She looked out the window as the memory played behind her eyes. The way she smiled as she thought about it made Dane a little less angry. Clearly, she had taken some kind of pleasure in Luc’s awful pranks.
“I don’t know how they managed to do it, but they took the airbag from the car they rented in Bangor and put it in my couch cushion. When I sat down, it launched me across the room.”
Emotions hit Dane like a wave. The wheel groaned beneath his grip and the car swerved in its lane. Liana sat up straighter, studying his profile, probably trying to figure out what she’d said to upset him. How could he tell her he was angry that his dragons’ prank could have hurt her, his mate? He was furious with them. The fact that they had damaged the car and not told him wasn’t even a thought in his mind at that moment.
“Why are you so concerned about my safety?” she asked, figuring it out before he could change the subject
He floundered for a moment. What could he say to her? What lie should he have ready to feed her so that she wouldn’t run from him altogether?
“I’m clearly fine.” She held up her hands as if for inspection. “I landed on a pile of DVD cases. It wasn’t fun, but it also wasn’t life threatening.”
No, she’d been there. She knew the difference. Dane should relax, should try to loosen his grip on the rental’s steering wheel. He forced himself to slowly draw in a deep breath before plastering a fake smile on his face.
Liana didn’t buy into it. He was never going to be able to fool this woman. If he was going to worry about her like this, she understood why the other dragons asked her not to tell him about their prank.
***
The wind funneled through her hair, whipping into wild abandon. She couldn’t help herself. She threw her hands into the air and felt the wind buffet her skin. In this tiny car, with the word racing around her, she felt alive. It was a wonderful feeling.
A smile snaked across her lips. Who would have imagined that a car as simple as this would have ignited such a feeling inside her cold heart? She was going to have to have one of these for her own. Dane informed her that she would have to get an American license, but her pay check from the Embassy they would build would probably foot the bill for a car like this.
She liked that idea. It was the only perk she’d come across regarding this new role she was supposed to fill in life. Why they expected her to be diplomatic and reasonable with the public was beyond her. She didn’t want to deal with humans and dragons like she’d had to in the forest with the white dragon. She didn’t want to make decisions like that for the rest of her life.
Maybe she was being a child. She sucked in a breath of chill, clean air as it rushed around her. She was most definitely being a child. There had to come a day when she didn’t spend all of her time watching movies with her big brother or poking fun at Elgar.
No one knew that she used to sneak into Elgar’s home, long after the first day. There was something about the man - the dragon that lost his mate and his mind - that made her care for him. He seemed sad and broken, the shadows in his eyes for the destruction he’d wrought dancing between the madness that gripped him.
Elgar firmly believed that he would find the Holy Grail and that it would bring back his dead mate. As a child, she’d been apt to believe him, yearning for a day when her own parents would walk through the front door again and call out to her. She wished her father would return and sweep her into her arms. But, the longer she spent with Elgar, the more her heart hardened.
It would never happen. Things like that didn’t exist. Elgar’s wife, her parents, they were all long dead and in the ground. She and Elgar had to keep on living. Only one of them had managed to do so. Still, she would visit. She would bring him Maggie’s atrocious attempts at baking. She would bring him a new chalice she’d bought online.
But, she knew. Liana knew that they were no longer kindred spirits. Not in a way that hope brought people together. Perhaps, now, they were once more kindred spirits, but in the way that darkness brought people together. She had not ravaged a city for revenge. But the monster inside of her ached for blood. Raphael’s death had not silenced it.
“You became really quiet,” Dane’s voice broke through the hazy wall of thought she’d been wrapped in.
“What colors does this car come in?” she asked, shoving aside her thoughts of home. Elgar would keep carving his path day in and day out without her, not once breaking from his routine to think to miss her. Why should she miss him?
“I’m sure you could get it customized in whatever color or design you could think of. Heck, I’m sure you could find someone willing to paint dragon scales onto it. Then you could call it the Embassy’s mascot.”
“I kind of like that idea. I could have it painted like the twins,” Liana began. “I’ve never seen such beautiful dragons before in my life.”
She might have feigned indifference, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the two dragons as they took to the sky with their snake-like bodies painted with all the colors of the world. Their scales had morphed beneath the light, never settling on one color at a time. Their wings, even, had taken her breath way. The brothers did not have the thin, membrane wings that most dragons shared. Instead, the brothers’ wings were decked out in long, elegant feathers. She didn’t have a name for their kind, but she knew she was enamored with whatever they were.
Beside her, a low growl was almost lost on the wind, but she caught it. Dane flexed his hands on the steering wheel, trying to hide the tension that tightened his fingers. She raised an eyebrow, confused by his sudden anger. Did he not like people gawking at his people?
Or, was there another, more personal, reason that he did not like her gawking at another male? He could take whatever he was feeling and shove it somewhere dark, Liana thought. She didn’t need that in her life.
Although, she did have an idea.
“I can’t decide which I like more,” Liana began, leaning back into the leather seat. “The quiet twin or the fun twin. I feel like Luc would make life interesting. He might make the bedroom very fun, but on the other hand, he could also be a bit tiring after a while.”
