Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic

by Élianne Adams

  And yet, this story was nothing like that. The humans and dragons worked together, understanding each other and sharing a common goal.

  He knew it. He knew it was possible.

  Yes, this was only a story, but it showed humans were capable of thinking of dragons as more than just terrible beasts with no redeeming features.

  His plan wasn’t so crazy after all.

  Gretchen walked into the room, towel drying her hair, talking as she went. “I just put your clothes into the dryer, they’ll be ready soon.”

  She wore a pretty floral dress, light and swirly around her knees with only thin straps holding it up. It showed off a lot more of her body than her work clothes, and Jayrian tried not to stare. Instead, he looked at her face and smiled. “Thanks.”

  Gretchen’s eyes were on the book in his hand, and he held it out.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Do you like this story?”

  Her eyes lit up. “It’s one of my favourites. They have such awesome adventures together. If only dragons were real.” Her voice sounded wistful.

  Jayrian’s heart gave a leap, and he tried not to be too excited by his words. She wasn’t talking about him. Or even any of his clan. She was talking about the idea of a dragon.

  What would she think if she found out they were real?

  He almost told her then and there. Maybe she could help him convince the elders all humans weren’t alike. That his plan wouldn’t fail.

  Maybe she would agree to help them.

  FOUR

  As Gretchen sped along the bumpy dirt road towards her parent’s property, she stole a look at Jayrian. He’d cleaned up well, not that she’d ever doubted it. With his jeans and shirt washed, and his hair brushed, he looked the scrummy guy he always did. He stared out of the window at the darkening storm clouds, not even aware of her stare.

  No one was ever going to think he was her boyfriend.

  Of course, they’d find out he wasn’t soon enough. All they had to do was ask. She wasn’t going to ask him to lie about it, and she wasn’t even going to lie herself. But still, the looks on their faces when they walked in together would be worth it, even if it did only last a few minutes.

  At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

  Truth was, she was a little nervous. The way Sugarpup had reacted when she’d seen him had shaken her a little. She always barked at strangers, but not that way. She barked to let Gretchen know they were there, not a real bark of fear.

  Gretchen glanced into the backseat where the little Maltese terrier cowered behind her seat. She was terrified of Jayrian for some reason. Despite the fact that Gretchen had been dreaming about Jayrian all week, the uneasy feeling lingered.

  For no reason, she assured herself. So what if her dog was spooked? It wasn’t like she was planning to marry the guy. She was just taking him out to her parents for Christmas dinner. Then they’d probably go back to chatting about books at the library. She bit back a sigh. She had no idea how she’d worked up the courage to ask him to come with her, and she doubted she’d manage it again.

  She focused back on the road, even though there was nothing to run into around here, then swerved in shock.

  Standing in the middle of the road, right in front of her, stood a tall blonde man. His icy blue eyes seemed to pierce her through the windscreen, sweeping past her, stopping on Jayrian. A smile twisted his lips, and he took a few steps towards her car as it sped towards him.

  Her heart thumping in her chest, Gretchen hit the brakes as hard as she could, dust bellowing out from the tyres as they struggled to find traction on the dirt road.

  “Where the hell did he come from?” she demanded. He hadn’t been there a minute ago, and there was no sign of any vehicle nearby. How had he travelled this far without one?

  She looked over at Jayrian.

  His face was pale. “Don’t stop.” His voice rose. “Keep driving.”

  “He’s in the middle of the road! I can’t just drive over him.” The stranger’s weird appearance, combined with Jayrian’s near panic, wasn’t helping her confidence. And anyway, she was already stopped.

  The hair rose on the back of her neck as the man walked straight towards her car, his eyes not leaving Jayrian.

  “Who the hell is he?” Gretchen demanded. “You know, don’t you?”

  Jayrian took a deep breath, his eyes not leaving the other man. “He’s the enemy of my family,” he admitted. “He’s here for me.”

  Sugarpup gave a whimper in the back seat. Gretchen almost wished she could join her.

  Jayrian’s words sent a cold shiver through her. He sounded so matter of fact, so stony, so hopeless.

  “You should go,” he said. “He’s not after you. Let me out, then drive to your parents as fast as you can, don’t look back. You’ll be safe with the other humans. He won’t dare follow you.”

  What the hell? Was this some movie? People didn’t say things like that in real life.

  But they did in books. And she knew exactly what the expected response was.

  “Not a chance. I’m not leaving you to face this alone. It’s two against one.” She reached over and locked the doors. “Wait until he’s alongside us, then I’ll drive off. Then we can both go to my parents and call the police.”

  Jayrian hesitated. “It might work,” he said slowly. He looked out at the man again.

  As if in response, he thumped the bonnet with both fists. “Get out of the car, Rian, and I’ll let the human live.” His eyes reflected the lightning in the sky behind them.

  Gretchen couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her. This was like nothing she’d ever seen before. Her skin crawled.

  She needed to get out of here. Gretchen shifted the car in reverse and hit the accelerator.

  His eyes widened as the car pulled away, and his face twisted in a growl.

  As the distance between them grew, Gretchen had to concentrate on where she was going. At least there was no traffic. That was one advantage of being in the middle of nowhere.

