Halloween Dragon

by Liv Rider

  “And depending on what Everett does, it might not even be that long.” Parker did wonder about Glen’s dedication to his job if the idea of getting out of it for a few months seemed so appealing. “Maybe he cancels the deal immediately when he hears that there’s a protected species hibernating there.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Glen replied. “Because while a long nap sounds nice, I don’t want to be away from my family that long and too many shifters are depending on me. Even the nagging ones.” He threw Lee a quick grin.

  Parker felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out to check who was calling while Glen and Lee talked about which particular shifters needed to learn to be more patient.

  It was Cameron.

  Parker stared at his screen, wanting to pick up. But what he was doing was important. They had a plan to stop or at least delay Everett. He had to talk it through with his council.

  He rejected the call, his dragon roaring in anger as he did.

  We cannot ignore our mate when he needs us!

  It probably isn’t anything serious. Parker wasn’t sure he believed himself. Whatever it was could wait until tomorrow. It’s fine. We’re fated mates.

  “Okay, Glen, I know you said weren’t going to the Fest tonight, but I think you should. You need to see if there’s a suitable place for you to hibernate.”

  Glen sighed, but nodded. “A bat shifter at a Halloween celebration. I’ll feel right at home.”

  13

  Cameron

  He didn’t stay long once the Maze closed for the night. He hadn’t seen any of the council members pass through, but then again, why would they? They weren’t interested in the Maze of Terror, after all. Unfortunately, it meant he hadn’t been able to tell them about what Michael had learned.

  Parker rejecting his call still hurt. It hurt that he’d done it at all. It hurt that he was already so wrapped up in Parker that the other man could make him feel like this. It hurt that he didn’t get why Parker had done any of the things he’d done over the past couple of days. He kept thinking of the way Parker smiled at him, and how hard he tried to understand horror movies. Things had been going so well. What had changed?

  Those thoughts kept him from enjoying the rest of the evening at the Fest, and from talking with his friends about how great this edition had been.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “Hmm?” He’d been sitting by the fire, staring into it as if it might give him the answers he needed.

  Stacy had removed her clown makeup as much as she’d been able too, but there were smudges on her face, and her hair was still bright pink. She sat down next to him on the log. “You’ve been miles away.”

  He shrugged. “Lost in thought, I guess.”

  “Sad about the Fest or sad about Parker?”

  “Parker.”

  “Look, if you want to talk to him, give him a call.”

  “I already tried. He rejected the call.”

  Stacy’s mouth fell open. “Oh. Well, then just wait if he contacts you. You don’t know why he couldn’t take your call.”

  Cameron had his suspicions. “I don’t know why it bothers me so much. I barely even know the guy.”

  “It’s been an intense weekend for all of us. You know what you need? A good night’s sleep.”

  Didn’t people always say that things looked better in the morning? “Yeah, I think I do.” He ran his hand down his face. “I’m definitely not in the mood to stay here.”

  She gave him a hug. “See you later this week for clean-up?”

  He nodded, grateful for her attempts to comfort him. “I’ll be here on Tuesday.”

  When he woke up on Monday morning, he felt better until he looked over at the other side of the bed, where the pillow was still slightly rumpled from having been slept on by Parker.

  Demanding, stubborn, business-minded, no clue about horror movies or Halloween Parker. He should’ve been the last guy Cameron would want to wake up next to, and yet….

  His throat felt tight, and he forced himself to get out of bed immediately. He wasn’t going to dwell on how happy he’d been yesterday morning.

  That was easier said than done, when every part of his morning routine reminded him of what it’d been like with Parker. A quick shower to get the rest of his makeup off, but Parker wasn’t waiting for him. Breakfast by himself. Drinking coffee by himself.

  The last time he’d moped around this much over a guy was after his last relationship didn’t work out, and that one had lasted two years. He’d only known Parker for what, two days?

  He poured himself another cup of coffee when his phone rang, and he stared at the screen when he saw the name.

