I have never seen anyone shift so fast. Usually it takes a couple minutes of concentration. Kaiden told her in her head
I have to fly with him, my Dragon is screaming at me to join him. And she tore off around the corner and jumped in the air and hovered over Kaiden. She was laughing so loud in Marcus and Kaiden’s heads that Kaiden couldn’t help the laugh that came to his face and Marcus, even in Dragon form, was beaming with pride.
“Anyone else want to join us? I am going to shift and fly with Marcus and Zoe.”
Sighs of relief filled the air and before anyone could answer clothes were being torn off and the porch was a huge laundry pile of clothing. Mary stood with Ben in her arms just watching. Vivi and Christian stood there and watched in awe. Before Monica changed she covered herself as best she could and walked over to Mary and Ben.
“Ben would you like to fly on my back? You have never done this before, but I would love to share this with you son. This right here is what a real Dragon Sect does. We fly together as one.”
“Yes!!!” Ben screamed in joy.
“Mary, what about you? Brad said you could ride on his back?
“I would be honored. The last time I went up Gabe just scooped me in his arms. Scared the death out of me and was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever felt.” Mary smiled at Monica.
Monica backed away and turned into her Dragon, her whole body trembled in relief. She motioned Ben over and he came. He ran to her and then slowed once he got close. Ben raised his hand and ran it over his mother’s scales. She dipped her wings and Ben ran his hand over them. The expression on his face was amazement and glee. Monica grabbed him then and held him in a Dragon hug. Then she maneuvered him onto her back and stood.
No one else had taken flight yet. Zoe was still the only one in the air just kind of floating in the lead. Kaiden hovered to join her and looked to the porch at Vivi and Christian. Justine and Gabe noticed his glance to the porch. They had already turned and Justine walked over to the porch. The Onyx had the most human like hands and were smaller than the other races of Dragons. Justine couldn’t talk to Vivi and Christian, but she motioned with her claws to her back. Vivi took the hint and moved her head side to side. There was no fear in her eyes, just uncertainty. Gabe noticed her reluctance and tried to help Justine. He felt her intent to get them up in the air with them. Gabe looked to Christian and motioned to his back. Christian looked to Vivi and then back at Gabe. A huge smile broke out on Christians face and he ran to Gabe. Gabe grabbed him by the arm and tossed him up on his back. Vivi smiled her shy smile and walked over to Justine. Justine lowered herself and let Vivi climb on at her comfort.
Once everyone was turned and ready to fly Zoe roared in excitement. Every Dagon kind of cocked their heads to the side in confusion. Zoe giggle roared and motioned for everyone to rise. Marcus joined them at the front of the group. Right before they were about to take off a huge sand colored Dragon came around the corner with a group of Dragons in tow. There were about ten other Dragons that Zoe counted. Six of them she recognized as the ones her and Kaiden turned. The other four she didn’t recognize. Kaiden nodded and the other Dragons just sort of fell into place. They all lifted into the air with Kaiden and Zoe. Zoe nodded to her father and Marcus turned around and took off. The group followed them and the wind carried Ben’s laughter.
In their Dragon forms, both Kaiden and Zoe could make out the hazy pink colored bubble around their land. It went far and wide and just as high into the air. They took the group around the mountain and down into the valley. All the half-bloods were in the field cheering and yelling in glee at all the Dragons in the sky. That is when Zoe noticed the children. There was only a small group of them and a couple babies in the arms of couples. The pull she felt from the parents was that of a half blood, but the babies she could hardly feel a pull from. Kaiden felt her confusion and decided to explain everything to her after their flight. They soared over the valley and around the mountain and even skimmed the waters of the ocean on one of the passes. One of the Dragons went fully under the water and popped back up once he saw they were heading back to land.