  Rain spattered on the windshield, with loud, sudden drops, making Gretchen jump. In seconds, it was impossible to see the man in front of them. “Crap.” Gretchen slowed the car to a stop, unwilling to keep reversing when she could barely see. “Is he still out there?” She bent forwards, craning her neck to see.

  “He won’t give up that easily.” Jayrian’s voice sounded strangled.

  A large object crashed onto the bonnet in front of Gretchen’s eyes. She stared in disbelief at the watermelon sized paw, the rain running down the silver scales and claws. “What the..?”

  Another giant paw landed on the bonnet in front of Jayrian, the claws spreading out over the metal and digging in slightly. Lightning split the sky, and thunder roared.

  Gretchen couldn’t move. Her eyes locked on the claws in front of her, and her brain refused to offer up any reasonable explanation for what was happening.

  Because there was none.

  She managed to turn towards Jayrian, to see if he knew. Somehow, she suspected he did.

  He stared at the claws, but there was no look of disbelief on his face.

  “What is it?” Gretchen demanded.

  “A dragon.”

  Gretchen stared at him, then back at the claws. His answer made sense, even if what he said didn’t. “But dragons don’t exist.”

  Jayrian just looked at her.

  “What do we do?” Gretchen whispered. As though the dragon could hear her.

  Maybe he could.

  “This is where we part ways.” Jayrian’s voice was calm and emotionless. “I get out of the car, and hopefully he’s distracted enough that you can get away.”

  It wasn’t the first time he’d made that suggestion. This time, Gretchen seriously considered it. A dragon. For real. She leaned forwards, staring up through the falling rain, trying to see the rest of the beast. The silver scales stretched up a long way, and she could only catch a glimpse of a long slender neck, and open jaws
with… was that lightning he was breathing?

  Gretchen’s heart beat a thousand times a minute, and she struggled to breathe. But somehow, she couldn’t make herself just desert Jayrian, even if he did seem to have missed the biggest law in fantasy—never make an enemy of a dragon.

  “There must be something we can do,” she insisted.

  “If only there was,” Jayrian said sadly. “I appreciate the thought, Gretchen, and I would very much have liked to get to know you better, even if my family would never have understood.”

  He spoke like this was life or death.

  Was it?

  He stared into her eyes for a moment, and his eyes changed. Their warm brown deepened into gold, and the pupils narrowed into slits.

  Gretchen stared at him in disbelief. “You’re a dragon too,” she breathed.

  He nodded. Then before she could stop him, he took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and stepped out into the thunderstorm.

  FIVE

  The rain hit Jayrian full force as soon as he left the shelter of Gretchen’s car, soaking him to the skin within seconds. But wet skin was the least of his problems. The fact that the rain would automatically counter any of his fire attacks was far more serious.

  Which was, of course, why the lightning dragon had created it. He should have known something was wrong as soon as he saw the thunderclouds. As if it ever rained naturally out here.

  But he hadn’t expected to see a Trima dragon here. Other than the ones who guarded the prince’s Mesmer chambers, they stayed out near their mountain. He’d heard rumours of one or two being seen in the town, but he’d never seen one himself.

  Until now.

  The dragon abandoned the bonnet of Gretchen’s car the moment the door opened, and now stood in front of him. Was there even any point in trying to fight him? It wasn’t like he had any hope of winning. He wasn’t a fighting dragon. He never had been.

  But nor did he like the idea of giving up without putting up some sort of fight. So he stood, feet apart, shoulders straight, waiting for the Trima dragon’s first move.

  The dragon’s crackly voice filled his mind. “What is your name, Rian dragon?”

  Jayrian blinked. He was talking to him? That was an unexpected opening. Since when did you have to know someone’s name to strike them down?

  “Jayrian,” he forced out. In human words.

  Gretchen’s door burst open, and she stepped out of the car, quickly as soaked as he was. Jayrian’s eyes flicked to her, despair sinking his heart. “Get back in the car.”

  “No.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t move. In fact, she stepped out of the shelter of the car door and closed it. “I won’t just sit by and watch.”

  The Trima dragon regarded her for several moments, then turned back to Jayrian. “Jayrian of Rian clan, hear my words and report them back to your rulers. Prince Taurian’s Mesmer chamber is about to be exposed by the humans.”

  That was what this was about. Jayrian began to hope he just might make it out of here alive. That thought didn’t slow the frantic beating of his heart any. “I know.”

  “What? What do you know?” Gretchen demanded. She came around the back of the car to stand beside him.

  Her actions surprised him. He’d expected her to take the first opportunity to flee at the sight of the Trima dragon. Yes, he knew from her books that she liked dragons, but that was totally different to seeing a real one in the flesh.

  Her fearless actions made him even more certain she was the one for the job. Maybe the elders would even agree now, since she already knew about the existence of dragons.

  If they made it out of here alive.

  “This discovery will go very badly for all of us,” the dragon continued, ignoring Gretchen’s interruption. “What is Rian clan going to do to prevent it?”

  “Us?” Jayrian was so surprised, he forgot to be afraid for a few moments. “We would happily wake the prince and remove the threat if only your dragons would stand down. But you know how many we have lost in attempts to do so as well as I.”

