by Bobbie Rayne
Christian stepped out from behind the closet door. “Right here.”
Kite shot me a look, and I knew he was wondering what the heck we were doing, so I explained, “Christian was hanging this net thingy with pockets on the door for Bo’s trash so we can get some of it off the floor.”
“It’s not trash,” both Kite and Christian said at the same time.
My eyebrows shot up at my mate. “You were calling it trash, too!”
“That was before I understood Bo.” He shrugged, then looked at Kite. “Is everything okay? Does Kyla need me to help her in her room?”
“She’s fine,” my brother said. “She’s all set and already talking about repainting the walls after we knock down the one wall.”
Christian grinned. “Thank you for giving her a room. I really appreciate it.”
Kite waved him off. “Anything for that cutie. How was training today?”
Christian groaned, and I grinned as I answered, “He’s doing well.”
“If you call being beat up five million times a day well, then yes, I’m doing well.” He rolled his eyes, making me laugh.
The past few days, I’d been teaching him some basic defensive moves along with how to throw a good punch. I even set him up on the punching bag the past two days while I did some more vigorous exercises. He didn’t last long before he plopped on the grass to watch the rest of my training, but considering he’d only been doing it for a few days while I’d been training my entire life, I’d say he was doing well. Even if he didn’t think so. He’d already memorized the grappling moves I’d taught him, and he’d been teaching me to have more patience when it came to teaching. It helped that he was sexy as hell, and teaching him meant I got to put my hands on him while I trained.
“Azaran told me you were doing really well,” Kite said.
“He did?” Christian looked surprised.
“Yep. I heard that you were able to shake Eeli off you nearly every time today.”
“Only because he was letting me.”
“I was not!” My eyes went wide. “You really thought I was just letting you win today?” He nodded. “You clearly have no idea how competitive I am.”
Kite chuckled. “It’s true. He’s never been one to let other people win, even when they’re three years old.”
“I was helping that kid build character,” I argued with a scowl.
“It was a carnival game, designed for children.”
“Whatever.”
Christian grinned at me, then chuckled a little. “You seriously went up against a three-year-old and didn’t let him win?”
“No,” I said at the same time that Kite said, “Yes,” causing both of them to laugh at me.
I huffed and asked my brother, “Is there a reason you’re interrupting us? We were trying to organize Bo’s stuff so she’ll keep it off the floor.”
“Yeah, actually, could you guys come out to talk? I want to talk to you two without little ears listening.”
Christian and I exchanged a look, and I shrugged. “Sure.”
We followed my brother out of my room, and I grabbed Christian’s hand to lace our fingers together while Bo slammed into his chest, then climbed up to his shoulder. My mate chuckled at her and scratched her with his other hand. It made me incredibly happy seeing them get along.
I love him, Eeli. He’s ours, and we’re keeping him.
Yes. We are.
“You always make a face when you’re talking to Bo in your head,” Christian said.
“I do?”
“Yes.” He grinned at me, then leaned in to kiss my cheek. “It’s cute.”
I wrinkled my nose, but didn’t say anything because we made it to the dining room where all my brothers and their mates were waiting. “What’s going on? Why is everyone here?”
“Have a seat,” Azaran said, waving to the two free chairs sitting side by side.
I pulled Christian over, and once we were seated, said, “Okay. What’s up?”
Azaran said, “After Davis brought the actions of some of the Brotherhood to light, we’re a little worried about”—he grimaced—“who killed Christian and Kyla’s parents.”
I squeezed my mates hand so he’d know I was here if he needed me as I asked, “What do you mean?”
Davis said, “As far as I heard, it was the Order of Amsel that murdered the owners of The Tilted Tulip, but that’s just hearsay; I don’t know for sure because I never investigated it myself.”
I explained to Christian, “The Order of Amsel is an evil organization that murders innocents and has come after us our entire lives— we think that’s who killed our parents. And, um, we recently found out, thanks to Davis and his clan, that the Order is being controlled by the Brotherhood—basically, it’s like the Order is a division of the Brotherhood.”
“I thought you guys were part of the Brotherhood?” Christian asked.
I nodded. “We are, but we found out that someone high up on the food chain isn’t following our laws and has gone so far as to kill innocents, steal dragons, turn them into wraiths, and all kinds of things. Az is on the Council of the Brotherhood, so he’s been trying to figure out who’s running the Order of Amsel, but unfortunately, we haven’t figured it out yet.”
“That’s scary.”
I nodded in agreement at him.
“So,” Davis picked back up, “if the Order did it, that really means it was the Brotherhood.”
Zale looked at me with sympathy in his gaze, and I knew I wasn’t going to like whatever came out of his mouth. “If it was the Brotherhood, which is highly likely, once they hear that Christian is your mate, we’re afraid it might put a target on his back, possibly on all of our backs. We can’t take the risk of someone getting hurt.”
My eyes widened and I jumped to my feet as Christian tensed beside me, and I ground out, “I will protect my mate and his sister with my life. You’re not taking them away from me.”
All my brothers and their mates looked a little shocked, and Toby quietly said, “No one wants to separate you, Eeli. We’re talking about finding out what happened so we know how to keep them safe.”
