Wings of Change Read Online Free PDF Page B

looking after Rey.” Marcus poured a bit of the wine they’d ordered earlier into an empty glass and offered it to her. She accepted, taking a small sip of the fruity vintage. She’d had better, but not recently. “It was my pleasure. Sir Reynor is a sweetheart.”
    Kaden laughed at that, surprising her with his change in demeanor. Since he’d been here, he’d been alternately worried, dour, sad, or remorseful. Sometimes all at once. It was good to hear his laughter. It touched her, and brought home just how strongly she felt for them all on such short acquaintance.
    Of course, talking with Rey over the past days, she’d learned a great deal about his knight. She knew some of Kaden’s likes and dislikes, his moments of heroism and the reasons Rey loved him. From the dragon’s descriptions, she’d felt she already knew the most important things about Sir Kaden, but meeting him now, she could see there were still depths to his personality to explore and try to understand. And Marcus’s warnings of the way they would make love to her tantalized her imagination. She couldn’t help the vivid images in her mind as she sat between them, doing her best to keep the betraying heat from her face.
    26
    www.samhainpublishing.com
    Wings of Change
    “Were he awake I’m sure Rey would scoff to hear himself described as sweet. He’s a fierce dragon, don’t you know? You can’t call a fire breathing beast sweet . It would ruin his image.” Kaden’s teasing seemed a good sign for the recovery of both dragon and knight.
    Lucia chuckled, answering with the same lighthearted air, glad of the distraction from her scandalous thoughts. “Reynor has a heart of gold and he knows I think he’s sweet, though like you, he scoffs when I say it.”
    “How is it you can hear dragons, Lucy?” Marcus asked. “It’s not a common ability.”
    She shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve always been able to communicate with magical creatures. I grew up in a distant land and we had many different kinds of magic there.”
    “‘Lucia de Alagarithia, last of your line, late of the Jinn’. That’s how you introduced yourself to Linea,” Marcus said with deceptive casualness. “Perhaps you’ll enlighten us. Where is Alagarithia?”
    Lucia sighed, remembering days long gone. “Alagarithia is a coastal city in the Doge of Helios’s domain. I grew up there, a child of the House of Alagar, ruling line of the city.”
    “What happened?” Kaden folded one of her hands in his, offering comfort.
    “What usually happens when one group wants the power of another? War. And assassination. I was the only survivor, and only just barely. If I hadn’t fled the city, I’d be dead as well. For that reason, I don’t often publicize who I once was, though I doubt anyone cares to send an assassin this far, after so many years.”
    “How did you escape?” Marcus leaned forward, listening intently.
    “The Jinn hid me in their caravan. They adopted me when it was clear I had no home to return to. They’ve been good to me.”
    “But you’ve never forgotten your origins, or your ladylike manners,” Kaden observed, squeezing her hand. “You are Jinn, but not. There’s a lot of the lady still in you, sweetheart.”
    “Much to my dismay at times,” she agreed. “It makes me stand out too much from the other girls.”
    “You would do that regardless.” Marcus lifted her free hand in his, tangling their fingers. It felt good to touch both of them, though she was confused by the emotions swirling through her. Sad thoughts of her lost home mixed with the empathy coming from these two wonderful men. “But what magical creatures did you talk to in Helios?

    www.samhainpublishing.com 27
    Bianca D’Arc
    I’m not familiar with your city at all, and I’ve only heard bards’ tales of that land. Surely no dragons live there.”
    “No, no dragons. But there are several kinds of magical sea creatures, and gryphons nested along our cliffs. I used to play with