Not only did she not want to leave the baby, she no longer wanted to play the role of an aunt. That would never be enough for her. Not now that she’d carried this baby inside her body. She’d bonded with this hatchling, and she needed more than what an aunt would be given.
She wanted to be the baby’s mother.
How would Liam react to that? Her desire to raise the baby went against everything they’d outlined in their contract, but none of their arrangement was orthodox. She was fairly certain that Liam would do anything to avoid a legal battle with her, even though he was a lawyer.
The part of him that was a dragon shifter would take precedence over the human part, and the dragon in him would never separate a mother from her hatchling. He would sacrifice what he wanted to make sure she was taken care of. She knew that with every fiber of her being, and yet she did not want to take advantage of him.
Would he be upset? Relieved? Happy? She had no idea. She’d have to wait until he was home from his trip to find out. She promised herself that she’d have that difficult conversation with him as soon as he got back home. There was no point in putting it off.
The baby kicked again, and full of restless energy, she left the room. One of Liam’s clients had already given them a layette set, and it needed to be washed. She washed the clothes in the special baby detergent and dried them. She found the tiny baby hangers and carried the whole set into the nursery to put away.
Just as she hung up the first white gown, something shattered. Something large and made of glass had just broken. The front window in the foyer had been smashed. She wasn’t too worried. Some little punk had probably seen that Liam was gone and decided to rob his house. She walked into the den, intending to scare the shit out of the little vandals, but she stopped short.
It was no mischievous teen. Inside her living area stood one of the witches. Brynne had never known her name, but she had suffered at the hand of this witch. Her mind recalled the smoke, the screaming, and the pain that she’d felt on the day of the battle, and then the agonizing loneliness she felt for years after as she lived in a highrise with the vampires. This witch had taken everything from her.
Panic seized her body. Her throat closed up. Her pulse rocketed. She had no weapon with her. She’d breezed into the room, blithely assuming it was a ridiculous human teenager, and she’d been caught off guard. Once again, she was alone. Her entire clan was half a world away. She willed herself to relax. She had to stay calm.
“What do you want?” Brynne demanded. She forced herself to keep her hands at her sides, although her pregnancy was obvious. You wouldn’t have to be a powerful witch to detect it.
“I can tell that you know who I am. Or what I am. My name is Niamh.”
“I don’t care about your goddamn name! Get out of my house.”
Niamh’s smile was haunting. “I’ll be gone soon enough.”
“What do you want?”
“For you to leave.”
“Leave? Leave how?”
“Your clan is starting to gain power,” the witch said. “There are now eight of you in one place.”
“The guys have been here forever. Why now?”
“There were no females, other than infants. The grown women were human. That’s not a clan. It’s not a threat.” The witch twisted her hands together. “But when you arrived, the problem began.”
“So, you want me to leave Liam’s house? Cedar Lake? What?” Brynne asked.
“I want you to take your baby and go. Leave Liam. You may not raise a child with him. You may not live here with him. You may have no union with him.”
“Why is this up to you?”
“Because I will kill Liam and your baby if you don’t.”
Brynne gasped. She’d expected to be threatened, but she hadn’t expected this monster to threaten Liam and her baby. That had been stupid of her. She knew they killed. She knew they murdered. They were amoral and without a conscience. She would not risk her baby’s life or Liam’s. She would leave.
“Where am I supposed to go? Back to Colorado?”
“No. Do not be moronic. He will find you there easily. Do not even think about running home to the vampires, either. They would take you in and do their best to guard you and your child, but I will get to you eventually.”
21
Liam
As they took one last flight around the island, Liam was ready to get back to Brynne. Right as he landed, he felt her distress again. This wasn’t the feeling of sadness from someone who was having a rough day, though. This was sheer terror.
He shifted back into human form and yelled at his brothers. “We have to go. There’s a problem at home.”
Kellan was already grabbing his gear. He jumped into the pilot’s seat and started getting the jet ready for takeoff. “What’s the problem?” he yelled at Liam.
“There’s something wrong with Brynne. I felt a sudden spike of fear from her. It wasn’t normal.”
Brennan and Quinn had heard his words, and they came running with all of their stuff in their arms. They helped Juliana and Clara into the plane and got both babies buckled into seats while Declan scoured the campsite for anything they might have left. Finally, they were ready for takeoff. Liam tugged Declan into the jet, and they were in the air.
No matter what was going on, as soon as they were home, he was going to tell her the truth—that they were mates. He was going to tell her that he was in love with her and that he wanted to raise their baby with her. If she was interested, he would call off the surrogacy, and they would take care of their hatchling the old fashioned way.
The jet ride home was pure hell. He paced the cabin, and the others were sympathetic. Not once did his brothers mock him, or hit him, or tell him to sit down. He appreciated that they were taking this as seriously as he was.
As soon as the jet was parked on the runway, he hopped out and ran across the tarmac. Kellan called out after him, “We’ll all be right behind you.”
Liam took a taxi to his house, and when he got there, there was nothing.
