Elise realized she was rambling again, and she forced herself to stop talking. Holden tilted his head to one side, looking at her curiously. No doubt, he was trying to make sense of everything she’d just said, and was having a hard time of it.
“Why is it too late?” he asked. “And why did you think Nick was better off being raised without his dad?”
There was no judgment in Holden’s tone. Just a gentle, prodding curiosity. Elise started talking again, attempting to explain in a clearer manner, and hating the way her voice shook as she spoke.
“Nick’s father was…a bit wild, for lack of a better term,” Elise said. “I met him when I was waitressing at another diner in another small town. That was about thirteen years ago, but it feels like a different lifetime.”
“So Nick is thirteen?” Holden asked, sounding surprised. “I had pegged him more as an eleven-year-old.”
“He’s twelve,” Elise said. “Don’t forget it takes nearly a year to make a baby.”
“Oh, right,” Holden said, a sheepish blush crossing his face. “I always forget about that part.”
Elise laughed. “Typical. Why would a man concern himself with the minor detail of nine months of uncomfortable, painful pregnancy?”
“Sorry,” Holden said, looking even more sheepish. But Elise waved her hand in a manner that said not to worry about it. She didn’t want to get distracted by a silly discussion on pregnancy, no matter how amusing Holden’s contrite face might be. She would lose her nerve to talk about Nick’s father if she didn’t keep going.
“I was a bit younger then, and my head was full of the kind of dreams you have when you’ve just become an adult and tasted your first little bit of freedom. You think anything is possible, and that the world is literally yours for the taking. You think it’s just a matter of time until you hit your big break and everyone realizes how amazing you are. You think you’re going to be someone and do great things.”
Holden was smiling at her with recognition. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Those were the days, weren’t they? And then real life comes and hits you smack in the face.”
Elise laughed, somewhat bitterly. “Exactly. And real life hit me in the face not long after I met Nick’s father. His name was Joey, and he was something else. He blew into that sleepy diner one morning and swept me off my feet before I’d even had a chance to ask if he wanted coffee. He was a charmer, and about as wild as they come. He told me I was far too pretty to be wasting all my time shuffling eggs and coffee around every morning, and convinced me to take the next morning off to come see his favorite, secret hiking spot.”
Holden laughed. “He sounds like he was kind of a cheese ball.”
Elise shrugged, but smiled at the memory. “He was, I suppose. But he was a daring cheese ball, who turned every day that summer into an adventure. He was always pushing the envelope, and I was just young enough to follow him on every crazy scheme he came up with. It was a good summer, and when I think about some of the adventures we had, I’m amazed I made it out alive. But I did. I made it out alive, and pregnant.”
“But you never told him,” Holden said, prompting.
“No,” Elise said. “When I realized I was pregnant, I had horrible visions of him taking our child on the kind of adventures he’d been taking me on, and I realized that perhaps there was a bit too much recklessness in him. I didn’t think he was ready to settle.”
“He must have left, though, before you were too far along?”
“Right. He decided, in a fit of patriotism, to sign up for the army toward the end of the summer. I was surprised. The army, with all its discipline and rules, seemed like a terrible fit for someone like him. But the fact that he was leaving gave me a good excuse to break up with him. I told him I didn’t want a long distance relationship. He begged me to give him a chance to make it work but I stood my ground.”
“That sounds like more than a summer fling. It sounds like he really loved you,” Holden said.
Elise averted her eyes from Holden’s, and hung her head a bit. “I suppose you’re right. And I’m ashamed of the fact that I never told him about Nick, or the pregnancy. I was young, and stupid, and I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought Joey was too wild to be around a child. But now I realize it wasn’t fair of me to keep his son a secret from him. And, god, how I wish Joey was around to help with his boy. Despite my efforts to keep his father away from him, Nick is turning out to be just as wild, it seems. I don’t know how to deal with him. But his dad died in combat out in Iraq, never even knowing he had a son. Nick was barely three years old at the time.”
