by Meg Ripley
It was too big of a chance to give up. He couldn’t just see the only other dragon he knew to be in existence and swim away. He thrust his head under the water, his body surging through the lake in determined spirals as he searched. There was no sign of her, no evidence that she’d ever actually been there instead of just a vision in his head.
His body was exhausted even though his mind refused to let go. Garrison slowly swam back in the direction he’d come. As he drew closer to the shore, he pulled his wings and folded them into his back, feeling weak in his human form that wasn’t as efficient as the one he’d just abandoned. He hauled himself up onto the dock, collapsing in a wet heap next to his clothes and staring up at the sky. “I’m going fucking crazy,” he whispered to himself. “I’m no different than the rest of the nuts in this place. I’ve seen the monster, and she’s a dragon.”
4
He hadn’t set an alarm, but Garrison woke up with the sun the next morning. His body rebelled as he rolled over, reminding him of that long, cold swim in the lake. He’d dreamt of it all night, though. Even in his dreams he could hear the quiet slap of the water in his ears, feel the chill of it between each individual scale. Most of all, he could see her, that brilliant eye watching him from a distance. Garrison wasn’t even sure what color it was, considering how dark the night had been, and he’d spent a good amount of the night just pondering that.
When he couldn’t stand to torture himself any longer, he rolled out of bed. His muscles and joints were tight and unappreciative of the effort. Garrison stood in a hot shower for far too long, simply watching the water swirl down the drain as he once again relived the experience from the night before. As he made coffee and forced down breakfast, he thought of the way she moved under the water. As he ditched his bathrobe and pulled on his clothes, he wondered if she was the only one, as Lance had said. He nearly choked on his bagel when he remembered Lance’s comment about some casino owner wanting to capture her. Garrison brushed the thought aside as soon as he’d had it. If nobody else had managed to even get a good picture of the dragon yet, then it wasn’t likely that some fake scientist and a rich guy were going to finally get it done.
He stepped out the door of his cabin, inhaling the fresh air and holding the keys to the rental car in his hand. The call had already been made and the appointment was set. There was no reason for him to second-guess where he was going. He knew the way to the big house, and they were waiting for him. But as he walked to the car, he felt that nagging pull all the way down to the soles of his feet, demanding that he go back to the lake.
Garrison, through no small effort, resisted. He argued in his own head, making excuses about how being a little late wouldn’t hurt anything. But what was the point of going to the water during the day? There was no way any dragon in their right mind would just show up on the shore, basking in the sun and waiting for another dragon to pass by. He battled the urge to go and see anyway.
And what if she was there? What if she wasn’t just a figment of his imagination? It was something Garrison had questioned over and over. Maybe the water was just so ridiculously cold that it made him see things. Maybe he’d been spending too much time talking to the locals, who were an interesting breed of their own. Or there was always the chance that he’d been working too much. Garrison was fully aware that he used his work both with his company and with the SOS Force to forget about the little things that nagged at the back of his mind. He’d said this mission would be like a vacation, but it wasn’t as though he’d gotten any true rest. After he finished with this meeting, he could spend some quality time with the hot tub and some wine.
But there was something far more important at stake there than the mission, his work, or even his sanity. Garrison made a left turn, hardly even watching for traffic as he mulled it over. There was another dragon besides himself. He wasn’t alone. And he’d felt something so distinct when he was near her, something that—even though he’d never felt it before—he could instantly identify. It was as though the very cells of his body had gravitated toward her, like a magnetic field that sucked him in without question. He knew he hadn’t wanted to question it, anyway. This woman could be his mate.
Garrison tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he waited to be buzzed in at the gate to Brad’s house. None of that could matter for the moment. He was on a mission. He had to be professional, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant anymore. But skipping out on a meeting to go splashing into an icy lake, searching the depths for some lake monster who might also be his lover? Yeah, that probably wasn’t the kind of thing Drake would want to find included in a report.
The gate slid aside, and Garrison parked. He took a deep breath as he stepped up toward the door. “Just stick to the facts,” he muttered to himself. It would come in handy while meeting with these shifters, no matter what he felt about that dragon.
“Garrison, come on in,” Brad enthused. His feet were bare under his jeans and flannel shirt. The black bear Alpha gave Garrison the distinct impression of a truck driver.
“Sorry for the short notice,” the dragon replied as he stepped over the threshold. “I thought it best if we spoke as soon as possible.”
“Not a problem. Everyone was eager to come over when they heard you had news.” Brad guided him into the same massive living room as before. It smelled like hot chocolate and coffee, and his host offered him those exact beverages.
“Coffee, thanks.” He didn’t really need any more caffeine, considering that his organs felt like they were vibrating against each other. But it gave him something to do with his hands as he delivered the news, and that was certainly worth something. He sat in the same chair and glanced up at the ceiling, automatically evaluating the construction of the home. “You know, this place is well-built.”
