by J. E. Cluney
He was confused and lost for words as I stepped out of his arms, and the dragon watched me carefully.
“Oliver,” I breathed out, still holding my hand out before me.
The dragon inhaled deeply, the slits of his eyes growing a little as he gingerly leaned his head forward.
My heart remained steady as he pressed his snout into my palm, and I felt our bond ignite, reconnecting us together.
The dragon sighed as he closed his eyes, and when they reopened, a pair of familiar amber orbs flecked with hazel stared back at me.
‘Allison,’ Oliver murmured.
“Thank God,” Lucas muttered, straightening himself from his defensive stance.
“Had us worried there for a moment,” Bob said as Oliver blinked and folded his wings back up.
I focused on Oliver’s mind, frowning as I took closer note of what was there.
“It’s like…a split personality,” Marcus murmured as he stepped up beside me.
‘I can feel the dragon. It has its own mind,’ Oliver agreed.
I reached into his mind, finding this strange, ancient side residing within. The dragon was its own being. With its own mind.
And memories.
I prodded it gently with my mind, and felt this strange contentment wash over me.
‘The dragon side recognizes you as its mate,’ Walter interjected.
I sighed as I dropped my hand to my side.
So this was Ollie’s inner beast. His hidden power.
Craig stepped forward, sheer awe plastered across his face as he took in his son.
“Look at you. You are the purest of true shifters,” Craig remarked with a delighted smile. “My son.”
‘Wonder what his dick looks like?’ Skip thought, and I snorted at his inability to think of anything else.
“Really? You’re hopeless,” Marcus said with a smirk and shook his head.
“Well, it is something to wonder about,” Lucas mused as he walked around Ollie, inspecting him. “Would it be like a snake’s?”
Ollie laughed in our minds, and I loved how his reptilian face actually looked amused.
It dropped instantly as his giant body shuddered violently, and I gasped as he curled in on himself, his bones cracking and morphing in record speed.
“What’s happening?” Craig shot forward, panic rising up in his voice.
No one answered, since we had no idea.
In a matter of mere seconds, Ollie lay on the ground before us, unconscious once more.
“What it’d do to him?” Craig hissed as he knelt down beside his son.
‘The first few shifts while being awake will drain him significantly. He needs time to adjust to this new power of his,’ Walter informed us.
I repeated it back to Craig and Bob, who both looked mighty stressed as they stood around him.
“So he’ll be okay?” Craig asked on a sigh as he touched Ollie’s shoulder softly.
“Yes. Just needs to rest up. When he’s strong enough, we’ll try to find this hoard,” Lucas said.
“Okay. He can stay here, where he can practice shifting. You’re all more than welcome to stay here for the night,” Bob said as he eyed the crescent moon overhead.
“I’ll stay too, if that’s okay,” Craig said quickly.
“You’re always welcome. All of you are,” Bob said with a tender smile.
I mentally made a note to text Trish to let her know we’d be away for the night. I’d inform her of everything too. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind a night alone.
I focused back on Ollie as Marcus picked him up, and I walked beside the pair as we headed up to the house.
Ollie was a dragon.
Now I’d seen everything.
I walked through the open paddock, the long, lush grass tickling my bare legs. Baby blue tulips bloomed all around me, and I brushed my hand over the tops of them. I gazed out over the paddock, the tulips and grass rippling like waves in a cool night breeze, the moonlight giving it a magical glow.
It was peaceful here, so quiet and serene.
But something was off. It niggled at me as I scanned the paddock carefully.
“Allison…”
I shuddered at the eerie voice that whispered around me, calling out.
“Who’s there?” I asked, desperately searching the area with my eyes.
“Allison.”
I spun around, the voice right behind me now.
“Emma?” I frowned as she stood behind me with a lost look. “What’s wrong?” I asked instantly. Her white dress was dirty, like she’d fallen in the dirt, and she was awfully pale right now. Her eyes were what worried me the most. They were glazed over, and her pained, lost expression crushed me.
“He found me,” she whispered.
My heart skipped a beat at those words, and I balled my hands into fists.
“Who found you?” I asked.
“Please help me,” she murmured, her lower lip trembling as she held out her hand.
I reached for it, wanting to do whatever I could to help her.
I cried out as I began falling away into darkness, still reaching out for her as she called to me mournfully.
I gasped as I sat up, sweat saturating my clothes and the sheets.
“Are you okay?” Ollie asked instantly, already sitting up beside me with a distressed expression.
It took me a moment to get my bearings as I glanced around the room.
Ollie and I were in the spare bed in Bob’s house, while Skip and Lucas were in the living room on blow up mattresses, and Marcus had taken the lounge.
“I…I don’t know,” I murmured, the weird dream replaying in my mind.
“It was a nightmare,” Ollie whispered as he pulled me into his arms, not caring that I was a sweaty mess. “Everything is okay,” he said softly as he stroked my hair.
I closed my eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
It had felt so real—real enough that even my banshee was restless now.
“What if something’s wrong?” I asked, my voice shaking.
She said he’d found her. Did she mean Joseph?
