Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series)

by Mills, Julia

  Mr. A cleared his throat and the waitresses cleaned up the empty dishes, refilled their glasses, and exited through the same door they had entered. “Now that you gentleman have had time to review my proposal, can I assume since you are still here that the terms meet your approval?”

  Master Eaton spoke first, “Yes, it is quite satisfactory.”

  Mr. A nodded, and looked to Andrew. “Yes,” he answered.

  Their host clapped his hands together, “Wonderful! Andrew, one of my associates will show you to your room. Please get your things moved in as soon as possible so that we may get to work. Also, I will need a list of those that will be joining you here. As I am sure you saw in my proposal, I am limiting it to ten, including yourself. I trust that will be satisfactory.”

  Andrew nodded, thinking there was no way he was having any of his compatriots stay in this compound with him. As long as they remained on the outside, they were free to work independently of Mr. A’s operations. Free to stay on the path he had set for them. He would agree to join with these two, but he would never tell them everything he knew…that was just bad business. His ultimate goal was and would always be to destroy the Dragon Guard. Everything that he did was towards that end, and he would succeed. Working with Master Eaton and Mr. A would only be a means to an end.

  He had an idea. If he could simply bide his time and learn all he could about the inner workings of both operations, then when the time was right, he would be able swoop in and take over everything. The wizards that followed Master Eaton, and the hired thugs that followed Mr. A, would follow whoever they believed had the most power, and in the end it would be him. He could see in their eyes they discounted him, just as those fucking Guardsmen had always done. The idiots had thought they could treat him like the ‘little brother’ for his entire life. The ones he dealt with at this moment thought he was expendable, and he was going to use that in his favor.

  First order of business was to get Kyra back. Her magic was one of the most important parts of his plan, as well as his alliance. He would sacrifice girls if that was what it took, and he would fill himself with an unending fount of black magic. All to see the fear in those he had once thought of as brethren as he removed their heads from their bodies. Hell, he might even have a few werepanther pelts to decorate his walls before it was over. Those douche bag cats would suffer just for their association with the Dragon Guard.

  Mr. A stood, “Gentlemen, please excuse me, I have other appointments. We will talk in the next few days.”

  He stepped towards Andrew with his hand outstretched, and they shook. The cold dead look in his eyes confirmed what Andrew’s heightened sense of smell had already told him. The man was dipping into the black magic. It seems the boys had gotten started without him. The traitor exited the room as the other two men were shaking hands. There was too much to get ready for the next phase of his plan to stand around playing nice. As he exited the mansion, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, turned it on, and called John. “Change of plans,” was all he said before disconnecting the call and exiting the property. Things were about to get interesting and those fucking Guardsmen better enjoy every minute of every day, because theirs were numbered.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  When she returned to the hospital the day after accepting Lance’s marriage or mating proposal, wearing the absolutely gorgeous ring he had given her, her coworkers had freaked out. If she had a nickel for every time someone said, “We thought you would be the last one of us to ever get married” she would be a rich chick. Dr. Monoghan had approved her request for six weeks off on the spot. He had even congratulated her, assuring her spot would be waiting when she returned. Charlie had pulled her to the side, surprised she was returning at all. When Sam had told her that it was Lance that insisted she only take a leave and come back to finish her residency, her friend had swooned a little, telling her how lucky she was. Wholeheartedly agreeing, she spent the rest of the day missing her mate, and counting the hours until she could head back to him.

  It had taken them a week to get everything ready to go to the lair as everyone kept calling it. She was really kind of freaked out not knowing what to expect. Lance, Grace, Kyndel, and even Siobhan had spent tons of time answering all her questions, with the most coming when all the girls got together and discussed the mating ceremony. Every woman had their own unique story to tell, each just as magical as the other, demonstrating how important and special this rite was to their culture. She giggled when she realized that it was the men that did all the planning. Her imagination ran away with her as she thought of the things her extraordinary mate might come up with.

  It was also incredibly interesting to learn that when the dragons entrusted their souls to the knights that almost all the female dragons had been destroyed by the wizards and their cohorts, the hunters. The dragons had been searching for answers with extinction knocking at their door. Their Elders met in the most ancient and holy of places, praying continually to the Universe for almost twenty years for an answer. It was the night before the Joining Ceremony while the mage and the dragons were making preparations that their prayers were answered. Two lovebirds entered the cave where the Elders prayed, deep in the earth surrounded my miles and miles of rock. They landed on their altar at the center of their Prayer Circle and began to sing a beautiful song. These words appear in the air above them as their melody rang out. “From the human race, women with great power will be born. Not the power to maim or destroy but the power to love, to heal, to uplift, and to rebuild. The beautiful ones will be created as the perfect complement for the men who take up our spirits. One woman destined for one man, to live on Earth and in the Heavens joined for all times. When the time is right, they shall discover one another. The two will become one, and the woman will provide the man and the beast with love, light and hope. Together they shall provide heirs that will allow our great race to continue for all eternity.” She’d asked if there were any female dragons left but no one answered, and she got the idea they had avoided the question. She let it drop but tucked it away for another time.

