Dragon Protectors: Shifter Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  Except they do make sense now, Cassia thought grimly. If you’ve seen what she’s seen.

  “She has been sleeping poorly, and her eyesight seems to be getting worse,” Dr. Aaronson continued. “So I have recently changed her medication to allow for her to get more rest and hopefully counter some of the side effects of her dementia when she’s awake.”

  “Are you sure she has dementia?” Cassia asked the question before she realized it had formed in her mind. The man peered at her in confusion.

  “I had thought you visited her quite regularly,” he said slowly.

  “I do…”

  “Then you must hear how she speaks about things that can’t possibly be.”

  “Of course.” Cassia shoved any of her other queries aside. How could she explain to the man sitting before her that Lacy was, in all probability, a witch? You’ll be the next one getting meds.

  “However, the effects of this new medication do cause her to sleep a great deal. It’s beneficial that she gets her rest. When she’s alert, she’s much more coherent than she was.”

  “I thought she seemed more agitated the last time I saw her,” Cassia replied. “Is that normal?”

  “Your mother is going through a great change, and we might have to switch her meds a few more times to get it right. As I’m sure you are aware, though, Ms. St. John, dementia doesn’t get better. We can provide her more comfort and more times of lucidity, but in the end…”

  Cassia knew. She’d researched the devastating effects of dementia. The problem was, she no longer believed that was her mother’s problem. Damn you, Wilder! Damn you for showing me that place and putting all these doubts in my head!

  “Do you have any questions?”

  Oh, I have questions, she thought, but none that you can answer. “I think it’s fairly clear.” She sprung from the seat and extended her hand to shake the doctor’s.

  “Ms. St. John? Before you go, I’d just like to add something.” The doctor paused, and Cassia eyed him expectantly. “It doesn’t benefit anyone if you arrive here in a state of tension. You might think you’re doing your mother good by paying her a visit, but she can sense your desire to be elsewhere. Maybe you should come back when you’re feeling less… stressed?”

  Cassia’s mouth gaped. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I’m not going anywhere until I see my mother.”

  He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “That’s your choice, but I’m explaining to you that it could be counterproductive.”

  “You don’t know me!” Cassia snapped at him indignantly. “I am not stressed out!” She heard the pitch her voice had taken, and she cringed.

  “Ms. St. John, I’ve been a doctor for over thirty years. I know people and their body language. You have barely been listening to me since you got here. I know you feel like you are obligated to see your mother, but I’m telling you, arriving in this state does more harm than good.”

  Cassia resisted the urge to slap his face by digging her nails into her palms until they bled.

  “Noted,” she growled, spinning to leave the office. He knows people so well, he’s not even aware that he’s not treating a “people.” Great talk, doctor. She returned to her mother’s room and peered inside the rectangular window. Lacy was still asleep. I need to wake her up.

  The thought shamed her, the resident’s words echoing in her mind. Was Cassia the reason her mother was like this? She sank against the door, her mind racing with a flood of memories. Had Lacy left the Hollows because of her?

  Cassia closed her eyes and willed herself back into the grey cavern she’d been taken to the previous night, forcing herself to remember it from another time or place, but there was nothing familiar about it.

  She opened her eyes again and turned back to the room, gently opening the door to let herself inside. Cautiously, she walked toward the edge of the bed and moved to her mother’s side, studying Lacy’s face.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she murmured, half-hoping her mom would wake but not wanting to force the issue. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth about us?”

  Lacy didn’t even stir, her breathing still even and slow. Cassia could see she was in a deep sleep, and she thought about what to do next. She could wait for her mother to wake up, or she could try looking for answers somewhere else and then come back.

  The question was, where would she find the information she was seeking?

  Her cell rang again, causing her to jump. She snatched it up and gritted her teeth as she stopped the ringer from echoing through the room. It was Val, and Cassia knew that, if she valued her job, she needed to take the call.

  “Hello?” she murmured, stepping back into the hall.

  “Where have you been?”

  “Busy,” Cassia retorted. “And I’m busy now. What is it?”

  “Did you sign Wilder Parker?” The mere sound of his name filled Cassia with waves of heat and coldness. She still wasn’t sure how she should feel about the situation, but she couldn’t deny that the feelings she had for Wilder were real.

  “Yes.”

  “Where’s the paperwork?” Val demanded. “I don’t have it in my inbox. Did you scan it?”

  “Not yet, but I have it at home.”

  Val was quiet for a moment. “At home?”

  “I’ll send it in, Val. This is a really bad time. Can I call you back?”

  “Did Wilder Parker sign at your house?” Cassia instantly realized her mistake, and a hot flush colored her cheeks in embarrassment.

  “It was on his way to somewhere else,” she answered defensively. At least that part is true. No need for Val to know that I went with him to that second location.

  “Cassia, Wilder Parker is a client.”

  “Thanks to me!” Cassia barked back. “What’s your point?”

  Val inhaled deeply. “He is not a man you want to get involved with,” she said softly. “None of the Parkers are.”

  Goosebumps erupted all down Cassia’s skin. “Have you had dealings with them before?”

  There was a silence so long, Cassia had to check that the phone call had not disconnected.

