Pib's Dragon (6 page)

“
How long have you been
building them?”

“
Nine years.”

Dray’s jaw dropped at the announcement. Nine years was a
long time. The
lords
were obviously taking advantage of
Wil, and anger stirred within him.

“
That’s crazy! Do you want me to go and have a
talk
with them?” His dragon was completely on board with
threatening the idiots and protecting his new friend.

Wil laughed. “Nah, it’s okay. My
brother already threatened them, last night in fact. It was
brilliant to see.”

Dray ate and listened as Wil filled him
in on what happened last night. He was sorry he missed seeing them
turn tail and run out the door. That would have been very amusing
indeed. In no time at all, lunch was over, and they made their way
back to the site, ready to get back to work.

Dray flew to his treasure cave as night
fell. He’d shifted to relieve all of the aches and pains from the
manual labor he’d done, but surprisingly, he was looking forward to
doing it again tomorrow. Not only had he made a new friend, he was
also getting out of his cave, which made Del happy and in turn made
Dray happy since it meant Del wasn’t harassing him to socialize or
pelting him with his own treasure.

As soon as he landed in the cave, he
shifted into human form and made his way over to the crack in the
wall. His footsteps slowed as he got closer, until he stopped four
feet away from the crack. The rock was still in place, but it was
what was in front of the rock that made him stop.

Nothing was disturbed, with everything
in its rightful place—except for the rubies that formed a smiling
face on the floor in front of the rock.

It seems that my thief has
a sense of humor.

Whoever his thief was, they’d managed
to get in despite the rock in place and had left him a message.
Shaking his head, Dray started to laugh, amusement filling him.
Instead of growling, his dragon was curious, and Dray could sense
his frustration over not being able to fit in the crack in order to
try to catch the thief. The lack of scent was as confusing as ever,
but Dray was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Pib was enjoying lounging on his rug in
serval form, cuddled with the sapphire. He’d decided to name it,
and after a lot of thought, he’d named it Serena. He had no idea
why he thought of the stone as a girl, but he did. Of course, being
around the stone made him think of where he got it, and the dragon
who provided it.

Thinking back to earlier, he felt his
feline features pull into a smile. He hadn’t been surprised to find
a rock mostly blocking the crack in the wall. Luckily for him, one
of the things he was able to achieve with his magic was short
periods where he basically became smoke, allowing him to drift past
obstructions, like the rock.

I wonder if he liked the
gift I left him…

After getting in, he couldn’t help but
grab some of the rubies lying around and arranging them until they
formed two eyes, a nose, and a smile. If he was the same dragon who
was working with Wil, then Pib suspected that he’d go straight to
his cave after they were done for the day. Either he’d be amused,
or Pib was sure he’d hear the roars of rage. However, something was
telling him that the dragon would find it funny. Or at least he
hoped he did.

Suddenly, Pib froze.
Wait, why do I care whether the dragon is amused or
angry?

After spending a few minutes thinking
about it, Pib was no closer to an answer. Although with the
constant purring of his cat in his mind, there wasn’t any way for
him to truly focus on figuring it out. Giving up, Pib curled more
tightly around the sapphire and decided to take a nap.

It had been a month since he’d left the smiley face for the
dragon, and in that time, he’d snuck in almost every day. Aside
from his sapphire Serena and the smaller unnamed sapphire, he
hadn’t taken any more treasures from the cave. Instead he’d sneak
in and move things around, or he’d use the jewels to form pictures
or messages. However, there was always a smiley face made of rubies
left. It had basically become his signature, despite his dislike of
rubies. He’d been surprised when he’d snuck in one day to find a
smiley face, made up of emeralds, next to the word
Hi.
Those two letters had started a series of very short
conversations between him and the dragon, ones that Pib was
starting to look forward to.

Pib was walking around the cottage
getting ready for his daily visit to the dragon’s cave when he was
hit with the sudden urge to see Wil. His gut was telling him to get
to his brother, and since he never ignored his gut, within seconds
Pib was racing to where his brother was building the mansion,
trying not to imagine the worst. His serval form was speeding
along, only slowing down when they got close to the structure.
Prowling through the trees, Pib tried to figure out what had set
off his instincts, and then he saw it—Wil was standing next to the
dragon from the tavern, facing the three lords who had at least a
dozen soldiers standing behind them with weapons.

Shifting back into his human form, Pib
checked his weapons and started to make his way over to his
brother. Since no one looked to the side, he was able to get close
enough to hear their conversation just in time.

“
Your agreement doesn’t
mention you getting help,” Harry said, sounding smug.

Pib could see Wil restraining his
growl, but just barely. “My agreement also doesn’t say I can’t hire
anyone to assist with the build.”

“
Then perhaps we should
redo the agreement,” Harry said, causing Pib’s temper to
snap.

“
Or I could just gut you
all here and now and save everyone the hassle,” Pib said, using his
most conversational tone. Everyone spun around and finally noticed
him as he walked over to stand just in front of Wil. He’d noticed
the smirk on Wil’s face, along with the suspicion on Dray’s
face.

If he’s the same dragon
I’ve been playing with, I think my cover is just about to be
blown…

Harry, Perry, and Larry all sputtered
but also retreated a few steps until they were closer to their
soldiers, some of whom were looking at Pib with unease.

“
You can’t do that!” Harry
exclaimed.

“
Well, if you’re going to
continue to make problems for Wil, I just might. Don’t think that
you’re going to be able to change the contract just to screw him
over.” Pib narrowed his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. “And
don’t think that you can destroy this house like you did the others
just to keep him either.”