  The best surprise of all came when Grace called her into her office the night before they were to leave. She had been trying to find her iPod for Sydney when she heard, “Hey, Sam, is that you?”

  “Yep, sure is,” she said as she headed towards the door. “Whatcha need?” She asked as she flopped on the couch just inside the other woman’s office.

  “I just got a call.” Grace paused, and Sam braced for whatever was to come next. “It was from the judge handling Sydney’s case.” She smiled, and Sam let go of the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

  “Tell me, Grace! You’re killing me here.” She knew she’d raised her voice, but there was no way to stop it. She was freaking out.

  “We got the approval to take her out of the county. Sydney gets to go the lair with us and will be there for your mating ceremony.”

  She jumped up and ran around the desk, hugging Grace for all she was worth, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “It was you that made the best impression on the home visit. And I quote, ‘In all my years in child services, I have never seen a foster parent care so deeply for her ward.’ That was just one of the positive comments the new social worker had to say. It was all you, love.”

  Sam’s vision wavered as she let the tears fall. She really did love that little girl.

  Kissing Grace on the cheek, she ran out of the office, and hollered over her shoulder, “Thank you Grace! You’re the best! Gotta go tell Syd and Lance!” The sound of laughter was all she heard as she raced down the hall.

  They hardly slept the rest of the night. When morning came, and it was time to head to the lair and the girls had all of their luggage at the bottom of the stairs. She and Sydney made breakfast, and then lunch for everybody; the waiting was killing them. They were down in the basement looking for a doll when Lance took them back upstairs with the guise of forgetting something, but as soon as the
y stepped onto the patio at the back of house both she and Sydney stopped short. There, standing not a hundred feet from them, were five fully mature, absolutely breathtaking dragons. She looked at Sydney, who smiled ear to ear while squealing her delight, and then at her mate, who wore his patented shit-eating grin complete with dimple and twinkling eyes. As she turned back to take in the splendor of the moment, Lance moved behind her and whispered, “You asked if we were all the same color. I figured showing was better than telling.” She nodded, still unable to speak.

  When her brain finally started to work again, she asked, “Aren’t you guys afraid of being seen.”

  “Yes, but we took care of it. Close your eyes, and try to clear your mind.”

  It took a few seconds and a few deep breaths, but finally her mind was empty. In the next heartbeat, she could see an array of translucent colors that reminded her of the ‘rainbow’ from an oil-covered puddle when the noon day sun shined upon it. She gasped, and her eyes flew open, “What was that?”

  “That, mo chori is a shield created from our combined dragon magic. I shared what I could of my enhanced vision so that you could see it.” He sounded so proud.

  “This is what it will be like once we are officially mated?”

  “It’ll be so much better, Doc…so much better,” he said as he kissed her cheek.

  They stepped off the wooden deck, and walked toward the men in their dragon forms. The beast closest to them was biggest by far and had the most vibrant, royal blue with deep green scales running throughout, that it resembled the pictures of the water in the Caribbean that she had seen in the travel magazines Momma Maybelle had strewn all over her house. From his sheer size, she was sure it was Royce, but when he lowered his head and looked at her, it was the gentleness deep in the brown orb that confirmed it. Something told her that he had suckered more than one opponent into thinking his gentle nature meant he wouldn’t tear them apart and they’d been sorely surprised.

  Behind Royce and to the right, were two silver dragons with glittering black scales running down both sides of one and covering the underbelly of the other. They were nowhere near as massive as Royce, but formidable in their own right. The dragons bent their front legs until their knees touched the grass and they bowed their massive heads. She saw whiskey eyes in one, and blue in the other, confirming it was Aidan and Aaron, twins as men, twins as dragons.

  Kyndel was standing to her left, and even if she hadn’t already known from the flaming red of the scales on the next beast that is was Rayne, the loving smile of his mate and the constant ‘da da da da’ of Jay, were dead giveaways. Then there was the commanding way he held himself, and the laser stare from his violet eyes.

  Standing at the back had to be Devon, who although the others said was coming out of his shell, still talked way less than everyone else. She recognized him from his mother’s description of his father’s dragon and the heart scale she had seen in Siobhan’s locket. His beast had to be the most unique of them all, with opalescent white scales that covered his entire body. As he took a few steps towards them, an array of colors appeared and disappeared, making his gigantic body seem even more magical than she knew it to be. He stood just a bit taller than Rayne’s dragon, but not near as tall as Royce’s dragon, and his body was sleek, with a longer, thinner tail like the twins. The one thing that remained constant as she looked from dragon to dragon was the array of deadly spikes and thorns that adorned their bodies, reminding her how lethal in battle they would be.

  Filled with gratitude for what these men had just done for her, she said, “Thank you so very much, so very very much.”

  Each dragon returned to standing, and dipped their heads in acknowledgement. Lance spoke from behind her ear, causing goosebumps to rise on her arms, “Do you want me to ride with you? Royce volunteered to take us, or do you want me to call forth my dragon for you and Syd to ride?”

  She spun in his arms, and looked him square in the eye, “I want you to fly, please?”

