“Would you mind if I took these home?” he asked. “There’s a reason these were brought here. There must be some important information in them I need to know, and I’d like to see if I can figure out what that information is.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Kaiya said. “They belonged to your dad, so they’re yours. Take them. Do you know what language they’re written in, though?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Drake admitted. “But my guess is one of the ancient dragon dialects. My dad was well-versed in several old dragon languages. He probably wrote these in one or more of those dialects so that he could journal without fear of someone discovering his private thoughts. Or, maybe, the information he was writing down was too important to fall into the wrong hands.”
Drake’s voice sounded ominous as he spoke, and Kaiya shivered. “Well, I hope you can figure it out,” she said. “Do you think the guy who dropped it off knew how to read it?”
“It’s possible,” Drake said. “Unicorns are known for being avid students of ancient dialects.”
Suddenly, Kaiya realized what Drake had been telling her all along when he referred to Pierce as a unicorn.
“Oh my god,” Kaiya said. “Pierce is an actual unicorn.”
Drake looked over at her and nodded, slightly surprised that it had taken her this long to understand what he had been saying. “Yeah. He’s a unicorn shifter. I knew the minute you told me about his eyes and skin. Unicorns are a whole different breed from other shifters, even the ancient shifters like dragons. Unicorns are deeply magical. Their magical qualities are embedded so deeply in their DNA that even when they are in human form, they tend to look odd, with shimmering skin or sparkling eyes. Most shifters, like dragons for example, are stronger in human form than normal humans. But unicorns aren’t just stronger. They also have special, mystical powers. They’re considered royalty in the shifter world. I’ve never seen one in person, but my dad used to talk about them all the time. I was beginning to think there weren’t any more of them left, until you told me what you saw today.”
Kaiya chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, taking in everything Drake was saying. “I guess it’s pretty cool that I saw one, then,” she said.
“Yeah,” Drake replied. “It is pretty cool. I just hope it’s not an omen of hard times ahead.”
Without another word, Drake lifted the heavy box of journals up as though it was lighter than a feather. He walked out the back door of the bookstore and put the box in his truck, then climbed into the driver’s seat to rev up the engine. Kaiya followed him, and rode in silence for the whole trip home. Drake seemed lost in another world, and she thought it best not to bother him.
When he finally parked in front of her house, she turned to give him a small wave, not really sure of the best way to say goodbye right now. Things had felt a bit awkward since he first mentioned the word “shapeshifter” earlier in the evening. But before she could even open her car door, he reached over and grabbed her hands in his.
“Look at me, Kaiya,” he said in a deep, urgent voice.
Kaiya looked at him, startled at the way his eyes were almost glowing. His hands were hot, almost as though they had been warmed over a fire. Kaiya instinctively knew that these were both side effects from his earlier shift into dragon form.
“I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am for bumbling tonight up so much,” Drake said. “I never wanted to hide anything from you, or deceive you about who I was. I just didn’t want to scare you or make things awkward. But I should have told you about my dragon side from the beginning. I messed up, and I’m sorry.”
Kaiya shrugged slowly. “It’s okay. It’s definitely a unique situation. I probably wouldn’t have known how to handle it if I was in your shoes.”
Drake looked relieved by her words, and his eyes glowed even brighter. “I don’t know what the message is behind these journals, Kaiya. Things might get crazy over the next several months. But I want you to know that, no matter what happens, you are the most important thing in the world to me now. I will protect you. I will fight for you. I love you.”
His last three words hung heavy in the air, and Kaiya nearly gasped out loud. She had not expected him to say those words so soon, but, she supposed, he had trusted her with more of himself than perhaps any other girl before her. Besides, it was undeniable that they had some sort of special connection. Kaiya could feel some sort of bond between them that she had never felt with anyone before. And so, despite the craziness of the last day, and the absurdity of the fact that the man she’d slept with on a first date had turned out to be a shapeshifter, Kaiya couldn’t hold back the words as they formed on her tongue, borne of emotion deep within her soul.