They were all hovering over the clearing once again and Marcus landed first. He let out a huge roar and crumpled into himself. Zoe landed and so did the rest of the group. She raced over to where she first shifted and was human again before she made it to the edge of the house. Kaiden was once again stumped and how she shifted so quickly and with ease. He looked back to the crowd and noticed he was not the only one with a look of confusion on his face. They all kind of shook it off and concentrated on shifting back. Marcus took the longest and appeared to be in a lot of pain once again with shifting. Kaiden shifted back got dressed and was at Zoe’s side holding her while she dealt with her father’s screams and roars of pain.
A couple of women came out of the house with robes in their arms and started handing them to the naked people standing around. No one was really shy about the fact they were naked, but there was a cool breeze this evening. Mary jumped off Brad and disappeared into the house. Ben was still laughing and ran back into the house too. Zoe was dressed and so she grabbed a robe and went to stand by her father. Marcus was still struggling with shifting back human. He hand wings still and his claws, but the rest of him was human. He was still crumpled in on himself and he screamed loud and long. Zoe held the robe and looked away. Tears were burning her eyes and she was trying to hold them back.
How long is it going to be painful for him Kaiden?
I am not sure Angel I don’t know anyone who has held back their Dragon.
Well this is killing him and me. I think maybe we should do this every day until he can shift without pain.
We will Angel. We will work this in with everything else we have to do. We are safe here, but we need to find all the others still and all the ones who are in hiding still.
I know, I just…. Well even we are still new to this and need the practice of getting to know our Dragons. That was only our second flight.
Patience Angel we will spend the time we need in our Dragon form and learning fighting from Mateo and Charles. We need to talk and make a plan of how we want this family to be. This is Our Family Angel.
The screaming stopped and all Zoe could hear was the faint sobbing of her father. He was now fully human and laying in the fetal position crying into his hands. Zoe covered him with the robe and hugged him the best she could.
“She’s dead isn’t she?” Marcus asked
“Yes Daddy she is.” Zoe answered, the tears finally flowing down her cheeks.
“My Dragon knew he fought with me not wanting to shift back to human. He wanted to fly away and die. But Baby girl the human side in me could not give you up. I didn’t want to leave you again.” He sniffled and put his arms through the robe and stood closing the robe with the tie. He grabbed his daughter in for a real hug for the first time ever and she wept. He held her tight and protective of her weak state. Kaiden came up behind her and Marcus allowed him to hold her too. Everyone but Justine went into the house and let them have their moment. Justine though had never heard Zoe cry like this. Everything the girl was holding in for the last twenty two years has now come full circle and she is letting it all out. She saw the initial cry and shock of everything that had happened and she has seen her cry in joy a couple days ago.
But this cry was full of heartbreak and sorrow. She howled and screamed and tore at her father. All Zoe kept saying was that she was sorry for killing her. Justine ran to her side and both men sort of looked at her funny. They were holding Justine’s sister, best friend and savior. There was no way she was going to be left out of this circle and not be allowed to comfort Zoe.
Justine gave Kaiden a stern look and he loosened his hold a little on one side. Marcus though was not going to let her go. So Justine just did what she had to do and angled herself to the side Kaiden gave some room on. She squeezed one arm under Kaiden and around Zoe and the other arm she wrapped around Marcus. She looked up to Marc
us’s confused face and told him. “This girl here is my sister she has saved me in my times of need and kept me safe. I have been with her since she was nine years old and I was eleven. If you think for one second that I am going to stand over there and not comfort her you are mistaken. Listen to her. She thinks she killed her mother.”
That got his attention and Marcus jerked back and held Zoe at arm’s length. Kaiden and Justine were still wrapped around her and Zoe just hung her head down. Snot and tears were running down her red splotchy face. When she looked up at her father’s face she was taken aback and afraid that he was going to confirm her worst fear. He just looked with a shocked expression on his face, but his eyes screamed a confused anger.
“Zoe Mechelle Devonshire! Do you honestly think you killed your mother?”