“Thanks, but at the moment I’m more concerned about how long I’m going to get to live in it or if I’ll be the next victim of this invisible attacker. I’m hoping you’re here to tell me.” Brad stepped around the breakfast bar and poured a mug of coffee, handing it to Garrison with a determined look.
This wasn’t going to be easy, and he wasn’t sure they’d like what he had to say. Garrison glanced around the room, noticing Tracy sitting at the edge of her chair. Brad stood, his arms crossed across his broad chest and his countenance serious. Ethan paced restlessly near the window.
Garrison pulled in a deep breath. Just the facts. “I went to the lake last night. I decided to go out for a swim, just a random impulse, and I discovered that the rumors about the lake monster are true.”
Brad’s cheeks puffed and then he burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. “You’re kidding me, right? You seriously called us all here to tease us about some fictitious fish? Okay, you got me. I’ve always heard you military guys like to fuck around. Good one.”
Tracy glanced uncertainly between Garrison and the black bear, but then her eyes were dancing. “I guess you’ve got some pictures to go with this? Some doctored cell phone photo or something?”
Ethan was the only one who hadn’t found his statement to be humorous. He’d paused his pacing, one hand braced on the window trim as he glared at Garrison. “Some of us don’t like pranks.”
“It’s not a prank,” Garrison tried to reassure him. “I can understand why you’d think that, but I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
Brad had stopped laughing, and his gaze was even more scrutinizing than before. “Really? Then what are you talking about?”
Garrison could understand how it might be easier to believe it was a joke. He’d certainly been happy to think of Tahoe Tessie as nothing more than a legend, a myth for local shops to make a few extra bucks from. Even when he’d spoken to Lance out there on the beach, he’d thought the guy was crazy for making pursuit of the beast his life’s work. Maybe the fact that some wealthy casino owner was determined to put her in a tank should’ve tipped him off, but Garrison had no doubt that others would jump at the chance
to put Bigfoot or the Moth Man behind bars. Or himself, for that matter.
He wrapped his hands around his coffee mug, focusing on the dark liquid that suddenly reminded him so much of his experience the night before. Garrison could still see it as though it were happening to him right then. “I went for a swim. Something was just compelling me to get in the water.”
“Wasn’t it cold?” Tracy questioned.
Brad was quick to cut her off. “Hush.”
“It was cold, but that feels pretty good when you’ve got an inferno inside your body. I shifted, just because it felt good. I don’t know if that’s what made her come to me or if she always inspects wayward swimmers, but the next thing I knew, there was someone else in the water with me. I wasn’t alone anymore.” Those words were the ones that’d been bothering him the most. It wasn’t that he’d proven what so many people had tried to prove over the years.
The other three glanced at each other, speechless for a long moment. Finally, Tracy slid off her chair and onto the floor for a moment. “Are you saying there’s a dragon in the water?”
“Yes,” he said, biting off the words because they felt so thick and real in his mouth. “There’s a dragon living in Lake Tahoe.”
Brad’s face had tightened. He scratched at his short beard. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, so why don’t you go ahead and fill in the blanks for me. Tell me what this has to do with our situation.”
While most of Garrison’s ponderings on the mysterious dragon had regarded what the implications would be for him, he hadn’t completely forgotten about his true objective for being there. “Ethan implied that the lake monster might be behind all this, and on the surface, that seems ridiculous. I know I thought so. No offense.”
The blonde man gave the barest shake of his head.
“Anyway, I’ve seen her with my own eyes. I know she’s just like me, in the same way that any of you would recognize one of your own. I don’t like to think that a dragon shifter is responsible for the things you say are happening here, but it does make sense. Obviously, a forest fire here and there could easily be caused by a dragon, although I couldn’t say if she would have done it on purpose or not. And then, of course, she’d need to hunt—”
“She’s killing our people,” Ethan growled. He pounded one fist into an open palm. “I don’t know how you like to do things amongst your own kind, but it’s not the sort of thing I’m willing to tolerate.”
“There aren’t any of my kind, remember?” Garrison snapped. “I’ve been trying to help you, and when absolutely nothing showed up on any of my surveillance equipment, I knew I had to be missing something. It was pure luck that I ran across her, and I can’t just launch some all-out attack on her now.”
“He’s right.” In one swift movement, Tracy swept herself back up onto her seat. “Just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it’s the right answer. We shouldn’t act too quickly. Think about where the three of us would be if we’d automatically assumed we were each other’s enemies.”
“Thank you.” Garrison hadn’t expected to find an ally, but he would take whatever he could get.
“I don’t know about that. What if there’s something wrong with her? I mean, shifters can be deranged just as people can. I’m not going to row out on the lake and have a heart-to-heart with a potential killer in the hopes of rehabilitating her.” Brad stood behind one of the armchairs now, his meaty hands digging into the upholstery. “I don’t know what I expected you to find, Garrison, but this wasn’t it.”