  Parker.

  His first thought was to reject the call. Let Parker know what it felt like.

  But that would be petty, and Cameron did want to talk to him.

  He swore when he realized he’d still been pouring coffee, which had spilled over his mug and onto the table. He quickly put the coffee back down on the kitchen counter and grabbed a towel to clean up the worst of the spill. With his other hand, he grabbed his phone.

  “Yeah?”

  “Good morning! I thought I’d update you about the farm situation. We’ve come up with a plan to delay the sale.”

  Cameron closed his eyes, curling his fingers tight around the towel in his hand. Parker had gone straight to business, and Cameron couldn’t even be surprised by it. “I’ve got some news about the farm too,” he replied, trying to sound calm as he picked up the sodden towel, dropped it in his sink, and grabbed a clean one for the rest of the spill. Fortunately the coffee hadn’t spilled on anything.

  “Oh?”

  “A friend of mine works for the council. The city council,” he added. “He found out that they’re going to build a highway across that land in a few years. He thinks Everett knows about that plan and was interested in buying the farmhouse so he can sell it to the council for a profit.”

  Parker was silent for a long moment. “What? Are you sure?”

  “My friend seemed pretty sure.”

  “This changes things,” Parker muttered. “Can you come over here? I need to discuss this with my council.”

  Cameron hung his head. He wanted to talk to Parker desperately, but with every word from Parker’s mouth, a knot grew in his stomach. He wanted to talk to the Parker he’d woken up with. He wanted to talk to the Parker he’d had amazing sex with. He wanted to talk to the Parker who was enthusiastic about Psycho. “Do I have to be there?”

  “Of course! This concerns you too. Besides, you still need to know about our plan. Can you be here at ten?”

  It was a quarter to ten now. He wouldn’t be able to make it even if he rushed out the door now, and he wasn’t going to do any rushing for Parker. “I just got out of bed!”

  “Oh. Right. Ten thirty?”

  “Eleven,” he replied, and hung up.

  Well, Parker’s attitude to people he’d slept with definitely explained why the guy didn’t date much.

  Cameron turned up at the office of Parker’s council ten past eleven.

  “You’re late,” was the first thing Parker said to him, and Cameron was half-tempted to open his reusable coffee cup and throw the remains of his coffee in Parker’s face.

  “Good morning to you too,” he replied pointedly. “Look, you mentioned you had your own office, right? Can we talk about a couple of things?” Maybe more than a couple of things, if Cameron was honest.

  “Maybe after the meeting. Come on, they’re all waiting for you.”

  The setup of the room was the same as yesterday, but not everyone was there. If Cameron’s memory was correct, the three council members here were Isaac, Glen, and Olivia.

  He sat down next to Parker and explained what he’d learned from Michael.

  “Glen, didn’t I ask you to look into that?” Parker turned to the other shifter.

  Glen looked surprised. “You asked me Saturday night. I haven’t had time to ask a
nyone yet.”

  “Well, Cameron’s friend did have time, fortunately.”

  Cameron frowned at Parker’s tone. He sounded oddly proud. “Never mind who found out about it,” he said, “the point is that you guys shouldn’t try and buy the farm. I don’t know what plan you had to stop Everett from buying it, but you wouldn’t be able to use it for long.”

  “Actually, I think our plan will work even better now.” Olivia smiled as she and the other two council members explained their plan to him. They cut each other off every now and then and talked over one another, but Cameron got the gist of it.

  “You’re gonna pretend there’s a protected species living there?”

  “Exactly.” Parker beamed him, and something inside Cameron softened.

  No. Not until he’d had a word with Parker alone.

  “Highways have had to be moved before because of a rare animal or protected plant,” Olivia said. “If what Cameron said is true and Everett only wants the land because of that highway—”

  “Then he won’t buy it if there’s not gonna be a highway,” Glen finished for her.

