Sure enough, he turned back up a half hour later, knocking on the door as he had left the key on the counter when he had come in. Stephanie went to the door and opened it to find him standing there in nothing but a pair of shredded boxer shorts that he was holding together to cover himself up. He walked in and lay his wallet on the counter, letting the boxers fall away.
“I take it that you gave it a whirl of your own?” she said.
“I did,” he told her bleakly.
“What was it like?” she asked, curious.
“Exhilarating. I could fly, Stephanie. I thought it would hurt, changing, but it didn’t. There was this pressure, like parts of you were folding in and others were folding out, but it didn’t hurt. Instead, you were reborn and you felt like yourself inside but you were something else entirely. I flew out over the sea where no one would see me and then came back.”
“Next time, perhaps you should get undressed first,” was all she said, completely lost for what to say next.
They sat there on the edge of the bed for a long time, just holding hands and then agreed not to talk about anything else for the night, instead opting for just letting things sink in a bit. Soon, they were both tossing and turning in a restless sleep, waking early the next morning to the daylight spilling in through their window.
Chapter Twenty
Ordering breakfast delivered to their room, they sat down to talk about what was to come. Neil seemed to have calmed down quite a bit from his state the night before as the two of them talked about their future and that of their child.
“How far along are you?” he asked.
“Not far. I just got the confirmation from the doctor right before our trip. I was late, so I went to get checked out. I’m only about six or seven weeks along.”
“Okay. I thought we were being careful,” he replied.
“I did, too, but nothing is foolproof,” she said.
“I suppose not,” he said.
“Are you not happy about this?” Stephanie asked, feeling more hurt than she could express just yet.
“Under normal circumstances, I would be elated, Stephanie. Now, I have to wonder what I’m bringing into this world,” he said,
“What? Our child is not a ‘what,’ Neil,” she said angrily.
“I know, Stephanie. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, but I guess my concern is how his or her life is going to be in this world when they don’t classify in the norm?”
“I don’t know, but it’s too late now. I have to say that I’m glad I got pregnant without knowing about all this. If I hadn’t, I fear that we would have chosen to not have a child out of fear,” she told him.
“You are probably right. We just have a lot to think about. Let’s eat some breakfast, and then we’ll go to this village with my parents and see what it is like there. See what little dragon shifter children are like and how they make it through their lives.”
“I guess it is a place to start. What can happen?”
An hour later, they quickly found out the answer to that, and it wasn’t good. According to Neil’s parents, a lot had changed in the village and not all of it good. Their first problem had befallen them simply by the elder Montgomery asking for Aiden.
“Who are you, and why are you asking?” a member of the dragon guard that identified himself as Josh Higgins asked suspiciously.
“I’m his cousin. We have been away for quite some time and just arrived in from America. It would be nice if he could show us around a bit,” Mr. Montgomery told him.
“Stand there a moment,” the guard said, nodding toward several others who moved in a bit closer.
“What is happening here?” Mr. Montgomery demanded, but none of them answered.
The four of them all looked at each other uneasily as they began to feel like they had done or said something horribly wrong. Neil was getting very agitated. It was obvious that all of this was getting to him, and he was going to crack under the pressure.
“This is bullshit,” he growled, grabbing Stephanie by the hand and pulling her in the opposite direction.
A large guard cut off his exit path and snarled at him menacingly. Neil returned his glare with just as much venom.
“You can’t leave until the dragon leader says you can leave,” he told them.
“I’ll leave whenever I’m good and damn ready,” Neil told him. “I came here of my own free will and I’ll leave of it, too.”
Neil took another step forward, pushing Stephanie behind him protectively as he attempted to pass, but the guard blocked his path. When Neil attempted to sidestep him, the guard dropped back for a moment, but only to give himself room to expand. Stephanie watched in horror as he shifted into an enormous dragon and hissed at Neil.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Neil said, obviously fed up with this entire thing.
Stephanie’s eyes grew wide as he shifted into his own dragon. He was easily larger than the one in front of him, with a bold, blue stripe running down the center of a body covered in copper-colored scales. He hissed back at the dragon as his father pulled her back behind him and his wife. She watched as they, too, shifted and then the other guards joined them. She was terrified, feeling like a small, defenseless animal there amid giants.
“Neil, no!” she begged, but it was too late.
She watched as the two large dragons squared off against one another, preparing for battle. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she realized this was really happening. She didn’t really understand why, but it was happening right in front of her. Suddenly, the guard’s dragon pulled back and then let out a long stream of fire, causing her to scream. She closed her eyes in preparation for what she might see next, but when she opened them, the saw that Neil had somehow managed to sidestep the blast and was preparing for his own shot.
Just as he started to project outward, another one of the guards stepped in, and shot out flames of his own, with everyone watching in fascination as Neil shot out not fire, but ice, simply dosing the flames and sending shards of ice breaking apart and dripping onto the ground below.
“Stop it right now!” came a loud booming voice from behind her.
