Then one of the men grabbed her arm and tried to pull her into his lap.
I leaped to my feet with a roar and overturned our table before I could control myself. Balor blazed red-hot and grabbed me with both hands. I didn’t mean to fight him but every fiber of my being was tearing to get to Cora.
“She’s fine. Look. She would have dressed him downright hard if you hadn’t exploded like a damned fool.” Balor could not overpower me but his aura managed to burn through my rage.
I let him escort me outside but I refused to get in the car or go anywhere.
“Get in the car or we talk about this right here and right now,” Balor growled.
“Talk about what?” I snapped but it was useless. There was no way to excuse the way I had behaved.
“The woman is important to you. How important?” he asked.
I rubbed both hands over my face and got my breathing under control. “I don’t know. I don’t know! I couldn’t control myself, Balor. You filled my head with all that nonsense about the mating call but she’s a human and I’m a dragon. End of story. So, what’s your worry?”
Balor leaned heavily against my perfectly polished car. “The mating call, I didn’t tell you everything I know.”
My advisor had traveled the world, had cultivated connections in every ancient clan, and claimed more wartime brothers than anyone. If there was something to be known, Balor knew it. I respected his information, but I also found myself peering in the narrow window of JJ’s Bar to get a glimpse of Cora.
“It isn’t common but it is an increasing occurrence,” he told me.
“What?” I snapped, frustrated and wanting to charge back inside.
Balor sighed again. “The mating call has happened between dragons and humans. It is a very real possibility.”
“Nonsense.” I dragged my eyes back to him. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am deadly serious” Balor said. “I’ve heard that if the call is not answered there are dire consequences, mostly on the human side, but still it is not something that can be avoided, no matter the dragon.”
I wrenched open the passenger door. “Enough. Perhaps you were right about the claiming of the land ritual and its frustratingly celibate side effect, but other than that, you’re an old fool.”
Balor was wise enough to shut his mouth and we drove back to my new home in silence.
Chapter Five - Cora
All of JJ’s Bar fell into a shocked silence after the white-haired stranger flipped his table. I saw him do it and the heavy old table seemed like no more than dried leaf to him. Then, every set of eyes watched as his burly companion forced him outside. Once the door swung shut, the stunned patrons broke out in a flood of gossip.
“Totally a planned stunt. Maybe he’s one of those flashy t.v. wrestlers.”
“Bet his hair turned white in a war or something.”
“That’s the last we’ll ever see of those two.”
The men at the front table all congratulated themselves on saving me from such a vicious customer. They seemed to have completely forgotten they were harassing me just seconds before he exploded.
Maalik. Again, the name rang out in my mind. Could his enraged display have been because of me?
Wishful thinking, I told myself. Besides, I didn’t need any saving.
“Whoa, Cora, are you alright?” Liz rushed around the bar as I collapsed onto one of the stools. “You’re so pale. Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine. That was just. . . intense.” I didn’t know what else to say. How could I tell my new friend that I thought the white-haired stranger was somehow linked to me?
She seemed to catch my train of thought. “It didn’t even seem like they were arguing. Personally, I don’t think he liked when those guys tried to get you to stay at their table.”
“Creeps.” I shot the front table a glare but dismissed them as a wave of nausea swept over me.
“You can go home early, Cora. You really don’t look like you feel well.” Liz hugged my arm and studied my face with concern.
“No, no. I’m fine. And if I go home now the people of Argo Heights will think I’m one of those women who faint at the first sign of trouble or something.” I forced the sick feeling out of my head and stood up.
“Fine. Be stubborn.” Liz dodged behind the bar, grabbed a clipboard, and shoved it at me. “I need you to go to the store room and do inventory.”
I raised an eyebrow at my generous friend and then headed to the dimly lit and gloriously quiet store room. One glance between the spreadsheet and shelves told me that everything was entirely in order, but I went through all the motions anyway. I needed a chance to replay what happened away from all the speculation and chatter.
Looking back, I realized how familiar the man called Maalik had seemed as soon as he entered. Liz had been teasing me about waiting for someone and then the instant he walked through the door, I had felt as if my time in limbo was over.
His appearance was startling but there had been an immediate draw. I had been looking for the mysterious force that had pulled me to Argo Heights and that feeling had amplified the moment he walked in. All the answers had been sitting right there but what did I do?
“Stared at him like fool,” I reminded myself out loud.
And he had stared back.
I thought about his icy green eyes and another wave of dizziness had me groping for the nearest shelf. The tidy store room disappeared and I found myself blinking at a large and elegant four-poster bed. The room beyond had tall Gothic windows and a silhouette there gazed out into the dark night.
“Everything going alright?”
I smothered a shriek. “Oh, Liz! You scared me to death!”
Liz shot me a worried look but, thankfully, decided not to say anything beyond, “thought you might want to know it’s closing time. I’ve got the bar handled, so when you’re done here you can head home.”
***
It felt strange to walk back out into the bar and find it empty. My eyes immediately went to the table Maalik had flipped but everything was back in order. Almost as if he had never appeared at all. Except he had and I swore I could still feel him.
