Her boss nodded. “Cash didn’t throw a single punch when your father beat his ass. I owe him for that and for packing our bar on the off nights. It seems like he needs your help right now.”
Ember threw her arms around the man’s neck, hugged him as tightly as she could without breaking him, and leapt over the bar. Her boss sighed and told Baylee to wipe the bar down again now that Ember had sullied it. She heard Baylee’s laugh as she ran out into the night.
Cash’s scent was faint in the air, but she followed it the best she could. She’d never tracked anyone like this before. She didn’t even really know what she was doing. A beacon in her heart called out to one in his, like a radio trying to find a signal. She hoped it would lead her back to him.
The scent led her to the parking lot behind the bar. She traced it to the edge of the lot, where the trees waited not far away. On the ground was Cash’s guitar case. Her heart sank.
He wasn’t the kind of man to leave his guitar lying about. The instrument had been his tether to reality for so long. But he’d abandoned it tonight. The sight of it broke her. She dropped to her knees and sobbed.
Life had never been fair to her. Why couldn’t it give her this one thing? Couldn’t fate make up for all the pain she’d endured to keep her family together? She deserved happiness. But happiness wasn’t something life could promise.
It was something she had to fight for.
She would fight, and she would win. When she brought her mate back, he would want his guitar once more. If left out here, the harsh Nebraska weather would ruin it. She picked it up and held it close as if the guitar’s continued existence anchored Cash to this world. The scent trail would disappear if she took too long, but she made sure to carefully stow the guitar away in the bar’s storage room.
Cash would need the power of music when she brought him home. He would need…She sniffled and reminded herself that she had to bring him back first.
Despite the tears still running down her face, Ember returned and followed the scent trail. Faint and fading, she did her best to find him. She searched and searched. High and low, under every rock, behind every tree, Ember turned over everything to find Cash. The evening slipped into early morning. She shifted and flew out to the mines, to the facility where they slept with one another for the first time.
She hoped to find him nestled in those pillows while he played music, but he’d left his guitar back at the bar. If Cash had left his guitar behind, it’d been foolish to think she could find him here.
Nearly defeated, Ember trudged toward the pile of pillows. The chill from outside permeated the building because there was no source of heat, but she could feel a fire burning in her chest. It started small, just enough to keep her warm as she nestled into the pillows and breathed deep.
Cash’s scent filled her nostrils. It mingled with her own from the last time they’d been there together. A smile curved over her lips despite the night she’d had. The fire inside her steadily grew and grew, fostered by a conviction she hadn’t yet acknowledged.
Ember went back to her apartment to retrieve the fiery red acoustic guitar Cash had bought her. She doubted that it would sound very good in her hands, but she hoped that her awful playing would draw him out. She grabbed the guitar and raced back downstairs.
While she’d slept in the secret hideaway, Baylee and Gale had taken to the skies to find Cash. Even Teagan had come out to help. Unfortunately, Cash couldn’t be found. The beast ruled him and kept him from coming back to them.
Most likely because he knew Ember would have more than a few choice words for him once she got her hands on him. She wasn’t afraid of facing down Cash’s beast. He’d treated his dragon like a monster, but a monster couldn’t play the kind of music that Cash could. Besides, she would never fall in love with a monster.
Cash and his beast needed to learn to work together. She couldn’t tell her father this because he wasn’t one to listen to his daughters, but she could hunt down her mate and force him to reconcile with his beast. Cash’s beast would listen to her.
She put her phone on silent before sitting on a fallen log and unzipping her new guitar case. The instrument seemed heavy in her hands. She wasn’t used to the weight of this one. That, or the weight of what she needed to do had nestled inside the hollow instrument.
Shaking herself, she then strummed the strings and tuned it accordingly. She glanced around the woods and hoped that Cash would be near. He had to hear her playing for this to work. If it didn’t work here, she had a couple of other locations she could go to.
The first song she played was one of Cash’s songs. She stumbled through it, but after a while she found her rhythm. Her fingertips ached, but she didn’t want to stop. The sound slipped between the trees, reaching further and further as it searched for Cash.
After the first song, she paused and looked around. Of course, one song hadn’t been enough. She let a moment of silence pass before starting another of Cash’s songs. Then she switched chords and played a classic.
Words started to flow through her mind. Her fingers found a new melody. It was the same as the one she’d hummed while Cash had explained his painful past. She didn’t know if this would do anything. For all she knew, she would sit here and play for an audience of nobody.
But she had to try.
The beast roused from its sleep. A song, soft and distant, reached its ears. The beast cocked its head. The tune was familiar. It penetrated the dragon’s thoughts and tried to dig up buried memories.
The beast wanted nothing to do with those old memories. They had to remain behind the hazy wall in its mind, or else the beast would remember why it had to leave. If the beast remembered…
Then you’ll have to answer to her, said the human voice in the back of the beast’s mind.
Shaking its head, the beast couldn’t dislodge the human voice.
