Guardian Dragons of Prospect Falls: (A Paranormal Shifter Romance)

by Serena Meadows

  He rose in the air to go after Charlie and Sebastian, a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach coming to life as he soared toward the trees where she’d disappeared. The closer he got to the woods, the stronger the feeling became, and fear threatened to overcome him. But then he saw Charlie, hovering in the air, still as statue, her focus on Sebastian, who was just out of her reach.

  When he saw Vincent, his eyes filled with fear, and he lunged at Charlie, his talons outstretched, aimed for her chest. But Charlie was too fast for him, darted out of the way, then attacked him from behind, ripping the flesh on his chest and making him scream in pain.

  Before she could strike at him again, he flew into the air and disappeared, leaving Charlie bleeding but victorious. She floated down to the ground, and stood, chest heaving as he joined her, then shifted into her human form. He pulled her into his arms and held her, feeling the bond between them, so relieved to have her safe that he nearly collapsed right there on the ground.

  He pulled back and looked down at her. “I was so scared when you went after Sebastian,” he said. “But you almost had him.”

  “If he hadn’t run away like a coward, I would have beat him,” Charlie said, grinning up at him. “What are we going to do now? Should we go after him?”

  Vincent shook his head. “We don’t really have any proof that he did this; it would be our word against his,” he said.

  The sound of demons crying in agony not far away made them both look toward the cabin. “Well, then I think we should go help our family and friends kill some demons,” Charlie said with a big grin on her face. “After all, once we have a family, I’ll have to give it up, so I don’t want to miss any chance I get.”

  Vincent stared at her, so shocked by her words, he couldn’t speak at first. “Charlie, do you know what you’re saying?” he asked, still trying to process it. “Are you saying you want to give up being a guardian for me?”

  She nodded her head. “And for me, Vincent,” she said. “I realized while I was waiting for you to come that it was time to think about myself, about what I wanted out of life. What I realized is that as long as I have you, I will always be happy and fulfilled. I love you, Vincent. I love you more than you will ever know.”

  “I love you too, Charlie, and I promise you can hunt demons for as long as you want to,” he said, twirling her around in the air. “Maybe I’ll stay home with the kids and you can hunt the demons.”

  “For now, let’s worry about the demons out there,” she said, grinning at him. “Bet I can kill more than you can.”

  “That’s a bet, but what do I get if I win?” he asked, running his hands over her body.

  “What already belongs to you,” Charlie said. “My body, my heart, and my soul.”

  I hope you enjoyed the third book of my new series Guardian Dragons of Prospect Falls and thank you for reading. Order the next book in this series “Dragon Destiny” by clicking HERE.

  Dragon Destiny

  Chapter One

  ***Gabriel***

  The sound of a fist banging on his door woke Gabriel from a sound sleep. Confused, he sat up in bed, fumbling for his phone, murmuring curses under his breath. When the banging didn’t stop, he realized it was the door and not his phone, got out of bed, not bothering with his robe, and went to the door. He needed at least another twelve hours of sleep to feel even remotely normal again and hoped that whoever was on the other side of the door knew what they were risking by waking him up.

  “This is the first decent sleep I’ve had in weeks; this had better be important,” he barked as soon as he threw open the door.

  “It’s vitally important,” Adam said, a serious expression on his face.

  Gabriel looked at his fellow guardians standing on his porch and wondered what could have possibly happened now. “Okay, I guess you’d better come in,” he said, stepping back to let them in. “I’m going to make some coffee.”

  “There’s no time for coffee,” Michael said, his voice full of anxiety. “We have to leave right away.”

  “Leave?” he asked, turning to look at Michael. “Where are we going?”

  “To the cabin,” Vincent said, unable to suppress a grin. “But if we don’t leave soon, the women might change their minds.”

  He glared at all three of them, then turned and headed for the kitchen. “I’m making coffee,” he said. “Don’t talk to me again until I’ve had some.”

  The sound of laughter followed him down the hallway, but he ignored them, made his coffee, then sat down at the big kitchen table. After today, the house would no longer belong to him, so sitting at the table in his boxers wouldn’t be a choice, but it was a small price to pay for some much-needed rest. Calling his parents had been the last thing he’d wanted to do, but in the end, it had worked out better than he could have hoped.

  Now there were four retired doctors running the clinic and the hospital, his mother was busy trying to find a witch for the Medieval Festival, and he could finally get some sleep. Except, he wasn’t sleeping; he was watching the sunrise while his best friends whispered in his living room and plotted who knew what. Sighing, he took another long swallow of the black coffee, got up, refilled his cup, and followed the sound of voices.

  “Okay, I think I’m ready to hear this,” he said. “Why do we have to go to the cabin?”

  The three men split apart guiltily. Michael and Vincent looked over at Adam, who had a massive smile on his face. “Well, we don’t have to, but we could if we wanted to,” he said. “Just the four of us, you know, like the old days before we all had responsibilities.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “No way, we can’t just go off and leave everyone else to do our jobs,” he said. “What would we do up there anyway?”

