On her way out Hailey stopped and rummaged through the gifts. It was a random idea but worth a shot. There was something in particular she wanted and of course it was small and hidden under some of the larger things. It was one of the first things she had wrapped for Dak and one she had spent the most time planning. The box was a small five inch square and only an inch tall. Inside held a pair of custom made handcuffs.
He had a collection of handcuffs hidden away in a room beside his office. There were numerous swords, daggers, axes, and spears. Any kind of weaponry he had used, or had used on him, was there. But the wall of handcuffs was the striking piece of his collection. Old to new, Dak had a little bit of every kind of shape and size. Dragons had a problem with shiny things. It was a compulsion to take and keep hidden. Some had a fever for gold, others for jewels. Dak had it for weapons and handcuffs.
She had found a jewelry designer that agreed to take on her project. Together they designed a one of a kind set of handcuffs. The cuffs themselves were intricately carved dragons. Every time she looked at them she found a new detail she had previously overlooked. Thousands of tiny scales were etched over the head, body, and tail. She had given very specific instructions on how the head and horns were supposed to look, which he nailed. To lock the cuffs, the tail slid into the mouth. And the links in-between were rings of fire.
Hailey slid the box into her backpack. Today was a good day to start trying to prove to him that she wanted them, and this present was a good first step. She had gotten everything she came for and knew it was time to go, but this was her home and she missed it. Another moment wouldn't hurt anything.
Something heavy hit the ground outside. Everything rattled in its place and Hailey grabbed the back of the couch for support. At first she had thought it was an earthquake but this was Pennsylvania and the earthquakes they did get were no more than a blip on the Richter scale.
She walked to the door and threw it open. Staring at her through amber eyes was a massive red dragon. He sat on his forearms with his tail curled around his body, the tip lazily swayed back and forth. The entire space between her house and Dane's was filled with dragon. He was watching her with curiosity, obviously as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Hailey had no choice but to greet him.
"Hey Dak," she said cautiously. "Um, Silas and I got here a while ago. I came out to grab some stuff while we waited for you."
In this form he didn't have any eyebrows but she was sure he had raised one anyway. Hailey readjusted the strap of her backpack. "Merry Christmas," she added awkwardly. This plan to win him back was not going so well. She had such strong ideas in her mind, things she wanted to say or do, but once in his presence all those ideas became mush.
It didn’t help that he wasn’t human at the moment either.
He stood to his full, breath taking height. Hailey had to crane her neck back to look up at him. The sun was blocked by his head, silhouetting him in darkness. She always felt small beside his dragon, small but protected. Even now with the emotional crater between them she felt safe.
Without taking his eyes off of her, he began to change. The magic prickled her skin like a thousand tiny needles. Even under her thick coat she felt goose bumps rise on her arms. A minute later he was back to human and buck ass naked.
For a lazy second she stared, gaped and devoured him. His naturally tan skin was flush from the change. His chest sucked in air which made his muscles dance under the skin. It wasn't until she met his waiting eyes that she blushed.
"Here," she said turning back to her door. "Come in. I'll grab the clothes you left here." She knew her face was beet red. He was incredibly fit and she had seen him naked plenty of times before but at the moment he wasn't hers to look at. And that made it so much more devious. She left the door open trusting he would come in. She wasn't about to look behind her and get another eyeful.
He had left various things there over the past few weeks. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his drawer in her dresser. He'd have to suffer without socks or boxers. When she went back out to the living room he was standing behind the couch frowning at her pile of presents. From where he stood he was covered from the waist down. Hailey had no problem admiring the upper half and did so now.
He must have felt her looking and caught her eye. He wasn't happy, per say, but there was a spark of something looking out at her from his gaze. Lust maybe? Hailey tossed him the clothes and turned her back. "That's the best I can do for now."
"Thank you." His deep voice was still rough from the change. She could hear the rustling of fabric followed by a zipper. "What's all this?"