The growl in Dane grew louder. The car surged forward, gas pedal nearly hitting the floor board. He refused to look at her as she spoke. She smiled and kept pushing his buttons.
“Marc might take me on a nice night on the town, treat a girl with flowers and an expensive dinner. He might make love in the same, patient way. I bet he wouldn’t miss a thing.” Her hands moved over her legs as if she could already feel another’s hands on her.
The funny thing was, she wasn’t thinking of Luc or, even, Marc. Her mind was imagining Dane’s hands running along her bare skin. Her mind imagined his bare body pressed up against hers. Should she lay with the American leader and get this crazy desire out of her system? Or, should she try her hardest to ignore it?
“If that’s what you want,” Dane said, managing to get his anger under control. His words surprised her. She hadn’t expected that kind of release. “Luc makes a good one night stand if you’re looking for that kind of thing. Marc might be a better bet for the long run. I can’t speak for what they might want, though. They might not even want you.”
Liana laughed. “Very true.”
This time, Dane managed to cast a glance in her direction. She caught it. Liana caught the deep-seated want in them. Dane might have given her permission to sleep with his dragons, but she could see that was not what he wanted her to do. She could see that he wanted her for his own.
Yet, he’d given her freedom.
She was starting to see the real man and it wasn’t bad. If anything, Dane would have made great mate material if she’d been looking for that kind of thing. It was just another reason for her to keep her clothes on. She couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk love.
Liana didn’t want to be cut in half like Elgar or Maggie. She didn’t want that kind of pain to weaken her. She had to live. She had to fight.
B
ut, she could stand beside this man. She could fight with him.
“I just had a realization,” she blurted out.
Dane flicked a glance at her. The car swerved around the tight corner, tires screeching against the pavement and her stomach doing flips. She laughed and smiled before the realization settled back in again.
“I’m going to have to play diplomat. For the rest of my life, probably.” It meant that she would forever have to use her words to diffuse situations, something she wasn’t sure she would be very good at. “Cameron would be so much better at this job that I will be.”
Dane shook his head. “You were the one that led up to a white dragon becoming part of Snowdonia for the first time ever. That was your decision and look how well it’s working right now. It looks good for the red and white dragons to stand in solidarity now. That’s because of you.”
Liana sighed. “It was a fluke, a one off. I can promise you it won’t happen again.”
She flexed her fingers in her hands. She would much rather feel blood pumping through her veins as she chased prey, as she protected those she loved. Now, she was chained to a damned desk and it infuriated her.
“My life is going to become so boring.”
Droplets of water began to hit the windshield with a tinging sound. They pelted across Liana’s shoulders. She let her head fall back so that it could wash over her face. Beside her, Dane flicked his gaze to the sky, concern scrunching his features for a moment. Then, his hand flicked out and the roof began to fold back over them. Her heart sank.
Dane’s gaze danced between the road and the storm above them.
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Chapter Five
Dane could breathe easier as soon as they entered their territory. He hadn’t realized the grip in his chest until it released and filled him with a sense of calm. The others had flown ahead, saving time and money with their dragon forms. After all the restraint they’d shown in Wales and during the flight home, it would have been nice to have spread his wings again, but he’d stayed grounded for his mate. He didn’t blame her. There would be other times to spread his wings.
It was the storm that bothered him. He knew why it had diverted course, why it followed them. He just hoped that the dragons flying had made it through safely. The rain had been heavy and insistent for a short while. Lightning danced from cloud to cloud above them, as if in search of Isaac. He couldn’t see what was going on above the car with the roof closed. All Dane could do was have faith that they knew what to do in that circumstance.
The trees grew thick around him, massive firs standing tall beside thick trunked oak trees that were older than he was. He should have been able to let go of the breath he’d drawn in, but something made him hold back.
Dane knew something was wrong when they arrived on the Territory. There was a roar in the air that was not the muscle car. Dane yanked the key from the rental car and threw himself up and out of the car, not to be bothered with the process of opening and closing the door. His heart leapt into his throat as he raced toward the sound of the roar.
He knew, the closer he got, who it was. Dane knew the sound of all his dragons.
Luc was crying.
Dane’s feet flew over the ground. It was like he couldn’t get to his dragon fast enough. He’d let them fly home without him. He hadn’t been with his dragons and something had happened. He felt guilt and shame cut through him like a dull knife. It was ragged and dragged him in two. He should have been with the dragons. Yet, he couldn’t have left Liana alone.
He wanted to roar with Luc.
Instead, he kept himself under control as she surged into the small house. Luc was in his human form, fighting to get out the door while being held back by two more dragons. When Dane entered, Luc’s eyes narrowed and fell on him. For a moment, Dane felt the gaze cut like a knife as blame was hurled at him.
But, Luc sagged in the grip of the other dragons. He sucked in a ragged breath and tried to reign his anger, his fear.
“We lost Marc,” Luc said with a shudder.
