“Do you know how much that means to me? I didn’t think I’d ever be so conservative in my views, so biased, but the idea of you being just for me, it’s like a gift that has no price. I can’t tell you … I don’t have words for that.”
“And that’s the reason I knew it was right. A girl only dreams of being with someone for the first time who will appreciate the gift for what it is. Who will take care of her and not hurt her. And won’t make her regret it.” She turned to him, placing a hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry I acted the way I did after we had sex. I’m sure it hurt for me to turn away, but after that, I knew things were different, no matter how much I didn’t want them to be. I was scared.”
“I know, love. I felt it too. I just hid it a little better, I guess.”
“I’m glad you did. At least one of us needed to be sane in that moment.”
“In the interest of disclosing our lives, there’s one more thing you need to know, I guess.” Vichter smiled down at her. This was the one secret he’d wanted to share most and was most scared of her reaction.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” She pulled out a piece of bubblegum from her pocket, popping the pink ball into her mouth.
“I’m rich. Like, ridiculously rich, by human standards.”
Ashlyn shot up off his lap. “By human standards? What does that mean?”
“Dragons accumulate a lot of wealth. We’re treasure gatherers. And it’s passed down. Again and again. It’s not squandered or risked. We just collect things over the years, and it grows. My parents are gone, like yours, but I got to grow up with them, my brother and me. We own everything they had. And we’ll either share it or divide it when we get married. Most dragons live in giant estates, with lots of family together. I’d like for my brother to stay, but that’s up to him and his future mate. And mine.”
“So … what are we talking? Millions? Billions?”
He wasn’t bragging; it was like he was admitting something that made him nervous or uncomfortable. As if he were guilty.
“I’m honestly not sure. Billions. Maybe trillions. Much of it is antique treasures, lost artifacts … It’s hard to put a price on this stuff. One family of dragons has the Arc.”
“The Arc? The Arc of the Covenant?” Ashlyn looked rather pale, like she was going to faint.
“Are you okay? Breathe for me, Ashlyn, it’s not that big of a deal to me. If it upsets you, I’ll give it all to my brother. We can start fresh, just you and me. We don’t need all that.”
He was serious. She could hear it in his voice. “It’s not that, Vichter. I’m not afraid of money. But we’re not talking money. We’re talking treasure, art, antiques … stuff that hasn’t been seen in centuries. And you have it hiding in the rainforest of Brazil?!”
“Not just lying under a tree or anything!” he replied, incredulous. “We have houses, you know. And caves. And lots of underground tunnels.”
“Oh my God, it’s a commune. A commune of the richest, fire-breathing dragons in the world.” Ashlyn laughed uncontrollably.
Finally, she sat up, and he dreaded what she would say, but she surprised him again.
“Let’s go find a warm, safe place for this little fella. I don’t think he’d survive through what I’m about to do to you.”
He’d have been afraid of what she meant, but the gleam in her eye made it all too clear.
13
Ashlyn
Ashlyn could feel the darkness outside, though she couldn’t see it. There was no more time to say goodbye. No more time to learn about each other. No more time to fall in love.
Vichter didn’t have anything to take with him besides the egg. When he was gone, there would be nothing left of him besides what was in her mind.
He was gathering some of the food left from their picnic, for them to eat in bed. They had made love all afternoon. Sometimes slow and sweet, other times fast and desperate. Each time, she just wanted to imprint everything on her mind so it would play out like a movie after he was gone. But memory didn’t work like that.
It was bittersweet, their last meal together. Not any calmer than she was, he was shaking and dropping things. She wanted to soothe him, but she didn’t have any reassurance to give.
What was it she truly wanted in life? Friends and family. She had been driven for so long to just stay sane, to have the starting point she needed to build the life she never had. But now, looking at a future without Vichter, it seemed as empty and depressing as this decrepit farmhouse she now called home.
Ashlyn wanted to yell “Screw it!” and just take off with him into the sunset. That’s the way every fairy tale ended. But she knew better than that. She knew there were monsters and demons and dragons. She knew people would hurt you and not even know it. People who didn’t know you or understand you would abandon you and cast you out. And the dragons didn’t know her.
Vichter was rich. She didn’t have the first idea about how to be rich. She didn’t know how to be refined or posh. She couldn’t run a mansion like some politician’s wife. She liked the idea of her future children being secure, happy, and well cared for. But that took more than money. Could she raise baby dragons?
Just thinking about it made her head hurt. Why couldn’t something in her life come easily? Ashlyn was so tired of making concessions, sacrificing and wondering what tomorrow would bring. She craved a stable life, but she also knew the only way to get it was to build it for yourself.
Vichter placed a small bowl of fruit in her hands, giving her something to concentrate on besides her own thoughts.
“Ash? Can I say something?”
“Sure. Why would you think you couldn’t?” She smiled and kissed him on the cheek as he settled himself back in the bed.