Stephanie whirled around to see a young man who she hardly thought could be the dragon leader since before Neil’s parents left stomping across the grounds with the guard named Josh on his heels. The dragons all stopped, looking toward him as if to wait for further signals. Neil and his parents all stepped toward him, but he held up his hand toward them.
“No one here wants to harm you. This is just a mistake. Please shift, and let’s go into my chambers to talk about this.”
Stephanie averted her eyes as the dragons all shifted, leaving naked strangers all around her. This entire scene was completely surreal to her as they followed the young man into the large stone building behind them. It was the first time Stephanie had really noticed it. It looked medieval, not like a castle, but like some sort of fortress from the middle ages. Of course, right now, it was hard to notice anything with the way her heart was beating out of her chest.
“You are human,” the man said to Stephanie, more a statement than a question.
“Yes,” she replied, still feeling quite terrified.
“And the rest of you are all ice dragons?” he asked.
“My son and I are. My wife is not,” Neil’s father told him.
“That would have been good to know a little sooner, Dad,” Neil said tersely. “You’re just full of things you haven’t told me in a timely manner, aren’t you?”
The man escorting them looked at them at little oddly, but didn’t ask questions about what they were talking about. Instead, he led them all inside a large chamber room filled with relics that looked as if they had been around for ages. A member of the staff there handed the Montgomerys robes to put on while the naked guards were replaced with uniformed ones so they could go get dressed, she assumed. This world was a long way away from the ad business in New York.
“Okay. So, Josh tells me that you
came here looking for Aiden. How long has it been since you’ve been here?”
“A very long time. Where is Aiden?” Mr. Montgomery asked.
‘I’m afraid that Aiden is no longer the leader of this dragon clan. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that he is deceased.”
“Deceased? How? What happened to him?” Mr. Montgomery asked, looking a bit frightened by the news.
“I killed him,” the man required. “My name is Aaron Donnelly. Aiden was guilty of multiple crimes against this clan, and I challenged him for his position as dragon leader.”
There was silence for a very long time, and then Mr. Montgomery seemed to back away quickly, his head down.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Donnelly. We did not know and we did not come here to cause trouble. Things just got a bit out of hand out there earlier. We will leave at once,” he told him, motioning for the rest of them to follow him to the door.
“That is not necessary. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your names,” Aaron told him, calling him back.
“Monique and Harvey Montgomery. This is my son, Neil and his fiancée, Stephanie.”
“Very nice to meet all of you. We don’t see a lot of ice dragons in this village. I believed that Aaron was the last one, at least until recently when we discovered an interesting multi-shifter in our midst.”
“Multi-shifter?” Mr. Montgomery repeated, obviously putting aside any other concerns in favor of curiosity.
“Yes. It is a very long story, but it turns out that one of our oldest living residents had participated in some relations with a tiger shifter many years ago, and offspring from that liaison had remained hidden in our village for years. We were very surprised to learn that they weren’t just tiger or dragon shifters based on their sex, as we had thought.”
“No, they would be multi-shifters,” Mr. Montgomery said, nodding.
“So, you have heard of such a thing?” Aaron asked, surprised.
“I have heard of them, but never met one,” he told him. “My father used to tell me stories about one he had met years ago in passing.”
“Ah, very interesting to watch. We now have three in the village. The mother and twin boys, full of mischief those two, even now that they have grown up.”
“I’m sure. I am surprised you allowed them to remain. Is it not still against the dragon council’s rules?” he asked.
“No. Not anymore. We are slowly changing the rules. We are trying to not be quite as archaic in our ways and embrace becoming a more diverse, modern society. We have stricken off the laws that forbid mating with humans or other shifters.”
“Do you have other humans in the village then? Do they have children?” Stephanie suddenly asked.
“As a matter of fact, we do have other humans. A member of my dragon council has a human mate and so does a member of my dragon guard. We don’t yet allow anyone but purebred dragon shifters to hold a position higher than council, but it’s progress. Maybe someday, even that will change. Right now, people just aren’t ready to risk someone not born with the dragon ways only at heart being in power.”
“Do either of the human mates have children?” Stephanie repeated.
“Yes, one of them does. Would you like to meet her?” Aaron asked, looking closely at Stephanie and then smiling. “Ah, I see now. You want to talk to her about what to expect. Of course. I’ll set that up for you.”
“We don’t want to be an inconvenience,” Mr. Montgomery said, still seeming not to be terribly comfortable now that he knew he was looking at the man who killed his cousin.
“Mr. Montgomery, I am very sorry for your loss. While Aiden was not a good person to the members of this village, perhaps he was a considerably better relative to those that cared for him. All I need to know from you is whether you carry any grudge against me or the people of this village for his downfall,” Aaron told him.
“If what you say is true, and I have no reason to doubt you, then I have no issues,” Mr. Montgomery told him.
“Then feel free to make yourself at home in the village for a day or so, long enough for you to visit with old friends and family you may have here,” Aaron told him.
To Stephanie, it seemed like he was willing to let members of the former dragon leader’s family visit, but didn’t trust them to stay. She wondered what Aiden had done that was so horrible.