Seeing the way their faces paled, Pib
knew he was right. The lords had organized for the other properties
to be destroyed so they could keep Wil under their thumbs. He heard
Wil snarl behind him just before his brother leaped past him. When
one of the soldiers moved to intercept, Pib heard a dragon roar,
but he was already moving. A blade was in his hand for a second
before he launched it at the soldier threatening his brother. The
blade twisted through the air before it lodged in the shoulder of
the man’s sword arm.

His scream caused everyone to stop in
their tracks—everyone except Pib, who calmly walked over to the man
and yanked the blade out of his shoulder. He wiped it on his shirt
to clean the blood off and placed it back in its hidden
sheath.

Turning to the lords, he said, “This is
your final warning.” Lifting his hands, he dropped his hood and
glared at them, internally snickering when the soldiers all dropped
their weapons, turned, and ran off. Even the injured one on the
ground made his escape. Obviously they recognized him. When the
lords realized their guards had abandoned them, even they turned
and ran off as fast as they could, which wasn’t nearly as fast as
the soldiers.

Once they were out of earshot, Pib
chuckled and turned around only to come face to face with a
familiar dragon’s face.

****

Dray stood and stared at the man before
him. Knowing he was obviously dangerous—not only from the way he
threw the knife but from the way the soldiers all ran after seeing
his face—didn’t stop Dray from finding the man absolutely gorgeous.
His eyes were a bright green with specks of gold and his blond hair
was spiky, the tips black. Dray inhaled, then froze. The man in
front of him had no scent. A growl erupted from his throat before
he could stop it.

“
It’s okay, Dray, this is
my brother Pib,” Wil said from his side.

Knowing he’d have to shift in order to
speak, Dray called his human form. Once he was standing there in
front of Pib and Wil, he said the first thing that came to mind. “A
smiley face? Really?”

While Wil looked confused, Pib burst
out laughing, and Dray had to admit, it was a nice sound. Even his
dragon was no longer angry. Slightly annoyed sure, but not angry.
There were a lot of things that he could have said, but after
working with Wil over the last month, they’d become friends and
he’d heard a lot of good things about his brother. To find that his
brother was the thief who’d been in his cave was annoying, but
seeing the gorgeous man for the first time had him and his dragon
willing to forgive. It might even make it easier to get his
treasures back.

“
Um, what?” Wil finally
asked.

“
Your brother has been
sneaking into my treasure cave. After stealing some jewels, I
blocked his entrance only to come back and find a smiley face made
up of rubies in front of the spot. He’s been leaving me ruby smiley
faces daily,” Dray said while Pib obviously tried to stop
laughing.

Wil groaned. “Piiiib, what the
hell?”

“
What?” Pib asked after
he’d gotten control of his mirth. The innocent look on his face
might have worked if his eyes didn’t sparkle with
mischief.

“
Don’t you
what
me. You stole? From a dragon?” Wil
asked, his exasperation evident.

“
Really, it’s his own
fault,” Pib stated, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking
back on his heels.

Dray shook his head, sure he’d heard
wrong. “What?”

“
You heard me.”

“
How is it my fault that
you stole from me?” Dray asked, trying to understand the man in
front of him.

“
Because everyone knows
that cats love shiny things. If you didn’t have shiny things, then
I wouldn’t be tempted, therefore it’s your fault that they’re now
in my possession.”

While Wil groaned, Dray stood there
and blinked at Pib, trying to make sense of that logic. Shaking his
head, Dray started to laugh. He could see Wil looking at him in
confusion while Pib had a small smile on his face.

Pib watched as the dragon laughed,
relieved he wasn’t angry. His laugh made Pib want to purr, which
was strange since he’d never had that sort of reaction to anyone
before. It wasn’t too long before Dray got a hold of himself, and
Pib smiled at the man, feeling Wil staring at him.

“
So tell me, how did you
get back into my cave when I blocked it off?” Dray asked, putting
his hands on his hips.

“
It’s a secret. If I told
you, I’d have to kill you, and you’re too pretty to kill,” Pib
replied, then turned to Wil. “Let’s go and get some food. The
tavern should have something for the midday meal ready, and I
definitely deserve it, racing here and saving your
asses.”

Pib winked at Wil and shifted, waiting
for the two men to change to their other forms so they could go.
Based on the shocked expressions on their faces, he could be
waiting a while. Less than five minutes later, once they finally
got over their shock, Pib was facing his brother’s wolf and the
sapphire dragon. He sat still when the dragon came up to him and
simply waited to see what he would do. Pib was not prepared for the
dragon to lick his face, and therefore, he overbalanced and ended
up on his back before quickly rolling to his side and getting up on
all fours.

Glaring at the dragon wasn’t hard;
resisting the urge to unleash his claws and take a swipe at the
smirking face proved to be the bigger challenge. Hearing Wil
laughing in his wolf form, Pib made a split-second decision and
leaped at his brother, sending them both tumbling. They play-fought
for a little while until they were both lying there panting with
exhaustion.

Pib had just closed his eyes, deciding
to take a quick nap before going to get food, when he heard Wil
yip. Snapping his eyes open, he tried to figure out what was going
on but he was too late. In the next second, he was facing Wil while
his side was pressed up against the chest of a dragon.

What…oh shit!

Just as Pib realized what was going to
happen, Dray launched himself into the sky, his two passengers
firmly in his grip. Pib had to restrain himself from shifting so he
could yell at the dragon, or from biting him in serval form. The
rational part of his mind knew that if he shifted, Dray’s grip on
him would change and there would be a slight possibility of him
falling to the ground. Biting him could surprise Dray and also make
him release his grip, not just on him but on Wil too.