re not exactly bosom pals with the king either, are you?” He cast her a quick, appraising glance. “You picked that up, did you? I got the position because it’s always been in my family, as the kingship has always been in Vasil’s. Even we respect tradition.” “Even we? What do you mean by that?” “It’s all down here…”

*** Some time later, she sat at a desk surrounded by beautifully colored and decorated scrolls made

of some paper-like material. Aurel leaned over her shoulder, a little too close for comfort. But at least she understood a lot more about him. Turning her eyes up to him, she said, “Your father chose to die rather than live any longer under the ground?” “It was boring,” Aurel said briefly. “All very well to live in peace on our own, but not in dullness so all-consuming that our people chose to die rather than exist there any longer. We can live with very little air or food as you understand it, but some of us needed the sky, the freedom of above, to spread our wings, even if the world was torn by war and damaged by poison. So… we sought to come above. We found this place, and the king, the elders, refused to go. Vasil and I led… a rebellion, if you like.” His voice in her head was still calm, matter-of-fact, but despite his veiled mind, she recognized it was a delicate point, a difficult and still raw one. “We split the tribe, rejected the old king, and led our people up here. Even the toxic dusk you had brought to your world was better than below -- and now that we have the sun… our life approaches that of the ancients.” “When the Dragul ruled the world?” “Don’t misunderstand me. Those days are gone. We have no desire to rule the world. But to live in peace, in the sun, in this land, is good. We won’t be driven underground again.” Abruptly, he threw off the grim mood, smiling at her. “Come on. I think you need some air.”

Chapter Five The Keeper of the Laws, she understood, was far more than that. In his mind resided the entire history of his people, which his underlings were now busy writing down. In the uncertainty they had brought on themselves by leaving the rest of the tribe, the knowledge needed to be stored in more than one mind. Even Avram, whatever the older Dragul thought, knew less than Aurel. He told her more, as they walked among the hills above and between the Dragul dwellings. Tales of long ago, magical and heroic and often very funny. Telling stories, he spoke aloud, entrancing her with the sound of his voice and the ever-changing expressions on his face, as much as with what he said. It was a gift he was clearly born to. “All very well,” she said, as they began to walk back down into the town. “But you still haven’t told me how you know I’m Max’s daughter.” “It’s not time yet.” “You’re infuriating. When will it be time?” “Later. When we know each other better.” Her skin began to flush under his gaze. What she could see there looked like lust. She wanted it to be lust. She was terrified that it was. “Aurel, are you married?” she asked abruptly. “Do you have a wife, a mate, children?” “No.” Reluctantly, it seemed, he turned to meet her gaze. “We only have children with our One.” Again, his mind shut down on her, but not before she caught another glimpse of that grief. She blurted, “Your One died.” “Yes, but she wasn’t my One. Nor was I hers. Caught up on the euphoria of rebellion, we -made a mistake.” Somewhere buried inside him, where even he didn’t care to look, she knew there was a torrent of rage and grief, guilt and blame, unexplored and unreleased. Even through her upsurge of pity, she found herself wondering what it would be like to peel away the layers of this strange, restless man. “Your One chose to die because of that mistake?” she said hoarsely. A ghost of a laugh, vocal and bitter, broke from his lips and vanished. “Not because of that

mistake. There were others. Do you want to see the weavers?” Clearly, the subject was closed. And because she saw how raw he was, she let it be. Yet she knew, with a rush of indignation, that Aurel’s One had let him down long before she had chosen death.

*** In a whirlwind tour, Beth was introduced to various craftsmen and women, weavers and carpenters, potters, sculptors, builders, dress-makers -- one of whom presented her with a specially made, two-sided garment in beautifully embroidered turquoise. “For tonight,” she said, with a flashing smile. Touched but a little dazed Beth took it from her, catching the roguish grin cast at Aurel by the female Dragul. “Was she flirting with you, or implying you should flirt with me?” Beth demanded as they left. Aurel smiled faintly. “Both. Though as you know, I need little encouragement to flirt with you.” “With anyone,” she said lightly. “Where now?” “Are you hungry?” “Not really -- though I wouldn’t mind a drink.” “That, we can do.” All over the village were gurgling streams, rushing along streets and gardens and in between the buildings. There were several running down from nearly every hill, so many, in fact, that Beth came to the conclusion they had to be Dragul-made. Or at least Dragul-diverted. For the Dragul lived not off the lives of other creatures, but on energy -- on fast flowing streams, rushing air, warm, pumping blood… “You really live off wind and water?” “And warm, pumping blood. You are half-vampire. I expect you could too.” “I eat food!” He crouched by the road-side stream. “No need to be indignant. The only shame is in making something die for your nourishment. We are not so different, you and I.” Dipping his cupped hands in the water, he raised them toward her. She met his steady gaze, very conscious of the beat of her heart. Then, slowly, she knelt beside him. His hands held quite still, letting no water escape. She bent her head, touching his forefinger with her lips. Delicately, he tipped the water into her mouth and she drank, swallowing and sipping some more. The water was cold and fresh, the feel of his skin exciting in her mouth. With conscious bravery, she lifted her gaze and saw a slow, warm smile spread through his eyes. Something dissolved inside her. She had to stop drinking to breathe. Still Aurel held her gaze. Slowly, he turned his cupped hands, twisting his wrists as he lifted them to his own mouth and drank. His lips covered the place her own had just left. Corn! she thought desperately. Cheese! But cynicism didn’t work. His gesture moved her, made her want his mouth directly on hers, drinking from her… Fortunately, before she could dwell on the other desires clamouring for recognition, he rose to his feet, saying lightly, “Home for a rest, and then you can change before we return to the palace. If you’d like to.” The choice was laid out in front of her. Back out now, before you get in any deeper. Or take the chance, find out more about us, risk closeness with me… He didn’t speak the words in her head. She couldn’t even be sure he thought them, yet they lingered, echoing. It seemed as momentous as moving into his arms to fly here in the first place. Like another irrevocable step. She said, “I’d like to.” And didn’t know whether the upsurge of joy came from him or from her. The step was taken.

*** After bathing in a stone bath, where the warmed water gushed out of the wall, constantly replenishing as it drained through the tiny holes in the bottom of the bath, Beth felt both tingly and refreshed.