“I love you, too, Drake. I love you, too.”
Chapter Seven
Drake had a hard time focusing on work the next day. In the entire time he had owned his dental practice, he had never cancelled an appointment. He almost broke that streak of perfection after a solitary lunch where he spent a solid hour wondering how in the world he was going to break the dragon code in his dad’s journals, and worrying about why the unicorn messenger had brought the journals to him now. The only thing keeping him from abandoning work completely at the moment was the fact that it was Friday. He just had to make it through the day, and then he would have the weekend to try to sort through all of this.
He had no doubt that someone had been watching him for a while now. They had been waiting for the right time to drop the journals off, but they had needed a full human who would be able to realize that the journals were meant for Drake. It was too risky for a unicorn shifter to approach another shifter. Most shifters were so enthralled by the idea of a unicorn shifter that they would probably freak out and cause a scene, attracting too much unwanted attention. Drake liked to think that he would have been completely calm in the face of an unexpected visit from the unicorn shifter crew, but deep down he knew better. He wouldn’t have been able to keep from reacting with an excess of enthusiasm.
The bigger mystery to Drake was why the journals had been sent to him instead of to his older brothers. His older brothers had both been involved with fully human women for some time, so it should have been easy enough to get the journals to them. But whoever had sent these journals had been specifically waiting for the chance to get them to Drake.
Drake wanted to kick a hole in the wall out of frustration. He was confused about how to handle this. His older brothers still had some memories of their father, but Drake had been so young when his dad died. His memories were few and far between, and he got the feeling that this was the reason the journals had been sent to him. Drake’s mom didn’t want to talk about the day his dad died, and Theo and Zane often grew quiet and angry when talking about their father and his death. They were still bitter over what had happened, although Drake honestly wasn’t even sure what, exactly, had happened.
When Drake’s last appointment of the day finally finished, he breathed a sigh of relief and left the office as quickly as he could. Usually, on Friday afternoons he would stick around to help out the front office staff as they closed up. He would talk and laugh with them, and they would all catch up on how their week had been. But today, Drake wasn’t in the mood for friendly chitchat. He just wanted to get home and look at the journals.
As soon as he walked into the front door of his house, he got a text from his brother, Theo, asking if he was going to the Hometown Bar tonight. Drake had known this text was coming. Most Friday nights, Drake and his brothers, along with Theo’s best friend Max, would have drinks together at their favorite bar. But tonight, Drake wasn’t in the mood for drinking. All he wanted to do was pore over the strange language in the journals and try to make sense of it. He texted Theo back to say that he was feeling a bit tired and wouldn’t be making it out tonight. Drake hoped that Theo would be happy with that reply, but, of course, Theo pushed the issue.
What? Got a new girl and you suddenly don’t have time to hang out with your brothers?
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Drake winced at the teasing text from Theo. News traveled fast in a town like Persimmon Springs, and Drake hadn’t made any attempt to hide when he was kissing Kaiya on the street outside of the café, or to hide the fact that he took her to the nicest restaurant in Persimmon Springs for dinner. But, as much as Drake wanted to spend time with Kaiya right now, she wasn’t the reason he was skipping out on the bar. Drake needed to be alone with his thoughts and with these journals tonight. He had to get this sorted out, or it was going to drive him crazy. Drake started typing a reply to Theo.
It’s not about a girl. I’m just not feeling great at the moment. Maybe tomorrow night.
Drake wasn’t sure about tomorrow night, either. But at least he could push off the issue until then. Now, he had to let Kaiya know that he wasn’t planning to go out tonight. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to be happy that he didn’t want to have a second date tonight. He had swept her off her feet, then surprised her with the fact that he was a dragon and that unicorns existed, and now he was going to be a recluse on their first Friday night as a couple. He wasn’t going to win any boyfriend of the year points right now, that’s for sure. With a heavy heart, he picked up his phone to call her. She deserved at least a phone call instead of a text.
