by Roxie Ray
My dragon erupted, my clothes disappearing, thanks to a spell put on me at birth by Sammy. It wasn’t a completely necessary spell, but it made life easier. Sammy had invented the spell herself and I knew she’d shared it with few other witches. She was a little proprietary.
I turned and ran for the cliff, trusting our beloved Sammy to cover me as I launched myself into the air and roared. The ocean below kicked up, the frothy waves already volatile turning violent as they reacted to my innate magic and my connection to the water.
Flying high before looking back, I watched my clan follow me, launching into the air and circling below me, frolicking both with each other and the ocean. They dove into the waves, coming up with mouthfuls of fish and sea creatures, shooting arcs of water out of their mouths.
Sammy walked to the cliff, holding the only baby our clan currently had. There had been a time when we’d had several, and the mothers and fathers took turns watching the children or flying, but at the moment it was only young Wallace, watching us fly with his onyx and golden eyes that all dragon babies had.
My heart full of pride, I joined them, and we flew late into the night, wild and free.
5
Skylar
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything else?” Cam smiled at Dr. Mason with a strange look on her face. We were near to lunchtime on a busy Monday, and the energy in the office had been odd all day.
And it had something to do with Dr. Mason. Everyone gravitated toward him.
Except me. I couldn’t figure out what everyone’s deal was. He was the same doctor who made everyone revamp the way they charted, even though our charts had been perfectly adequate for years before he came along.
“No, thank you, Cam. I appreciate the offer.” He handed her the charts he’d asked her to digitize. As he turned around, I buried my nose in my tablet, hoping he wouldn’t notice that I’d been paying attention.
After feeling the weight of Dr. Mason’s gaze, I turned and walked into my next patient’s room. I had no idea what in the world was going on with everyone today, but I wanted nothing to do with it.
My next block of time was empty, thankfully, because I was starving. I headed down to the cafe, but they were serving meatloaf. I loved meatloaf, but I hated the cafe’s meatloaf. It looked like it was going to be a cafeteria day.
I hit the elevator and went down to the old part of the hospital. The hallways were quiet down here. Truth be told, I did like the cafeteria more, but it wasn’t worth the risk of running into Bret.
After going through the line, I settled down at a table and put my phone on a game to play while I ate my chili. I hadn’t even started throwing birds when one of my nurses plopped down beside me. “Hey, Skye,” she said.
I scooted over and smiled at her. “Hey, Bernie. What’s up?”
Cam slid into the seat across from us and put her tray down. “Care if we join you?”
Shaking my head, I pulled my tray close to make room. “Of course not.”
They usually ate in a huge group in the cafe. Sometimes I joined them, sometimes not. In a way, I was their boss, so it was sometimes awkward for them to sit with me.
“So, you used to be close to Anthony, right?” Cam asked.
I nodded. “Yes, Dr. Mason was my friend all throughout childhood.”
“What happened?” Bernie leaned forward, food forgotten.
I sighed and put down my fork. “At his sixteenth birthday party, he kissed me, then disappeared.”
They both stared at me, waiting for me to continue. “Like, disappeared? A magic trick?” Bernie questioned.
Laughing, I clarified. “No, no. He pulled back, ran off, then came back a few minutes later sending everyone home. I didn’t hear from him for three days, then he told me goodbye at the park, saying he was going to some prestigious school in London.”
“Well, he did say at his intro meeting that he’d gone to a school in London,” Cam said.
“Yes, he did.” I waved my fork at her. “But he didn’t have to completely ignore me, did he? No. He didn’t. I wasn’t in love with him or anything, but he still broke my heart. He was my best friend, literally for as long as I could remember. We made friends at the park when we were like two or something.” I shrugged. “But all that didn’t matter to him once he moved.” Okay, so maybe I was a little bitter about it. “I’ll be honest. I don’t get the fascination with him.”
Bernie gaped at me. “Okay.” They hadn’t really asked for quite that much information. She glanced at the others then back at me. “But, I mean, have you looked at him? He’s gorgeous.”