I headed outside and stopped under the first lamp post that lit the parking lot. The hairs on my arms rose and I looked around but didn’t see a soul. Liz’s truck was the only other vehicle and everything was quiet. Why did I feel like I was being watched?
I moved slowly to my car, watching to catch sight of any movement. The watched feeling wasn’t scary or evil but it didn’t strike me as good either. I felt protected, but in such a fierce way that I half expected all the passing cars on the nearby highway to be blown back.
The feeling didn’t wear off until I was safe in my new apartment and the door was locked behind me. Having seen a dozen horror movies, I decided to skip the shower and go straight to curling up in bed with the light on. Under the warm covers, the strangeness of the entire night finally melted away and I was finally able to laugh it off.
Must be exhaustion, I told myself and flipped off the light.
Chapter Six - Maalik
I opened my eyes and cursed the east-facing windows of my bed chambers. The Gothic windows were tall and narrow but there were three in a row so there was no escaping the bright sunrise. Or the fact that I had just suffered through my third night in a row with no sleep.
“Putting curtains up is number one today,” I muttered to myself even though I knew they wouldn’t make a difference.
The night before, I had tried sleeping on the couch in my new cozy den, a west-facing room with heavy velvet curtains, and it hadn’t made a bit of difference. No matter where I tried to lay down my head, the longing for Cora was still there.
And Balor hadn’t helped at all. He’d suggested warm milk, then special tea, and then copious amounts of bourbon but nothing gave me a minute’s rest. I’d even caught him piping relaxing sounds into my bed chamber from a stereo set-up in the hallway but the songs of w
hales had done nothing but irritate me. Now all my advisor did was creep around trying to be as quiet as possible in case I managed to drift off.
I dragged myself out of bed and headed down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Why skip tasty caffeine if I wasn’t sleeping anyway? I found Balor in the kitchen poring over a stack of old books that had arrived in the mail. He jumped out of his chair and into a battle stance as I surprised him.
“I thought you were sleeping!”
“Then you must be the most unobservant dragon that existed,” I snapped.
“Really? You still didn’t sleep?”
Something about the way Balor’s voice rose as he asked made me suspicious. “Yes. Why? Was something supposed to be different about last night?”
Balor rubbed the back of his neck and then admitted, “I slipped about four sleeping pills in your dinner last night.”
“About?”
“Well, maybe it was more like half a dozen. And they really didn’t help?”
I scowled at him and then found a real reason to be angry. “Are all these books about the mating call?”
“Yes.” Balor pushed one towards me. “I thought you would want to know what you’re up against.”
I poured a cup of coffee despite my advisor’s frown and slumped down into a chair. “What makes you think this is the mating call? Insomnia can have many causes.”
“So, you’re saying the waitress from the bar is completely out of your head?”
“Cora,” I said before I could stop myself. “Her name is Cora.”
Balor gave me a sympathetic nod. “Cora Kingston. I found the notes you wrote on your desk. You researched her last name and found her address in Argo Heights.”
There was no use in denying it anymore. “I’m afraid if I leave the house, I’ll go straight over there. But why can’t we go back to when you thought she’d bewitched me?”
My advisor scrabbled through his books and notes and came up with a list he had written put in his clumsy, scrawling letters. “I’ve been researching the mating call and trying to put together a checklist. I knew you’d resist it unless I, and actual evidence, convinced you.”
I snorted and drank more of my coffee. “All right. Fine. Let’s hear the list and see if I tick off any boxes.”
“You felt an unexplained sense of anticipation in the days leading up to meeting her?” Balor looked at me and sighed. “I already checked that one for you because you were insufferable.”
“I thought that was because I made us claim the land. What did you call it? Our quarantine?”
He ignored me and moved on to the next item. “You felt an instant attraction.”
“She’s a beautiful waitress who capitalizes on her curves by wearing tight shirts to get more tips,” I pointed out.
Balor shook his head. “You couldn’t take your eyes off her.”
“Check,” I muttered into my coffee. As soon as I closed my eyes, I could see Cora as clearly as the first moment our gazes met.
“You feel an emotional and physical connection.”
I bristled. “What does that even mean? An emotional connection? These aren’t things that can be proved.”
“You flipped a table over and would have killed a drunken human just because he touched her,” Balor reminded me.
“Is that on your checklist? Uncontrollable jealous rage?” I asked.
“Actually, it is.”
I swore in a few different languages before laying my forehead flat down on the kitchen table. “I can’t stand it, Balor, whatever it is. Sometimes I think I can see exactly what she’s doing at that very moment.”
“Really?” My advisor headed for the door. “Now, that’s something we can prove.”
He was gone before I lifted my head, so I dropped my forehead back down and tried to sleep there, slumped over at the table. I was starting to think it might actually be working when my phone rang.
“What?” I snarled at Balor.
“Try the vision thing again,” he said. “Close your eyes and try to see what Cora is doing right now.”
