When he heard his name, he looked up to see Tammy pointing him out to a customer. At first he assumed it was just another out of towner, looking to speak with the famed dragon of Honey Ridge, but when he peered closer, he could tell that there was something different about the young man.
For one thing, he was a shifter. Artemis could practically smell it on him, and he had the look about him. Jeweled eyes raked over the scruffy young man’s features, taking in his hunched posture and the way he was eying Tammy as she spoke.
A dog, then. Artemis sniffed. He did try not to be a snob about these things, since it didn’t really matter what kind of shifter someone was, but the dragon in him had a hard time taking something as lowly as a wolf seriously.
Either way, shifters were rarely seen in Honey Ridge. Artemis didn’t know if it had always been like that or if it was just something that had happened since he’d moved there and word of him had spread. Other shifters seemed to prefer to stay away from the dragons, knowing that they were out classed, and Artemis didn’t know what it was about this boy that put him on edge, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t there for sightseeing.
Maybe it had something to do with Holly and the fact that she’d been hurt by shifters. Maybe it was that protective instinct rearing its head, but Artemis didn’t think so. At least that couldn’t be all it was.
Frowning, he made his way over to the man’s table, forcing a smile onto his face at the last minute. On the off chance he was being ridiculous, he didn’t want to end up offending a customer.
“Oh, here he is,” Tammy said, grinning. “Hey, Art, this guy was just asking about you.”
“Was he?” Artemis said, eyes sharp. He smiled at the young man, showing teeth. “I’d imagine he’d rather get his answers from the source. Go on, Tammy. I think Carlos has some orders up.”
Tammy saluted with a last smile for him and made her way back to the kitchen, leaving the young man and Artemis alone.
“So you’re him,” the shifter said, eying Artemis up and down. Artemis was gratified to see the way he swallowed hard and to smell the uptick of fear around him. Good, the little dog knew his place.
Honestly, he didn’t know what it was about being around other shifters that made the more primal part of him come out, needing to defend his territory from something that considered itself a threat even if Artemis could clearly see that he wasn’t.
“Why,” Artemis asked. “Do people always phrase it like that?”
The werewolf shrugged. “Dunno. Seemed appropriate. But you are him. I can smell it.” He flashed teeth in a grin that was probably meant to be intimidating, but Artemis just raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes, unimpressed.
“Yes,” he said. “As I can smell what you are. And see it. You’re practically dripping with canine…” Deciding not to go with idiocy, the word he really wanted to use, Artemis sniffed. “Energy,” he finished.
The young man looked wary but then drew himself up. “So what’s good here?” he asked.
“That’s the other question people always ask. And the answer is everything. But are you really here just to eat, I wonder.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’ve never seen you before,” Artemis said, keeping his voice pleasant. “And most of the people I’ve never seen before are only here to gawk and ask me questions.”
Something like relief passed over the young man’s face, then. “Okay, okay, you caught me,” he said. “I’m here to ask you questions. Can you blame me? I mean, a dragon shifter ain’t exactly a common sight. Definitely not in a diner.”
Artemis shrugged. “Surely a dragon shifter can do whatever he wants? And what I want is to run my diner in peace. I’m not concerned with what others of my kind are doing and they shouldn’t be concerned with me.”
“Well, you know. When you fly above the radar, it’s kind of hard for people to ignore you,” the werewolf pointed out.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, it’s not exactly easy to hide things when you’re a...prominent figure.”
Now Artemis was sure there was something going on here that he wasn’t going to like. “Who said that I had anything to hide?” he asked, tipping his head to one side.
“No one. Just making a point. Can I get a bacon cheeseburger and fries? And a coke.”
Artemis watched him for a long moment and then nodded. “Coming right up.” He walked back to the kitchen, thoughtful. “Bacon cheeseburger and a basket of fries,” he said to Carlos. “For the very mysterious puppy in the back. Where’s Holly?”
“She went out to run a quick errand for Mrs. Florence,” Carlos said. “She said she’d be back in ten minutes.”
“Hm,” Artemis hummed. He was glad that she wasn’t there at the moment. On the off chance that this sudden visit from a shifter had nothing to do with her, it was probably better for her not to be there to see him. He had a feeling that things weren’t going to stay nice and cordial for much longer. There was definitely something lurking under the surface of all the words he exchanged with that young man.
When his food was up, Artemis went to deliver it personally, wanting to keep the man in his sights. He busied himself cleaning nearby tables and refilling drinks, aware that the shifter wasn’t really watching him, but looking around the diner. Every time the door opened, his head snapped over to it, as if he were waiting for someone.
Or looking for someone.
The movement was so reminiscent of Holly in her first days there, that his suspicions only grew.
“So why a diner?” the young man asked.
“Because I like food, and I enjoy serving it to people,” Artemis answered simply. “What brings you to Honey Ridge?”
“I’m...looking for someone.”
And there it was.
“Really? Here? No one comes to settle here.”
“You did,” the werewolf pointed out.
“I’m different.”
