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

by Serena Meadows

  “I was hoping we could. I don’t want to make a big deal out of Emma Jean’s sickness and closing up for the day would definitely do that,” Chloe said. “Do you think you can handle the back of the house alone today?”

  Belinda grinned at her. “As long as I don’t have to mess with all that tea, I’ll be just fine,” she said.

  “I think I’ve got that part handled,” Chloe said just as the back door burst open and three women came sweeping in, bring a blast of cold morning air with them.

  “Here we are to save the day,” a woman Chloe recognized announced, waking Gabriel, who sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  “It’s way too early to have that much energy, Charlie,” Gabriel said, getting to his feet.

  “Well, why don’t you go home and get some sleep?” Charlie said, pulling an apron off a hook and putting it on. “I’m here to help; what can I do?”

  “I don’t think I can make it that far,” he said, then turned to Chloe. “Is there a spare bed upstairs? I’d rather stay close in case you need me.”

  Chloe felt her cheeks burn as all eyes turned on her. “Umm, take any that’s empty,” she stammered.

  They all watched Gabriel shuffle out of the kitchen, then one of the other women stepped up and held out her hand. “That’s Charlie; she’s marrying Vincent,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder. “I’m Molly, Adam’s wife, and this is Amy, Michael’s wife.”

  She was overwhelmed for just a second; not only was Molly’s belly rounded with a baby, Amy’s was too, but when she looked over at Charlie, she shook her head. “I haven’t quite decided I’m ready for that,” she said.

  “Like we had any choice,” Molly said, but she was grinning. “Now, what can we do to help?”

  It didn’t take long to get the three women up to speed on how the tea house worked, and Charlie seemed willing to take on the tea, so less than an hour later, she climbed the stairs, relieved to finally be going to bed. She peeked in again on Emma Jean but didn’t go into the room, the thought of crossing through the doorway more than she could handle. She was relieved to see Molly sitting by the bed, her feet propped up on a stool, a book in her hands while reading to Emma Jean, so she shut the door and headed for her room.

  When she opened her door, she froze for a second as her brain processed the fact that Gabriel was stretched out on her bed, sound asleep. Her first thought was just to curl up next to him, but that made her body begin to tingle, and she rejected it. Instead, she shut the door and walked over to the bed and stood staring down at him until he opened his eyes.

  He grinned up at her. “Good, you’re here, I was getting lonely,” he said, a grin on his face.

  “What are you doing in my bed?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

  “You said I could have any open bed, and this one was open,” he said, still grinning at her. “Why don’t you join me? There’s plenty of room for two.”

  Chloe stared at him for a second, every nerve in her body longing to just climb in with him; finally, too exhausted to fight it, she gave in. The surprised look on his face made her smile as she rolled onto her side, facing away from him, and closed her eyes. She felt him cover her with the blanket, then his arms go around her, but didn’t move, and in only seconds, she was asleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  ***Gabriel***

  Gabriel lay awake listening to Chloe’s even breathing, wondering how his life had changed so quickly, and if fate was gloating over how easily he’d succumbed. He tried telling himself that he wasn’t totally lost, that he could stop what was happening if he wanted, but even he knew that was a lie. Forces beyond his control had been put in motion, had, in fact, been awakened months before, and were now only getting to him.

  What scared him the most was the growing feeling that those forces weren’t all good, that Sebastian somehow had a hand in what was happening. He knew that it was a stretch, but couldn’t shake the feeling, and it left him feeling cold deep inside. Pushing off the panic that started to build, he buried his nose in Chloe’s neck and took a deep breath of her sweet, spicy scent. She snuggled a little deeper in his arms and sighed with pleasure, making the panic fade, replaced by a warm feeling deep inside.

  He fell asleep with Chloe’s warm body pressed up against his, a feeling of contentment flowing through him, and for the first time since she’d come into his life, he was able to sleep deeply. When he awoke hours later, he was surprised to find Chloe gone, the sun beginning to set in the sky, and the house quiet. Jumping out of bed, he grabbed his shoes, shoved them on his feet, and stepped out into the hallway.

  Surprised that he’d slept so long, he stopped at Emma Jean’s room to check on her, hoping he’d find Chloe with her. But instead, one of the nurses from the hospital was fussing around the room, straightening the dressers and pulling at the bedcovers.

  “Oh, Dr. Hawthorne, I see you’ve finished your nap,” she said. “I was just straightening up a little.”

  “How is she?” he asked, walking over to the bed.

  “Sleeping soundly,” she said. “She was awake about an hour ago, but she drifted off again almost right away.”

  He knew that she wanted to ask what was wrong with Emma Jean but didn’t give her the chance. “Thank you for coming over to sit with her, Nancey; let me know if there are any changes,” he said. “Have you seen Chloe?”

  “She said to tell you that she went to the attic,” Nancey said, settling back into her chair.

  When he left the room, the cold spot seemed worse, and he wondered if Emma Jean’s time was running out. They’d been unable to get her to eat, and she’d said little since she told them about the book, but he wasn’t ready to give up. It was clear that Chloe wasn’t either when he entered the attic. Trunks had been emptied out, their contents spilled across the floor, a haze of dust filled the air, and for a moment, all he could do was stare at the mess.

