Dragon Protectors: Shifter Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  They live down here without plumbing? Just as she thought it, she heard the distinctive sound of a toilet flushing over her head. So some apartments have plumbing and some don’t?

  She wondered if the same was true for the electricity. It seemed beyond bizarre that the apartments even existed when such structures couldn’t have in ancient times. It was a cut-and-paste sort of concept, maybe, the immortals bringing the designs down with them as the times changed, stealing technology from above. If what Reef had said was accurate, there was no government to regulate safety. Then again, what did they care about safety and consumption if they lived forever?

  Stop making your own head explode and focus on something else before you go crazy staring at the walls, Penny scolded herself.

  Her cell phone—which had no service, of course, but still depicted the time—told her that she’d already been waiting in the dingy apartment for over three hours. The scenarios running through Penny’s mind were not getting any better, nor was the linger of Reef’s scent diminishing on her body. She could smell him with every move she made, and she wanted him to come back, despite the tense way they’d left things.

  He said he’s coming back, and he’ll be back, she remembered. With a computer. Because they have universal Wi-Fi. They don’t have universal running water, but they have Wi-Fi.

  Penny worked with what she had, clearing off the dust in corners under the spooky light of the candles emitted, and as she worked, she thought about everything that had happened in the last month: the break-up with Ryland, losing her job, and the fight with her sister and parents.

  Crap! Penny cursed to herself. They’re going to think I’m on a bender or a binge or whatever it is that junkies do. When Reef gets back, I’m going to see if there’s any way to call them. Then she snickered slightly as she thought about how that conversation would go.

  “Hi, Mom and Dad! I’m trapped in another world here on Earth. Am I high? Oh, no, that really happened. Oh, no I can’t come home. If I enter the portal, a deadly pathogen will kill me. Yeah! Love you, bye!”

  If they weren’t going to call the men in white coats before, they definitely would then.

  After two hours, Penny sat back, almost black with grime, and she fell back onto one of the settees, exhausted. She closed her eyes for a few minutes. The toll of the day had rendered her almost catatonic, but she was still too wired to contemplate the idea of sleeping, much less since Reef wasn’t back yet. She didn’t want to be rudely awakened by a bunch of werewolves in black suits or whatever they wore, wielding guns and ready to kill her.

  She wished Reef would hurry up. Five hours was a long time to be gone. What could have happened to him? Had he fallen asleep? The idea infuriated Penny, but she quickly silenced it, knowing that Reef wouldn’t do that to her; not when he knew she was in a perpetual state of panic.

  It’s funny how I know that, Penny thought. Ryland, I could envision having left me to defend myself, but I already know that Reef wouldn’t do that to me. It was strange that she had so much faith in a man she’d known less than a day. One who’s saved your life, she reminded herself groggily. She realized that, despite her resolve to stay awake, she was slipping away into sleep. Maybe just a little nap won’t hurt.

  She barely finished her own thought before gentle snores filled the surprisingly spacious apartment.

  When Penny opened her eyes, the temperature had dropped substantially, and she was shivering. Inherently, she knew it was late, her internal clock telling her it was far past a normal hour for her to be awake, and a quick glance at her cell confirmed it: it was one a.m. Fear prickled through her, adding to the goosebumps on her body, and she looked around for a blanket. Most of the candles were already down to their candelabra and fading out, if they hadn’t already been extinguished with time.

  Penny found a thick, hand-knitted throw in one of the bedrooms, upon a sturdy four-poster bed genuinely fit for a king. Or a prince. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and made her way back out into the living area, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. It hadn’t occurred to her that Reef wouldn’t come back, not once. After all, he had risked bringing her all that way. He’d carried her part of the way! Why would he do all that if he was just going to abandon her in a place where she couldn’t leave?

  A terrified part of Penny wondered if he was playing some cruel joke on her, reminiscent of something Ryland might do. Is he keeping me here like some kind of pet, or—?

  There was a noise at the door, and Penny exhaled in relief, realizing that her fears had been irrational. Of course, Reef had come back for you. She had to let go of this umbra that Ryland had hanging over her head. Not every man she encountered was going to be like him.