“I still see the scrawny, pimple-faced boy that helped me put straws on my bike spokes, so they’d be loud.” I absolutely did not see the muscled, tall, gorgeous doctor he’d become. Nope. Not at all.
“Shush,” Cam said. She looked over my shoulder with wide eyes. “It’s him.”
Ugh, he must’ve come through the door. I looked over my shoulder in time to not see Dr. Mason as I’d expected.
It was Bret, and his pregnant Barbie doll walked beside him. Damn it. “I thought she was staying home,” I muttered. She was the perfect little trophy wife now.
“She likes to come to eat with him.” Cam gave them both a disgusted look. Bret’s new baby mama had been a CNA here at the hospital, working with him in podiatry. I didn’t feel any envy toward them. I was glad to be away from him now, especially knowing the kind of man he truly was. But I definitely hated their guts, both of them.
Bret’s gaze landed on our table, and I averted my eyes, praying he wouldn’t come over.
Baby mama walked toward the line, but Bret turned his direction toward my table. “Damn it,” I muttered.
He stopped at the empty chair beside Bernie and directly in front of me. “Hey, Skye. How are you?”
Bernie and Cam watched with wide eyes as I tried not to tell him to go straight to Hell. “Hello,” I said in a stiff voice. I met his gaze, because looking away somehow meant I was less than.
I was one thousand percent better than Bret. I wanted to slap his stupid face and stab my fork in my ear to keep from hearing his stupid voice. He had cheated on me for most of our relationship. It took everything in me not to scream at him. “What have you been up to? I hope you’ve been well.”
“Fine, thanks.” I kept my teeth clenched together and my glare on his lying, piece of shit face.
“Mary’s getting close to delivery.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet as if we were having some sort of relaxed, catch-up conversation.
This man had some big fucking balls. The audacity to bring up the woman he’d gotten pregnant weeks before our wedding. This son of a bitch. I opened my mouth to tell him to go to Hell when someone put their hand on my shoulder.
It was Dr. Mason. Not Anthony. To me, he would be Dr. Mason. He didn’t deserve to be on a first-name basis, not even in my head. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but even after all this time, I recognized his touch. It felt like electricity passed between us, but with Bret standing right there, I didn’t move. I was in between two men I wanted to be a thousand miles away from.
But if I had to choose one, I definitely chose Dr. Mason. At least he’d left instead of cheating on me repeatedly.
Bret’s gaze glued to Dr. Mason’s hand on my shoulder. Normally, I would’ve pushed it away, but in this case, I was okay with Bret jumping to any conclusion he wanted to.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Anthony Mason.” His hand tightened on my shoulder. “And you are?”
Bret bristled. “Dr. Bret Cooper, podiatrist.”
Dr. Mason huffed through his nose, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “Podiatry, how nice. I’m a pediatric surgeon.”
Bret’s nostrils flared and the corners of his mouth tipped down, one of his telltale signs that he was furious. He couldn’t stand the fact that someone with a more impressive specialty had their hand on my shoulder.
Cam’s and Bernie’s heads swayed back and forth as they wat
ched the pissing contest, and nobody missed Dr. Mason’s hand on me.
“It was nice to see you again, Skylar.” Brett nodded once at Cam and Bernie. “Ladies.” He walked away without saying goodbye to Dr. Mason.
Damn it. Thanks to those two men, the entire hospital would be talking about this whole exchange. I hated being the topic of gossip for anyone. I dipped my shoulder to get his hand off of it, then pushed the chair back, leaving it up to Dr. Mason to get the hell out of the way.
“Excuse me.” I grabbed my tray and shoved my phone in my pocket, then made a beeline for the tray return area. The small room, off to the side of the cafeteria, was my closest escape and had a second exit into the stairwell so I could go back upstairs and eat something out of the vending machines instead of spending one more moment in this damn cafeteria.