  “And the timing’s good too,” Isaac added. “It’s hibernation season for Glen, and since Halloween Fest is over, we won’t ruin your fun.”

  “We should organize something like that ourselves next year,” Olivia told him. “It was so much fun. Everyone was so cheerful!”

  “Um,” said Cameron, not sure if he should point out that shifters could just come to their Halloween Fest.

  “We’re not going to set up a competing event!” Parker’s tone was firm. “Instead, we can promote the existing festivities to shifters in our district.”

  “Exactly,” Cameron added. A couple of council members frowned at that. “Look, it’s not like Halloween Fest is a human-only event. Maybe shifters have already been going there for years!” And why wouldn’t they? As far as Cameron could tell, they weren’t that different from humans.

  Just more awesome and out of his league and far too bossy.

  “That is possible,” Glen said eventually. “I suppose we could promote it amongst shifters next year. If anyone wants to organize a shifter Halloween event, they’re obviously free to do so.”

  “Imagine if shifters dressed up in costumes! In their shifted form!”

  “We could have a costume competition, one for human form and one for shifted form. That’s fairer.”

  Cameron heard Parker sigh. “Focus.”

  With that one word from Parker, everyone fell silent.

  “We are here to discuss our plan to buy the Wilson farm, not plan a party,” Parker continued, shaking his head. “Let’s not get distracted. Cameron, you mentioned this week your people would be cleaning up around the farm, right? Would that be a good time for us to put our plan in action? And have Glen hibernate in the barn?”

  “I guess so? Although wouldn’t a bat prefer a quiet space? There’ll be people walking around all day, in and out the barn….” Why would anyone believe a rare bat was hibernating there?

  “All the more chance for someone to spot a bat,” Parker told him.

  “And our front organization is an environmental charity,” Olivia mused. “One of us could call the Lewiston city council about our find.”

  “Shifting North.” Cameron remembered coming across it when he’d been googling Parker. Of course. It hadn’t been an outdated website after all. There was probably a login page somewhere, with only shifters knowing the password to take them to the shifter council’s website.

  “Oh, you’ve heard of us?” Olivia sounded pleasantly surprised.

  “He can’t have. We haven’t done any promotion for it in years,” Glen said.

  “I, um, found it after googling Parker,” he admitted, feeling awkward. Sure, nowadays everyone googled their dates, but telling them was another thing.

  “You what?” Parker sounded surprised rather than annoyed.

  “I looked you up online, after our lunch, to find out more about you. I couldn’t find much, apart from a website of Shifting North. Didn’t you try and look me up?” Cameron tried to remember exactly how much of his social media accounts were public and used his real name. Had he posted anything embarrassing lately?

  “No.” Parker sounded as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “No, I already knew everything I needed to know about you.”

  “You know that makes you sound like you stalked me beforehand, right?” He didn’t think Parker had. It was more likely Parker wasn’t worried about Cameron hiding any weird or dark secrets. The guy was a dragon. What did he have to worry about?

  “I would never—I didn’t—you know I wouldn’t!” Parker spluttered.

  “Focus.” Olivia looked far too pleased when Parker’s cheeks reddened and he turned to her with a huff. “So, that’s the plan? Glen hibernates in the barn this week, and one of us happens to spot him?”

  “While helping to clean up the place. You know, Olivia, I think you’d be great for that job.” It was Parker’s turn to be smug.

  She glared at him for a moment, but then shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  “Right, that’s that settled. Olivia, Glen, you’re going down to the farm tomorrow. Glen, you’ll have to arrive there as a bat. They can’t see you as a human, or they might notice you’ve gone missing. Cameron, you can introduce Olivia as a friend of yours who’s come to help out. Any more questions?”

  Cameron sat back, deciding there was no point in asking Parker if he’d considered Cameron’s own plans in this. Yes, he was going there tomorrow and yes, he was fine with pretending Olivia was a friend of his, but Parker could’ve asked instead of ordered. But then, wasn’t that Parker all over? If Cameron hadn’t already been unsure about the two of them, this behavior would definitely make him question their future. There was no way he could ever be in a relationship with someone like this.