“Josh, will you give Owen and Amy a call to see if you can arrange for Amy to speak to Stephanie right away?” Aaron told his guard.
“Sure, no problem,” Josh told him, disappearing from the room.
“Well, then. I guess we are done here. You can go about your business. If you want to wait around outside for a bit, Josh will be out to let you know about visiting with Amy,” Aaron told them.
“Thank you very much for your kindness,” Mrs. Montgomery told him, with everyone agreeing in turn as they filed out of the room.
“We need to get out of here,” Mr. Montgomery said immediately after they were clear of the building and waiting for Josh.
“Don’t be ridiculous. We came all this way. We might as well do what we set out to do,” Mrs. Montgomery told him.
“Did you not hear what he said? He killed Aiden and took his place.”
“Well, I know he is your cousin, but you also know what a shifty bastard he always was, Harvey. I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but you know as well as I do that he most likely brought his fate upon his self,” she told him.
“Still. I just can’t feel comfortable here now,” he said.
“Look, you know the circumstances under which he was born. No one would even know we were kin if we didn’t tell him. He was literally a bastard, and that is the only reason we are even related to him, because your cousin couldn’t keep his hands off the boy’s mother.”
“Fine. We’ll just keep the fact that we are kin to him to ourselves if anyone asks, but I want to just look around today and then get out of here. Okay?”
“As long as Stephanie can talk to this Amy person first. I think it is important for her,” she said, nodding toward Stephanie, who merely smiled.
Fortunately, Josh appeared a few moments later and gave them directions to a place called Cassi’s Diner where Amy and Owen had agreed to meet them. They thanked him and went on their way.
Chapter Twenty-One
Thirty minutes later, they found themselves sitting in front of the McCord family who, upon being quizzed a bit about family relations, turned out to be relatives of Mr. Montgomery. It was their uncle who had fathered Aiden, the former dragon leader. Stephanie was more interested in their young daughter, Dawn, who playfully made her way from table to table and talked to people.
“Aren’t you afraid of her meeting strangers that might harm her?” Stephanie asked.
“In this village? No way,” Amy laughed. “Everyone here is family, and they all love Dawn. I’d never be able to let her run free in another city like she does here. She doesn’t know a stranger – talks to everyone as if they are old friends.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine doing that in New York,” Stephanie told her.
As if hearing that she was being talked about, Dawn came running over to the table, giggling as she looked up at Stephanie and smiled. She pointed her finger at Stephanie’s still very flat middle and laughed. “Baby.”
“You are expecting?” Amy asked, as if it didn’t surprise her at all that Dawn knew.
“Yes, but how did she know that?” Stephanie asked, mystified.
“Who knows. She is full of little surprises,” Amy shrugged.
“Like what? I mean, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. Did Aaron not tell you?”
“No. He only said you wanted to meet me. I wasn’t sure why, but it makes sense now,” she said.
She and Amy drifted into their own conversation, with Neil just listening as his parents caught up on all the village happenings since they had left with Owen.
“I’ve been told that the children of shifters and humans have special powers.
What are Dawn’s?” Stephanie asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I know she is very intuitive. I don’t quite want to say she can read minds, but I sometimes wonder because she seems to know what people are thinking and feeling.”
“Like how?”
“For example, not long ago, we had a man come into town. He was deaf and mute and didn’t know what sort of place he was wondering into. The villagers were intent on getting him out of the way very quickly, but Dawn seemed to know he was a shifter. He had been injured in a way that prevented him from shifting and couldn’t find anyone that could understand sign language.”
“What did she do?”
“He came into the diner, and she immediately pointed at him and told us he was ‘broken’ and needed a doctor. He had been poisoned and had to have transfusions. That is why he came here. He needed help from dragons, something humans couldn’t give him in a regular hospital.”
“She saved him.”
“Yes.”
“Does she have other powers?”
“She understands animals, talks to them, and they seem to understand her, too. She is incredibly fast and strong in her dragon form. Other than that, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell at her age just how strong her powers are, or if we are understanding them fully. Time will tell.”
“That is incredible,” Stephanie remarked.
“Yes, it is.”
“How did you come to be here?” Stephanie asked.
“I met Owen while he was in California with his brother and sister in law. They had been exiled by Aiden. We fell in love, and I came here to be with him.”
“Why didn’t he come there instead?” Stephanie asked.
“Because it is unnatural for a dragon not to fly freely, and he was very limited by the population there. Even out in the mountains, where they were hiding, there were sightings of them around the city. It is better for him here.”
“And you? Is it better for you?”
“Yes, it has been. I mean, it is a huge change in lifestyle, but I love it here.”
The conversation continued for a while before they all parted ways. The Montgomerys and Stephanie left the village, booking a hotel in Dublin in preparation for a flight out the next day. Later that evening, Stephanie sat down in their room with Neil and asked him how he was feeling about everything now.
Stuck in the Cabin (Exiled Dragons Book 8) Page 11