A Song of Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 2)

by Emilia Hartley

  “Sure, I’ll listen to you,” Cash said. “I can’t promise you that I’ll follow through on your demands though.”

  Callum’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a seething snarl.

  Well, this was already going well, Cash thought. His fingers curled, but not into fists. Practicing the positions of the chords while his hands were at his sides helped calm his beast. The music filled his head, a song only he could hear right now.

  “I came to ask your permission to see Ember,” Cash said.

  Those were words he never expected to hear leave his mouth. Gale was the daring one. He was the one who would fall for a Barnes woman and change the trajectory of their family. But it seemed that Cash’s own future had been inevitable. There had never been a path where he did not love Ember.

  From the very first letter she’d sent him, he’d known from the words on those pages that this was the person he would fall for. He had no idea, at the time, that the author would be a Barnes dragon. It made sense now, though. Ember hadn’t been able to sign it with her real name or else Cash would have thrown every letter out.

  Callum gestured to the world around them. “I didn’t think you were blind, but she’s not here.”

  Cash swallowed his growl. “You know that’s not what I meant. I came here to…extend an olive branch.”

  Callum grumbled. He was a massive man with a barrel chest and arms to match. Cash wasn’t afraid to take him in a fight. He was more worried about the consequences of such a fight. The beast in Cash scratched and begged for a chance to throw down with Callum. The beast thought it had something to prove.

  The fight, if it came to that, would bring Cash another step closer to losing control forever. The beast snapped and chomped at the bit, over-eager to spill blood. Cash could almost feel the beast’s sadistic grin. The thought made him shudder.

  Callum studied Cash for a moment. Neither said anything. The creak of naked trees swaying in the chill November wind filled the growing silence.

  “Don’t bother,” Callum said finally. “I’m never going to approve.”

  The beast pounced. Cash struggled to hold it back. Pain raced up his spine and spread across his skull, making him cringe, but he managed to hold the monster back. Every moment spent in Callum’s presence pushed Cash closer and closer to the precipice. Cash needed to leave, but he hadn’t made any headway either.

  This meeting was a bust. He didn’t know why he’d bothered. Callum had always hated the Montoyas. He wasn’t about to change just because Cash had asked nicely. That wasn’t how this was going to work.

  Cash started to turn away but stopped. He looked back at Callum. “Don’t enter our territory ever again. The next time you show up unannounced, Logan will see it as an act of war.”

  Callum sneered, clearly unafraid of a fight with the century old dragon.

  Things should have gotten easier. Logan was awake. He could have told everyone the truth about what had happened before he burrowed, but without Elliana’s side of the story, no one wanted to believe him. The Montoya family brushed Logan aside in favor of the power they’d accumulated in his absence. The Barnes family dismissed him as part of the problem that had started everything.

  “Have it your way,” Cash said with a shrug.

  What now? What move should he make next? It was hard to think with the dragon constantly writhing just beneath his skin. He always felt just about to burst. The only time his dragon had felt peace had been in the mining office, when he’d lain with her. Music helped, but it didn’t give him the serenity that Ember’s presence did.

  Music just kept the beast at bay now.

  His control was slipping. Before this was over, he would lose everything. He knew it, the truth written in his bones. He just hoped that he had enough time left to tie up some loose ends. Callum would never give Cash the stamp of approval, which would always be one loose end wavering in the wind.

  15

  Marjorie Barnes had called. It was time for Ember to meet the man she would have to let down. Ember finger-combed her curls in the hopes that she would have just enough bedhead that the dragon man would immediately assume she’d been sleeping with another man. She wanted to put it into this man’s head that he would never be able to please her. Maybe then he would give up on the union all together.

  But a familiar scent hung in the air at Marjorie’s house. Ember could pick out Marjorie and Jensen and Baylee and Gale, but she thought she could smell Cash, too. She paused, thinking about the bottle of whisky Marjorie had bought for Cash and wondered what kind of deal the two of them had struck.

  Could it be? Had Marjorie betrayed the Barnes family by forging a contract with a Montoya man? While Ember had suspected it before, she had no way of proving it without asking, and Ember had avoided doing so out of fear that her suspicion would fall apart. Ember didn’t want to face an uncomfortable truth if she could bask in her fantasies for a little while.

  But Ember couldn’t run forever. She had something that she wanted. A mate bond awaited her so long as she kept holding her ground. Staying firm was steadily draining her, but she held onto the hope that she would prevail and find her happy ending at some point.

  Some point soon, she hoped.

  The air inside was warm and inviting. Someone had prepared a pan of pasta because Ember could smell the tomato sauce on the air. The aroma drew her deeper into the house, toward the kitchen where everyone waited.

  She froze at the sight of Cash. He had his back to her, his attention on something outside the bay window. Slowly, as if time had paused just for her, Cash looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with her. She sucked in a breath, her hope swelling.

  No, he wouldn’t. She doubted Cash had agreed to this. He’d only just let her in and started to show her affection. He hadn’t even brought up the letters. He wouldn’t agree to marry her now. Not so soon.