When she stepped through into the room Aurel had given her, she caught sight of her reflection in the still, glass-like pool that appeared to double as a mirror, and paused without meaning to. She looked… glowing. A trick of the light, no doubt, but her reflected skin was flawless and translucent, a hint of warm color in her cheeks. The frown she used to repel the world had smoothed away, leaving her face soft and open under her tumbled hair. What did he see when he looked at her? A pleasing enough alien, intriguingly different if inferior in beauty to the winged Dragul women? He did seem to like her well enough to flirt, but she found it hard to imagine that she had the same electric effect on him as he had on her. She wondered how long it would be before she found any man attractive again. But she couldn’t go through the evening thinking like this. This was an exciting night, a night of Dragul ritual and celebration. And she would have the escort of Aurel, Keeper of the Laws. Smiling now, she picked up the garment the Dragul girl had given her and pulled it over her head. Soft and silky, it fell about her thighs and knees. It was a simple shift shape, slashed at the throat and embroidered down the front, the color highlighting the shade of her eyes. I could be beautiful… The thought came unbidden and she laughed at herself before turning swiftly for the door and going barefoot in search of Aurel. She found him in the big, light room he’d shown her before, covered in beautiful murals depicting the local countryside. He had his back to her as he stood looking out of the big, glass window, yet her heart still lurched at the sight of him. The cloak of his wings ran from shoulder to knee. She itched to touch them. He turned, and her heart skipped another beat. This was getting ridiculous. He wore a different black tunic, this one heavily embroidered in silver, adding a new splendour to his distinction. Worse, he smiled, melting her bones. Run, you idiot, run, you’re in too deep already, far too deep! No way. She smiled back, going forward to meet him, basking in the admiration she read in his gaze, that he let her see in his mind. He said, “You make a beautiful Dragul too.” Her body heated, flushing her skin. “So do you,” she returned cordially, and was delighted when he laughed. He took her hand, drawing her toward the big window, which looked out over the village and the hills beyond. She tried to take it in, tried to think of something to say, but her thoughts all seemed to be obsessed with the feel of his fingers on her hand, lightly stroking. “Your wings,” she blurted at last. “Can I touch them?” Surprise registered in his eyes, and something else, quickly hidden. “If you want to,” he said evenly. Sliding her hand free, she lifted it to touch the wing tip at his shoulder. Hard and leathery. She thought his breath caught at the touch of her fingers, but he stood very still. Slowly, she slid her hand around the edge and underneath. Now he definitely hissed. She glanced at him, afraid she was hurting him, but what she read in his smouldering eyes was not pain. Abruptly, she remembered the dreams where touching the soft, delicate underside of his wings brought him close to orgasm… “Why did I dream about you?” she whispered. She didn’t withdraw her hand, just left it there on the silk mesh, quite still. “I’ll tell you tonight.” She let her hand drop, caught his mingled relief and disappointment as clearly as if he’d spoken. “You are much too mysterious,” she reproved. “I’m trying to intrigue you.” Laughter trembled in her throat. “Oh, I’m intrigued, Aurel.”

Their eyes met. His were too beautiful, too deep; showed much too blatant a lust. She had to move away, look for something more innocuous to discuss. “Your murals are beautiful,” she said politely. And yet she meant it. The colors were vibrant, natural, showing a deep love of the country as much as technical skill. “Thank you.” “Who was the artist? Would he -- or she -- paint me something to take back?” “Of course I would.” Her gaze flew back to him. “You painted these?” His smile was a little twisted. “Don’t sound so surprised. I love this land, especially in the light. I won’t go back into the darkness.” Reality intruded. “Aurel, even if I could, I would never make you go back.” “I know. Shall we go to the king? You’d better put your shoes on…” Halfway to the door, Beth paused, frowning, and glanced back at him. “The king said that bringing me here was Plan B. What was Plan A?” He didn’t want to answer. It was there in the tension of his body. “To contaminate your samples.” She stared at him. “You would do that? You could do that?” He shrugged. “Easily enough. If the land is too poisoned, your people won’t want it. There are less contaminated regions than this one would have seemed.” She said slowly, “That’s what you were doing when you came into my tent.” “I thought you were asleep. You have quite an efficient mind-block, more than I gave you credit for.” But it felt as if something already frail was falling in round her. He hadn’t pretended anything. He’ d said in so many words that he wanted to persuade her to see things his way. Yet stupidly, she had never imagined the flirting was part of that. Why the knowledge should suddenly click into place, she didn ’t know, unless it was the calculation behind the terms Plan A and Plan B. She was just a plan to be carried out by the Kingdom’s efficient Law Keeper. So what? It had no right to hurt. No right at all. She spoke in a small, hard voice. “I’d like to go home immediately after the king’s party.” Pride kept her gaze locked to his, but he showed no trace of emotion. “As you wish,” he said evenly.

Chapter Six The main hall had been converted into a place of festivity, decorated with flowering plants and long, brightly colored strings of baubles. Adding to the late daylight, lanterns hung from walls and ceilings, candles burned on all the long tables that filled the room. The tables surrounded a central, circular floor space like a circus ring from the pre-war days. Beth had seen them in books. At each table a central well bubbled up from a pipe rising from the floor. And a plentiful supply of fruit -- apples and raspberries that appeared to be more for decoration, since no one but Beth seemed to eat them. She and Aurel were placed together at the king’s table. At first it was easy to be aloof, since she felt genuinely dazed and baffled by the noise and talk surrounding her, both inside her head and out. A harpist played in the ring, beautiful, lively music, like nothing she’d ever heard before -- like bird-song rather than human music, yet with more rhythm, more melody, more -- urgency. Gradually, as Aurel’s attention was taken off her by other guests, she relaxed, and found the music to be strangely compelling, tugging at emotions and memories without dragging them too far into the daylight, just enough to heighten sensitivity and awareness.