“Iiiiiffff iiiittt wasn’t for meeeeee she would ssstill be aaaaalive.” Zoe sobbed
“Listen young lady. We planned you, we tried for years to get pregnant and finally we did. When we found out you were going to be a girl and that your soul mate was going to be born around the same time, we knew you were special. We would have given our lives for you anytime and any day. You did not kill her baby, those bastards that held me captive did. You are not to blame in this war, you are just a victim of it and so are the rest of us. We, my sweet baby girl, are going to stop it, and if I have to die so that you can live, then I will do just that.” Marcus spoke with pride and determination in his voice.
“Oh Daddy I am sorry. I just ….this is so new to me. All my life I thought you guys didn’t want me and then I find out that you guys are dead. Then just the other day I found out that you are alive. I just, I need a shower and food, and then yes we are going to go to war and kill that bastard that killed my mother and tortured my father.” Zoe wiped her face hugged Justine back and stood proud and tall. Determination was coursing through her veins. “Kaiden, could you please take us upstairs? I think I need to clean up.” She smiled shyly at him.
Kaiden nodded and took her into his arms to carrying her inside. The huge wooden doors opened to a massive open floor plan. The floors were all hardwood and some of the walls were too. There was a huge fire pit in the center of the room with large couches and overstuffed chairs set in a circle around the pit. Off to the right was a huge dining table that could probably fir close to thirty people and a huge open kitchen to the left of the dining area. Then on the left side of the house she noticed a huge TV screen and some more of those overstuffed couches and chairs. They looked like you could just melt in them.
There were also a couple of pool tables and then a hallway on either side leading to closed doors. There was also a massive set of stairs on either side of the circle of couches that led up to a loft area. They took the stairs to the right and walked up to the loft. Justine left them there and ran down a hallway to the left of them and was gone. Kaiden walked right up to the wall at the back of the loft and that is when Zoe noticed an elevator.
“This goes directly to our suite. There are two other elevators at each end of the halls and stairs to each and every floor at the back of the house on either side. The house was built to be full of people. We can house at least thirty couples. As there are five bedrooms on our floor, four bedrooms on the fourth, third and second floors then down each hall on the first floor there are six large suites on both sides down the halls. Right now we have the women who are single and help within the house stay in those bedrooms. They are nicer than the barracks. Once we are all settled and safe we will have homes built for the families. We had a small sect and so all of us lived in the house. I would like a large family and I would like these walls to be full. I would also have homes built and for the land to be full of people.” Kaiden told Marcus and Zoe and gestured to the elevator. He pushed the button and it opened right up. They stepped inside and within a second the doors were opening again and they were stepping into their private floor within the home.
“You were right Kaiden.” Zoe said in amazement as she gazed around the floor. When they stepped off the elevator they were in a little alcove of the hallway. Straight ahead was a large living room, but not too big. The living room was full of cream colored overstuffed couches and soft brown curtains over the windows. The floor was light hardwood and all the colors blended well together. Kaiden had told her when she found her parents’ home that his mother had decorated similar. She walked through the living room and there was a decent size kitchen and a table that would fit twelve comfortably. There was also a small office tucked off behind the living room as well as another room that to her looked perfect for a music room. She then left the living room and walked down the hall, she opened each door. The first bedroom was bare, with just a bed and the essentials. The size of the room shocked her it was larger than she expected. There was also a decent size bathroom off to the side of the room. Zoe opened the next door and gasped in surprise.
“Daddy, I think this is your room.” Zoe smiled and let him pass her to go inside the room.
“It was all still at the house? The house is still there?”
“Mom thought of everything I guess. The lawyer said there was a cleaning crew sent to clean the house once a week and to keep the groceries to a bare minimum, nothing that could spoil. She also left a will and the house is now in my name and well so is all the money, but you can have all that back. I had the house packed up and moved here before I found out you were alive. I didn’t want to throw anything away and I knew the house was not safe.”
“Were you in danger while you were there?” Marcus asked appalled
“Well they were watching the house I guess they knew I would come back. That is where we found Blake and where three of them came to take me. Thankfully I had Kaiden and Gabe. Gabe killed the other two.” Zoe looked down as she told him
“I am glad you are safe baby girl. I am also glad my clothes are here, hopefully they still fit and are not too out of date.” Marcus laughed and went to the closet. He sucked in a breath when he noticed the closet.
