by Lola Gabriel
A blush came to her cheeks just thinking of it. While they hadn’t even dated an entire year, Olive just knew that he was right for her. Her mind led back to the question that haunted her every single day. What would things have been like if she had told him? Would he have listened to her concerns and ran away with her? She could only imagine the joy he would have felt knowing he had a child, since he thought he was sterile. Even though they never dove very deeply into the conversation of having children, Olive knew Asher would have made an amazing father. The world’s best, even.
Guilt ate away at her as she looked over to her friend. Not because she was reminiscing on what life would be like without having Esme as a surrogate parent, but because Olive had never told her the full truth about why they’d had to run away. She had kept it plain and simple: Asher’s family scared her, and she was worried that they would try and either take the baby away, or have so much control that Olive would have been rendered obsolete as a parent. With Asher so close to them and not knowing what his exact intentions were, Olive heavily realized that Esme could be in danger and not even know it.
Finally, Olive burst into a sob. Big, hot tears poured down her cheeks, and her body quaked.
“Woah, woah, woah, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Esme asked urgently, her tone heavy with worry.
“I’m so sorry, Esme,” Olive wept. “Y-you have been nothing but good to me, and you changed the whole direction of your life for me, a-and I haven’t been honest with you. I am so sorry. I… I…” She choked on her own tears.
Olive was so consumed by her guilt that she hadn’t even realized Esme had pulled over and stopped the car until arms were wrapping around her. Esme’s calmative touch smoothed Olive’s hair and rubbed her back, shushing her and telling her it was okay, to take deep breaths. However, Olive rebelliously shook her head. “I haven’t been fair to you. You don’t know everything, and you need to. You really do, and I’m so sorry. It’s just so hard to explain, let alone believe… Just Asher—”
Then, her face was being lifted. Esme’s steel gray eyes were staring deep into hers.
“First, stop apologizing. There’s no need to apologize, okay?” Esme’s thumbs brushed away a few of the falling tears from Olive’s cheeks. Esme herself took a deep breath. “Look, you don’t need to explain Asher to me—”
“But I do.”
“You don’t,” Esme insisted. They just stared at each other then, Olive confused and Esme searching for her words. “I… I know about Asher and his entire family, okay? I know what they are. Why do you think I jumped so quickly to get you away from them when you told me you were pregnant? Yes, I’m your friend, and I would do anything I could for you. But if this had been so simple as you not getting along with your baby daddy’s family, I would have stuck with you there and helped you sort it out. I know that all the Tallants, along with the families around them, aren’t to be trusted.”
Olive’s brows drew together, completely and utterly lost. Esme was speaking so vaguely that Olive wasn’t sure if they were on the same page. How and why did she think Asher’s family wasn’t to be trusted? She had never even met Asher in person… Had it been his last name that tipped her off? Like Olive in the beginning, did she just think they were like a mafia? Business people out for blood? “I don’t think you understand…”
“They’re dragons.”
Olive’s jaw fell slack, and her tears ceased. How could Esme possibly know that? An uneasy feeling came over Olive, and she wanted to get to the bottom of this. She needed to.
Esme withdrew her hands from Olive and ran them through her own hair. “My family is very, very… weird. I suppose you could consider most of them to be archeologists or historians. They have been aware of dragons for generations, and while I’ve never met one myself or been up close to them, I know that they are very—no, extremely—dangerous. That’s why I wanted to help get you away, you and the baby.”
Olive shook her head, not processing everything Esme was saying. “Asher isn’t dangerous. He would never ever hurt me.”
“That’s what you think, hon,” Esme frowned at her friend. “Dragon-shifters are well-known for being cunning, charming, and deceptive. I wouldn’t even put it past him to have carried on a façade with you just to get this outcome.”
“Dragons are sterile,” Olive persisted. “There was no way he knew this would happen.”
“Clearly, they aren’t sterile if you’re pregnant, right?” Esme challenged. “It was a lie, Olive. You have to see that.”
Olive’s heart was pounding so hard that her heartbeat was thumping in her ears. She shook her head rapidly. Of course, she had no idea how she had gotten pregnant if they had been sterile. It was a mystery but one she figured had a rhyme or reason to it. Perhaps in her most fragile and senseless of moments, she had led herself to believe that it was destiny or some greater power taking control to give her Asher’s child. Esme’s words buzzed around in her head like angry hornets. Which made more sense: miraculous conception, or Asher lying to get her pregnant for some darker purpose? The tears returned.
“He loves me, though… I know he does…” Esme cupped her cheek.
“No, sweetie. He made you love him blindly so that this could happen. But we’re in control of this situation now, okay? I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you or Henry.” Olive’s lip quivered as she did her best to hold back her tears. What if Esme was right? What if the divine love she and Asher shared had all been a lie?
“I feel sick,” Olive announced in something less than a whisper, but Esme understood her perfectly.
“Let’s stop for the night and get a fresh start in the morning,” she said comfortingly. “I love you, Olive.”
“I love you, too,” Olive responded in the same volume. The car pulled back onto the road, and she rested her head against the window, completely destroyed.
