no were to run

by Robyn Peterman

  My brothers were in as bad shape as my mother if not worse. Maria cradled her father Sean in her arms and rocked him like a baby. Her tears flowed and her smile was blinding.

  “My name is Maria,” she whispered as the broken man in her arms reached up and touched her beautiful face. “I’m your daughter.”

  The guttural sound that came from my brother’s lips went straight to my heart and pierced it with deadly accuracy. The thought of not knowing about Daniel or losing him was far more than I could ever endure. My anger welled up again as I thought of all the lost years that my brother could have protected and loved his daughter. I thought of the desolation I’d suffered and the fear I’d lived with for hundreds of years. How much I had mourned my family…

  Little sparks burst out on my skin and I closed my eyes tight to rein in my fury.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” Lenny said quietly as he knelt down beside me. “It’s over and we can’t get the time back.” He caressed my sleeping mother’s face lovingly. “Do not let him win in death as he won in life.”

  “You knew he had them?” I asked.

  “I suspected, but like you I had to give up hope after a time.” He let his face fall to his hands and he sobbed.

  I touched my grandfather gently. He leaned into me and pressed his forehead to mine. My mother rested quietly between us.

  “You’ve got your hoard back,” I whispered.

  “No, my dear granddaughter. I already had my hoard.”

  “You did?” I asked, confused.

  “I did.” He nodded and kissed my cheek. “You, Daniel and Maria are my hoard. There is nothing more precious to me in the world. Now my hoard is bigger. And that blessing, my child, is because of you.”

  Emotion clogged my throat and I realized my hoard had grown as well. My hoard was now quite large and continued to increase. Luck had played no role in my life thus far so I had to believe this was fate—and that she was smiling down on me with love.

  “You knew this would happen?” I asked, still confused.

  “Seth had a vision and shared it with me when Nicolai rescued me all those years ago,” Lenny said.

  “What was it? Was it specific?”

  “Not to him, but it was to me.”

  I waited as my grandfather gathered himself. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  “Um…I don’t know. Do I?” Today had been long, I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore revelations.

  “You do. After today, you are ready to hear it,” Lenny said as he held out his arms for my mother.

  He lifted her as carefully as if she was spun glass and pressed his shaking lips to her forehead. She was his daughter and his love for her moved me back to tears.

  “The prophecy goes like this,” Seth said as he stood behind the quietly weeping Lenny. “I saw that one day Lenny would get his hoard back. It wasn’t clear to me exactly what the hoard was, but I knew it was meant to be.”

  “Is there more?”

  “Tell her,” Lenny said as Seth hesitated.

  “Yes, tell her,” Nicolai said. “I want to hear this too.”

  “I told him he had to wait for the true Dragon Queen,” Seth said and then paused.

  My gut clenched as I waited. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear the rest of it.

  “And?” Nicolai prompted his brother. “Out with it.”

  Unfortunately, everyone was interested now, including the Cows and the Vamps. The mood was somber as they gathered our dead, but they were all clear something rather large was about to go down.

  Seth cleared his throat and winked at me. “I knew the moment I saw you Dima. I’d been searching for you for decades,” he said.

  “Knew what?” Nicolai was impatient now—nothing new…

  “The true Dragon Queen will wear the mark of the Royal Dragon line. She will link the nations and by her side will stand the most powerful Dragon of them all. Together they will lead us to prosperity and peace.” Seth finished with a smile as all the Dragons and even the Cows and their Vamps went to their knees and bowed their heads.

  Oh. Shit. No.

  “You must have deciphered that one incorrectly,” I insisted as I jumped to my feet in agitation.

  I didn’t want to rule anyone. Ever. Monarchies were antiquated bullshit. Look at what my father had done with it. My God, I had a preschooler and a mate—which was somewhat the same thing as far as care went. I didn’t have time to rule a nation of violent freaks that were hated by every other Were species alive. This was not in my future plans. I needed a damned vacation, not a list of responsibilities and a crown.

  Frantically, I glanced around the room and wanted to scream. They were nuts to want me. I was grossly under qualified. I’d been away from my people for centuries. And then I saw Pat—face on the floor and hand in the air.

  “Do you have a question Pat?” I asked cautiously. I never knew what was going to come out of the Cows’ mouths.

  “I do,” she said but it came out all muffled because she was still face planted. “Can I rise, Your Majesty?”

  I rolled my eyes and wanted to punch something, but the sooner we got the questions over with the sooner I could explain why this was not going to work for me—or them.

  “Yes,” I said reluctantly as I watched Nicolai grin at me like an idiot.

  “I’d just like to put something out there as a possibility,” Pat said. “We had a little pow-wow outside after we ripped the air sharts and offed the guards.”

