With that thought, he forced himself to stand up and head out to where the medics had taken Krista. He expected to find her still asleep, and was surprised when he realized that she was wide awake and very alert. All of the shifters around her were smiling patiently and nodding as she asked impossible questions to them. One of the medics grinned and pushed Clayton toward her.
“She has been asking for you,” he said, seeming grateful for a chance to escape from Krista’s intense questioning.
Clayton suddenly felt nervous. He had never expected to be alone in a room with Krista before. But soon, everybody was backing away and leaving them alone together. Krista was staring at him, her eyes an intense shade of blue. True to Loni fashion, her eyes seemed to change with her mood. Her expression was serious, if not brazen, and she let her eyes roam him once again, taking him in with his cloak on and obviously deciding that she liked him the other way better. He had to grin; she was exactly how he had pictured she would be.
“So what in the hell is going on exactly?” she asked him, wasting no time. She excited herself and began to cough, and Clayton frowned. He poured a glass of water for her and brought it to her bedside, sitting down heavily on a stool beside her bed.
“I don’t know how much of this you would believe, or even how much of it you would like to hear.”
“Oh trust me,” Krista said with a gleam in her eye, “I want to hear everything.”
Clayton squirmed for a moment as he tried to figure out where to begin. He always thought that it would be easy to explain to her what had happened and how important she was to their clan, but now that he was being put to the test, the words seemed to fail him.
“Okay, then why don’t you let me start,” Krista said, fingering her chin. “Why is it that I recognize you? Why have you been following me? And why are those guys trying to kill me?”
“I don’t think they’re trying to kill you,” Clayton said. “But if they did catch you, I think that you would quickly be wishing for death. What they would do to you is far worse than killing you.”
“What do you mean? And who are you, anyway?”
“My name is Clayton, and I know that your name is Krista. Now, those people know your name, too. And I don’t think that is a good thing.”
“Well, obviously not, if that means that they can find me wherever I go,” Krista said with a frown.
“Yes, they probably could now. But you’re a lot safer here with us than you are in your own apartment.”
“Oh my gosh, my apartment…All of my things. They’re probably all burnt to a crisp by now,” Krista said, laying her head back into her pillow heavily. “Do you know how hard it is to find the perfect wardrobe? You guys really owe me for that.”
“I’m sorry,” Clayton said, trying to hide his smile. “I may have acted a little rashly, but I wasn’t sure how else to protect you.”
“Well, I guess it’s better than being stuck with those guys. They are pretty cruel,” Krista said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Clayton said, his face growing hard. The change in his mood was obvious, and Krista looked up, her face bright with intrigue.
“I take it you don’t like them very much either,” Krista said with a tight smile.
“They killed my father,” Clayton said, brooding toward the doorway.
“Then what makes you think they don’t want to kill me?” Krista said, her face suddenly worried again.
“Because you are useful to them,” Clayton told her. “And actually, you are useful to us as well. But this is going to be very difficult for you to understand and for me to explain.”
“Whenever something is hard for me, I’ll just start at the beginning,” Krista said, “and plow my way through.”
“Well, in the beginning of my tale, there was Kaldernon,” Clayton said thoughtfully. “That’s where we came from. Everybody in my clan. And your ancestors as well.”
“My ancestors? All of my ancestors died on a boat, everything else from then on has been just sheer luck that my bloodline was able to last this long.”
“Well, I know something about your bloodline that you don’t, and that is, where the source of this anguish originated. I can show it to you if you’d like. But it’s a very special place that most people can’t see. However, I know that you have probably realized that you have greater senses than most other people by now. And your gift for song.”
Krista looked up at him sharply. She didn’t think she liked the fact that he knew about her singing.
“I’m nothing special,” she said edgily.
“I beg to differ,” Clayton said. Krista raised her eyebrow at him but said nothing. He was a very attractive man, and it felt nice to be complimented. But it could also just be crazy talk and flattery to keep her from guessing what was really going on. Which was what exactly? She still had no clue.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Actually, you are very special. You come from the same land that that my clan is from. We have been stuck on this planet for many generations. It was a mistake that we ever came to Earth. Only the people who are from our world can see Kaldernon. Many people can’t even see us, just because they are so convinced that nothing of the sort could exist.”
“So who are you, anyway?” Krista asked, desperate for answers.
“We are dragon shifters,” Clayton said. “I think that you saw me turn into a dragon more than once by now. So this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.”
“I saw a little more than that,” Krista said, raising her eyebrows comically at the memory of his perfect, naked body approaching her in all its glory at her apartment. He was ridiculously handsome, and the memory was one she had a feeling she would treasure.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, pursing his lips with an amused smile.
“I’m not,” Krista said with a grin. Clayton’s face reddened and he looked down at the floor. She laughed, finding it funny and adorable that she could make this fierce and handsome man blush.
