“Honey, ease up a little,” he said.
She stared blankly at him before staring at their linked fingers. She relaxed her grip. “I’m sorry.”
“They know where we are!” A wild-eyed dragon, his dark hair sticking straight up in short spikes pushed through the crowd toward Walter and the other elders. “They know where we are, elders. We must prepare to defend our clan.”
“They only said the city,” Walter said. “You must be calm, Mateo. The humans don’t know where our clan is, only that there is a clan in the -”
“They know.” Javee approached with Matalis’s tablet in her hand. She showed Walter the screen. “Norris posted the exact locations of over twenty clans online. Ours was one of them.”
“Why would he do that?” Sika whispered.
“Because he went mad,” Kaida said.
Walter was staring at the other elders with a look of blank shock on his face. The hum of excitement and fear grew louder in the room and a few of the dragon shifters started to drift toward the door of the cabin.
“Come, my clan!” Mateo shouted. “We must prepare ourselves for war with the humans. They will be here soon!”
He pushed his way toward the door and Bren stared at Kaida in alarm when a bunch of the shifters followed him.
“ENOUGH!”
The powerful voice stopped the dragons in their tracks and sent a shiver down Bren’s spine. He turned to stare at Cadmus who hopped nimbly onto the top of the table and clapped his hands sharply.
“My clan, be quiet and listen closely.”
The dragons quieted down immediately, staring up at Cadmus as the elderly dragon folded his hands behind his back. “We knew this day may come and now that it has, it is important that we remain calm. Yes, the humans know we exist and where we are, but we cannot and will not panic. This is our new reality, and no one in this clan will do anything to humans or shifters who approach us. Is that clear?”
The dragons nodded, giving each other uneasy looks as Cadmus smiled down at them. “I know you are frightened, my clan, but it will be all right. For too long, we have walked this line and now our future lies before us – new and uncertain. But as long as we remain together, we will be all right.”
“What if they attack us?” Mateo said.
“They won’t,” Cadmus said. “Not if we show them that they have nothing to fear from us.”
The elderly dragon spoke reassuringly, but Bren could still feel the nervousness from the crowd of dragons that surrounded him.
“We all knew the risk of banishment and what a mad dragon might do or say. We must now live with the consequences of our choices. The council will speak with the other clans and formulate a plan. For now, return to your homes,” Cadmus said.
“What about this human?” Drago pointed at Bren.
“What about him?” Kaida said.
“He’s been sentenced to death,” Drago said.
Bones rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me? The entire world knows of our existence, Drago, and you’re worried about one puny human?” He glanced at Bren. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Bren said.
“The human is not to be touched,” Cadmus said. “He is free to go.”
Kaida squeezed his hand and he could almost see the tension leaking from her body.
“Go, my clan. Return to your homes,” Cadmus said.
Kaida pulled him toward the door, pushing past the other dragons until they were at the door first. “Time for you to go, Bren.”
“I can stay,” he said.
She shook her head as she opened the door of the cabin and they stepped outside. “No, it’s best for you to go.”
He followed her to his vehicle. “Kaida, I -”
“Please, Bren.” She glanced at the other dragons. “My clan is afraid and sometimes when dragons are afraid, they make choices they’ll regret later.”
“Like burning me to a crisp?” he said.
“Please go,” she said.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. He wanted to kiss her but settled for awkwardly patting her arm. “The humans will get used to the idea of dragons existing.”
She smiled wearily at him before backing away. “Good-bye, human.”
“Good-bye, Kaida.”
* * *
Kaida parked her car, grimacing when the reporters immediately blocked it in with their vans. They jumped out and crowded around her car, shouting questions at her through the glass as the flashes of the cameras nearly blinded her.
She stared grimly at the steering wheel. She’d made a mistake coming to Bishop’s office. She should have known the reporters that had descended on the clan this morning would follow her.
But she’d needed to talk to one of her best friends, needed to admit how afraid and confused she was and, guilt crept into her, she’d needed to be away from her clan for a bit. The entire clan had spent most of the day in the community cabin and their combined anxiety was making her dragon go a little crazy.
It kept asking for Bren, kept begging her to go to him, but after texting him this morning and not hearing back, she hadn’t texted again. Maybe he was at work and busy, or maybe he wanted nothing to do with her ever again.
Her clan had, after all, voted to murder him last night.
“Hey!” She heard the muffled shout of the reporter pressing up against her door as he was pushed out of the way and Bishop bent down to peer at her through the window.
Relief flooding through her, she opened her door and stepped out of the car. The steady clicking of pictures being taken was an annoying buzz in her ears, and the microphones being shoved toward her made her dragon growl in annoyance.
She soothed it as Bishop snarled at the half a dozen reporters crowded around them. “Get back, now!”
She realized that Mal and Kat were standing behind Bishop and they pushed and shoved the reporters back as she and Bishop walked toward their office building.
“How dangerous are you?” A reporter shouted.
“How big are you? How many dragons are in your clan? Is it true that you can speak the human language when you’re in your dragon form?” Another reporter spat rapid fire questions at her.
