There was no way Todd could ever match this. Excitement and satisfaction welled up in Rita’s chest, and she couldn’t help but give Todd a triumphant look. This would make her career. She’d be able to choose any paper she wanted after this. Like one in the city, where there was actual news more than once a century.

  “There is, of course, one condition,” Ultrima continued, his voice smooth. “I need you to keep him away from the dragon lair until I tell you to bring him back. I don’t want him to interfere with my plans.”

  Rita frowned at the mention of plans. What was his game? She knew only the barest of details about the dragons. The two clans were at war. The other dragons, the ones Lisa was with, were convinced Ultrima was the bad guy. Meaning helping him could cause problems for Lisa.

  That wasn’t Rita’s problem though. Lisa may have given Rita information that had led her here, but only because it benefitted her. Lisa would turn on Rita in a minute if it served her or her dragon clan. Surely she would expect Rita to do no less?

  “If you are willing to accept my conditions, knock on the door again,” Ultrima said.

  Rita made a face. That was going to get her in trouble. Hailey would no doubt be annoyed, but not too much. Rita was certain Hailey had heard the voice’s instructions too.

  Rita started back up the stairs.

  “What are you up to, Rita? They’re not going to give you anything more. There’s nothing happening here.” Todd’s dismissive voice grated on her nerves, but his words confirmed he hadn’t heard the voice at all. He had no idea there was far more story here than he could ever imagine.

  The possibility the Trima clan might have connections in the police force was a little terrifying. If that was the case, Rita needed to expose that too. And agreeing to help Ultrima was her best chance.

  She was under no illusion that Ultrima was doing this to help her. He was making this deal for his benefit, not hers. She was just useful. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t benefit from it. She just had to overcome the feeling of terror pervading her body at the thought of not only meeting a dragon, but also trying to get him to do something he probably didn’t want to do.

  It helped that this dragon prince would probably be more like his brother Verrian than Ultrima. Verrian hadn’t been so bad. He’d even saved her life when one of the Trima dragons had tried to attack her.

  In fact, Rita had been rather attracted to him. These dragons were nothing if not hot and gorgeous.

  If she was being honest, there was something appealing about the idea of keeping one to herself for a while. Her body heated at being alone with one of the hot, sexy dragon shifters. If he was anything like Verrian, that would be no trouble at all.

  Her mind made up, as if there’d been any real doubt, she stepped forward and knocked on the door again.

  Hailey opened it, frowning. “I told you to go away.”

  “When do you think I will be able to report on this story?” Rita asked quickly. Hailey was already moving to shut the door in her face. “Can I have an exclusive?” Rita called out as the door slammed.

  She made a face. Could have been worse.

  Todd shook his head. “I told you, they’re not going to give us anything more.”

  He thought he knew so much. Rita gave him the finger. “Screw you.”

  “Good,” Ultrima’s voice was amused and approving. Was it for her agreeing to his deal or her reaction to Todd? Had he even seen that? How could he have, the door had been closed?

  Ultrima’s smooth voice continued. “Warrian’s Mesmer chamber is near the black cliffs, up the south end. Tell the dragon who is guarding it that I sent you. If he questions you, tell him the battle is not lost until the princess is dead.” There was a pause, then he added. “A key is required to enter the chamber, but it can easily be broken with modern tools. Take something to force it with you.”

  Rita nodded, even though Ultrima couldn’t see her, and Todd was staring strangely at her. She wished she could ask Ultrima questions, get more details. Where at the cliffs was the entrance? Surely if it was obvious, someone would have noticed it by now. And what sort of tools would she need to force a dragon lock?

  Most importantly, how would he find her when he wanted her to bring the other dragon back? She waited to see if he added any more details, but the voice in her head was silent.

  So she headed back down the stairs, mulling over plans in her mind.

  Todd fell into step beside her. “What were you asking Hailey about? Did you overhear something interesting?”

