by Zoe Chant
Despite himself, Dante felt a warm glow in his chest as he read the last page of the story. The dragons might not truly be dragons, and it might, as he had tried to explain to his own dragon, all be fiction, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel touched by it. He had never known the kind of family life depicted here in the book. He could only hope that one day, he might be able to provide it for his own mate and their children.
“The end,” Dante said, closing the book on the dragon family. He glanced at the kids. “You enjoyed it?”
“Yeah!”
Dante couldn’t stop himself from smiling. The kids all seemed like they truly had enjoyed the story – he couldn’t say that he’d actually done the character voices like Mercy had told him to, but the kids had seemed to follow the story anyway, following the words with their eyes as he had read them.
“Will you read us another one?” The little girl with the pigtails was looking at him with her eyebrows raised, clearly expecting him to follow her ‘request’ for another story.
“As much as we’d all like that, your teacher will be here in about five minutes to pick you all up.”
Dante glanced up at the voice from across the room. Jessa and Mercy were standing by the door of a side room. Jessa was smiling, but Mercy –
Dante swallowed. Mercy was staring at him as if confused, biting her full lower lip, her dark eyes clouded. He wasn’t sure what to make of that look at all. He had felt her mind briefly touch his earlier, the way a dragon and his mate’s minds should be able to touch, but since then he hadn’t been able to get a sense of her thoughts.
He had only learned the details of mates and their bonds relatively recently, since obviously the manticores had had no interest in educating him about his own kind. But he knew that while he and Mercy were mates, their bond wouldn’t be sealed until he crowned her and claimed her.
Perhaps, after that, their psychic link would grow stronger, Dante thought. That was inconvenient, though – he’d give a lot more than a penny to know her thoughts right now.
“Please, one more story?” Alex, the boy Dante had saved from his fall earlier, spoke up now, his eyes wide with appeal. “Please, Ms. Jessa?”
Jessa laughed. “Maybe if you’re very good, Mr. Dante and Ms. Mercy will come back next week – but for now, we have to finish.” She turned to Mercy. “We’d love to have you back, if you can make it.”
At first, Mercy said nothing, as if she hadn’t heard Jessa’s question. Then, she seemed to shake herself, blinking and turning to her.
“Oh – right. Sure. Well, maybe. I’m usually busy opening at this time. But. We’ll see. I –”
Dante could see the growing amusement on Jessa’s face. Mercy sounded uncharacteristically flustered and unsure of her words. Dante might have only known her for a short time so far, but Mercy never seemed to have been stuck for something to say before now.
“I’ll let you know,” she finally concluded, nodding firmly. “In the meantime, thanks, Jessa – I’ll wait for that email.”
“It’ll be with you this evening,” Jessa said. “Now, I gotta get these little ones organized and into their coats before their teachers arrive.”
Though the kids groaned and complained, Dante managed to give the book back to Jessa and extract himself without too much trouble.
“How much did you hear?” Dante asked her as they made their way back out to the parking lot.
Mercy laughed softly. “Enough to know you weren’t doing the voices,” she said, before flashing him a smile. “But it seemed like the kids enjoyed it all the same.”
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Dante said. “I don’t know how interested in it they were.”
“Believe me, if a six-year-old is sitting still and keeping their mouth shut, they’re interested,” Mercy said with a small laugh. “Clearly you’re a natural. Or you’re being modest about your experience. Did anyone in your family read to you when you were a kid?”
Dante glanced across at Mercy, his heart suddenly thudding in his chest. The words, no, I never knew my family caught in his throat. He had no doubt Mercy would understand and be sympathetic if he told her that he’d lost his parents while he was still too young to remember them. But it was everything else that came with it – the criminal gang who had raised him, the crimes he’d both witnessed and been involved in, the minor jail time he’d done as a result, the fact that he’d even hurt his own clan members – that made things so hard to explain.
Mercy might reject him, and she’d be within her rights to do it. She’d be right to be wary of a man with his past. But before she did that, he had to make sure she was safe from Garrick and his men, and anyone else who might try to do her harm.
“No, they didn’t read to me,” Dante said awkwardly. “We weren’t that kind of family.”
Perhaps Mercy caught something in his tone, because she didn’t press him any further.
“The meeting with Jessa went well,” she said, changing the subject as they reached the car. “She has a ton of old grant proposals lying around that she can adapt to suit what she thinks Roy will want to hear.”
At the mention of Roy, Dante couldn’t help but frown. Thankfully, Mercy had momentarily turned away from him as she got into the car. The memory of the shadow he had sensed around Roy Wilmore still hadn’t left him. But Mercy seemed to trust him, and Roy was offering to do something incredibly generous for the town she cared so much about.
While he might have felt uneasy, Dante wasn’t sure what he could do – yet, anyway. In another situation, this might have been easier: he could transform, seek out Roy, and try to discern what exactly the strange aura surrounding him was. It wasn’t like anything Dante had ever sensed before.
But right now, he couldn’t leave Mercy’s side. Not when Garrick’s thugs could be back at any moment.