Ollie’s jaw set as he continued stroking my hair, but even he wasn’t sure.
I pulled back, snatching up my phone from the bedside table and shooting her a message.
Messenger didn’t give me a time of when she was last active either.
I bit my lip as I sent George a message too.
I wanted to go check on her, to make sure everything was okay, but what if it was just a nightmare brought on by all the stress? My banshee surely would’ve properly reacted if something bad had happened to my best friend.
I flinched as my phone vibrated, and I relaxed at the message from Emma asking why I was up at three in the morning.
I sighed, relaxing as I told her not to worry, I just had a nightmare.
I set my phone back on the bedside table and popped it onto flight mode.
That’s all it was. A horrid nightmare.
“It’ll all be okay,” Ollie murmured as we lay back down and he pulled me into his arms.
I huddled into his chest, drawing in his caramel scent as he kissed my forehead.
But despite Emma’s message, I struggled to fall back asleep. Something was bothering me deep inside, something I couldn’t shake.
I sat up, stretching as the morning light filtered in through a gap in the curtains.
I glanced over at Ollie, who was still sound asleep, looking so peaceful. He needed to rest after yesterday, so I carefully slid out of bed and padded out into the lounge room, knowing Marcus and Lucas were awake.
“Morning,” Lucas murmured as he sat on the lounge, gazing out the window overlooking one of the paddocks. He was wearing a green suit today, and his hair was already styled. Man, magic was a true gift. I was jealous.
“I can always do any magic for you too,” he murmured as those lazy green eyes flicked to me. He gave me his stunning lopsided smile, which I returned.
&nbs
p; “You feeling okay?” Marcus asked from his seat beside Lucas, his icy eyes tender. “Nightmare threw you off, huh?”
“Yeah. Haven’t had a nightmare in a while,” I said as I sat down in the armchair. “Where’s Skip?”
“He offered to help Bob with some early morning feeding,” Lucas said. “He’s not usually an early riser, but maybe being on a farm has just excited him. He used to wake up early,” Lucas noted.
“Gotta beat the heat out on his parents’ farm,” Marcus said, nodding.
“So breakfast? What do you guys want? Bob said we can help ourselves. I can make pancakes?” Lucas suggested.
“Sounds good,” I said as I stifled a yawn.
He smiled as he rose and strode off to the kitchen to get started, and I nestled into the armchair, enjoying the cosy feel of the house.
“Still can’t believe he’s a dragon. That blows my mind,” Marcus said as he rubbed his eyes.
“Same,” I mumbled. What powers did a dragon have anyway? Sure, they breathed fire, but there was probably so much more too.
“Any news on Claire?” I asked as I peeked into Lucas’ mind.
“Nope. Still hasn’t woken up,” Marcus said with a frown. “She’s been out for a while.”
“Are they worried?”
“No. They think the magic on her has just knocked her around. They believe she’ll wake up sometime today.
“Good.”
I switched my phone off flight mode, finding it odd that Emma saw my message about the nightmare but didn’t reply.
Guess she’d just been super tired. For all I knew, I might’ve woken her up when I messaged her at that godawful hour.
Marcus rose and stretched before offering me a hand, and the delectable scent of pancakes touched my nose as I let him pull me up.
We headed into the kitchen, and I sat down at the dining table as Lucas magicked toppings and plates over.
“We’ve got juice, milk, tea, coffee, or good old water,” Lucas said as Marcus sat down beside me.
“Tea please,” I answered, and Marcus did the same as Lucas put the kettle on.
He sent four pancakes flying through the air when they were ready, and they dropped onto our plates as he got started on the next batch.
Skip reached out mentally, informing us they were heading back from feeding now, so Lucas was going to make sure there were pancakes ready for them.
Ollie would hopefully be waking up shortly too.
I’d only just finished my second serving of pancakes when my phone went off. Ollie had joined us, looking tired as hell, and Bob and Skip were digging in and enjoying their fresh pancakes with honey and cream.
I answered it, surprised to see George calling me.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said.
“Hey, Allison, you spoken to Emma lately?” George asked, his tone worrying.
“I messaged her last night. Is everything okay?” I asked as I sat up straight, my chest tightening as my nightmare flashed through my mind.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since Friday when she was in bed before I left for work. She’s been messaging me…but she seems…” He let the sentence trail off as my gut twisted.
“Off?” I suggested, and he sighed.
“Yeah. I popped around to her place this morning to see if things were okay between us, but that’s when her parents said they haven’t seen her in a few days and assumed she was staying with me. I’m worried now, as she won’t answer my calls, and when I ask her where she is, she won’t message back,” George said, flustered and stressed.
That definitely didn’t sound like Emma at all. Her and George were the perfect couple in my eyes.
Something wasn’t right.
“What can we do to help?” I asked quickly.
“We could do a tracking spell. Go to her house?” Lucas suggested, and I relayed it to George.
“Yes. That’d work. Teresa was thinking of doing that, but she said she’s always struggled with such spells. Her affinity is potions,” George shared.
“We’ll head over right now,” I said quickly as I shot to my feet.
