House Of Storms: Dragon Guardians

by Grove, Scarlett

  "You deserve a good life too, Flora. You deserve to feel safe and loved and cared for. You deserve to have your dreams come true. If we work together, we can achieve anything."

  Flora sighed, getting choked up on emotion. "We're going to get through this. And when we do, we're going to have a life that is better than our wildest dreams."

  "All we have to do is keep our faith in life, in ourselves, in the dragons, and in humanity. It is up to us—the Dragon Souls—to stay strong and point the way. The dragons can only do so much. This isn't their planet, and it isn't their race. We are humans, even if we have a little bit extra. This is our world to save."

  Chapter 11

  Raiden missed Flora when she went to visit her sister, even though it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable to be around her. He wanted to kiss her every time he saw her, but he was done avoiding his problems. It was time to face them head on.

  He was sitting in the living room, waiting for her to return. She asked him if they were still on for their one-on-one game. He turned on the game console and handed her a controller.

  "I popped the popcorn already," he said, offering her the bowl.

  "Perfect." She grabbed a big handful and shoved it into her mouth. "I can't tell you how much I need this right now. Everything has become so stressful, and there's no relief."

  "Still no luck with the vaccine?"

  "Not unless Zephyr has made some progress I don't know about. But I assume he would let me know."

  "We're running out of time," he said through gritted teeth.

  "Let's not think about that right now. Let's just think about killing zombies," she said, turning on the game.

  They spent the next two hours sitting side by side, laughing and joking and killing digital zombies on the big-screen TV. When they reached a boss they couldn't beat, Flora looked up the best method on a gaming site. After she found the technique, they beat the boss and turned off the game.

  "That was fun," she said. "We need to do that more often—just the two of us."

  "I agree. It's more relaxing than hanging out with the guys in the guild."

  "That’s so funny. I've never met a man who prefers the company of women.”

  "Most of us dragons agree that human men can be kind of… well… I don't want to insult your entire race."

  "No, please. Go ahead," she said with a laugh.

  "To put it bluntly, human men are kind of idiots. They are lucky enough to have females make up more than fifty percent of their population. Yet human men undervalue their women and take them for granted. They see females as annoying nuisances and hesitate to commit to them even though they benefit so very much from a relationship with a woman. We all see the hypocrisy and idiocy in their attitudes, and it is, frankly, extremely hard to comprehend."

  She laughed. "I never imagined I would hear those words come out of a man’s mouth."

  "That's because you're so used to human male attitudes."

  "What about Dragonian males?" Flora asked. "What is your attitude toward women?"

  "I’ve known very few women in my lifetime. But those I knew, I had the deepest respect for. We tried to give them all of the love and care that they needed, and I guarantee you, not a single Dragonian alive today or at any time in my life ever took a female for granted. The idea is inconceivable. It goes against everything we believe in and everything we know."

  "Even now, when there is a world full of women?"

  "Now more than ever," Raiden said, "because now we have the chance to find our fated mates."

  "It's so refreshing to hear something like that," Flora said, turning on the TV.

  "Well, you will never hear anything different from me as long as I live."

  "I know that, Raiden. You're a man of great integrity."

  "Then why do you sound so sad?" he asked, confused.

  "Because the other day, when we were kissing, I didn't want you to stop. And I wish there were a way that we could be together even if I'm not your fated mate."

  "I wish that too," he said, "but I could never disrespect you like that. I could never just use you for sex."

  "But it wouldn't just be sex, Raiden. We’re best friends. We care about each other. Even if I weren't your fated mate, a relationship with you would be better than with any man I've ever been with. I wish you understood that."

  "You human women set a low bar, and I understand why you would. But I couldn't curse you to a life of no children."

  "We could adopt children."

  "You would want that?" he asked as she flipped the channels on the TV.

  "Maybe. If it's what we both wanted. But I couldn't keep you from finding your fated mate. Humans don't have fated mates, so it's not something I've ever expected. But you… your mate may still be out there. And I'm not going to be the one to stand in your way."

  "Flora, I'm so sorry."

  "There's nothing to be sorry for."

  "There is. I could be your man. We could have a happy life together, living as lovers and friends, but I can't give you that.”

  "Wait," Flora said, looking at the screen.

  Raiden looked on in disbelief. The newscaster on the TV was narrating the current story:

  "The escalation of disappearances and deaths has become uncontrollable as people are killed in the streets, and witnesses cannot pinpoint how it happened. Grieving families and law enforcement are at a loss as more and more cities across the world are afflicted with unexplained deaths happening right out in broad daylight. Here is some footage from downtown Los Angeles earlier today."

  The film clip showed a young woman suspended in the air and bent over backward as her blood was drained from her body. But there was no indication of who or what was doing it. The newscaster continued:

  "Scientists and experts speculate about this mysterious affliction, but so far, no one can agree on its cause. We will keep you updated with any breaking news on the story. Until there is conclusive information, we advise that you stay indoors and take the utmost precautions when going outside. So far, most of the deaths and disappearances have happened while the victim was out and about. But several have happened inside the victims' homes. What triggers the disappearances and deaths is still unknown, but authorities still advise you to be cautious and only go out if absolutely necessary."

