The owner blew out a long whistle and raised the jewel up to the light. “It’s not a pair?”
“No, just the one.”
He frowned. “Will be hard to sell.”
“I don’t want to sell it, just pawn.”
“Yeah, but if you don’t pay me back then I’m stuck with a single stud.”
She ground her teeth and bit back a sharp retort. “What’s it worth?”
He led her to the jewelry counter and placed the ruby under an ultraviolet light. “It’s not lab grown so that’s a plus.” He set an eyepiece over one eye and examined the ruby. “It’s clear and an excellent shade of red. Where did you get this?”
She bit her bottom lip. “It was a gift.” Would Eoin be hurt? She planned on paying back the pawnshop loan and keeping the earring. She just needed the money now. If it broke her curse, she was sure he wouldn’t mind.
“You do realize if this proves to be stolen I have to report you.” The shop owner pinned her down with an expert’s glare.
She gave a nervous laugh. “I’m no cat burglar.” But a dragon had given it to her. Most humans wouldn’t touch dragon treasure. Bad things tend to happen to those who did.
He frowned but set the earring on a scale. “It’s a little over a carat with the setting. I’ll give you fifteen hundred for it.”
Her heart sank. That wasn’t enough. She needed five hundred more. “I need two grand.”
Shaking his head, he held out the ruby. “Find another pawnshop.”
She glanced at the time on her phone and wanted to scream. With her bank account and credit cards, she could manage the rest but she had to hurry. Her savings account wasn’t linked to her debit card so she needed to see a teller. “Fine but we need to fast track this deal in cash. I have to make it to the bank before they close.” She already was in his system so the transaction was quick.
With long strides, she ran the five blocks to her bank, flip-flops and all. The locals must think she was training for sprints the way she ran at least once a week for some stupid reason or another.
Reaching her destination, she slipped into the bank just as the manager strolled toward the entrance with the key. Angie made it to the teller without need of CPR. “I’d like to withdraw everything from my savings account.” She had to stop between words to catch her breath.
The teller eyed her.
Sweat beaded her skin and she shook from the exertion. She looked like she was in withdrawal. She giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth. That wouldn’t help.
The teller asked for ID.
Angie did as she asked and filled out all the proper paper work. “Large bills, please.” It would be easier to carry.
It didn’t take long for the teller to gather the cash into a neat envelope and bid her goodnight, obviously in a hurry to go home.
With more grace, Angie exited the bank’s main lobby and hit their ATM machine with her credit cards. She withdrew the balance to make the witch’s price. God help anyone who tried to mug her. Able to shift or not, she would go dragon on their ass.
The witch did not live within walking distance, so Angie had to catch the bus. Sitting on the hard plastic seats, she stared out the window. The shadows grew darker and longer as she traveled. Maybe she should have called Eoin? He had been instrumental in the discovery of her true nature but she suspected he would insist on paying or refuse to let her work with the witch. He could be pigheaded. This was her decision, her dragon and her life. She needed to see this through on her own.
When the time came, she got off at her stop and walked the rest of the way to the witch’s house. By then the sun had set and the creepy house was veiled in darkness.
Half expecting to see zombies creeping from the ground, Angie quickly made her way to the front door.
Sabrina answered just as Angie rested her knuckles against the wood. The witch still wore her apron and smelled of gingerbread cookies. “Angie, did you decide to accept my offer?”
Angie held out the envelope of cash. “I have the money. Take this curse off me.”
Sabrina gave a surprised laugh. “That was fast.” She led Angie back into her kitchen and began to pull ingredients off the shelf and set them on the cutting board by the boiling cauldron. “It’s not as easy as that. If I knew who had cast the spell, or at least why the curse was cast, this would be much easier.”
Dread settled heavily in Angie’s gut. With heavy feet, she crossed the kitchen closer to Sabrina. “I don’t know any of those answers.” It seemed like her whole life was filled with unanswerable questions. “I’ve always thought of myself as human until a few days ago. A dragon told me he could see that I was shielded from magic. Does that help?”
“Somewhat.” She opened some jars and lined them up in front of her. As she leaned her hands on the cutting board, she stared at Angie. “Why would someone want you to think you were human?”
Angie rubbed the familiar ache in her chest. “So my parents could adopt me.” Why had her dragon parents given her away? Had she been defective? She had no childhood memories except those of her human parents.
“Good enough. We will work with that and I’ll prepare you a counter-spell.” With fast fingers, she pulled out ingredients and threw them in a bowl, grinding the ingredients to dust. She poured the powder into a dissolvable capsule and handed the pill to Angie. “There you go. The answer to your prayers.”
Staring at the pill, Angie was reminded of the wicked witch who had poisoned Snow White’s apple. How desperate was she to trust this perfect stranger? Without a second thought, she swallowed the pill. Pretty desperate. “How long will it take to work?”
“As soon as your body digests it. But don’t shift here. Not inside my house.” She shooed Angie out of the kitchen with her hands. “Go out into the country and try shifting there. By then you should have absorbed my cure. You’ll also have space for your dragon body and you won’t accidentally eat anyone on your first shift.”
