by Tami Lund
“On it,” the Elder dragon said. She rapped on her desk again. “What have I taught you, children? This is not a drill. This is very real.” The kids immediately vacated their seats, all but Ruby, who twisted her head to and fro, clearly confused.
“Dad,” she said, looking his way.
Ilsa hurried toward her and pulled her from her seat. “Come with me, child. He can protect himself. You cannot. This way. Cody, take her hand. That’s it. You’re responsible for her, do you understand me?”
The kid nodded, grabbing Ruby’s hand in a death grip.
“Good. Excellent. You remind me a lot of the reeve, young man. He was just like you when he was in school.”
Cody glanced at Gabe with wide eyes before turning away and practically dragging Ruby through a doorway Gabe remembered from his childhood. Ilsa had taught him this exact same drill when he was in school. There was a secret tunnel underneath the school. It led into the woods, came out at a hill near Adelbern’s cottage, actually. Maybe that was why the geezer refused to move closer to civilization. As old and feeble as Ilsa and Adelbern may be, they were equally as cunning. Gabe was confident the children were safe with them.
Now, it was time to find out what the hell the Rojo dragons wanted.
He stepped outside and stood on the front steps of the schoolhouse, the awning protecting him from the rain still soaking the world around him. Including the group of men heading his way, all of whom resembled drowned rats more than dragons at the moment.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched his adversaries approach while his dragon prowled restlessly in his head. The beast was stressed over the fact that Ruby and Talia were in two different places and he couldn’t see either one.
What are you, a fucking herding dog? Chill out. Ruby’s in good hands and we both know Talia can take care of herself.
There are five of them, his dragon insisted. Let’s not forget that fight we got into when we last visited New Orleans.
Gabe focused on the man strutting slightly ahead of the rest. Dark hair, slicked back and wet from the rain, with one thatch that kept falling across his left eye. Dark eyes, wide-set and narrowed, watching him as he approached.
It was him.
He wore a black T-shirt, plastered to his body, outlining muscles much larger than they were eight years ago.
He’s definitely not taking his own drugs.
Neither are the ones with him, Gabe’s dragon pointed out.
Eight years ago, while Gabe and a few friends had been enjoying the Mardi Gras festivities, he had hit on a female dragon from the Rojo colony. This guy had apparently considered her his property, even though she insisted they weren’t dating. Even so, Gabe had been willing to walk away; there were plenty of other females to flirt with at the citywide, weeks-long party.
And then the Rojo dragon had backhanded her, like it was her fault Gabe had approached her. Gabe attacked him before the woman even fell to the pavement, beating him until he cried mercy, and then making him swear never to touch the woman again.
Surely he wasn’t here for revenge, after all this time. How the hell had he found Gabe, anyway? It wasn’t like he left a calling card. They hadn’t even exchanged names, let alone dragon colonies, before the altercation. The only reason Gabe had known he was Rojo was because the woman had told him so.
Finally, the group reached him, stopping maybe twenty feet away. They stood in formation, seemingly oblivious to the rain pouring down on them, the wind whipping at their clothing, the lightning flashing across the sky, the accompanying thunder greeting them a few seconds later. They were wholly focused on Gabe, standing on the schoolhouse steps.
“Gentlemen,” Gabe said, not believing for one hot second any of these guys could actually live up to that title.
“I remember you,” the leader said. He assumed the guy was the leader, given the way he stood in the middle, slightly in front of everyone else.
Gabe didn’t acknowledge his comment. “What can I do for you?”
“You have something of mine.”
He came all this way for Jasmine? Was it because he considered her part of his colony, or something else? Why would he travel to the other side of the country for an addict?
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Gabe called out.
“My daughter.”
Chapter 13
Follow him.
Damn, Talia’s dragon was bossy. No thank you. Gabe was furious, and every bit of that anger was directed at her. Because she’d lied to him.
He doesn’t know the half of it, her dragon said.