  “Chloe, are you up here?” he called, carefully stepping over the piles and going deeper into the attic.

  When he got no answer, he called out again, then he heard the sound of sniffling back in a far corner and followed it. Chloe was sitting on the floor, covered in dust and cobwebs, staring at something in her hand, her chest heaving with silent sobs. He rushed over, knelt down next to her, put his arms around her, and pulled her to him. She turned her head into his chest, and he rocked her back and forth until she stopped sobbing.

  She sat up and shoved the thing in her hand at him. “Take this. I don’t want to see it ever again,” she said.

  It slipped through his fingers, clattered to the floor, and lay glimmering in a ray of sunshine. “It’s a locket,” he said, picking it up and holding it in the light.

  “My mother had one just like it; she told me that it was the only one like it, that someone very special had given it to her. She loved that locket,” Chloe whispered. “Please take it away.”

  He shoved it into his pocket, then wrapped his arms around her again. “Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked, the need to protect her so strong, he felt his powers flaring.

  She looked up at him and gave him a shaky smile. “You can’t protect me from this,” she said.

  He reached up and wiped the last of her tears off her cheeks. “I’m not even going to ask how you knew what I was thinking,” he said, kissing her on the nose. “What happened up here?”

  “I was looking for the book,” she said. “I might have been a little too aggressive, but I woke up this afternoon and couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to find that book right away. I didn’t want to wake you, so I came up here alone and started looking; the longer it took, the more frantic I became. It was like something was driving me to find it, and then I found that locket. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t expect to see it again or one like it.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, feeling her beginning to shake again.

  She shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do about that now; we should keep looking for the b
ook,” she said, pulling away from him. “Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder.”

  “You can cry on me any time you want,” he said, grinning at her. “I dry off fast.”

  Chloe laughed and smiled at him. “I think I’m okay; there’s only that one last chest,” she said, crawling over to it, and making his body come instantly to life.

  ***Chloe***

  Chloe heard Gabriel groan behind her and realized that she’d just given him a full view of her butt, and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “Do not make that noise,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him.

  “Well, don’t crawl away from me that way,” he said. “I can’t help myself.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, but the words were lost when she saw the picture staring up at her from the chest. Hands shaking, her breath coming short gasps, she reached in and picked it up, her mind spinning. It had been a long time since she’d seen the face staring back at her, but she’d never forgotten it, and tears sprang to her eyes as the grief came rushing back.

  “Why does Emma Jean have this?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from the picture.

  She shoved it into his hands, then reached into the trunk and pulled out a stack of framed pictures and flipped through them, her breath coming in short gasps. “I don’t understand,” she said, looking over at Gabriel, the stack of pictures heavy in her arms. “Why are these here?”

  Gabriel looked down at the picture in his hands. “That’s Emma Jean’s daughter, Felicity,” he said.

  As his words penetrated the confusion in her brain, she started sucking in huge gulps of air, grasping for the truth that was right in front her. “Felicity was my mother’s name; she died when I was ten,” she finally said, her voice shaking. “This is her.”

  Saying it out loud made her start to tremble, and the pictures went crashing to the floor, glass shattering. There was also a strange thud, and when she looked down at the floor, the corner of a book was peeking out from under a broken picture. Still trembling, she reached down to move the picture, cutting her finger on a broken piece of glass as she moved it aside.

  Stunned momentarily by the sting, she froze with her hand hovering over the book as first one, then a second drop of blood splashed onto the dark brown leather. A third drop joined the other two before she could react, and as the stain spread across the cover, she began to feel lightheaded. She was only vaguely aware of Gabriel talking to her in the background as a humming filled her head, and pinpoints of heat began to spread across her skin.

  On the floor, the book of shadows began to glow, then pulsing rays of light began to fill the room, shooting through her and bombarding her with energy. Gasping as they hit her, she felt the room spin, her body becoming overloaded with the power of the book. It crackled in the air around her, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t harness it, couldn’t control what was happening.

  Then just as quickly as it had started, the energy drained from the room, and the humming went silent. Her head swimming, she turned and tried to make it to Gabriel, who was still shouting at her, but her legs gave out and the floor was rushing up at her. She tried to cry out, but her lungs wouldn’t work, then she felt strong arms lift her into the air, and Gabriel’s face appeared.

  “I almost missed you,” he said. “Give me a little more warning next time.”

  She tried to smile at him but was too exhausted. Instead, she turned her face into his chest, took a deep breath of his masculine scent, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. She didn’t feel him tuck her into bed, didn’t know that as she slept, he kept watch over her as her temperature spiked then came back down while night turned to morning once again.

  When she woke, the birds were singing outside and bright sunshine was pouring through the window. She groaned and rolled over on her stomach, buried her head under the pillow, then suddenly remembered the attic and the book. Sitting up, she looked around the room, surprised to see Gabriel asleep in a chair beside the bed. He opened his eyes and smiled at her, stood up and stretched, making her heart pound and her insides turn to jelly.

