DragonSpell

by Natalie Lougher

  “I’m not sure what to think of those two. Ciara seemed to get along well with the one and they had a right good chat about her work but the other one could have cared less. What do you think he was doing in here?”

  “I don’t know. He was muttering something but I couldn’t understand any of the words, and he was waving his arms around. Until I can figure out what he wanted, or what he was doing, I think it’s best if Ciara stay in another room. Are there any spare rooms around here?”

  “Aye, there’s the spare room across the hall. Edan should be home this evening too so he’ll be around to help in any way he can.” He assured me and I relaxed a little at his words. But when it came time to tell Ciara that she should sleep in a different room, she wasn’t having any of it.

  “This is my room, in my house. I will not be chased out of it just because some strange man wandered in. No.” She said firmly and I sighed and looked at Hugh for support. He shrugged slightly in helplessness and once I realized that it was fruitless to argue, I turned and went back to my cottage to rest.

  Was Ciara right? Did I pass out because of what happened to me in the cab a few nights ago, or was it simply dehydration or exertion or something simple like that? I didn’t recall feeling sick or experienced any kind of pain before I passed out, just that I had been holding myself pretty tightly together as I’d watched the car leave, ignoring every instinct I had that told me to bow and submit to those men.

  “Yeah right, not going to happen.” I muttered angrily, pacing back and forth in my cottage. I came to a stop when someone knocked on my door and when I answered it, Dr. Andarsan stood there, his medical bag in his hand.

  “May I come in?” he asked politely and I stepped aside to let him enter, closing the door again when he was inside.

  “I take it you’re here to give me another checkup?” I asked a touch sarcastically and then bit my lip in regret. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t very fair of me.” I apologized and he shook his head in an off-hand gesture, already dismissing my words.

  “Not to worry. I brought my medical bag as an excuse, when in all honesty, I just wanted to come and see how you were feeling.” He said honestly and I smiled faintly and leaned against the back of the couch for support.

  “I’m okay. I think. I’m confused as hell, I’m tired and I just want a hug.” I admitted pitifully, turning suddenly and falling into him. The young man automatically put his arms around me to catch me and then they readjusted themselves, wrapping around my shoulders as I put my arms around his waist and just held on for a moment. Ian was somewhat surprised by how good it felt to put his arms around me, he wasn’t used to women who were close to his own height and the curves of my body fit perfectly to his.

  “What can I do, Kailani? Anything?” he asked quietly after a long moment and eventually I sighed and pulled out of his arms a little, looking up at him so that we were nose to nose. He had an overwhelming desire to kiss me but he held himself back; we had only known each other for a few days and while I felt good under his hands, and I fascinated the hell out of him, he wasn’t about to give in to anything more than friendly, professional concern. Regardless of how strong the crush was he had on me.

  “No, good doctor, I don’t think there is anything anyone can do for me right now. But thank you for your concern. And for the hug.” I smiled slightly and stepped out of his arms. His arms felt empty the minute I was out of his reach and he gave himself a mental shake. I was nowhere near the first woman he had held in his arms so why would he feel like I was going to be the only one that felt like I belonged there?

  “She’s a mythical creature, Ian. It’s just your curiosity about her and the crush you always seem to form on tall, dark haired women that has you tied up in knots. Relax.” He chided himself as I walked across the small room and looked out the front window.

  “Is that Edan’s car?” I asked suddenly, seeing a Land Rover drive up the lane way and circle around in front of the barn and Ian came over to stand behind me, looking over my shoulder.

  “Aye.”

  “Maybe he has my things.” I quickly left the cottage and headed for the dark vehicle as Edan turned it off and opened the driver’s door.

  “Evening lass! How goes it around here?” he asked jovially and then paused when he saw the drawn look on my face and on the face of the doctor who came to a stop behind me. “What did I miss?”

  “Edan!” Ciara called happily from the kitchen door before either of us could answer and he turned and beamed at his wife, giving her a big wave before turning back to us.

  “Kailani, your bags are in the back, feel free to help yourself to them. Doctor, I trust my wife and babies are still in good health?”

  “Aye, they’re just as good as when you left.” Ian nodded once and Edan grinned.

  “Good. I will come see you later Kailani and we will talk, as you look like you have a lot on your mind. But for now, I want to see my wife. Good evening.” He nodded to us and then turned, walking briskly towards Ciara, and with a few feet left between them, he broke into a jog, opened his arms and swept her up into them as though she was a tiny little waif, and not a grown woman who was well into her third trimester.

  “I would kill for a love like that.” I muttered enviously before turning back to the vehicle and circling around to the back hatch. Ian heard my words and they made him pause for a moment as they sunk in.

  “Do you have anyone where you’re from?” he asked conversationally, trying not to sound too interested and I snorted a touch bitterly.

  “I had someone and I thought we were pretty serious. Then he up and moved to California to ‘follow his surfing dream’ and left me behind. So no, I have no one.” I pulled my laptop bag out of the back of the truck as the young man beside me grabbed my duffel and he followed me back to my cottage so he could set my things down and retrieve his medical bag.