  The rattling at the door made Penny stalk forward, reaching to unlock it.

  “I thought that you had a key,” she laughed, throwing the door open. She froze in shock as she saw the group of Lycans from the stairwell leering at her from the hallway.

  “Hi,” one called, pushing his way inside. The other three followed suit, and Penny backed up, the blood draining from her face.

  “His Highness here?” another one laughed. The others joined in, and Penny had a feeling they knew that Reef was nowhere near the apartment.

  “Oh, that’s right,” the original spoke. “He left hours ago and hasn’t come back.”

  “He’s here!” Penny heard herself cry, sensing that it might be the only way to save her life in that moment. “He’s in the—” She stopped herself from saying “bathroom.” “He’s gone to grab something to eat,” she finished lamely.

  “Well, we better be quick. Get her, Harmon.”

  Before Penny could react, the four beasts pounced on her, teeth gnashing, and she screamed in horror.

  “No! No!” she howled, feeling the cut of razors into her arms as she tried to shield her face. “Don’t do this!”

  She heard a collective gasp over her, and as quickly as they’d ganged up on her, the four Lycans had fallen away, leaving Penny quivering and bleeding on the floor. She cautiously opened her eyes and immediately saw what had happened.

  Reef was magnificent, a long, giant form of glistening greenish-lilac overtaking the entire apartment. In four corners of the room, the Lycans were pinned without anywhere to move. The dragon turned his head almost mechanically to study each of their faces, one by one.

  “Mr. Parker!” one of the Lycans bellowed. “There’s a bounty on her head!”

  “It’s on the direction of the palace,” the smallest one added, his voice squeaking.

  “We are acting under your orders—”

  Reef inhaled deeply, exhaling a burst of flames to engulf the four wolves in one stream of fire. The howls were like nothing Penny had ever heard, a fusion of pain and horror. The smell of singed fur met her nostrils at the same time smoke billowed into her nose. Penny began to hack, but opening her mouth only brought more noxious smoke inside her lungs. Tears streamed down her face, and even though she could no longer see, she felt the clamp of sharp teeth around the hood of her sweater.

  She dangled in the air for what felt like an eternity, but unable to see, she was unaware that Reef was making his way toward the windows until she was suddenly swept up onto the scales of his leathery back, and the sound of crashing glass met her ears. Then they were soaring, the stinging of the smoke slowly clearing from her eyes and nose until Penny was finally able to see again. More panic gripped her heart as she saw herself thousands of feet above the Hollows.

  “Oh, my god!” she cried. “They were going to kill me!” Reef made no comment, and Penny wasn’t even sure he could talk while fully shifted, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to sob into his back. “If you hadn’t come when you did, Reef… Where were you? How could you leave me for so long?”

  He dipped lower, his massive wings causing a fanning effect on her face, and suddenly, she gasped in shock at what lay ahead.

  The building was the largest Penny had ever seen, and if
it had been on Earth, she would have gauged it to be the size of Rhode Island. There was no end from where she could see, the walls high and ornate, an eclectic mix of turrets and open-concept rotundas. There seemed to be a piece of every culture and time period since early man locked onto the stucco, marble, and woodwork. Penny didn’t know where to feast her eyes, the complex more intricate than anything she could have ever imagined.

  Reef dipped and shifted again, heading toward one of the dome structures attached to the highest story of the roof, and as they got nearer, Penny saw that it was an outdoor courtyard. Gently, Reef lowered his majestic frame onto the gardens and dropped his head. Penny realized he wanted her to dismount, and she did, turning around in awe.

  “What is this place?” she breathed, coming full circle. The opulence was astounding and yet not overkill. There were bits of history every single place she looked, and she couldn’t get enough. As she stopped before Reef, she noticed that he had transformed back into his mortal form.

  “We need to see to your arm,” he said gruffly, his azure eyes blazing. In her awe, Penny had almost forgotten what had just happened, but his words brought her back to reality with a gut punch. She realized her arm was throbbing, and she stared at Reef in amazement.