“Hello?” she said, answering on the second ring. She sounded distracted, and Drake got the feeling that she hadn’t even checked the caller I.D. before picking up the call.
“Hey, Kaiya. It’s Drake.”
“Oh! Hey! Sorry, I was in the middle of finishing up some stuff at the shop. We got some new inventory today and I was just trying to get it put away before leaving for the night. How are you?”
Her voice had turned serious with that last question, and Drake knew she was asking him whether he had recovered from the excitement of finding his dad’s journals the night before. The short answer was that he most definitely had not recovered.
“Um, I’m alright,” he said. “But I think I need some time to go through these journals. I know I should take you out on a fancy date since it’s Friday night, but I just don’t think I’m up to it right now. Would you hate me too terribly much if I asked for a rain check for next week?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone, and Drake felt the knot in the pit of his stomach tightening. She wasn’t happy with him. And why would she be? He had dropped a big bombshell on her when he revealed that he was a shifter. Now, the very next day, he wanted to beg off on boyfriend duties. But if Kaiya was the kind of girl he thought she was, she would find it in herself to understand.
And, to his relief, she did.
“Okay,” she finally said, her voice slow and disappointed. “I know you’re worried about the journals. We don’t have to go out tonight. But what about dinner in? Maybe I could come over and we could order takeout? I’m pretty good with languages. I might be able to help you break the dragon code.”
Drake hesitated. He did desperately want to hold Kaiya in his arms. But he knew she would be a distraction, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. He had to break this dragon code, and he wanted to do it quickly. He had a feeling that whatever message was hiding in his father’s words was something important. And despite the fact that Kaiya was the smartest woman he’d ever met, he knew that her knowledge of languages wouldn’t be helpful for decoding the dragon journals. The language was too strange, and too different.
“I’m sorry, Kaiya. I think I need to focus on this by myself for a little while. I promise that as soon as I’m done with the journals, I’ll take you out on the nicest date you’ve ever been on. We can even drive up to Dallas, if you want.”
There was another long pause before she finally answered.
“Okay. I understand. But let me know if you need help. And, for the record, I’m not after some fancy, expensive date. I just want to spend time with you. I care about you, Drake. Maybe you think I can’t understand this situation because I’m not a shifter. And, hell, maybe you’re right. But I at least want to try. We’re in this together, now, alright?”
Her voice sounded determined, and Drake felt his heart warm at her words. He had to hand it to her. She was one of the most considerate and supportive human beings he’d ever met. But he still needed to be alone tonight. He needed time to figure out the dragon journals, and to figure out what their message meant for his future.
“I care about you, too, Kaiya,” he said. “I promise I’ll let you know if I need help. Just give me a few days alone to work through this.”
She agreed, and he felt a flood of relief that he’d found a woman so understanding. Now, he just had to hope he could sort through this in a few days. How hard could it be to decode the journals? He was a dragon, after all. Surely, this language was in his blood somehow.
* * *
It turned out that decoding an ancient dragon language was damn near impossible, even for a dragon shifter. By Sunday morning, Drake hadn’t made any progress. None of the words made sense to him, and he couldn’t detect any pattern in the code. He needed help, but he didn’t know whom to turn to. He wasn’t ready to tell his brothers about this. He was afraid they would want to destroy the journals in anger. They were so unpredictable when it came to ancient shifter matters, and Drake had a gut feeling that this was a particularly volatile matter.
The only other shifter Drake trusted was his friend Levi Sullivan. Levi was a panther shifter who had grown up with Drake. The two had been best friends through high school, and they used to spend every weekend together. But, as tends to happen, they drifted apart during college. Now, they both had busy lives and careers, and they rarely saw each other. It had probably been two years at least since the last time Drake grabbed beers with Levi.