He had to be talking about the mess. "Uh, Christmas gifts." For you, from me.
Dak didn't say anything more. She shifted her weight on her feet from one to the other as she waited. The silence was nerve wracking. She just wanted him to say something, anything to break the quiet that was deafening. His hand came down on her shoulder and she jumped at the contact.
"Sorry." He quickly removed his hand. "I didn't mean to scare you."
Hailey turned and took a breath giving her stomach a chance to unwind itself. "I'm pretty sure one of those gifts is a bell just for that reason."
Dak's lips twitched letting a small smile through. "Let's get up to the house."
"Ok," she agreed with a small mental victory dance. A smile was step one of the plan. It was small but she was counting it as a win.
Chapter Eighteen
"Silas," Dacea said in greeting as he came in the door. The Green dragon glanced up from the newspaper and looked first at him, and then to Hailey behind him, and smiled.
"Well now, what were you two up to?" he asked smugly.
Dacea glared at him, not liking what he was insinuating.
"We ran into each other on the way back, Asshole." Hailey smacked Silas upside the head. It was a satisfying sight.
"Sure, you did," he winked at Hailey. "Dacea, you said you had news," Silas prompted.
He did, but he hadn't expected to hear from, much less see Silas for another day at least. Hailey's appearance had rattled him too. After his dream stalking last night he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. Well, that was a lie; lately she was all he thought about. This morning however, was different. He wasn't angry about it like he had been the past week. Now it was a bone chilling ache.
And what was with the gifts? He knew it was Christmas and logically she probably bought them all earlier but seeing them, seeing all her unfinished planning for the holiday made him feel guilty. Sure, he had gotten her some things and they were presently sitting unwrapped in his closet. Dacea hadn't thought about what do to with them. He hadn't given much thought to the holiday at all. In all honesty, he hadn't thought much on anything.
"Yes, I wanted to tell you that the Council acknowledged Red's rouge status this morning and I have informed my people."
"And here I thought I was the Scrooge of the group," Silas muttered. "I guess that means I am free to renounce the Council as well. Though, I will let my dragons enjoy their holiday before dropping the bomb on them."
To say he was frowning would only be half right. Dacea's whole body seemed to sag in exhaustion. "I had forgotten it was Christmas until Hailey mentioned it." He walked around the island where Silas was sitting and opened the fridge. He never would have done it today had he remembered. Christ, he'd been off his game lately. He rubbed a hand through his hair. Without thinking he closed the fridge and turned back to Silas and Hailey.
Hailey was frowning at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said defensively. "Why do you think something is wrong?"
"You opened the fridge, stood there for a minute and closed the door without getting anything."
He couldn't meet her eyes. "Nothing's wrong."
"Sit. I'll make you something." She pushed past him into the kitchen. Her body brushed fully against his as she went, sending him deeper into the confusion of the morning. "Sit," she said again, pointing to the ch
air beside Silas.
Dacea complied and walked the long way around the island to the chair. He wasn't risking touching her again. With his guard mediocre at best, he wasn't sure he could keep his hands from her jean clad hips. The lack of sleep was catching up to him. His mind and body were sluggish and disjointed. Hailey opened the fridge and after a moment of consideration she pulled out milk, eggs and butter.
"Pancakes," she told him as he stared. "Christmas morning deserves pancakes."
"Right, Christmas." He yawned and watched her rummage through the pantry.
"When was the last time you slept?" She bent at the waist to grab a pan from the lower cabinets. His head tipped to the side as he admired the view. Silas snorting with laughter beside him woke him enough to stop his eyes from wondering any further.
He coughed, clearing his throat. "Last night."
"That was for like five minutes." She had found the pan she wanted and stood back up. How did she? Dacea sank his head into his palm. She knew he was there last night. A glance to her face confirmed it. "Did you have good dreams?" she asked with a laugh.
"Ok, you're right. It's been a few days."
