Dragon Oracle Urban Fantasy Boxed Set (Dragon Oracle Complete Series: Books 1 - 9)

by Jada Fisher

  “You exiled yourself to the couch just for me?”

  “Well, I don’t know about that just part, but it seemed like you could use the rest.”

  I thought back to everything that had happened, at what I had learned and how much I had wanted to hurt Mallory’s parents.

  And how much it hurt me that she took their side. She had looked me in the eye and told me that she had to protect them. It wasn’t like I was going to kill them, not like they had my people, but she couldn’t even give me the slightest bit of justice.

  Of revenge.

  “Hey, come back to me. No need to deal with all of that quite yet.”

  I gave the prince a hazy look. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I frowned, trying to find my words, but my tongue still felt a bit clumsy in my mouth. “You’ve been ignoring me for over a week. Basically, giving me the brush off. But now you’re all here, and looking at me with that…that, uh, expression.”

  “What expression?” he retorted, smiling wanly. “This is just my face.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, it’s a face that I haven’t seen much lately because you’ve been avoiding me.”

  He sighed at that, but at least had the good graces to look a bit guilty. “I am sorry if I gave you that impression. That is not what I meant to do.”

  I crossed my arms, suspicious, but willing to listen. Honestly, I had been so betrayed by so many people that he could dropkick me and I wouldn’t be too surprised.

  Hurt, but not surprised.

  “Then what did you mean to do?”

  “Davie…” He reached out and took the cup from my hands, setting it to the side so our fingers could intertwine. My heart immediately started thumping in my chest, hard. I could feel my cheeks coloring, and man if that wasn’t a bit embarrassing. “Ever since I came into your life, all I’ve brought is trouble. You were kidnapped and somehow you escaped on your own. Your first time riding a dragon was in battle.

  “I wish it ended there, but we both know it only kept on increasing. You’ve literally died for me, Davie, and I wish I could say that I held you in my arms and was there for you, but I wasn’t. You were alone, trapped in another dimension just to save the rest of us.

  “And when you came back, your first thought was resurrecting our shield and saving our people. So, with all of that being said, can you blame me for wanting to give you just a little bit of your time to not be embroiled in all of this?” He made a broad gesture, but I knew what he meant. “For once, no battles, no intrigue, no one using you for your gifts. I just wanted you to have fun. Eat rich food and play games with your friends. Just to be.

  “I’m sorry if that made you feel as if I was pushing you away, but believe me, I just wanted what was best for you.”

  His words touched me in a way I didn’t expect. I could feel my slight color turning vibrant, burning on my cheeks, and I squeezed his hands gently. “That’s… That’s really sweet, Bronn. But I’m a grown woman. You can’t make these sweeping decisions for me.”

  “I know, I suppose. I just…” He paused, licking his lips as if he was nervous and if that wasn’t the sweetest thing. “I just wanted you to have some fun. And it seemed like you were, or at least you were until…”

  “Until I found out that my best friend’s parents helped set my house on fire and used accelerant to make sure that all of the exits were blocked off, and then went on a genocidal rampage to wipe out anyone who might become a seer?”

  His swallowed hard at that, his expression turning grim. “Right. Well, that sounds every bit as awful as I assumed it would be. How did you find out, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Uh, Death showed me.”

  “Death?”

  “Yeah. Her and I had a bit of a talk. In my dreams.”

  “Ah, and that’s something you can do now?”

  “I don’t think it’s something I can do so much as it was just something that she wanted. It was very much her show. But, you know…” I paused, replaying some parts over in my head. “She said a couple of interesting things.”

  “Like what?”

  I shook my head. “It’s too soon to say. But I think there’s a couple angles that I can work.” He chuckled dryly and I gave him a look. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  I leaned forward, staring up into his intense eyes. Did I ever mention that he had the most ridiculous lashes? Because he did. It wasn’t fair. “No really, what?”

  He laughed again before seeming to realize that I wasn’t going to drop it. “It’s just that I spent so much time trying to keep you away from any of the supernatural and dramatic stressors so you could enjoy yourself and you had to go and find your own.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault that the spirit of death has a bounty on my head.” I winced. “Okay, so maybe it’s actually totally my fault, but whatever.”

  Bronn chuckled, his hand coming up to stroke my hair off my face. I knew that my roots had to be coming in something fierce, and that the multicolored streaks I liked had all faded to a sort of dish-water gray, but he looked at me like I was fresh and fierce and beautiful.

  It stole my breath a little, which was borderline embarrassing, but suddenly none of that mattered with the way he was regarding me, heat and caring and maybe even a little bit of admiration.

  Huh, wasn’t that a thought. The prince of dragons, a powerful shapeshifter and leader, admiring me? A dizzying thought.

  “For what it’s worth, I am very glad you’re here. And I promise to stop trying to protect you from all of the things that are happening. Even if I do think you deserve a bit of a vacation.”

  “We can take a vacation once your cousin and all of his friends have given up on that whole exterminating and enslaving my people thing.”

  “Fair enough point. Have you ever been to France?”

  I let out a short bark of laughter before realizing he looked serious. “Wait, what? Are you kidding?”

