Noah chuckled. “Oh, you’re going to psychoanalyze me now?”
“Well, that is my job,” she quipped back.
He grinned at her before becoming more serious. His focus moved up and past her as if he were thinking. “I’m dealing.” Coming back to meet her eyes, he went on. “Byrd and I are coming to terms.”
“And was this part of the terms?” she asked, patting him on the chest.
That smile she was starting to enjoy slipped back across his face. “No. This was a pleasant surprise.” His arms tightened around her gently.
Kara reveled in the joy of being held for a second before going back to her line of questioning. “Do you think it will last?”
Noah let out a forlorn sigh. “Probably not.” A look of concentration drove the joy from his face. “I don’t think Byrd’s ready to give up control yet.” He closed his eyes again. “He’s quiet right now, but I think that will change very soon.”
Nodding, Kara changed the subject again. “You know, Daniel wants to know what happened.”
A pained look crossed Noah’s face, and he held on to Kara tighter. “I know, but… Not yet.” His fingers clenched into the back of her shirt as he gripped her.
“Is it Byrd?” Kara asked, trying to remain calm. His body had tensed up, and his grip was almost painfully tight.
He nodded his head.
“Relax,” she ordered. The tingle of magic raced across her skin where he touched her, but he stayed clenched. “Just relax and let go. You won’t win in a fight for control against your dragon. It will only make it hurt.”
Kara watched as he nodded again and loosened his hold. She took a full breath of air and concentrated on being human as the hum of magic against her skin increased. “It’s all right,” she soothed him again. As scales rushed over his skin, she pushed out of his arms before his change called her dragon out. A note of panic hit her when he started to shift into his large form, but he squeaked in pain and shrank into his lesser form.
Worry ate at her as he lay on her bed, recovering from the change. “Byrd?” she said softly, reaching for him. He chirped at her in response, but it didn’t make any sense. She stared at the black collar wrapped around his neck. The way the thick leather pressed into his scales looked painful. She reached out to remove it but stopped before touching it. He had thrown a fit the last time she’d tried to take it off him. She waffled for a moment before checking it.
“Mine,” he gurgled as she touched it, but he didn’t scramble away as he’d done before.
“It’s all right, Byrd,” she said, rubbing her hand down his neck. “I’m not going to take it off.”
Slipping her finger under the band, she checked the fit. As her finger touched the backside of the leather, she felt magic zing across her senses. Something in her clicked as a flood of thoughts and emotions filled her mind. She gasped and yanked her hand back from the collar. The feelings subsided as fast as they’d hit, but now she knew why Byrd was protective of the collar and why he and Noah were progressing so quickly. It wasn’t just a decorative band. It was a spell. Carefully, she reached back and gripped the leather by the edges. She pulled on it to see how snug it was. It was tighter than she liked, but not tight enough to strangle him. “You let me know if this hurts.”
He gurgled something that Kara took to be an affirmative.
“Rest,” she said, patting him on the shoulder and flipping her covers back. “I’ll be back.” She slid out of the bed and dropped the covers over the dragon. Gathering her bathrobe, she pulled it on and headed towards the bathroom. It was going to take her a moment to sort herself out. A flash of light from her carpet caught her attention. A single tear-shaped diamond sparkled in the morning light. She picked it up and cupped it in her hand. It was cool and heavy against her skin.
Closing her hand around the diamond, she lifted it to her chest and headed into the bathroom. As the door clicked shut, she carefully set the gem on the counter where it would be safe. Once Noah and Byrd had worked things out, she’d find the second tear and give them back. Dragon tears were very rare and precious. If he didn’t want them, they would fetch an amazing price online.
Taking Kara’s advice, Noah forced his muscles to relax and let Byrd take over. The pulse of magic swept through him in a familiar way. It was nice, almost comforting, until the pain hit. He squeaked out, unable to make a louder sound past the band of leather strangling the life from him. He tried to move, to rip the leather from his neck, but his limbs were caught between one form and another, virtually unresponsive in his time of distress. The magic moving through him responded to the danger, and the pain in this throat eased. He lay there, gasping for breath.
“Byrd?” Kara called.
Noah tried to answer her, to reassure her, but the words came out all muddled. “Byrd,” he called to his dragon. He could feel the dragon’s energy pulsing through him, but it hadn’t condensed into something he recognized. It was wild and afraid. “Byrd,” Noah called again.
The wild energy snapped into something more familiar and focused on Noah.
“It’s okay, Byrd,” Noah comforted it. “You’re okay.”
The sharp edge of the fear eased away as the dragon’s energy settled. It spiked back up when Kara’s fingers touched the collar on his neck, though.
“Mine.”
Noah grabbed control before Byrd could lash out. “Easy,” he soothed Byrd. “She won’t hurt us.”
Byrd calmed as Kara’s words echoed Noah’s.
“She just wants to check to make sure we’re okay,” Noah reassured the dragon.
Byrd relaxed more as Kara pulled at the collar. A hiccough of magic spasmed through them, but it stopped as quickly as is started.
Noah’s mind reeled as he tried to quiet his distressed dragon while dealing with the wash of emotion that had hit. He didn’t know exactly where it had come from, but it lingered against his mind. A mix of concern and worry that he couldn’t place.
“You let me know if this hurts.”
Kara’s words broke into Noah’s concentration. He gurgled at her, but his mind was focused on his dragon. There was something off about it, but Noah didn’t know what it was. The blanket flipped over him as Kara got up from the bed.
“Rest,” she said, patting the covers over him.
Byrd’s attention immediately went to Kara as she gathered up her robe.
“Byrd!” Noah snapped at his dragon, drawing it attention away from Kara. “What’s wrong?”
There was a soft rumble in his chest as the dragon’s attention drifted away from Noah and focused on the bathroom door, looking for Kara. Since she wasn’t there, it drifted lazily around the room.
Noah chuckled and shifted so he was upright in the bed. “Are you still asleep?”
The dragon rumbled at him grumpily.
“Well, you shouldn’t have been up so late last night bothering Kara,” Noah teased as he wiggled out from under the covers.
“Mine,” Byrd rumbled again.
The urge to go back to sleep pushed at Noah, but he shook his head and got out of bed. “Oh, no. It’s time to be up.”
Byrd grumbled at him.
“Besides, I have to go to the bathroom.” The pressure in his gut was getting to be uncomfortable.