As if she wasn’t aware enough of Aurel, sitting so close to her that she could feel his body heat, that when he moved, his knee or his elbow brushed against her. She thought she wanted him gone, away from her so that she could get herself back together. His presence was too overwhelming. And yet when he stood up, she felt suddenly lost, bereft, as if her only lifeline were walking away from her. I need to get out of here. I need to go home, very, very badly… A tall, elegant Dragul woman in the ring spoke loudly with her mouth: “It is the time of Aurel, Keeper of the Laws and Stories of the Dragul!” And all but the king rose to acclaim him. Even Vasil inclined his head. Ignoring it all, Aurel walked out into the ring. The harp was silent. The whole room was silent, even thoughts were no longer broadcast. Aurel stood in the centre, perfectly still, eyes closed. And then he spoke. From then on, reality became elastic. Aurel spoke aloud, in the beautiful, resonant voice he had used earlier when quoting from books or story-telling. It was a voice that evoked emotion, had been trained to do so. But more than that, it also spoke in her head -- not in words as she had grown used to, but in vivid visions, in utter empathic feeling as Aurel told his tales of past kings, of magic dragons and deeds of great courage, of great loves won and lost. Only at the beginning was Beth capable of staring wildly round her to see if others were so affected. Everyone gazed at Aurel, totally rapt. It’s the water! There’s some hallucinogen in the water…! But she lost the thread of this desperate reasoning along with the rest of her grasp on reality. All that existed for her was the story, no fairy tale but true history of real Dragul, past and present. Along with them, she felt the pain and humiliation as they retreated further into secrecy in the face of human arrogance, still bearing humiliation and cruelty rather than punishing the foolish weaklings that were Beth’s ancestors. And Beth finally understood why the Dragul would not share with humans again. Human nature could not bear to acknowledge more powerful beings. It was hard enough integrating stronger mutants of their own race… Oh, they could worship God, or gods, but they could not live in peace with physical entities so superior to them as the Dragul clearly were. And the Dragul would not go back into the dark… “Harrowing, isn’t it?” The voice spoke aloud, beside her. She jerked her head round, almost shocked to see Avram, Aurel’s assistant, sitting in his boss’s chair. “It’s not pretty,” she said huskily. She cleared her throat. “You must find all this somewhat -- overwhelming.” “Somewhat,” she agreed, flickering a small smile at him. It was the best she could manage right now. In the ring, the story moved on, grieving for the sun and the open spaces as the Dragul took to their new life below the ground. Aurel flew through a tale of underground heroics, and then with blatant relief took his listeners back into the light, and Beth heard the story of how her father had brought the sun back. She even saw her father in the tether, his normally cool, serious face lit with triumph. “That is a story you know already,” Avram observed. She nodded. “So now your people want the land surrounding the tether for their own?” “It would be convenient for us. We need a place to grow food.” “So your people sent one girl to check it out?” For some reason she didn’t like being called a girl in that way. She said tartly, “In fact, they sent two scientists, one from each city which has an interest in developing the place.” “You did not bring your colleague with you?” “We split the land to be tested between us. He went west toward the sea.” “And he is from the Dome, while you are from the so-called City of the Damned?” “I’m afraid so,” she said. She wanted him to shut up so that she could concentrate on Aurel’s story, which seemed to be altogether different from the others, raw with passion, both erotic and tragic in tone… “Then you are in competition for the spoils?” Avram said.

Beth dragged her eyes away from Aurel to stare at him. He didn’t like her. He didn’t like her at all. Well, if she was truthful, the feeling was mutual. “Actually, that is one outcome I am keen to avoid. Excuse me.” But it was too late. The pictures clamouring for attention in her mind broke up. Dazed, she realized a woman had joined Aurel in the ring, a beautiful Dragul with extraordinary blood-red hair, who began to dance to the rhythm of his voice. It was a love story, but Beth lost the thread as her view of the erotic dancer in white kept intertwining with new mind-visions of couples making exotic love. Worse, the performer danced with Aurel himself, winding her lithe body around him, holding his hands to her breasts. Beth grew hotter. Jealousy rose with lust. Aurel held the woman as she finished the dance of seduction, co-operated as she thrust her hips into his in artistic consummation. His voice died away. He lowered his head, and Beth’s fury rose. She rejected him out of hand for playing her, for using her dreams and her helpless attraction to influence her; and yet she didn’t want him kissing other women, not the same day he had kissed her! But his mouth swept past the dancer’s, until he found her neck. The dancer writhed against him in ecstasy and with shock, Beth realized he was biting her. Drinking her blood. Fast flowing streams, rushing air, warm, pumping blood… Beth heard the blood pound in her own heart. Her head began to ache. Her father was a vampire. In the past, he had killed to feed, although nowadays, he lived on blood-donations and the occasional willing victim. She knew he even drank from her mother occasionally, though she didn’t like to go there. But she, Beth, had never drunk blood. Sometimes it called to her, as it was calling now. More than once, making love, she had found herself staring at her lover’s throat so intensely that she could smell his blood. But blood was not necessary to her. Her lupi half took care of that… Abruptly, Aurel straightened, swinging the girl upright as he did so. He licked his lips once, and released her. Oh Christ, he’s coming back! Only then did she recognize the full force of the desire simmering in her. Not just to make love with Aurel, but to taste his blood, to have him drink from her. Her dazed, hot gaze followed him as he left the ring and walked to their table. But he didn’t come to her. In a surprisingly graceful gesture, he knelt before the king. The king leaned forward. Neither touched the other until Vasil’s lips fastened on Aurel’s throat. Appalled and fascinated, Beth tried to look away. But like the rest of the guests, her eyes were riveted to Aurel. Without flinching or moving, he continued to offer himself to the king, eyes closed; and the king continued to drink. It was weirdly arousing. She imagined them both drinking from her, at once, doing other pleasurable things to her together too, and was astounded by the strength of her desire for it. Am I not the vampire here? Half-vampire… The king raised his head, and inclined it with polite gratitude. A drop of Aurel’s blood lingered at the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t trouble to remove it. A cheer, vocal and internal, went up from the whole room. All around Beth, Dragul were in each other’s arms, feeding from each other. To some it seemed as casual as going round everyone in the company for a New Year kiss; with others it looked much more serious, much more sexual. Beth watched them intensely, greedily, feeding her own arousal. By the time Aurel threw himself into the place beside her, she was soaking wet between her thighs. She no longer cared that she’d been played by him. She wanted Aurel every conceivable way, but mainly inside her. She wanted him to touch her. Her skin screamed for it. To make it worse, the dancer continued her performance, this time to seductive harp music, telling yet another story that played in the background of her head, slowly, gradually dragging her back in. As she followed the dance, she was aware of Aurel touching her, of his arm at her waist, drawing her against him. The pooled moisture flooded between her legs. The dancer swayed, her movements now larger, still sensuous yet somehow bigger, larger than life. Something flickered behind her, like a huge tail. Beth stared. The dancer’s filmy white tunic was little more than a decoration on a long, scaly body, twisting sinuously to the music. The woman was slowly