Dane could feel energy building in his body, crackling along his limbs. The walls around him began to shake and crack. He was useless standing here. He should be out searching for Marc. The wood infrastructure of the house around him began to groan and crack.
“Lost?” His voice was short, barely a bark. He feared the worst.
The house was going to crumble around them. He was pulled in two directions, unable to move in either and it infuriated him. The beast roared with indecision. Was it their fault? For wanting to protect their mate over their people? Where should he have drawn the line?
Dane was more than willing to bring the house down around him in his fury. Feeling it crumble and crack beneath his power would feel so good. It would release the energy riding him, begging to be wrought upon something. Anything.
If only he’d gone with them. If only he’d forced her to fly, or carried her tiny human body the whole way. But, that would have ruined any chances of gaining her love. It was his mate or his dragon and Dane couldn’t deal with it.
A set of arms wrapped around him and the energy fled. His knees began to tremble beneath him and they both fell to the floor. The beast inside of him smelled mate.
She will make things right.
Dane didn’t know how, but he was tempted to trust his beast.
***
Liana felt the world shift beneath her feet at the dragon’s words. The unfamiliar dragon looked between Dane and her. Liana felt the blood rush from her face. Where it went, she couldn’t tell, because her whole body felt shaky.
A dragon had gone missing because she acted like a brat.
Those hadn’t been the words used, but those were the ones Liana told herself. Marc was gone. During the flight from the airport to the Territory, the dragons had encountered a storm and had been separated. While the storm hadn’t bothered Isaac too much, the twins had gotten separated.
Luc easily found Isaac, but they hadn’t been able to find Marc. Instead of scouring the Territory alone, Isaac had convinced Luc to return to the center of the Territory to ask for help. Greater numbers meant more eyes.
Two dragons held on to the torrent that was Luc in that moment, neither of which she recognized, of course. One was a small woman with sharp eyes and an equally sharp hair cut that sized Liana up. The female dragon’s eyes flicked between Liana and Dane. Whatever she saw made her lips twist downward and her stance grow rigid.
Liana gave the glare right back to the female dragon, not quite understanding the hostility behind it. There were other matters at hand.
She didn’t know what she was doing, only that her body moved on instinct alone. Her arms enveloped the trembling leader of the American dragons. She could see the devastation that hit him like a truck, the indecision as he struggled between what was right and what he’d done.
None of this was his fault.
It was hers. She tried to say that without words as she leaned her forehead against his and waited for the fury to calm. His hands gripped at her sides, fingers clenched in her shirt as he clung to her. She tried to remain calm. She kept the fearful tremble from her hands as she reached up and threaded her fingers through his dark, silky hair to pull his head back.
Her fingers twisted in his hair, he was forced to look her in the eye. There was still a pain and an anger burning in his gaze. Liana saw something else in them, too. A darkness that he seldom revealed. Was that the thing that kept him up with her on long nights? Did he have his own reason to avoid sleep?
“We don’t throw fits,” she said, her voice soft so that only he could hear her. She would not let her words make him seem weak before his people. He was not weak. Dane felt the full brunt of his emotions. He loved his people and feared for his dragon. He carried the guilt of what had happened like Atlas carried the world. “We will find your dragon.”
The monster inside her stirred. It wondered if the dragon had been kidn
apped, if there might be blood to shed. She took an imaginary hand and shoved the monster’s head down to quiet it. Now was not about blood. It was about returning Marc to his home.
“Are you ready?”
All around her, Liana could hear whispers beginning to stir the dragons and mates that encircled them. She didn’t look up, but she heard some of their gossip. They were wrong. She was not his mate. She was only an ambassador. Maybe a friend.
Dane nodded, pulling against her grip in his hair. They unfolded from one another, Liana brushing the drywall dust from her shoulders. The house had nearly caved in from the force of the beast inside Dane, from the sheer power that poured out with his anger. Her mind should have tried to focus on Marc and where he might be, but it had other ideas.
Instead, her mind was on the darkness she’d seen in the depths of his eyes. It was a familiar shadow, one she’d seen in the mirror every night she couldn’t sleep. It was the shadow of deeds done, of dark things passed. What had Dane done to get those shadows?
She stood up, not bothering to pull Dane to his feet. He could do that on his own. He could show his people that he could find strength even amidst crisis. And, he did. Dane rose from the ground in one smooth motion, determination painted across his calm face. She watched him turn away and begin to bark orders, sending dragons in every direction. Liana wanted to reach out and hold his hand, to squeeze it and share the pride that rose through her.
But, she kept her hands to herself.
Dane led the way out. Liana shared a glance with Luc. Could he restrain himself enough to search for his brother with a level mind? Could he remain calm if anything happened to his other half? Luc’s gaze was burning, his anger pointed at her for a moment before he swallowed it back down like bad medicine.
“I didn’t ask to come here,” she reminded him. “I didn’t ask Dane to drive me to your Territory. I didn’t summon the storm that separated you. None of this has anything to do with me.”
Fated Dragons Complete Series: Books 1 - 5 Page 46