To Bind a Dragon - Dragon Affairs, Book 1

01. Witch of Water

— Oli —

Olívia would rather have a Mystic Hunter rip off her fingernails than stay in that car for another second, but it was too late to leave. After almost four hours in a traffic jam, the SUV had finally left the expressway and passed the third of the tollgates around São Paulo.

The Dragon Den should be close now.

As they left the big city behind, the lights from the few other cars pierced through the heavy rain and the SUV's darkened windows. Oli's muscles hurt; they were coiled and trembling, trying to keep her legs and arms as far away as possible from the two people in the front seats—something that was especially hard to do while she was the target of a Nightfall spell. She was shaking, teeth chattering, the cold of a spring shower cutting right through her drenched sourcerer robes, tights, and into her bones, lucky underwear and all. On her lap, her heavy duffel bag had thrice its weight, the rare books inside probably ruined.

It didn't make sense to be this cold when she was locked in a car surrounded by dragons.

Step one, make the Matriarch like her. Step two, stay far away from the Hellbringer.

Oli exhaled as she repeated her mantra as the lights died down outside. The two cars were alone on the highway with nothing but darkness all around. The perfect place for a murder.

"Something wrong?" said the driver in a monotone. Heloísa. It wasn't the first time she was speaking; there was so much contempt and anger in her voice, it was quite easy to tell it apart from the others, even in this magical darkness. Unlike before, Oli registered a faint red light in the rearview mirror. If it weren't for the Nightfall Spell, she would think it was a trick of the light. She knew it wasn't; those were supernatural eyes.

Heloísa, the highest-ranking dragon in here, was watching her.

Oli watched her back.

"Nothing wrong," Oli lied. "Why?" Short sentences would have to do—she couldn't say more than two words with a steady voice.

Heloísa made a hissing sound, something that tickled Oli's ears as words, but not quite.

"You're quiet. You were anything but while your Witch-daddy was convincing me to take you home."

"Honorable Marcus is t-the head of the C-Council, not my...witch-daddy. T-that's so many levels of we-weird," Oli mumbled. She sighed—trembling—and hugged her bag tighter. "You make it sound like I'm someone's cute girlfriend in front of a club in Barcelona at four in the morning."

Heloísa chuckled, then cleared her throat.

"That's so specific," said the person in the front passenger seat. Alex, if she wasn't mistaken. The only dragon so far who didn't seem to regard her with open hostility. "Something that happened to you?"

"Not...exactly." Oli cleared her throat. She was on the receiving end of that offer; Oli was quite fond of the memory.

This was an opportunity, though. Oli's therapist had always told her that the first step to connecting with someone was to find something in common. And yes, she was here on a mission for the Council and for her family, but if she could maybe make some friends before she used everyone and ultimately ruined everything, that would be a nice plus!

"Did you ever g-go to Barcelona, Alex? It's such a b-beautiful, welcoming p-place." She leaned forward in her seat, and the mass of swirling darkness followed. "I used to go there all the time with my sister for the sourcerer c-conventions there." She smiled; the cold didn't bite as hard as before. "Do d-dragons have that as well? Dressing all c-cute and fancy and talking about magic for hours—and then going out to eat and drink together? Isn't that just great?"