  Surely he didn’t expect her to actually tell him anything? But when she glanced sideways at him, he was looking at her hopefully.

  Rita shook her head. He was an idiot. He had no idea she had the biggest scoop of all. He couldn’t even conceive of what she’d just experienced. That thought was satisfying enough that it was difficult to make her voice sound tired as she said, “I’m going home. We’re obviously not going to get anything here.”

  Todd’s eyes narrowed. “Giving up? That doesn’t seem like you. I’m willing to bet that you have something more interesting planned, don’t you?”

  Rita grimaced. Apparently her acting wasn’t that great. She needed to work on that if she was going to fool Warrian. She relaxed her shoulders, letting them slump, and gave a halfhearted shrug, glad the darkness hid her expression. “What else is there? You can hang around here all night if you want, but I don’t think you’ll get anything more than shots of a busy police station.”

  Todd’s frown looked disbelieving, but Rita didn’t really care. She ignored him, and headed down to her car, not surprised when Todd followed her.

  She wouldn’t be going after her dragon prince tonight then. Probably a good idea. She needed time to think this over. And a shower. She’d been crawling through bushes all day. Not the look she wanted when she met her dragon prince.

  A dragon prince. She was glad her back was to Todd as she climbed into her car, because she was pretty sure she hadn’t been at all successful in keeping the grin that thought elicited off her face.

  Chapter 2

  Rita sped across the plains, stirring up dust behind her, her heart hammering in her chest. After a restless night with very little sleep, she’d risen early and checked carefully for Todd, not surprised to find he’d given up sometime during the night, and she was free to head out to the black cliffs alone.

  She couldn’t decide if she was excited at the opportunity, or wished she’d never agreed to it. She’d spent most of the night alternatively being excited by the possibilities, and nervous about the risks. And her fertile imagination could come up with plenty of risks.

  Rita growled at her own fears. If she couldn’t hack it, she could just walk away. Ultrima was still at the police station judging by the number of police cars there. She’d counted at least eight when she’d passed this morning. It wasn’t like Ultrima was going to come after her.

  It wasn’t like he’d know what she did. If she wanted to, she could go there and wake Warrian and take him back to his clan. Who knew, they might just be grateful enough to help her with her story.

  She shivered at the thought of double crossing the angry dragon who spat lightning. Even the other dragons were afraid of him. And he had said one of his dragons was there guarding the chamber.

  Maybe this story wasn’t worth the risk. If she was really concerned about the public needing to know, she was sure Todd would step in. That thought was enough to make Rita laugh. Like she was going to do that.

  The laugh helped push away some of her fears.

  She could do this. It would be an adventure. It was just one dragon, and one of Verrian’s brothers at that. Nothing like the scary Ultrima.

  She pulled up at the cliffs, the dust washing over the car in a rush.

  The towering black cliffs stood out in the dusty red landscape, dark and ominous, reminding Rita of the enormity of her task. How was she supposed to find a dragon lair here? Surely if it was that easy, someone would have found it by now? Ultrima had said it was to the south end of the cliffs, but still, that didn’t narrow her search much.

  The heat hit her as she stepped out of the car, billowing over her in a wave, complete with more red dust. Rita took a deep breath, picked up her camera and slung it over her shoulder, grabbed the bag of tools she’d been able to find, and snapped a few pictures before heading towards the cliffs.

  She hadn’t taken more than two steps from the car when an unearthly screech froze her to the ground. Rita could barely breathe when she looked up to see the silver dragon launching itself off the top of the cliff, swooping down towards her, its mouth open.

  This must be the dragon Ultrima had said guarded the lair. The one she was supposed to talk to. Why hadn’t she given that more thought and realised just how impossible it would be?

  Why hadn’t Ultrima realised the dragon wasn’t going to casually fly in for a chat and ask her why she was here before he fried her? Maybe that had been the enemy leader’s plan? Get rid of the annoying human by sending her on a death mission.