“So is the person I’m looking for. Actually…” he dug in his pocket for a second and pulled out his phone. “Maybe you’ve seen her since you seem to know everyone around here.” After a few seconds of flipping, he turned the screen so that Artemis could see a picture of Holly. She looked nothing like the girl he was coming to know and care for. In the picture, she was meek and sad looking, glancing away from the camera and looking like she was flinching.
Artemis had to swallow past his anger, and he wondered if this young man was the person responsible for the bruises that had littered Holly’s arms when he’d first met her. “She doesn’t look familiar,” he said. “She’s never been in here.”
“Really?” the man asked. “Because you know, it’s funny that you’ve never seen her since her scent is all over the place. I can smell it over the food. I can smell her on you, actually.” And there was that wide grin again, pointed teeth shown. “That’s just rude, actually, doing that to another man’s girl.”
“Excuse me?” Artemis asked.
The grin only widened. “Oh. Oh, man. She didn’t tell you? Yeah, she’s got a boyfriend. Not me, but my boss. The head of our pack. She’s his girl, and he wants her back. So just do us all a favor and make this easy. Hand her over.”
“She’s not a sack of potatoes,” he snapped, keeping the tempest of confusion and hurt that he felt under wraps. It wouldn’t do for this mongrel to smell it and think he had the upper hand.
The wolf shrugged. “Not my business what she is. I’m just supposed to get her back.”
“Tell you what,” Artemis said, and he gave his own grin, even though it was completely forced. “You get the hell out right now, and I won’t throw you out.” He leaned in closer. “Believe me, I can do it.” With those words, he let his power flare. Humans wouldn’t feel anything, but to a shifter, especially one with less power, it would be almost suffocating.
Sure enough, the young man’s eyes went wide and the scent of fear was thick. He shoved his chair back and got to his feet in a hurry
, backing away and towards the door. “This isn’t over. She belongs to Dante, and he’ll come for her.”
“Run along now,” Artemis said, advancing on him and taking vindictive pleasure in watching him scamper like a child.
A few of the customers were staring, open mouthed at the display, and Artemis forced in a deep breath and smiled at them. “No need to worry,” he assured them. “Everything’s fine.” And then he turned and saw Holly standing there behind the counter looking terrified, and everything was definitely not fine.
“Artemis,” she said softly. “I can explain.”
“You know who that wolf is?” Artemis asked.
Holly nodded. “Yes. His name is Patrick, and he works for…”
“For your boyfriend.”
She winced, but nodded again. “Yes. Dante. I...I left him, though. I didn’t… I don’t consider us still together.”
And that was fair, Artemis had to admit that. If he was abusive, and she’d walked out on him, then surely that spelled the end of their relationship. The possessive part of him was shouting that he couldn’t know for sure. What if she decided she still loved him? What if she went back? But that was ridiculous, and he silenced it with some effort. He could be rational about this because honestly, he’d known that Holly wasn’t coming to him without things in her past that would upset him. The very nature of how she’d come to him proved that, and a ripple of anger bubbled up when he remembered her bruises and thought about the fact that someone who claimed to be her boyfriend had done that to her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked before he could think better of it. “If you’re done with him, then it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Holly hung her head and shifted in place, looking anxious. The entire diner was staring between them, and Artemis flushed in embarrassment and anger. He was all over the place at the moment, and he hated having his business out like this.
Without another word, he moved to walk into the kitchen and then headed up the stairs to the apartment. The diner could run itself for a little while.
The soft footsteps behind him and the overwhelming scent of regret were enough to tell him that Holly was following, and when they were alone, he shut the door and turned to look at her. “I meant what I said, you know,” he told her. “You having been with him doesn’t have anything to do with us. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not,” she whispered.
Artemis frowned. “Are you planning on going back to him?”
“No! Of course not. If I never see him again, it’ll be too soon.”
“Then what?”
She shook her head and pressed a hand over her mouth, not looking at him.
“What else aren’t you telling me?” Artemis insisted.
“I...you’re going to have to be more specific, I think,” Holly replied finally. “I haven’t said anything about my past.”
“I know that, but there’s something else. I can smell it, and it’s all over your face. What is it?”
“You’re going to hate me.”
Artemis let out a sigh and took a step forward, one hand lifting to caress her cheek gently. “I am not going to hate you,” he promised, meaning it completely. “I’m very fond of you, in case you haven’t noticed. The things your ex-boyfriend did to you, all of that’s in the past, and even if it weren’t, that has nothing to do with you. I told you that before. That’s all on him.”
Holly shook her head and stepped back from him, eyes huge in her face. Tears shone in them, welling up but not falling yet. “No,” she choked out. “It’s not what he did. It’s...it’s what I’m doing right now.”
That sent off alarm bells in his head. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry,” Holly murmured. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go this far, I just. I knew he was going to find me. He’s like...like a dog with a bone when it comes to people he thinks are his. He wasn’t going to stop until he found me, and I just…”
“You just what?” Artemis demanded, needing her to start making sense. He didn’t understand what she was trying to tell him.