  Gretchen stopped asking questions and just watched him, her eyes wide.

  “So you give up then?”

  Jayrian stared at the dragon, totally bewildered. What did he expect him to say? “I’m sure the elders will come up with a plan,” he said finally.

  “Well, if they don’t, put this to them. It is better the prince dies than our kind is discovered again. They know as well as anyone what happened last time. I’m sure Prince Taurian would not want that.”

  Jayrian’s blood froze at the thought. That could be just what the elders planned on doing. They were so afraid of making decisions, that they could easily let the prince die rather than risking a solution.

  No, surely not? Rian clan had fought hard to survive up until this point, but they had no chance of ever actually defeating the Trima clan without the princes and princesses to lead them.

  But he wasn’t going to say that to this dragon. “What?” he demanded. “You think we’re just going to give the prince to you?”

  “Do you have a better option?”

  He did, but it was better they didn’t know.

  At least one thing was obvious. If the Trima dragon wanted him to pass a message on to his clan, then he didn’t intend to kill him. That knowledge made Jayrian bold. “If you are so concerned about keeping dragons hidden, why don’t you step aside and let us wake Prince Taurian?”

  Dragon laughter filled Jayrian’s head, making him wince. “Why should we give in when we have the upper hand?”

  Grinding his teeth, it was all he could do not to snap at the dragon. He was tempted to point out that neither clan would have the upper hand if they were discovered by humans. It hadn’t taken much research into the humans’ weapons to tell him that.

  Gretchen’s hand slipped into his, trusting him, despite his secrets. He couldn’t risk her safety.

  It was never a good idea to push a dragon.

  “I will pass your offer on to the elders. They make the decisions, not I,” Jayrian said as politely as he could manage.

  “When they choose to accept our offer, they know where they can find us. The one who brings us an answer will not be harmed,” the Trima dragon said.

  He stretched out his wings and with a few downward strokes, he was gone.

  Jayrian’s eyes strained, wanting to make sure he was far away and no longer a threat. But the pouring rain hid his retreat.

  Then it was gone, clearing to blue sky within a few minutes. Only the wet earth showed it had even existed, and that would be gone soon enough under the relentless sun.

  He turned to Gretchen, looking her over carefully, relieved that she was unharmed. She could have been hurt. “You should have stayed in the car. That could have gone very differently.”

  “And miss all that?” Her eyes shone, and her hand tightened in his. He could see the pulse beating in her neck.

  Jayrian stared at her, unable to look away. She was so fearless and daring. And beautiful.

  For the prince, not him. He needed to remember that.

  “We were lucky he only wanted me to pass on a message. He could quite easily have killed me,” he said soberly.

  Her face paled a little. Good. At least she had a healthy dose of fear. “What was the message about?” she asked. “I only got part of it, something about waking a prince?”

  Jayrian eyed her. She already knew so much, and not through any fault of his. But if he told her a few details, he would have more to approach the elders with. If she agreed to wake Prince Taurian, they might just approve now.

  They had to.

  SIX

  Once the dragon had left and the rain had stopped, Jayrian bundled her back into the car, refusing to answer any of her questions until they were safe. Once they were on their way, Gretchen suddenly found she didn’t know what to say. What did one say to a dragon anyway? Was it different to what one said to a cute guy she met at the library?

  All she knew
was that her entire life had just changed.

  Why hadn’t she realised there was something strange about him sooner? So many things had indicated he wasn’t what he appeared to be, but she’d brushed them off, ignored them. Like his family not doing Christmas.

  Now she knew why.

  A shiver ran through her. Never in a million years had she imagined his story was this exciting. It seemed so fantastical. But she’d seen evidence of it with her own eyes. Jayrian was a dragon.

  An honest to goodness dragon.

  “I guess this explains a few things, right? Like why Sugarpup reacted the way she did when you first came to my place,” she said finally.

  Jayrian nodded. “I may look like a human, but I certainly don’t smell like one. Sugarpup would have known straight away.”

  Gretchen sat for a while, digesting that. For some reason, it made her want to lean over and smell him. But she wasn’t so sure that would go down too well.

  “So who’s this prince?” she asked instead. “And why is he asleep?”

  Jayrian sighed again. He didn’t seem to like talking about the prince. Which only made her more curious.

  “He is one of the princes of my clan, Rian clan,” he said. “He entered the Mesmer sleep, a magical sleep which allows dragons to heal from their wounds, after a fight with the Trima clan nearly three hundred years ago.”

  Three hundred years? That meant dragons had been in Australia before the British had ever arrived. That was a turn up for the books. “And he’s been asleep this whole time? Does it take that long to heal?”

  “No, of course not. The healing only takes a few hours, days at most. But after he entered the sleep, the Trima dragons moved into the area and killed our dragons when they went to wake him. As they have killed any we’ve sent since then.”

  “How come the other dragon doesn’t just go inside? Is it an honour thing?”

  Jayrian laughed bitterly. “Oh no, the Trima dragons would enter the chamber if they could. But it’s protected by a powerful magic, one no dragon not of Rian clan can cross.”