  She didn’t have time to deliberate the likelihood of that scenario because the dragon was almost on top of her.

  “Ultrima sent me,” she shouted as loudly as she could, hoping he would hear her over his own loud screeching.

  The slowing of the dragon’s dive was barely perceptible, but as he whooshed past over her head, he didn’t unleash any lightning. That had to be a good sign, right?

  Rita’s heart hammered in her chest as she swung around to see the dragon circling back for her again, skimming over the dusty red soil. Rita wanted to squeeze her eyes shut tight and duck her head, but she steeled herself and pulled out her camera to take a few photos. Hopefully the shutter speed was high enough in the bright sunshine that they wouldn’t turn out blurry, even though her hands were shaking.

  As the dragon approached her position, she shouted again, “Ultrima sent me.”

  This time the dragon swooped so close to her head she felt the wind from the beat of his wings.

  But she was still alive.

  For now.

  As he flew towards her a third time, she tucked the camera behind her back in case he was camera shy.

  The dragon’s voice filled her head just as Ultrima’s had the day before. “Why should I believe you? You humans will do anything to trick us.”

  He had a point. That was why Ultrima had given her a code phrase. What had it been? Normally Rita had a good memory, but she’d been so busy being shocked she hadn’t paid as much attention as she normally did. She closed her eyes for a second, recalling the scene, remembering Ultrima’s voice, replaying the conversation in her mind.

  That’s right. She opened her eyes. “The battle is not lost until the princess is dead,” she shouted.

  The dragon didn’t pause or give any indication he’d heard her. Wind gusted around her as he flapped his wings right in front of her. Rita’s heart skipped a beat. This was it. He was going to fry her.

  But he didn’t. He hovered in the air for a few seconds, and then landed, staring at her solemnly. “I will let you pass.”

  Rita’s heart beat at a thousand times a minute, taking a while to catch up to the fact that she wasn’t going to die today.

  Instead, she was going to wake a dragon.

  That realisation didn’t do anything to slow her heartrate.

  And that was before she considered the fact she had to somehow convince the dragon prince not to do the first thing on his mind, which would be to fly straight back to his lair and reunite with his clan. How on earth did Ultrima expect her to accomplish that?

  Her mind worked overtime, coming up with schemes and discarding them. Letting herself be injured so he would feel the need to care for her would be useless. Verrian might have made a sacrifice for Lisa, but he had loved her. This dragon barely knew her.

  She needed another way to convince him, something to drive him away from the lair…

  She looked speculatively at the Trima dragon standing impassively in front of her. Verrian had run from the Trima dragons. Rita had been with him when he’d been fleeing from them. Maybe Warrian would do the same thing.

  It was a good idea, and it would probably work, but Rita hesitated. She didn’t like the idea of lying, even to the dragon. It went against her personal beliefs of truth and honesty.

  But she couldn’t help wondering if that hadn’t been her problem all along. How many times had her principles lost her a story? And how many times had she seen other journalists who weren’t so principled get the story over her?

  Even Lisa’s brother, Paul, had gained more for selling his photos than she had for keeping her word to Lisa. And Todd… Her mouth twisted at the memory. He’d taken the information she’d shared with him in confidence and used it to further his own career while her honesty had done nothing but get her screwed.

  Rita’s fists clenched at the memory. If she told the dragon prince sleeping inside the cliff the truth, she was going to lose the story and have Ultrima angry at her.

  She stared at the dragon in front of her, uncertainty freezing her mind and twisting her stomach. She was still doing this for the right reasons, to tell the public the truth, that was what counted, right?

  And she wasn’t stretching the truth far. If she hadn’t known Ultrima’s passphrase, this dragon would have attacked Warrian. He would have attacked her. She wouldn’t be able to wake him at all without Ultrima’s help. She kind of owed the enemy leader.

  She would tell Warrian the truth eventually. A few days wouldn’t hurt. His clan was doing fine without him.

