by Anna Lowe
Silas stretched to his full height, reminding Kai who was the bigger man — and dragon — if only by a hair.
“If it’s Drax, we have bigger problems than one woman.”
“My mate,” Kai growled. “My mate. You should know what that feels like, Silas. If it were Moira—”
“Don’t.” Silas cut him off with a low, murderous growl. “Don’t.”
Kai hardly cared. If rubbing that old wound with salt was what it took to convince Silas, so be it. All he cared about was protecting Tessa.
“I can’t let her go. I won’t let her go. If it were your mate, you’d feel the same.”
“If it were my mate…” Silas broke off with a pained huff, glaring at Kai.
The air practically crackled with tension as the two men glowered at each other. Then a bird rustled through the trees, and Silas shook his head. “We need to think this through.” He took a deep breath and fell into one of his thoughtful silences.
Kai started pacing around the patio, cursing Morgan. If the dragon really was allied with Drax… Part of him simply wanted to hope Morgan was acting alone, but no good soldier operated on hope. He needed a plan.
“Does Tessa know?” Silas’s voice sliced into the tense silence.
“Know what?”
Silas waved his hands in exasperation. “Know that you’re mates.”
Kai wrung his hands together. “We only just…”
Silas scoffed. “You only just fucked her, and you’re convinced—”
Time stopped, and everything in Kai’s vision went red. Everything around him became a blurry rush. There was a roaring sound, a crash, a slam, and—
Time ticked into motion again, and, shit, he realized he’d just flung Silas back against the stone retaining wall and grabbed him by the throat. Kai’s dragon teeth were extending, and his eyes burned — a sure sign they were glowing in rage.
“Do. Not. Say. That. About. My. Mate.” He growled each word into Silas’s face, absolutely, positively ready to take his cousin on.
Silas’s eyes sparked and his body tensed under Kai’s firm hold. But a second later, the orange hue faded to yellow, and Silas nodded once.
“You mean it. She is your mate.”
“Of course, I mean it.” Kai pushed away.
Of course, we mean it, his dragon grumbled inside.
Silas scowled and glanced at his watch. “I have to catch a flight to Oahu to see if I can track down the dragon who got away. You, meanwhile, think carefully. Think it through. I mean, without leapfrogging to whatever damn happily-ever-after your dragon wants to skip ahead to.”
Right on cue, Kai’s dragon sighed, picturing curling up around Tessa. Tessa with a sleepy, green-eyed baby in her arms.
Kai stood perfectly still before he was bowled over by the onslaught of emotion that image aroused in him.
“Even if she does have dragon blood, she doesn’t know what it means to be mates,” Silas said. “She doesn’t know what it means for her. What she’s risking. Or did you explain?” Silas arched a doubtful eyebrow.
Kai kicked the ground. No, he hadn’t explained. He hadn’t had a chance.
“Didn’t think so,” Silas muttered. “You need to claim her as soon as you can. Make her your mate so no one else can take her.”
Kai looked at the sky. Sure. He’d run right back to Tessa and say, I need to screw you again right now. And when we’re done, I need to bite your neck and breathe fire into the wound. But don’t worry — I hear it feels great. And that way you’ll be stuck with me forever, and no other dragon can take you away.
Dragons mated for life, and when one partner died, the other followed shortly after. Even if Morgan killed Kai, he couldn’t force Tessa to bond with him — not once she’d given herself to another man.
But he didn’t want Tessa to have to mate with him. He wanted her to want it as desperately as he did. To dream about it. To make the occasion the beautiful memory it deserved to be — not a business arrangement, a do-or-die.
He could just see Silas butting in and trying to explain to Tessa. I need you to mate with Kai. For your own good. Oh, and dragon numbers are down, so please bear as many offspring as you can.
Yeah, right. He could see her reaction already — Tessa with both hands on her hips, lips in a tight, angry line. No way was he going to convince her to mate with him that quickly. He needed time to win her over. To answer her questions. To put her at ease.