“I wanted you to keep me safe. I know...I know how dragons are. How shifters are in general. Once they think a thing is theirs, they’ll defend it to their last breath. I was banking on you being enough like the rest of your kind that you wouldn’t let Dante take me back. You have to understand, Artemis. I’m not strong. I stayed with Dante for five years, even when I knew he was terrible, just because I was too weak to leave. Too scared. If he came here and told me to go with him, I’d probably do it. Unless…”
And just like that, all the pieces dropped into place. “Unless I cared enough to keep him from taking you. Unless I cared enough to keep you with me.”
“Yes.”
Artemis waited for the anger at being used to rise up and choke him, but it never came. Instead there was just hurt. Because he did care about Holly. It hadn’t been all that long since she’d come into his life, but there was no denying that he was attached already. The thought of her going back with this Dante made him sick, and even now he knew he’d protect her.
“You didn’t have to do this,” he said, hating how his voice sounded. “I would have kept you safe regardless of whether or not we were sleeping together. I told you I didn’t need that, but you insisted, and stupid me, I thought it was because you actually cared. Because you wanted me. But you just wanted a bodyguard.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Artemis, I-”
He held up a hand. “I have to get back to work.”
It would have been easier if he were upset. Anger he could deal with, but this...this was just painful. So he turned on his heel and left, closing the door with a soft, decisive click behind him.
Whatever emotions he was feeling, he could deal with those later. When his head wasn’t spinning and his inner dragon wasn’t pacing, and things didn’t feel so raw.
For now, he had work to do.
Chapter 9: Finders, Keepers
Things would be easier, Holly mused, if Artemis would just get angry. If he would yell at her or throw something. Act like all the other shifters she had ever known and express his feelings in physical actions that let Holly know where she stood. She was used to that, used to dealing with it or hiding from it, whichever was necessary at the moment. But this silence and him barely looking at her...she didn’t know how to handle that.
Of course, her wanting him to express his emotions in a way that she understood was just another facet of her apparently unbelievable selfishness, and she wanted to kick herself all over again.
All things considered, Artemis had every right to be upset with her. She had been using him, even if the feelings had cropped up after the fact. It was true that she cared about him now and wanted to be with him, but in the beginning, it had started just because she wanted him to protect her, which was horrible, and she knew it.
The rest of the day had been awkward to say the least. Artemis had gone down to work, throwing himself into task after task. For a while, Holly had just considered leaving. He hadn’t kicked her out, but he couldn’t want her to stay there. It was only the notion that Patrick and Dante and who knew who else were looking for her that made her stay because the fact remained that her best bet was with Artemis. Well, that and the ever present guilt that was gnawing at her. Before she could leave, she had to make things right.
Unfortunately, she had no idea how to do that.
Artemis wouldn’t even look at her when they were in the same room together, and when she’d gotten out of the shower the night before, his bedroom door had been closed.
Sleeping alone on the couch was miserable, and she missed his arms around her and the habit he had of stroking her hair lightly and whispering to her until she fell asleep.
“Better get used to it,” she’d muttered to herself when she got up in the morning. “You ruined that.”
It had been a survival instinct, but Holly knew Arte
mis was right. If she’d just told him he would have protected her anyway. Everything she’d learned about him up to that point had proved that, but she’d been scared and a little desperate, and so she’d gone and ruined everything.
Of course, on top of being guilt ridden and sad, she was also terrified. All the stuff with Artemis aside, it was impossible to ignore the fact that Dante now knew where she was. Patrick was a weasel and a brown noser, and he’d probably gone right back to Dante and told him that he knew where she was. Honestly, Holly was surprised he hadn’t shown up in the middle of the night to come get her.
Knowing him, he was going to wait until they had an audience, people to watch as he reclaimed what he thought was his.
Every time the door opened, Holly’s heart leapt into her throat, and she had to swallow hard and clench her hands around whatever she was holding when it turned out to be just another customer.
She knew Artemis could tell she was agitated, and knew he knew why, too. His eyes always followed hers to the door when she jumped and looked, and when it was nothing serious he’d go back to work, doing his best not to look at her. All she wanted was to talk to him. To make sure that he knew how sorry she was, how much she regretted her actions, but they were surrounded by people, and Holly was pretty sure if they found out that she’d hurt Artemis, they’d run her out of town.
Maybe she deserved that.
All she was good at, it seemed, was getting herself into crappy situations. Her parents had been strict, but they’d loved her in their way, and then she’d gone and run out on them to be with Dante. And look at how that had turned out. Now she had a man in her life who had taken care of her without being asked and without asking for anything in return, and she’d gone and messed that up, too. Who knew what stupid thing she was going to do next.
The thought almost made going back to Dante sound appealing. At least she knew what that was like, how to live without making things harder than they already were. She could prepare for it. It took away the yawning gap of the unknown and most of the chance that she would mess up.
Hakona: Dragon Warrior (Scifi Alien Dragon Romance) Page 24