  So despite the slight feeling of discomfort that remained in the back of her mind, she told the silent dragon in front of her, “I’m going to need your help.”

  He stared at her. One dragon eyebrow raised.

  Well, it was better than an outright rejection.

  “Ultrima wants me to keep this dragon away from the Rian clan. And to do that, I need you to chase us.”

  Was it her imagination, or did the dragon’s lips turn up in a grin? Could dragons grin? His expression didn’t look any less fierce, but then again, perhaps her fear was biasing her. He hadn’t said no, so Rita pushed on.

  “Don’t hurt us or injure us. I’m sure Ultrima wouldn’t have sent me if he wanted this dragon dead, he just wants him out of the way, right? You can look fierce and scary without hurting us, can’t you?”

  For a moment, she thought he was going to ignore her again, but eventually he said, “Warrian is not stupid. He will not be fooled by a dramatic show.”

  He had a point. But Rita knew something he apparently didn’t. “Let us make it into the car before you actually use your lightning.” She pointed to her vehicle. “Even if you hit it, you can’t hurt us. And then you can let us outrun you. I know I can, I’ve done it before.”

  This time, Rita imagined a hint of respect on the dragon’s face. He regarded her consideringly for a few moments, then nodded. “As you wish.”

  Somehow, he seemed a little less scary after their discussion. Though when Rita thought about what she’d just asked him to do, a shiver went up her spine. She must be crazy, to be doing all this for a story. But there was no way she was backing out now. She was too close.

  She stared at the silver dragon in front of her for a moment, but he didn’t move. Didn’t so much as blink. Rita took a deep breath and stepped around him cautiously. Once she was past him, she headed for the cliffs, trying not to glance back to check on him every few steps.

  If he was going to chase her, no amount of knowing that would change the outcome. And she had a job to do.

  By the time she reached the base of the cliff, she was already covered in sweat, and she’d only walked twenty metres. She shrugged off the discomfort and stared at the jagged stone walls that towered above her head. Hopefully this chamber, whatever it was, was at ground level, because she hadn’t even thought to bring climbing equipment.

  She glanced backwards, but the Trima dragon was still standing where she’d left him, watching her. She didn’t think he was going to help her, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask him for more help. Not before she’d had a good look herself, anyway.

  Rita walked the length of the cliffs, all the way to the south end, where Ultrima had said the entrance was. But she could see nothing. No caves, no indents, no changes at all in the uniformity of the cliffs.

  If it weren’t for the presence of the Trima guard, she might have thought Ultrima had sent her out here on a wild goose chase to get rid of her.

  But the guard’s presence reassured her she was in the right spot. He hadn’t been out here guarding nothing. The chamber had to be here somewhere. Her eyes swept the cliff again.

  That was when she saw it.

  Hidden in the jagged, black rock, was a small circle. Its outline was too perfect, too smooth in amongst the rough rock, to be natural.

  When she stepped closer and stared at it more carefully, she saw an image in the middle of it. It looked like… maybe a bucket pouring something? Rita’s eyes widened. Was this what she had been looking for? It wasn’t really a keyhole, but it was something.

  Trouble was, how did it work? She put down her bag and stared at the indent. While she considered her options, she pulled out her camera again and took a few photos. Best to document everything.

  The circle seemed to be carved in the rock, she didn’t see how it could be a key of any sort. She hung her camera from her shoulder by the strap and ran her hands over the shape. What sort of key would fit in this lock?

  Well, a round circle of some sort, probably that had a similar image on it. Then… well, it probably turned. Trouble was, how was she going to manage that without whatever fitted into it?

  She stared at the tools she’d brought. She hadn’t happened to have a lockpick, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t have helped anyway. This was no ordinary lock.

  The hammer she’d brought wasn’t going to help either. And probably not the screwdrivers or the wire cutters. Rita frowned. Maybe she’d have to go back to town and find something, but she had no idea what.

 

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