by Bianca D'Arc
“You must be especially sensitive to have felt that,” she said, looking again at the bear-man who was fast capturing every last corner of her heart.
Peter shrugged again. “I follow my instincts.”
He had parked so that the passenger door faced the front door of the cabin. Peter kept hold of her hand as they walked toward the front door.
When the door opened to reveal an older woman who was taller than Mellie and was unmistakably Peter’s relative, Mellie almost stopped short in surprise. She would have, if Peter hadn’t been holding her hand and kept moving forward. She had to keep up with him or tug her hand free—which was out of the question for many reasons, but mostly because she liked holding hands with him a little too much to let go easily.
“Peter,” the older woman said, speaking to him but looking with curious eyes at Mellie the whole time. “Who have you brought to meet me?”
“Babushka, this is Amelia Ricoletti. She is a witch. A strega.”
“Italiano?” the older woman asked Mellie.
“Italian-American,” Mellie replied with a self-conscious smile. “My nonna settled in San Francisco before my mother was born. She adopted this country as her own but never let go the ways of the old country. My sister and I were raised as strega from the moment it became known we shared her gift.”
“Sister?” Now, Peter’s grandmother looked to her grandson for clarification.
“John’s new mate, Ursula. She who cast the permanent wards to keep the town and cove safe,” Peter told her, as if he was repeating something he’d already told her.
“Ah, yes,” his grandmother said, turning back to Mellie with a welcoming smile. “I remember now. I am Ivana. Let’s see… You already have a nonna. You can call me granny.”
“Babushka!” Peter seemed shocked, but the older woman just waved him off.
“What?” Ivana looked askance at her grandson. “I don’t think she speaks Russian, does she? And I have always fancied the thought of being an American granny. Perhaps I will ask the whole town to call me that. I suspect I am the oldest bear here.”
Granny Ivana chuckled at her own idea, and Mellie found the sound contagious. “Honestly, sometimes, I think the boys could use a little adult supervision,” Mellie said to the older woman in a conspiratorial tone, which only made her laugh harder.
Mellie felt an instant kinship with the woman who had asked her to call her granny. This was a woman of quick humor who seemed to be welcoming. Mellie had been so scared to meet Peter’s grandmother, but Granny Ivana set her immediately at ease.
“Come, come,” Granny Ivana said, stepping aside to usher them through the doorway and into Peter’s home as if it was her own.
As Mellie entered, Granny Ivana enveloped her in a welcoming hug and kissed both cheeks. She was a lot taller than Mellie and more substantial. Her bear hug in human form brought a feeling of care and comfort Mellie had only ever felt before from her own nonna.
Mellie’s instincts about people were often spot on, and they were telling her that Granny Ivana was a very special, very caring lady. Mellie liked the older woman and hoped the feeling was mutual. With a granny like this, she wasn’t surprised Peter had grown up to be the sensitive fellow he was—who had gone so far as to harm no trees in the building of his home.
That alone told her there was much more to Peter than met the eye. The other bear shifters might be sensitive to magic and hold more magic of their own than almost any other kind of shifter, but Peter was something special. That he could feel the spirits of the trees—something on such a different wavelength than most people and animals… Well, maybe it was the dragon-blood influence showing up, after all.
And thinking of dragons made her think of her task. Maybe Granny Ivana could help. Now, having met the woman, Mellie was pretty much convinced that, if she knew anything, Granny Ivana would at least try to help.
Peter went right to work, setting up to grill a number of different exotic meats from his shop while Mellie offered to help Granny Ivana with the salad and side dishes. Granny set her right to work, setting the table while they talked of life in the cove and Granny’s trip to the States.
It had, apparently, been quite an adventure, in the company of three of Peter’s cousins. Granny had left the cousins behind at some point and come the rest of the way on her own over the younger generation’s objections.
“I suspect they tried to follow me for a time,” Granny Ivana admitted with a twinkle in her eye. “But I was learning stealth and diversion long before Peter and his cousins were born. I wonder which one of them was able to track me longest?”
“I bet on Xander. He has skills,” Peter put in from his place at the fancy indoor grill.