“Who does your hair colouring?” A third reporter shouted.
Kat hissed at the reporter who tried to dodge by her. “Get any closer to her and I’ll kick your ass.”
The reporter scooted back. “God, lady, you don’t have to be such a bitch.”
“Go on and go home,” Mal said calmly as he stopped in the doorway of the office building. “She won’t be making any statements and you’re not going to get any footage of her turning into a dragon. You’re wasting your time.”
He shut the door and, to Kaida’s surprise, none of the reporters followed them into the building. As they took the elevator to their floor, Kaida said, “Thanks, you guys. I appreciate your help.”
Kat squeezed her arm. “No problem. How are you doing?”
“Okay. It’s still a little surreal.”
“I bet. Did you know the dragon who outed you?” Kat asked as they stepped off the elevator and walked to the office.
“Knew of him,” Kaida said, “but never actually met him. He was in Belinda’s clan in Los Angeles. He was banished, went mad, and revealed our existence before committing suicide.”
“Why was he banished?” Mal asked.
“I don’t know. Cadmus and the other council members haven’t told us and with everything that’s happened, none of us have thought to ask.”
She followed Bishop into the office. “Cadmus has been warning the other clans for years that this very thing would happen, but they wouldn’t listen. Now…”
She trailed off as Willow hurried out from behind the reception desk and gave her a hard hug. “Hi, Kaida. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks, Willow.”
“Will, would you mind getting Kaida a cup of tea?” Bishop asked.
“Of course not. I’ll bring you one too.” Willow smiled
at Kaida before heading to the small kitchenette.
“Come into my office,” Bishop said.
She sat in one of the comfortable leather chairs and Bishop sat next to her. He took her hand. “How are you?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call before showing up,” Kaida said.
“It’s fine,” Bishop said. “How are you?”
She could feel the sting of tears and she blinked them back. “So much has happened in the last seventy-two hours. I don’t even know where to start, my bear.”
“Start from the beginning,” Bishop said as Willow set two cups of tea on his desk and left, shutting the door behind her.
* * *
“You weren’t kidding about a lot happening,” Bishop sat back in his chair.
Kaida sipped at the now lukewarm tea. “I told you.”
“How is the hatchling doing?” Bishop asked.
Kaida smiled. “Good. His scales are starting to fall off. The naming ceremony hasn’t happened yet, but I expect it will happen soon. He’s beautiful and healthy.”
“Well, tell Jarvis and Sika I said congratulations,” Bishop said. “Have you talked to Matthews since…”
Kaida laughed bitterly. “Since the council voted to burn him alive? Nope, haven’t heard a word. Shocker, huh?”
“It just happened last night,” Bishop said. “He’s probably busy at work.”
“Probably,” she said.
“Look, if you tell anyone I said this, I’ll deny it, but Matthews is a good guy and he wouldn’t be upset with you about what your clan decided.”
“I challenged Bones.” Kaida didn’t look up from her hands but she could feel Bishop stiffening in his chair.
“You challenged Bones? Do you have a death wish?” Bishop almost shouted.
“He was going to burn Bren alive. What did you expect me to do?”
“Kaida,” Bishop took her hand, “are you in love with Bren?”
She refused to meet his gaze, instead studying their clasped hands. “It doesn’t matter if I am. I’ll never see him again. Even if he wasn’t angry about the clan agreeing to murder him, he can’t bring Tyler back to learn to fight. We have reporters all over our land and if the senator saw Tyler and Bren with us…”
“Shit would hit the fan,” Bishop said.
“Yeah. Anything I might have had with Bren is over. It ended the moment humans found out we existed.”
“It doesn’t have to be over,” he said. “Bren isn’t like his father.”
“It’s not only that,” she said. “A dragon and a human cannot be together.”
“I thought the same thing about humans and grizzlies,” Bishop said.
She smiled a little. “My bear, it is not the same. Even with all of your strength and power, you would never hurt Ava when you mated with her. I cannot say the same. You know that.”
“You never set me on fire when we were together,” Bishop said.
She sighed. “I singed you a few times. The human does not have healing powers. If I lost control…”
“So open a window and point your flame in its direction,” Bishop said.
She laughed despite her misery. “Good to know that all males think the same way.”
They sat in silence for a moment before she said, “Do you have any regrets about being with a human?”
“None,” he said. “Ava is the best thing that ever happened to me. Without her, I’m nothing, Kaida.”
Bishop squeezed her hand. “The detective is tough. I’ll admit, I have a lot of respect for the guy. He saved my life and he doesn’t seem to scare easily. I think you should give it a chance. It’ll be easier now that humans know of dragons’ existence. Right?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll never see Bren Matthews again.”
“You’ll see him at the wedding on Saturday,” Bishop said.
“My bear,” she cupped his face and smiled at him, “I cannot go to your wedding.”
“You have to,” he said.
“I cannot,” she repeated. “The reporters will follow me, and I am not ruining your wedding.”