“Thanks for the reminder,” she muttered. “And by the way, I’m pissed at him too.”
He’s scared.
She snorted.
It isn’t you he’s avoiding. He’s avoiding the concept. He’s scared.
“Nope. Not going to feel sorry for him. You’re right. I wasn’t entirely honest, either. But my reasons are altruistic. He just wanted the nookie without the commitment. Which is stupid because, hell, I don’t even know if I want the commitment either. All he had to do was frigging talk to me!”
“Er, you okay, Talia?”
She yelped, spinning around so quickly she had vertigo for a few seconds, until her mind cleared and she saw Julian standing in the kitchen doorway, head canted, watching her.
“Fine. I’m fine. Did you need something?”
He lifted the bucket hanging from his hand. “Kitchen is next on my list.”
“Right. Sorry. I’ll just…” She flapped her hand and scurried from the room. As she passed a window overlooking the backyard, she paused, searching the darkened sky.
Had he gone off to fly again? That was a scary proposition, in this weather. It was hard to see when the rain was coming down like this, not to mention the potential for lightning strikes.
Follow him.
“He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself,” she muttered to her dragon. And maybe to herself.
Lightning flashed again, followed by thunder—no, that was knocking. Urgent, like someone was beating on the front door. Talia hurried down the hall toward the foyer.
When she pulled open the door, Petra stood on the front porch, soaking wet, tears streaming down her face, a bloodied and beaten woman in her arms.
“Jasmine? My gods!” she exclaimed, ushering them inside. “What happened?” She pointed at the entertainment room, and Petra laid Jasmine on the couch in there.
Ignoring the water streaming from her hair into her face, Petra dashed tears from her cheeks and said, “It’s my fault.”
“What is? What happened to Jasmine?”
“She—him—I did it!”
“You beat up my sister?”
Petra shook her head, water droplets spraying the room. Her blouse had become transparent with the wetness. Talia could see the purple stitching in her bra. “I told him that Jasmine and her daughter were here.”
“What are you talking about?” And then Talia’s stomach dropped like she was riding the tallest roller coaster at the amusement park. “Who did you tell?”
“Darius Redd. The Rojo dragon.”
Talia whipped her head around to her unmoving sister, water and blood soaking into Gabe’s suede couch. “No! Wait—how did you know to contact the Rojo dragons?”
“You told me that’s where she went.” Petra sniffled and swiped at her nose. “When we had drinks last week.”
Talia stared at her.
“After that, I paid your parents a visit, milked them for information. And then I made a few calls, found the rehab facility you checked her into. Flew down there, asked a bunch of questions that, for some reason, she was more than willing to answer. I called him. I only thought—I expected—I didn’t know he would do this.” Petra flapped her hand at Jasmine, lying on the couch.
Talia continued to stare at the woman who had been her best friend for the last five years. What could have possibly possessed her to do something so stupid? “Why?”
�
��I don’t know. I thought he would just show up and demand his daughter back.”
“His what?”
“Ruby isn’t Gabe’s, Talia.”
Okay, yeah, Talia knew that much. But Jasmine hadn’t told her who the father was.
If Gabe finds out…
Petra grabbed her arm. “Please tell me you don’t hate me.”
Talia stared at her friend’s hand, the fingers leaving indentations on her skin. “Why did you contact him?”
Petra wrapped her arms around her midsection as a sob escaped. “I was jealous.”
“Of what?” Of Jasmine? But why?
“Of Gabe.” She stabbed at her own chest. “I should be reeve. I should have succeeded Uncle Blake. Not Gabe. He’s—he’s useless. And now he has an heir and it isn’t fair. That position should be mine!”
“How could you?” Talia whispered. And then louder, “Look what you did.” She waved at Jasmine. “To my sister. She was recovering, Petra,” she shouted, the realization hitting her like a brick.
Jasmine hadn’t left that treatment center of her own accord. Petra had given her the idea, Talia would bet her freaking job on it. And she’d led Darius Redd here.