  “I’m waiting on the paperwork,” Val said instead of answering and ended the conversation. Cassia stared at the phone in her hand, chewing on her lower lip nervously. She was certain that Val’s words were spoken from a deeper experience than she was letting on, but she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to force the truth out of her boss.

  Sighing, Cassia peeked into Lacy’s room one last time. Her mother remained in precisely the same place Cassia had last seen her.

  She’s not waking up, and I’m just wasting time standing around here. I need to find answers and find them fast. And there was only really one person she knew that could help her with that. Or should I say, there’s only one being that can help me with that? Because Wilder’s really not a human man, is he?

  She reminded herself that if what the CEO had told her was true, she wasn’t a human woman, either.

  9

  “You’re out of your mind,” Owen flatly told Wilder, and the others nodded in agreement. “Six months? The walls are closing in? Come on, Wilder. This is conspiracy theory crap.”

  “I have one of the only seismologists in the Hollows working on it,” Wilder told his brothers. “And do you really think I would have brought it to you if I didn’t think it was happening?”

  “Well,” Keppler chuckled brightly. “I think we all know what this means.”

  “What does this mean, Keppler?” Wilder demanded, even though he knew why Keppler was grinning. Keppler and Reef seemed tickled by the prospect of the Hollows disappearing. Wilder was far too on edge to deal with their happy leers.

  “Come on, Wilder,” Reef mocked him. “We’ve had a good reign here, but as you know, all good things must come to an end.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Wilder howled. “What about the beasts that can’t live on the Sunside? Think about how much destruction will ensue wh
en the Big Shift comes!”

  He wished he could recant the words immediately. The look his brothers gave him spoke volumes.

  “The Big Shift?” Owen murmured slowly. “What are you going on about?”

  Why did I say that?

  “Don’t tell me you’ve gone all religious on us,” Reef drawled.

  “It’s just what I called it. It’s got nothing to do with religion or anything other than the scientific fact that the Hollows are going to die unless we do something!”

  “Assuming what you’re saying is true,” Owen said, shaking his head, “what makes you think we can do anything about it?”

  “There’s a solution to every problem,” Wilder answered shortly. “You know that as well as I do, but I need to know we’re in this together. I’m sick of doing everything by myself around here.” He cast his brothers a meaningful look, but his statement was met with a round of laughter.

  “Then you shouldn’t take it upon yourself to do everything!” Keppler suggested brightly, and his brothers nodded in agreement.

  “Everything I have ever done has been for the benefit of the Hollows,” Wilder told them between clenched teeth. “You call it ‘meddling.’ I call it ‘saving your asses before you do something tragic.’” He could see they didn’t agree, and yet there was no point in fighting with them. Wilder had too much to worry about without creating more tension between him and his brothers. All he needed to know was that they were on the same page and willing to fight to save their kingdom.

  “Have you forgotten how much we sacrificed to take this place?” he demanded when he could see they weren’t biting. “Have you forgotten what it was like to rule the Sunside? This was our sanctuary, our escape from the mortals.”

  “I haven’t forgotten what we’ve done,” Keppler said softly, the regret in his voice apparent. “But again, what can we do? Even with our abilities, Wilder, we can’t stop the walls from moving.”

  It was a question Wilder had asked Fritz earlier, but the seismologist had not given him a straight answer on the matter, either.

  “I don’t know,” Wilder replied. The words were painful for him to say aloud, as admitting defeat was not something he was known for.

  “Well, I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here,” Owen told him soundly. “There’s no point in panicking over something that may or may not occur.”

  “It’s occurring as we speak!” Wilder grumbled. “Haven’t you been listening? We’ve already lost six percent of the Hollows in the span of two years!”

  “I’ll talk to some scientists I know on the Sunside,” Keppler volunteered, rising from his spot around the boardroom table. He was anxious to leave, Wilder could see.

  He doesn’t care what happens to the Hollows any more than Reef does, he thought. Owen will be fine, too. I am the only one who loses everything if this happens. Wilder had invested his entire existence to building inside the Hollows. Bringing the commercial sector to the palace had been his idea, and while he owned most of it, he had also created thousands of jobs by doing it. Before me, there was no economy in the Hollows. They’ve forgotten that—or they have chosen to ignore it.

  “You can’t tell mortals about this!” Wilder snarled at Keppler. “What are you going to say?”

  “I’m just going to see if there’s anything going on with the lithosphere that could cause such a dramatic change.”

  “Don’t bring mortals into this!” Wilder insisted. “Sit down until we can figure out a solution!”

  “We aren’t going to find a solution by sitting here listening to you yell at us, Wilder,” Reef replied dryly, also rising from his chair. “We’ll be in touch, but brother…” Reef looked at him meaningfully. “Sometimes you just have to accept that fate won’t be intercepted.”

  Wilder’s jaw locked, but he didn’t protest when both Keppler and Reef left the boardroom, leaving him alone with Owen.

  “Are you okay?” Owen asked when he was sure their brothers were out of earshot.

  “Am I—? Did you just hear what I said? We’re losing our home, and you guys are completely indifferent to what’s happening!”