I vowed to never come to eat lunch here again. Maybe I could get my schedule changed and start working nights. I’d have to leave primary care, but whatever. It would be worth it to not work with or run into either of the men that made me absolutely nuts.
“Who was that?”
Damn it. He’d followed me. I should’ve known he would. “Hello, Dr. Mason.”
“For the last time, will you please call me Anthony? It’s not like we haven’t known each other for three decades.”
I slammed the tray down and whirled around. “Fine. Anthony. Who that was is none of your business. Please mind it.” Damn him and his name. Calling him Dr. Mason had helped me put some distance between us. But no. It had to be Anthony. I separated out the trash from the dishes on my tray. “And why did you come over there, anyway? With your hand on my shoulder like you own me or some shit?” I flipped my hair over my shoulder and turned to meet his gaze.
“You are my business, Skylar.”
I burst out laughing, and just like that, I’d had it. No more. “You have no right to me, or knowing me, or knowing about me.” I tried to keep my voice down, but my anger spiked. “You walked out on me, disappeared after a literal lifetime of friendship and never contacted me again.” I pushed past him toward the stairs. “You were my best friend,” I yelled as I slammed into the door and started up the stairs as the door’s bang echoed satisfactorily below me. “Do you know, I still don’t have another best friend?” Anthony’s footsteps echoed behind me, telling me he was still behind me. “I have friends, but I’ve never allowed myself to get as close to another person as I was to you.” Damn my diarrhea of the mouth. Why couldn’t I just answer a question and then move the hell on?
“Skylar—”
“No! I was your business once, but not anymore. I’ll deal with you, because I have to work with you, but you’re not a part of my personal life anymore.” I whirled around and pointed in his face. He was only a couple of steps behind me on the stairwell, and he reeled back and grabbed the rail with a shocked and hurt expression on his face. “And you never will be again.”
We’d reached the primary care floor. I slammed my way through that door and straight into my small office, shutting the door and locking it. I’d have to see him at some point throughout the day, but for now, at least I had a granola bar in my desk.
Damn Bret, and damn Anthony. Both of them were assholes and neither of them deserved me. I was better off alone.
6
Anthony
Rolling over in bed, I pulled the blankets over my head and tried to go back to sleep. It was Wednesday, my weekday off since I’d done my monthly on-call this past weekend. The clinic was open a half-day on Saturdays and Sundays and everyone took turns staffing it.
It’d just been me with Bernie and Cam there. I’d been both thankful and disappointed that I wasn’t working with Skye, but none of the doctors ever worked the weekends together. Though she wasn’t a full doctor, she counted as one as far as scheduling went.
She was right back in the office on Monday, though, which was the day I’d made a total ass of myself with her and her ex.
Bret. How I’d wanted to rip his face off. I’d played dumb, but the nurses had already filled me in on what happened between the two of them. When I saw him talking to her, I had to interject myself. That asshole had to know there was someone that would have her back.
But Skye hadn’t appreciated it. In fact, it had made everything worse. She was my mate, and I couldn’t ignore that, but that made the week packed full of tension. Her dislike for me was out in the open. I had to believe things would work out between us.
I just wasn’t so confident that I had the skills to win her over. Not after all the years away with no attempt on my part to contact her.
Eventually, I fell back to sleep, waking later in the morning to the smells of breakfast.
“Anthony!” My mother’s voice and the promise of coffee pulled me from the bed. “Hungry?”
I threw on some workout clothes and shuffled downstairs. “Morning.”
“Afternoon, more like. You okay?” Mom looked at my face and pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “Did you catch something at the hospital?”
I shook my head and pulled back. It was time to start looking for my own place. I loved my parents, but I’d been in town nearly three weeks now, and I was ready to make my own breakfast in my boxers or to sleep in without worrying about anyone thinking I was sick. “Mom, I’m fine. Dragons don’t get sick.”