To Ruby.
“Ruby!” She started to rush from the room, but Petra grabbed her arm again.
“What?”
“Ruby,” Talia said again, struggling to free herself from the other woman’s grip. “I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“What can I do?” Petra asked.
“Are you serious? You want me to tell you how to make it worse?”
“No.” Petra was openly crying now, clearly devastated. Or maybe it was an act. Who the hell knew. “I want to help. To do something to make up for this.”
“If she dies, you can’t ever make up for this,” Talia said, pointing at her sister.
“I’ll take care of her,” Petra promised, dropping to her knees next to Jasmine. “I’ll make sure she gets better. That she’s healed and—and I’ll even make sure she gets over her addiction. I promise. Please forgive me, Talia.”
“I can’t even…” Talia vacillated, shifting from foot to foot, trying to determine her next move. She had no idea where Gabe was. She needed to get to Ruby, make sure she was okay. Safe.
Charging through the foyer and down the hall, she burst into the kitchen, shouting, “Julian!”
He paused in the act of scrubbing the sink. “Yeah?”
“Can you go watch over Petra, please? She’s in the entertainment room. Just—just make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Um, okay.”
“Thanks.”
It was the best she could do. She had to get out of here. She had to get down to that schoolhouse.
Now.
Before Gabe figured out there were Rojo dragons here. And that they had come for the little girl he believed was his daughter.
Chapter 14
Well, this escalated quickly.
First, Gabe laughed. “Yeah, right. Who the hell do you think is your daughter?”
“Ruby,” the Rojo dragon said. “Her name is Ruby Redd.”
Gabe snorted. “Not her surname. She’s mine, asshole.”
That’s when the Rojo dragon laughed. It was one of those joke’s on you laughs. “You’re a fool,” he said. “Do you believe everything women tell you?”
Only one woman.
“She lied to you.”
No, she didn’t. Talia would never. Okay, maybe she lied about who Jasmine was—but no, she really didn’t. She just didn’t tell him the entire truth. But outright lying? He couldn’t see Talia doing it. She was the Goody-Two-Shoes in this relationship, for the love of the gods.
What relationship, precisely, remained to be seen.
“Have you looked at Ruby? Really looked?” The Rojo dragon indicated his own face. “What do you see here? Do you see her?”
No. No. Talia wouldn’t do this to him. Not telling him Ruby’s mother was her sister was one thing. But lying about the child’s paternity? No.
Why would she? She literally had nothing to gain. And Gabe had everything.
And just as much to lose.
“No.” He shook his head. This guy was lying.
“She never even slept with you,” the Rojo dragon continued, laughing again. “Do you get so drunk when you fuck that you can’t even remember them? What sort of reeve are you?”
A lousy one. This pompous asshole was right in his implication. Gabe had let down his colony by not cleaning up his act when he became reeve. How many times had Talia tried to tell him? Just this morning he admitted he’d never listened to her before.
Then again, if this guy was telling the truth, she’d lied about Ruby’s paternity. But why?
“Jasmine left this colony because of her sister. Little Miss Perfect. She couldn’t ever live up to whatever expectations her sister set, so she quit trying. Came to us because we don’t have such high standards. She was a pretty young thing, too. Fresh-faced, innocent.” The Rojo dragon smacked his lips. “I enjoyed knowing I was her first.”
No way. Jasmine was a virgin when she left? She and Gabe never—?
“And then she gave me my daughter. Who you took from me. And I want her back.”
She’s ours, Gabe’s dragon said. You claimed her. You love her. We love her.
Gabe dropped his hands to his sides and squeezed his fists. Talk about 180 degrees from his own childhood. Neither of his parents wanted him, and Ruby had too damn many who wanted her.
You promised you’d never send her back to that life, his dragon reminded him.
But he’s her father.
You were raised by someone other than your own father. Sometimes that’s better.