morphing into a dragon. But this was nothing like the agony of her mother, or of Beth herself, changing into their wolves. This was curiously graceful, this was sexy… Fascinated Beth watched the dancer’s neck lengthen, her face change, her teeth snap together. Now it was the dragon, not the woman who sought a mate. Around her, couples were writhing together on the tables and the floor, some on the chairs and benches, some dancing in pale imitation, others clearly having full sex in a tangle of limbs and fluttering wings, their uninhibited pleasure intruding into Beth’s mind so that she lost the dancer’s story -- but not the wonder of her transformation. Turning into Aurel, her face lifted to his, she whispered, “Can you do that?” “I can do anything you want,” he said and covered her mouth with his. The heat was incredible. Fire raged in her stomach, her core, consuming her. She heard her own moan muffled in his mouth, and the eerie sound frightened her into pulling free. A moment longer, she stared into his dark grey eyes, clouded with lust. And then she fled. Somehow, she got through the tables, past the ring and out of the hall into the cold, fresh air of the night. It was nearly dark, a pale dusk surrounding the spectacular hills. It was beautiful, magical, and she couldn’t bear it. She was trembling, her cheeks burning with fever as she leaned her back against the cool stone wall. Christ, what’s the matter with me? Am I ill? Did they really drug the water? “Of course not. You’re sensitive to our thoughts, and the rituals are new to you. You’re just -overwhelmed.” Inevitably, it was Aurel, speaking inside her head. She closed her eyes. But she knew he was still there, only feet away from her. And there were things she had to say. “Contaminate the samples, Aurel. I won’t let them come here.” There was a pause, then, “Thank you.” Though she didn’t hear him move, she opened her eyes to find him standing right in front of her. She said, “You can take me back now. As close to the tether as you can get.” “I could,” Aurel agreed. His fingers touched her cheek in a brief, feather-light caress. “Or I could make love to you.” Her lips twisted. “In gratitude or in pity?” She wanted to weep. Her whole body still trembled with need. Aurel put his arms round her. “In love,” he whispered, and buried his mouth in hers. She could feel the huge hardness of his cock pressing into her. Hard for me? For the dancer? The king, God help us? Or just because of the ritual, because it churns you up and makes you want…? “Sh-sh.” Without leaving her mouth, he spoke inside her head. “Is it so impossible that I could love you? I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. In your city, in your house. I stood outside your window, one night that I followed your father, and I saw you lying there, so beautiful, so full of latent passion… I had never felt desire so strong for a stranger, and one moreover who was young and human. I pushed you from my mind and flew home. But I think it was the strength of my desire that brought you the dreams. And the strength -- well that is another tale for tomorrow. Fly with me, let me show you Dragul passion…” His mouth released hers at last. She stared up at him. Something shifted. He was letting her in. Not enough to deluge her with an enormously long lifetime of emotions and experiences, but enough to reveal his desire burning brightly around her, enough to see his loneliness and vulnerability buried for so long behind his work and his awe-inspiring manners. “A little truth,” he whispered. “When you’re ready, you’ll find the rest for yourself. Admit that you want me.” Laughter trembled on her lips. “What’s the point? You know I do! It seeps out of me like blood! Oh God, don’t let me talk about blood. Aurel, I want you so badly it will kill me…!” She could say no more. His mouth devoured her. Her feet left the ground before she registered the unfurling of his wings, and they were soaring high into the darkening sky. He held her in one arm, her legs over his hips. With his free hand, he took hold of her tunic, and

ripped. Gasping as she dragged her mouth free, Beth watched the turquoise fabric tumble and float through the air on the currents. “Now I’ll freeze up here!” “No you won’t.” He was right. There was some sort of invisible cocoon around them, one that warmed the air rather than hid them from it. Now he held her with both arms, stretching them out so that she fell back from the waist, away from his body. There was only the growing darkness, the rushing, spinning air, and the relentless beat of Aurel’s wings to distract her from pure sensation. Then he bent over her and took one nipple into his mouth. The pleasure was so intense that she cried out. He sucked it in a long stream, alternately gentle and hard, while his tongue teased and flickered at it. Beth hung onto his head, eyes closed, letting all the sensation wash over her, the exhilaration of flying, of the wind caressing her naked skin, and of Aurel licking and sucking her breast. Moving in his hold so that she fit more comfortably over his erection, she slid her hands between their bodies to tug at his tunic. “Impatient,” he whispered aloud, arousing her further with his breath on her nipple. “You want my cock inside you?” Unable to speak, she nodded. Aurel smiled, and transferred his attention to her other nipple. Obligingly, he helped her dispense with his tunic, which followed hers into the dancing air currents, and now she had his naked cock between her legs, pressing on her pussy. She wriggled until her clitoris was there too, and gasped with the shock of the pleasure. “Oh God, I’ll come before you’re inside me at this rate…!” “No you won’t,” he promised. “There’s a long way to go before I’ll let you come…” Beth moaned. Desperately, she moved her clitoris against his cock, glorying in the feel of his soft skin over bone-hardness, grazing her. The thrusting motion of her hips built the pleasure further. So did Aurel’s reaction to her body’s caress. He was growling, his cock throbbing between her legs. She heard her own triumphant crow of laughter, deep in her throat as she trailed her hands down his back, feeling along the seams of his wings. She pushed her body upwards, meaning to impale herself on his shaft, but suddenly she couldn’t move. His hands held her hips quite still. Wickedly, eyes gleaming, he watched her frustration. “Aurel, I’ll die!” she gasped. “You’ll die! Do it now!” He smiled. “No.” He moved her, once, sliding his cock along the length of her pussy, and then held her still once more. She dropped her head on to his chest, biting him with the force of her lust. He growled, and she felt his lips on her neck, seeking and finding the spot that drove her wild. She twisted her head, pleadingly, and he licked her vein, sucked it hard into his mouth, making her writhe, and yet he still controlled the movement of her hips, only allowing her the occasional circular caress of his cock which seemed to build and then hold the pleasure, while never quite reaching completion. She felt his teeth, gently nibbling the skin of her nape. “Will you bite me, Aurel?” she whispered. “Will you drink from me…?” “If you want me to…” “God help me, I want everything…” He lifted his head, but only to seize her mouth in a consuming kiss. She licked his teeth, wicked, sharp incisors… “Like yours,” he said inside her head, while he sucked on them, and turned her mouth over and over. Lost in his kiss, she was almost surprised when he lifted her buttocks and she felt the blunt caress of his cock at her entrance. Gasping, she tore her mouth free and stared into his eyes. Now? Oh God yes, now…! Without smiling, he lowered her slowly, smoothly on to his shaft. It slid into her slickly, yet stretched her, filled her, reaching impossibly far inside, and bringing with it exquisite pleasure that spread outwards to her very fingertips. She clutched his neck with those fingertips, suddenly overwhelmed by the hugeness of what she was doing with him, what she had been pleading for with words and without for so long.