The melody grew louder. It grabbed ahold of the dragon and beckoned it out of its hiding place. The dragon dug in its heels. This song could not change the dragon’s mind. Life was better this way. The dragon could not disappoint anyone so long as it stayed away.
But that song refused to relent. The beast could hear the sorrow in her voice. Her, the woman he loved. She wove a tale with her voice. The song spoke of her adoration from afar and her fear of what they could have when the world told them they could never be together.
Then it changed. It wasn’t the sorrowful song that had woken the dragon. Instead, her wrath slipped into the notes. It filled the new song with a fire that could have burnt him had he not been a dragon. But beneath it all, he could feel a thread that tugged him toward her.
The human in the back of the beast’s mind sighed happily. The dragon couldn’t remember, though. It couldn’t recall why the human was so happy to hear her voice. The dragon blocked it out. The past couldn’t call him back if he refused to hear its voice.
If the dragon went back to who he’d been, to who the human part of him had been, it would only cause more problems. With the dragon in control, there was no more fighting for power. She wouldn’t have to look at him and wonder how her day would unfold. She wouldn’t have to question who she was dealing with or fight for the weaker part of himself.
She wouldn’t have to deal with the feud, either.
The dragon did this to protect her.
Couldn’t she see that?
But her voice twisted with pain as she sang. The beast paused, realizing that he’d moved closer to her. He stood at the edge of the clearing. A woman with dark, curly hair bent over a red guitar. The red tips of her hair brushed the guitar until she sat up and locked eyes with him.
The beast recoiled. It turned to flee, but the human part of him held firm.
He’d missed her. The human part savored the sight of her.
The beast tried to lock the memories down, but her name slipped through.
Ember. His Ember. His little spark, capable of burning down all his defenses. She smiled at him, wider than he
deserved. She didn’t stop playing, though. Her fingers still strummed the strings. The sound she conjured from the guitar rang through him and shook apart all the walls he’d tried to erect around his memories.
Ember had loved him from afar for years. He, too, had loved her even if he hadn’t realized who she was. Her letters had claimed his heart and sealed his fate. No matter how far Cash ran, she would always be a part of him.
Like a sigh, Cash returned. He filled his body once more, though he couldn’t reclaim it yet. At least he wasn’t trapped in his memories anymore, fighting to be heard every once in a while. He’d thought that was what he’d wanted until it happened.
The good memories weren’t enough to warm him. He’d been cold and alone in there until Ember drew him out. She’d brought him back and shown him what could be. At least, a small glimpse of what could be.
The beast crouched at her feet. It curled up and listened to her play for a while longer. Cash wished he could take control, shift back, and give her the kiss she deserved. But he was still trapped within himself. In time, the beast might get up and leave her all over again. He didn’t want to break her heart like that again.
Would she come back? Would she play every day until Cash could shift back? How many days would it take? He feared it might never happen because he didn’t know what to do from here. What did his future hold other than Ember?
He’d turned down a record deal. He’d betrayed Alice and the rest of the Montoya family. The only certain thing he had left was Ember, and he didn’t want to put the weight of his existence on her. That wasn’t fair.
He couldn’t do that to her.
Cash receded again. Perhaps locking himself away was the only choice he had. Everyone would be better without him. They wouldn’t have to work to keep him on his feet all the time. They wouldn’t have to worry.
“Don’t leave me, Cash.”
His attention flicked to Ember. Smoke poured from her nostrils. It twisted between her lips. When she opened her mouth to speak again, Cash saw the flicker of fire in the back of her throat.
He lurched upright, surprised. She’d told him that she couldn’t produce fire. It seemed the lamenting song had pulled it out of her once and for all. She’d poured all her anger and sorrow into it, and it had become fire.
She took notice. Her fingers flew to her lips. A smile reached the corners of her mouth.
“I can do it,” she whispered.
The dragon set its head on her lap. It bumped the guitar and made a discordant sound.
Ember laughed and leaned back so she could set the guitar down. “Don’t wreck that. You just bought it for me.”
She put her hand on his head. He listened to her breathe. She let out a sigh, so soft and subtle that he would have missed it had he not been in his dragon form. In this shape, he could hear the way her heart settled with him so close. He heard the hitch in her breath that signaled incoming tears.
The dragon had never meant to push her to this. The plan had been to give her the freedom she deserved.
But she and I are bonded now, Cash said. There isn’t one without the other anymore.
Though the dragon pretended not to understand, it knew what Cash meant. The dragon could feel the bond, too. It had kept him from burrowing and sleeping the rest of his days away. Cash’s heart had bound them together, and the beast could do nothing to break that bond.
The beast had wanted to help, but it had only hurt. It had broken Ember’s heart and pushed her to sing such a sad song. She never would have found those words had the beast not betrayed her.
But they could fix this.
“Are you ready?” Ember asked.
The angry rumble of his beast deep within his chest made him hesitate. The dragon’s will would always ring too loud, but they both wanted the same thing now. This woman who would never let him walk away from this fight.
His answer didn’t come easy. His first instinct was to back away from the challenge. But he didn’t want to be that man anymore. For Ember, he would be a better man. For Ember and the music they could make together.
