Winter Dragon is on Preorder and comes out July 27 2021
I will have the cover to post here as soon as I get a little correction done on it
“Dude, that rocked!” Justin Greene was having the vacation of his life. He’d taken his best friend up into the mountains to board for two weeks.
Two fucking weeks!
They’d headed out of Grand Junction and crossed the Utah border and had a week of boarding and skiing. Now they were headed up toward Kings Peak, to see what there was to see.
Declan grinned at him from the driver’s seat; his best bud’s green eyes clear as crystal. “Having a good time?”
“Hell yes, man. I’m having a ball.” He loved the whole snow experience. “Maybe we should go snowmobiling.”
“Let’s do it. I’m all over that shit.” Declan bounced. “Find us a place to rent a pair.”
“Yeah, man.” He pulled out his phone, tickled he still had service. “Oh, there’s a place about ten miles up. Which is good. They say the road is closed to the pass.”
“Even with chains?”
“Yep.”
“Dammit. Well, we’ll park and rent for tomorrow, grab us a lodge for a couple days?”
“That sounds like a damn good plan. Hell, we can do some cross-country stuff too. Great cardio.” He just wanted to play, to get out in the powder and ride. Speed. Real speed.
Declan wanted that, too, and he knew it. That and the open spaces. This was the most isolated spot they’d managed to find, and they had to explore. It was a thing.
Neither one of them were scared of being out in the middle of nowhere, after all. They had their phones; they could find their way back to wherever.
They shared a grin, the excitement ramping up again. This was going to be the best trip ever.
Justin knew it.
*
Samuel should have flown.
Why on earth he was so stubborn he had no idea… Well, perhaps he did. He was of the Draic clan. They only came in stubborn, and he knew it well, thanks to his two older brothers and two much older cousins.
That was why he was on snowshoes to check the boundaries of their land, and to make sure the wolves were not causing trouble. To get some peace and quiet, and a little privacy.
The pack was wild at best, feral at worst, and they had a vague truce. The werewolves stayed outside the Draic territory, and they stayed inside it.
That meant it was tough to get to their supplies at times, but they could do it. And they did have a fairly wide range of territory up here in the Uintas. It wasn’t like they were going to grow, for fuck’s sake.
The scent of gasoline tickled his nose, catching his attention.
He scanned the area, still, listening. Abraham had taught him that. The wise one. Don’t draw attention. Assess the whole situation first. Especially on snowshoes.
There were wolves, but the sounds of growling and panting were fading. The scent of blood was strong, mingled with the gas.
He slid across the top of the snow more like he was skating, which took effort, even for a dragon. He breathed along the snow in front of him, making it more like ice, so it was easier to approach whatever he would find.
What he came across shocked him.
Two mangled snowmobiles, two humans on the snow, blood leaching out. How the hell had they crossed into packland, much less Draic land?
The smell of the pack was strong, so they had clearly caused this, whether by attack or ambush. He slid close to one of the men, bending to check his pulse.
It was there, thready and weak, but it was there. The second human had a stronger pulse, better color. What the hell was he supposed to do?
They’d made it through the magick. All the wards. Hell, the wolves had come a long way in to take these guys down. And if they had rented these snowmobiles or filed a plan with someone… He couldn’t leave them here to be found dead. He just couldn’t.
Brothers? We have a problem. Understatement, thy name is Samuel.
The first one to answer was Seth, who was always worried about things. What is it?
Men. Here. Inside the veil.
Kill them. And there was Zeke, the old grump unwilling to so much as pretend the world was out there.
No! No, he couldn’t do that. Someone knows they’re out here. They were on snowmobiles. I can’t just leave them.
The pack? Did they hurt them? That came from Abraham, who was always the most reasonable.
Looks like they were here, but it’s a wreck. I need help. They’re hurt.
Leave them. Zeke was such a growly bastard.
I’ll come to help, Abraham told him. Show me where you are. Abe knew every canyon, every tree.
In the bowl near the big tree that has the eagles. He’d known Abe would come. Thank you.
He unclipped his snowshoes so he could kneel next to the man who was hurt worst. Samuel pulled the thin survival blanket out of his pack, unfolding it so the reflective side went in, the black light-absorbing side went out to catch what sun it could. He didn’t want to move the man too much until Abraham looked at him, but he needed to start getting him warmer.
The other one groaned, trying to sit up. “What the fuck happened…”
“You wrecked your snowmobiles.” Samuel fumbled in his pocket, trying to find the sunglasses he kept there just in case. His eyes would never pass for human. “Your friend is hurt pretty badly.”
“Okay. Did you call 911?” A pair of eyes as pale and blue as his met his gaze and he almost fell face first as a sound like a bell threatened to knock him over like he’d been hit with a hammer.
“I-I called for help,” Samuel stammered.
That was no lie, and it was the best he could do.
“Thank you. I’m Justin. This is my buddy, Declan. There was a pack of wolves and we were trying to get away from them.”
“Wow. They say they’ve been reintroducing them up here.” He looked at the sky. Come on, Abe. One of them is awake and talking.
Put him to sleep. Just will him to rest. He’s hurt.
I’ll have to look at him!
If we don’t kill them, that’s going to happen, kiddo.
He took a deep breath and turned to face the man as he took off his sunglasses again. “You need to sleep,” he said as their eyes met.
The man gasped, eyes wide. “You’re beautiful!”
No one, not even his family, had ever said that to him before. “So are you, sweet man. But you’re tired and you need to rest. I’ll keep you safe.”
Samuel put dragon magic into his suggestion.
Samuel swore that the man’s eyes flashed like a dragon’s before he simply passed out.