Clancy looked up at him. “It isn’t safe here, at least for now. You can either come with us to Dragonclaw, or you can make yourself scarce.”
Her dad scratched the back of his head. “That’s mighty kind of ya, but I figure I’ll just leave town for a few days instead, as long as my daughter is safe with you. Elmer could use some fresh air anyways, and I have a friend that has a small spread not far from here that Elmer loves being at. I’ll talk to him, and we’ll be out by morning.”
At least her dad would be safe while they figured things out.
“We’ll be at Dragonclaw if you need anything,” he said, and at that, Clancy wrapped an arm around Billie, comforting her as he took her back inside.
Leaving her wondering how one man could have such incredible strength and pondering Clancy’s words about the dragon’s talon being nothing but bad luck.
But if it had brought Clancy into her life, how could it be bad?
15
Later the next day, Clancy took Billie out on a picnic in a meadow out on the range, glad to just spend some time with her after what had happened the night before.
The men that had shown up at her family’s house were no ordinary ruffians. Many of them were shifters, and they’d been sent by someone. Whoever was after the dragon’s talon was serious about it, which meant he needed to do something about it before Billie or her dad got caught up in something much bigger than either of them.
But for the time being, it was nice to just lie next to her, warm beneath the bright Texas sun, as puffy white clouds filtered past them. The earth was soft, and the grasses in the meadow were blooming, and everything was extra fresh after a short rainstorm that had passed through earlier that morning.
“So did you know that Thompson had a special tailor in Houston that custom made all his Stetsons?” Billie said, lying on her side beside him. Her cute face was flushed from the warmth, her blue jeans and red T-shirt doing little to hide her womanly curves.
“Actually, he had two different shops he went to. One in Houston, one in San Antonio,” he said with a grin, loving the way she looked shocked every time he shared a new detail.
They continued to swap stories while he filled in details and talked about the Wild West in vague terms, and for the first time in his life, everything seemed perfect. Practically perfect.
Except for the fact of what he was.
The part of him he’d been running away from ever since he went out west.
And the fact that he was Tucker Thompson on top of that.
How long could they go on like this? Not only was he the very person they’d been talking about for days now, but there was something darker, more dangerous than even the legends of the gunslinger he’d once been.
His dragon. Every time he even thought about Billie, it growled, “Mate,” deep inside his bones.
But swamp dragons were violent. Aggressive. He’d been told long ago they didn’t have mates. And all his life, he’d learned to suppress the creature so he could fight without it coming out and causing a blood frenzy with its violent nature.
Sometimes he wished he hadn’t come from the swamps. That he’d been born a prairie dragon like Harrison or even a mountain dragon like Beck.
But that was just wishful thinking.
For now, he was just grateful for this moment with Billie.
“You sure you aren’t the Tucker Thompson?” Billie laughed, asking him for the dozenth time since their meeting. “You know a heckuva lot about him.”
Clancy badly wanted to tell his mate the truth. But when? This didn’t seem like the right moment. He shrugged, grinning and tipping his hat over his eyes to tease her. “Family secrets. Nothing else.”
Billie giggled, tossing the blades of grass she’d been fidgeting with at him. “You and your secrets.” She moved closer to him and had the audacity to pull his hat off, her whiskey-colored eyes looking him up and down.
Damn, she was irresistible.
He was about to lean up and claim her soft lips when a rumbling started to shake the earth around them. Immediately, Clancy leapt to his feet and helped Billie up. And though Billie had confusion in her eyes, probably wondering if it was an earthquake or something, Clancy had a sinking feeling he already knew what it was.
Ahead of them, past the field, about two hundred feet away, the ground began to crack open. A mound began to appear, raising the dirt around it, and a moment later, a huge, spiked head popped up out of the ground, giant red eyes searching around as it continued to push upward from its place deep beneath the earth.
A basilisk.
The damned things seemed to be everywhere these days.
Clancy didn’t have time to call his friends. Didn’t have time to take Billie and make a run for it.
Protect what’s mine, his dragon roared.
He ran toward the basilisk.
And he shifted.
In an instant, his form changed as he became his dragon. The urge to protect overrode everything else he could worry about right now, even his disgust at his dragon’s horrible, spine-ridden, leathery exterior.
He knew he was blowing the lid off the whole “don’t let humans know about shifters” issue. But all he could think about was watching out for Billie.
Hell, she’d probably run away screaming the second she saw him shift. He expected it at this point. After all, there was nothing noble about his dragon, nothing beautiful. It was pure, ugly monster.
But her safety was more important than her opinion of him.
The basilisk’s giant, reptilian head was all the way out of the ground now, and its red eyes settled on Clancy’s dragon as Clancy roared at it, challenging the beast.
Every basilisk looked a little bit different, but they all shared the quality of being like a giant, prehistoric dinosaurs crossed with dragons without wings.
They also seemed to be stupid as rocks.