The pages of the newspaper crinkled as Silas turned the page, a silent reminder that he was there listening.
"Go lay down. I'll wake you when these are ready." She was just beginning to add ingredients to the bowl and looked up at him with a smile. "Go," she urged him.
He remembered one of her memories from last night. Hailey was making pancakes and trying to see what kind of shapes she could create. In the end, after many failed attempts at a octopus—and many perfectly good pancakes that she fed to the cat—she just gave up and poured globs of batter in the pan and made amoebas. Dacea smiled. It was the best tasting amoeba he had ever had.
"Dak?" She was looking at him funny. Like she knew what he was thinking but didn't quite believe it.
"Yeah?"
Her smile softened. "Go to bed."
A nap did sound nice and his body and mind were finally agreeing with each other. Something about having her near relaxed all of his muscles. He stood from the stool and wavered a little, the bed would be a little too far in his condition, but the couch would do nicely. He stumbled with heavy feet into the adjoining living room and collapsed onto the cushions. He was asleep before his eyes even closed.
Something floral had his nose twitching. He couldn't name the exact flower but there was an undertone to it that was familiar. A pressure that was not unwelcome rested on his cheek. It was a hand. Not his hand because it was much too delicate and soft. Dacea turned his face into it, nuzzling into it with a content sigh then smelled the wrist.
"You smell wrong," he mumbled. "Too much like tulips and not enough like sunshine."
Her thumb brushed lightly across his cheek. "Sorry to wake you but something has happened." Hailey's soft, sweet voice pulled him the last inch from sleep. He opened his eyes and found her kneeling on the ground beside him. She had been crying. He could smell the saltiness of her tears and see the wet tracks they had taken down her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" he asked becoming more awake.
"Dane just told us that some Red dragons were attacked. Their houses were burned. He sent some people over to search for survivors but..." The tears had started back up, one after another dripped from her eyes onto the couch.
"I need to get over there." He was already sitting up. The short nap had recharged him enough for the time being.
"I know. Silas left already. He said to meet him there."
"Ok." Dacea stood and offered a hand to Hailey. "Let's go then."
*****
He got a little more information out of her as they drove. Dane didn't know much at the time, so neither did Hailey. For the most part they sat in a tense silence. His nap cleared his head for the most part. Back at the house he had been forgetting why they were apart. Her laughter filled the house with life and it was easy to forget why she was just visiting and not living there. But now in the stillness of the car, he remembered.
She sat as close to the door as she could get. Or in his perspective, as far away from him as she could get. Hailey leaned the side of her head against the window and stared forward with an air of apprehension. She had stopped crying but would sniffle every once and a while. He pushed the gas a little harder.
The first hit upon his sept was in farm country. Right outside of most Pennsylvania's cities was farmland or mountains. Philadelphia went from urban jungle to Amish farm in a matter of minutes. From what they knew it was one family, two houses. They were brothers, each owned a house and shared the duties of the farm. They both had wives and children. At this point, everyone was presumed dead. He still didn't have the details on how.
Black smoke rose in two giant channels in the air. He could only see what was above the tree line but it didn't look good. A few more bends in the road and they were out of the trees heading straight for the chaos. Up ahead were two structures barely standing. Flames still licked the roof of the one house, while the other sat charred and smoking.
The car slowed on the gravel road and he parked behind Silas's car. He was in the process of pulling a body from the house the house that was smoking. Dacea's movements were slow as he watched the people on site try to contain and salvage what they could. He turned off the engine and just sat watching.
"I'm so sorry," Hailey's voice cracked out beside him.
He looked at her and for a moment he wasn't sure she was talking about the burning house in front of him or them. Her eyes studied the people running about. Those eyes he saw each time he closed his own were glossed over with unshed tears. Slowly, she turned her head to meet his. "I'm sorry." She bit her bottom lip as if to hold in more words that wanted to spill from her mouth.