He smiled, and suddenly they were diving through the air in a long, stomach-churning plunge. At the same time, he pulled back his cock and drove into her. She cried out, all the pleasures, excitements, fears and passions beginning to merge into a maelstrom with Aurel at its center. Dancing and diving through the night sky, Aurel fucked her slowly and exquisitely. Several times, he took her to the brink of ultimate joy and then held himself still within her while he kissed her breasts or her mouth or her throat, caressing her buttocks and thighs with his hands. When he paused like that, she couldn’t help digging her nails into his skin like claws. Small animal noises of fury and frustration broke from her, and she tried desperately to make him keep moving within her. She could barely reach his wings while he flew, to get at that erogenous under-zone that drove him wild. But she kissed him with all her passion, knew her mouth aroused him as much as his did her. She read his lust, more powerful even than her own, and yet so rigidly held in check that he could do this. Those distant dreams had largely been orgasm, right from the moment he had touched her. In reality, he seemed determined never to let that happen. And now he was flying higher and higher under the emerging stars, holding her hard against him while he ground his hips into her. Gasping into the thinner air, Beth held on to him. His wings beat, hovering. At last, he drew back his cock, almost the whole way, and she shuddered, moaning, knowing it was coming back, knowing that this time, this time… They dived. His cock plunged in and out of her, pushing her finally and irrevocably over the edge. The intensity was impossible, so fierce she couldn’t even cry out as she tumbled through the air, her mouth open in a long, silent scream of joy. The speed of his fucking increased with their fall, keeping her at those impossible heights while he reached his own. Wanting all of him, she reached blindly for his mouth with hers, but he eluded her, instead seizing her neck in his mouth and she cried out again, feeling his teeth pierce the skin. He sucked on her wounded throat and the draw of her blood brought a new weird pleasure that merged with the sharpness of the pain, spreading through her to join the rest of her body’s helpless delight. She felt him swallow her blood at the same time as his cock pushed into her once more, exploding his own joy at last in a hot, powerful stream, gushing into her as he drew blood from her. A cycle of life, she thought wildly, lost in the ecstasy that seemed to go on and on… She could hear his blood pounding too, coursing through his veins, stronger, sweeter blood than she had ever smelled before. She opened her dazed eyes, found herself gazing at the pulsing vein in his neck while he sucked her blood and fucked her to insanity. Could you go mad from pleasure? On instinct -- what else could she act on in this condition? -- she reached for his neck, covering the vein with her mouth. It was as if she could taste it, his warm, strong blood… New desire filled her, eclipsing the intensity of what was already happening to her. With a gasp, she buried her teeth in his skin. Hot blood spurted into her mouth, forcing her to swallow. And suddenly, she could match his rhythm, his frenzy, letting all the pleasures tear her body apart with rapture, and slowly, astoundingly, rebuild it. At last the dark world grew clear again. Above them, wispy clouds swam over the crescent moon, drifting between the stars. Only the beating of Aurel’s wings and the low panting of their breaths broke the silence. Beth whispered, “What have I just done?” Aurel smiled. “Become my lover, my…” He smiled again and kissed her mouth. “You’ve just had that flying fuck.”

Chapter Seven From the grassy square, hidden in the shadows of the king’s palace, Avram watched the two figures descending. His heart thumping, he prepared to bolt back inside before the Keeper noticed him. But the Keeper’s flight led away from the palace toward, in fact, the Keeper’s own house.

Well, not for much longer would it be Aurel’s. The days of his arrogant risk-taking were just about over. When the king saw where Aurel’s stupidity was leading his people, he would turn at last to the one who should always have been Keeper, the only one capable of guiding and protecting the Kingdom’s laws. Avram smiled sourly. It might have been nice to have Aurel’s house as his own, to rub the face of the ex-Keeper in his failure. But unfortunately, there was only one way to preserve the Dragul: isolation. And that could not be achieved above ground. Not for more than a few puny years. Avram waited until he was sure Aurel and his human whore had disappeared inside -- no doubt for more of the same abandoned coupling he had witnessed in the sky. Well, at least it would keep the fool distracted and out of the way, while he, Avram, saved the Dragul. Avram spread his wings and took off into the night sky, flying high and swift over the palace, and out of the valley kingdom.

*** Aurel lay on his big, round bed, eyes closed in ecstasy as the more-than-human girl wrapped her lips around his throbbing cock, slowly massaging it. He had brought her back here to sleep. Under no illusion about the overwhelming nature of what he had just done to her, he had been more than happy to let her slumber in his arms until dawn. He’d meant to watch her sleeping face, softly caress her delectably smooth, wingless back if she stirred, soothing her rest. And then, with the dawn, he would have woken her with the subtlest, lightest caresses until she was wet, and then, while she was still half asleep he would have entered her and made love to her with slow, languorous pleasure. He hadn’t intended it to be so wild in the sky. He had meant to make it special, not to wipe her out. But too often he had lost control in her enticing body, in the unexpectedly fiery passion of her responses and desires. The morning’s gentler loving would have made up for that. But it seemed Beth had her own ideas. As he had laid her tenderly on his bed, carefully spreading his long body out on its side beside her, she had reached immediately for his wings, climbing on to him to caress the soft mesh of the underside until he groaned. Her smile was wicked. “I dreamed about your wings. I dreamed I made you come just by stroking them.” “But think what a waste that would be.” “Good point,” she admitted, continuing to explore his wings with exquisite thoroughness. He said breathlessly, “Aren’t you tired?” “I’m half lupi. Didn’t you know we are insatiable?” He groaned again, with sheer joy. “Oh thank you, Goddess!” The girl grinned, lying flat upon him, so that her breasts pressed into his side while she fondled his wings. “These are amazing,” she observed. “Like bees’ wings underneath, and bats’ wings on the outside…” She tugged at one gently until he let her unfold it. “It’s even got vestigial limbs… did your people once have six limbs?” “We think so. Long before we began to record our history.” She glanced at him, and for the first time since he’d taken her in the sky, a troubled expression entered her eyes. “You would be quite an eye-opener for evolutionary and genetic scientists.” She tried to make it light, a joke, and yet he caught the deeper meaning. “You are very interested in these matters in your city, because of the genetic mutations.” She nodded. Aurel said, “Life is cycles within cycles. We are all of the Earth.” Her eyes widened. Then, entrancingly, they melted, and she bent her head and kissed his mouth as if she had no intention of ever leaving it -- an ambition he did his best to foster. At last however, she came up for air. “You went all philosophical on me,” she observed. “Is there something else you’d rather I do?”