She set a plate in front of me. “Well, I worry. You’re around all those diseases. What if there’s one that we haven’t been exposed to yet?” I rolled my eyes, but she pointed at the food. “Eat up. Your father is out back, about to go for a fly. You should go with him.”
That sounded nice, so I scarfed down the egg sandwich and chugged the coffee. “Okay, see you soon.” I pushed the chair back as I took the last bite. “Love you, Mom.”
She smiled indulgently at me. “I’ll get the dishes. Go.”
I took my coffee out back with me in time to see my father set his coffee cup on the picnic table on the patio. “Hey, Dad.”
He turned with his eyebrows up. “About time you got up. I figured you would’ve outgrown the need to sleep in on your off days.”
Chuckling, I gave him a shocked look. “Never. Sleeping in is the best part of my week.”
He nodded toward the back yard. “Wanna go for a flight?” We owned land for miles around the house, outside of the city limits, and near the ocean. We didn’t fly over the water unless Sammy was around to shield us, but we could head into the woods without fear of being seen. Sammy had long ago put permanent wards on them to discourage any humans from entering.
“Sure.” I put my cup down and took off running, transforming halfway across the back yard into my dragon. All the Bluewater Clan dragons were some shade of blue or green, and we all had characteristic marks of iridescence at the tip of each of our scales, making us sparkle in the sunlight like each scale was embedded with a jewel. Even I thought we were the most beautiful of all the dragon clans.
We had several transplants to our clan, of course. If we didn’t intermarry between one another, we’d be like royalty of old.
Inbred.
Tessa was descended from a mountain clan down in Tennessee. Her parents had moved to Bluewater before she was born. As a result, she was more of a deep, forest green with browns mixed in when she shifted into her dragon. She was totally a viable mate for me, but fate had decided otherwise. I really had no freaking clue what would happen if and when Skylar and I made it work and had children. Would they be dragons? It was possible it would be the end of the Bluewater Clan line. If another alpha took control, the clan would change. The energy would be different. The colors would morph over time.
We weaved in and out of the trees, dodging branches and spiking high over the tree cover before diving back down. Deer ran beneath us, content that we weren’t their enemy. The legends said that when a dragon clan moved into an area, the animal population steered clear, but once it became apparent that we didn’t hunt them, they began coexisting peacefully with us.
&nb
sp; The magic in me fortified the magic in the rest of the clan. Every clan had to have an alpha, supported by his betas. When my father stepped down, he became my beta, as did Jace. Others could be betas as well, dragons with the capacity to be alphas who chose not to try.
We turned when we reached the outer limits of our land and headed back toward the house. When we landed, we sat at the picnic table and enjoyed the afterglow-type feeling that came after a flight. It wasn’t unlike the relaxed satisfaction after sex.
“How are you liking being the alpha so far?” Dad asked.
I shrugged. “There’s not much to it at the moment. It’s not like the old days, is it?”
Dad chuckled. “Not at all. Thanks to our alliance with the witches, many of the old duties are much more relaxed. We don’t have to constantly patrol our borders or organize the clan to make sure everyone has jobs. It’s really more of a figurehead position except for the fact that you’re the conduit for the magic.”
“I’m glad they don’t depend on me like they did your grandfather or even your dad,” I said. “It would’ve been damn near impossible to have a high-stress job like a doctor back then.”
“How about your old friends? Have you caught up with everyone?”
He gave me a look out of the side of his eyes. I knew damn well what he was actually asking. “Yes, I’ve talked to Skylar, if that’s what you’re trying to say.” I turned my gaze on him, the peace of the after-flight atmosphere broken.
He swallowed and then sighed. “I never liked forcing you away from her. It was a necessary thing, but I took no joy in it.”
It was hard not to yell at him. “I know you think you did the right thing, Dad, but you didn’t. I didn’t choose Skylar. Fate did. Our ancestors, or God, or whoever it is that decides which mate is perfect for each of us. My tattoo was pretty dormant in all the years I’ve been gone. Since I’ve been home, it’s blazing like the sun.”