by Rinelle Grey
Neither of them said anything more. What was there to say? This just wasn’t an option. For either of them.
The sooner they accepted the truth, the better.
But for some reason, Lyrian’s heart refused to believe it.
Chapter 18
The next morning, Brad tried to keep his distance a little as he helped Lyrian fasten Anarian into the carseat. Then they drove into Mungaloo. Her revelations last night wouldn’t leave his mind, and he was torn between a kind of fatalistic excitement at the thought of being bonded to her for life, and a fear of losing everything he’d worked for his whole life. But before he could even consider it with a clear mind, they needed to find Lisa.
Even though their task was urgent, Brad insisted on stopping at a café for breakfast first. They hadn’t had much to eat last night other than a few chocolate bars he’d packed for his flight and hadn’t eaten.
Lyrian was obviously impatient, but she didn’t object too much. From the way she wolfed down her breakfast, she was hungry too. Probably more so than him, since she was feeding Anarian.
After they’d eaten, Brad headed for the pub, keeping a sharp look out for the car they’d seen the dragon in earlier. Brad had no idea where she’d gotten the car, or even if she’d be driving the same one again, but it was the only clue he had to go on.
Every dark coloured car that moved made him jump, but despite his apprehension, they made it to the pub without incident. Brad headed up to the room to grab the map as quickly as possible. He left the key on the counter when he was done, avoiding talking to the woman who was serving someone at the opposite end of the counter. He didn’t want to get caught in conversation. Every moment he was a way from Lyrian was a risk. If that dragon appeared again…
The thought hurried his feet, and he headed back out to the car, where Lyrian was thankfully safe. Brad felt a lot better once that first hurdle was overcome. Map in hand, they drove to the first possible address they had for Lisa. His stomach was a bundle of nerves, and he wasn’t even sure if he hoped Lyrian’s brother was here, or not.
Their talk last night wouldn’t be banished, no matter how hard he tried.
Lyrian had seemed accepting of the fact that he couldn’t just walk away from his job. She didn’t seem to think it was all just an excuse, even though Brad suspected it was.
It was easier to let her believe that he was being noble, and staying to help his people, than to admit that he was too afraid of failing her. His world was ordered, in control. Even in an emergency at the hospital, there were a set of procedures to be followed. And if you followed those to the letter, then even if something went wrong, you could tell yourself you’d done the right thing.
That there was nothing more you could do.
Out here, it seemed to just be chaos. When it came down to it, these dragons didn’t even seem to keep to their own rules of keeping their presence hidden. There was nothing you could count on. No rules or certainty to base any sort of plan on.
Brad just didn’t know how to cope with that.
He just hoped that if he helped Lyrian find her brothers, then they would know what to do. That they would be able to keep her and Anarian safe. Finding them was a sensible, practical goal, the best he could do under the circumstances.
He drove slowly, on the pretence that he was scanning the sidewalk for dragons and the sky for freak thunderstorms, but in reality, he was just putting off the inevitable.
Because once they found Lyrian’s brother, it would be time for him to head back to America.
Alone.
Oh, sure, he’d come visit often. He wanted to be as much of a part in his daughter’s life as he could. But he and Lyrian couldn’t even have a casual relationship when he visited. With this dragons mating for life thing, that wasn’t an option.
Even if it did sound like the most wonderful thing in the world.
He should find it difficult to believe, that dragons had some weird, magical mating ritual that bound them for life. It was certainly something he would have laughed at if he’d seen anything like it printed in a medical journal. Or he would have a couple of years ago. Before meeting Lyrian. Before experiencing how he felt about her.
He already felt like leaving her would be like tearing himself in half. And that was before they’d formed this bond apparently.
He counted, just to be sure, but he and Lyrian had only slept together twice.
He almost wished she hadn’t told him. That they’d just slept together, and he could worry about solving the problems later. But he knew, deep down, that he would have resented it if they had, and he didn’t want resentment to cloud what they’d shared.
It was better to have all those memories umarred, even if it didn’t lead to the solution he wanted.
“I’m sorry, Brad.” Lyrian’s voice was soft, and filled with the same pain he was feeling.
Brad didn’t have to ask how she knew what he was thinking about. Somehow, despite not having that magical bond, they shared a connection. One that went beyond mere words.
He turned back to her, a lump forming in his throat, his heart aching. “There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he said, his voice gruff. “None of this is anyone’s fault, it just is. No amount of wishing it were different will solve it.”
Lyrian shook her head, her eyes big and sad. “No, but I should have told you earlier. Before you left the first time.”
Would he have believed her? She probably could have convinced him, shown him enough to make him believe.
But it wouldn’t have changed anything. Especially not now they had a baby together.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, tired now all of a sudden. “We can’t change the past, we can just push forwards to the future. Right now, we need to find your brother. After that, well, we’ll have to see what happens then.”
For once, he wasn’t planning ahead. He’d already seen that was pointless around dragons.
Plus, he didn’t want to.
In the here and now, he was with Lyrian. Chances are, he wouldn’t be in the future. So he didn’t want to think about it.