“It’s too early for this. She’s probably sleeping like a sensible and very lucky human.”
Balor waited on the phone so I decided to humor him. I gazed across the kitchen and let my eyesight go a little fuzzy around the edges. Then I focused my thoughts on Cora. “She’s at the grocery store. I don’t know. Buying pancake mix?”
“Exactly.”
I groaned. “This can’t be happening.”
“But it is,” Balor’s breath caught. “In fact, she’s looking around as if she knows she being watched.”
“Maybe you’re a terrible stalker.”
“No, I’m outside in the car. She’s glancing over her shoulder like someone is standing behind her.”
“Just stop, Balor,” I pleaded. Then I hung up the phone and let my forehead drop back to the kitchen table with a bang.
He walked in a few minutes later and announced. “It’s official, Maalik. You are under the mating call.”
I forced myself to stand up and face my advisor. “And what exactly does that mean? Do you really think my father is going to let me go through mating with a human? Would you like to tell him what you are suggesting I do with the Devereux name?”
Balor shrunk back an inch but stood his ground. “Even your father knows the mating call cannot be ignored. The consequences are too risky.”
“I can fight it,” I declared.
“If you do, you’ll likely go insane. And you will definitely attack any males that come between you and Cora.”
I gripped my aching head with both hands. “You and I will leave here and travel the world. The feeling will have to fade when we are continents apart. I can handle it.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Balor admitted. “You run the risk of losing control, killing someone, or, worse, taking her too violently. Cora, on the other hand, will most certainly die.”
I couldn’t have that. Every ounce of strength I had cried out to protect Cora, no matter what. No matter that it meant giving up my chosen life, angering my father and ruining our bloodline, and mating a human. I had to answer the call.
Chapter Seven – Cora
I was almost getting used to the feeling of total exhaustion when the hunger hit. It had been days since I had slept a wink but now it felt like I had gone without food forever. The gnawing hunger sent me straight to the grocery store where I stocked up on every imaginable meal and snack. My stomach ached and I was sure I’d gained a few pounds eating pancakes for hours on end but nothing satisfied.
The sound of my phone ringing did nothing but inspire me to order a pizza.
“How are you feeling?” Liz asked when I finally picked up.
“Have you ever known anyone who had a tapeworm?” I asked.
Liz laughed. “No. And I’m sure that’s not what you have, but have you checked your temperature?”
“It’s normal,” I said. I didn’t tell her that despite the normal reading on the thermometer, I felt as if I was under noonday, summer sun all the time. Even as we talked, I could feel sweat beading on my back.
“Well, you might want to check again and take the night off. Any luck getting a good eight hours of sleep?” Liz asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But I’m going to take a nice long nap before work tonight. Don’t worry about me.”
“All right, Cora. If you change your mind or if you feel worse later, call me.”
“Will do. Hey, Liz? What was the name of that old mansion that you and Danny were talking about?” I asked.
“Why? Wanting to take a historical tour of Argo Heights?” she asked.
“Please. Just humor me.”
Liz hesitated, clearly worried about me, but then said, “Burton Mansion. Named after one of the founding families of our tiny little town. They say you can see the stone outcropping Argo Heights was named after from the front windows.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know if it’
s a, what-do-they-call-it, a Gothic Revival?” I bit my lip, wondering if she would declare me insane or not.
“I’m not much of an architectural buff, but I do know the place was recently sold to a man by the name of Maalik Devereux,” Liz said.
I gasped. “You found out his last name?”
“You’re welcome. Now promise me you’ll take care of yourself. The mansion’s been around for nearly a century and since he’s bought it, I doubt he’s leaving town anytime soon. Take a nap and feel better, please.”
I had promised Liz I would take a nap and I fully intended to do so but first, I looked up the Burton mansion on the internet. An old listing was still up but it only displayed an exterior shot. No searches brought up the ornate fireplace I swore I had seen during my dizzy spell, so I studied the outside of the mansion. There, on the second floor, were the tall Gothic windows I had seen from the inside.
That had to be where Maalik was living. I knew it was crazy to believe that but I felt so certain. I was sure he was there right now. When I closed my eyes I felt the same vertigo and suddenly, a silken comforter appeared in front of me. I took a long deep breath and then tried to look around inside the vision.
There, next to me was a long and lean form, stretched out across the large four-poster bed. I watched as he turned over and stretched, the cover slipping dangerously low over his naked stomach and down over his tapered hips. A little moan escaped my lips and Maalik shot straight up in bed.
The vision ended abruptly with my panic – what if he knew I had seen him?
I waited tensely for a few minutes but nothing happened, so I sighed and got up to draw myself a bath. Since I really needed the sleep, I pulled out all the stops: drawn curtains, candles, soothing music, lavender bubble bath, and steamy water. I only paused a moment before dropping my towel to wonder if Maalik was somehow able to see me the way I saw him.
I let the towel slip off my body slowly and then dipped one foot carefully in hot water. If he was having a vision of me, I let him get an eyeful before I lowered myself beneath the frothy bubbles.
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