“Anyway, your bloodline is special. My clan is waning and only people from our own world can help us to repopulate. After this generation of shifters is gone, we will be gone forever, never having found a way back to our own world.
“The Guardians who are after you know that you are able to carry dragon shifter children, and they think that your blood will help them to open and close the portals between dimensions. They are obsessed with eradicating anything remotely mystical and interplanetary. They want to keep Earth pure, they say, and will resort to ceaseless and heartless bloodshed whenever possible to get the job done.”
“Wait a minute,” Krista said as she held her hand up and looked him in the eye. “Are you trying to tell me that because of some kind of special blood I have, from some other dimension, I can make dragon babies?”
“Something like that,” Clayton said, letting a smile crease his face. He had a dimple on his left cheek and Krista gazed at the way his gorgeous face lit up when he smiled. His deep voice was calm and soothing, but Krista still found the entire situation a little bit too ludicrous for her taste.
“I think you guys are insane, and whatever holy war you think I’m in the middle of, I think it’s ridiculous. I’d like to go home,” Krista said. Whether he was handsome or not, she wanted to get the hell out of there.
“It’s not safe for you out there. You saw for yourself what they were trying to do. They aren’t going to stop until they get you.”
“Maybe they think that I died in the fire. I know I thought I was going to,” Krista said, her face an ashy color.
“They’re going to know that you’re safe, but they don’t know where you are. They will assume that you are here, I’m sure, but they know better than to sneak up on a dragon’s den.”
“Wait, back up. Are you trying to tell me that everybody here is a dragon?” Krista said, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. “Even that doctor who helped me to breathe better?”
“Well, we are born dragons, and are
able to shift into a more practical form. Can you imagine what kind of famine we would experience if we were dragons all the time? We would eat so much that nothing would be left of the planet,” Clayton said with a laugh. “I already have quite a healthy appetite.”
“So you chose to look this devastatingly handsome?” she ventured boldly.
“I – no. I favor my mother, actually.”
What a question, he thought, trying to think about anything other than his arousal. The woman was certainly brazen.
“I see. So you’re a pretty boy.”
There was an awkward silence before she allowed herself to fall into a fit of musical laughter. Clayton laughed with her, his eyes brightening. They gazed at each other for a moment and when they were quiet again, the silence between them seemed full of life. He never would have guessed how much he would love talking with Krista. She was enigmatic and intriguing. Not only that, but she was extremely beautiful. He could look at her all day long, and in fact, he had been doing just that for quite a while.
“I’m afraid you have to stay here for a while, at least until the coast is clear. We will help you find somewhere comfortable to stay once it seems safe enough. But I really hope that you will choose to stay with us. Maybe you could find happiness within our clan.”
“Yeah, right,” Krista said with a grin. “You guys just want me to make babies for you.”
“Well, that would be convenient,” Clayton said with a laugh. “But really, we realized that we can’t force you to have a child with one of us. We know how primitive that would be. You have a choice here, but I really hope that you choose to get to know us a little bit before you make up your mind.”
“All right,” Krista said, “I guess we can see how things go. I’m pretty sure I’m having some kind of nightmare anyway, so it doesn’t really matter either way.”
Clayton chuckled and stood up, curving his lips into a sexy smile. He nodded at her and headed toward the entrance of the room.
“Well, you cope with this however you need to. We’ll keep you safe until there’s another option. Maybe I can show you Kaldernon once you’re feeling better. As for now, I’m going to get some sleep. I’m long overdue.”
Krista nodded at him, watching him with curious eyes as he moved gracefully out of the room. Her eyes lingered on his taught, muscular body, and suddenly she knew what men meant when they said: I love that ass. She laughed softly to herself, shaking her head in bemusement. What in the world had she gotten herself into?
Everything that he was telling her sounded so outlandish and ridiculous. But, for some reason, she felt like he was telling her the truth. Something deep down inside resonated with him, and she decided that, at least for now, she was going to trust him. And not just because he was pretty.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
About a week later, Krista was standing up and able to breathe without any problems at all. It had felt like she had a terrible case of bronchitis, but now that her lungs and throat were feeling better, she was curious about the strange place that the handsome man had taken her to.
Clayton. The man who had been following her before she had been attacked. The man who saved her, twice, from the terrifying bald men with soulless eyes. Fundamentalists, he had called them. Men with a mission to protect the world from beautiful men like Clayton.
Krista laughed at herself. Just because he was beautiful didn’t mean that it wasn’t dangerous for him to be on her planet. Or was it her planet? The claim was that they were from the same place. How was she supposed to know whether or not these interdimensional beings were safe to coexist with?
These were the kinds of questions that she had never even thought to pose to herself. Although she had always been very interested in stories about time travel and people who could jump through different space time continuums, she had never even considered the possibility that there was any truth to them.
But now, this beautiful creature, who could turn into a dragon and save her at will, was telling her that she had better believe everything that he was saying. It was kind of terrifying, but it was also exciting.