He pulled up in front of a low set brick house and stopped the car. “Wait here,” he told Lyrian. “I’ll find out if Lisa lives here.”
“But I want to come too,” Lyrian protested.
Brad hesitated. The less people who saw Lyrian and her vibrant blue hair and unusual pale skin, the better. “We have three houses to check,” he reminded her. “It’s unlikely this is the right one. And we don’t want to wake Anarian until we’re certain.”
The baby hadn’t objected to the carseat as much this time, but Brad suspected if they were getting her in and out several times, she might change her tune.
Lyrian looked crestfallen. “All right,” she agreed reluctantly. “But be careful.”
“I always am,” Brad assured her. He’d had enough run ins with dragons this week. And the police.
He glanced up and down the road, but there were no signs of either police or strange dragon women, so he slid out of the car and headed up the front path, planning his opening lines on the way.
His knock on the door produced a young woman, but not Lisa. Her blonde hair was straight. “Yes?”
“Hi, I’m looking for Lisa? Does she live here?”
To his surprise, an amused look came over her face. “You’re not the first one,” she pointed out, “You might have come a little further than most of them though. Are you from America?”
Brad felt a little stupid. Of course there would have been others looking for the mysterious woman who flew with dragons.
“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “Though I was here in Mungaloo for another reason.” He didn’t think it was a good time to mention his uncle, he didn’t really want anyone knowing who he was. It didn’t matter anyway.
“Is she here?” he asked, dropping all the stories he’d made up about why he was looking for her.
The woman laughed. “No, no relation. She’s over on Stephen St
reet.”
That narrowed his search down. “Thanks for your help,” Brad said with a smile.
He headed back to the car, feeling his shoulders itch as the woman watched him curiously all the way.
He slid in next to Lyrian.
“Is she there?” she asked eagerly.
Brad shook his head. “Wrong address. But the woman did tell me where she is.” He pointed to the dot he’d marked on the map. “This one.”
“Are you sure?” Lyrian asked anxiously.
“It seems likely,” Brad said, as he started the car and drove over to the address he’d been given.
Lyrian stared out the front windshield, biting her lip.
Brad couldn’t help glancing over at her. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Lyrian nodded. “I just can’t believe, after all this time, that I’m going to find Verrian.” Her eyes filled with tears.
Brad knew why.
Once they found her brother, that was it. It was over between them. If Verrian was indeed here, then Lyrian had responsibilities that she couldn’t leave. And a family who needed her far more than he did.
He could see his thoughts reflected in Lyrian’s eyes. She was feeling the same thing. Except for her, her brothers were real people. Or real dragons anyway. Dragons that she loved as much as he loved his brother.
For her sake, he hoped Verrian was here, even if it meant he had no more excuses for staying.
Lyrian hesitated, staring into his eyes. “It will be so good to know that Anarian will have a clan,” she said softly, as though trying to explain why this was so important to her.
“Even if he isn’t here, you and Anarian won’t ever be alone,” Brad said softly. “You’ve got me.”
She turned towards him then, and gave him a wide smile, reminding him achingly of that carefree summer a year ago. “You’ve been wonderful, Brad, but you have responsibilities back in America. I know you care about us, but you don’t need to be tied to me.”
Didn’t she get it? He already was.
Her and Anarian. They were part of his heart. Part of his existence, whether he was here beside them, or home in America wondering what they were doing. No matter where he was, he’d always be wishing he was here. There was no way now, or ever, that he could walk away and just forget they existed.
That realisation hit Brad like a hammer to the chest, making it hard to breathe for a few minutes.
He stared into Lyrian’s eyes, wishing he had some way to tell her all that.
Wishing there was time.
But there wasn’t. They needed to find her brother, so that she and Anarian could be safe. So that Verrian could do the job that Brad knew he couldn’t.
Brad would save his explanations for later, when there was time to make them. And maybe by then he’d have thought of a way to say it all without sounding like the blubbering fool he felt like.
So instead he just said, “You and Anarian will always be a part of my life, Lyrian. Surely you know that. But right now, we need to find your brother. So let’s go.”
She didn’t reply, just searched his eyes, biting her lip.
For some reason, Brad’s heart was jumping all over the place. He almost held his breath.
Slowly, she nodded. “Yes, we should do that.”
But she didn’t move.
Maybe she was as affected by all this as he was.
Brad wanted to stay here, like this, until she admitted it.
But they were sitting in a charred car in front of a possible dragon hideout. Probably not the best place for it.
He put a hand on her knee. “We need to go.”
His words broke the moment. Lyrian nodded, stared at him again, then nodded again, more determinedly now. “Right, let’s go.”
Both of them climbed out of the car, then Lyrian paused. “Should I get Anarian out?” She turned and looked through the back window. “She’s asleep.”
Brad hesitated. He glanced over at the house, quiet and still, then back at the car. “Perhaps you should wait here with her. Even if this is the right house, Lisa might not be here. Seems pointless to get Anarian and out when we don’t know yet.”
