“Damn,” I heard Rafe say. “I hadn’t expected to see him before we reached Colorado.”
I heard Beast growling something I didn’t understand.
The dragon circled us once at a few hundred feet of altitude, and I could see that a man rode on its black shoulders.
“W-what should I do?” I asked.
“Stay calm and for God’s sake don’t go for your crossbow or gun. Let me do the talking,” Rafe said.
A few seconds later, the dragon landed between the highway and us. Dragon, that’s right a fraking dragon. Rafe had told me that Rowle’s familiar was a black dragon. Hearing that was impressive, but seeing the creature was world altering.
The dragon was massive, maybe fifty feet from tip to tail. Its tail made up at least a third of its length and ended in spines similar to those on Beast’s tail, but much nastier looking. The body was thick, at least ten feet thick at the mid-section and supported by four legs that were as big around as an elephant’s. Except that elephant’s legs were cumbersome, where these legs looked like those of a predator and ended in great claws that could have lifted an elephant. Its neck was nearly as long as its tail, but the neck wasn’t skinny like those Chinese dragons in the comics. This neck was much thicker than my body and looked like the dragon could easily swallow a man whole. Its head was T-Rex like, overly large mouth with teeth the length of my forearm.
I wanted to hide behind Rafe and wait for it to go away.
Instead, I swallowed the excess saliva that had filled my mouth, set my shoulders back, and slipped off my bike to be ready to fight.
The man, Rowle I guessed, threw a leg over the beast’s neck and slid to the ground.
He was tall, even at this distance I could see he was over six feet tall, and muscular. His hair was dark, but with red streaks that reminded me of Rafe’s own hair. A dark great coat covered him from neck to ankles, showing nothing else of his clothing except for a pair of black boots. On his head was a black Stetson. Sheesh, I had to admit that he had succeeded at looking the part of an evil bad ass.
I felt a snap of power near me and guessed that Rafe had activated his shield. I couldn’t see it unless we were meshed, but I didn’t see any other sign of him getting ready for a fight.
“Rowle, was that little ambush yours?” Rafe asked.
Rowle stopped about thirty feet from us. “Always to the point, eh, Raphael?”
“When I’m dealing with you.”
Rowle smiled, it almost made him look friendly. Then he looked directly at me, and his smile lost any sign of appearing friendly. “You’ve found an apprentice. Good for you, but a woman? What was Verðandi thinking?”
“She’s as qualified as any of us were when we were reaped,” Rafe said.
“Oh? Killed in actual combat and not some accident?” He studied me long enough to make me feel like a target and then finally cast his gaze back on Rafe. “Well, I’m not here to judge your apprentice.”
“Why are you here, Rowle?” Rafe demanded.
“I just wanted to see if you have given my proposal its proper contemplation. How about it, Rafe, ready to join me? Of course, you can bring your apprentice,” he added.
“I gave you my answer the last time we met. I’m not one who changes his mind about such matters.”
“But that was before you started practicing night magic,” Rowle asserted. He smiled again, this time, it was as if he had won a point in this pissing contest.
“News travels fast,” Rafe said. “Where would you have heard such things?”
Rowle shrugged, the great coat moved up with his shoulders high enough for me to see the tops of his boots.
“I have my sources. I’m not the only one involved. I told you as much the last time we talked.”
“Yes, but I seem to recall that you left out a few details during that conversation,” Rafe said with a growl that was almost Beast-like.
“Oh, what details are those?”
“Just that you had killed off my fellow Wanderers. Why didn’t you brag about that, Rowle?” Rafe snarled.
Rowle’s palms spread and turned upwards at his waist. “Raphael, what good would that have done? I’m no braggart and if I couldn’t impress you on the importance of joining me without the threat of a similar fate, why would you trust me?”
“I’ve never trusted you, Rowle. You’ve killed those I consider my family, and I will never join you.”
“I gathered as much when I heard of your using night magic. I told you that you would never defeat me without it and yet if you use it, I predicted you would come around to my way of thinking.”
Rafe cleared his throat noisily and then spit onto the ground between them. “Tell me something, Rowle, since we’re being honest.”
“Certainly, Raphael, what question weighs on your mind?”
“Why didn’t you ever get an apprentice? Did Verðandi realize what you were becoming or is it that you had to kill your apprentice because he wouldn’t join you?”
Rowle blinked sharply. He stared from Rafe to me, and I felt my spine chill under his gaze.
“When you finally decide to join me, I will give you your answer,” Rowle said.
“What’s your next move, Rowle?” Rafe asked, ignoring the larger man’s prediction. “The page with the first element of the spell was lost during our last encounter. How can you open the portals without it?”
Rowle grinned again and turned back toward his mount. “That would make it too easy for you. You’ll have to figure that out on your own.”
He levitated onto the back of his dragon and took a long quiet look at Rafe. Finally, he said, “It’s always good to see you, Raphael. Some things in life are worth waiting for, and you joining me is one of them.”
He