8
Asher was a madman, horrendously distraught over losing the trail. Sebastian had to drive to search for the woman, Asher practically foaming at the mouth. He tortured himself with thoughts of, if he had been a little faster, if he hadn’t been so hard for Sebastian to wake, if he hadn’t missed a turn or two on the way to the boardwalk, if, if, if…
He was aware that his rage was making Sebastian uncomfortable, but his brother knew best than to try and simmer him down. Even the calmest of dragons, like Asher and Sebastian, had tempers, and any sort of interference would turn a situation into a bloodbath. Asher punched at the dashboard of the rental, leaving fist-sized dents in the plastic. All Sebastian did in response was turn up the radio. Asher surprisingly didn’t snap at him, just blurted out a few curse words before falling back into the cushioning of his seat.
“She was so close,” he groaned, his hand covering his face.
“I know,” Sebastian calmly stated.
“She’s real, and I almost had her.”
“I know, but stop beating yourself up over it. The same thing happened to Collin and Carter, you know? What matters is that she was spotted again and cannot be far.”
Asher clenched his teeth. While he logically knew that his brother was right, he couldn’t let go of the fact that everything could be coming to a close right then if he had done X, Y, and Z. The scent had been so strong at one point that she had to have been just a few feet away from him. Yet the place had been overflowing with people, so he couldn’t have known which woman to grab. She had to have known they were there somehow; she had to have known they were looking for her. Of course she did. If she had been with a dragon and known it, then she likely also knew what a big deal this would be.
Asher couldn’t imagine being in her shoes. Although he was sympathizing with the stranger, he was growing angry with her, too. She was on the run from them, and that meant she was deliberately keeping this secret from the Kingdom, not wanting anyone to know. How selfish could a person be? So she was allowed to have a child, but no one else could? Asher’s desire to find the woman grew more and more.
>
He and Sebastian drove around for hours with the windows down, trying their damnedest to pick up a trail. The more they drove, however, the more irritable Asher became, despite his temper deflating. Once the sky grew dark and all the shops were closing, the crowds dispersing, Sebastian stated they might as well crash for the night. There was no use in driving around and making themselves that much crazier.
“If we stop, she could get further away,” Asher muttered.
“Without even knowing what direction she was going in, we don’t even know if we would get closer. Besides, she is probably stopping for the night, too. She is pregnant, after all.”
It made sense, but it didn’t sit well with Asher. If this woman was going to be stopped, wouldn’t that be the prime time to be out looking for her? Asher didn’t protest further, knowing that Sebastian wasn’t going to have it, and he was the one driving. They checked into a hotel and carried their bags upstairs. Sebastian instantly flopped down onto one of the beds and let out a long sigh of relief. Asher, on the other hand, was too riled up to even sit. He paced about the room as casually as he could, which wasn’t very much. He was trying to do the math in his head of how far the woman could have gotten within the radius of the boardwalk, seeing as how she would have had to drive at least within the speed limit to eliminate the risk of getting pulled over.
She also would have had to be within range of one of the four groups they had formed. There were so many possibilities, though. They had ridden through towns in case she had stopped to try and hide. What if she had just stayed on the highway and gone straight through the state? No, no, that didn’t seem right to Asher. His intuition was telling him she had stopped somewhere near, either to rest or to hide.
“Please lie down, Ash,” Sebastian called, his voice muffled from the pillow he was faceplanted in. “You’re not going to be of any use tomorrow if you stay up all night festering.”
Yeah, he wasn’t going to lie down. Not yet. “I’m too wired right now. I’m gonna… I’m gonna go down to the hotel bar and grab a drink to calm down,” Asher spoke as he discretely fished the keys out of the side of Sebastian’s bag.
“Alright, but don’t drink too much.”
“I know.” With that, Asher turned on his heel and walked out of the hotel room. Even though he loved his brother, he felt like he could breathe a little better being on his own for a little while. To have time to think without feeling like he needed to hold it all in or calm down as his brother wanted.
Making his way down to the parking garage, he climbed into the driver’s seat without even realizing what he was doing. Asher stared down at the steering wheel. Where would he even go? Sebastian was right, they had no idea where the woman could be, and driving around all night would just exhaust him and probably frustrate him even more. Still, he didn’t get out of the car. Leaning his forehead against the steering wheel, he breathed in and out. He prayed for a moment of clarity, for just a minute to feel like himself. He hadn’t in so long that it was hard to remember what it was like.
Asher had always been more emotional than his brothers, but not emotionally unhinged. Not so… all over the place. He tapped his head lightly against the vinyl, groaning outwardly. If he could just clear his head of this woman, of Olive, of the pressure from his father, then maybe, just maybe, he could have enough foresight to find a solution to the entire thing.
Asher focused on his breathing, drawing air in and out rhythmically, trying to make it as even as possible. He did his best to focus on nothing, listening only to the sounds of his breaths and the ambient noise of the parking garage. There were still parts of his true self within him. They may be fragmented and scattered, but they were there. Little by little, he let go of the frustration, anger, and heartache; they wouldn’t be gone forever, only for the time being. His chest and head emptied of all of it as he meditated. Despite feeling the need to get away from his brother, Sebastian had been the one to teach him the healing art of meditating, long ago.