  “That would be a terrible punchline if I were. No, I was genuinely curious. I like France. Perhaps when everything is said and done, I could take you there. I’m sure you would love the Louvre, being the artist that you are. But I myself am very partial to the cheese—”

  Like usual, I didn’t think about what I was doing, didn’t even give my brain a second to process. One moment I was staring at Bronn casually talking about taking me to France as if it was just a leisurely trip to the mall, the next I had his face in my hands and was yanking him down to kiss me.

  It was different from our first kiss, my first kiss ever. While that one had been full of passion and relief and maybe a little bit of disbelief that we were somehow together, this new one was full of heat and desire and…well, things I generally never allowed myself to feel before.

  Bronn stopped a moment, clearly surprised, before returning the kiss with equal measure. His hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush to him. It might have hurt in any other situation, but at the moment, I liked the solid crush of him. It made me feel secure, safe. It made me feel like there was nothing outside of his embrace.

  Sure, it wasn’t the most graceful kiss in the world, with our teeth occasionally clicking together, and I felt like I was definitely running out of breath, but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the fire growing in my middle and how much I just wanted to be in the moment with him.

  “Bronn…” I muttered when we finally broke apart, breathing hard. He let out the slightest of hmm? as his lips moved across my chin and down my neck.

  Oh geez, that, uh, that made thinking difficult. Impossible, even. I felt so warm, like my skin was burning up, but in the best way possible. His fingers were gripping me firmly, holding me to him like I was his lifeline. Or maybe he was mine. It certainly felt like I was a bit adrift in rocky seas.

  Then we heard yelling.

  “Look, I don’t care who he is! It’s my sister in there, and you’re going to let me in there be
fore I encase the two of you in crystal! Would you like that, huh? Did your guard friends ever tell you what that felt like? Because it’s not fun. Trust me.”

  Well, if there was anything that could break the mood, it was that. Groaning, I pulled out of Bronn’s arms.

  “Did you tell Mickey where you took me?”

  He blushed a bit sheepishly at that. “I, uh, didn’t leave your side the entire night.”

  “So that would be a no.” I heaved a very long sigh, the fire within me dwindling down, then slid out of Bronn’s bed to open the door.

  “Please stop threatening the guards,” I said, a smile on my lips until I saw my sister. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were rimmed with red and it definitely looked like she hadn’t slept. For the slightest of moments, I wondered what could be wrong with her, but then I remembered that she too had probably just learned that our parents had been intentionally murdered by people who were supposed to be our friends, and she hadn’t had some prince to come sweep her away.

  Wow… I had been pretty selfish, hadn’t I?

  I swallowed and offered my hand to her. “Are you okay?” I asked, ready to pull her into a hug and pamper her and do everything she needed to feel better, just like Bronn had done for me.

  But instead, she grasped my chin in one of her small hands, turning it this way and that. I let out a confused sound, but she just stared intently at my lips.

  “Have you been making out?” she asked, lifting one of her eyebrows.

  “What?” I blurted, startled by the question. “Uh, no. Why?”

  But she just shook her head and looked past me to Bronn. “Really? My little sister finds out terrible news and you decide that’s the best time to put on the moves?”

  Bronn raised his hands, looking utterly alarmed at the idea. “I swear, that was not my intention. I only wanted to—”

  “Relax, Mickey. I was the one who kissed him.”

  “But you just said—”

  I pulled her hand from my face and tugged her out of the room. “I know what I said. I was hoping to avoid all this awkwardness. But come on, let’s go so you can reprimand me like you want to.” I looked back over my shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later, Bronn.”

  “And so will I,” Mickey added, holding two of her fingers on her free hand in a ‘v’ and flicking it from her eyes to him. “A long talk.”

  “Oh my gosh, Mickey. Let’s go.”

  If the guards had any thoughts about our exchange, they were smart enough not to voice them. I hauled Mickey out of the prince’s room without much more fuss — if one didn’t count the undercurrent of comments from my elder sister about inappropriate royals and terrible timing.

  It wasn’t until we were halfway up the steps that I realized where I was going. I had been taking her to our suite out of habit, and I stopped dead on the stairs.

  “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

  “I—” My words died in my mouth for a minute and I forced myself to take a deep, calming breath. “Is Mallory there?”

  Mickey didn’t answer right away, and for a moment, the tension in the air was taut. “No,” she answered finally, her tone dry and weighted. “Mallory and her family are moving to…different quarters. Ones that will make sure we don’t cross their paths.”

  “Ah. I see.”

  And I left it at that, starting up the stairs once more. I knew there was a whole package of feelings and repercussions with what happened with Mallory, but I didn’t want to deal with them. At all. They could wait until I didn’t feel like if I shook the wrong way that I would rattle into a hundred pieces.

  Finally, we reached our suites and I was surprised to see Mal and Krisjian there, huddled over a book. I heard them murmuring to each other and realized that they were teaching themselves some sort of math.

  Well… That was weirdly adorable.

  Mickey cleared her throat, and they scrambled to their feet. I held up my hands and gave them what I hoped was a kind smile. “It’s okay. You two stay there. We’re just gonna go into Mickey’s room for a while.”