“Trust me, I understand that.” Garrison ran a hand through his hair. “I came to tell you first because I thought you deserved to know this was a possible answer. You’ve lost some of your friends and family, and that’s a big deal. But I’m not here to start a witch hunt. There are plenty of people out there hunting her already.” The thought was like a punch in the gut. One of his own kind was quite literally being hunted. The only thing that kept her adversaries at bay was the massive size and depth of the lake. It was a mere matter of time before someone like Lance found the technology to catch her in their snare.
“So what are you suggesting we do about this?” Ethan looked like he was ready to head out the door and dive into the lake himself.
There weren’t any answers that seemed quite right. Garrison knew these clan Alphas wanted a swift and clean solution to their problem, but he didn’t think he could give it to them. Of course, he was there to do what was right for everyone, not just them. “I don’t want to scare her off. I feel like there must be a diplomatic way to handle this. Give me some time to talk to her, and then maybe I can even bring her here to talk to you as well. I want to make this work. For everyone.” No, he had to make it work. Sure, things could be simple if they just deemed this person a monster and got rid of her so she wouldn’t cause any more trouble. But there was still that pull that Garrison couldn’t explain, and wouldn’t try to explain to any of those with him in Brad’s living room.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Tracy said quietly.
Brad and Ethan exchanged several glances before the hairy man finally nodded. “All right, but if you actually manage to get her here, I plan on having plenty of guards in the house with me.”
“That’s fine. Not a problem.”
“You can’t be serious.” Ethan’s fists were balled at his sides. “You know what this…thing might have done, and yet you’re going to allow her into your own home?”
“Yes. That’s the plan. Of course, there’s nothing saying that Garrison is actually going to achieve this. I mean, we’re talking about someone who’s eluded the general public for decades or even centuries. No offense,” he added.
“None taken.” Garrison wasn’t entirely certain himself, but he hoped to all hell that simply the fact that he was a dragon would bring her back out of hiding when he went back.
“Keep us posted, and we’ll be ready when you are.”
Garrison knew this was Brad’s way of dismissing him. He set his nearly full cup of coffee on the table and stood up. “I’ll be sure to call you as soon as I have more information.”
When he showed himself out, Garrison tried to focus on the cool breeze that seeped through his clothes. He thought about calling Drake, but he knew the doctor would be busy with his family as they prepared for the holidays. Unless it was an emergency, Flint would likely feign lack of reception in the mountains of Colorado, even though Hudson had gone to extra lengths to make sure that wasn’t an issue. As for Hudson himself, he was so embroiled in his life with Leona that Garrison was no longer sure the lion understood what life was like without a mate who was constantly at his side.
He tossed his phone in the passenger seat as he got in the car and drove back up to his cabin. There wasn’t much the rest of the Force could do to help him right now. Even if they came out to Lake Tahoe, they weren’t going to be any better at contacting the other dragon than he was. No, this was a job solely for him. And he was determined to do it.
5
Maren looked in the small mirror above her bathroom sink, turning her face this way and that, studying her jet black hair and her pale blue eyes. She spent so little time as a human these days, and it was strange to see that face staring back at her. Yes, it would be easier to blend in with all the tourists and the numerous residents in the area if she stuck with her two-legged form, but Maren knew she wasn’t like the rest of them. She’d never felt more distant from the local populace than she had over the last several years, in fact.
But then that man had come swimming into the lake in the middle of the night. She’d already been out soaking up the starlight and delighting in the cold water, but she’d felt him like a spider feels a fly landing in her web. Vibrations that were somehow familiar and yet completely new had come thrumming through the lake, demanding her attention. Maren had complied, deciding as she usually did that it was better to know who was around and figure out how to avoid them than pretend she was the only one who used the lake.
>
And then she’d realized she wasn’t in the water with a man at all; not even a human. That tail, those wings, those dark green scales that were nearly black in the darkness. He was a dragon; there was no doubt about it in her mind. She wanted to deny it, because it was easier to think her life would just continue on the way it had instead of getting her hopes up. But that dark figure there in the water, watching her, was most definitely a dragon.
She’d watched him from a distance at first, not wanting to get too close. But she couldn’t help herself as she slowly moved closer, even allowing him to know of her presence. He entranced her by doing nothing more than being there. The other dragon had even tried to speak to her at one point, something that both thrilled and terrified Maren. She didn’t know what to say to another dragon. She didn’t know what to do about anything while he was around, although her body seemed to have some strong ideas of its own. It hadn’t wanted to keep distance between them or refrain from conversation. It hadn’t wanted to go diving down into the depths of the lake where he wouldn’t find her. But her nerves had overridden everything else, and she’d essentially run away.
Knowing that, Maren wondered if she’d do the same thing again. What she planned to do now was perhaps a little less risky, but she was still about to put herself out there in a manner of speaking. She would be not only among other humans, but perhaps near another shifter like herself. What could that mean for her future? The deep urge to be near him was seductive and sweet. Was that what her grandmother had tried to tell her about all those years ago? Was this man the one she’d literally been waiting and hoping for her entire life? Or was it simply that this was the first being like herself she’d encountered since her grandparents died? Would she feel this intrigued by any dragon who happened to come along? She didn’t know, but there was only one way to find out.