A dragon’s place is by his mate’s side, his dragon said, as if he needed any reminding. We cannot risk her being in any danger. She is precious. She is our greatest treasure.
It irritated him, but Dante knew that right now, Roy wasn’t the priority. Once Garrick was dealt with, then he could sort out the man’s strange aura. That might turn out to be nothing, whereas Garrick was a very clear and obvious danger.
“Where are we off to now?” Dante asked, as Mercy backed out of the parking lot.
She glanced across at him. “You’re really serious about this bodyguarding thing? You’re going to stick by me all day?”
“Yes.” The word was out of Dante’s mouth before he could even think about it. “Garrick was foiled last night, which he can’t have liked. He may just be waiting for an opportunity to get you on your own. I’m sticking to you like glue until I can figure out a way to get him off your back – for good.”
Mercy let out a long, slow breath. “All right. Fine. I guess I’m just going to have to live with that.”
Dante nodded. “You are.”
He glanced across at her, and was surprised to find her looking slightly flushed. She kept her eyes dead ahead, her hands clasping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were pale.
Is she frightened? Worried? Does she think I can’t protect her from Garrick and his men?
Then, clear as day, the truth hit him right between the eyes.
Our mate enjoys our presence, his dragon purred. She wants us – we can sense it. You should take her now – fly her to the top of a mountain and show her what it means to be a dragon’s mate.
The thought was tempting, in more ways than one, and Dante had to spend a good long minute struggling against his dragon’s baser desires. It was all so simple, as far as the dragon was concerned. It was difficult to remind it that humans were more complicated than that – that Mercy was more complicated than that.
Right now, showing her what it meant to be a dragon’s mate meant protecting her, ensuring she could do the things she needed to do, helping her to accomplish her goals.
Everything else – the claiming, the crownin
g – could come later.
Provided she doesn’t reject me.
Dante pushed the thought from his mind. That was a thought for another time. Right now, the only thing that mattered was making sure Mercy was safe.
“We’re heading out to my friend Jimmy’s hardware shop,” Mercy said. “He does internships for some of the high school kids – giving them some responsibility, a bit of money. And it’s something to put on their job applications, a reference for employers. But times are tough. He could do with some funding for a proper internship program.”
Dante nodded. “Makes a lot of sense. The kids here have some good people looking out for them.”
Mercy swallowed. “Yeah. But it’s a drop in the ocean, really. There’s only so much we can do.”
“But it’s clear you’re doing everything you can,” Dante said quietly. “Even if you help just one kid, don’t you think that’s worthwhile?”
Mercy didn’t answer him, her eyes on the road. “I want to think that,” she said, after a long moment of silence. “I want to know I’m helping. But sometimes, when I look around me... when I see people I grew up with in jail or headed there...”
“You can’t save everyone, Mercy,” Dante said, his voice gentle but firm. “People have to make their own choices. And sometimes, they take a different path from the one you’d like them to. And they have to want to accept your help.”
Dante frowned as soon as he said the words.
Am I really in any position to be giving a speech about this?
It wasn’t just his past that made him feel strange about what he’d said. Had he been able to accept the help of his clan, when they’d offered it to him? His cousin Darklis had begged him to stay with them, to become part of the family again. Her brother, the clan leader, Stefan, had made it clear that what he’d done didn’t matter – the only thing that mattered was that he was a Novak, and that in the end, his actions had helped to save Darklis and her mate’s lives.
But he’d turned away from them. He hadn’t felt worthy of taking up the Novak name again.
If they asked again now, would I be ready to accept their help?
Shaking his head, Dante pushed the thought from his mind. He didn’t need to be considering things like perhaps or might have been just now. The only thing he cared about right now was making sure that Mercy was safe – everything else could come later.
Sometimes, the dragon’s single-mindedness came in handy. It only cared about the simple things, and saw things in black and white terms.
“You’re a wonderful woman, Mercy,” Dante said. That, at least, truly was a black and white issue. Even if she hadn’t been his mate, Dante would have admired her more than he could say. “You’re kind, smart, dedicated. I’ve never met anyone else like you. When I look at you, I see strength, compassion and beauty. I truly mean it. Never underestimate yourself and the impact you’re having. I wish I’d known someone like you when I was a kid. Maybe things would have turned out differently for me.”
Dante stopped, wondering if he’d revealed too much. He glanced across at Mercy, only to find her biting her lip, as if trying to stop herself from crying.
“Mercy?” Dante asked, alarmed. “What’s wrong? Did I say something?”
Mercy shook her head. “No. No, you didn’t. What you said was... it was wonderful. I...” She swallowed. “I just wish it were true. I’m not as strong as you think I am. I wish I was. But I’m not.”
Dante frowned, his dragon rearing up in confusion as Mercy parked the car, concentrating fiercely on what she was doing.
Our mate does not see herself as we see her? it asked, small flames jetting from its nostrils in outrage at the idea. We must fix this. We must show her how special she is. That she is perfect. That she is the only one for us.
I know, Dante said, as he followed Mercy out of the car. And we will. I promise.