  Vincent laughed. “Eat a bunch of junk food, play cards, I don’t know—we’ll figure it out,” he said. “Have you forgotten how to have fun? Clearly, you need a break, and so do I.”

  “What do you need to get away from?” he asked. “Aren’t you about to get married?”

  “That’s the problem. Between my mother and Charlie’s, they’re driving me crazy,” Vincent said. “Charlie seems to be enjoying herself, but I had no idea there would be so many choices, so many decisions. I thought getting married at the festival would make everything easier; instead, I think it’s more complicated. Half the time they ask for my opinion then do what they want. I don’t really care, but...”

  Gabriel felt just a little bad for his friend, but he was the third one to fall in love, and it left him a little rattled to think he might be next. “I can’t just go off and leave my dad,” he protested.

  “Your father and mine seem to have decided that it is time for a reunion,” Michael said. “I think we could escape for a few days and let them handle the town.”

  “What about Molly and Amy?” he asked.

  “They’re all for it,” Adam said, grinning. “Come on, Gabriel; this might be the last chance we have to do this. Molly’s due in a few months, and Amy’s not far behind her.”

  Gabriel looked over at Vincent. “No way,” he said, raising his hands in the air. “Charlie and I definitely aren’t ready for that; the wedding is enough.”

  “Enough stalling, Gabriel,” Michael said.

  “What about the demons and Sebastian?” he asked, using his best argument.

  “Sebastian will be somewhere licking his wounds, so I wouldn’t expect the demons to be a problem. Besides, we’ll be up there; we can still run patrol,” Adam said.

  “He won’t give up, especially if we don’t report him to the council,” he reminded Adam. “This doesn’t seem like the right time to be running off.”

  “Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be back,” Adam said. “Arthur is close to figuring this thing out, but until he does, there isn’t much we can do. I think a little break is just what we need: some time for just the four of us.”

  “God, are you getting sentimental on me?” he demanded but felt his resistance w
eakening.

  “If I say yes, will you go?” Adam asked. “Because I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to agree.”

  “Besides, if things keep going the way they are, you’re going to be love’s next victim,” Vincent said, grinning at him.

  Gabriel shook his head. “No way, no women for me,” he said, waving his hands in front of him. “The three of you might not have been able to control yourselves, but that’s not going to happen to me. I don’t need any more complications in my life right now.”

  The three men exchanged a look he didn’t like. “If you say so,” Michael said. “Now go get dressed; we’re leaving in ten minutes.”

  ***Chloe***

  Chloe climbed the old stone steps one at a time, the tingling that had started deep inside her growing and spreading through her body as she got closer to the door. Accompanied by the growing knowledge that she was finally at the end of her long journey, the feeling took her breath away and made her heart pound almost uncomfortably in her chest. When she reached the top step, she paused, studying the front door, the sensation that she’d been there before sweeping through her.

  Overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotions, she turned and looked up and down the street, taking deep breaths to calm herself. It was quiet back here off the main street, and if she ignored the cars parked in front of the medieval style homes, it would be easy to think she’d stepped back in time. Feeling the pull of the house behind her, she ignored it, still not ready to face her future, and thought about the strange place that had been calling to her for years.

  At first, it had been nothing more than the occasional feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else, but it had grown with time, finally disturbing her life and sending her out on the road. But after years of searching, she’d finally found the place that had eluded her for so long, and a calm had descended over her. It was followed over the next few days by a sense of belonging she’d never felt before, and she realized that she might finally be able to put the past behind her.

  Until she’d walked up the steps, she hadn’t dared to hope that Prospect Falls really was what it seemed to be, and even now wasn’t sure she wanted it to be. The town was different; she’d felt that from the minute she’d driven into town. It wasn’t just that it felt like she was stepping back in time: there was an underlying energy in the air. Almost as if magic flowed through the town, fueled by something far more powerful than anything she’d ever felt before. It was both tantalizing and frightening.

  When the pull of the house became too strong, like a finger tapping her on the shoulder, she took a deep breath and turned to face the door again. Behind her, the sound of vehicles coming down the street caught her attention, and she turned to watch as two trucks sped down the street. In the first one, she recognized the mayor, but not the man in the passenger seat. The second held the sheriff, who she’d already met, and another man.

  As they drove by, the man turned and looked at her, his blue eyes meeting hers for an instant, and a wave of dizziness washed over her, quickly followed by the feeling that she’d be meeting him in the near future. Shaking off the feeling, she turned back to the door, slightly off-center and wondering if she should just turn around, go back to her van, and drive straight out of town.

  But the door opened before she could move. “Oh, there you are,” a very petite older woman said, swinging open the screen door. “Come on in.”

  That feeling of recognition washed over her again, and for a moment, she felt like she’d experienced the same moment in time. Knees feeling a little weak, she followed the woman into the dark house, the smell of dust and age filling her lungs, but it wasn’t unpleasant, she realized, as they walked down a dark hallway. When they emerged into a brightly lit kitchen, it was like walking into a different world, and the warmth of the room filled her immediately.

