Dragonheat [NOOK Book]

CHAPTER 1

Nikolai Zelenka watched his Rastaban--the leader of the mountain dragons--bend over the newborn babe in his wife's arms. Despite being in labor for over twenty hours, the Rastabana looked radiant, smiling down into the infant girl's face, touching the tiny fingers.

"The twin didn't survive." Rainer Batsakis, cousin to the Rastaban and second in line should something happen to their leader or his family, stopped beside Nikolai in the hospital corridor. Grief colored his deep voice.

Nikolai glanced at him and saw the reddened rims of Rainer's eyes. A dragon baby's death hit them all hard, but Rainer, as the babies' Protector, had been involved with them almost from the moment of conception and so took it harder than most.

Rainer cleared his throat. "Something has to be done."

"Something is being done," Nikolai responded quietly, looking again at the baby. She was a tiny replica of her mother--absolutely gorgeous. Breathtakingly fragile. But she'd already demonstrated a remarkable lung capacity from which his eardrums still reverberated.

"We have a geneticist working on the problem," Nikolai reminded him now.

"A human." Rainer heaved a sigh. "I can't believe we've entrusted our future to a human."

Nikolai shot him a sidelong glance. "Our Rastabana is human, Rainer." He gestured toward the room where the newest addition to their clan rested in her mother's arms. "We've already entrusted our future to a human. And you helped," he added, reminding his friend of the bonding ceremonies they had both participated in the year before.

Rainer scowled. "The Rastabana is magical--a descendent of the Druids. She's something more thanhuman." He shook his head. "This geneticist, Adair, is only a human. Nothing more."

"Maybe, but he's a brilliant scientist. And we need him." Nikolai folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "He could be the key to reversing whatever's causing the rise in the mortality rates of our infants."

Rainer sighed again. "You're right, I know. I just..." He straightened and planted one palm against the wall. He stared at Nikolai with frustration boiling in his gaze. "I don't like not being able to do anything."

Nikolai nodded in agreement. He felt the same way. Give him someone he could fight, something he could put his fists into or throw a stream of fire at and he at least felt like he was contributing. Turning his head, he watched as their Rastaban planted a kiss on his newborn daughter's head and then kissed his wife. He murmured something to her that made her smile.

Giving her another kiss, the Rastaban straightened and walked out of the room, his dark gaze fixed on Nikolai and Rainer. "Graham Adair has disappeared," Zander Lyaksandro said, raking his hand through his hair. "He didn't report to his lab this morning. I don't know what's become of him, but he was close to a solution. That I do know." He looked from one to the other of them. "I want you to find out what's happened."

"Of course." Nikolai glanced at Rainer.

His friend's face had lightened and his eyes glittered with the anticipation of action--finally there was something they could do. He knew exactly how Rainer felt.

For the past few decades dragon births had been on the decline, and certainly not because the females weren't getting pregnant. But they were, for whatever reasons, unable to carry most babies to full term. In many cases of multiple births--like the Rastaban's twins--only one baby survived.

When that happened ... Well, the surviving child was truly a miracle.

"Here's his home address." Zander gave Nikolai a piece of paper. "Go there, see what you can find. Let me know as soon as you have something."

Rainer pushed away from the wall and glanced at the piece of paper in Nikolai's hand. Nikolai could sense his friend's eagerness to be off.

"Tucson, eh?" Rainer lifted an eyebrow. "Well, at least it's someplace with mountains."

Nikolai grinned. "Let's go, buddy. We have work to do."