I glanced at my brothers’ faces, landing on Zale. “Is that what you meant?”
“Of course, Eeli. That was a bad word choice, sorry.” He cringed a little.
Azaran added, “Christian and Kyla are a part of this family now, Eeli, and you know that we protect our family.” He sounded like the fierce warrior I knew he was. “No one is going to hurt our family. Not again.”
Christian pulled me down to sit again, and he pressed his shoulder into mine. I blew out a breath and nodded at my brothers, saying, “Sorry, it sounded like you were—”
Malachite cut me off, “You and Christian are new, it’s normal to be overprotective—”
“—And to jump to conclusions,” Zale said with a small smile.
Christian kissed my shoulder, then faced the room full of dragon riders. “So you want to go investigate? It’s been almost three years, you really think you’ll find something?”
Az sighed. “Probably not, but we need to look to be sure. And we want to get the police report and any crime scene photos they may have that could clue us in on who did it.” He looked at me. “I also thought you should know that when I tell Uncle Kazimir that you found your mate, I’ll give him a fake last name.”
“Why would you need to do that with Uncle K?”I asked.
“When he makes the record of Christian, anyone in the Brotherhood will have access to it. I don’t want to tip off whoever’s been hurting the clans that we have one of the calma plant specialists living with us.”
“Couldn’t you have just told him to change his name or something?”
“We’re not risking anyone finding out who Christian’s family is, not with anyone outside this family.”
After a few seconds, Christian asked, “Your uncle is part of your Brotherhood?”
I nodded. “He’s the Chieftain, so he’s in charge of the
whole thing.”
“Oh.”
Davis leaned on his elbows. “So here’s our question; do you two want to come with us or stay here? Since it’s Christian’s home town, we didn’t want to take off without speaking to you about it.” I noticed that Azaran looked extremely annoyed, and I knew it was because he still had a hard time accepting that I sometimes had to go into dangerous situations. I was pretty sure if he could, he’d lock Zale, Malachite, and me in our rooms just to keep us safe.
I turned to Christian and asked, “What do you think? I would like to see if I can find anything, but if you don’t want to go there, I understand.”
He looked down for a few seconds, then nodded. “I’d like to go, but what about Kyla?”
“She’ll stay here with me while you guys go,” Toby said. “She’ll be safe here at the house.”
Azaran said, “And Sindri can travel here in a matter of seconds if she needs to.”
“What do you mean?” Christian asked.
I explained. “Since Az and Toby are mated, he has Sindri’s tattoo now as well. A dragon can travel between her tattoos on mates.”
He blinked for a minute and slowly pulled his gaze to me. “Are you saying that if we… do that mating ceremony thing Toby told me about, I’ll have a tattoo, too?”
I nodded. “Yep. You’ll get to bond with Bo like me.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
I grinned at him, then kissed his cheek before glancing around the table. “Okay, we’re in. So what’s the plan?”
Flying with Christian behind me was fastly becoming one of my favorite things. Unfortunately, right now, he was tense and seemed lost in his own head. We’d been flying for several hours, and he’d barely said a word. Going back to Shimmerside was going to be hard for him, and I wished I could fix it for him, but I couldn’t. And I felt guilty because part of me was looking forward to seeing where he grew up.
We will make him happy again.
I smiled a little and patted Bo’s neck. We will.
We can find him pretties.
I chuckled, and Christian startled at the sound, then asked, “What?”
“Bo wants to buy you pretties to cheer you up.”
He snorted and ran his hand over Bo’s side. “I’m okay, Bo. You don’t need to buy me candy.”
I will find him lots of pretties.
“She’s going to be giving you a million pieces of trash now.”
Not trash; pretties.
I know, I know. I’m only joking. You can get him as many pretties as you want. I had a feeling it would make him smile if she gave him some of her precious treasure. I’d suffer through tons of candy trash if it made him happy.
Lots!
Christian suddenly asked, “What was that?”
“What was what?”
He pointed off to the right, and I squinted my eyes to see better, but there was nothing there. “Something was flying over there.”
I squinted for a few more seconds, but couldn’t see anything. “Probably just a bird.”
A few minutes later, Christian said, “There it is.” He pointed out a small town that was surrounded by farmland. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting, but something so small and off the radar wasn’t it.
Bo relayed the message to the other dragons—although, Davis and Harri already knew where they were going—and a minute later, we were heading down to land in a field just outside of town. Once everyone was settled, Bo hopped on Christian’s shoulders instead of going in my tattoo while the other dragons went in their tattoos. I didn’t mind since the two of them needed to bond, too, and I liked him having the extra support today.
My mate led the way to his old home, and when we got to it, I frowned. It was very clear that nobody had been living in it since Christian’s family left. The sign for the flower shop was still hanging out front, but it looked worn and dirty. And two of the windows were boarded up. When I looked at Christian, I could see the devastation coming off him.
“See that symbol?” Davis asked, pointing to a pattern carved into the sign—curved flowers in the center with interlocking bands surrounding it. “That’s how we knew this was a safe place. That’s the clan’s safety symbol. The center represents the calma flower and the bands around it represent safety. Our safe houses and any place that welcomes the clans outside the Brotherhood display it so we know where to go and who to trust.”
