Read Online Keeper of the Flame by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online Page A

Most women he knew would not have handled this kind of thing with as much aplomb. Well, maybe his new sister-in-laws, and a few of the heartier Lair wives, but not the vast majority of court ladies he’d known. This one was a cut above. She had surprised him and that wasn’t easy to do.
    “I think we’d better go.” Her tone was still calm. “There could be more of them. Eyes are never predictable.”
    Hugh moved away from the poisoned darts, sweeping them into a small pile with his tail. If anyone came up here before it rained and washed away the poison, at least the darts would all be in one place.
    Once clear of them, he crouched, extending one forearm. “Step on my elbow, then up the shoulder. The best place for you to sit is with your legs hooked in front of my wings.”
    “Like a gryphon,” she commented absently. “Speaking of which…” She turned to Miss, helping her up.
    “Hoo?” The little mewl was plaintive and questioning. Miss needed reassurance.
    “I’m here, little one. Can you hear me?”
    “Hoo!” Little paws bounced on his crest as the kitten settled into place. The lady took a seat behind her with more skill than Hugh had expected. She’d ridden before. No doubt on one of her gryphon charges. Interesting.
    “Yes, sweetheart. I want you to hold on tight and let the lady help you stay in place. When I jump into the air, it may be bumpy at first. All right?”
    “Yess, Hoo.” Her little voice sounded so eager Hugh would have smiled if he could.
    “Are you ready, milady?” He liked the feel of her riding him. It made him think of having her do it while in his man form and he couldn’t help the little growl that came out of his throat accompanied by a trickle of smoke.
    He felt her settle in and reach forward to grab one of the spikes on his neck. Miss was tucked between her arms and her body, as safe as they could get for now.
    “Ready,” she confirmed with a surety in her voice that made him curious about her flying experience.
    One thing he thought he knew for certain…she’d never ridden a dragon before. She seemed to know so little about his land and its inhabitants—if she weren’t misleading him for some reason. He thought with some amount of confidence that he was the first dragon she had ever seen.
    Small by Draconian standards, the black dragons of the royal family were the rarest of all dragons. They alone could take human form at will. They were faster than most dragons and usually more agile because of their smaller size.
    They were also the only dragons who were completely black. All other dragons in Draconia were colorful. Blue, bronze, silver, gold, red, green… Every color of the rainbow, in fact, though some were more common than others. There was even a young ice dragon living at the castle whose scales shimmered like frozen mirrored glass.
    Tonight, though, it was good to be black. With no moon to gleam against his hide, he would remain hidden against the dark sky, even to the keen-eyed gryphons. He’d noticed that few of the birds flew at night. While there were a few darker-coated gryphons, most were lighter colors that weren’t good for camouflage at night.
    The stealthier gryphons were dark brown mostly and they worked the skies at night from what Hugh had observed. Still, they usually didn’t come back to their cliffside dwellings until after dawn. At this time of night, nothing flying should be around to spot the strange black dragon flitting through their territory.
    Hugh launched himself into the sky as smoothly as possible, mindful of the precious burdens on his back. He didn’t want to drop either Miss or the lady. He winged out away from the cliffs and climbed to an altitude where he’d be unlikely to come across anything else in the air. From below, he’d be just another dark shadow against the inky black sky.
    “All right back there?”
    “We’re good,” the lady shouted to be heard over the rushing wind.
    “Where do you want to go?” He