Tempting Treasure (Ashland Pride Book Ten)

by R. E. Butler

  “We’re thankful you’re safe,” Brian said.

  “Me too. I would have felt terrible if something happened to me or Hope while we were there.”

  Kevin kissed her shoulder, and sighed. “Do you think Hope can really contact the goddess?”

  “I believe so. The information she copied said that gods and goddesses are in a heavenly realm and can be reached through a spell that calls them to our realm. She copied the spell and I made sure I had all the ingredients necessary.”

  Kevin fell asleep shortly after that, listening to Brian and Treasure talk softly about the future, and the goddess and her curse.

  Chapter 7

  Several days later, Treasure and Hope sat at the kitchen table in the home her mates had built and stared at the copied pages that Hope had brought back from the fae realm. They were reading about Hrixalda, the goddess who had created all shifters and cursed the mountain lion females.

  “Okay,” Hope said, sitting back and rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms. “So we need to contact her on the first day of a lunar month, which is the full moon. We need to time it during the moon’s descent.”

  “Right,” Treasure said. “Since we missed the full moon in July already, we’ll have to contact her on August first, which is less than a month away.”

  “What does it mean by the moon’s descent?”

  “When it’s setting.” Treasure opened the web browser on her phone and looked up the moonset for their area. “It’s at 9:04 p.m.”

  “Timing seems to be everything with gods and goddesses.”

  “Seems so.”

  “Are you sure I can do this?”

  “Yes. I’m not one of her creations. She didn’t make dragons; our people were forged by the descendant of the god of war. I can be with you, but I can’t contact her directly. You have to cast the spell and call for her.”

  “You think she’ll show?”

  “If she’s alive, yes.”

  “What happens if she’s dead?”

  “From what I’ve read, only the goddess who cast the curse can remove it. If she’s dead, then the curse stands and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “Ugh, I hope she’s alive. If we go through all this trouble and she’s dead, I’m going to have a cow.”

  Treasure blinked at the odd phrase. “Have a cow do what?”

  Hope smiled. “I mean I’m going to flip out.”

  “Like cows do?”

  “No, you goofball. It’s just a saying.”

  “Gotcha. I’ll have a cow with you, too.”

  Hope looked down at the papers. “We’ve got a little less than a month to get ready for this. I took a picture of the spell in case something happens to our copy. The ingredients are ready to go we just have to wait for August first. Right now, we should be focused on you. You’re getting married and mated in ten days, and tonight is the Fourth of July, which means fireworks and a big party at the boarding house.”

  Treasure liked the Fourth celebration, particularly because Lisa would make Treasure’s favorite apple pie and Rhett would make gallons of vanilla ice cream to serve on top of the slices. And then in less than two weeks, she’d be meeting her mates at their favorite spot under the tree and declaring their love for each other.

  Treasure gathered the papers into a folder and stood. Hope followed her to the living room, where she put the folder on the shelf with her father’s books.

  “Have you and your mates decided when you’re going to get mated and married?” Treasure asked as they headed outside into the July afternoon heat to go to Rhett and Lisa’s.

  “No. I don’t really think we need to rush.”

  “According to Lisa, waiting has its benefits. But it seems like mountain lion males in general are ready to jump into a mating az-ap.”

  Hope frowned. “Az-ap? What does that mean?”

  “You know, like immediately. Az-ap.”

  “Oh, you mean ASAP.”

  “Isn’t that what I said?”

  “Not remotely, but it’s okay. You’re getting better.”

  “Thanks, bestie.”

  “You’re right, though. I think I could have told my guys that I wanted to be mated and married the day we met, and they would have had no problem with that.”

  “Yeah, like you’re mates, so what’s the point of waiting?”

  “I was thinking, actually, that I wouldn’t mind mating them before school starts. Maybe a few days after I contact the goddess. Then we’ll have time to spend together before I start working. But I’m not sure where we’re going to live.”

  “I think you should talk to your mates,” Treasure said.

  “Oh? What have you heard?”

  “Not heard so much as dreamed.”

  Hope rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “You and your dreams.”

  “Sometimes they’re prophetic.”

  “So you dreamed about me and my mates living somewhere?”

  “Yep.” They climbed the stairs to the front porch and opened the farmhouse door. The house smelled like apple pie and cinnamon, and they both inhaled and grinned at each other. “I dreamed that our kids were playing together, and that we lived next door to each other.”

  “Aw, I’d love that.”

  “Love what?” Lisa asked, turning from the oven. She held a deep-dish apple pie with oven mitts, steam rising from the surface of the lattice crust. Treasure’s mouth watered, and her dragon trilled happily.

  “Our kids growing up together,” Hope said. She snagged an apple from the basket on the kitchen table and took a bite. “I was just thinking out loud about where my mates and I will live.”

  “You can stay here as long as you like, of course, but I understand that you’ll want to live with them at some point. There’s plenty of room for a house for your family on the farm, though.”

  “Do you think so?” Hope asked.