  As the news story ended and the reporter began to report on other news and the reaction of the world as it dealt with the vampire killings, Raiden's heart clenched. "This is really bad."

  "That's putting it mildly,” Flora muttered.

  “If they are killing out in the open like this, they no longer care if humans find out about their existence. They no longer care if they cause mass hysteria and panic.”

  “It's already happening."

  They watched another news story about riots and protests in Europe and across Asia. The unrest was beginning to unfold in the United States, and soon, chaos would erupt throughout the entire world.

  "You can't unsee something like that. The cat is out of the bag, and there's no way to put it back in."

  "What will we do if we can't find the vaccine?" Flora asked.

  "I don't know. It seems like the vampires have gone crazy and no longer care if humans know they exist. There is no telling what they will do."

  "This is completely out of control," Flora said.

  "We need to attack. We can't just sit back and allow this to continue."

  "Unfortunately, we have no idea where or who to attack," Hanish said, walking into the living room.

  "You know about this?" Raiden asked.

  "I do now," Hanish said. "As of just a few minutes ago. The video of the invisible attack is all over the Internet and all over the world. If humans haven't come up with their own explanations by now, they will soon enough."

  "What will we do, then?” Raiden asked, hoping his captain would have the answer.

  "Like you said, we need to attack. We need to find their leader and whoever authorized this, and we need to
put an end to it. I already have Zephyr on the problem and Cato as well."

  "What about the vaccine?" Flora asked.

  "I'm afraid the vaccine isn't our priority right now," Hanish said. "In a perfect world, we would have found it already, and we could have prevented this mess. But there's been no real progress. I need my scientists pinpointing the vampire leaders across the world. Once we've found them, we'll get back to working on the vaccine full time."

  "I can continue my work on my own, especially if Zephyr is needed somewhere else."

  "Maybe you will come up with a breakthrough on your own."

  "I’ll do my best.

  "You've already done a great deal."

  "This is my planet and my species," Flora said. "There is no greater work than protecting them from the vampires."

  "That is what we also believe," Hanish said. "I know Raiden feels the same way."

  "Of course I do. I've known this day was coming."

  "And you were right to be prepared," Hanish said. "Now, I need to get this glass of warm milk upstairs to JoJo. You two should get some rest. We have a great deal of work ahead of us."

  Hanish disappeared up the stairs. Raiden and Flora sat silently, staring at the television. More news stories of the impending catastrophe were coming in every minute. The world was rocked to its core, and no one had any answers or explanations.

  After another hour of watching the news in stunned silence, Flora let out a deep sigh and shook her head. "I can't watch anymore."

  "Let's go to bed."

  Upstairs, he stopped in front of Flora's door and gazed into her eyes. He wanted so badly to reach out and kiss her—to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be all right. But he couldn't allow himself to do that unless he knew for sure that she was his, no matter how desperately he wanted to.

  Chapter 12

  Raiden woke early the next morning, anticipating the results of the mating analysis. Unable to contain his excitement, he bounded down the stairs to the laboratory before anyone else in the house was even awake.

  "Azure, what are the results of my mating analysis?”

  "The results of the mating analysis between Raiden Storm and Flora are positive."

  "What?" Raiden asked, not sure what he had just heard. His heart slammed with excitement.

  "The results are positive," she repeated.

  "How can it be? My dragon never said a word—not a growl, not a hiccup. The inner beast has been completely silent about Flora.”

  "Regardless of your dragon's intuition, the analysis is conclusive. Flora is your mate."

  "But why would everyone else know who their mates were, and I wouldn't?"

  "There are several variables that may have come into play, one of them being that every dragon is different. Just because some dragons are aware of their fated mates doesn't mean that all will be. Another possibility could be that Flora was changed by a vampire, received a complete blood transfusion from her sister, and then bit a mated Dragon Soul, completing her transformation and giving her immunity. The signals may have been off for your dragon. The analysis itself was challenging, even with all of the data sets that were input into my system. That was due to the change in her DNA after she transformed into a vampire and then transformed back. But I am one hundred percent positive about my conclusion."

  "I can't believe it's true," he said. "I hoped that somehow, someway we could be together. But I wasn't expecting this. If you weren't a computer, I would kiss you."

  "You can still kiss me if you'd like," the AI said.

  Raiden chuckled at the absurdity, and the machine made a humming noise that he assumed was an expression of humor.

  "I know that every dragon is overjoyed to find his mate," the AI said. "I am happy for you that you have found yours. And it is satisfying to have assisted you in that."

  "I'm not sure what to do now," Raiden admitted.

  "From what I understand, most dragons who find out about their fated mates will begin to court them. If I might make a suggestion: you should do the same."