Because that was the future he truly wanted. Not one where he had to sacrifice everything. Not one where the sacrifice hurt the people he loved.
18
Logan put his hands on his hips. “Well? What do you think?”
The voice drew Cash out of his thoughts. He realized the dragon had been piloting him for a while. Cash swallowed his sigh and looked around, taking in his new surroundings.
Don’t fret, the beast told him. I stole a moment with our mate. That is all.
“You in there, boy?” Logan tilted his head. He gestured to the building behind him. “Tell me what you think.”
Cash raised a brow. While he and Ember had been busy, Logan had erected a pre-fabricated home on the land behind the house. It looked decent, so Cash wasn’t sure why Logan kept asking for his opinion.
“It’s a house. Congrats.”
Logan gave him a shrewd look and smacked him upside the back of his head. “It’s your house, you dolt.”
Staggered, Cash blinked at Logan. “You can’t be serious.”
Cash hadn’t asked for this kind of help. He did his best not to lean on Logan, who was still trying to figure out his place in this new world.
“A man like yourself needs a territory you can call your own.” Logan looked him in the eye. “I know you think you need to be around someone at all times, but that isn’t the case. Having family nearby is a good thing, but you can’t live with Baylee invading your beast’s space all the time. Your beast needs room to spread its wings. Go ahead and discover every nook and cranny of that house, because it belongs to you now.”
Cash swallowed, unsure of what to say. Instead, he threw his arms around Logan. His clan leader was still for a moment. Then Logan relaxed and clapped him on the back.
“Don’t thank me,” Logan said. “I’m going to get all of you out of my house, eventually.”
Cash didn’t know how he was going to do that. Gale and Baylee still hadn’t figured out just how self-sufficient Logan had become. That, or they saw something in Logan that couldn’t bear the loneliness just yet. Cash wondered, not for the first time, why Logan had come back now of all times.
Before Cash could figure it out, Ember appeared on the path leading toward the new house. Her lips parted in surprise, but she didn’t know the most surprising part yet.
Cash held out his hand for her. When she took it, he pulled her into his body. Here was the woman who had looked him in the eye and forced him to be a better man. He never thought it possible. He should have used all the good parts of him up in the fight against his beast.
The dragon inside him chuckled. It reminded him that the dragon was the good part of him. He rolled his eyes and pulled Ember close so he could kiss the top of her head.
“What’s this?” she asked, gesturing to the new house.
“Logan says it belongs to us.”
Ember jumped back. She stared up at him with wide eyes. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
He laughed. “Yeah, that was my reaction, too.”
Cash swept her into his arms and approached the door with the intent of carrying her over the threshold.
“Wait! Aren’t you supposed to do that after we get married?”
He paused and considered her words. “I can do it again after the ceremony.”
Ember opened the door for him. They entered as one, which made his beast purr happily. This was all it had ever wanted. He’d fought and fought against the beast. If he’d known that giving in to the woman he loved would save him, then he would have done it long ago.
Hell, he should have believed her the moment she told him about the letters. He’d been afraid of the feud and what kind of trouble another Barnes-Montoya pairing would stir. Now he knew that it didn’t matter. No matter what kind of problems came their way, they had each other.
Together, they could do anything.
The inside
of the house was empty. There wasn’t a lick of furniture anywhere to be seen. Cash wasn’t sure why he’d expected it to be furnished. Logan hadn’t even taken the time to install blinds over the windows. Cash’s footsteps echoed softly before he stopped and put Ember back onto her own feet.
She held onto his hand. He liked how she was never too far from him. They wound their pinkies together, touched one another under the table, and did whatever else they could to touch at all times.
“I don’t think my stuff is going to fill this place.”
The past few days with Cash had been better than Ember expected. Every once in a while, the beast took over for him. It had frightened her, at first. She’d feared he would try to run off on her again. Instead, the dragon had basked in her presence. He’d even asked her to play for him.
She obliged, and the time between the personality shifts became wider and wider. He never asked anything of her. No more than a song or a kiss. She wasn’t expected to pull Cash back to reality. If she asked, the beast grumbled but did exactly as she wanted.
It wasn’t a perfect balance. Any other dragon would shudder at what Cash and his beast had done to themselves, but that was just how Cash had to exist. Ember didn’t begrudge him for it. She accepted love from both sides of her mate and gave just as much back.
Cash wound his arms around her middle and kissed her neck. “Have I told you how much I love it when you play your guitar?”
She laughed. “Only every day.”
“How about you and I make some music together?”
She studied him, trying to figure out if he was being serious or if there was some innuendo in his suggestion. Honestly, it seemed like both.
Cash pulled away from her, though. He dropped to one knee and raised a velvet box in one hand. With the other, he pulled back the lid. The glimmer nestled in the box stole her breath.
In awe and shock, Ember looked from the ring to her mate and back again.
“Maybe I could have done this better. I could have set up a big show and turned it into a memorable moment, but my dragon was convinced you might get away if I didn’t ask you right this instant.”
A Song of Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 2) Page 13