“I think that you’re ready to join the community for dinner now,” Dr. Mason said, shuffling around in the underground medical room with a pleased smile on his face. “You have made some remarkable progress. I know our technology is advanced, which has a lot to do with it, but it also helps that Lonis heal well. I’m sure you’ve noticed that throughout your life; it probably felt like you never got sick.”
“Actually, that’s true,” Krista said, a little bit surprised. She wasn’t sure she believed that her family was from the same interdimensional world, though. Clayton had come in to visit her every so often while she was recovering, and they had grown close very quickly. Not only was he handsome, but he was kind and smart and funny. And he seemed fascinated by her. He had admitted that they had been trying to protect her for a long time, which meant that they had probably seen each other more than once. That would explain why he felt so familiar.
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me one bit,” the doctor said, interrupting her thoughts. “A lot of people would have the symptoms for longer, but you have recovered very quickly. I can even see that you had gotten burned, but it left very little mark on your skin. For most people, that would scar, but for you, it’s almost gone. It’s really remarkable, isn’t it? You should be very proud of your heritage.”
Talk of her heritage made her uneasy, and she simply looked into the distance quietly as Dr. Mason made all of the necessary adjustments in her room. She was excited to be able to leave the room and meet more of the dragon shifter people of the Kersh clan.
“Hello there,” a silky woman’s voice said, peering in at Krista. “Dr. Mason told me that you’re feeling much better now, but you’re going to need something to wear while you are here.”
Krista wasn’t sure what to say, and so she simply nodded. She was pretty depressed about how all of her clothing had probably been ruined in the fire, and what she had been wearing had been singed and ruined as well.
“My name is Jasmine,” the woman said with a smile. She had curly red hair and a kind face, and she looked as if she might be in her late thirties. “I’ve come to take some measurements; I’d like to make you some traditional attire. I thought it might help you to feel a little bit closer to your Loni ancestry.”
“All right,” Krista said uncertainly. “Thank you.”
“Oh, don’t mention it. I just wanted you to be dressed appropriately for the first time that you see Kaldernon. I have a feeling that you’re going to understand everything perfectly in that moment, and you might want to feel like you’re dressed for the occasion. I know I would feel miserable if I had that same opportunity and I squandered it wearing robes from the little hospital.”
“I appreciate your consideration,” Krista said with a laugh.
“I think it will help you feel better to look better,” Jasmine said with a wink. “Loni attire is traditionally very beautiful and elegant. It’s going to suit you spectacularly. It will be a great way to honor you when you join the clan for dinner this evening.”
“Honor me?” Krista asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes, honor you. We are all very excited to meet you. You’re one of the last of your kind on Earth, you know. That makes you a very coveted person to us. We have been working for a long time to protect you and keep you safe. It is the highest honor to be able to welcome you into our clan, even if it is just a brief recluse from danger. We will do our best to protect you at all costs.”
“That’s a little bit extreme,” Krista said, shifting uncomfortably. “You guys don’t even know me.”
Jasmine seemed amused by this. She laughed, and her eyes crinkled kindly as she pulled out a tape measure. She beckoned Krista toward her and began taking her measurements.
“We don’t have to know you to honor you,” Jasmine said. “You may not be used to being honored, but trust us, you have been revered from the moment y
ou were born and so you shall remain honored by the Kersh clan.”
Krista was quiet as Jasmine finished taking her measurements, and gave her a silent nod as she left to begin work on the gown. She had doubts that it would be completed by the time dinner was ready that night, but she was surprised when a knock came at the door around five in the evening.
“Here it is,” Jasmine whispered, presenting Krista with the most beautiful gown she had ever seen. It looked a lot like the dresses worn on Earth, but it was a lot more flowing and elegant. It was made of a fabric she had never seen before, a sparkling gossamer, almost like silk, but even softer to the touch. It made her whole body glow when she put the gown on, and Jasmine helped her to tie it up in all the necessary places. There was a piece of cloth, almost like a sash, that she wore between her breasts, and Jasmine was able to talk her into letting her do her hair in the traditional Loni fashion.
“I’m sure, by now, the styles have changed on Kaldernon, but we were able to salvage the material that we needed to make this dress. Some of us took with us the last things that we were touching. It was the only way we were able to survive so long on Earth before we understood how the planet worked.”
“That must’ve been terrifying for you,” Krista said with a frown.
“It was difficult,” Jasmine said with a nod. “But things are much better now, and they’re certainly looking up. We may be able to find our way back after all. Lonis are blessed with sacred intuition.”
Krista sighed and allowed Jasmine to lead her into the dining hall. She hadn’t been out of her room in the medical ward since she arrived, and as they made their way through the halls, she found herself very saddened by the impoverished lifestyle that the Kersh people had been forced into. As soon as she walked into the dining hall, her eyes met instantly with Clayton’s. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment and motioned her toward him.
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