But, shit. He didn’t have time. The enemy was already closing in, plotting to take Tessa away.
Chapter Fourteen
Tessa reluctantly rose and stretched, wondering how long Kai would be away. She was dying for more time with him — and to ask about how he’d sustained his injuries. She hadn’t gotten around to asking earlier because of the way one thing had led to another and…
She snorted. One thing had led to another, like her naked on top of him in bed.
Just thinking about it made her body warm up and want to roll in the sheets.
But she wasn’t about to lounge around naked, waiting for a man. So she took a lazy shower, running her hands over all the spots he’d touched. Which made for a heck of a lot of spots and a heck of a long shower. The bathroom was steaming when she emerged, and when she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped toward her suitcase, a cloud of mist followed her.
She knelt to sort through her clothes, only then remembering her grandmother’s box. And whoa — if that wasn’t a sign that Kai had totally blanked out her mind, she didn’t know what was. How could she forget what she’d found in the box? She sat on the bed, holding the box, reading the note folded inside.
My dearest Tessa, the note began. A note written on brittle, time-worn paper. What my grandmother gave to me so long ago, I now give to you.
Tessa ruffled her fingers through the cloth buffer in the box and gingerly took out the gemstone hidden within.
The stone I gave you years ago was a placeholder for this one — the real thing.
Tessa tilted the emerald, and the sun blazed through it, carrying a beam of green light across the room.
“Grandma,” she whispered, unable to fathom it all. The emerald was exactly the size and shape of her pendant but much heavier, like a solid chunk of glass.
Her grandmother had barely made ends meet. And yet, she’d hung on to the precious stone for decades, refusing to part with it. Why?
Her hand shook as she read on. Now you are the guardian of this great gift from our ancestors.
She looked at the stone, wondering who those ancestors might be.
Perhaps it will reawaken the way the legends say. Perhaps it will slumber, waiting for the next generation.
Tessa studied the gem. What legends? And why did her grandmother describe the emerald as if it were a living, breathing thing?
Either way, it is your job to keep it safe. Keep it in the family. If you do so, it, too, will keep you safe.
She rubbed the goose bumps that broke out on her arms. Safe? Did her grandmother mean safe against men like Damien Morgan? But what could a stone possibly do?
Trust me, my daughter’s daughter. Trust those who have come before you, and trust your heart.
Her heart beat faster as she read on, holding her breath.
May you live and prosper and feel joy as I have, my beloved granddaughter. May the powers in you guide you well.
Tessa gulped and turned the paper over, only to find the back blank. That was it?
She searched for a postscript, then held the note up to the light, hoping some faint letters might appear — but there was nothing. She searched the box and reread the note. Couldn’t her grandmother have been a little more specific?
Tessa studied the looping script. Handwriting changed as a person aged, but she was sure her grandmother didn’t use quite as flowery a script. She held the emerald up again, turning it so that the light bounced off one edge then another, sending beams of pure green light off at different angles each time.
; Then it hit her. Her grandmother’s name was Theresa — Tessa, like her. And her grandmother’s grandmother was named Tessa, too.
“Holy…” She sniffed the paper. Maybe the stone wasn’t the only hand-me-down. Maybe the note had been passed through the generations as well.
She held very still, considering the implications. What if the true meaning of those words had been lost with time? Her grandmother might have been as confused as Tessa was now. Maybe she hadn’t explained because she didn’t know how to explain.
The emerald was strung on a silver chain, and Tessa slowly slipped it over her neck, just for the feel of it. The gem had to be worth a fortune. What was she going to do with it?
Take care of this well, she remembered her grandmother saying when she’d first given her the pendant, years ago. Show me how responsible you can be.
Had her grandmother been quietly preparing her all along?
Tessa huffed in frustration. If her grandmother had been preparing her, why hadn’t she explained anything?
Trust me, the note said. Trust those who have come before you, and trust your heart.