Zoe was curious so she went to the closet and sucked in her breath too. Kaiden knew what they were shocked about and when she looked over at him he let a guilty grin spread across his face. "I kind of took pictures of the bedroom and closet. I sent them over for everything to be set up how it was, including all your mothers’ things. I knew that you would want them and now I think that it is up to your father on what to do with them.”
“Thank you Kaiden.” Marcus and Zoe both whispered together
Zoe left her father standing there and followed Kaiden out of the room. She continued her search of opening doors. The room on the same wall as her father’s was full of her nursery things. It brought tears to her eyes to see it all again and she looked at Kaiden. “I thought you might like to use it for our future babies or for a memento.” He said guilty.
“Thank you, I love both ideas.” Zoe whispered to him. She then crossed the hall. There were two doors and one a little farther down she had missed. Kaiden chuckled when she opened the door and saw that it was just a large linen closet. She closed the door to the closet and walked to the last door along the wall. As soon as she opened the door she knew this was Kaiden’s room. Well his room before he left. It was full of maps on the walls and typical teen stuff from about seven years prior. It was cleaned obviously, because the bed was made and there were no dirty clothes on the floor. In fact there were no clothes at all. She looked at him quizzically. “No clothes?” she asked.
“Nope I told Charles to give them all to the smaller boys. I would not fit into anything that I had then. I will have to send the guys to town to buy all of us clothes or we will have to order some online. I already had all your clothes from your apartment and Justine’s things shipped here. Your landlord was a little peeved two gorgeous girls were moving out.”
Her jaw went slack and her mouth popped open. “You have just thought of everything haven’t you?”
“Well I had to. Otherwise you would be screaming for your things in a couple w
eeks and then would want to go get them. So your clothes are all in the closet and the rest of your stuff is in storage. I would also like you to get new things. Not that I don’t want you to have your things, I just thought we could get new things together.” He stammered that last part out. “Now see this door right here at the end of this hall. That is our bedroom and I know my mother had a huge tub installed in her bathroom and I personally have never gotten to take a dip in it. Right now I am dying to get you naked and in that tub with me.”
Zoe didn’t waste any time she opened that door and gasped at the space. This room was twice the size of the other rooms and had a sitting room and office to one side and bathroom and closet on the other. The bed was larger than any bed she has ever seen and the fact that it had four large posts on the corners and a canopy of creamy gossamer running over and down the top and sides made her melt. She tore off her clothing and ran to the bathroom.
As they both laid in the tub Kaiden wanted to explain to her about the half-blood babies. “Angel you remember flying over the families tonight? I felt your confusion and wanted to explain that part to you. You see since a half-blood is only half Dragon, when they choose not to turn and have a family their babies are also half Dragon since both parents are, but it is so diluted that they will never be able to be changed.”
“That explains why their pull was even dimmer than their parents. I guess I have a lot to learn still about us.” Zoe confessed as Kaiden rubbed her back with soap.
Chapter 4
Family Dinner
Once they were all clean and in fresh clothing the whole group was one by one coming downstairs to the great room. Rain had started to fall when the sun had begun to set and a fire was built in the huge open pit. Justine and Gabe sat cuddled in one of the smaller couches with Ben squeezed in beside them. Tia and John were sitting in one of the chairs with Vivi and Christian on the chair next to them. Monica and Rosa were in the center of a larger couch with Brad and Michael next to them. Both couples were staring at their children and how they were interacting with each other. Camilla and Sebastian were settled into one of the smaller couches in sight of their daughter and John. Mateo sat lounged in chair staring at the fire and Marcus was sitting in the chair beside him also staring into the fire. There was little chatter here and there but generally everyone was just looking at each other and enjoying the quiet. Zoe and Kaiden were the last to come down and everyone looked up when they entered the room. Justine was the first to break the silence.
Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series) Page 3