Asher didn’t lift his head from the steering wheel until he was totally at peace. Cranking the car, he backed out of the parking space and pulled out of the garage. He tuned the radio to a station playing some sort of new age jazz that was soothing and had some electronic elements to it. It was a strange mix, but he enjoyed it. It was the sort of music that held your attention but not for very long, allowing your mind to wander while tapping along to the beat, not realizing you were doing so. He focused on the peace he felt, continuing to breathe deeply and relishing the sanctity of his own mind being free of clutter and anxiety for the moment.
He rolled down the windows to enjoy the night air. Why did the breeze always feel better when you were near the coast? It somehow felt cleaner and nostalgic of memories he couldn’t pinpoint and frankly didn’t want to. When he came to a stoplight, he peered up at the nearly clear sky and tried to count as many stars as he could before the light changed. If he stayed up all night, he wanted to stay just like this. It was just as refreshing as a good night’s sleep, if not more so.
Then, he came to a four-way stop. He idly tried to decide which road to take, but when he looked to his right, Asher’s entire body froze. Something in him was telling him to go that way. It wasn’t just a small, subconscious suggestion—it was something deep within his bones, as if something was pulling him in that direction, beckoning him. He blinked rapidly, wondering if his exhaustion was starting to set in. It didn’t appear that way. Yes, he was tired, but not utterly drained to the point where his mind would play tricks on him.
Confused, and perhaps even a little dazed at that point, Asher started in that direction. The feeling didn’t go away, but actually grew stronger the further he got down the road. Was this the awakening he had been hoping for? The only way to know for sure was to follow his intuition and see where it took him.
9
Olive tossed and turned for hours on end, unable to empty her head of the thoughts and emotions that swirled within it like a hurricane. The few times exhaustion gripped her and made her doze off, it wouldn’t be long before she ripped herself awake to escape horrible and gory nightmares. Eventually, she gave up on the notion of sleeping and stared up at the popcorn-textured ceiling. Her thoughts bounced back and forth between hers and Esme’s conversation and all the memories she held with Asher. How could he have faked a love that seemed so damn real? It had been as true to her as the fact that the sky was blue.
Esme slept soundly, as always, in the other bed. The utter stillness of the room was unnerving Olive entirely. She was desperate for a distraction, but she didn’t dare turn on the television; she didn’t want to wake Esme when she knew how much the girl would be driving the next day. Her phone wasn’t any solace, either. Having to stay under the radar meant that Olive wasn’t on any kind of social media, other than a very basic account under a pseudonym so she could get babysitting and housekeeping jobs. Playing the little puzzle games on her phone only fueled her ever-growing frustration.
She had to get out of her own head.
Knowing that lying there for the rest of the night wouldn’t help, Olive quietly got out of her bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, along with a t-shirt and a light jacket that was two sizes too big to protect her arms from the cool night air. Snagging a room key from the tiny manila envelope on the kitchenette counter, Olive left a brief note on the back of a receipt to let Esme know she was okay and just going for a walk. She didn’t want Esme freaking out and going on a manhunt if she were to wake up during the short time Olive was gone.
Discretely slipping out of the motel room, Olive walked toward the end of the parking lot and looked all around. Picking a direction, she headed down the sidewalk. Simply getting out of the room, and perhaps away from Esme, did distract her for a bit, but only for so long. As easily as the thoughts had come to her in the motel, they also came as she walked alone in the middle of the quiet, desolate town. She decided to look for anything that was open, needing even the slightest bit of normalcy and distra
ction, even if that meant browsing a gas stations drink cooler for ten minutes.
Turning a corner, Olive noticed a building with its lights still on. A twenty-four-hour diner. She grimaced, still far too upset to even think about eating. She could at least go in and get a soda or something, chat with the waitress and leave a nice tip. It seemed like her only option, and at least it was one that could eat up some time, let her calm down.
Stepping into the diner was like stepping into another decade. It was fifties-themed, with black and white tiles, wood panels lining the bottom half of the walls, and a surplus of fifties memorabilia displayed on the walls. To top it all off, it had an old-fashioned jukebox against the far wall, complete with yellow tube lighting. The aroma of pancakes and coffee hit her at once, and Henry stirred.
“Okay, okay, little guy,” Olive murmured to herself. Despite not wanting to eat, she knew she needed to. A waitress with frizzy ginger hair wrangled into a ponytail and adorned with a mustard yellow dress and bright red apron, clearly in her forties, came from around the counter.
“Take a seat wherever you like, sweetheart,” she called, grabbing a menu from a slot next to the register. Olive opted for a place next to the window, glancing up and down the street to see if anything else from that angle was open. Just in case she still had a busy mind when she left the diner. “Can I get you started with a decaf?” the waitress asked. Olive turned her chin to see the woman, whose name tag indicated her name was Jackie, smiling down at her with that particular smile strangers gave when they were hinting at her being pregnant.
“Do you guys have tea, by any chance?”
“Sure thing, sweetie. Here,” Jackie started, placing the menu down in front of her. “You take a look and I’ll be right back with that. Want some lemon for your tea?” Olive nodded appreciatively before Jackie stepped away.