The bushes rustled outside, and Tessa locked her hand over the stone, hiding it. When no further sound came, she dressed quickly. That sound might not have signaled danger, but she couldn’t sit around in a wet towel all day.
As she rooted through the suitcase for some underwear, she came across the cell phone she’d packed in in her hurry to flee Arizona. She held it for a moment, wondering if she should turn it on. Hawaii felt a million miles away from the mainland and Damien Morgan. Did she really want to check in on that world?
She hesitated a moment longer, then turned it on. It took an eternity to find a connection, but then it beeped, and dozens of messages appeared on the screen — many marked urgent. She winced, recognizing the numbers of clients. Clients she’d stood up when she left Arizona unexpectedly. She sat down hard. All the work she’d put into building her business could be ruined.
There were so many messages, she didn’t know where to start. She scrolled through them hopelessly until a message from a number that wouldn’t display caught her attention.
She tapped on the message, skim read, then stopped and read again as a cold sensation crept down her spine.
Urgent. Need to talk to you right away, the message said. You may not be safe. I fear there is a traitor among our friends. —Ella
Tessa stood and listened intently to the sounds outside. Ella had told her she’d be safe at Koa Point. Tessa checked the message time stamp — only a few hours old. Did Ella find out something she wasn’t aware of before?
There was a second message that went on in the same vein.
I hope to God you read this in time. Get out. Don’t tell anyone where you’ve gone. I’m coming to help. But I can’t come too close. Meet me at Kaunolu…
Tessa skimmed the instructions below, then balked. Kaunolu was on a whole separate island — Lanai. She looked out the front door and over the sea to the pyramid of land to the west.
There’s a ferry there a couple of times a day, Kai had said that day they’d driven through town.
There’s a ferry… Ella’s message echoed, detailing where Tessa should go and when.
Tessa’s pulse raced as she peered across the estate — what she could see of it, at least. Was Boone the traitor? That was hard to believe. Hunter struck her as loyal as a bear could be. But Cruz… She froze. Cruz had always been testy around her. On the other hand, he’d been pretty open in his distaste. Wouldn’t a traitor hide his true feelings better than that?
She gasped, wondering if it could be Silas. Kai was with Silas at that very moment. Panic seized her when she thought about how long Kai had been away. Hadn’t he said he’d be right back?
He’d been injured the night before — from a fight, not just a crash. Which might mean that Kai had already confronted the traitor and triumphed. Which could mean that everything was all right.
But, shit. The shiver in her spine sure didn’t give her the feeling everything was all right.
The emerald bit into her palm as she squeezed unconsciously, and she unlocked her grasp. Did the emerald have anything to do with Ella’s warning? But how could it?
None of it made sense, but the longer she waited, the likelier it would be that…that…
She struggled to fill in the blank. That, what? What might happen?
A shadow danced across the doorway, and she remembered Damien Morgan jumping at her. Pinning her against the wall and grunting horrifying messages in her ear.
You will make me a good mate. You will breed me many heirs, and I will become the most powerful of my kind.
Her heart raced long after she realized the movement outside was just a palm dancing in the wind.
A moment later, she grabbed her backpack, stuffed the top couple of items from her suitcase in, and peeked out the door. Kai was a big boy. He’d healed quickly from his injuries, and she could scarcely imagine a foe that could threaten him. The best course of action was to follow Ella’s instructions and find out what was going on. She could call Kai once she had a clearer idea of the situation. She didn’t have his number, but that wouldn’t be hard to find out, right?
Just in case, she scribbled a note on a scrap of paper and hid it under the pillow. If anyone would look there, it would be Kai, and she was careful not to mention any details. Then she inched out the door, eyeing the shadows, walking slowly so as not to make any noise. She made a big loop around the akule hale, avoiding the others and jumping at every scratch in the leaves.
Cruz. It had to be Cruz, right? But, shit. He was a tiger. What were the chances of sneaking around him?
