Finally, he let go of her head but his free hand had caught her by the shin and pulled her from his arm.
Immediately she reached for her skirt and held it up front and back, though thankfully the metal brassiere held her breasts in place when her shirt fell up around her chin.
She blushed when she found him looking at her legs, but she was out of ideas. The dragon was going to do whatever he felt like doing.
"Tell me why I should give you dragon magic," he said, his eyes trailing down over her exposed torso and lingering at her chest with a slight quirk to his lips.
"Well, I assume you like pretty things, your gold and gems. If you don't help, all of that will vanish."
His smile faded and his eyes found hers, her face turning red as blood rushed from the rest of her body.
Letting go of the back of her skirt, she heaved herself up and curled her hand around his forearm, allowing her to tuck her skirt between her legs for modesty.
"Little monkey," he purred, and she lifted two fingers. The rude gesture made him laugh but he didn't let go.
Tilting her head back to look at him upside down, she glared at him.
"If you don't give me your magic, all of this world will be torn down by the Creators and you will lose everything, if you manage to flee to Faerie in time."
He studied her face carefully, considering her. "The Creators lost their magic a long time ago," he countered, and she nodded.
"Yes, but they have it back now and are gearing up to come here. Everything will be gone and most of us with it. You know we all can't fit in Faerie."
Letting go of her leg without warning, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and as she fell against him, he trapped her there, looking down at her.
"You assume I care which world I live in," he said quietly, smiling at her discomfort.
"You care about your hoard. There is no gold or jewels in Faerie. They all came from the humans, so what will you collect then?" she countered.
"Pretty creatures like you and your friends," he said, and his grin grew wide as her triumph faded.
"Creatures die, but gold is forever so long as you look after it. You would give up your gold to run to Faerie like a coward?"
His grin vanished and he glared at her. "I'm no coward, little girl," he snarled, squeezing her against him until she cried out and an ominous crack sounded. He released her as she screamed, feeling the rib shattering inside her.
Gasping, she hung limp in his arms and his eyes went to Daemon.
"You're an ancient, aren't you? How are you involved in all this?" the dragon asked as he cupped the back of her head, keeping it from falling back.
"She's telling the truth, she needs your magic," Daemon sounded tense, the ruby gripped in his clenched fist.
"Tell me why, and I will consider what you say. Why does she need her magic back?"
"Because she is the reason the Creators lost their magic. She took it all and when the lich banished it, it returned to its owners. We are trying to create what she was before. She was a creator, and she was death."
The dragon looked down at her as she lifted her head, the bone knitting back together and whatever organs he had punctured repairing.
"Is that right?" he breathed, and she looked up at him, frowning at his tone.
"You can have the ruby for a trace hint of your magic. That's all I need," she offered but he had begun to smile.
"No, I will exchange you temporarily for the ruby, but for my magic I will insist you return to me once you have your powers back in full."
The room went silent as they considered what he could possibly mean.
"What does that entail?" she asked warily, and his grin seemed to stretch from ear to ear, but he didn't answer her question.
"Do you agree? Your freedom now for the ruby, and your return for my magic. We'll say you will return to me for three months every year for the rest of eternity," he bargained, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Three days," she countered.
"Two months."
"One week."
"Two months," he repeated, and she gritted her teeth.
"One month," she said, and he laughed.
"One month a year for eternity, you will come to me here," he said finally, and she nodded, knowing she would regret it.
He bowed his head to hers and his lips were burning hot as they met hers.
The wolf screamed inside her as something enormous grew out of the shadows inside her soul, a furry and feathered body and massive wings, a large body and trailing tail.
She didn't know when she had begun to kiss him back, the beast inside her calling for him but finally she forced herself back and he laughed, setting her on her feet.
"You are a fascinating creature. Very well, you may go. You will return to me within a month of your magic being returned," he said, and the encircling fire faded, his hand extended for the ruby.
Daemon stepped forward and placed it in the outstretched hand, his eyes on hers as she backed away and into the arms of Kai, who poked at her bruised ribs to ensure the bones had set.
"Goodbye for now, little Creator princess," the dragon said, and flames burst up around him, his tall frame vanishing into nothing. Immediately she turned to Kai and threw herself into his arms, his grip on her painfully tight but welcome and they left the cave quickly in case he decided to come back and mess with them again.
Outside of the cave, she sank to the ground and simply tried to breathe through the fear and stress of the encounter, her head spinning as she tried to settle herself down with so many changes going on inside her.
"It's like with the werewolf, there is a dragon," she breathed, relieved somewhat by the gentle stroking of her hair.
"It's almost like when she was a Fae," Jaia said, irritation in his tone.
"Not exactly. Then it was an addiction, now it's just the desire to collect her. She's powerful," Uzo said, his hand coming down on her shoulder.
She didn't feel powerful, she felt weak and yet she revelled in the magic that was burning inside her, scorching new pathways in her brain and leaving her tingling.
It felt good to be powerful once more.
"How is it he was so much stronger when I have Mara's strength?" she asked.
"Dragons can neutralise magic when they are in physical contact. That's why he kept trying to catch you. As soon as he touched you, it made you only barely stronger than a vampire, which was the last physiological change," Daemon explained
Shaking her head in confusion, she looked up at Kai and he kissed her forehead.
"Seven down," Kai said gently, and she sighed.
"Forty-three left," she said miserably.
They gave her time to recover, but they knew it was time to move on. Any wasted time was a risk, and they were already on borrowed time.
"Why do you think they haven't already pulled this world down?" Etani asked as she fixed her clothing, shaking her head at the offered jacket.
"They will take time to get ready. Bringing down this world isn't as easy as strolling along and ripping down a curtain. It takes preparation, organisation and a massing of power," the demon explained.
"Do you suppose we could delay it somehow? Kill some of them on our way through?" she asked, and Daemon frowned, thinking.
"If they weren't so protected then yes, but I think everyone will be watching them and getting to them might be difficult. We can certainly look into it when we go there for a faun."
"Are the faun aligned?" Jaia asked
"Generally they are Summer, so it will be dangerous and we will need to be careful."
"Summer? Great…" she said with a scowl and Daemon laughed, catching her hand and pulling her closer to him.
"They won't care much about you right now. You're not interesting enough."
She growled, but he only smirked, and they joined hands, allowing him to pull them back into Faerie.