But it didn’t matter. Drake and Levi had that special kind of friendship that you could always pick up right where you left off. Drake trusted Levi with his life, and, more importantly at the moment, Drake trusted Levi to know how to best handle shifter matters. Levi was an expert in shifter-human relations. Instead of trying to minimize his shifter side, as Drake had often done, Levi proudly embraced it. Levi had spent his college summers studying under the shifter council masters, who advocated for the peaceful coexistence of shifters and humans. Levi always seemed to know the best way to handle any tricky shifter situation, and Drake had never needed him more than right now.
Just before noon on Sunday, Drake dialed Levi’s number, praying that he would answer. Luck was on his side, because Levi picked up on the second ring.
“Drake Wilson!” Levi said, sounding like he was in an exceptionally good mood. “Haven’t heard from you in a bit. What’s going on, my brother?”
“Hey, Levi,” Drake said. “It’s good to hear your voice. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’m calling with the best of news.”
“Uh-oh,” Levi said. “Is everyone in your family okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. My brothers and Ma are all fine. It’s not that. It’s just that…I’ve had a visit from a unicorn shifter.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Drake even wondered for a moment whether his phone had lost the call, but a quick glance at his phone screen told him the call timer was still running.
“No shit,” Levi finally said. “Something serious must be going on.”
“Yeah, I think so,” Drake said. “The unicorn dropped off some of my dad’s old journals. Gave them to my girlfriend, actually, who passed them on to me.”
“No shit!” Levi said again, laughter in his voice this time. “Are you telling me that the perpetual bachelor, Drake Wilson, has a girlfriend?”
Drake sighed and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on. I’ve had girlfriends here and there.”
“Not very many of them,” Levi said. “But, anyway, I get the feeling you didn’t call me to talk about your love life.”
“No, I sure didn’t,” Drake said. “I called because the journals the unicorn left for me are in an old dragon dialect. I can’t decode it, but I’m not sure who
can help me. I was hoping you might know someone.”
“Hmm, I might know someone. Your brothers can’t decode it either, I take it?” Levi asked.
“Well, I don’t think they could,” Drake said. “But I haven’t showed the journals to them. They don’t like to talk about my dad’s death, and I don’t want to rile them up for no reason until I know what’s going on.”
There was another long pause before Levi answered. “You know they’re gonna be angry as hornets at you when they realize you’ve been hiding this from them?”
“I know. I’ll deal with that when the time comes. In the meantime, I just want to figure out the mystery behind these journals. Can you help?”
“I can try,” Levi said. “Can I come over and look at them right now?”
“I would love it if you did,” Drake said. “I’m still living in the same house. I’ll be here all day.”
“I’ll be there in under an hour,” Levi said.
Drake breathed a sigh of relief as he hung up the call. It felt good to not be alone with this problem anymore.
Chapter Eight
About forty-five minutes later, Levi showed up on Drake’s front porch.
“Hey, brother. It’s good to see you,” Drake said, pulling Levi into a big bear hug and giving him several hearty slaps on the back.
“Likewise,” Levi said. “It’s been too long. Now, where are the journals?”
Drake chuckled and pointed toward his kitchen island, where he had placed the box of journals. Levi had always been the kind of man who wanted to get down to business right away. He was a no-nonsense, “get ‘er done” personality, and he was ready to dive into the problem at hand right away.
Drake forced himself to remain silent as he watched Levi look over the journals. Levi hadn’t changed a bit in the couple of years since Drake last saw him. He had his dark black hair cropped in the same short style, and his light gray eyes darted around in the same catlike way they always did. As awesome as it was to have dragon strength and the ability to breathe fire, Drake had to admit that he envied Levi his cat reflexes. Cats were agile and skilled at stealth, and Drake thought that Levi’s stealth skills as a panther were better than any of the other cats. In high school, Levi had taken great pleasure in sneaking up on Drake at the most inopportune times. Once, Levi had startled Drake and made him screech in surprise right as Drake was about to ask a girl to the homecoming dance. Drake had never been so embarrassed—or so angry.
Lone Star Secret (Shifters in the Heart of Texas Book 4) Page 5