“Why does she call me Dad?” Gabe suddenly asked. “How come she’s never mentioned you?”
The guy curled his lip and snarled.
“You never acknowledged her.” Realization smacked him in the face. “Because her mother is a drug whore. No one even knew she was yours until she was taken from you. The only reason you want her back is because we took her. That’s it. You don’t care about her. She’s just another fucking treasure to you. Something to add to your hoard. You’re probably going to toss her aside as soon as you get back.”
The look on the guy’s face grew darker and darker, but he didn’t deny what Gabe said.
No fucking way are we giving her up.
Gabe just had to figure out how to get out of this predicament. Alive.
“I notice you don’t have any buddies to back you up this time,” the Rojo dragon taunted.
“I didn’t need them last time.”
“Yeah, well, this time, my boys are joining the fight.”
Of course they were. “What, scared I’ll best you again?” Hell, Gabe wasn’t confident he could win one on one, let alone if the other four dragons joined in. This guy’s guns were three times the size they were last time they’d met.
The Rojo dragon growled, smoke wafting from his nose as he glared, clearly fighting the urge to shift.
Frankly, the only way Gabe stood a chance was if he used the element of surprise. He jumped off the stoop, shifting in midair, his dragon roaring with approval. Rain hit his scales like tiny shards of glass; thunder rattled his teeth. Lightning slashed across the sky, awfully damn close to his left wing. He dismissed all the discomforts, focusing wholly on what he needed to do, to save Ruby. To save himself.
He flew low to the ground, shooting fire at the nearest dragon, who was still in human form. With a scream of agony, the guy fell to the ground and started rolling, trying to put out the fire quickly consuming him.
The rest scattered, trying to shift. He reached out with his back feet, his talons wrapping around the closest Rojo, and then he swept high into the sky, releasing his victim when he was a good hundred feet in the air. Thud! The guy had been in too much shock to shift in time to save himself.
That left three. Better odds, but still not terribly comforting.
Not now that they were all three in dragon form.
We got this.
Gabe whipped his head around, wincing as the stabbing rain stung his eyes, and watched as another dragon appeared through the clouds and rain, flying toward him even as her gaze swept the area, searching for their adversary in the dim light, raging wind, and pounding rain.
Talia?
Yep.
Get the hell out of here. He turned his back on her, flew the other way, hoping the three Rojo dragons would follow him and ignore her.
No such luck. He heard her scream both in his head and out loud and he jerked around in time to see one of them slash his talon across one of her wings. She started falling to the ground, and Gabe dove toward her. He didn’t know what the hell he was going to do, only that he had to save her.
But then she righted herself, although her balance was wobbly.
Go home, he commanded. Like she’d ever obeyed him before.
This is my fault. I can’t let you do this alone. Which by the way, I wouldn’t do even if it weren’t my fault.
Stubborn woman.
A screech warned him seconds before a ball of fire came flying at them. Gabe hovered in front of Talia, and breathed fire at the ball, the force stopping it from hitting them. The water pouring from the sky dissipated it far faster than if this had been a clear, sunny day.
All right, don’t let anyone get behind you. You can’t outfly them with that injury. So you need to face them and belch fire at them every chance you get. Got it?
I know how to fight.
Yeah, well, this is real, sweetheart. Nothing like the practice sessions we’re used to.
Stop talking and veer left.
He did as she said without even checking, narrowly missing getting body slammed by the dragon that had been flying toward him full hilt. With a roar, the dragon rolled in midair and flapped its wings, heading back toward them. Talia twisted so that she faced him, and when he was close enough, she spit fire, singing his left wing. Tit for tat.
The three Rojo dragons regrouped after that, and Gabe flew to Talia’s side, prepared to face them head on. They dove, one right after the other; Talia and Gabe split up to avoid getting hit. One whipped around and flung his tale, slamming Gabe in the side. He growled and blew fire, and the dragon swerved to the left to avoid getting hit.