“Ollie should stay here and practice shifting. That’s important too,” Lucas said as he rose.
“What should we do?” Skip asked as he motioned between Marcus and himself with a fork.
“Marcus can come with us, since he’s got the ability to flit if needed. Skip, stay with Ollie. He may need shifting help,” Lucas said as the portal opened up in the kitchen.
“We’ll be there in a moment,” I informed George before I hung up.
Skip didn’t argue as the rest of us stepped through the portal, appearing in the kitchen of Emma’s parents’ house.
“Allison,” Teresa said, welcoming me with a strained smile, while Tony was standing by the dining table, his hands gripping the back of a chair as he looked confused and worried.
“Mr and Mrs Hall, if it’s okay with you, I’ll perform a tracking spell. See if we can find Emma,” Lucas said quickly.
“Please,” Teresa said with a nod, her hazel eyes weary. Her soft blonde hair was done up in a messy bun, and she was still in her red nightgown.
“We’re probably all worrying over nothing. Maybe she’s just studying or something,” Tony mused, although his pursed lips and taut face was enough to know he didn’t believe his own words.
“When was the last time anyone heard from her?” Lucas asked as he waved a glowing purple hand around the kitchen.
“I heard from her this morning at three,” I answered.
“Last I got a message from her was last night,” Teresa murmured as she held one finger to her lip, chewing the nail nervously.
“Same here. Her messages…they don’t sound like her,” George said with a sigh as he leaned on the kitchen counter.
“I just thought she was being short because she was with you,” Teresa admitted, and George shook his head sadly.
I jumped as a brush whizzed through the air, and Lucas caught it with ease.
That was his link to her that he planned to use for the spell.
“Do you need anything else? Herbs?” Teresa asked quickly.
“No, I should be able to perform the spell without it,” Lucas said with a shake of his head. Warlocks rarely needed the aid of other items to perform spells. Their magic was normally enough.
“I had a nightmare where she asked me for help. Said someone had found her,” I said softly, and Teresa’s eyes widened as George just frowned at me.
“Who?” Tony demanded as he stood up straight, his grey eyes even more concerned now.
“No idea, sorry. I tried to reach for her but I woke up,” I explained.
“That’s even more worrying. Emma is psychic, perhaps she was reaching out?” George murmured as he tapped his fingers on the counter.
“Most likely,” Teresa agreed with a brisk nod. “Please, find her,” she begged as she turned to Lucas.
He nodded as he held the brush in one hand and waved his other over it. Both hands glowed bright purple.
Teresa gasped as she curled over, and Tony shot over in a panic as Teresa’s eyes glowed green.
“What’s going on?” he barked as he wrapped an arm around her.
“The spirits…they’re reaching out. It’s Emma,” she gasped out, her lower lip trembling.
“Found her!” Lucas declared as his head shot up, his eyes glowing vibrant purple.
The portal opened up instantly, and George barreled through as Tony helped Teresa into a chair.
I shot through with Lucas, my heart in my throat.
Why were the spirits reaching out to Teresa about Emma?
Panic set in as we appeared in a cemetery, and I spied George sprinting past the various headstones.
I’d not even known Maple Grove had a cemetery.
Lucas and I tore after him, and I knew he’d left the portal open for her parents to follow if needed.
I stumbled as we caught up to George, who was now kneeling down be
fore an old dead tree amongst the tombstones.
My breath caught as I spied Emma curled up at the base of the tree, her white hair a wild mess around her, her bare skin dirty.
She was completely naked as she lay under the tree, and George shook her shoulder.
“Emma! Emma?!” he choked out, still shaking her gently as Lucas knelt down beside him.
He waved a glowing hand over her, and I heard Tony and Teresa rushing up behind us.
Teresa gasped and froze, her eyes wide as she stood beside me, staring at her daughter.
“Emma!” Tony cried out as he threw himself down on the grass near her.
“She’s alive. We need to get her to the medical center,” Lucas said quickly.
George nodded, his jaw set as he carefully lifted her up bridal style, her hair tumbling down over his arms in waves.
“My baby girl,” Teresa choked out, her eyes glistening as she held a hand to her mouth.
“She’s going to be okay,” Tony stated, although it sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself as Lucas opened up another portal.
I reached for Teresa’s arm, and she allowed me to lead her though with me after the men.
Everything moved in a blur after that, the nurses and doctor rushing out and taking her away to run tests as Teresa sat in the waiting room, crying.
Tony was struggling to keep it together, especially since they couldn’t seem to wake her.
I just tried to focus on the fact that she was alive and Lucas was in the room with the doctor, helping out however he could.
I sat back in the waiting chair, shifting to get more comfortable in the hard seat.
“She’s going to be okay,” Marcus assured me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I hope so,” I murmured as I closed my eyes.
I hated feeling so helpless right now.
But all I could do was wait.
16
Marcus.
The minutes dragged by as we waited for news, but Lucas kept us updated.
They could sense something was wrong with her actual spirit, but they couldn’t dig too deep, as a powerful magic was blocking them out.
Even Lucas was struggling to determine if it was her own magic or not.