  “You look better this morning,” he said. “I was a little worried last night; you had quite a temperature there for a while.”

  Chloe took a second to see how she felt and discovered a new magic pulsing through her blood, and she was sure that she’d felt before; then it hit her: it was the same magic she felt pulsing through town. Unable to describe what she was feeling, she stared at Gabriel for a second, trying to remember exactly what happened the night before.

  “Gabriel, what happened to me?” she asked, pulling her knees up to her chest.

  “I’m not sure, but when you bled on that book, it did something to you,” he said. “And there’s something else you should know; Emma Jean is up and eating this morning. The cold spot disappeared last night right after we came down from the attic.”

  Chloe stared at him, her body tingling, then started to get out of bed, but he pushed her back against the pillows. “You need something to eat before you get up,” he said. “Emma Jean wants to see you too, but that can wait until you’re a little stronger.”

  She didn’t feel the least bit weak, but it was kind of nice to have him fussing over her, so she laid back against the pillows. “I guess I am a little hungry.”

  He grinned at her, making her heart skip a beat and her pulse begin to pound. “Good. I’ll be right back with some breakfast for both of us. I’m starving too.”

  Chapter Twelve

  ***Gabriel***

  After he watched Chloe eat every morsel of food on her plate, he let her get out of bed and they walked down the hallway to Emma Jean’s room. Chloe seemed fine, but he couldn’t help but be a little overprotective; what he’d seen the night before had scared him deep down. And even now, he could feel the power that had filled the attic when the book came to life, a power that had left him immobile for long seconds, then disappeared.

  He looked down at Chloe. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine, Gabriel,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what happened last night, but I feel just fine this morning; in fact, I think I feel better than I have in a long time.”

  When they got to the bedroom door, Chloe hesitated, then looked up at him. “It really is gone,” she said, as surprised as he was.

  Emma Jean was sitting up in bed, listening to Molly read to her again, but when she saw Chloe and Gabriel, a huge smile spread across her face. “You did it; you broke the spell,” she said. “How did you manage it?”

  Chloe looked up at Gabriel, then crossed the room and sat down on the bed. “I’m not sure, Emma Jean. Something strange happened last night in the attic,” Chloe said, then turned to Gabriel. “Where is the book of shadows?”

  “Up in the attic still,” he said, a sheepish look on his face. “I’m afraid to touch it.”

  Chloe got a look of panic on her face. “Anyone could find it up there,” she said. “I’d better go get it.”

  While she was gone, he gave Emma Jean a quick exam and found exactly what he thought he would: nothing. “Well, I can officially say that you’re fine,” he said when he was done.

  “That’s good news,” Molly said, awkwardly getting to her feet. “I think I’ll head on home if you don’t need me any longer. We still have lots to do before the festival.”

  “You should be taking it easy, Molly; you only have a few weeks to go,” he cautioned.

  “Don’t worry, Adam fusses over me like a mother hen,” she said, grinning at him. “You’d think I was the first woman to ever have a baby.”

  Gabriel smiled at her. “I think I can understand how he feels,” he said, the truth of his words reverberating through him. “He’s just worried because he loves you.”

  Molly reached out and patted his arm. “Just in case you don’t already know it, all the worry and fear are worth it.”

  When Chloe came back into the room, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing a little har
d. “This book feels like it’s alive,” she said, setting it down quickly on the table next to the bed.

  “So, it’s already claimed you,” Emma Jean said. “Hand it to me. I haven’t seen it in so long.”

  Chloe hesitated a second, then picked up the book and set it in her lap. “Emma Jean, I found pictures of my mother in the trunk with that,” she said, her eyes glued to the book. “I think...I mean, are you?”

  Emma Jean looked up at her. “Your grandmother?” she asked.

  When Chloe looked up from the book into Emma Jean’s green eyes, she gasped. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before,” she said. “How long have you known?”

  “Since the night I saw you standing at the sink doing dishes, but just to be sure, I had Michael do some checking,” Emma Jean said, patting the bed next to her. “I know I should have probably told you sooner, but I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. I thought you would think I was just an old woman seeing things that weren’t there.”

  Chloe sank down next to her, and Gabriel quietly slipped across the room and sat down next to the fireplace. “So, I’m your granddaughter,” she said, taking Emma Jean’s hand.

  She nodded, then her face filled with sadness. “I’m just sorry you had to come find me,” she said. “When your mother left, I didn’t try to stop her. I wanted her to have a life, and your father seemed like he could give her one. It hurt so much to let her go that I just started to pretend that she never existed. I didn’t think about her, I didn’t look for her. For a while, it worked, but as the years passed, she was still on my mind; finally, I decided to try to find her, but she’d vanished. The next thing I knew, we were being told that she’d been killed. No one told me about you; no one said she’d had a child.”

  “But I’m here now,” Chloe said, reaching out to wipe the tears from Emma Jean’s cheeks. “My mother used to tell me stories about a beautiful princess trapped in an enchanted castle; she said that someday, the two of us would go and rescue the princess and bring her home with us.”