  “What a wonderful kitchen,” she said, looking up at the exposed beams that held brightly gleaming pots, pans, and cooking utensils. “You could feed an army from this kitchen.”

  The woman let out a wheezy laugh, clearly pleased. “This was the town’s only inn for a long time; it’s been in my family for generations,” she said. “I’m Emma Jean Baxter, by the way.”

  “Chloe Sayers,” she said, forcing herself to look at Emma Jean, not the kitchen.

  Emma Jean studied her for a moment, then said, “Come, let’s sit by the fire and get to know each other. I have tea and cookies. I’ll give you a tour after that if you’re still interested in renting the house.”

  Chloe already knew that she wanted the house, but understood that it wasn’t only up to her, so she followed Emma Jean across the huge kitchen and settled herself into a chair by the fireplace. On the table between them was an old tea service that looked like it had been well used, and a plate of sugar cookies so thin, they were almost transparent.

  “I hope you like tea. I don’t keep coffee in the house anymore since there’s no one to drink it,” she said, filling two cups. “Cream or sugar?”

  “Both please,” she said, a warm feeling already growing inside her. “I never drink coffee. I’ve always preferred tea.”

  Emma carefully doctored the tea, set a little spoon on the saucer, and handed it to Chloe with shaking hands. “There you go, and don’t forget to take a cookie. I baked them myself from an old family recipe.”

  “Thank you, Emma,” Chloe said, stirring the tea, then taking a sip. “This is very good, a herbal blend of some kind, but there’s something different about it.”

  “Another family recipe,” Emma said, nodding and smiling. “I see you know your tea.”

  “I should since it’s a big part of what I do,” Chloe said, taking another sip. “A few years ago, I started a business designing teas, you know, mixing herbal blends for specific purposes: to relax, to wake up, healing blends, stuff like that. I sell other things too, but the teas are the biggest part of my income.”

  “Where do you sell these teas?” Emma Jean asked, her eyes full of curiosity and something else she couldn’t name.

  “Well, I have been traveling around, selling them anywhere I can, but I also have a decent internet following,” Chloe explained. “It’s becoming difficult to travel like I have been, so I’m looking for someplace I can settle down, put down some roots, literally, grow my own herbs.”

  Emma studied her for a second, then set down her cup. “Okay, that’s enough for me. Let’s take a tour and see if you like the rest of the house. It’s an awfully big place for just one person.”

  Chapter Two

  ***Gabriel***

  After three days in the mountains with his friends, Gabriel was ready to face the clinic again, but when he walked in the door, the lobby was empty. He stopped and looked around, trying to remember the last time he’d seen all the benches and chairs unoccupied.

  “Good morning, Dr. Hawthorne,” Marlie, his receptionist, piped up from the front desk. “How was your trip?”

  “It was nice to get away,” he said, still looking around the empty room. “Where is everyone?”

  Marlie sat back down in her chair. “Your dad and the other doctors worked through the backlog while you were gone,” she said, paging through the appointment screen. “And well, we’ve had a lot of cancellations the last few days.”

  “Cancellations?” he asked.

  “Yeah, mostly little things: colds, cuts, bruises, that kind of thing,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “We still have appointments, but all of a sudden, it’s just not so busy.”

  Gabriel stepped behind the desk and looked over the appointments for the day. “There isn’t much here,” he said, wondering what had suddenly changed. “My dad hasn’t been chasing people off, has he?”

  “No, he’s been great,” Marlie said. “Lots of people were happy to see him again.”

  “I don’t get it,” he said, stepping away from the computer. “Are people just suddenly healthier?”

  Marlie shook her head. “I don’t know, Dr. Hawthorne, but I
did hear a rumor,” she said.

  “What kind of rumor?” he asked, always warry of gossip.

  “I heard that there is a healer in town,” she said. “A woman who will mix up a tea for you that will cure anything that’s wrong with you.”

  Gabriel narrowed his eyes at her. “Where did you hear that?”

  Marlie waved her hand in the air. “It’s all over town. She moved into the old Baxter house,” she said, puffing up with importance. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”

  “Where’s Emma Jean?” he demanded. “How did this woman get her house?”

  “Oh, Mrs. Baxter is still living there, in the apartment in the back,” she explained, looking at him funny. “From what I heard, she spent the entire first day cleaning the place, top to bottom, then she filled the front room with plants. I saw Mrs. Baxter at the store yesterday, and she was pleased as can be with her new renter.”

  “Do we know anything about his woman, like her name, for instance?” he asked, a strange feeling building in his stomach. “She could be a con artist or something.”

  “All I know is that her name is Chloe; no one seems to know anything more about her,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s all quite a mystery.”

  “Something about this doesn’t feel right,” he said. “I’m going over there to meet this woman, see what she’s up to.”

  Before he pulled out of his parking space behind the clinic, he pulled out his phone and called Michael. “Have you heard about the woman who moved into Mrs. Baxter’s house while we were gone?” he asked without even a greeting.

  “I met her before we left town,” Michael said. “She sells tea or something like that. I stopped paying attention when she started talking about herbs and essential oils.”