Lyrian hesitated.
“If your brother is here, we can get her out then,” Brad pointed out.
He’d feel safer then. Not like he needed to be ready to run at a moment’s notice.
Lyrian heaved a sigh. “All right,” she agreed reluctantly.
Brad headed up the path towards the door, knocked on it, then waited.
He heard footsteps in the house, and took a deep breath. He had a speech all prepared.
All of that vanished when the door opened.
The man standing there was all too familiar. The man Brad had seen when he’d first arrived. The man with the police.
Of course he was here. He was Lisa’s brother.
The man hadn’t known where Lisa was at the time. What were the chances he did now?
Brad kicked himself for not realising. If he could figure out where this house was, so could the police. And probably other dragons. Of course Lisa wasn’t going to be here. The only thing he’d done right was tell Lyrian to stay at the car.
The man recognised Brad too. His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. He glanced past Brad, towards his car, towards Lyrian, and his eyes widened. “You do know something, don’t you? It wasn’t just coincidence that the phone was in your car. Are you working with Lisa?”
The man’s thin, sallow face twisted in a half sneer, and the derisive look he gave Brad made him want to punch him. Not a feeling Brad was used to. He always maintained calm, no matter how abusive a patient was getting.
This was different though.
This was personal.
Lisa’s brother stared at Lyrian again, and Brad could almost hear the neurons firing one by one in his brain. “Is she a dragon? And who fried your car?”
Brad’s heartrate sped up. He didn’t like this man. Not at all.
It had been a mistake coming here.
But they had no other leads. Even if Lisa wasn’t here, maybe this man knew something. So Brad swallowed down his urge to rearrange the man’s face, and asked instead, “Did you find your sister?”
The man frowned. “Why do you care?” He nodded towards Lyrian. “If you're hanging out with dragons, I thought you’d know where she was.”
The man’s unexpected perceptiveness made Brad more than a little nervous. And not just for Lyrian. If Lisa was anything like her brother, she probably had an ulterior motive. They needed to find Verrian fast. He could need more help than Brad thought.
“I’ve never met your sister in my life,” Brad said flatly. “And I have no particular wish to. But I do want to find that dragon she’s with.”
The man's eyes narrowed. “Look, I don’t have time to deal with this. I’m calling the police.”
Brad’s heartrate sped up immediately. This was just going from bad to worse.
“No need for that,” he said quickly. “If you can’t help us, I’ll get out of your way.”
The man didn’t reply. Instead he pulled out his phone.
Brad glanced back at the car. At Lyrian and his daughter who he was supposed to be protecting.
He might not be able to deal with an enemy dragon, but he could deal with this paltry human.
And he reached out and grabbed the man’s arm. “Don’t do that,” he said firmly.
“Or what?” the man said, his voice challenging.
But Brad could see the fear in the eyes that wouldn’t quite meet his, that kept shifting away whenever he tried to meet them. Maybe this man could be coerced into giving up some information.
If he even knew anything useful.
His hand tightened on the man’s wrist. “What’s your name?” he asked, his voice conversational.
The man wasn’t intimidated. Not enough to cooperate anyway. “What’s yours?”
That, Brad certainly wasn’t going to give. Not that the
police didn’t already have all his details.
An idea came to him. Risky and daring. Only a small chance of success, a bigger chance of failure. If it failed, it could fail catastrophically.
The sort of decision he wouldn’t risk on the operating table.
The sort of decision Lyrian would take in a heartbeat.
Adrenaline flooded through Brad’s body, and the feeling was almost exhilarating.
“It sounds like you’ve met a dragon before,” he said, his voice conversational. “Up close and personal. Maybe even an angry one.”
He could see the nervous look in the man’s eyes. His eyes shifted away from Brad, as though he didn’t want them to admit the truth.
A truth Brad was already pretty sure of.
“See that woman out there by the car?” Brad said, his voice purring. “Well, what you don’t know is that she has a baby. And no matter how many dragon’s you’ve come up against, none of them are going to be as angry as a mama dragon protecting her baby.”
Lyrian chose that moment to call out, “Do you want me to come up there, Brad?”
It couldn’t have been more perfect if he’d planned it.
The man was staring at him now, not even attempting to hide his wide eyed fear. “What are you saying?”
Brad hesitated, but it seemed there was no reason to spell out his threat. Instead he moved to what he wanted to know. “What happened with your sister and the dragon?”
For a few moments, Brad wondered if he’d made a mistake. The man’s expression was belligerent and stubborn.
Then he sighed. “Look, I really don’t know anything. She turned up with this guy. At first we all thought he was just some random guy she’d picked up. Lisa does that all the time, right?” He looked up to Brad, as though he expected support. Maybe even a laugh at his sister.
Brad stared back at him dispassionately. He’d never found it amusing to laugh at anyone else’s sexual choices.
The man shrugged. “Well, then when we saw the article in the paper, we realised he wasn’t an ordinary guy. We had people showing up at the door in droves, wanting to see the dragon. Lisa slipped out in the middle of the night.”