  “Absolutely. It’s interesting that you mention it, because Rhett and I were out walking the other day and he said the section near Treasure’s home is just the right size for another house. I wondered if you and the boys would like to build there, and he said he’d offer. You could be neighbors.”

  “I’d love that so much,” Hope said. “You just made my day.”

  “Talk to your mates, and then all four of you can talk to Rhett.”

  “Yay!” Treasure did a little happy dance. “When you marry your mates, and I marry mine, we’ll be cousins-in-law, and we’re already besties, and adopted sisters, and then we can also be neighbors. A quadruple threat!”

  Hope grinned. “I can’t wait.”

  * * *

  Fae Realm, King Ladon’s lair

  Drayce, only son of the king of the dragon clan, walked toward his father’s audience chamber. He’d been summoned during sword training, and he’d reluctantly put his training on hold to see what he was needed for. Two young dragons opened the ornate doors of the chamber for him as he approached, ducking their heads in a respectful bow.

  His father sat on his throne, his face creased in a frown as he stared into a looking glass.

  “You called for me?” Drayce asked, taking a knee out of respect for his father’s station and then rising to his feet.

  “Two strangers came into our realm a few nights ago.”

  “Fae?” he asked.

  “I’m not certain. The protection ward was activated and alerted me to the intrusion that night. I sent guards to investigate, but they saw nothing.”

  Drayce frowned. “If they didn’t see anything, then perhaps it was an animal.”

  His father rolled his eyes and handed the looking glass to him. “You know very well that the spell I cast wouldn’t activate for a common animal. Two people came into our territory for several hours, and then left without a trace. See for yourself.”

  Drayce called for his dragon and his vision changed, allowing him to see into the looking glass. The glass showed the entirety of the dragon clan’s territory. Although there were fewe
r than fifty dragons left in the entire realm, their territory was quite large, and his father was fanatical about keeping their people safe. For centuries, fae had hunted their kind to use their scales, bodies, and blood in spell-casting. After many of their kind were killed in battle, his father took their people away, far out of the reach of the fae. If any of them ventured into dragon territory, they were swiftly killed.

  He moved his hand on the glass, zooming in. It was like watching a video: the looking glass could show anything that had happened in their protected territory at any time. There was a muted flash, and he fixated on that, watching it again and again. Then there was an odd glow within a small house he’d never seen before. Hours later, the glow was gone, and the muted flash happened again.

  “I think it’s a portal. But where is that house?” he asked, handing the glass back to his father.

  “It’s right on the edge of our territory.” Ladon stroked his chin and looked at the glass for a moment. “Did I ever tell you about my friend Valor?”

  “I think you’ve mentioned him. Why?”

  “He chose a fae as a mate and moved to the edge of our territory. Her name was Deandra. Eventually, they were both slaughtered by her people.” He tapped the glass. “That’s his house.”

  “Why didn’t he live with our people, where it’s safer? The home is literally straddling the territory lines between the dragons and the fae.”

  “That’s a good question. Why don’t you figure it out?”

  “For what purpose, Father?”

  “Because someone went into that house and was there for quite a while. I need to know who it was and what they were doing. Go to the house, cast a discovery spell, and bring me the trespassers.”

  He stared at his father for a long moment. “Did Valor and Deandra have children?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Now be off with you. I’ll expect a report by dawn.”

  Drayce bowed his head and then turned on his heels, leaving the chamber. When he entered the training camp, he called his two best friends, Denn and Jasper, to join him on an excursion on the king’s behalf. They agreed, happy to get out of training for the night.

  “What are we looking for?” Denn asked as he slipped his sword into the sheath on his back.

  “I haven’t the foggiest. Maybe a ghost.”

  “Hey, whatever gets me out of this repetitive-as-hell training,” Jasper said.

  “I heard that,” the master trainer shouted. “You’ll all train twice as hard tomorrow night. Even you, Your Highness.”

  “Damn it,” Jasper said.

  “Come on,” Drayce said, clapping them on the backs. “The night is young. Let’s go hunting.”

  * * *

  Treasure was having the strangest dream. She dreamed she was asleep in her room and a strange man appeared out of a portal. He had dark hair and the build of a warrior, with leathery wings and a sword in one hand. He moved silently toward her and hovered over her bed. His eyes were glowing a deep emerald color, and a dragon’s trill came from his throat. She found herself immobile, her limbs frozen, even when he leaned over her and sniffed her. Then he hummed and disappeared back through the portal.

  When she woke in the morning, she couldn’t shake the strange feeling that the dream was somehow real. The scent of sulfur and burnt wood seemed to linger in the air.

  Had she dreamed it, or had it really happened?

  She changed from her pajamas into a pair of shorts and a tank top and headed down to the kitchen. Lisa smiled at her as she set a gallon of milk on the table.

  “Morning, honey. How did you sleep?”

  “Not well.”

  “Oh? I’m sorry. Bad dream?”

  Treasure opened her mouth to tell Lisa about the dream, but then she realized that if she told her mother she might freak out, particularly if Treasure said she felt like the dream might have actually happened. After getting busted coming back from the fae realm, her parents – and her mates – were a little hyper-sensitive about her safety.