"Me too." Dacea quickly twisted his head toward the scene in front of them. He wasn't so sure that he was talking about the house either. Before she could say something neither of them were ready for, he opened his door and climbed out of one disaster and right into another.
Dane spotted him immediately and jogged over wiping the sweat and dirt from his face. Hailey's door closed behind him. By the time Dane had made it to Dacea, Hailey was fidgeting beside him.
"What the bloody hell happened?"
"We've been trying to kill the fires so we don't know officially yet. I've gotten a look at two of the bodies. Kids. Two girls." He shook his head and glanced back to the lawn where they had been laying the bodies side by side. With a sigh he dropped his eyes and turned back looking exhausted. "Looks like they were killed by the fire. I'm sure the dragons were shot first, otherwise they'd still be here to tell us who did this."
Dacea ran a hand briskly down his face trying to rub what little energy he had to the surface. "We know who did this," he stated and Dane nodded.
Hailey had been standing quietly beside him, her attention split between Dane and the houses. He had seen her eyes skirt over the bodies and quickly away again. He wanted to tell her to go sit in the car but she had disappeared from his side. His already weary frown deepened.
As if reading his mind Dane spotted her first. "Over there, Sir," he pointed. Dacea turned and searched her out only to find her walking toward a line of bushes. "Hailey, where are you going?" he called.
Ignoring him, she crouched down in front of a bush. He yelled out for her again, agitation seeping into his voice. For all he knew, one of the people helping put the fire out was the one who started it in the first place. Katherine was known to keep spies and was sure to have a few nearby. Hailey wasn't safe here. Hell, she wasn't safe anywhere these days and having something happen to her today would be one push too many.
At his third unanswered call, he grumbled an "excuse me" to Dane and stormed over to her. "Hailey!" he snapped out her name quick and fierce. A few people nearby turned to watch. She was standing again and when she turned around there was a boy of about four in pajamas that were blackened with smoke and soot. He clung to Hailey and buried his head in he
r hair. Dacea stopped a moment, surprised at the sight. But what was even more shocking was the longing that washed over his soul at the sight of his Mate with a child in her arms.
"He was hiding. I don't think he's hurt beside a few scratches." Hailey rocked the child who had locked himself around her chest. His arms encircled her neck and his feet were wrapped tightly around her waist.
"Hey," Dacea said in a soft tone and touched the boy's back rubbing it gently. The child turned his head and peeked out at him. The boy's eyes went wide with recognition.
"I know you," his voice trembled. "Daddy said you are the King."
"I am," he smiled. "My name's Dacea. What's yours?"
"Mac."
"Do you want Hailey to take you to the car to get warm, Mac?"
He nodded and snuggled back into Hailey. She rubbed his back tenderly and attempted to smile at Dacea. She had started to walk away when he called after her. It was instinct after he saw her shiver when she passed. He took off his coat and draped it over Mac's shoulders all while making sure she was covered as well. His hand rested on her lower back as he leaned in toward her ear. "Thank you for caring for him," he whispered sincerely.
She turned her head, their faces only inches from each other. "I will always care for what is yours." The boy in her arms wiggled, changing positions while silently pushing her to start walking again. She left Dacea staring after her with a crease in his brow.
"Sir," Dane interrupted, "We found something."
"Another survivor?" he asked for Mac's sake though he knew the answer.
"No. Sorry Sir, they are all dead."
Dacea nodded his eyes still on Hailey as she crawled in the car with the boy. "What is it then?" When the door shut he focused his attention on Dane.
"You should come see for yourself." Together they walked across the lawn. The second house fire had since been extinguished. On the dead brown grass of winter laid eight bodies. Two men, two women and four children all burnt to various amounts. They passed by the bodies; a few Green dragons from a local fire department were prepping them for burial. In between the houses stood a half circle of men all talking and pointing at the ground. Dacea pushed his way through to stand beside Silas.
The Hailey Holloway Complete Series Page 47