Elise tried to hold back the tears, but a few of them managed to spill out anyway. Holden said nothing. He just looked at her kindly and waited for her to continue. Elise struggled to regain her composure, and wiped away the little trail of water the tears had left on her face.
“After he died, I tried to find a family to contact. But he didn’t seem to have any living relatives, not even distant ones. The man was strange. Like he’d come from another world and never quite settled into ours. He had no one here but me, I guess. And I let him down. And now I’m letting his son down. Nicky is a good boy, but—”
Elise stopped speaking abruptly when the door to the diner opened. The bell jingled noisily in the otherwise silent restaurant, and a big, burly man walked in. Elise took a shaky breath and blinked quickly, willing the rest of her tears to dry off without spilling. When her vision cleared, she saw that it was Ben, one of the local guys who had been involved in the fist fight this morning. Ben eyed Holden, and Elise would have been willing to bet a month’s wages on the fact that Ben was contemplating whether he could start another fistfight right then and beat Holden down. Elise also would have bet a month’s wages on the fact that Holden would win in a fight with Ben. Ben might be big and strong, but Holden was bigger, and stronger. Ben seemed to recognize this fact, too, because he finally walked across the room and sat down a few barstools away from Holden.
“This man bothering you, Elise?” Ben asked, looking with concern at Elise’s face, which was no doubt red right now from the effort of suppressing her tears. Elise felt Holden tense up across the counter from her.
“No, Benny, not at all,” Elise said, forcing a bright smile. “We were just chatting, small talk and such. Can I get you anything?”
Ben looked doubtfully over at Holden, but finally shrugged and nodded. “Coffee would be great,” he said.
“Coming right up,” Elise said, turning to grab a mug and thinking that she really was glad she’d made this fresh pot, after all. She kept her back to both men as she slowly poured the coffee, giving herself an extra moment to compose herself even more. After stalling as long as she dared, she turned around with a bright smile and went to set the mug in front of Ben.
“Here you go,” she said. “You take it black, right?”
Ben nodded, and picked up the mug to take a long sip. Elise allowed herself a quick glance back at Holden, but she did a double take when she found herself staring at an empty barstool. Where Holden had been just moments before, there was only an empty mug, under which he’d tucked a ten dollar bill. Far too much for a mug of coffee and a tip, but he hadn’t stayed around for his change. In fact, she hadn’t even heard the bells above the door jangle. She wondered if perhaps he’d just slipped off to the bathroom, but as the minutes ticked by, and Elise listened to Ben’s mindless chattering without really hearing it, she finally had to admit to herself that he was gone.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered, wondering why she suddenly felt so cold and alone. She’d see him again though, wouldn’t she? After all, he’d promised to help her. To help Nicky.
Holden seemed like a man of his word. Then again, if there’s one lesson life had taught Elise all too well, it was that things weren’t always what they seemed.
Chapter Four
Holden walked several paces behind Violet, trying to pay attention to what she was saying but failing mis
erably. They’d been walking for what felt like days to him, although a quick glance at his watch told him it had only been two and a half hours. The late June sun was hot, and his t-shirt was plastered to his back with sweat. He wanted to tell Violet that this search was pointless. They’d looked through all of the small rocky caves at least twice already, and there was nothing to see. But Violet refused to give up yet. She said she just had a feeling that something was out here, and she was determined not to leave until she found it.
“Magicae revelabit,” she said over and over now, sweeping her ring back and forth as she searched one of the small caves for hidden magic spells. She’d already searched this cave, but she knew that, and Holden didn’t bother to point it out. He didn’t have a better idea of what to do with their time right now, and at least the search was keeping her occupied. She hardly seemed to notice that he wasn’t listening closely to her chatter, and this gave him time to think.