  Oh my God, this was going to be bad…

  “Since we don’t actually have a population anymore and we’re all mated to dead guys that don’t have little swimmers and can’t reproduce, we were just thinking maybe we could become part of the Dragons,” she said as she gave me an awkward bow and then promptly face planted back to the floor next to her sisters.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Nicolai muttered under his breath as he successfully bit back his laughter—barely.

  “Okay, everybody get up. This is making me very uncomfortable having to think while all of your asses are in the air,” I said as I began to pace.

  Pat had a fine point. They had earned their way into our weyr. Without them, this day might not have happened or we could have lost more of our army than we had. Maybe I could make this one call and then whoever was actually going to take the reins of this shitshow would honor it.

  “I say yes,” I announced to the slightly alarmed, but bemused Dragons. “The Cows have shown their loyalty to us and risked their lives for ours. If that doesn’t earn them a place in our weyr, I don’t know what does.”

  It took a minute or two of covertly exchanged glances and some quiet conversation, but once the cheering started I couldn’t even hear myself think. The Cows were crying tears of joy and the Vampyres flew around the room like mosquitos on speed. Even the Dragons were pleased.

  It felt good to do the right thing for my people.

  Oh.

  Shit…

  Epilogue

  Several Months Later.

  “Mommy, me going to go watch cartoons wif my gwandma,” Daniel announced as he raced from the kitchen in our new and way too big home.

  I’d agreed to the monstrosity only after Nicolai argued that we needed the room for my family to convalesce under our watchful eyes. I knew he’d just wanted the damn mansion, but his reasoning was sound as far as my mother and brothers went, so I let him win.

  I checked the clock on the wall and smoothed down my new sexy-not-slutty dress. I’d passed on all the dresses in the box that Dwayne had sent over—too much boob wasn’t the best option for an outdoor picnic with friends and family. Everyone was due to arrive in fifteen minutes and I was so excited it was almost embarrassing.

  Glancing out of the bay window, I grinned as Maria entertained her uncles and father with a story that I was certain was full of profanity. Sean didn’t mind his daughter’s foul mouth one bit, saying she came by it naturally as her mother cursed like a sailor.

 
It would take many years for my brothers and mother to heal—both mentally and physically, but with each day they made strides. The sheer will to live that had sustained them during their imprisonment and torture was a testament to how strong they were.

  Turned out Maria had spent as many years gathering up degrees as I had and ironically, she was a doctor. She’d moved into the guesthouse on the estate and had taken on the medical care of the family. Of course Dragons were very different than humans, but Maria had adapted her skills to the chemistry of our kind. However, the truth of the matter was that it was simply going to take time. Their bodies could only regenerate themselves in small increments due to the abuse they’d received.

  Lenny, Elaina and Seth had moved near us as well, along with the Dragons that were left and our honorary members…the Cows. Life was never boring and I’d never been happier.

  “If we sneak into the pantry we could have a quickie,” Nicolai whispered in my ear, startling me out of my reflections.

  “Um…while the thought is truly tempting, Mr. Horny Dragon, fifteen minutes is not enough time for a quickie with you,” I said with a giggle as I pressed my lips to his.

  He tasted like heaven and my inner Dragon actually considered his lewd offer. Thankfully my saner side won out. Getting busted in the pantry by guests was not my idea of a good time. I sighed and marveled that as huge as the house was, Nicolai’s presence was even larger. My Dragon was big and beautiful and mine.

  “This is true,” he boasted with a sly grin. “I’m kind of a three hour guy.”

  I rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm. “Do you think we have enough food?”

  I’d bought out the grocery store’s meat department and everyone was bringing a dish, but I was still worried. I’d never hosted a party in my life. I was a little ill thinking of everything that could go wrong.

  “We have enough,” Nicolai said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. “We have enough food to feed the entire state and then some. Stop worrying.”

  “I’m not,” I lied. “It’s just that the Wolves eat.”

  “And the Dragons don’t?” he asked with a bemused expression.

  “Shit,” I muttered as I yanked open the refrigerator and ransacked it for other things to serve.

  “Dima,” Nicolai said as he closed the fridge, lifted me up and plopped my butt on the granite countertop. “Relax. These are friends coming tonight. We could feed them peanut butter and jelly and it would be fine.”

  “No it wouldn’t,” I shot back appalled, imagining offering Junior or Hank a PB&J.

  “Okay, you’re right. It wouldn’t,” he agreed with a laugh. “But as I’ve already pointed out, we could feed an army. We’ve got this handled. I promise.”

  “Swear?” I asked as I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around his warm body.

  “I swear.”

  ***

  “So you think you’re gonna like livin’ in Hung, Georgia?” Granny asked Elaina as they sat on the porch and enjoyed the moonshine Granny had brought.