To Clancy’s utter surprise, the basilisk’s glowing red irises widened for a second, and it paused suddenly in the middle of its dramatic emergence from the earth. It had blue and green stones shining through its rocky, mud-ridden brown and black exterior, and Clancy recognized this one. They’d had a few tussles in the past.
Then, with what looked like a grimace, the basilisk took another look at Clancy and turned around, angling its head back down toward the earth. A heavy, earthquake-like rumbling shook the land as it started to burrow, its head disappearing beneath the loose soil, followed by its shoulders.
Clancy huffed. Damn thing knew what was good for it after all.
Then the realization dawned on him that Billie had seen him shift into his swamp dragon…
He turned around, and to his horror, Billie was standing there on the picnic blanket they’d set up, hands at her sides, staring up at him.
It had all happened so fast. Clancy hardly knew he’d shifted.
The shock on Billie’s face was clear, her mouth open, her eyes wide.
And then she took a step backward, away from him, and a million thoughts went through Clancy’s mind as he tried to decide what to say next. What could he even say? He was horrible, and she had every right to be scared of him.
But even as she moved back, she didn’t run away screaming. The few humans that had witnessed his dragon over the centuries had definitely had that response or some variation of it.
So why wasn’t Billie?
The rumbling of the basilisk ebbed, then suddenly intensified, and Clancy whirled around to see the basilisk emerging again. Only this time, its eyes were locked on Billie with intense curiosity. Its reptilian irises were narrowed, looking down at Clancy’s mate with an expression that he’d never before seen in a basilisk’s eyes.
So the damned thing wanted a fight after all?
Clancy would give it hell before he let it come near his mate.
The basilisk emerged all the way from the parted soil, leaving a huge hole in the ground where it had been. And even though Clancy was barely half the size of the big
lizard, he charged forward, spreading his wings and taking flight so he could send the thing packing before it got even another look at Billie.
The basilisk’s attention turned from her to him, narrowing as it saw Clancy rapidly approaching. Its hackles rose, and it bellowed an earsplitting sound just as it lifted its giant, spiked tail and sent a huge spike flying toward Clancy.
Clancy did a barrel roll, and he caught the spike with his claws midflight as it whizzed toward him. Then he ducked low and slammed the spike down into the basilisk’s back, making it screech in pain.
It turned, trying to face Clancy, but Clancy was already coming around for another pass before it could even face him. With a deep intake of breath, Clancy blew poisonous, acid-like dragon fire across the beast’s face and back, and the air filled with a sizzling sound that told Clancy he’d hit his mark.
Weaken, then go in for the kill.
His dragon was simmering with rage, and he had to fight the urge to just leap on the creature’s back and start tearing it to ribbons like a lion after its prey. Every time his dragon saw violence, even blood, its primal instincts kicked in.
Instead, Clancy came to the front of the basilisk, facing it head on, and he slashed it across the shoulder with razor-sharp talons. Talons that were much sharper than other dragons, meant for killing and hunting, not just fighting off other shifters.
The basilisk, still reeling backward from the poisonous dragon fire, stepped away from Clancy as bright-blue blood dripped down its shoulder from where Clancy had cut it.
The next strike would be its neck. Even with its thick hide and rocky shell, Clancy could eviscerate the thing if he wanted to.
His swamp dragon blood called for violence. But Clancy firmly believed that no creature deserved to die unless it was beyond saving. And in his fights with basilisks over the years, they’d proved themselves worthy foes but not malicious. Not evil, the likes of which Clancy had seen in others of his own kind back in the thick swamps of the Deep South.
When he roared, the basilisk stepped back again, and he could see the surrender in its gaze.
“You never come for my mate or any of my friends ever again, y’hear?”
The basilisk growled, and Clancy half expected it to charge a second time. Damn fool things usually had to take a massive beating before they gave up the fight.
But to his surprise, its eyes shuttered, and then it nodded.
And it turned tail and started to burrow back into the gigantic hole it appeared from only minutes ago. In what felt like only a few moments, its spiked back slid beneath the muddy ground, filling the hole again and leaving the meadow completely devoid of any sound except for some cattle that were mooing in annoyance somewhere far off.
Leaving him alone with his mate.
He turned and walked back toward Billie, who was still frozen in place. What was he going to say? How in the hell was he going to explain all of this?
Clancy shifted back, standing a few yards from Billie, whose expression still wore the shock from a minute ago but had somewhere along the line turned more into a face of awe than fear.
What did she know that she wasn’t telling him?
He tipped his hat, feeling awkward. Feeling vulnerable now that his mate knew what he truly was.
“So I guess I’ll cut to the chase. I’m a dragon shifter, if you didn’t notice. A man who can change into a dragon.” No additional recognition lit in Billie’s sparkling brown eyes, so he continued. “But something tells me you already knew something about this topic since you didn’t run screaming.”
Her mouth finally closed, and he saw her throat tighten as she gulped. The quiet breeze blew through the meadow, carrying the scent of poppies and clean earth that had been overturned by the basilisk.
“I need to tell you my secret. My family’s secret. The one we’ve kept for generations,” she said nervously.
“What is it?” he asked.