Christian looked at him. “Are you serious?” Davis nodded and my mate ran a hand over his face. “I have a charm of that symbol. Mom said it was something passed down in our family.” He waved his hand, showing the braided leather bracelet. “This is all… so crazy. How could my parents have been so involved with”—he waved his hand around at us all—“and not tell Kyla and me?”
Davis put his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure they wanted to protect you. Maybe they were waiting until you were older—old enough they knew you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Christian sighed. “Yeah, maybe. Let’s get this over with.”
Davis walked over to the door, and since it was locked, he pulled out a lock picking set and got to work. A minute later, we were all walking inside. The amount of destruction inside the flower shop brought me to a halt, and my poor mate looked ready to cry. There was glass everywhere, the tables and refrigerators were knocked over and in pieces, rotten and dried flowers were everywhere, and the smell… it smelled like burnt rubber and mold. It was gross.
My mate was heartbroken as he whispered, “They destroyed everything before they burned the field… this place was… and now…” he trailed off, so I squeezed his hand.
“Do you want to wait outside?”
He shook his head. “No, let’s keep going.”
Davis said, “They were probably looking for more calma plants and seeds. They wanted to make sure we couldn’t grow more.”
Az nodded. “The question is, if it was the Brotherhood, how did they find out where this place was?”
“There’s really no doubt in my mind the Brotherhood sent the Order here,” Davis said. “But I can probably find you some solid evidence.”
I ignored the rest of their conversation and followed Christian to a door near the back of the shop. It opened up to reveal a staircase, so I followed him, and he told me, “We lived up here. There’s an entrance from the outside as well, but I usually walked through the shop because I always liked the flowers. I know that’s dorky, but they’re pretty and my parents were always down there, so…”
“It’s not dorky.”
He snorted. “Yes, it is.” He stopped at the door at the top of the steps and sighed. “Don’t make fun of me, but I saved my key to the apartment. I was too embarrassed to tell Davis I had one to the shop, too.” Before I could respond, he pulled a keyring out of his pocket and unlocked the door, then waved me in. “So, uh, here’s where I grew up.”
The apartment was just as ransacked as the first floor, but if I imagined what it’d looked like without the mess, it was pretty homey. It wasn’t big at all, but the kitchen was large and the space was open. Bodhi hopped off Christian to go exploring, and the two of us followed behind her. I let Christian take the lead, and he showed me his old bedroom.
We spent a long time there, and I could see it wearing on my mate, so I eventually took him back downstairs where my brothers were still examining the shop and the field outside.
Seeing Christian so upset was breaking my heart, so I walked over to Malachite and murmured, “I’m going to take him for a walk while you guys finish up, okay?”
He glanced past me at Christian, then nodded. “Okay, but keep him close. Neither of you can go anywhere alone.”
“I know.” Grabbing my mate’s hand, I pulled him out of the shop and down the road. “Show me some of the places you used to go when you were little.”
He nodded, and once we turned the corner, he pulled me to a stop and stepped close so our chests were touching. Then he leaned down, pressing his forehead to the side of
my neck as he mumbled, “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
I kissed the side of his head and rubbed his back as best I could with Bo balancing there.
Christian seemed to breathe me in for a minute before composing himself and straightening. “Okay, let me show you a park Kyla and I used to go, then I can take you to the bookstore.”
“Sounds perfect.” I grinned at him, and he sent me a small smile back before pulling me along.
We stayed out for a couple of hours while my brothers dug around the flower shop and spoke to the local police. Bo kept me updated on their progress while we kept Christian busy so he didn’t fall into his grief. Bo had been wrapped around Christian all day long. She’d cloaked herself from humans so they couldn’t see her, but she hadn’t left his side all day. Neither had I. She and I both knew he needed support while we were here. He’d shared many fond memories of his hometown, but there was always a sadness laced through his stories; a longing for a time when his parents were still alive. I wanted so badly to pull him into my arms and hold him and protect him from everything sad that’d happened in his life, but I couldn’t.
So instead, I held his hand and let him lead me around his town, telling stories and being sure he knew I was here for him. And so was Bo.
Christian stopped walking and looked at a candle shop, then sent me a small smile. “Can we go in here?”
“Of course.”
He straightened his shoulders, then headed inside. “My mom used to bring me in here. She would always take a long time picking out her candles, but I didn’t care because they have this big section of rocks and gems.” He walked toward the back of the store and stopped at a shelving unit that was filled with different gems and unique rocks. There was a barrel beside the shelf that was filled with them. “Every time I came in, my mom let me pick my favorite one to buy.”
He smiled as he looked them over, and Bo rubbed her cheeks on his hair, neck, and under his chin. She was so focused on making sure he was okay that she wasn’t paying a bit of attention to anything else. It made me smile.
Christian took his time scrutinizing the different gems, then picked up a shiny one that was white on one end and slowly turned purple on the other and shaped like a large teardrop. He shot me a smile, then walked over to the cashier to pay for it. When I grabbed my wallet, he stopped me and bought it himself, and once he had his bag, we walked back outside.