No Brynne. No baby. Nothing. He couldn’t sense her anywhere.
He walked into the house. The front window had been shattered but carefully taped up. All the glass had been cleaned up from the floor. He scented the air. Under the vanilla and strawberry that made up Brynne’s scent and the sugar that came from the baby, there was another scent. It was a putrid, rotting smell.
A witch. One of the witches had been here.
He walked back into the living area and stood in front of the window. Niamh. It was Niamh who’d been here. He let out a desperate roar as he felt his eyes turn yellow. Where the fuck was Brynne?
Fucking witches. They had violated the terms of their agreement again. Would he and his clan ever be rid of their poisonous existence?
Thank God he could still sense his mate, though she was far away from him physically. The awareness of her that had been there since the beginning only intensified once she agreed to be his surrogate and got pregnant with his baby. Her absence was a gnawing ache.
He called Kellan immediately, even though his brother was already on his way. “Niamh was here.”
“Fuck. Does she have Brynne?”
“No. I don’t think she kidnapped Brynne, but she scared Brynne into leaving. I don’t know what she threatened Brynne with, but I’m going to fucking kill that witch this time.”
“Let us handle Niamh. You go after Brynne.”
“She said she was going back to Ireland.”
“We’ll take care of it. You find your mate.”
He could feel her in the distance. He got in his SUV and started driving west. There was no mistaking that she was his mate. He not only had an acute awareness of her physical location that grew more specific as he drove, but he also had a sense of her emotional and mental state.
His focus lasered in on finding her. The further he drove west, then more clearly he could feel her. At least he had a destination in mind. He’d go straight t
o Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the little hotel off the beaten path that he’d seen projected from her mind. Unless he had been brainwashed completely, he’d finally be reunited with his mate when he got there.
The drive was excruciatingly monotonous. If he hadn’t been worried about jeopardizing Brynne’s safety, he would have ditched the SUV and shifted. At least in his dragon form, he could use the stars to guide himself to Santa Fe. If he were flying, he’d be able to look down on the rock formations, the dusty hills, and the scrubby bushes. In the car, all he could do was stare at the dull road. At least his vision was better than a human’s. He didn’t know how they endured a drive like this with their weak eyes and nothing to look at.
When he reached the border of New Mexico, something changed drastically. It was almost immediate. His connection to Brynne intensified. Liam couldn’t exactly see through Brynne’s eyes, but if he concentrated, it was as if he had a sixth sense. He couldn’t see the details of the road before her, but he had an impression of her slowing down and exiting to the city of Santa Fe. How was he seeing through her eyes? Was it real, or was this an illusion being fed to him by the witches? He grabbed his phone and dialed her number again. Of course, she didn’t answer. He left a voicemail this time.
“Hey, Brynne. I’m sure you know I’m worried about you.” He had to laugh, though nothing was funny. “You know, I’m way more than worried. I’m fucking terrified. I feel like I can see exactly where you are, almost through your eyes. Don’t worry, I can’t read your mind, but it did occur to me that the witches could be manipulating me. It doesn’t really matter if they are because I’m going to come for you anyway. There’s nothing any of them could do that would change that I’m coming to protect you and our hatchling.”
He hung up and dropped the phone onto the seat of his car. In front of him, headlights illuminated the desert road that stretched across the sandy landscape. He glanced at the beat-up metal sign that read, “Welcome to New Mexico. The Land of Enchantment.”
Enchantment was fucking correct. That’s how he felt—like he had been enchanted. And tricked. Why had he and his brothers not eliminated the witches when they had the chance years ago? Why had they fucking relied on the words of blood traitors who’d promised to keep a pact, monsters who’d never had one shred of morality?
He was going to push to eliminate them. He’d always remembered the words Kellan’s father had uttered about peace and harmony and learning to mesh with the world around you. Well, he’d been a really great shifter and the best leader in the world, but he was dead. He was dead, and Kellan missed his dad every day, and Liam missed his clan leader. He’d been nearly as close to Kellan’s father as his own, and they’d still had so much to learn.
What if the same thing happened again? What if the witches came to Kellan’s mansion and found a way to get in when they were all there? Declan was a smart kid, but he was seven years old. Shannon was two, and Isleen was a baby. They couldn’t move on without their parents, not like he and his brothers had done fifteen years ago. Christ. He was godfather to all those kids. What if all the adults were all wiped out at once? What would happen to their children if the witches took the adults out?
He couldn’t even consider the witches turning on the children.
Two years ago, Declan had been kidnapped. The witches claimed then that they had wanted him alive so that they could renew the ancient pact that required the dragon shifters to protect their coven. The witches could try that game again.
What if they eliminated the parents and took the kids to raise as their own? Declan knew the truth about what happened, but the girls were too young. They could be controlled and manipulated by the witches.
Liam couldn’t believe he and his brothers had not discussed this in-depth. Maybe his brothers had discussed it without him since he wasn’t a father yet, but they needed to have a difficult conversation about what happened to the kids if they were all killed.