  But Marjorie strode into the room, slapped a form onto the table, and gave Ember a triumphant look. Where Alice Montoya seemed cold and calculating, Marjorie Barnes manipulated the Barnes family with her oppressive warmth. Cash eyed Marjorie, like he had come to the same conclusion, too.

  “What’s happening here?” Ember asked, her voice too small. She cleared her throat. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I only came to tell you that I’m not marrying whoever you have picked out. I’m not going to bend to anyone’s will when I can make my own decisions.”

  Even if Marjorie had somehow bent Cash’s arm to get him to sign the marriage contract behind him, Ember had to hold firm. She would not take anyone’s love by force. She would not allow herself to be pushed into a situation that was not of her own making.

  Ember put her hands on her hips and asked, “So, who am I letting down today?”

  “Really?” Marjorie snapped. “I went through all this trouble to defy your father for your sake, and you’re going to tell me no?”

  Baylee laughed. “I thought you would be used to this by now.”

  Marjorie rolled her eyes. She looked to her eldest, Jensen. “You’ll never betray me like this. Will you?”

  Jensen froze, eyes wide and one finger in a jar of peanut butter. “Don’t put any expectations on me. I won’t know if I’ve fucked up until after I do it, so I can’t promise you anything.”

  Marjorie’s shoulders slumped. Everyone else in the room shared a soft smile at her predicament. The ties of warm family bonds kept the tension out of the room. They laughed and teased one another without the threat of escalation, even though dragons lived inside them all.

  Even Cash seemed at ease. She couldn’t find a hint of his dragon’s light in his eyes, as if their eternal battle for supremacy had been set aside for the time being. Ember wanted to go to him and wrap her arms around him so she could sink into the warmth of his broad chest.

  “I will sign that contract when Cash himself comes to me and gets down on one knee,” Ember said without breaking eye-contact with him.

  He took a step toward her. “Do you thi
nk I’d sign this against my will?”

  She raised her chin.

  Cash took another step. “Do you feel like I’ve been wrangled into something I don’t want?”

  Her breath trembled.

  He closed the space between them. She had to tilt her head back to look at him. The corner of his mouth lifted into a small grin that made her heart flutter.

  Ember reminded herself that he hadn’t confessed his love for her. They’d barely spoken a word to one another since they’d slept together. That didn’t really constitute love on his end. She couldn’t deny how she felt for him, but she needed more than the small moments they’d shared between bouts of danger and violence.

  Cash cupped her cheek. “I want to spend what time I have left with you, if you’ll have me.”

  Her lips parted. Anticipation rippled down her spine and spread across her lower back. Cash lowered his head until his own lips hovered just over hers.

  “So? Will you have me?” His lips brushed hers as he spoke.

  Her mind scrambled. She damn near whimpered in front of Baylee’s entire family. That was the last thing she needed. Jensen would have never let her live it down.

  “But you’re not on one knee,” was all Ember could say.

  Cash laughed and kissed her. She rose to press her lips to his, wanting to swallow him so that she might be able to keep a piece of him with her at all times. Maybe then, they could have more than the meager moments they’d been allowed.

  More, her soul begged. More!

  Neither answered the other. Marjorie pulled the sheet-pan of pasta from the warm oven and set it on the table. The others burst into motion, gathering plates and parmesan cheese. Jensen disappeared only to return with two big packs of beer, one under each arm.

  Ember didn’t understand. Nothing had been agreed upon, but they were all acting as though this had become a done deal. She let Cash take her hand, yet she was still adrift. Uncertainty left her untethered.

  Because Cash’s words slowly sank in and she didn’t know how to address them while they were surrounded by such warmth and happiness.

  What did he mean by what time he had left? Ember had pulled him back before. She wouldn’t let his beast take control of him. So long as she was there, she knew she could bring him back. Why did he have to act as though his days were limited?

  Ember held her tongue even though her mind spun. Someone spooned a heap of baked rigatoni onto her plate, though she couldn’t remember who. The evening quickly turned into a blur. She kept glancing around, expecting to find her father or hoping to see Teagan.

  Nothing was right. Ember hadn’t yet gotten all the pieces into their places. Her father still hated her union. Teagan still stayed away from everyone. And Cash…though he stood right beside her, she knew that he wasn’t really present.

  Cash was counting down his days instead of embracing them. Ember didn’t know what to do to make any of this right. She could tell herself that none of this was her responsibility. She’d been raised to take care of everyone around her or else everything would crumble. She could stop. She could let her loved ones figure themselves out.

  But if she did, she might lose them all.

  “I visited your father,” Cash said.

  The conversation in the room came to a grinding halt. Cash’s brows rose as he looked from face to face.

  Baylee set down her fork. “Callum didn’t wreck half the town trying to kill you when you showed up on his doorstep?”

  “He wasn’t happy to see me, but no. He didn’t try to attack me.”

  Ember gaped at him. “Why would you do that after what he did at the bar?”

  He looked to the ceiling, his shoulders stiff. “I thought I could help you. Gale and Baylee and my mom have been there for me. You deserve to have your father on your side, too. But I didn’t do a very good job of being a good son-in-law.”

