Black Dragon by Allyson James

Saba Watanabe is a half-Japanese witch who was formerly enslaved by the black Dragon Malcolm, who had been trapped in the human world for 600 years. When, eight months back, Malcolm was freed to return to Dragonspace by the Silver Dragon Lisa Singleton, now married to the Gold Dragon Caleb, he freed Saba and left her behind a set of jewels he called Dragon Tears, which could summon him back to her side should she need him

Saba was glad to finally be free of him, and studied how to resist being marked by a dragon so that she could never be enslaved again. Even though she was glad to be free of Malcolm, she cannot stop thinking of him. Even now, she carries his dragon tears around in her pocket. But when she is assaulted by a white dragon, the fiercest, most evil of all dragon species, on the train on the way home at night, she resists the dragon trying to mark her with his mark, and when he turns to simple physical assault, she clutches the dragon tears and calls out for Malcolm. Malcolm returns and thrashes the white dragon, but he is concerned for Saba. Why should a white dragon, the most cruel, vicious and heartless of their kind, want Saba? Malcolm turns his logical mind to the task, and turns back to his minions, as well as seeking out new allies like Alex, an imp who strangely enough, isn't evil.

Malcolm tries to track down the witch who might have summoned the White Dragon to this world, only to find that she has already been disposed of by the dragon or one of his minions. Saba helps another witch, Annie, find a friend of hers from the local coven, but the witch is the same one who may have summoned the white dragon, and is sent into shock at the sight of her friend dead.

The white dragon, while not appearing in person, does manage to threaten Saba's life in other ways, including sending her a threatening E-mail. While Saba is strong, she was more than a little miffed that Malcolm, who used her as his sex slave, appeared to have totally forgotten about her after he left. As she and Malcolm spend more time around each other, she realizes that she has fallen in love with him, but she doesn't want to admit it, realizing that she would be devastated if he went away again.

Gradually, it becomes clear that the white dragon, who calls himself Roland, is not actually after Saba except as a means to an end. He wants the vast archive of the black dragons that Malcolm has been put in charge of. To do so, he has stolen a book called the Book of Dragons, which holds the image and true name of every dragon in existence. After wiping his own name from the book, he uses Malcolm's true name to kidnap him and take control of him. Malcolm is rescued by Saba and takes her back to Dragonspace with him, to the archive. But the archive is having problems of its own.

You see, the books stored there attract darkness. Normally, the books imbued with light and life energy keep the darkness contained and small. But with the Book of Dragons stolen, the darkness is rapidly taking over the archive, covering everything in a dark shroud. Not only has it doused the lights of the archive, but it has corrupted the "card catalog" that is used to reference the books. Malcolm must call on Saba, who is a computer programmer in the human world, Lisa and Alex, who is a manifestation of Baku, the god of dreams, to defeat the darkness and restore function to the archive. Not to mention deal with another attack by Roland, whose ultimate aim is to use the stored knowledge of the archive to take over Dragonspace. But can the four of them throw back the darkness and defeat it? Or will they fall prey to the darkness, to Roland, or both?

The Black Dragon was an excellent book belied by its cover art. The man depicted on the cover of the book didn't resemble my mental image of Malcolm at all, being entirely too pale, and much, much too fey. To put it mildly, the cover guy looks like he plays for the other team. I nearly put it back on the shelf because of that, and now I am glad I didn't, because I would have missed an interesting, engaging, and humorous story. This book is a sequel to a book called "Dragon Heat", and now I will be going to track down that book, even though Malcolm originally appears as a villain in the book (He's not a villain, but he does have a unique way of looking at the world, even for one of his kind).

The story of how Malcolm comes to realize the witch he left behind is Saba, his witch and holder of his heart, is a heart-warming one. Malcolm, while not tongue-tied, is not a man who can easily sound or even be romantic, but he never lies to Saba and is always willing to discuss things logically. Even though he is driven to mate because he has passed the halfway point in his own long life, he could have any female dragon, but he wants Saba. This book is a wonderful read, and should appeal to men as well as women with its many action scenes.