“Well, I’m torn. There’s part of me that says I should just let you make your own decision and respect you for it. That I can’t pressure you. But that’s bullshit.” Turning to her, he set down his own fruit. “I can’t just sit here while you decide my fate along with your own. It’s tied together now. We are tied together, and what you decide now really will affect me for the rest of my life.”
“It feels like that now, but even the most intense love can fade. We’ll move on.”
“Do you truly think that? If I were to fly away and never come back, would you be able to move on? Please tell me honestly.”
She didn’t know what to say. She should lie, it would make things simpler, but she didn’t. “No.”
“That’s the thing. I can’t move on, Ash. You need to know, if you don’t come with me, I’m going to deliver that egg and come back for you. I’ll live as a human here with you. For as long as I can.”
“You can’t do that, Vichter. The dragons need you. The Guardians are the most important part of the dragon community. You’re one of the most important Guardians. I know that because the Dynast gave you his egg. You think I can’t guess what that means? You can’t leave the dragons to be with me, Vichter, I absolutely will not allow that. If I even think you’d do that, I’ll disappear so you never find me and you’re forced to go back. But I know you, and I know you won’t do that.”
“I would for you. Ashlyn, I can’t go through life knowing you’re somewhere in the world and we’re not together. I want to spend every moment with you. I want to have children with you and grow old together. I want the happily ever after, and I won’t stop until I get it.”
“I know.”
“So what you’re really trying to decide is not whether we will be together but where we will be together. There or here. I won’t give you up. I just can’t, dammit!” He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her closer. Laying his head in her lap, he hugged her, as if he could hold her to him and not let go. Ashlyn held her bowl above his head, trying not to spill the juice.
“Vichter, get up,” she said softly, not wanting him to think she was rebuking him. She waited for him to let go, reluctantly and slowly, before she leaned over to carefully put her food on the bedside table. She placed her
hands on his face, saddened to see unshed tears shining in his eyes. “Let me help you understand where I’m coming from, Vichter.”
Reaching down, Ashlyn held his shaking hands. She wanted too much to just give in, to give him what he needed, even if that was all of her and would be the end of her. But she knew better.
“This isn’t a movie. This is real life, with all the confusion and messiness and problems. We can’t just ride off into the sunset, no cares in the world, confident it will all be okay. Because it won’t. There’s the possibility of us falling apart as soon as we get there. What if they don’t accept me? What if I want to stay human? What kind of life would I have there? What am I giving up and what am I getting in return? In an ideal world, you would be enough. I could just tell myself we’re so deeply in love and we’d make it all work, no matter what. But it’s not an ideal world at all, and I’m more aware of that than most. We’ve known each other for three days, Vichter. Last week, I didn’t even know you existed. Do I believe I am in love with you? At this point, yes. It would be stupid to deny that. But if you got down on one knee right now, would I say yes? Probably not. I have no idea what tomorrow brings. I can’t commit to a life I know nothing about, and I feel that’s what you’re asking me to do.”
Vichter was silent for a long time, and Ash was out of words. She didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t have a plan to make things better, and she wished she did.
“You love me?” Vichter asked timidly but with a smile.
“Yeah, I do. I don’t know what that means, and I’ve never really loved before, but I hope this is what love is like. I would want love to be this way. Comfortable. Safe. Warm. Laughing. Passion. It’s everything I dreamed of when I fantasized about my life as a wife and a mother. But it doesn’t change anything, not really.”
“But it does. You’re worried about experiencing something new and being stuck there and miserable if you don’t like it. But I have your back. I will stand behind you, every minute of every day. If they don’t accept you, we’ll leave. If you don’t want to be a dragon, we’ll leave. Or we can stay and you can be human. I’m not asking you to decide your life right now or sign a contract, Ash. I want to marry you, and one day, we’re going to get married. But I’ll wait every day, on bended knee, until you are ready. And if you want to leave, you can leave, but I will make sure you never want to go. Come with me. You can’t decide not to spend your life with me just because you’re afraid of what it might be when I can show you exactly what it actually can be.”
“I don’t have to decide right now if I’m going to be a dragon or not?”
“Of course not. I’d be worried if you did.”
Ashlyn absorbed that for a minute, the clouds of doubt clearing. “So we can go and check things out, and I can decide later? We can just date in Dragonland?”
“It’s not called Dragonland. It’s just Brazil. But yeah, we can take things slow. All I need for you to do is come with me. Right now. I won’t leave you behind. I’ll kidnap you if I have to, dammit.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Dragon Man? I’m not a kid!” Ashlyn kissed him with a new hope in her heart for the future. She kissed him so he knew they were going to go to Brazil together, and she would meet his dragons, and they could hold hands and walk down the street like a normal couple. She kissed him so he knew she was in love with him, just like she’d said.
14
Ashlyn
They’d been in the dragon settlement for two days, and Vichter had taken Ashlyn flying almost every hour. She couldn’t get enough. She’d happily flown in his arms the entire way to Brazil, even traveling at speeds unknown to man. He’d offered to put her to sleep, but she refused, wanting to experience everything being a dragon was about.