  “You got it, Doc,” he swooped down, laid a really quick, really amazing kiss on her lips, and before she had her eyes open, had called forth his beast.

  Standing before her was the golden dragon from her ‘dream’, more magnificent than she remembered. He truly reminded her of everything she had ever read about the knight, Lancelot. She would have to remember to tell him the nickname she’d given his dragon when they reached their destination. At this angle, she could see that on his proud chest the gold looked more like silk. She moved forward, completely unafraid of the huge beast before her. Standing on tip toes to reach as high as she could, she felt the underbelly of the dragon that was also her mate. He shivered in response to her touch, and she felt the earth quake a bit with him. It was a giddy feeling to know she had that effect on something so large and powerful. Stepping back so that she could see his face, she was not surprised to find that even in his magical form, he appeared to have a smirk on his face.

  In unison, the dragons of Aidan, Rayne and Lance held out their front right paw, palm up, and placed them on the ground. She glanced over to find Grace crawling into Aidan’s colossal paw. She and Sydney followed suit by climbing into Lance’s front paw. The child vibrated with excitement and giggled as Sam also climbed into ‘Lancelot’s’ outstretched palm. “This is the coolest thing ever, huh, Dr. Sam?”

  “It sure is, Syd.”

  Once they were seated, he closed his long massive toes around them, and she heard the click of his imposing claws. Lance had always made her feel safe…protected. Witnessing his dragon and feeling the raw power thrumming through him only solidified all she knew. This man…this dragon, would protect her, and all that she held dear with everything he was, and that was truly saying something.

  Settled in with Sydney by her side, the wind from his long, powerful wings ruffled their hair. They felt his body lower slightly and with no more movement than getting off the couch, he launched them into the sky. Magical was the only word that came to mind as they soared through the sky.

  The flight to the lair was absolutely awe-inspiring. Had she not been actually sitting in the palm of a 1000 pound, prehistoric beast gliding across the sky, she would’ve sworn she’d fallen through the looking glass. But it was real, completely and totally real, and simply the best thing aside from meeting Lance that had ever happened to her. Surreal didn’t even begin to describe the experience, and she had the most wonderful man in the world to thank for it. Sydney constantly asked questions or commented on the things they saw. The child’s enthusiasm was infectious, and before long, they were playing ‘I Spy’ but on a whole new level.

  Sam could only imagine what they looked like from the ground. Rayne’s red dragon led the way with them right behind, Aidan and Aaron on either side, and Royce and Devon following behind. She knew the dragon magic hid them from sight, but was sure that back when a dragon soaring in the sky was a commonplace event, it had been spectacular to watch.

  Looking at her watch, she was shocked to see they’d been in the air almost three hours. Time had just flown by, she thought to herself, and then laughed at her pun. She could feel them descending, and the butterflies in her stomach began to flutter with loads of excitement, and a healthy dose of nerves. Lance had explained so much, but talking about it was way different than actually seeing it.

  They touched down, and after a dozen steps Lancelot stopped completely. He lowered his paw to the ground, and opened his palm. Climbing to the ground, she noticed they were high atop a ridge that overlooked a lush green valley with a thriving community right in the center, which had to be her mate’s home. Across from where she stood, there was another larger mountain with hundreds of caves and outcroppings. The whole place looked like it had come right off a movie screen. Sydney yelled, “Hey Dr. Sam, let’s go!”

  She turned to see men where a few minutes ago there had been dragons. They were all dressed in the same clothes she remembered them wearing back at Aidan and Grace’s, and she once again stood in awe of
the power of their magic. “Yeah, Doc, let’s go!” her mate yelled as he lifted Sydney onto his shoulders. She caught up to them, and together their entire party walked down the path to meet the people that would become her family.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Sam and Sydney were welcomed by everyone they came in contact with, just as he knew they would be, but that didn’t stop his chest from puffing out with the pride he felt from presenting the one the Universe had made for only him to his clan.

  The girls wanted to see the village right away, and there was no way he could deny either of them anything even if he did want some alone time with his spectacular mate. When they reached the Town Square (as Kyndel had renamed the center of their lair) Sam and Sydney’s eyes flitted from one thing to another, taking it all in. This was the commerce center of the lair holding all the merchants and craftsmen as well as the school for the children. They stopped at shop after shop and bought little trinkets along the way, but it was Emma, the jewelry artisan’s studio that had them both staring in awe.

  Emma made jewelry from the dragon scales that were broken or misshapen, and not useful in any other way. She was by far the most gifted craftsman in their clan, and according to Siobhan, just recently her powers as a mystic had manifested. It appeared she was adjusting well, at least until she touched Sydney’s hand while explaining a specific piece of jewelry. It happened in a split second. He was sure that neither of his girls noticed that Emma’s eyes had glassed over and she had swayed slightly. She looked at him over the child’s head, and then averted her eyes. He called to Rayne and Royce through their link, “Emma, the jeweler, has mystic powers. I completely forgot Siobhan telling me about it after I woke up. I just witnessed them for myself when she touched Sydney. Can one of you talk to her, and see what that was all about? I don’t want to upset Sam until I know what it is.”