He had to tell Violet about Nick. After the conversations he’d had with Weston and with Elise, Holden knew with certainty that Nick was a shifter. A dragon shifter, he was betting, and a ghoster as well. Holden had been relieved to find out that Elise had not met Nick’s father in Blackstone. In all likelihood, Nick was, in fact, the only shifter in Blackstone. With each passing day, Nick was becoming more convinced that Weston was right—Saul hadn’t wanted to waste any of his troops on guarding the tiny little town of Blackstone. Perhaps he’d sent some scouts through, just to make sure that no shifters were hiding here. They would have missed Nick, since he didn’t smell like a shifter at all, and would have reported back to Saul that the town was only occupied by humans.
Holden scratched at the stubble on his chin as he followed Violet to the next cave. Outside of Blackstone, there was a portion of rocky terrain sticking out like an island in the middle of the otherwise barren desert. The rocks were so dark in color that they were almost black, which was where the name Blackstone had come from. No one could say why the rocks were so black, but the townspeople were all irrationally proud of the rocks, as though they themselves had created these wonders of nature. The rocks formed a large expanse of miniature caves, and Violet had become fascinated with the little caves, convinced somehow that there were shifters or wizards hiding there. But a very thorough search had revealed nothing, and still, she persisted.
Holden watched as Violet again began sweeping her magic ring across the cave, checking for any hidden magic spells. She would not find anything, he knew. But he humored her, letting her continue her work without interruption. His mind drifted constantly back to Elise, and Nick, and the long-dead Joey, who had fathered the boy. From what Elise said, it sounded like Joey had been an orphan, just like Holden. Holden’s clan, the Redwood Dragons Clan, was actually made up completely of orphans. Ten of them had been rescued by William, an older dragon shifter, when the last great shifter war had left them without parents. William had raised the ten dragons as brothers, and now, as adults, they were a fearsome clan, a force to be reckoned with. They had joined forces with the Falcon Cross wizards to face down Saul and protect good shifters and wizards from dark, evil magic. Holden had never been as glad for his clanmates as he was now. The war had been hard, and he wasn’t sure how he would have managed to stay calm and sane if he’d have to face all of this evil alone. Knowing his clanmates were with him, and always had his back, had kept him calm, and sane. Holden wondered about Joey. The man had probably had no one. Most of the shifter orphans from the war had been left to drift through life alone, unguided and always wary of what people would think of them if their shifter secrets were discovered. No wonder Joey had been a wild man, as Elise had said. Holden figured he would have been reckless, too, if he’d been in Joey’s shoes, with no one to love him and nothing to lose.
Holden frowned, wondering why a man like Joey had joined the army. Perhaps he’d fallen in love with Elise, and had been searching for a way to bring stability into his life. Perhaps he’d wanted to prove to her that he could be a responsible partner. If that had been the case, it was all the more tragic that he’d never known he had a son. Holden didn’t think Elise had made the right choice in keeping Nick a secret from Joey, but he wasn’t going to judge her too harshly. She seemed to have realized that she’d made a mistake, and hell if Holden hadn’t made some pretty shitty mistakes in his own younger days.
Holden felt a sudden, strange thrill rush through his veins as he thought of the way Elise had smiled at him at the diner last night. If Joey had fallen in love with that girl, Holden would not have blamed him one bit. She had a smile that could have tamed even the wildest of hearts. Holden felt badly for leaving without saying goodbye last night, but he knew he wouldn’t have been able to talk to Elise about her son anymore once the other man entered the diner. And he also knew that the longer he’d stayed sitting there, the more confused he’d become about why his heart wouldn’t stop beating like crazy. He wasn’t looking for a woman. Sure, Elise was beautiful, but opening his heart to someone was not an option. All that ever came of loving was heartache and loss. Holden knew this all too well from the loss of his parents. The thought of losing one of his clanmates scared him badly enough. He could never handle living every day in fear of losing a lifemate.
“Holden!” Violet hissed at him. The urgent tone of her voice broke into his thoughts and brought him back to the present. He turned to look at her, and the worry written across her face instantly sent his senses into high alert.
“Didn’t you hear that?” she asked, her voice not much more than a worried whisper. She was standing with her back to the cave’s wall, looking out at the entrance with her magic ring raised in a defensive stance.