She laughed deep in her throat. “Whatever you want,” she said clearly, and that was when she had slid down his body, trailing kisses and teasing licks around his tight, hard stomach until she came to his throbbing cock. She took it into her mouth quite naturally, caressing, arousing with teeth and tongue and lips. Only when she moved, with the clear intention of taking him deeper to finish the job, did he feel compelled to stop her delicious attentions, dragging her up his body and rolling so that now he loomed over her. “Enough,” he said. “Now it’s my turn.” Holding her hands spread out like wings at either side of her, he proceeded to plunder her body with his mouth. He began with her throat and shoulders. Then he spent a long, long time on her breasts, teasing the taut, hard peaks of her dusky nipples, sucking on them, caressing with his tongue and his naked chest until she actually bucked under his body, pleading. Triumphantly, he slid lower, still holding on to her hands, covering her navel with his mouth and kissing it, sucking the skin right into his mouth. As if intrigued by a novel sensation, Beth lay still. Aurel pushed his tongue deep inside the navel, exciting himself almost beyond endurance. It was her deeper, wetter, hotter hole he was desperate to fill, with his tongue and his fingers and his cock. Catching the suggestiveness of his tongue, Beth moaned. “No more teasing, Aurel. Come inside me,” she whispered. “Of course. Eventually.” Unable to wait any longer, he slid lower yet, caressing her short curls with his mouth, tasting her delicious juices, seeking and finding her lower lips in a long, passionate kiss. She moaned again, her hips writhing, her fingers opening and closing on his, pulling at them in her urgency. It fed his own, making it harder and harder not to simply plunge into her hot welcoming depths and fuck her until they came. He wanted that very badly, but more than that, he wanted the greater, more exquisite pleasure of making it last. Of making sure her orgasm was the most intense of her life. And so, he released her from his lips and began to lick among her folds and valleys. Her cry of distress changed to whimpers of delight, but again he drew back before the pleasure could convulse her. Beneath him, his cock throbbed painfully. He let himself rub it against the bed with the rhythm of his thrusts as he pushed his tongue inside her. Her muscles held on to it, trying to keep it, but he wouldn’t give in. Instead, after a few thrusts that seemed to drive her wild, he let go of her hands and began to use his fingers as well as his mouth, caressing around her buttocks and thighs, before one hand held her bottom firmly and the fingers of the other played her pussy like a harp. He thrust two fingers inside her and felt her pussy contract around him. She shrieked with fury when he withdrew his fingers, but it was only to add a third, and at the same time he took the hard, swollen bud of her clitoris into his mouth and sucked it. She screamed with the force of it, writhing and bucking in his hold. He held her there, using his not inconsiderable experience as well as his telepathic powers to judge the rhythm of her orgasms and keep them springing to new life. But telepathy was a two-way force, and the intensity of her climax nearly sent him spiralling out of control. With a cry of his own that was more than part growl, he left her pussy and threw himself upon her, plunging his cock hard into her. She cried out, “Oh God!” Her pussy contracted helplessly around him as he thrust twice, three times and came with a roar into the wildest, most violent climax of his life. Released at last, his seed spurted high within her and he collapsed into her arms receiving her mouth as his body tore apart in pleasure. There had been some kind of recognition long ago, peering in the window of a stranger’s house in a strange city, at an unknown woman who was little more than a child. Too concerned then with his own very real grief and troubles, he had quickly forgotten the incident, so that when he met her again, he had not even known her. Not at once. That had come later, after the deeper lust had already hit him. He had brought her here to use her, to foster her sexual obsession until she was influenced strongly enough to do things his way, lie to her own people… Yet a few hours in her company and it was he who began to see the truth -- not just anticipating

the moment he finally took her but discovering something he had stopped looking for. He hadn’t meant to rush the sexual experience. But finding her so aroused and vulnerable, leaking her need of him from every pore, he would have had to be cold as ice not to respond. And Aurel, however calculating, had never been that. Their first mating had told him all he needed to know. It wasn’t the novelty of fucking a human woman, it wasn’t even the tenderness of love, although both were present. It was the intensity, the knowledge, of coupling with his One. And he had no doubts that she felt it too. Beyond the excitement of finally screwing in reality the winged alien from her dreams, beyond the power of Dragul passion that obviously overwhelmed her at times, she too knew the rarity of what they had found. Aurel’s only problem would be to get her to admit it. Smiling into her mouth as the fire began to die back at last, he thought it might be a fun problem to solve. It wasn’t.

*** “Why don’t you stay?” She smiled into his chest, lazily catching his nipple on her tongue. “Stay in bed? Stay naked with you?” “Sounds good.” “It does,” she said regretfully. “But I must go back. Niall will send for a search party soon. And besides, I have to take your freshly contaminated samples back to the city.” “Send the samples with Niall, and then come back with me.” Her eyes closed. Unfortunately, so did her mind. He could have slid through her barriers easily enough, and once, perhaps he would have done so. But with his One there had to be trust, a trust that went beyond even his loyalty to his people, and his duty. Emotion filled him, clamouring for some kind of release, distracting him from the delicate balance of persuasion necessary here. She said shakily, “Don’t tempt me, Aurel. I have a life of my own, as you have yours. We’ve had our flying fuck and our lying fuck, and that’s all there will ever be for us.” “With your One, there is always more.” For some reason that brought tears to her eyes, though she tried to hide them from him. “Then I hope you truly find your One…” “I have found her,” Aurel whispered. “You are my One.” Her eyes flew open. Her head jerked up so that she could see his face better. She looked startled, frightened. Behind her eyes passed an extraordinary array of emotions from joy to disbelief to tragedy. She touched his cheek with her fingers, butterfly-light. “You trust too easily,” she whispered. “I’m nobody’s One.” “I know you feel it.” “I feel… oh God, I don’t know what it is! You turn me upside down -- literally as often as not! -- churn me up… you’re more intense than anyone I’ve ever known, and it’s all mixed up with dreams I thought were adolescent fantasies. But I’m an adult now, and I know you can’t live on fantasies!” “The kingdom is not a fantasy. You know how real I am. You feel --” “You live forever,” she interrupted. He blinked. “What?” “You live forever! You’re already older than my pre-war country for God’s sake. You cannot possibly find anything in me that is not shallow and childish! Worse than that, if possible, is that I will grow old!” He frowned, brushing that aside. “You’re worrying about vanity…” “I’m worrying about death,” she said brutally.

He caught a glimpse then of her confusion, made enough sense of it to pause and think beyond the need to batter down her arguments. Drawing breath, he said, “Death is an unknown. Even for Dragul. We cannot live our lives in fear of it. On a more specific level -- you are half vampire. You have no idea how long you will live. Here, with my people, the chances are you will become one of us. We are naturally --” He broke off, searching for the word, conveying it by thought to her mind. “Healers,” she said. “I know. But I’m not ill, Aurel -- I’m mortal. An ageing mortal. Trust me, you’re not going to want to do this with me when I’m seventy!” “Trust me,” he said steadily, “I am.” It was the truth. But even as he said it he knew there was no way she was going to believe it. It was too soon, too much to comprehend. She was still too rooted in the limitations of her own people to grasp the true power of Dragul love. Or was she? An arrested look crossed her face. Her eyes searched his as if looking however doubtfully for confirmation. He pressed his advantage. “Your father is a vampire who does not age. As a lupi, your mother does, yet they are still together.” It didn’t work. A frown of irritation crossed her face. “That’s irrelevant! In any case, do you have any idea how rare that is? Vampires don’t have relationships…” “Lupi mate for life.” “Which makes me a very mixed up kid! No one knows anything about me, Aurel -- I’m the first of my own kind, the first vampire-lupi half breed!” “I’ll take the risk,” he said quietly. Again she stared at him, conflicting desires and emotions flitting across her face, seeping from her mind. He knew he’d lost even before she spoke. “I won’t.”