  My mother sat quietly with them and smiled. She and Elaina had resumed their close friendship with childlike wonder. It was beautiful and gave both of them a new strength and purpose. Granny had now joined their club as well.

  “I do believe I will, Bobby Sue,” Elaina said with a smile as she clinked her glass with Granny.

  “Well we sure enjoy havin’ you fire breathers here. Shakes it up and keeps it interesting,” she said with a cackle.

  Interesting was correct and a slight understatement. It had taken weeks of negotiation with the Council and the Shifters of Hung to get everyone on board with having a weyr live in tandem with other species. I’d spent a solid ten days in Chicago with Nicolai, Essie and Hank working a deal with the National Council to let Dragons have a seat on the board. It was drawn out and tedious, but worth it in the end. Seth was going to be the representative of our people to the Council.

  After about a month of being hounded by my people from all over the world, I’d caved and agreed to be the Dragon Queen. The first thing I did was forbid bowing and made it very clear that I would never wear a crown. Some of the old school Dragons were displeased with my lack of decorum, but eventually came around.

  Even the Dragons that had blindly followed my father were slowly beginning to accept my rule. Elaina had been correct. Dragons were steeped in tradition and needed the monarchy to survive.

  I’d been challenged a number of times by those still loyal to the very dead King and had taken my challengers down with ease. This was a sad necessity with our kind. Some would never get past the might makes right way of living. Nicolai was never happy when I took on an angry Dragon, but he was wildly impressed every time I kicked their ass. Which in turn led to mind altering sex—violence was hot to a Dragon. We could dress up and play nice, but at the end of the day we were the race that needed to blow off some steam with a little friendly bloodshed.

  “The party rocks,” Essie said as she grabbed me and hugged me hard. “I have a proposition for you, Dragon.”

  “Should I be terrified?” I inquired with a smirk.

  Essie was everything I’d ever dreamt a best friend could be—loyal, fierce and always ready to get into trouble. Sandy was awesome as well and I’d grown close to some of our Dragons. My life had changed so dramatically in the last few months it made my head spin.

  “No you should not.” Essie laughed and then pulled me to a quiet spot over by the swing set. “I’d like you to be a bridesmaid in my wedding. What do you say?”

  I was stunned speechless. She wanted me to be part of the most important day of her life? I grabbed her arm because I thought my knees might give out. I could fry a Dragon with out blinking, but this was something different.

  “Dude, you totally don’t have to,” Essie said as she held me up. “I just thought…”

  “Yes!” I shouted as both of us winced at my volume. “I mean yes. I would be honored.”

  “Good,” she said with a grin. “However, just a heads up…Dwayne is picking out the dresses. Be prepared to be exposing some boob.”

  I rolled my eyes and scanned the yard until I found the Vampyre in question. Dwayne was holding court and doing his Cher impressions for a group of confused Dragons and his daughters the Cows. Dwayne was still livid that his girls had eloped with their Vampyre lovers, but planning Essie’s wedding had taken away some of the sting.

  The Vampyres were on all fours being ridden like horses by the four year old Shifter posse. Daniel had both the Vamps and the Cows wrapped around his chubby little fingers. The visual I was looking at was all kinds of strange and all kinds of wonderful.

  Daniel was going to nursery school with other Shifters his age. His happiness at having friends made me feel guilty about how sheltered his life had been, but Nicolai would hear none of it. He insisted repeatedly that the reason Daniel was alive was because I’d kept him hidden. He was able to go to school now because I’d been such a good mother. The first day was a little rough as Daniel accidentally burnt the snack room to the ground in a blast of excited fire, but no one was hurt and the teachers assured me that things like that happened all the time. I didn’t quite believe them, but was grateful that my boy was allowed to come back.

  I checked on my brothers. They were sitting quietly, enjoying the fun. Seth sat with them and pointed out who was who. They still didn’t speak much, but I knew from their smiles they were enjoying themselves. At night I often slipped into my mother’s and brothers’ rooms and sang them the same lullabies that my mother had sung to us as children. It still broke my heart to see them as weak as they were, but having them back was a blessing I couldn’t even describe. Maria sat close to Sean with her head on his shoulder. She was rarely far from her father and that seemed to suit them both fine.

  “I still can’t get over it,” Junior said as he walked over and trapped me in a bear hug.

  “Can’t get over what?” I asked.

  “That,” he said as he
pointed to where Lenny was talking with a beautiful couple who didn’t seem quite comfortable in their skin.

  Junior, in all of his clumsy MENSA brilliance, had correctly guessed that my father had somehow used Lenny’s magic to trap the wolves in their shifted forms. He deduced that the only way to reverse it was for Lenny to undo the spell. Lenny had been more than game and the end result was the beautiful couple who were still trying to get used to standing on two legs instead of four. Not only had he reversed the spell on Essie’s parents, but for the rest of the feral pack as well.