She didn’t bump into Cruz, thank God, and none of the others, either. The lush lawns of the estate were all separated by thick brush and trees, allowing her to move stealthily along. So stealthily, she wondered if that was what it felt like to be a wolf or a bear — or a tiger — slinking along. Dragons, she couldn’t imagine slinking, though. Just gliding soundlessly overhead.
She whipped her head up in alarm, but the light beat of wings were those of a bird. On instinct, her fingers closed around the pendant and emerald, the two necklaces intertwined and hiding under the collar of her shirt.
The garage wasn’t far away, and she could hear the hum of someone at work. Hunter? Whoever it was, he didn’t notice her quiet steps. Tessa rushed the rest of the way to the gate and stared at it for a moment. Shoot. She’d probably trip an alarm if she opened it. She followed the thick bushes to the left until she found a place where the stone wall was low enough to scale. With a soft grunt, she hauled herself over then jogged up to the road.
She looked right then left, stuck out her thumb, and started race-walking along.
The first car passed without pausing, but the second — with a friendly woman driver, to Tessa’s relief — stopped immediately and brought her right to the green shack of a ticket office at the ferry dock in town.
“One to Lanai,” the woman at the counter said, sliding Tessa a ticket. “Boarding in twenty minutes.”
Tessa chewed her lip and fiddled with her phone, rereading Ella’s instructions between anxious peeks at the road. Had Kai noticed she was gone yet? Had he found her note? She twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands, hating the possibility that Kai might think she’d left him. She never wanted to leave him.
The thought made her stand very still. Did she really mean that?
Well, yes. Yes, she did. And the second she had a chance to talk to Kai, she’d lay it all on the line. Whatever issue there might be between dragons and humans, she was willing to figure out. If Kai felt the same way. If everything worked out.
If, if, if.
Waiting was torture, even once she boarded the ferry and felt it lurch away from the dock. The sea wasn’t rough, but her stomach still tossed and turned.
Trust your heart, the note from her grandmother had said.
Her heart, though, was telling her to turn around an
d run back to Kai. But it was too late, and Ella’s message stuck in her mind.
You may not be safe. I fear there is a traitor among our friends.
It made her shiver, and the air conditioning in the ferry’s main cabin didn’t help, either. She headed out to the top deck, where the wind tugged her hair, making it fly this way and that.
“Bye-bye, Maui!” a tourist laughed, taking a picture.
Tessa hugged herself. Bye-bye to the feeling of peace and security she’d enjoyed for the last couple of days. The farther she traveled from Kai, the more ominous the world felt until she was just as fearful as she’d been on her flight from Phoenix. Worse, in a way, because she wasn’t sure where danger lay any more. Behind her? Ahead?
“Look at the little island, sweetie,” a woman said to her son. “Molokini.”
Tessa looked, too. Anything to take her mind off the mess of her life. She followed the woman’s hand to a sliver of an island to the south.
“Mokonini,” the boy echoed. “Why aren’t there any houses?”
“It’s a preserve. No one is allowed to live there,” the mother said.
Sounds perfect, Tessa thought. A place to get away from everyone and everything. Except she wouldn’t even be safe there — not from dragons, anyway.
“It used to be a round volcano, but it erupted, and now there’s just a crescent left,” the mom said.
Her son filled in volcanic sound effects. “Ka-boom! Lots of fire!”
Tessa stepped over to the opposite side of the deck.
The water grew rougher, and the clouds clustered over West Maui’s peaks darkened.
“Getting closer now,” a man commented to his partner, pointing to Lanai.
Getting farther and farther away, Tessa’s soul cried as she looked back, trying to make out Koa Point.
She knotted her fingers together, twisting them this way and that. She already missed Kai. So much, it went beyond emotion to the physical. Like a part of her own soul had been taken away.
She looked at her feet. Was it really possible to fall in love so fast? Was there really such a thing as destined mates? Her grandmother used to talk about soul mates. Was that the same thing?