  “You sure?” Mal asked, her gaze flitting coolly between us. “Seems like the whole lot of you have a lot of things to work out.”

  Well, at least I could always count on Mallory’s double to be honest. One would think that seeing her face would bother me, considering the two were the same person from different universes, but it really didn’t. Mal had scars where Mallory didn’t, and even after all her time gorging herself on royal food, her face was still more gaunt, more worn, than my best friend’s.

  Ex-best friend?

  Ugh. I didn’t want to think about it.

  “We’ll be fine in Mickey’s room. Just give us space.”

  “Alright then, but if I start to hear crying, I’m leaving.”

  “Thanks, Mal.”

  But Krisjian, of course, was looking at me with that worried expression he sometimes got. “You’re…okay, right?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing I won’t survive. And even if I don’t, I’ll just come back. I’m stubborn like that.”

  He didn’t seem to appreciate my joke, smiling weakly at me. “O-okay. If you’re sure.”

  I crossed to him and ruffled his hair before finally looking to Mickey. We gave each other nods, then headed into her room.

  “So…” I muttered, flopping back on her bed. I knew we need to talk, but darn if that thought just seemed to take up so much energy.

  “So,” she repeated before joining me. “Our people were specifically targeted to wipe out.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “And Mallory’s parents were part of a group of dwarves that wanted to prevent the dragons from knowing any seers were around.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “And while her parents had second thoughts, they didn’t stop the other people.”

  “It only gets worse from there. They just opened the garage door and left it at that. And then they went on to do other horrible things. They knew what the end results of their actions were, a seer died almost every time.”

  “So we were the only ones they stepped in to try to help, in a way?

  “You got it.”

  “And that garage door is the only reason you and I were safe enough until the firemen found us.”

  “Safe is a relative term. Both of us were pretty badly burned.”

  “But we would have been totally burned without it.”

  I sat up, giving her a hard look. “What, are you trying to excuse them?”

  She outright snorted. “Hardly. I just want to get the entire story straight in my mind. I… I don’t know what to think. All this time, I wondered if it was just some act of God, or if we had the worst luck. And once I was sucked into this world, I wondered if maybe, somehow, it was the dragons. Like someone had come to kidnap us and things went south.

  “But now I know it was just people. Regular, everyday people. Mallory’s parents were office workers at some paper company. The leader of the thing, Estelle I think they said her name was, is a teacher. There was a doctor and a grocery clerk there too.” Mickey rolled over on her side and looked at me, expressions marching across her features that I wasn’t used to. “These weren’t criminals, Davie. They weren’t warriors or evil, like that Baelfyre guy. They were just…people.”

  “I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

  “I don’t know where this is going either,” she answered, covering her eyes with her hands. “It’s just… They were normal folks, and yet they were able to burn whole families to death. If they had that inside of them… What else could be lurking in…well…everyone around us? It’s terrifying. Everyone seems to want to hurt us or have us, and it’s like there’s no way that we can rest. Someone always wants something with us, and no one seems to think about us as people. We’re just…things.”

  I knew what she meant, and my stomach clenched tightly. I’d felt that same thing so many times when I first got embroiled in the dragons’ business. But it had become
such a background noise to my life that I’d kinda forgotten about that.

  Until the whole Mallory’s parents’ thing, of course.

  “It’s not a very good feeling, is it?” I asked wryly, laying back next to her, turned on my side so we could face each other.

  “No. It’s not. And that’s why I need you to be careful. Everyone and anyone could be looking to use us, to take advantage. If they’re not Krisjian or Mal, then you shouldn’t trust them.”

  “Not Mallory?” I asked, quietly, because I guess I hated myself and liked to be hurt.

  “I… No. Not Mallory. Not anymore.”

  I closed my eyes and heaved a breath. It hurt. It hurt so much. She was my best friend, and while I knew that she wasn’t there, that she had no way of knowing, it still didn’t stop me from being angry with her. And whenever I thought of her, I only saw her standing in front of her parents, willing to hurt me so I couldn’t give them their just desserts.

  “And not the prince, either.”

  “Wait, what?” I opened my eyes right back up in surprise. “What’s wrong with Bronn?”

  “Look, I know the two of you have been through a whole lot of things while I was gone, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s in a position of power over you, and that’s not healthy.”

  “Hold up a second there. Position of power? What are you talking about?”

  “Davie, he’s a shapeshifting prince whose castle you live in. He provides everything for you right now. He also stands to benefit greatly from you being on his side, and if his people were to lose you, it would be devastating. He also has all of the people who matter to you in his custody.”

  “Bronn wouldn’t do anything to hurt me,” I said stubbornly.

  “Okay, let’s say he never does. What if he’s put out of commission and someone like Baelfyre took over? What if there’s a coup? You have to be careful and have backup plans and backup plans for your backup plans.”

  Her expression hardened, and I heard a bitterness that I wasn’t used to seep into her tone. “After all, our kind has been used as pawns in war for centuries. We’ve been traded, kidnapped, and killed all for other people’s benefits. Our parents died because of it, but that doesn’t mean we have to.”