Hate by K.A Knight

“See you soon, dragon.” Nos shakes my hand and I return the gesture. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all, they do seem to love Dawn, that we can agree on at least.

“Try not to die before you bring us that council, dickhead,” Griffin orders, and I snort at him, sweeping my leg out to kick his sofa on purpose as I turn. I hear him swear, making me smirk as I head outside and straight into the road that leads to the forest behind his house. I follow his directions so I can find a secluded place to change and return to my car. I need information. I have to go back to the witches and pay yet again. I wonder what they will ask for this time.

I will pay it, they can have all my gold and treasure if it means keeping my mate safe. I refuse to consider what is happening to her right now, I can’t without losing it. I will, however, try to contact her tonight through our link before I leave the witches’ safety net. Even if it’s just for a moment to see for myself that she is okay.

I head to the very edge of the street and walk until I find a cove of trees. Stepping inside, I make a nest out of leaves and fallen branches and settle to try and contact her. It’s dangerous out in the open, but I have to try.

Animals still, sensing me nearby. The forest smells crisp and of magic, old magic, undoubtedly from the forest god my mate has claimed. This is his land, after all, and I can sense the fae here and there as well, and a recent trail to the left of me a couple of miles away. I map the land in my head, letting my dragon out to see and sense any threats. When we find nothing, I settle back down again and try to force myself to relax.

The branches crack with each shift of my body, and I wish I could make an actual nest. My dragon is restless, and just when I am about to give up, I finally slip into a troubled slumber, my soul reaching across the miles between us, searching for her…

“Dawn?” I call out, my voice loud and echoing.

We are back at the lake of my homeland, the one I often escaped to when I thought about the heavy weight of leadership and my need to break free from traditions and my own people. Everything is hazy, white, and too perfect to be real, but the trees are the same.

The identical rock where I used to lay after flying, dipping, and diving in the water is situated where it should be. I used to leap off the cliff over there when I was just five until I could do it myself. It was tradition. No one could be a dragon who couldn’t fly—it should be instinctive, they said. So they threw their children off cliffs and hoped for the best, but I didn’t wait for that to happen. I did it alone. They called me fearless even back then. My wings sprouted on the first go, but they were too big for me and I crashed into the water.

But I kept trying and trying until I could flap before crashing, and then hover...and then fly. It was ungraceful, but I was the youngest dragon ever to fly, and when I shifted at fourteen for the first time, they found it wasn’t the only non-traditional thing about me.

Heading to the water line, I wait, wondering if she is coming. She might not be asleep, I can think of all the horrible reasons why, but I push them away, forcing myself to relax and watch the water lap against the shore. I will wait. If she doesn’t turn up in a few hours, then I will head back to my body and find the witches.

I sit and linger, and just when I am about to give up hope and try to wake myself, I feel her. Leaping to my feet, I spin to see her standing behind me in a golden flowing gown, her blonde hair in loose waves around her shoulders.

“Dawn!” I gasp and rush to her, and she meets me halfway.

I scoop her into my arms and bring my lips to hers. She returns the kiss with equal fervour, but she pulls back. “We don’t have long, my dragon, where are you?”

“Where are you?” I countered.

“I don’t know, the council is involved though—men named Amos and Veyo. Another of my mates is here.” She sighs.

“Are you hurt?” I ask.

She hesitates and I roar, so she strokes my face. “Nothing that can’t heal. I can look after myself, dragon.”

“I have met your other mates, Nos and Griffin...first, can I kill the fallen?” I grumble.

She giggles, her eyes alight, then it fades. “He has that effect on everyone. Are they okay?Are they searching for me?”

“They are, we all are. We have a plan, my love, do not fear. We will get you,” I vow.

“Good, don’t rush, I have a plan of my own. This is what we were hunting, we need to stop it. That comes before my freedom. I can do much from the inside.” She strokes my face then. “Oh, how I wish I could touch you in real life.”

I rest my forehead against hers. “Soon.” I kiss her again, wishing I could feel her in my arms, feel that she is safe. She is the treasure I always sought. “Griffin will be joining you, playing the good servant, work with him. Nos is calling all the allies. Is there anything you need me to tell them?”

She exhales heavily. “That it’s the council, and they are trying to make an army with human mutations and by stealing women. I just don’t know how or if they are all involved. It’s clear they think they are doing the right thing though. It won’t be easy to stop them, they have witches and human hunters somehow working with them. Maybe chase down those leads, cut them off at the source.”

I nod, my mate is clever. “I will tell them.”

“T-Tell Nos I miss him. Tell Griffin not to kill too many people.” She snickers.

“And me, mate?” I growl.

“Dragon, I better see you soon,” she purrs, kissing me again, and I lose myself in her for a moment before pulling away. “Then you can take me to this place for real.”

I don’t tell her I can never return here, not without risking everything I ran from, not without risking her. Something I will never do. Dragons are merciless, unfeeling, proud assholes—I should know, I am one. Only I feel for her. More than I ever thought possible.

Dawn.

Her eyes go far away for a moment. “Stay safe, my dragon.”

“Dawn,” I call, but she fades out of my arms. I try to hold her, but it is like trying to grasp the wind.

I roar into my dreamscape as it crumbles around me, and I wake up in my nest with that same roar.

My dragon breaks free, uprooting the trees we were using for shelter as we shoot into the sky, filled with determination. She is counting on me, she made her wishes known. I will find the sleeping council and I will bring them there. Then we will be together.

Finally.