She exhaled and shook her head. “I should show you. It’s on my phone back at the house. I don’t know how to explain without showing you.”
Clancy felt frozen in place. There were too many factors, too much that had happened all at once. Did she still abhor him? Did she see him as a monster?
Billie thankfully smiled at him, calming his nerves, and when she stepped forward, reaching her hand out to him, he took it.
And together, they walked back to his ranch house, which was only a short hike away.
Leaving Clancy to wonder what the hell was going on with the basilisk appearing out of nowhere but especially about Billie and her family secret that apparently involved him more than he could have ever possibly guessed.
She was safe. That much was at least certain in his mind.
But could she ever possibly accept a creature like his?
16
Back at Clancy’s homestead, Billie rummaged through one of her bags, looking for her phone.
She still couldn’t believe what she’d gotten to see. Clancy, transforming into a huge green dragon and fighting off some other scaly, Godzilla-looking monster. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t ask him what that other thing had been. She’d have to ask later.
It wasn’t important to her now.
Clancy in his dragon form had been enormous and covered in beautiful glowing green scales like an alligator’s, and he had sharp teeth and huge, leathery wings. Vicious spikes down his back. He’d been beautiful.
Billie’s fingers curled around her phone, and she pulled it from her bag, typing her password into it while Clancy just watched, silent and curious.
She scrolled through her camera roll. Once she found what she was looking for, she held up the screen to Clancy. He leaned down, narrowing his eyes at it.
“This is the secret,” Billie said.
It was a picture of an old western painting passed down from one generation of her family to another. The painting was somewhat rough, and wear was showing around the edges, but in the middle was an illustration of a majestic dragon.
The same dragon she’d seen only minutes earlier.
Billie had always believed the legends, always believed her family, but she never thought she’d live to see such an awe-inspiring thing with her own eyes.
And even more mind-boggling, the dragon—Clancy—had sprung to protect her, of all people.
The whole situation had set her mind spinning.
“Where did you get this?” Clancy asked after a minute or two.
“One of my ancestors was saved by Tucker Thompson and saw him turn into dragon form. I’m alive because of him, because of his good deeds.” She took a deep breath. “The dragon passed out after the fight, and my ancestor drew a quick sketch of him that turned into this.” She held up the phone again. “I think we’re the only ones to even suspect the Quickdraw Dragon was an actual dragon. Might be why I’m obsessed with him.”
“I see,” Clancy said, still looking pale.
She sucked in a breath. “So are you him, or are you his descendent?”
“I am him,” Clancy said. “Is that bad? I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before. You wouldn’t have believed me, and there are rules in this world—”
“It’s okay,” Billie said. “This is all overwhelming, but I get it. And, Clancy, you’ve saved me like three times. I could never think the worst of you.”
Surprise filled his emerald eyes, then gratitude, and he exhaled in relief.
Billie still didn’t know what to make of all of this, knowing that the legend, the person who saved her family so long ago, and this dragon were probably all the same person.
Clancy.
“None of you ever told my secret or showed this painting to anyone,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Fascinating that your family has held on to this all these years.”
“Do you think so?” Billie asked. “Am I weird, chasing relics from some old gunslinger few people still remember, keeping this family secret for so many years?”
Clancy just smiled at that and
reached out, taking her hand in his and raising it to his mouth. His lips were soft against the back of her hand, and she blushed.
“Darlin’, you’re perfect just as you are,” he said. Then his eyebrows turned down in consternation.
“Why were you so worried a minute ago?” Billie asked. “When you transformed?”
He took that in for a second, then shrugged and leaned back over her dresser.
“My being a near-immortal dragon isn’t exactly something I can share with anyone,” Clancy said, looking down at his palms. “Everyone who’s ever seen my dragon has run screaming. Everyone except you.”
“Why? I like your dragon.”
“Because,” he said with a harsh laugh. “My dragon’s hideous. You saw it, almost more gator than dragon. My kind of dragon ain’t pretty to look at. It’s a primal beast, a monster, a killing machine.”
Billie listened raptly, pained by the shame, guilt, and resentment in Clancy’s voice, but none of what he said resonated with her.
As far as she was concerned, his dragon was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and that wasn’t just because of how it looked. It was because the dragon was Clancy.
“I was never scared of you,” she said. “I just felt impressed by your dragon, by how protective he was, jumping in to save me from danger like you always do. If anything, I think you and your dragon are the coolest now.”
He blushed, his cheeks going red as he grinned and pulled her closer into his chest. Warmth blossomed through her when he sighed, placing his chin on top of her head.
“I’ve been around for quite some time, Billie, hundreds of years in fact,” he said. “But I have never wanted someone the way I want you.”
She pulled back to look up into his sparkling green eyes. “Why? I’m just some history buff, chasing legends and fairy tales. I’m not… special like you.”
Billie couldn’t fathom it. She’d already had a hard time believing that a man as stellar as Clancy could want her, but now that she knew he was the Quickdraw Dragon, her greatest hero?
Get real.
Wrangler Dragon Page 10