***
“And that’s everybody,” Mercy said, as they drove away from the very last place on her list. “Really, it’d be for the best if we could pool the money and put it toward something holistic that we could all contribute to – but we’ll take this one step at a time. Roy asked for proposals now, so that’s what I’ll get him. I’ll see what we can do once we have a bit more time. I’ll put the idea to him once he can see how much potential there is to do good work here, organize a meeting with everyone.”
Dante nodded. “Makes sense.”
He had watched Mercy all day as she’d explained the situation to people, her enthusiasm never once failing, the spark in her eyes clearly infectious. It was clear people listened to her, respected her. Her force of personality couldn’t be denied: things seemed possible when Mercy talked about them.
She is incredible.
Dante was still bothered by her earlier words about not being as strong as everyone thought she was, but there had been no time to discuss what she’d meant by that in the intervening hours. In fact, it seemed like Mercy was actively trying to make him forget about it – smiling brightly at him whenever she finished talking to one of her friends, before quickly moving on to the next topic. Her demeanor had totally changed.
If she doesn’t want to talk about it, I shouldn’t force things, Dante thought to himself as they pulled up outside the restaurant. Perhaps this isn’t something that can be taken care of with words. Maybe it’s something that can only be shown through actions.
His dragon definitely liked that idea. It lifted its head, jetting smoke from its nostrils.
Our mate would like it too, it said, flicking its tail smugly. You know she would. We can sense it.
Dante cleared his throat, which had suddenly begun to feel somewhat tight as heat pooled within him. Mercy wasn’t only smart, brave and compassionate – she was also the most desirable woman Dante had ever seen, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to go on resisting her for much longer.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her as she pulled up outside the restaurant, his gaze lingering on the full curve of her hips and buttocks as she opened the door and got out of the car.
Everything about her was rounded and womanly – she was luscious and gorgeous and perfect, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Even dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and with her springy black curls pulled into a loose bun, she was a knockout.
“You coming?” she asked, leaning down and looking at him through the open car door.
Dante shook himself, getting out of the car. “Sorry, I got distracted.”
Mercy’s eyebrow quirked. There was a small hint of a mischievous smile on her lips as she said, “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Dante could see the heat in her eyes as she returned his level gaze. Her cheeks were coloring slightly, and his dragon senses could pick out the jump of her pulse in her throat, the way her breath hitched slightly as she let her eyes drift down over his chest.
I can’t hold back any longer. She’s irresistible.
Dante knew it was true. They were drawn together. The mated bond was pulling at them, demanding that it be consummated – that he claim her and crown her as his mate.
He was unable to hold back a low groan in his throat as he pictured Mercy beneath him, hair tousled, face flushed, her mouth open in a cry of pleasure...
Behind you!
Dante was used to obeying his dragon’s instincts without hesitation. He did so again now, ducking down and swinging his body to the side to evade the blow that could have stunned him, had it actually connected with his head.
He’d spent so much of his life fighting that his movements flowed without his conscious will now. Dante swung around, twisting his torso to bring his elbow up, smashing it into the ribs of the man who’d attacked him.
A coward, his dragon seethed as the man staggered back. An attack from behind is the way of a coward. He deserves no quarter from us.
Dante gritted his teeth. As tempting as it was, he pushed the thought aside. He had to keep a clear head – clearly, th
is man had been lying in wait for them. As he watched, another three men appeared from the alleyway by the parking lot, all of them huge, grim-faced bruisers.
“Mercy,” Dante shouted, turning back to where she stood, frozen, by the car. “Get inside. Now. I’ll deal with them.”
Mercy hesitated, her eyes wide. “But –”
“Now, Mercy,” Dante said firmly. “I can handle them myself. But I won’t let you stay here and risk getting hurt.”
“Yeah, I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”
Dante swung back at the sound of the gritty, booming voice. He turned in time to see a bear of a man, his shoulders wide and his forearms like ham hocks, standing in the mouth of the alley. His face was contorted into a smirk, but his eyes were cold and dark.
“Garrick,” Mercy said, her voice shaking a little. “What the hell do you want?”
So this is Harlan Garrick, Dante thought, sizing him up. He was big – but he was human, that much he could tell from a quick glance. His dragon would have known immediately if Garrick had been a shifter.
Dante could take on a human – he could even take on three humans at once, if it came to that. His shifter instincts, speed, strength and healing meant they were no match for him.
Still...
The memory of the last time he’d fought Garrick’s men came back to him. For humans, they’d been surprisingly hardy. He’d needed to hit harder than he should have in order to take them down. In the past, he’d had to hold back when fighting humans to make sure he didn’t cause any permanent damage. But with those guys, he’d had to use almost all of his strength in fighting them, and holding back had only gotten him stabbed.
I’ll know better this time, Dante thought grimly. He didn’t like to fight all-out against humans, but to keep Mercy safe, he’d do whatever it took.
“You know exactly what I want,” Garrick spat out in answer to Mercy’s question. “I’ve made myself completely clear – now that I’m here, you either get along with me, or bad things happen. You haven’t been paying your dues, Ms. Reynolds, and now I’ve come to collect.” His eyes shifted to Dante. “If you’ve got the money to pay for hired muscle, you’ve got the money to pay me.”