He growled in anger, and she stood and pressed a kiss against his forehead. “I wish I could be there, my bear, I do. I should get back to the clan. Give Ava my love.”
He stood and took her hand. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kaida put the dishes in the dishwasher and checked her phone. She glanced around almost guiltily, before pulling up Bren’s Facebook profile. They weren’t friends on Facebook, but it looked like he hadn’t posted anything on social media in over a month anyway. She shoved her phone into the pocket of her jeans before pouring herself a second cup of coffee.
It was Friday morning and still nothing from Bren. No phone call or texts. The acid clawed its way up from her stomach and settled in her chest as her dragon made a mournful cry.
Shh, it’s all right.
My mate. I need him. Please? her dragon said.
He is not our mate. You must forget him.
Her dragon made another sound of grief and Kaida pressed a hand against her chest. The ache for Bren was a deep, physical one that had only grown worse since Wednesday night. Straightening, she took a gulp of coffee that made her indigestion worse. Her healing powers were weakened, a side effect of her dragon’s depression and misery, and for the first time in her life, she felt powerless and frail.
My sweet, it will be all right. She purred to her dragon, hoping to bring it out of its misery.
It burrowed down deep, refusing to acknowledge her comfort. Kaida sighed before heading to the front door of her cabin. She stepped out onto the front porch and sank into one of the wooden rocking chairs next to the door.
She stared at the dirt road leading back to the main road. Yesterday, it had been clogged with reporters’ vehicles and the reporters themselves had roamed freely around the cabins, knocking on doors and peering through windows while the clan had remained together in the community cabin.
About half an hour after she’d returned from Bishop’s office, a half dozen police officers had shown up and herded the reporters off their lands. The reporters were still there, just below the crest of the first hill that led to their cabins, but the police had set up a barricade and there were officers posted at the barricade and in a loose perimeter around their cabins.
Bones had spoken to a few of the officers guarding the perimeter and, at one point yesterday evening, her grandmother had gone around handing out bottles of water and freshly baked cookies to the humans.
She could see Cadmus making his way across the clearing toward her cabin and she looked away as her dragon growled. It wasn’t just her dragon that was pissed at the high elder, she could feel her own rage rising.
Cadmus climbed the porch steps and sat down in the rocking chair next to her. She immediately stood, and he said, “Stay with me, Kaida.”
Smoke drifted from her nostrils, but she sat back down. Cadmus smiled at her. “You are angry with me.”
“Yes,” she said.
He pulled his cloak closer as a cold wind blew his long hair into his face. “Tell me.”
“You would have let them burn the human alive. Bren saved the hatchling. He’s a good man and when the council voted to kill him anyway, you didn’t say anything.” The words tumbled out of her, hot and hurt and dripping with fury. “He’s a good man who didn’t deserve the fate the council decided.”
“Are you angry because he’s a good man or angry because the council tried to destroy your mate?” Cadmus asked.
She glared at the old dragon. “Do not speak so foolishly, Cadmus.”
She expected him to be angry with her. Instead, a smile crossed his face. “Valen and I once burned with the same fiery passion that you and your human share.”
“He is not my human,” she said.
“I miss my mate,” Cadmus said.
The grief in his voice dissipated her anger
with him immediately. She reached out and took his hand. “I know. I’m sorry, Cadmus.”
“Did I ever tell you that Valen and I had to seek permission from the council to mate?”
“What? Why?”
Cadmus stared off into the distance. “Even way back then, it was apparent that our kind was having more and more difficulty conceiving. The council at the time was desperate for hatchlings, and Valen and I mating would not have produced any.”
She squeezed his hand. “Did you and Valen want hatchlings?”
“Oh yes. Very much,” he said. “We even discussed going our separate ways and finding other dragons to mate with, in hopes that at least one of us might have a hatchling. But in the end,” a soft smile crossed his face, “we couldn’t do it. He was my love and I was his, and our dragons would not be separated.”
He set the rocking chair in motion, pushing back and forth as he stared at the sky above them. “It took some convincing for the council to allow us to mate and if it hadn’t been for Valen’s father threatening to leave the council and the clan, we may not ever have received their permission.”
He glanced at her. “Dragons are not so different from the humans sometimes when it comes to prejudices and bigotry. My life with Valen was not always easy, but I wouldn’t trade our life together for something that would be easier.”
“Your situation and mine are not the same,” she said.
“It was kind of Bren to send officers to keep the reporters away,” he said.
“We don’t know it was him,” she said. “I haven’t heard a word from him since we voted to burn him alive.”
She could hear the bitterness in her voice, and she pulled away from Cadmus when he squeezed her hand.
“It was him,” Cadmus said simply. “I am sending Drago to join Belinda’s clan.”
She stared in shock at Cadmus. “What?”
“The council and I have been in discussions with Belinda and her council and we have decided to send Drago to join their clan. They too have an open position on their council, and we believe Drago would be well suited to their clan.”
The Dragon's Mate (Book Seven) Page 21