  "I think I'll do that. But first, I have to figure out how I'm going to tell her."

  "As humans say, honesty is always the best policy."

  "I've been so sure all this time that she wasn't my mate. I'm afraid that I've hurt her."

  "Human women aren't as complicated as either human men or Dragonians have made them out to be. If you tell her the truth and you share your feelings, there is a ninety-nine-percent chance that she will understand."

  "That is good to know," Raiden said.

  "I am happy to be of service," Azure said.

  "And please don't mention it to her before I have a chance to tell her myself."

  "Your secret is safe with me."

  Raiden left the basement and hurried upstairs, his head swimming and his heart pounding. It was the happiest day of his life. But he wasn't any less confused than he had been before. He had been so sure that Flora was not his mate that he hadn't even prepared himself for what he would do if she was.

  He went outside and started walking swiftly down the garden path, trying to clear his head. Raiden made a loop all around the grounds. When he made his way back to the house, he found Flora standing on the back porch, drinking coffee, her hands wrapped around the warm mug as the steam billowed into the cool air.

  "Good morning, Raiden," she said with a smile. "You're out and about early this morning."

  "So are you," he said.

  "I wanted to get a head start on the day. So much work to do. It never ends."

  "I have something I need to tell you,” he said carefully.

  "What is it?

  "It's… it's…"

  "Have there been more killings? Has it gotten worse?" she asked.

  "It's not that."

  "You're worrying me."

  "I'm sorry" Raiden said. "I didn't mean to do that. I feel like I'm always messing things up."

  "You aren’t messing anything up.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'll just say it." He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed. "I ran a mating analysis for us a few days ago."

  Her eyes widened with shock, and she blinked several times. She tried to keep a straight face, but her expression betrayed her concern. "Oh? And what was the result?"

  "The result was positive," he said, his voice shaking.

  "Positive, as in…"

  "Positive as in, you are my mate."

  "But I thought…"

  "I don't know why my dragon couldn't feel it," he said, shaking his head. "I feel like such a fool. I'm sorry, Flora."

  She walked up to him and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "You don't have to be sorry, Raiden. You were only doing what you thought was right. If your dragon didn't know, your dragon didn't know. I don't blame you for that. How could I?"

  "But I feel like I've hurt you, and that's the last thing I want to do."

  "I admit I've been confused," she said, "but I know you weren't trying to hurt me. You were trying to protect me."

  He let out a deep sigh of relief. "Azure was right. She said I just had to be honest about my feelings, and you would understand."

  "Don't ever be afraid of telling me how you feel. I understand why you didn't want to take things any further, and I really do appreciate it, no matter how hard and confusing it was. And I think you were right—we couldn't be together if I weren't your fated mate. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. But I am your fated mate. I think I knew it all along. I couldn't help fantasizing about you and wishing that we could be together. I don't have an inner dragon who is guiding my actions. All I have are my feelings, emotions, and intuition. All this time, they've been screaming that I belong with you. I am so happy to know I was right. Now we can be together. Now we can finish what we started the other day in the library." She laughed.

  "I would like that very much," he said, taking her in his arms. "More than you know."

  "Oh, but I do know," she said, chuckl
ing. "Believe me, I know."

  "Of course you do. You're my fated mate." He kissed her deep and strong on the lips, and she melted into his arms. It was the most beautiful, satisfying feeling, and even though his inner dragon remained quiet, the human inside him was blissfully happy.

  "What do we do now?" she asked breathlessly as he pulled away.

  "We can love each other and be together."

  "That sounds wonderful."

  "I'm glad you agree," he said before kissing her again. "Would you like to go out with me? We could get away from the mansion and all this stress and responsibility and just be us together for a little while."

  "You have no idea how much I would love that."

  "I do, because I would love it just as much," Raiden said. "How about tonight?"

  "It's a date," she said.

  "I'll pick you up at eight. We'll go out to dinner and do something fun, rest and relax and enjoy each other. And for a while, we can pretend that all the problems in the world don't rest on our shoulders. We can pretend that everything is the way it should be and our love is the only thing that matters."

  "I can't wait," she said, kissing him one more time. "I need to get back to work until then. But I think this is going to be just what we need."

  "I'll see you at eight," Raiden said.

  Flora disappeared into the house, and he turned and went back to sprinting around the grounds. He was too excited and nervous to go inside and needed to blow off steam. When he was finished with his run and felt more relaxed, he went back inside and was greeted by Zephyr and Hanish. They immediately began slapping him on the back and congratulating him.

  "What is this all about?" he said, brushing them off.

  "Flora told us she really is your mate. All this time, you insisted she wasn't…" Hanish said, shaking his head.

  "I do feel a bit foolish."

  "There's nothing to feel foolish about. If your dragon wasn't letting you know she was your mate, then what could you possibly think?"

  "I should have had more faith in my other instincts," Raiden said. "I've loved her all along. She's my best friend. And I never should have doubted the importance of that."