“A dead dragon,” she replied.
“Yes, a dead dragon.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Because I helped fill it in,” he said, watching her face as if to gage her reaction before continuing.
“You were a member of the Dragon Guard under Aiden, as well as Aaron,” she said, more a statement than a question.
“Yes. I learned that he was a very bad person, but there was little I could do to stop him. Then, an opportunity arose and I saw a chance to rectify that.”
“It sounds like something I want to hear more about, but let’s finish with the first story before we move on. You are telling me that you know who is in the hole because you helped bury them there, but why didn’t you just tell me that without going up there?” she asked, not sure what she thought or felt at the moment.
“Because I wasn’t certain and I wanted to be before I said anything. That is why Aaron sent me. When he told me what was going on, I told him about what had happened that night.”
“And he was okay with that? He was okay with you having helped conceal the murder of another shifter?”
“You don’t understand. I didn’t conceal anything. I didn’t even know there was a dragon in the hole. Before Aiden called us in, he had already filled enough of the hole to bury the dragon. He told us that he was doing it as a gesture of good will for our neighbors and that he wanted it done by morning, so we worked for hours to make it happen. You didn’t want to disappoint Aiden. He could be quite nasty.”
“You said you know how the dragon was killed and who it is,” she said.
“Yes. It is not of our clan. The following day, a nearby clan came looking for a member of their leader’s Dragon Guard. His name was Patrick O’Malley. He had disappeared the night before while visiting a young woman in our village, a forbidden relationship. Aiden denied knowing anything about it and it never occurred to anyone that he might have done something to the young man, especially since the young woman was missing, as well.”
“It was assumed that they ran away together,” Barb surmised.
“Yes,” Josh told her, pausing as the server delivered their food to them.
“This looks delicious,” Barb replied, looking at the large bowl of Irish stew and wheaten bread both of them had ordered.
“It is delicious,” Josh told her, already spooning a bite of it into his mouth.
Barb followed suit, gently blowing across her spoon to cool the hot soup before taking a bite of her own. She snatched up her glass of ginger ale as she had taken a bite that was still far too hot for her palette, though it didn’t seem to faze Josh. She set her spoon back down to let the soup cool a bit more before trying again.
“What makes you think they didn’t and that is him in the ground?”
“The timing and the ice on the wings. Aiden was an ice dragon. My guess is that he drove the dragon out of the sky by freezing a wing and it hit the ground hard enough to break its neck.”
“And Aiden did this with precision enough to put him right in the hole he wanted to bury him in?” Barb asked, not certain she could agree with his theory.
“No, of course not. Not even Aiden was that good, but he was very strong. It would have been nothing for him to pick up the body in its human form and drop it in that hole for burial.”
“Human? The skeleton in that hole is a dragon, not a human form,” Barb said, pointing out the major fault in his story.
“When your friend digs a bit deeper, and he will if he is going to unearth that skeleton, he is going to find out something even more interesting,” Josh told her.
“What is that?”
“The body of Patrick O’Malley,” Josh told her.
“Now you just aren’t making any sense,” she laughed, attempting another bite of her stew now that it was cool.
“I am if you consider that he’s not the only one in that makeshift grave. I have no doubts that when your archaeologist friend finally manages to remove that dragon skeleton, he is going to find the body of Patrick in what is left of his human form.”
“Then where did the dragon skeleton come from?” Barb asked as she took another bite.
“Who else is missing?” Josh asked, smiling at her knowingly.
“Oh, God. The missing girl!” Barb said, suddenly understanding.
“Yes. Tandy Bellew. Everyone thought that she had run away with Patrick because it might be her last chance to be with him before she got too sick to enjoy herself with him. She was in the early stages of ovarian cancer.”
“The anomaly that would have kept her from changing back into human form when she died,” Barb said, her eyes wide.
“Yes,” Josh told her, seeming pleased with himself for having solved this riddle so efficiently.
“But why? Why did he do it?” Barb asked.
“That is a question I can’t answer, but I’m going to guess that he fancied her for himself. Aiden loved weak women that he could prey on. Tandy was a pretty girl, too pretty for her own good. It was well known that Aiden had pursued her and been rejected in favor of Patrick. I’m guessing he caught them together and went into a rage, went after Patrick and drove him down. Tandy most likely followed, trying to stop him and he took her down too. The ice damage on her wing doesn’t lie. I suspect similar damage will be found on the human form beneath her.”
“He gave them what they wanted, to be together forever, in his sick twisted way,” Barb said incredulously.
“I suppose he did,” Josh replied, sounding incredibly melancholy.
“Alright, so we know who is there and have an idea as to how they got there. Right now, it’s an archaeological dig, but the moment they make it down to a human body, it’s a murder investigation,” Barb told him.
“Yes, which will shut the dig down, but bring a whole fresh crop of problems to our doorstep,” Josh said.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
“That - is way above my pay grade,” Josh told her, finishing off the last of his stew and motioning for the waiter. Barb looked at her plate, still half full of food. She had always been a slow eater. “Pie?”