  “I think Reef’s right, Wilder. You can’t do anything about it by climbing the walls and stressing out. Since you already have the heads up, I would start moving your businesses to the Sunside before you lose everything.”

  “I am not losing the Hollows!” Wilder roared. Owen didn’t flinch, apparently unperturbed by Wilder’s frequent outbursts.

  “Suit yourself. I do have one question, though…”

  Wilder stared at him balefully. “What?”

  “Are you going to tell the rest of the Hollows about this?”

  It was a question which had been weighing heavily on him, and he had no idea what the easy answer would be. Telling the others would certainly result in a mass panic, one that Wilder would be responsible for handling. As if, on top of everything else, he had time to control a riot.

  On the other hand, not telling them was cruel. They could have six months to organize their affairs, to make plans outside the Hollows if they didn’t already have places to go.

  “I’m sitting on it for now,” Wilder responded. “I’m hoping that Dr. Fritz will find a solution before it comes to that.”

  Owen studied him quietly. “I hope you’re right,” he sighed. “I’m not looking forward to uprooting, either.”

  Wilder felt a pang of hope. Maybe I have one of them on my side after all, he thought. It was better than thinking he was going at it alone.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Owen told him, heading for the door. As he left, Wilder’s cell rang, and he snatched it up without looking at the caller ID.

  “Wilder Parker.”

  There was a slight pause, but Wilder knew it was Cassia instinctively, even before he glanced at the screen in his hand.

  “Can we talk?” she asked, and he felt a wave of relief wash over him.

  “Of course. I can come to your place—”

  “NO!” The insistence of her tone stunned him, and the relief he’d felt dissolved. “No,” Cassia said again. “I’ll meet you at The Pointhouse Grill by the harbor. Do you know it?”

  “No. But I’ll find it. Give me a couple of hours. I’m in the Hollows.”

  He heard her inhale sharply. “Make it four?”

  “Okay,” Wilder agreed. “Cassia?”

  “Hm?”

  “I’m glad you called.”

  “See you soon, Wilder.”

  He didn’t feel good about things when he hung up, but there was far too much in his head for him to know where to focus his worries the most.

  I really shouldn’t have told her about her roots, he thought, furious with himself for thinking that Cassia might have been open to the idea that she was immortal.

  The phone rang again, and Wilder groaned. It was Atom this time. “What?”

  “Oh, uh, hi, Mr. Parker—”

  “I really don’t have time to hold your hand today. What is it?”

  “I have that information you were seeking about Cassia St. John,” Atom told him quickly, likely sensing the near-boil in Wilder’s tone. The dragon tensed physically, his shoulders raising.

  I shouldn’t have had Atom look into her, either.

  He debated whether he wanted to learn what Atom had to say.

  “Mr. Parker?”

  “I’m here. What did you learn?”

  “I haven’t got anything of real value, sir. Cassia St. John wasn’t born in the Hollows, but her mother, Lacy Colter, was.”

  Wilder exhaled. “Oh… she’s a mortal hybrid.” Why hadn’t he realized that? Her mother had probably fallen in love with a mortal and hadn’t wanted him to know about her past.

  “I’m not sure,” said Atom. “There is no father on record.”

  “Who is St. John, then?” Wilder asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “If not the father?”

  “No idea, sir. Would you like me to find out?”

  “No. Yo
u’ve wasted enough time on the matter. Get back to work. I want you to hire twenty percent more patrol guards over the next two months, Atom.”

  “Twenty percent?” Atom choked. “Are we expanding or something?”

  Wilder’s jaw clenched. No, you fool, we’re downsizing, and there is bound to be riots! He didn’t offer the explanation.

  “Why do you always ask me questions when I give you simple instructions?” Wilder snapped. “Just do it. I’m going to the Sunside for a few days. Call Cybil if you need anything.”

  “Yes, Mr. Parker.”

  Wilder was already striding out of the boardroom and toward his suite. He meant what he said to Atom: he was going to the Sunside for a few days, if only to clear his head. He wondered if Cassia would invite him to stay.

  I won’t hold my breath. He remembered the look of fear and disdain she’d given him when she’d learned the truth. It hadn’t offended Wilder so much as it had saddened him, but Cassia reaching out to him was a good sign. He hadn’t expected it so quickly. She wants to learn more… even if she does want to meet in a public place.

  Wilder hadn’t bothered to explain how ridiculous it was—he wasn’t a danger to her. Nothing about him had changed since the previous night. When she came to terms with who she really was, she would also accept him. Wilder wasn’t worried; he was just impatient.

  But as he shifted into his dragon form and dove into a soaring flap through the Hollows, his massive form seemed heavier than usual. His usual self-confidence had diminished considerably. Wilder felt almost humbled by the past few days, like the gods were forewarning him. He couldn’t shake the melancholic sensation that he was about to lose everything—and that he’d already lost Cassia.

  Forcing the thoughts of doom out of his head, he made his way to the portal in New York City, the closest one to Cassia and the very place he had brought her through the previous night.

  It suddenly felt like a week ago, as Wilder hadn’t slept since everything had happened, and the minutes seemed to be dragging on. He wished he had more energy to deal with Cassia.