  There were no further questions, and Parker closed the meeting. Cameron got up, picking up his empty coffee cup, and was surprised when Parker asked if they could talk. He’d expected Parker to mutter something about how busy he was before showing him the door again.

  He was feeling nervous when he followed Parker into his office, which was next door. He could feel the stares of the council members as he left.

  Parker closed the door behind Cameron as he entered. Cameron fiddled with the lid of his cup, admiring the view for a moment before turning to Parker.

  Parker was grinning from ear to ear. “Isn’t this great? This plan is going to work out brilliantly, especially now that it turns out they’re planning a highway there. Everett is definitely going to cancel the sale once the council learns about Glen, and then we can buy the place! You know, it’ll make a lot of sense for an environmental charity to buy a farm that’s home to a protected species.” He grabbed Cameron by the shoulders, and for a moment, Cameron thought Parker was going to kiss him. For a moment, he wanted Parker to. “This couldn’t have worked out better if I’d planned it! Let’s have lunch to celebrate. There’s a great place down the street, you’ll love it.” He let go of Cameron to walk over to where his coat was hanging from the wall.

  “Oh, so now you want to lunch?” Was Parker serious?

  “Yes?” Parker sounded surprised, his coat already in his hands. “It is nearly noon, which I guess is a little early….”

  He laughed at that. “It’s not about the time of day, you idiot!”

  Parker stiffened. “Excuse me?”

  He almost wanted to apologize and take it back. Almost. “You can’t—you can’t just dump on me that oh, by the way, you can turn into a dragon, and oh, by the way, you’re some powerful shifter mayor type person.”

  “I already told you I’m not a—”

  He wasn’t going to let Parker interrupt him, so he just kept going. “And oh, by the way, there’s hundreds of shifters in Lewiston and oh, by the way, I have to come to a meeting with you. Who invites someone to a meeting half an hour beforehand, Parker? I didn’t even know th
is—this organization existed until yesterday!”

  “I thought it was important you were at the meeting,” Parker muttered.

  “Maybe! But that also should’ve been up to me to decide. You can’t spring that on someone five minutes after they discover dragons are real.”

  “Technically, I’m a dragon shifter, not a dragon.”

  “See? That. That’s the problem. I have no idea how any of this works.” He gestured at Parker’s office. “You didn’t want to talk to me about it. You didn’t answer any of my questions. You turned my world upside down and then you just left me to it.”

  Parker was silent for a long moment. “I thought I’d give you time to process everything by yourself.”

  “By ignoring me? Because you were so busy with your important job?”

  “Well, it is an important job.” But Parker sounded less sure, and he couldn’t look Cameron in the eye.

  He sighed. “I’m sure it is. I’m sure the shifters here appreciate you a lot. I’m sure your council appreciates a lot. Hell, I appreciate you a lot for what you’re trying to do with the farm. But I can’t do this, Parker. I can’t be with someone who blows hot and cold, where one day you want to be with me as much as possible and the next day you completely ignore me. Where one day you’re a sweet, somewhat weird, thoughtful, caring guy and the next day you order me around like I’m one of your council members.”

  Parker paled at that. “I didn’t—I wasn’t—”

  “You were.” He let out another sigh. “Which is the real you, Parker? The Parker who’d never seen a horror movie before, but wanted to learn more about them because I like them? Or the Parker who demands I come to meetings and bosses me around without ever asking what I want?” He wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore, except to get out of here. “I don’t know what you want out of this, Parker, but I know that I am not going to be jerked around like this anymore. Just call me if you need to discuss anything else about the plan, okay? Enjoy your lunch.”

  He walked past a quiet, stunned Parker, and opened the door to find two of the council members scrambling to look like they hadn’t been listening in.