“No, none for me,” she replied, at least grateful that she would have time to finish her food while he worked on a dessert. She hated leaving food on a plate. There had been far too many times when she had been in places full of people who had so little to eat. It always felt wrong to not clean off what was put before her.
“If you are watching your figure, I don’t think you really need worry,” Josh told her, gazing at her thoughtfully.
“Are you flirting with me?” she asked.
“That depends,” he replied.
“On what?” she asked with a slow smile.
“On whether it’s welcome or not,” he told her.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she said coyly.
“I’ll take that as a green light,” he said with a smile, looking up at the server who had come to bring him his dessert plate. “She likes me, mate.”
“Congrats, pal,” the waiter said in a bored tone as he turned to leave.
Both Barb and Josh laughed and began finishing up their food. They were quiet for a while, a comfortable silence settling between them as they ate.
“So you will take it back to Aaron and let him decide what to do?” she said.
“Yes. He’s the dragon leader, he gets the glory and the headaches that come with them. I’m just the hired help,” he told her.
“I suspect you are quite a bit more than that,” she said, putting her spoon down into her now empty bowl.
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” he told her, also finishing his pie and dropping some cash on the table for the server. “Shall we get you home? I have to go see Aaron before it gets much later.”
“I guess our date is over then,” she told him reluctantly.
“For now, but perhaps we can go on another one very soon,” he suggested.
“I’m already looking forward to it,” Ba
rb replied.
They walked away from the pub hand in hand, lost in that sort of happy bliss that accompanies a first date that has gone well. Granted, it wasn’t exactly an orthodox situation, but it had still ended very well and showed promise to only get better.
CHAPTER 6
“So, what’s the scoop?” Amy asked later that evening when Barb returned to her house.
“My God, that man is hot,” Barb breathed in one big sigh as she dropped into a kitchen chair near where Amy was working on some sort of paper she was writing.
“Excuse me? I was asking about the dig situation, but apparently you’ve been digging something else. I mean, someone else. Josh?”
“I can’t help it. There is just something about him. He’s . . . I don’t know, different.”
“Someone has a thing for a shifter. You better watch that. You might find yourself settling down with one before you even now what’s happening,” Amy teased.
“Oh, come on. It’s not that serious. Just a bit of a crush. Some lust, perhaps,” Barb smiled.
“That sounds like just what you need after the nonsense you went through with Garth. A bit of good, old-fashioned knocking boots with a gorgeous shifter,” Amy told her.
“I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t want to cause any awkwardness if things go wrong. He does work closely with Owen and Connor.”
“Dragons don’t kiss and tell. I wouldn’t sweat that too much. If it goes south, no one has to know but you and Josh . . . and me, of course,” Amy laughed. “I’ll need all the details.”
“Right,” Barb laughed.
“So, where is lover boy now?” Amy asked.
“He went to talk to Aaron about the situation,” she told her.
“And what is the situation?” Amy asked, eager for all the details. She sat, listening with rapt attention, as Barb told her what all she had learned today.
“Wow, that is a lot,” Amy said, wide eyed with disbelief.
“It certainly is. I have no idea what Aaron is going to be able to do to stop this,” Barb replied.
“Me either. I guess it’s something we’ll have to let the dragons sort out,” Amy said, shaking her head as she walked over the fridge.
“How about a glass of wine?”
“It’s only three p.m.,” Barb laughed.
“It’s always wine thirty in this house,” Amy said. “Well, at least when Dawn is with her grandmother.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize she wasn’t here,” Barb said, still not quite used to having a baby in the house during their girl times. Things had certainly changed since they had become friends, years ago. Amy had gone from being a powerhouse of a radio D.J. to being a future soccer mom in the making. If anyone had asked her if she could see her friend like this, she would have said never, but Amy seemed to be completely content with her new life. She had embraced a much simpler life and it suited her.
“Her grandmother takes her a couple days a week to help out. It gives me a break while Owen is at work and I’m able to get a bit of writing done,” Amy told her.
“Yes. I meant to ask you about that. What are you writing?”
“A history of the village. They don’t have any formal accountings here, so I’m building off the stories gathered from the locals. Some of it is pretty incredible. It’s hard to sort out what is fact and what is folklore, especially in a place like this. I mean, you know, in the real world, if someone told you some story about dragons you’d write them off as a crackpot. Here, you know it is true, but you just aren’t sure how much of it.”
“Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem,” Barb laughed.
“So, then - wine?” Amy repeated, holding up a bottle of red and a glass she had just pulled from the cabinet.
“Sure. Why not?” Barb said, chuckling to herself as Amy poured them each a glass and sat down with her to continue their conversation.
By the time Owen came in from work, they were both giggling like school girls as they laughed about old times. They had since been joined by Emily, who was getting a huge kick out of their stories, though she wasn’t quite as tipsy as they had managed thanks to her more durable dragon metabolism.
“What is happening here?” Owen said doubtfully as he entered the kitchen with a mock look of concern.
“Ah, there is my handsome husband,” Amy said, slurring a bit as she spoke and then giggling.