Holden strained his ears, but heard nothing. He breathed in deeply, trying to smell any suspicious scents in the air. He smelled nothing, but that didn’t necessarily mean much, as his recent discovery of ghosters had taught him.
“I don’t hear anything,” he said, turning to look at Violet with questioning eyes. She merely pressed her fingers to her lips, indicating that he should be quiet. Holden waited, breathing as softly as he could and staying alert for any unusual noises. He was about to give up, when he heard it. From somewhere in the maze of small caves, a voice screamed. The sound was a bit faint, indicating that whoever was screaming must be on the opposite side of the caves from where Holden and Violet were standing. But there was no mistaking the pain and agony in that scream.
Violet looked at Holden with a grim expression on her face. He had a pretty good idea what she was thinking, because he was thinking it, too. This secluded, rocky outcrop would be the perfect place for Saul’s soldiers to bring prisoners for torture. And that scream sounded quite tortured.
“We have to go find out what’s going on,” Violet whispered. Holden merely nodded, then motioned to her with his hand. He started creeping in the direction of the sound, taking care to stay as hidden as possible against the walls of rock. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Violet raise her magic ring above her head.
“Magicae arma,” she said in a low voice. A buzz of energy surrounded them as the protective shield spell she’d just cast went into effect. He wanted to tell her to use an invisibility shield, too, but he knew it was pointless. None of the invisibility shields the Falcon Cross wizards could cast had been able to hold up to the enemy’s dark magic. It was better for Violet to focus all of her energy on the protective shield in hopes of keeping them safe if the enemy was out here, waiting to attack.
For several minutes, everything was quiet. Holden and Violet crept forward at a slow pace, wary and watching. Holden was beginning to think that the source of the scream, whoever it was, had either been silenced permanently or given a reprieve from torture. But then, in a loud, sudden burst, another scream rang out, and another. The sound was pure terror, and almost inhuman. Holden looked back at Violet to see her holding her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“What are they doing to that poor soul?” she asked, forgetti
ng even to whisper in the face of such a horrendous sound.
Holden didn’t answer right away. Instead, he listened as the screams grew more desperate and urgent. Then, suddenly, he knew exactly was he was hearing.
“That isn’t Saul’s men. There’s not torture going on here,” he said, starting to run. “I know what that sound is.”
“Holden, wait! What the hell are you doing?” Violet’s panicked voice called from behind him. But he didn’t slow down. He kept running toward the sound of the screaming, which was now constant and sounded almost like a roar. When he rounded the corner of one of the rocky caves about a minute later, he found just what he’d expected.
There, on the hot, rocky ground, writhing in pain, was Nick. The boy’s face, twisted in pain, looked so much like Elise’s face that Holden felt like his heart was twisting up in his chest. Holden had a vague realization that Violet had run up behind him. He glanced back at her and saw her standing there uncertainly, holding her magic ring up as though she was unsure whether the boy on the ground presented a threat or not.
“What…what is going on?” she asked in a shaky voice. Even though she didn’t know the reason, she could tell that something was very wrong here.
“The boy’s a shifter, but he doesn’t know it yet. His inner shifter is trying to get out and it’s freaking him out. I’ll explain in more detail later. Right now I have to help him.”
Holden quickly went to kneel beside the boy, who was shaking and screaming. His eyes were green and churning, and he thrashed his hands wildly at Holden.
“Get away from me! Get away from me!” Nick screamed.
“Nick, I’m Holden. I’m a friend, I promise. I can help you.”
Nick thrashed out again, but as he did his human hand suddenly turned dark green and then morphed into the long, clawed hand of a dragon. This sent him into a fresh panic, and he screamed even louder, as though someone were standing over him ready to kill him. The hand seemed almost liquid for a moment, shifting back and forth between dark green dragon skin and pale peach human flesh. Nick’s face was pure horror, and he looked like he was about to throw up.
Stealth and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 7) Page 4