  “They were going to kill me!” she said again, more to ensure that was what had happened. “They were, right?”

  Reef sighed heavily and nodded. “There’s a bounty on your head.”

  “They said they were following your orders!” she remembered, aghast. Reef scowled slightly.

  “If that were true, Penny, would I have saved you?” The word “again” was implied, and she was instantly contrite.

  “What’s going on?” Penny demanded. “Who wants me dead? Violet?”

  Reef’s scowl deepened. “No. It’s complicated, Penny.”

  “And you don’t think I’ll understand?” she asked dubiously. “Try me.”

  He gritted his teeth, his eyes on her arm. “We need to get that cleaned before it gets infected, Penny. I’ll explain everything—”

  “No! I want answers now!” She knew she was being unreasonable, but she couldn’t stop herself from demanding. The stress was becoming too much for her.

  “You’re not safe anywhere,” Reef said. “It’s not just a matter of you being caught by the Authority anymore. There’s a realm-wide order for your execution, set forth by my brother.”

  Penny’s mouth fell open. “Your brother? Why?”

  “Now, that really is a story that will have to wait, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. It’s bad for any mortal to know what’s going on here. I mean, there have been rumors about our existence. You said you’d even read about it, but no mortal has ever been down here. Imagine if the previous excursions had pictures, or if Violet brings someone important down here.” Reef paused and caught her sneer. “You know what I mean—a CIA bigwig or some world leader.”

  “So what if she does? Why can’t we know about you? You’ve lived among us for literal ages. We’ve proven we can co-exist, we—”

  “No,” Reef said firmly. “We can’t, and that’s been proven too many times for me to reiterate. Remember the Spanish Inquisition? The ‘colonization’ of the Americas?”

  Penny’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “Oh, God…”

  “That’s just naming a couple. Mortals are dangerous, sick creatures. Sure, we ourselves are not without flaws, but the moment mortals learn about the supernatural among them, they take full leave of their senses.”

  “I won’t say anything!” Penny bawled. “You have to tell your brother to call this off.”

  “I can’t explain how much that is not going to happen. Wilder is not someone who handles reason or rationale well. His solution is always ‘off with their head.’” Reef grunted at his choice of words. “Sorry.”

  “So what? Now, what do we do? I can’t stay here! What if someone saw you with me?”

  “No one saw us. I made sure of it this time. You’ll be fine here as long as you follow the rules, okay?”

  “What about Violet?” Penny insisted. “Any thoughts on how we can find her?”

  “Penny,” Reef sighed. “I need to take care of that arm. Please.” Blood was staining the teak wood at her feet, and Penny nodded quickly, grabbing at her arm. The throbbing was getting increasingly worse. “Sit here. I’ll be right back.”

  “No!” Penny yelled. “Don’t leave me again, Reef!” He looked at her, his expression softening slightly, and shook his head.

  “I’m not going anywhere far,” he promised. “But I don’t want you bleeding all over the place. I can’t have the cleaning staff asking questions, okay?”

  “The cleaning staff? Is this a hotel?” The idea that Reef might have snuck her into a hotel was insane, but what else could he mean? Reef cocked his head to the side in confusion.

  “No,” he answered slowly, and his next words made Penny swoon in horror. “This is the palace. I brought you home with me.”

  12

  “Hello, Yari.”

  The scientist jumped, flying five feet back at the sound of Reef’s voice. Slowly, he turned, his myopic eyes darting around wildly.

  “Mr. Parker!” he gasped. “What are you doing here? I didn’t know we had an appointment.”

  “Now I need to make an appointment to drop in on my old friend?” Reef asked in a booming voice, which he knew was terrifying the vampire.

  “No. Of course not.”

  Reef stalked closer to him, his eyes penetrating the doctor with intense scrutiny.

  “A little bird told me something, Yari,” he drawled without further preamble. “I’m wondering if you can confirm it for me.”

  Yari visibly swallowed the lump of fear undoubtedly forming in his throat. “What would that be?” he asked, his voice rising an octave.