“Alright, sounds like bedtime for someone,” he laughed.
“Oooh, is that an offer, big guy?” she chuckled.
“It could be,” he told her, beaming down at her.
Barb and Emily both laughed too. Amy was a lightweight and her wine had gone right to her head, obviously.
“Let’s go then, stud,” Amy purred playfully before turning to Barb and Emily. “Ladies, the house is yours.”
They laughed again as she bowed graciously, almost toppling over before Owen could catch her. He shook his head and just picked her up to carry her upstairs. Emily and Barb retreated to the living room, where Emily called Connor to pick her up.
“I’ll come by and get my car tomorrow. I probably shouldn’t drive, even if it isn’t far,” she said.
“That sounds like a good plan,” Barb observed.
Fifteen minutes later, Connor arrived to pick Emily up and cart her home. He seemed just as amused by her slight intoxication as Owen was by Amy’s. Barb could only surmise it was something that didn’t happen very often, which was good. Sitting on the sofa, she felt a sense of melancholy flood over her. It had felt nice to feel like someone was attracted to her earlier today, but now here she sat, alone and all of that washed away when you had no one to share your evening with.
After flipping through the channels for a bit, she had just decided to call it a night when her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number as she answered the phone, but was pleasantly surprised to hear Josh on the other end of the line. He sounded upbeat, which made her wonder how things had gone with Aaron.
“Miss me yet?” he asked.
“You’ve no idea,” she told him.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” he laughed.
“Nope. I mean it,” she told him, feeling bold, though she knew it was probably the wine fueling her bravado.
“Well, would you like to go out for a drink?” he asked.
“I might have already had several with Amy,” she laughed.
“Oh, bad girl. Still, one or two more can’t hurt can they?” he asked.
“Probably not,” she told him.
“Pick you up in half an hour?” he asked.
“I’ll be right here,” she told him.
“See you soon,” he told her before ending the call.
Barb made a beeline for the stairs to get freshened up. Her melancholy fell away as she now found herself excited about spending more time with Josh. She scribbled a note to Amy and Owen in case they wondered where she had gone to and waited anxiously for Josh to arrive. She opened the door before he could ring the bell to find him standing there looking surprised.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“Um, sure. Apparently, you certainly are,” he laughed.
“Oh,” she laughed, suddenly feeling embarrassed about how anxious she must seem to him. “Owen and Amy have already gone to bed for the night. I just didn’t want the doorbell to disturb them.”
Josh glanced at his watch, looking puzzled. It was only eight o’clock, so she could understand his confusion.
“Dawn is at her grandmother’s and Amy had a bit too much wine. It think Owen was just tired. I’m assuming you all had a long day with Aaron discussing the situation with our unearthed dragon.”
“Ah, I see. Yes, we did. It got pretty heated. Aaron is absolutely livid.”
“Yeah? What did he say?” Barb asked, stepping out the door and pulling the door closed behind her.
“Let’s get settled in for a drink somewhere and I will tell you what I know, what I can, anyway.”
<
br /> “Keeping secrets already?” she asked.
“I’m afraid it is just a matter of state, as they say in politics. Though we are a small entity, I’m still a servant of the local government and bound to maintain privacy in some matters.”
“Fair enough, I suppose,” she replied, climbing into the seat behind the car door he had opened for her. She waited as he trotted around to the other side and climbed in before continuing. “I thought of something earlier. Aiden was an ice dragon you said. Amy told me that Owen’s father was an ice dragon, as well. I got the impression it was not a common thing, yet there are two of them in the same village. Is it more common than she thinks?”
“No. It is a rare gene passed down through families, though it skips a generation, sometimes more. No one is really sure why, but it seems to just pick and choose who it will attach itself to within a family.”
“Then, more than one family has the gene in this village?” Barb asked.
“No. Aiden was a related to the McCords. His mother had an affair with Owen’s paternal uncle. That is how the gene was passed to him.”
“Did Aiden know that?”
“Yes. When Aiden was younger, it was Mr. McCord that took him under his wing, no pun intended. He is the one that taught him how to control his ice, how to maximize it, make the most of the gift he was given. It was very hush hush, but he knew Aiden was his nephew and wanted to do what he could after his brother died.”
“And Aiden used that training against him in the end. He killed his own uncle!” Barb said, horrified by how someone could be so diabolical.
“Yes. It is only one of Aiden’s many crimes. He was a monster, power hungry for everything he deemed himself worthy of having. No one was going to stand in his way, not even his own uncle.”
“It sounds like Aaron did the village a tremendous service in taking him down.”
“That he did, but Aaron’s reasons were far simpler than the greater good. It was vengeance, plain and simple. Don’t get me wrong. Aaron is a good man and cares about this village. He knew that taking Aiden down would make things better for everyone, but his main reason for doing it was because his family had been forced to flee in order to save themselves. Aaron’s father crossed Aiden by telling the McCords the truth about what happened to their father. He pointed the finger at Aiden and that was unacceptable.”
Desired by a Dragon: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Exiled Dragons Book 3) Page 4