Chapter Eight Beth felt numb. As if both mind and feeling had closed down in the interests of self-preservation. Somewhere below the surface of ice churned pain, misery, loss and regret, too confused and mercifully too distant to sort out. On the same level she was aware of Aurel’s arms around her, of the warmth of his powerful body and the cutting ice of the wind and rain as they flew back toward the tether. But she didn’t feel these things. Not yet. Later, when she was home, perhaps it would be safe to let it out. To Michael or Eve, perhaps, her fellow half-breeds, or to her mother, still the dispenser of unconditional comfort… And yet she knew she would never do that either. She was compelled to secrecy, to keep to herself the most important thing that had ever happened to her personally. To say nothing of the greater discovery… She clung to the necessity of preserving the Dragul Kingdom. That alone was important. What was she, or even Aurel, compared to that? To stay would be to bring searchers from the City, who would inevitably discover the Dragul. All the formidable talents would be brought together -- her parents, Will, Lara, David and Katia, none of them would rest until she was found, and not for her scientific skills either. The knowledge should have been warming, and somewhere, perhaps it was. It wasn’t nothing to finally realize her value to others. It was just very little beside the one important issue -- that the Dragul should not go back to the darkness. That the City should not fight them. Looking down -- how easy it was to do that now -- she could see the ramshackle hamlet surrounding the tether, the tether itself stretching up like a huge monstrous stick into the atmosphere.

Beth said, “You should put me down here. There may be people in the settlement.” Without comment of any kind, Aurel banked his wings and dropped. The unstoppable physical response of her diving stomach reminded her of the last time she had flown with Aurel, and what they had been doing. The memory tried to engulf her, drag her down. Ruthlessly, she squashed it. And yet if this was truly the last time she would have with Aurel… Slowly, she let her cheek fall on to his chest. Eyes closed, she inhaled his strange, exciting scent, absorbed the heat of his skin, the feel, the aura that was him. And then, before it tore her apart, she lifted her head and they came in to land. Once again, there had been no thread to bind them. He let her slide slowly to her feet, holding her gaze with his own. His eyes were serious, steady, otherwise unreadable. His mind was closed to her. He said nothing inside her head or out. And yet she knew what she had done to him. She whispered, “It doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” Reaching up, she grasped his shoulders, stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his. She gave him no chance to respond, simply slid from his hold and ran. Her heart was breaking too soon. She needed to get to Niall, preferably get all the way home before everything hit her.

*** It was change-over day at the settlement. Outside one of the houses, she said goodbye to the three technicians leaving to walk back to the City. They would cross with their replacements on the road in a couple of hours. “Is Niall still here?” she asked them. The technicians grinned. “He was getting pretty worried about you last night. I think he imagined he was going to get the blame for your disappearance and have all the fiends of the City after his blood.” Beth smiled sourly. “I’m sure you helped that belief along.” “Well, I tried, but Steve here insisted you could look after yourself and would be back in the morning. And see how right he was. You want us to wait for you, Beth?” “No, don’t worry -- we’ll try and catch up with you on the road.” Waving an airy hand at the technicians, she went off in search of Niall. In the house they’d used before, his backpack was standing ready to go, but there was no sign of him. Emerging into the open, ready to shout, she caught sight of his face at the window of the tether car. Well, it fascinated most people. She walked slowly toward the tether, no longer because the very sight of the thing made her feel sick and dizzy, but because she needed to get her story, and her plan straight. If Niall had been close enough to the Kingdom to get the same very low radiation readings as she had, she might have to find another way… Climbing the movable steps into the car, she called out, “Niall? It’s me, Beth. Everything OK?” There was a pause as she entered the main room. Niall emerged from the cock-pit, smiling. “Am I glad to see you! I thought you’d been eaten by wolves.” “Wolves wouldn’t eat me,” she said dryly, and he actually laughed -- a big improvement on the flustered look he had used to get whenever the City’s mutations were alluded to. “So how did you get on?” she asked brightly. “Great. How about you? What took you so long?” “Oh I just wandered too far… how were your readings?” “Nothing too bad, should be quite easy to clean up. What about yours?” Relief flooded her at his answer. He had discovered nothing unexpected. In the short term, settlement could be kept to the west, preferably along the coast and away from the Kingdom… She was sure the Dragul had ways of keeping their presence secret. “Pretty dire, actually. From about five miles west and north of here, everything’s badly contaminated. Maybe there was some mis-hit at the tether during the war, but something’s certainly done in the water, the soil, the air, everything. It would take us years to clean up to anything approaching

acceptable standard.” As she spoke he had been wandering around the room, looking at work stations and dials. Now, as she finished, he glanced up at her. He was smiling again, and yet there was no warmth there -- had there ever been? It was the wintriest smile she’d ever seen. “What a terrible little liar you are, half-breed.” Shocked, she actually let him close the car door with quiet deliberation before she responded. “If you mean to insult me, arsehole, you’ll have to do better than that.” He took a step nearer. “How about freak and whore?” She laughed. “That’s pathetic, sweetie -- like you, I’m afraid.” And yet why “whore”? What did he know? His eyes flashed; he actually swung his arm back to hit her. She blocked it without thinking, kicking out at the same time, and Niall dropped like a stone. “Co-operation between us is over,” she said contemptuously. “Find your own way home. If you can.” Niall was scrambling furiously to his feet, rubbing his knee as if he couldn’t work out why it hurt so much. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned, reaching for the door. “Right now I wouldn’t care if I hurt you.” His smile this time was savage. “I would. So I brought help.” She turned quickly, to see four men emerging from the inner room. Strangers. Dome, she supposed. Well, five to one was not good odds, even if they were all as pitiful as Niall -- sheer body-weight would do their job for them. She could still lose them in the countryside, split them up if necessary and take them out one at a time… She tugged the door handle. Something clicked, and a quick glance showed her Niall by a work station. He had locked them in. For the first time she felt truly threatened. Her heart drummed, her mind raced. “So what’s your plan, guys?” she asked, moving forward to avoid being hemmed in and rushed. “What do you want?” “Your samples,” said Niall. “I’d have given you them if you hadn’t dissolved our partnership.” “But not the ones that show the true facts, that there is no radiation at all where the bat-people live.” Shit. “Bat-people?” She sounded amused. “You been brewing your own again?” Niall smiled and pulled a lever. The car began to rise. “Stop it!” Beth said sharply. “You don’t know how this thing works!” “I know enough. And I know you’re scared of heights.” “That was a lifetime ago.” She lunged at the lever. Niall stepped back hastily, but before she reached it another man was upon her, dragging her back. She lashed out at him, connecting sharply with his jaw bone. He grunted in pain and hit her back. She went with the blow, at the same time twisting out of his hold, seizing and bending his arm behind him, kneeing him to the ground as the others came at her. “Spare it, Bethie,” Niall said, watching contemptuously. “The City will never get the bat-people’s land. The Dome will have it before the City knows anything about it, and then we’ll control the tether too. And you -- you’re going over from a great height, and nothing you can do will stop it.” He grinned maliciously. “Face it, darling, it’s your worst nightmare.” Once, maybe. Now it was that the Dragul be forced back into the dark. Or that they’d exterminate humanity. She laughed. “Come on then. Catch me, push me out if you can. How many will I get first?” She kicked out at the nearest man, catching him squarely in the stomach and then spinning to face the one who’d edged round behind her. She wouldn’t give in, she would fight to the death -- and death

