“Don’t you dare fall apart on me.” I muttered, gingerly carrying the book to the table and laying it down flat. Some of the pages were stuck together but I managed to separate them if I peeled them apart slowly enough and the writing was faded almost to the point of non-readability. But I sat down anyway and with the use of the flashlight on my phone for extra light, I painstakingly started to read.
Ian came to find me in the morning when I didn’t make an appearance for my usual workout, nor did I come up to the house for breakfast. When he knocked on my door, he didn’t get an answer so he tentatively tried the door knob. It turned easily in his hand and when he opened the door, he was surprised to see me asleep at the dining table, a very old looking book open in front of me. Coming over, he rested a hand on my shoulder gently and I came awake with a start at the touch.
“Oh! I’m awake!” I declared in surprise, then my gaze met Ian’s concerned one and I sighed and pushed my tangled hair back from my face. “Another house-call, Doctor?” I teased lightly and he smiled faintly before a frown replaced the smile and he sat down in a chair across from me.
“You missed your morning run with Steph and Jamie, and you didn’t come up for breakfast. Hugh mentioned he had seen you last night so the fact that you seemed to be missing this morning had a few around here worried about you so I thought I would make a house call and make sure you were alright.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you. And yes I think I’m fine, I just started reading in the middle of the night, and I guess I fell asleep again around dawn.” I stifled a yawn as I stretched my arms up over my head.
“What is that? It looks really old.” He pointed at the journal laying open in front of me and I nodded.
“From what I’ve read last night, this is the first journal written by my ancestors. It’s phenomenal really. I’ve been reading about how we as dragons used to fly around here like birds do today and how we switch to human form and why. It’s amazing and terrifying reading, all at the same time.” I watched Ian cast another glance at the old journal in front of me, his curiosity piqued.
“That really explains how you transform and why?”
“And so much more. It’s quite a history lesson, but one that I’m afraid doesn’t lead to a very promising future around here. I have to talk to Edan.” I started to rise out of my chair but Ian reached across the table and covered my hand with his. The warmth and weight made me stop and I met his gaze steadily, making my heart flip-flop in my chest. He was so handsome in his polo shirt and khakis, reddish-brown hair neatly combed back from his chiseled face. I wondered for a brief moment, if he held the wild spark, the ruggedness of the Scottish Highlander somewhere inside that refined and conservative shell. What would it take to bring it out?
“What do you mean it doesn’t lead to a very promising future here?”
“Something is coming for this land, and for me. Every journal I’ve skimmed through says the same thing. And with all of the happenings around here of late, I’m wondering if that’s why I was drawn here when I was. I believe in fate as much as the next person but even this seems a little too coincidental. And after scaring off that crow last night, my mind is working overtime trying to piece it all together.”
“Well, Edan and Hugh were still in the kitchen when I left the house a little while ago, I’m sure they’re still there if you want to go talk to them.” He removed his hand from mine and I smiled faintly.
“I want to have a quick shower first. Wait for me?”
“Absolutely.” He watched me finish rising to my feet and I winked at him before turning and heading for the bathroom with my old journal tucked protectively under my arm. A moment later Ian heard the shower turn on and he got up from the table and went to stand in front of my living room window. He tried to block out the sound of the running water and the mental image of me standing under that stream, the water running down my caramel-colored, tanned skin, down my long hair and longer legs. He tried not to wonder if I had any tan lines that he hadn’t seen the night that he’d watch me strip down and change forms in the bay. He hadn’t seen any from his vantage point, but that didn’t mean some didn’t exist. Somewhere.
When the shower turned off I wrapped myself in a towel and quickly ducked into my bedroom to put some clothes on and two minutes later I was re-emerging in a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, brushing my wet hair. Ian watched in ill-concealed fascination as I put the brush down and deftly braided the long strands together, wrapping an elastic around the ends.
“Do you always tie your hair back?” Ian asked as we left my cottage and headed for the main house and I nodded a bit sheepishly.
“I have to when it gets this long. I keep thinking it’s time to get it cut.”
“I wouldn’t. I like it at the length it’s at. I just wish you’d let it hang loose sometime.” He admitted with a blush and I touched his arm with a tender smile before we reached the kitchen door.
“Maybe I will sometime. Just for you.” I winked at him again before we opened the door and walked inside.
“Edan, you might want to listen to this.” Ian spoke the minute he was through the kitchen door, interrupting a conversation Hugh and Edan were having at the island and both Cameron men looked up in surprise as the young doctor came into the room and I walked in behind him, catching the door before it had a chance to bang shut behind me.
“What’s going on?” Edan asked in surprise and Ian gestured for me to take a seat at the island too, leaving him standing behind me.
“Before I get into anything, is there coffee? I’ve been up all night reading very old handwriting and my brain feels fried.” I confessed and Hugh nodded, getting to his feet to pour a big mug of strong coffee for me and after I took a few sips I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly before looking at the Laird with such a grave look on my face that he went completely still.
“Lass? What’s the problem?” Hugh ventured when I didn’t speak for a long moment and I pressed my lips together into a tight line as I thought how best to start.