  Ember’s heart leapt at the idea. If she closed her eyes and let herself drift away, she could see a future in which Cash and Callum could befriend one another. In that vision, Callum clapped her mate on the back for a job well done while she watched nearby. Happiness nearly overwhelmed her until she remembered that her father would never allow this future.

  She stared down at her plate. “Don’t bother with him.”

  Ember needed to save her energy for those who would make her happy. That meant helping Cash survive the end that he obviously thought was near.

  “Let’s focus on getting married,” she said as she looked up to her mate.

  She watched him exhale, his eyes filling with his beast’s light for a brief second. The corner of his mouth lifted. She watched a new kind of excitement dawn on him. This wasn’t a future Cash had considered, either.

  “You’re going to need a dress,” he said.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. If we have a big wedding, Dad will crash land into the middle of it. He’ll wait for the priest to ask if anyone has any reason we shouldn’t be together, then he’ll drop right down onto the carpet so he can burn it all down.” The flutter that had been keeping her heart afloat slowly sank as she spoke.

  Why was it that everything she wanted came with a cost? She wanted Cash, but he couldn’t see past tomorrow. She wanted a big wedding, but that would only end in disaster. She wanted…she wanted…

  Everything she couldn’t have.

  Cash’s phone rang. He pulled it out to silence the call, but saw Alice’s name on the top of the screen. She would make his life a living hell if he didn’t answer her. Dread filled the pit of his stomach as he stepped outside.

  He held the phone up to his ear and waited for Alice to ruin his life.

  “Pack your bags,” Alice said. “You’re going to Colorado to record your first album.”

  The world stilled. Not even the wind dared to blow.

  “Colorado? Why would I have to go all the way to Colorado to record an album? I can do everything from right here.” He couldn’t leave.

  He couldn’t bear to leave Ember’s side. Ember’s father didn’t want him around her. Now, Alice had concocted a plan to pull Cash away from someone who truly made him happy. Either way Cash turned, he faced enemies on all sides.

  “Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted?” Alice asked. “You’ve been working towards this ever since you taught yourself to play guitar. You have a chance to work with people who are big in this industry, people who understand where you’re coming from. Copper Dragon Records is owned by shifters.”

  He’d heard of Copper Dragon Records. A mated pair in Colorado had started it to produce Makenna Drake’s music. It had been a big success, and they’d since then signed other shifters to their label. Once upon a time, Cash had dreamed of joining them.

  Now, he looked back to Marjorie Barnes’s house and noticed Ember watching him through the window. Cash’s roots were here. He couldn’t bear to leave now.

  Besides, the beast would take over any day. Cash had been denying it too often. Every time he held back to protect Ember, the beast grew more and more restless. It loved Ember, but it loathed Cash. The beast wanted to be free of Cash’s chains.

  He feared that not even her love could keep him from succumbing to the beast’s hatred. Every night he couldn’t spend with Ember, Cash pulled out the letters and read them front to back. He stayed out of her life to avoid more fights with her father, but sooner or later the letters wouldn’t be enough.

  Music wouldn’t be enough.

  The smell of smoke haunted him when he was alone. If he closed his eyes, the world became consumed by fire. The beast chuckled within him, the sound always closer than Cash could bear.

  How much longer did he have?

  The wave that was Cash’s beast would sweep over him and lock him away forever. As it was, the beast growled in his head. It made his skull vibrate until an ache gathered behind his eyes.

  When the beast overcame him, he would cease to be the person Ember loved. He would turn into the kind of monster that had ruined her
childhood. He would destroy he rest of her life. The smell of smoke grew more intense. It burned his nose and left him nearly choking.

  “I can’t.” He coughed on the smoke in his lungs. “Alice, I can’t.”

  She clicked her tongue, a sure sign that she wasn’t happy. Her fury would be hell to pay. “Are you telling me that you’re going back on your contract?”

  What did it matter? Everything would cease to exist once the beast took over. It would go into the woods or venture into the mines, and no one would ever hear from him again. There could be no consequences if there was no Cash.

  His beast chuckled with delight. It could sense Cash giving in. The monster had hooked its claws into him and was tearing him apart piece by piece. Cash wasn’t sure how much he had left to give to Ember. He wanted to ask the monster to save a little bit of him for her, but he didn’t dare ask the beast for a favor.

  Alice went in on him. She explained everything that would happen should he decide to turn his back on her and the contracts she’d gotten for him. He would never have played a single live show without her. He wouldn’t have met Ember without those live shows.

  “Look,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done up until this point, but I can’t keep doing this.”

  The music had never been for profit. He’d played to sooth the monster he’d become, and it hadn’t worked. Nothing had worked. He would become his father, nothing more than a beast in the end.

  He tilted his head back and wished rain would fall to cool his face. The skies remained clear despite his desire. Of course, the world had never bent to his will.

  “Cash! Cash, listen to me,” Alice said.

  But Cash hung up on her as she spoke. Consequences be damned, he was going to go back inside and enjoy the last of what he had.

  Ember awaited him, standing in the foyer and looking lost. Her brows arched together when she looked up at him. He offered a reassuring smile but it was an unpracticed expression. He could tell that it had failed by her frown.