would be the inevitable result. She wasn’t even postponing it by fighting, though with her vampire strength she hoped to take a couple of them with her… And when she was dead -- how would that help the Dragul? The Dome would come, with or without the City. Aurel! Aurel! I need you! Before she could even wonder if her telepathy was strong enough to reach him, there was a tremendous thump on the door, swiftly followed by a second that brought it crashing inward with a blast of wind that drove everyone backward. Through it, Beth saw the beloved winged figure, flying upward with the carriage. In one incomparably graceful movement, he folded his wings, and stepped into the doorway, closing the door behind him. Sheer emotion welled up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her as the men had not. It came out in a low, bubbling laugh. As Aurel stood looking around the room, head slightly, enquiringly to one side, Niall said aggressively, “Who the fuck are you?” Aurel smiled directly into his eyes. Ice and fire and invincibility. “Face it, darling, I’m your worst nightmare.”

*** Bastard, you were there all the time! Of course I was. Avram betrayed us. I caught him flying home, and knew there would be trouble for you. So I came back. Aurel, it may be too late. I’m afraid word has already been sent back to the Dome… Hush, we’ll worry about that later. Beth cried out as the five men, including the ones she’d injured before, all lunged at Aurel. He disappeared from her view, blotted out by those who attacked him. Dear God, I’ve made the worst mistake of all! There’s no space for him to fight. All I’ve done is kill him as well! Despair swamped her, the utter blackness of total loss. Nothing, nothing mattered without him. From the floor came a low growl, building swiftly to a roar as the five men all came catapulting backward with such speed that she had to leap aside to avoid the body landing at her feet. A laugh of pure relief broke from her, choked off when she realized what stood in Aurel’s place. A dragon filled the room, huge teeth snapping in its big, scaly head. Steam blasted out of its nostrils as it lowered them to sniff the man at its feet. Its scaly body could barely move, save to swish its tail behind, hitting the man crawling there. It lifted its head once more, hurling a ball of fire across the room. The men screamed, though Beth saw it disintegrate almost as soon as it was formed. “Aurel,” she whispered. Before her eyes, the dragon shrank. Its long neck shrivelled downward and its body reformed into that of the winged man, all with as little effort as it took her to breathe. For her, shifting was physically agonizing as well as mentally tumultuous -- which was why she fought so hard to control it when the urge came at full moon… “It was a useful talent against the dinosaurs,” Aurel said casually inside her head. “Against men, we only used it for scaring purposes. Dragons aren’t really much use in this kind of fight.” Seems to have done the job, though. “Not quite.” Aurel stepped over the cowering man in his path to the work station. He drew back the lever and as the car came to a halt, his fingers flew over the keys. The car slid downwards, fast, and picking up speed. Beth’s stomach somersaulted, reminding her of the old, sick fear. But she had no time to dwell on it for unerringly Aurel strode to Niall, picking him up by the collar and shaking him like a terrier with a rat.

With his other hand, he seized the man who had struck her -- did he really know that? -- and dragged them to the door. He didn’t touch it. He was nowhere near the locking mechanism, but nevertheless the door flew open for him. Niall screamed; the other man started jibbering, begging for mercy. Aurel said coldly, “You would have killed my One like this. You had the gall to strike her. You’ re already as good as dead.” They dangled into the air, their feet flying to one side as Aurel held them there by nothing more than their tearing clothes. Beth had never seen such terror mingled with such certainty of death in anyone’ s face. In its way, it was shattering. Her anger against them melted away, with the knowledge that Aurel was here, that they were alive. She tried to speak into the wind, but before she could, Aurel swung them upward and flung them back into the car. They landed in a tangled heap against the far wall. “Live with those thoughts,” he said contemptuously. “If you can stop the car in time. I estimate you have around a minute to figure out how.” He spread his wings. “Please, she’ll die with us!” Niall screamed. “No she won’t,” said Aurel, holding out his arms. In two steps, Beth was in his arms, her legs tucked round his waist as if they belonged there. His great wings began to beat. She had to shout her parting message over his shoulder. “Remember this, Niall! They’re too strong for us. If you move against them, you’ll die. Everyone will die.”

*** “Will it work?” Aurel asked. They sat on the top of the hill overlooking the Kingdom. Beth held tightly to his arm, her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know. You gave a powerful demonstration. It will certainly make them think twice. If anyone believes them. It may be that people will think they’re just making up stories to account for my disappearance.” Aurel’s fingers tugged at her hair, making her look at him. “Then you’ve changed your mind about disappearing with me?” “I can’t lose you,” she said simply. “I’m afraid, Aurel. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me, and I need time to sort it out. But I know I can’t leave you. If you still want me.” Silent laughter shook his shoulders. “Still? How fickle do you think I am? Undying love last night, dismissal this morning?” “You wouldn’t be the first man to make declarations like that!” “You must know some… shallow men.” “Yes,” she said simply. Then, more thoughtfully, “Perhaps we’re all shallow until we find our One.” His mouth found hers, devouring it. She returned the embrace with enthusiasm, her bones melting into him. Yet from somewhere she found the strength to draw back. “Wait!” she said breathlessly, “Two things! One, I have to go home first, talk to my parents.” He appeared to consider that. “Can I come?” She smiled. “I hoped you’d say that. We’ll have to disguise you, but in my City, it shouldn’t be difficult. And I have to warn Will about the Dome’s treachery. He’s the City Leader.” “Very well.” He reached for her again. “And one more thing!” “Hurry up.” “Can you teach my mother how to transform without pain? She suffers terribly each time…” He hesitated, then, reluctantly, “Yes, I can do that. I can teach you too, if you like.” She regarded him doubtfully. “It’s part of life, of who you are,” he said gently. “You don’t have to be a wolf. Your people are

because it’s in the legends they grew up with. It was already in their minds when the change came upon them. I can teach you to be a dragon. If you like.” She touched his wings, trailed her fingers across his shoulders to his face and lips. “Can I be both?” He smiled and pulled her gently backwards until she lay on the grass underneath him. “You can be anything you like.”

Marie Treanor Marie Treanor was born and brought up in Scotland, but for some years moved around the UK working and studying. Now she is back home and happily married with three young children. Having grown bored with city life, she lives these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing stories of romance and fantasy. You can find out more about Marie and her books on her website: www.marietreanor.com, and by subscribing to her newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marietreanornewsletter. She also shares the Sexy Delights loop with fellow Scottish author Kyla Logan. Find out more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sexydelights. Marie loves to hear from readers, who can contact her at [email protected]