They couldn’t rely on human child welfare services to help their kids. Sure, humans could keep them fed and send them to school, but a human could never protect a dragon shifter from a witch. What happened when children were placed with a human, and their eyes glowed yellow, or their wings sprouted from their back? Liam shuddered to think about the outcome. All four of the brothers needed a plan, or at least to be realistic about what might happen in the future.
Only the vampires or the Fae would be strong enough to protect them if the shifters weren’t around. Maybe it was time to involve the vampires. Liam was not against contacting the Fae, either, but they were notoriously elusive to anyone outside of their tribe. If Liam got the vampires involved, they could protect the children from the witches. They had the physical ability and the resources, and they would do it, especially if they were well compensated. They had protected Brynne, even without any payment.
Brynne would likely not be happy about the suggestion, and he didn’t blame her, but he’d rather give his kids and his nieces and nephew a chance to grow up, even if it was a weird life with the vampires. That was much better than the alternative, which was being forced into service for the witches. Liam would be bringing this problem up, and soon. They had been too lax for too long. The dragon clan had once been a powerful entity that was respected and honored. It was time to take back that control.
Liam had always been the nice guy of the group. Maybe it was the lawyer in him that wanted to make sure everything was fair. He liked to argue, and he liked to debate, but he liked to look at all the angles. He didn’t like fighting nearly as much as Brennan did, but he was done waiting around for the problem to solve itself.
He was a father now, and it was time for him to protect his mate and his baby.
His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that it creaked. He flexed his fingers. If he pulled the steering wheel out of the column, he wouldn’t have a ride. There weren’t even trucks to hitchhike with here in the middle of nowhere. Through their connection, he was now able to perceive how tired she was, how absolutely exhausted.
He had to get to her soon.
22
Brynne
Niamh had told Brynne to leave town, but she hadn’t said where to go, only that she shouldn’t go to either of the places she considered home. Well, that wasn’t exactly accurate—now she had three places she considered home because, despite its flat land, Cedar Lake had grown on her. It was the place where she’d fallen in love with Liam, experienced her first heat, and conceived her baby. It was also the first place where she’d had a real family again in fifteen years. She didn’t want to leave, but she wasn’t willing to risk Liam’s or her baby’s life. She knew first-hand the brutality of the witches. She didn’t need a reminder of their cruelty.
For several hours, she sat frozen in her home. Then, she moved to the baby’s room and sat there for a while, staring at the walls. Finally, she knew she had to take action. She grabbed what she could, and thankfully, a dragon shifter needed very little money to survive.
She drove west and kept going. She drove through the dusty plains of Texas, each town barely a wide spot on the road, until she reached Lubbock. There, she stopped to buy a few tacos and drink some lemonade. She did not stop to rest but kept going driving northwest on Highway 84.
At some point—she couldn’t say when—her awareness of Liam grew stronger. He must have been back in the United States again. The fact that she could feel him arrive was a testament to the strength of their unintended bond. She didn’t have the luxury of pondering their status as mates right now, though. She had to get the hell away from Cedar Lake.
The entire time that she drove, she kept one hand on her stomach when possible. She was always aware of her link to Liam. She was well-aware that her leaving and taking his baby would break his heart. When she drove over the state border from Texas to New Mexico, something odd happened. The connection solidified into more than awareness. It was as if she could feel Liam in her head.
Liam? Are you nearby?
; Brynne!
She jumped in her seat and nearly ran off the road. Luckily, there was nothing to crash into, but still. Heart pounding, she rested her head against the seat and took big gulping breaths.
She’d never heard of any type of mental link among shifters. As a hatchling, she’d always just heard the elders speak of an emotional attachment, and they’d called it the loop, but it sounded like what she and Liam had before—they were both aware of where the other was, and they had an inkling of how each other felt.
Had Liam been able to feel her distress all the way out in the ocean? Maybe he had.
She kept driving. She couldn’t communicate with Liam exactly, but she could definitely feel his frantic worry. Yet, she couldn’t continue with him connected to her. It would never work with Niamh alive. She had to find a way to break the bond, or at least reduce it.
As she drove, she pictured the loop awareness like a braided rope that wound through her body, and she imagined pulling each segment away until it frayed. Tears slid down her face as she did it. When it was done, she knew Liam was alive, but that was about it. She could no longer feel his emotions.
Hours passed, and the trees got scrubbier, and the landscape turned from yellow grass to rock formations. She kept going, and soon, she was in the desert. It was beautiful but a far cry from any of the places she’d called home.
Maybe, if she kept going, she’d get to see the Grand Canyon. What would it be like to fly in that chasm? Maybe after the baby was born, she could shift and soar off one of those cliffs late at night. Maybe that was something to look forward to. She and the baby could live undetected in the desert for a few years. Her clan was from the misty cliffs of Ireland, but dragon shifters could survive and even thrive in many types of environments. Hell, if she got a passport, she and the baby could climb Mount Everest.
Lawyer Dragon's Surrogate (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 3) Page 10