  Instead of the full truth, she said, “I had a strange dream, that’s all.”

  Lisa’s brow lifted. “Strange how?”

  She waved her hand dismissively and went to the cabinet where the tea was kept. She pulled a tin of mango green tea from the shelf and set it on the counter. “I don’t think I could explain it. You know how dreams are.”

  “Well, yours tend to be weird more often than not, I think.”

  They chatted for a bit while the tea kettle heated. Treasure bobbed the mesh ball in the mug, grabbed a banana from the table, and told Lisa she’d see her for dinner. Although she had projects she needed to work on in the shed, the dream plagued her; she knew she needed to look at her spell books. She walked to the farmhouse and headed straight for the living room. Her mother’s books, along with the ones she’d saved from her aunt’s house, were on a shelf above her father’s.

  Taking the spell books off the shelf, she sat on the floor with them and put her mug of steaming tea next to her. She knew there had to be a way to tell if the dream was real or just her overactive imagination. She searched the books for spells about dreams, but found nothing that could help her. The dream sections all seemed to be about how to guarantee sweet dreams or protect against bad ones. There was nothing about investigating whether a dream had actually occurred.

  “Hey,” Kevin said.

  She looked over at him standing in the doorway and smiled. “Hey, yourself.”

  “I was heading out with Dad to mend fences at the back of the property when I noticed the front door was open. Whatcha up to?”

  “I had a weird dream last night, and I was wondering if I could cast a spell to figure it out.”

  She closed the books and carried them to the shelf.

  “Did you have any luck?”

  “No. I guess I’ll just have to see if I have it again.”

  “You’re pretty used to having strange dreams.”

  After replacing all the books, she picked up her mug and walked to her mate, giving him a kiss. “Definitely.”

  “We’re another day closer to our mating,” he said, smiling down at her as he rested his hands on her waist.

  “I know! Can you believe that after all these years of waiting we’re nearly at the finish line?”

  “I can’t wait to make you mine.”

  “I’m already yours.”

  “You know what I mean. The three of us, starting our lives together. No more living in separate places, no more answering to our parents for our time together. We’ll be free to do what we want.”

  “I love that, and I can’t wait.”

  “You’re worth any amount of time to wait, Treasure.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and she shivered at the light touch.

  Rising onto her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Just as the kiss deepened and his hands slid under her top, Grant called from outside the house.

  “Kev, we’ve got work to do!”

  Kevin snarled unhappily as the kiss broke, and Treasure giggled. “Later.”

  “You know it.”

  She walked him outside and said hello to Grant. She watched as they headed into the cornfield to work, which reminded her that she had projects that needed tending to. She made her way to her workshop, deciding that the dream was just that: a dream, and not worth getting worked up over. It wasn’t her first weird dream, and going to the fae realm and reconnecting with her childhood home had probably stirred up some old memories that were seeping into her subconscious.

  It was a new day, and she wasn’t going to waste another minute on the dream from the night before.

  Chapter 8

  Treasure parked next to the boarding house and turned off the engine. She took off her sunglasses and put them in the cup holder, squinting at the bright morning sunshine as she got out of the car. She and Hope had a shopping day planned, which would be capped off with a specialty coffee drink at their new favorite place in Ashland, Bec
k’s Coffee.

  She climbed the stairs to the boarding house and opened the door.

  “Hope?” she called.

  “In the kitchen.”

  Treasure walked into the kitchen and found Hope talking to Jilly at the island, a platter of mini-muffins between them.

  “Morning,” Jilly said, giving Treasure a hug. “I made treats.”

  “Oh yum,” Treasure said, picking up a lemon blueberry one and popping it into her mouth. “How’re you and the little one doing?”

  Jilly was six months pregnant with their fourth child. She rubbed her extended belly with a sweet smile. “I was fine when I made the muffins last night for a craving, but this morning they’re grossing me out so I brought them here. Otherwise, we’re good. What are you two up to today?”

  “Since the guys and I picked the date for our mating and marriage ceremony, Treasure and I are going dress shopping,” Hope told her.

  “I’m going to video call Honor so she can be part of it with us.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet.”

  “Would you like to come?” Hope asked.

  “Thanks, but I can’t. The boys are waiting for me so we can go out for breakfast while James and Dad watch the kids.”

  “Have fun,” Treasure said.

  “You too!”

  Treasure picked up another muffin and said, “I wish I could bake this well.”

  “I’m learning. Lisa’s a great teacher, and so is Sam.”

  “Even with help I still mess things up.” She gestured to the platter of perfect little muffins. “The last time I made muffins, I forgot the baking powder and they were hard like hockey pucks.”

  “At least you can grill like a champ. I’m more of a casserole person.”

  Treasure loved to use the outdoor kitchen at the boarding house. Her mates promised to build a similar one for their house. She wanted to add an outdoor oven to it as well, so she could make wood-fired pizzas and other fun things.