  “I heard,” Reef continued, “that you are in possession of the mortals who were found dead in the portal access three days ago.” Yari closed his eyes. “You can’t teleport, Yari. Open your damned eyes and answer me.”

  “I’m not supposed to talk to anyone about that, Mr. Parker.”

  “Including me?” Reef lost the amused lilt to his voice and grabbed Yari by the collar of his lab coat.

  “N-no, I-I-I—” Yari sputtered. “I—”

  “I don’t give a cockroach’s ass what Wilder said to you, Yari,” Reef growled, his breath escaping in rasps of fury. “You’ll tell me what I need to know, or you’ll rue the day your mother spawned you!”

  “Of course, Mr. Parker! Of course! I’ll tell you anything you need to know!”

  “Where are the mortals?”

  Yari dropped his head and looked at the ground. “In the cold room.”

  “Show me.” Reef dropped the vampire unceremoniously onto the ground and followed him toward the cold storage. He inhaled sharply as he recognized the girl who had tried to drag Penny away. Penny said her name was Lotte. Gods, she was probably the same age as Penny.

  Reef steeled himself as he looked at the others, too, examining their sore-splotched corpses from where the disease had eaten them from the inside out. “Why are you keeping them?”

  “I’m not… not really,” Yari mumbled. “I just don’t have anywhere to put them. It’s not like there’s anywhere to bury them here, and I don’t want to contaminate the water supply. It tastes bad enough as it is without adding human decay into the reserve.” Reef admitted he had a point.

  “You’re not getting rid of the bodies,” he told Yari. “At least not yet.”

  The doctor looked at him in surprise. “But your brother—”

  “If you use my brother as an excuse one more time, Yari, so help me—”

  “I won’t! I won’t!” he agreed vehemently. “I swear.”

  “Good.” Reef inhaled before starting again. “You need to run tests on them, find out about the pathogen, and learn if there’s an antigen for it.”

  Yari seemed crippled by the request. “I can’t do that,
Mr. Parker.”

  “You can’t or you won’t?” Reef asked pleasantly. “Because I have this distinct feeling that you’re going to bring up my brother again.”

  “It’s the reason I have the bodies,” Yari rambled. “He didn’t want you to find them first.”

  “I suspected as much. But now I do have them, Yari, and you’ll do as I’ve asked.”

  “If Mr. Parker learns about this—”

  “If you don’t do it, Yari, I will not only ruin your life, I’ll ensure your family is moved into troll territory, too.”

  “You would hurt my family?”

  Reef glowered. “Living with the trolls doesn’t hurt. It’s just… unsanitary,” he replied. “I don’t threaten children with harm.”

  Yari gaped at him, but Reef could see he was working out the calculations in his head, debating which brother was worse to work against. Reef decided to throw the man a bone.

  “I won’t tell Wilder if you don’t,” he said, and he meant it. He needed Yari to make the serum, since all leads on Violet were nonexistent. He had only learned about Yari’s involvement because of Elsa’s sleuth work. If she hadn’t kept watching past the part where Reef had deleted, he would have never known that Yari had attended to the bodies between the time that Reef and Penny had gone and come back to wait for Violet.

  Although I should have known when no alarm bells sounded. We assumed that Violet had come for the bodies, but it was Yari instead.

  The only other question was, how had Wilder known that the bodies were there in the first place? Had his brother been watching? If so, that meant he knew Reef had helped Penny escape.

  “Yes, Mr. Parker,” Yari mumbled. “I’ll do what you want, and I won’t tell the other Mr. Parker.”

  This time, Reef’s smile was genuine, and he clapped Yari on the back heartily. “Good man! Text me when you have a solution for me. You have one day.”

  “What! One day? There’s no way—”

  “You’ll find a way,” Reef interjected pleasantly, and he left the scientist alone in the lab. The second his foot hit the road, Reef sprinted forward, transforming into his full dragon form and flying up in a wild spiral. He better have something for me in short order, Reef thought grimly. Time’s running out for Penny. I don’t know how we’ve gotten by this long.