“Just how superstitious are you?” I asked them both and Hugh cracked a small smile, remembering he had asked me a similar question when we had first met, but that smile fell away when he realized I was very serious.
“Enough I suppose, why?”
“How much do you know about the dragons that have protected you and your land?”
“Just what we’ve told you. Our ancestors found an egg, protected the egg until it hatched, discovered the dragon and that the dragon turned into a man and that man-dragon has protected this land and family ever since. Have you learned more?” Hugh asked.
“You could say that, and Edan, it doesn’t bode well for your family if you choose to stay here on the estate.” My gaze went back to the Laird and he scrunched his brow together in concern and confusion.
“Perhaps you start at the beginning Lani, and let us know what you’ve learned.” He suggested and I sighed again and took another sip of coffee, feeling Ian squeeze my shoulder tightly in support and the small gesture was not lost on either Cameron, who looked at him curiously.
“Millennia ago this part of the coastline was inhabited by the Fae. I guess we aren’t the only ones that feel there’s magic in the waves at the base of the cliffs here. Anyway, some of these Fae kept dragons either as pets or enslaved them to do whatever dirty work the Fae themselves didn’t want to get directly involved in. One Fae, of a lighter sect, didn’t approve of the way her darker brethren were treating these creatures so she stole a dragon egg and put a spell on it that when the dragon reached maturity it would be able to shape-shift to a human, thus it could blend in with the rest of the human population and maybe get away from the dragon-slave-trade. That is the egg your ancestors found.” I paused in my story-telling long enough to take another sip of coffee and rub my eyes, and while I was quiet, the other three men waited patiently, so still that you would have been startled to hear a pin drop in the large room.
“That spell is t
he reason you say your ancestors saw a dragon fly below the cliffs and a man walked up the path in its place. The dragon had reached maturity.”
“But how did it go from being born a dragon to being born a human who can turn into one?” Edan asked in confusion and I chewed on my bottom lip for a second before glancing back at Ian and gesturing for him to sit on a stool beside me.
“This is where the Andarsan family comes into play.” I began and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was clear to both Cameron men that while the doctor may have thought he’d known part of my story, he didn’t know all of it.
“An Andarsan here on the estate was a warlock of sorts and practiced magic as well as medicine and he felt sorry for this dragon-born so he placed a second spell, this time on the young man, not the dragon, that allowed him to have children and those offspring would be born human, regaining the ability to shape-shift at puberty.”
“We were warlocks?” Ian murmured in surprise and I reached a hand over to squeeze his arm supportively.
“All of the offspring from this last dragon-born have been men and it is speculated that is because they were all born here on this land, where they had promised their protection. Because my grandparents left the isles and my parents had a girl, my father must have been ecstatic, thinking the curse had been broken.”
“But not enough that he wanted to risk you coming here.” Hugh put in and I nodded.
“From what I’ve read, I am the last of my kind. Dragons are all but extinct in their world from the Fae’s mistreatment and the fact that I’m very much alive and female will undoubtedly make them very interested in me.”
“Fae?! That’s a certain level of hocus-pocus that I’m not even sure I can believe in.” Edan snorted and I raised my eyebrows at him skeptically.
“But you can sit here and believe in dragons? There is a very thin line between mythical creatures of yore and today’s reality. I’m starting to learn that we just hide behind a veil to make it easier to coexist.”
“How did you learn all of this, lass?” Hugh asked in amazement and I chuckled.
“I remember my grandfather always lamenting that his one regret about leaving the Isles was that he had left his family’s journals behind. Yesterday evening after I retired to my cottage I got to thinking about those hidden journals and I went looking for them. And it turns out that our ancestors wrote everything down so that the knowledge wouldn’t be lost.”
“So now what? You said it didn’t bode well for my family if we choose to stay here. Can you be a bit more specific?” Edan asked after a brief moment of silence and I absently started to play with the long braid, pulling it over my shoulder so I could run it between my index finger and thumb as I thought about my next words.
“Every journal I skimmed through last night, starting with my grandfather’s, indicated that the author felt someone - or something - was coming for them and your land and they’re not going to take no for an answer. If these beings are indeed Fae, I don’t know how to fight them. If every dragon that has lived here has feared the return of these dark fairies, I don’t know what I can do and I don’t know what that’s going to mean for your family if you choose to stay here.”
“Of course I choose to stay. This is my family’s land, it has been passed down to me through generations of Cameron men and I will not be chased off by anyone. We will find a way to protect our land if and when the time comes.” Edan said firmly, his voice leaving no room to argue and Hugh nodded his head in agreement, both men suddenly resembling the rough and war-hardened Highlander men from eons passed. I chewed my lip as I regarded them both and finally I inhaled deeply and nodded.
“Well, if that’s your stance than I’ll stand behind it. I will do whatever I can to protect the area, I’ll continue reading through the Williams’ journals as well as my mother’s and I’ll see if I can learn anything that will help.”