  “If you need anything, I will be next door. But now that you have your bags, I’m sure you’d like a few moments of privacy to unpack them so I will say good evening and perhaps see you at dinner.” Ian bowed slightly to me as he picked up his leather case and I smiled slightly at him as he left.

  “What is it about that man, Kailani? He’s always the consummate professional; reserved, always polite, always ready to offer you privacy, and sometimes he allows himself to be so warm and caring and maybe just a little interested in you. And yet you have the feeling that the real him is lurking somewhere under that reserved facade and just needs to be woken up and set free.” I thought to myself as I started unpacking my bag. Most of my clothes could use a wash so I set them aside for later and unpacked my laptop bag next. I ran my fingers lightly over the lid of the computer, itching to open it up and do a Skype call with Rachel but I knew she was still on a plane somewhere between London and home so I would have to wait for her to message me when she landed.

  A knock on my door a while later had me answering it and letting Edan in, and as he entered I smiled at him warmly.

  “You look like you took a moment to freshen up. Was it a long trip for you?”

  “Aye, not as bad as it is in the colder months but long enough to make me miss home. So lass, care to tell me what I’ve missed while I’ve been gone?”

  “Where do I start?” I chuckled and we sat down at the little kitchen table together. I told him about the blackbird in his bedroom, dive-bombing his wife the afternoon that he left, and then about the two strange men that came to look at some of Ciara’s artwork.

  “Ciara told me about that, although she was practically glowing in all of her ecstasy. Perhaps you tell me what you saw. She mentioned that you collapsed just after they left.” His piercing eyes looked across the table at me and I nodded slightly. I filled him in on the cold feeling I got the moment I had first heard about this planned visit, how Hugh and I had managed to talk Ciara into holding it outside away from the house and how I had followed one of the men in black into the house and found him in the master bedroom. That didn’t sit
well with the Laird, I could see it the minute I told him but he kept quiet until I was finished and then he just stared down at his one hand that rested on the table as he picked at the cuticle of his thumb.

  “What was he doing in our bedroom?”

  “Chanting maybe? I couldn’t understand what he was saying but he was waving his arms around and when I interrupted him, he didn’t seem too happy about it.”

  “And when they finally left, Ciara said you passed out. It was like you just crumpled to the ground but when Dad called for the doctor and he checked your vitals, you were fine. Any idea what that was about?”

  “No sir, not yet.” I didn’t want to tell him about the almost-overpowering urge for me to kneel before the strange man because I didn’t think I had the words to try to describe it to him.

  “Well, thank you for everything you’ve done to protect my family while I’ve been gone. Hopefully things will settle down a little now that I’m back and we can get back to figuring out what’s brought you to us after so many years.” Edan rose to his feet and I got to mine as well and walked him to the door. “Will you be joining us for dinner this evening? Will mentioned it should be ready in an hour or so.”

  “Thank you but no, I think I’ll pass tonight. I’ve had a long day and I think I might like some downtime.”

  “Fair enough. We will see you in the morning then.” He inclined his head to me as he opened my door and let himself out and I watched the big man walk back to his own home. Settle down? Seriously? We had two afternoons of excitement and he made it sound like we had been run ragged.

  “How can they all be so damn laid back?” I muttered in amazement.

  While everyone was having dinner that evening I went down to the cliff and walked down the long, narrow path that led to the water. The tide was starting to come in so it was much closer to the shoreline than it had been earlier and right before I stepped down onto the wet stones I stopped. I wasn’t sure how you enforced property lines when it came to large bodies of water but I half-suspected, that if I stepped off this path onto the sea floor, it would be considered ‘off the property’ and I would likely trigger a change.

  “Well, let’s experiment, shall we? Worse case, you give yourself a headache again. You need to keep testing yourself and figuring out what your limits are.” I muttered, slipping out of my shoes and socks. Glancing around to make sure I was alone, I slipped my t-shirt over my head and shimmied out of the jeans I had on. The last two times I had been in dragon-form I had gotten wet, either from splashing waves or full-blown diving so I wanted to try to preserve some of my clothes to put back on later. Then, in only my bikini-briefs and bra, I pulled my hair out of its elastic, took a deep breath and stepped down off the path onto the smooth rocks of the sea floor.

  The minute my foot came down on the rocks I gasped loudly, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot from the arch of my foot straight up my legs to my scalp. My skin prickled, my cheekbones felt like they were made of molten lava and the bright flash of light exploded across the bluff. Clearly, stepping off the property was the express route to dragon-form.

  As I stood in a bit of a daze, recovering from the rapid change in form, I had my back to the bluffs and Cameron estate so I didn’t see Ian standing up on the ledge, nor did I realize that he had seen me strip down to my knickers. Not that it would have really bothered me, Rachel and I were always stripping down on the beach by our home to get in some surfing or swimming if we had time and a lot of the guys that we hung with had seen us in everything from bikinis to sports bras and underwear. But it would have embarrassed the hell out of the doctor if he’d known that I had known that he’d seen me, I was sure of that.