The advice seemed sage. Angie hugged Sabrina. “I can’t thank you enough.” She hurried out of the door and back to the bus stop. Screw that, she’d take a taxi straight to Eoin’s house and he could guide her through her first shift.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Eoin crossed his arms and inspected his work. He gave it a nod of approval. The bathroom fixtures gleamed and the room smelled much fresher than when Angie had last visited. Folded towels sat on the edge of the deep bathtub. While looking for clean rags in his garage, he’d found a storage bin of candles. He had filled the wall candelabras with them.
As a prospective mate, it was Eoin’s job to provide her with a home. The apartment she lived in was much worse than his castle and he wanted her to have more. Maybe they should just start over. There must be something big enough for two dragons in the country.
The distant sound of tire treads crushing gravel reached his sensitive hearing. He tensed. He wasn’t expecting anyone. If it was another fucking male dragon, he would start rolling heads. Cracking his knuckles, he made his way to the front door and yanked it open before Angie’s fist could knock. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled so wide she glowed. “Are you busy?” She glanced around his shoulders and pushed her way inside his home. “I’ve got great news.” She grasped his hands and squeezed them tight.
Her mood was contagious and he found himself returning her smile. “I’ll never be too busy for you.” He’d never seen her this happy and he liked it. The way her presence immediately warmed his hollow heart and lifted the burdens of the world from his shoulders could be addictive. Making her smile this way seemed like the perfect future goal.
“I found somebody to break my curse.” She pressed herself against his body and bent her head back to meet his stare. “Let’s find someplace outside and you can help me shift for the first time.”
He forced his smile to remain on his face but inside he went cold. “Wow, how did this come about?” He didn’t know of any practitioner of magic with
in the city who would be powerful enough to break the curse.
“The pack witch was able to see the curse and made me a concoction to swallow that should break it.” She pulled at his hands and led him outside. “Do you know taxis will only come up here if I paid them double their rate? What a scam. Beth said that she would give me driving lessons this weekend so I can borrow your car to travel back and forth.” She tossed him an amused glance over her shoulder. “But I’m only borrowing it until I can afford to buy my own.”
“Okay.” He furrowed his eyebrows. The pack witch? That old hack? “I would have come to get you if you would have just called me.” Concoction? She’d taken a risk ingesting some unknown substance.
“I couldn’t wait. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to be one with my dragon form.” She spun around, her smile even wider. “When can you start teaching me how to fly?”
He quickly smoothed his expression and chuckled. “One step at a time, wild girl.” He shoved his doubts to the back of his mind. Angie deserved his support. Who knew? Maybe it would work. Or maybe it would kill her. He frowned again.
“Stop worrying so much.” She playfully poked his stomach. “Should I take off my clothes?”
He sat on a boulder in his yard and pointed to the center of his lawn where she would have the space needed to expand in size. “If you’re giving me the choice, I’ll always choose naked.”
She tossed him a salacious smile over her shoulder. “If I shift in my clothes, they’ll be torn apart?”
He nodded. “So either way you’ll be naked.” He leaned back on his arms and crossed his ankles.
When she was a little further, he shifted his eyes to dragon and peeked at her aura. Shit, the curse was still visible. He chewed on his thumbnail. Even if he told her, she would still want to try to shift.
Angie stripped and tossed her clothes in a crumpled pile at her feet. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself. “Chilly.” She closed her eyes like he’d taught her, probably to commune with her dragon shape.
With Angie’s nipples perked in the cold air, Eoin couldn’t complain about the view. He’d never had a favorite body type, but everything about Angie was perfect. Right down to the little dimples over her ass. He recalled sucking that spot last night and how she had laughed.
Her eyebrows furrowed and her smile slowly changed into a frown. Even from this distance Eoin could see sweat forming on her brow. She was trying too hard. He could sense the magic building around her but there was no release. This wasn’t going to work.
He pushed himself to his feet and approached her. “Angie,” he whispered.
Her shoulders drooped before she opened her eyes. “What am I doing wrong?”
He gathered her sweet form in his arms and lifted her so he could cradle her against his chest. “Absolutely nothing. I don’t think the witch lifted the curse.”
“But she works for the pack. Her spells work for them. She really sounded like she knew what she was doing.” The despair in her voice broke his heart. He’d find this witch and eat her whole. Crunch her bones and spit her back out.
With Angie still in his arms, he bent and gathered her clothing with his fingertips then carried her back to his castle before she caught a chill. “I know of the pack witch. She’s not strong enough to break your curse. I’ve touched this barrier with my bare hands, I know how strong it is.”
She struggled out of his arms and tugged on her clothing. If fury had a scent it would smell like Angie. “You don’t understand. I paid her.”
Foreboding filled Eoin’s gut. “How much?”
She glared at him with the determination of a she-dragon on the hunt. “I pawned the ruby earring and paid her every last dime I owned.”
He ground his teeth. “We’ll take the bike. If there’s traffic, we can weave through it and move faster.” He led her to his motorcycle in the garage and followed her directions to the witch’s home.