He had magically kept her warm, her human body not able to withstand the temperatures at that height and speed, but other than that, Ash had been in love with flying. She laughed, cried, and whooped with joyous abandon. It was the most freedom she had felt in years, since before her parents died.
“What do we have planned today?” She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head and seated herself on the couch. Vichter hadn’t told her she’d be living with him in the beginning, but she’d taken one look at his home and fell in love. It was spacious but warm. He decorated like her, with plush pillows, bright colors, and comfort. He’d bought her an entire walk-in closet of clothes had given her a room that was all hers. So far, that hadn’t been needed.
“The Dragon Council is meeting, and we’ve been requested to attend.”
“Oh yeah? Should I be scared?” Ashlyn sat up on the couch she was lounging on, dropping the towel to the floor. She picked it up and held it to her chest, as if for protection.
“No, of course not. You’re a guest and will always be treated with respect. We don’t fry people here if we’re upset with them, you know.”
Her heart skipped a beat, making her feel dizzy. “They’re upset with me? Already?”
“No! That’s not what I meant. I just meant you have nothing to be afraid of. You already met the Dynast when we returned his egg. You said you like him.”
What was not to like? Nylenar had been nothing but welcoming and gracious. His wife had embraced her as warmly as a family member after the elderly dragons had heard the story of how she’d found their egg at the Easter egg hunt. They had laughed and talked with her and Vichter for hours, catching up with him on his entire time away.
“I do. I was shocked to see him speaking like a man but from a dragon’s body.”
“That takes serious magic. I use telepathy instead.”
“He sounded like James Earl Jones.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Darth Vader.”
“And that made you like him? Isn’t Darth Vader a bad guy?”
“Yeah, but his voice is all Southern and sexy.”
“There’s something wrong with you. And don’t say my Dynast is sexy. You’re gonna give me a complex.”
“I said I like his voice. It’s warm and low, like a grandfather.” She emphasized the last word, trying to make him understand she wasn’t jonesing on the Dynast.
“Get dressed. We need to be there soon, and you need to dress up a little.”
“A little? What does that mean? Like, for the opera, or for a job interview?”
“For meeting a king. I don’t know. We’re all usually in dragon form, and I’ve never paid attention to what the humans wear. Just wear what you feel comfortable in, I am sure it will be fine.”
It took her a little while to decide what to wear, but once she stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, she knew it was perfect. When she stepped out into the living room, wearing the sundress from the Easter egg hunt, sandals and sunhat in hand and her hair curled in ringlets, Vichter caught his breath, and she smiled.
“You’re beautiful, all long legs and shy smiles. You’ll win the hearts of all the dragons, who prize honesty and loyalty over everything else. You’re simply radiant.”
“I love you so much.” She fell into his open arms, holding him tightly.
“I love you too. Now, let’s go see the dragon council.”
They walked through the center of the complex, which looked modest from above ground because most of the structure was underground. Rooms upon rooms of living space connected everything together in a giant maze. But up here, there were shops, pools, gardens, and even a theater. It was like a small town with a city beneath it. No matter where she looked, she found something new and amazing to see.
Vichter held her hand, always so confident that things would work out, despite Ash’s doubts. She was glad for his unfailing positivity because she was still scared. But she didn’t have any regrets coming here. She knew she’d made the right choice.
“Hey, Ash? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
“At one point, I wanted to be an artist. But I only drew as therapy for my sanity. It’s
very private. But I think I’d enjoy something creative, like interior design or maybe writing. Or I could be a teacher. My skills as a nurse are nothing compared to your healers.”
“We can help you with that. Just remind me next week and we’ll get you all set up.”
“Legally? Like going to college? Getting a degree?”
“Of course, legally. Well, really, we should maybe wait until you decide on the dragon thing. You can still go to college though. We have college here.”
“You do?”
“You’d be surprised. Over time, we’ve had to set up everything we would need here, where we are safe. We try to avoid the human world as much as possible. But our kids still need to be educated.”
“That makes sense. And I can study anything? Can I go to a dragon college as a human?”
“I keep telling you … You can do anything you want. We don’t judge here based on what you are. It’s what you do, how you think, and how you treat people that matters.”
“I think I’d like to go to dragon college. I bet I’d learn more. Dragons have been around since the dawn of time, right?”
“Yeah, but watch how you say that. You’re making me feel old.” Vichter turned and kissed her. “We’ll be at the royal complex any minute, and I need a moment to just hold you. It might not have been the best time to meet each other, but I can’t help but think it was fate that I got shot and landed in a remote place, only to find a slip of a girl waiting on me to be her dragon in shining armor.”
Ashlyn slapped him on the arm, and he laughed.
Vichter turned, pulling her along by the hand. “All right, love, let’s go see what the dragon council wants.”
They walked through a canopy of trees, and suddenly there was a grand entrance hidden beneath thick ivy and vines. There were colorful flowers and birds everywhere. It was like a hidden paradise, an oasis. Beyond the grand arches, there was a tiled path, with mosaics and murals.
A Paranormal Easter: 14 Paranormal & Fantasy Romance Novellas Page 21