  While Ian had wanted nothing more than to turn away and give me privacy while I had stripped down, he hadn’t been able to. There had been something about the sight of my long legs pulling themselves free of my jeans and my long brown hair swinging freely around my bare shoulders that he had found mesmerizing and just slightly erotic. He could still clearly remember how it had felt to be nose-to-nose with me at the Cameron’s dining room table the first morning he’d come to check on me, and again when we’d been in my cottage before Edan had arrived back this evening. He could remember the feel of me in his arms when I’d unabashedly sought the hug from him and the cold fear that had sliced through him when he’d heard Hugh call for him and he’d seen me laying in the grass unresponsive. I was twisting him up in so many different ways, affecting his mind and his body in ways no other woman had done before and he felt more alive than he had in a long time. And he didn’t understand how that could be possible. Not after only two or three days.

  I knew someone was up on the bluff, I could feel them watching me and as I inhaled deeply, I could smell the faint traces of aftershave and without having to turn around to see, I knew it was Ian. He had been there for awhile too, otherwise I would have heard him approach, which probably meant he had witnessed me in my underwear. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. Picking myself up off the wet rocks, I extended my wings, gave a few flaps and I was airborne. I didn’t feel like going far, and even if I did, where would I go in the daylight? Anyone with a half-decent pair of binoculars would see me and then I’d become someone’s science experiment. So instead, I lazily circled the fishbowl-shaped bay that the Cameron estate bordered. Flying felt so natural to me now and it helped clear my mind and I didn’t bother to acknowledge anyone up on the bluff when I sensed two more bodies join the doctor.

  “How long has she been circling like that?” Edan asked curiously, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans and Ian glanced down at his watch.

  “Fifteen minutes, maybe.”

  “Did she say anything before she changed? Is something on her mind?” Hugh asked, concern darkening his tone and Ian glanced at him. For all of the elder Cameron’s laughing and joking with the staff, likely fractionally at my expense, he seemed to genuinely care about my well-being. And for that, the doctor was grateful.

  “She had already changed by the time I arrived here so I don’t know.” He lied and Hugh nodded silently, chewing on his bottom lip where his beard started.

  “What do you make of her passing out this afternoon, Doctor? Any medical opinions?” Edan asked after a quiet moment of the three of them watching me circle the bay below them and Ian shook his head truthfully this time.

  “No sir, no idea. When I heard Hugh call for me and I reached her side, she was out cold in the grass but her vitals were all good. No racing heart, no fever, nothing. I don’t know if it was a case of dehydration or exhaustion.”

  “I think it had something to do with Ciara’s visitors this afternoon.” Hugh muttered and the other two men looked at him in surprise.

  “Why? Did either of them do something to her?” Ian asked sharply and Edan shot his friend a slightly amused look before turning serious again.

  “What makes you say that? Ciara told me they were perfect gentlemen and very interested in her work.” Edan commented, remembering what both his wife and I had said about them and eager to get a third perspective.

  “Aye, that they were. But the one that broke away for a few minutes to use the washroom…. Kailani had been keeping an eye on him from almost the moment he’d gotten out of the car. She kept her distance and just observed, but she was in full-on guard mode. And after she followed him into the house and then escorted him back outside, she was...different. Rigid. Almost wooden-like. And after their car left the lane way, it was like she had been a puppet and her strings were suddenly cut. She just dropped where she stood. Something happened with that man that she’s not letting on.” Hugh said with such certainty that all three of them fell silent and watched me circle over the waves.

  “She is magnificent though, isn’t she?” Ian meant to think the words but they came out very audibly and he blushed as the father and son looked at him in real amusement.

  “Aye, she is.” The late evening sun was reflecting off my scales and they admired the hard, sl
eek lines of my wings and tail from above me. Now that it was daylight, they could all see that I was a burgundy-color when the sun shone on me, and when I dipped into a shadowy area, I looked almost chocolate-brown. My ribbed neck, belly and the underside of my wings were silver and it was all any of them could do to look away. I truly looked, in the setting sun, like a full-size, living, breathing fairy-tale.

  Chapter 7

  When the Skype call connected late that night, my friend’s face came into focus and my eyes teared up when I saw her.

  “Rachel! Hey! I’m so glad to see you! How was your flight home?” I asked, sniffing a little as I tried not to cry and Rachel wiped at her own eyes and smiled shakily.

  “It was good! It seemed to take longer to get home without you with me! How are you? You look awfully good for someone too sick to fly home.” Rachel said suspiciously and I sighed and shrugged helplessly.

  “Looks are deceiving, trust me. Rach, is Gran around?” I asked, changing the subject and I watched my friend look around herself.

  “Yeah, she’s in the kitchen with Mom, why?”

  “Can you get her please? I really need to talk to her.”

  “You need to talk to Gran? Why? Lani, I’ve got to warn you, ever since I told her and Mom that you weren’t coming home with me, she’s been really ranting and raving about dragons and fairies and I’m not sure if she hasn’t officially gone crazy.” Rachel warned, dropping her voice a little and I shook my head even before she stopped speaking.

  “She’s not crazy Rachel. If you could have seen the stuff I have over the last few days you’d say the same thing.” As my friend’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and confusion, I heard an old, crackly voice call out to me from off-screen.

  “Lani? Is that you that Rachel’s talking to, dear?”