The house had seen better days. Obviously the pack didn’t pay her very well and she was most likely strapped for cash. The front door swung loose in the wind, swinging back and forth against the frame. The darkness didn’t affect Angie’s vision but he took her hand anyway and guided her over the uneven walkway stones toward the front door. He pushed it open and didn’t bother calling out as he entered. He could already sense the house was empty.
Angie pushed past him and stared, open mouth. “What the…”
“She moved. She must’ve known it wasn’t going to work and left town.”
“But…” Angie moved from room to room quickly with him close on her heels. She stopped in the kitchen and turned in a slow circle. “This house was full of stuff. How could she possibly move that fast?”
“Magic.”
She slammed her fist on the counter and the thump echoed within the house. “I can’t believe I was that stupid.” She squeezed her eyes shut, her breathing ragged. “She took everything. I have nothing left. I can’t afford to hire anybody to find her.”
He came up from behind and hugged her against his chest, leaning his chin on top of her head. “Why did you trust her?”
“She worked for the pack.” Angie shook her head and leaned her body against him. “That’s not it. I was desperate.” She broke away from his hold and paced the room. “Because of you. You dangled this dragon thing in front of me, just out of my reach and I wanted it so bad.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I want to be with you but I can’t. You want to do some kind of mating ritual and I can’t respond to you the way you need.” She stopped to face him. “The way I need.”
Angie’s insides were more than raw. She’d been gutted and left out in the sun with fire ants. That’s what the witch had done to her. She wiped her cheeks dry on her sleeve.
Eoin crossed the room and helped her with his own shirt. Cleaning her face, smoothing her short hair. He added kisses to her forehead and nose and cheeks as she continued to cry. She just couldn’t stop.
“Screw our people. Screw instincts and customs and laws.” He grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his stare. “I’ll marry you. Just like the humans do and—and we’ll move into one of those middle class neighborhoods and pretend to be human.”
Her sobs turned into a laugh as she tried picturing them living in a middle-class neighborhood with a white picket fence. Him with his punk-rock look and her with her ghetto style. They’d fit in perfectly. “No.”
“No, what? You won’t marry me? I’m not good enough?” There was a growl in his voice. “All that matters is that we’re together.”
“Being dragon is who you are and it’s who I fell in love with.” A twang ran across her soul as if God had strummed it like a guitar. She jerked in Eoin’s arms from the sudden sensation.
“You love me?”
“I’m feeling a little weird. And dizzy. When I said those words something happened.”
“Once you say them, you can’t take them back, Angie.” He held her at arm’s length and she saw his eyes change to dragon form. “Let me check your aura.” His eyes wandered around the air surrounding her. “It’s smaller. The shield looks like it’s almost gone but I can still see a shadow. Try to shift.”
“I’m inside the house.”
“Who gives a shit? We’ll tear this place apart. Who’s going to care?”
She gave herself a hug and attempted to connect with her dragon for the third time this evening. On this attempt her dragon came to her call right away. She stood so close Angie could almost feel the softness of her scales. But they didn’t connect. She took a deep shaky breath and met Eoin’s disappointed stare. “I think this is the part where you need to take me home.” She followed him back to his bike but he bypassed her neighborhood and took her on the interstate back to his castle. She was too worn out to argue with him and just absorbed the heat of his body as they rode as one toward his home.
He parked his bike by the entrance and helped her dismount.
She tucked her frozen fingers in her armpits while
her teeth chattered. She hadn’t dressed for a motorcycle ride and nights were getting cool.
Eoin gave her the once-over. “Do you remember how to find my bedroom?”
She nodded, too disappointed to talk.
“Why don’t you go and draw us a bath while I make us something to eat?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, recalling the state of his bathroom yesterday.
“I cleaned.” He raised his hand up by his head. “Scout’s honor.”
She gave him a weary smile as she tried picturing him scrubbing the bathtub. “Sure.” She did as he asked and she sat on the edge of the large tub, watching the water. What now? Did they continue as they were? Could he love her when she was stuck between worlds?
Eoin returned with a tray filled with strawberries, cupcakes and popcorn with a bottle of wine tucked under each arm. He set the tray down by the tub and offered her a bottle. “One for you and one for me.” He gave her a wink. “It seems like tonight should be a two-bottle night.” It sounded like a perfect idea.
She popped a piece of cupcake in her mouth and undressed. “After the bath, I can finish working on your scales.”
He made a purring noise. “They just need oiling to protect my skin while the scales grow back. It can wait until morning.” He popped another piece of cake in her mouth, watching her lips intently.
She licked the icing off her mouth, taking her time. “I could model for you while you work. I had fun the first time.”
He ran his hands over her bare shoulders. “No need to model.”
“Are you finished?”
“I’ve decided to put my art on hold until we solve our mating problems. It’s difficult for me to concentrate when inside I’m a mess.”
“But what about the show you were telling me about?”
“I canceled it.”
Stepping into the tub, she watched as Eoin undressed and slipped in behind her. The tub was large enough to hold them easily with the water up to her chin. All this time, she’d been so focused on how her being a dragon was affecting her life, and had never considered how she was destroying his.
Not His Dragon Page 19