“That’s all I would ever dream of asking of you Kailani, thank you. And we can hope that this is an idle worry. The only threat this estate has faced in the past few years is the tax man but he gets his dues and goes away for another year.” Edan tried to lighten his tone with a concerted effort and Hugh chuffed in silent agreement.
“But what about this crow that Lani said has been back harassing Ciara? Is it related somehow?” Ian spoke up finally and I nodded slowly, making all of the men around the island look at me in surprise.
“I think it is. I chased that crow around last night after dark and set a few of its feathers on fire. But before I could do anything more than that, it just...disappeared. One minute it was in front of me, wing on fire and the next it was gone like it had never been there. And before it disappeared I was convinced that it wasn’t a real bird. Its mannerisms just didn’t seem right.”
“A form of Fae?” Hugh asked a touch skeptically and I shrugged helplessly.
“I have no idea. I don’t know anywhere near enough about them to know if they can take other forms, or what their capabilities are. The only thing I can say for certain is that bird wasn’t natural.”
“I remember when we saw it swooping around Ciara that day she was trying to take a nap and when you entered the room and dove in between her and it, the look on that bird’s face ranged between fear, shock and disbelief if that’s even possible for a bird. So I would tend to agree with you that it doesn’t seem quite like any other normal black bird.” Ian agreed
“Edan, my love! Are you in the kitchen by any chance?” Ciara’a voice rang out from another room and we all jumped a little in surprise, the serious mood we had been enveloped in lifting immediately at the added voice, and Edan quickly rose to his feet.
“Yes, my heart! What can I get you?” Edan called back, rounding the corner out of the kitchen in search of his wife and the three of us that remained looked at each other before I drained my coffee and stood up.
“I think I’m going to head back to my cottage and do a little more reading, see if I can learn anything else. If anyone needs me, you know where I’ll be.” I waved goodbye, gave Ian’s arm a final squeeze as I passed him and went back outside.
But when I got back to my cottage, I didn’t feel like going back to the old, dusty journals. My eyes were still feeling gritty and a little strained from my midnight readings so instead, I parked myself in front of my laptop and started searching through a few websites that I’d found that were dedicated to witchcraft. One was the site my mother’s journal had referenced about Wiccan spells and was where I had gotten the banishing and cleansing rituals that I’d used the day before. I was so deep into my reading that I didn’t hear the first light tap at my door and whoever was outside had to knock harder the second time.
“Kailani? Are you in there?” I jumped at the voice and quickly closed my laptop before going to open the door for Ciara.
“Ciara! What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in and make yourself at home!” I opened the door wider for her and she wandered in, looking around herself in interest as she came in and headed for the dining table.
“I hope you don’t mind me dropping in like this.”
“No, of course not. Don’t be silly. Can I get you a glass of water? That’s about all I have here.”
I admitted a bit sheepishly and she giggled and nodded.
“Water would be lovely, thank you.” She watched as I went to the sink and poured us two glasses of water before joining her at the table.
“So what do I owe the pleasure of having you come to see me? And how did you sleep last night?” I asked curiously and she smiled slightly and took a sip of water before answering.
“I slept much better, thank you. I could hear that blasted crow a little bit but being on the other side of the house made it easier to block it out, roll over and go back to sleep. The twins even let me sleep in a bit this morning.” She admitted and I smiled, happy to hear that she’d finally gotten some decent rest.
“Good!” I grinned with a little clap of my hands and she laughed and nodded.
“Kailani,” she started slowly and I folded my hands loosely on the table in front of me. I wasn’t sure what she was working up the nerve to talk to me about, but whatever it was, it was wearing on her pretty heavily and I wanted to give her my undivided attention so I could help her anyway I could. “I came to you this morning because no one else will talk to me and I have a feeling you might know what’s going on more than I do, even though I have no idea how that would be possible since you’ve only been here a couple of weeks.” Her blue eyes met mine and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Oh boy.
“I’m not sure I have any answers for you but I’ll do my best.” I didn’t see the point in doing the ignorant ‘what are you talking about? What do you mean what’s going on?’ routine. Ciara was clearly looking for some answers to something on her mind so I would just have to wait and see what her questions were.
“Do you believe in fairy tales?” at her question, I blinked a few times and then nodded slowly.
“I believe fairy tales are all borne of some truth, why?”
“When I was a little girl, my Gran used to tell me these wonderful tales about dragons and how they used to swoop around the coastlines of Scotland and I used to just eat it all up. I loved it. And she used to tell me how the last of the dragons lived here, on this land before the first Camerons settled here and built the castle that would one day turn into this estate.” Her eyes sparkled as she remembered the old tales but while I smiled patiently, waiting for a question, my nerves were on high alert. This was no coincidence, her sitting at my table talking about dragons when I had been flying over her house the night before in just that form.
“Sounds wonderful. When I was little, I was told stories about the great fire goddess, Madame Pele because of the volcanoes in Hawaii. I was told it was good to learn to respect her early in life because she allowed us to live on the islands and controlled the volcanoes so they didn’t spew too much lava and devour us all.” I smiled, remembering Gran’s old stories and Ciara eyed me curiously.
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