“Really? I was thinking Yuri, but I suppose I could be wrong,” Granny Ivana said in a contemplative tone. “The last I saw any of them, they’d all bought big motorcycles and had planned to hit the open road, as they called it. I encouraged them to explore. I’m hoping they’ll find mates and settle down. Lady knows, they’ve been through almost every girl in Russia, Europe and the Middle East,” Granny Ivana griped with a laugh.
“You think they’ll find mates here?” Peter asked, clearly curious.
Granny shrugged. “If Nikita is right, they all will,” she replied to Peter, then looked at Mellie. “Nikita is a family friend. She is like you. Ved’ma. A witch. We were girls together in Kamchatka.”
Mellie was relieved to hear directly from Peter’s grandmother that she didn’t have a problem with witches. Regardless of what he’d said about his granny and the witchy ved’ma she’d consulted from time to time in the old country, Mellie had been wary. Magic users weren’t always welcome—in fact, they usually weren’t welcome—among shifters. Grizzly Cove was a little different, thankfully. Though the town council hadn’t expected the Ricoletti sisters to be witches when they’d approved the plans for the bookstore, Urse had managed to smooth things over. The fact that she was the Alpha bear’s true mate went a long way toward gaining acceptance for both Urse and Mellie in the town.
There was some bustling as Peter finished with the grill and served up a heaping platter of seared meats. Mellie’s little steak was cooked well-done, but the others were another matter. Seemed both Peter and his granny liked their meats on the rare side. Mellie supposed that was the bear influence, and she tried not to stare as he loaded giant plates for both himself and his granny with three or four cuts of various kinds of meat, each.
Mellie’s single steak looked paltry by comparison, though she loaded the empty part of her plate with broiled potatoes and salad. They all ate for a while, Peter pointing out various varieties of meat he’d served his grandmother. They discussed the finer points of taste and texture like connoisseurs while Mellie worked on her own meal. She shouldn’t have been surprised at how much the bear shifters could eat. She’d seen her new brother-in-law pack it away many times now. But, somehow, she’d expected Granny Ivana to eat less. Instead, she ate more than Peter!
Then again, her bear was massive, and the woman herself wasn’t petite in her human form. She wasn’t quite six feet tall, but she was definitely way taller than Mellie, and bigger boned, as well, though Granny Ivana was in no way fat or even overweight. Shifters generally weren’t, to Mellie’s knowledge. All that activity while they were in their animal forms, and the huge amount of energy it must take just to shift in the first place, kept them lean and muscular. Lucky shifters.
“So,” Granny Ivana said after she’d finished most of her meal. She sat back and looked at Mellie with piercing dark eyes as she lingered over the last bits on her plate. “Peter tells me you are in need of a dragon.”
Mellie almost choked at the older woman’s directness but managed to keep a straight face. “I am. Though, I didn’t even realize dragon shifters existed—or once existed—before talking with Peter.”
Granny Ivana nodded sagely. “He told me of your experiment with his blood.” She smiled with satisfaction. “While I am
pleased with the results of the potion you two brewed together, it seems clear you all need something…different than bear blood in your next attempt. While I would be willing to give you my own blood, I believe it was Peter’s personal investment in the fate of this place that allowed for the success of your previous attempt. My grandfather was a dragon, but I am fully bear, as you may have seen.”
Mellie’s spirits rose and fell with Granny Ivana’s words. What was she saying? Would she help or wouldn’t she?
“While I may not be the best to help directly, I may be able to help you locate a dragon shifter,” Granny Ivana went on.
Mellie sat straight up in her chair. “There’s a dragon? Alive? Now?”
“There might be,” Granny Ivana said with a slight frown. “At least, I knew of one once, but we’ll have to track him down. If he still exists.”
“Shifter grapevine?” Peter asked at once, but Granny Ivana shook her head.
“If he lives, other shifters will not know of his animal. Dragons were hunted by everyone—other shifters included. They are too powerful, and many fear them,” Granny told him. “No, for this, we need to consult the magical grapevine, so to speak. We’ll start with Nikita and see where she sends us. I hope you get a good rate for long-distance calls,” she added with a wink.
CHAPTER SEVEN
A few minutes later, Granny Ivana was speaking in rapid-fire Russian with her friend, Nikita, back in Kamchatka. Peter was listening intently, so Mellie didn’t bother him to ask for a translation. She just tried to sit quietly and be as patient as possible while, inside, she was in a turmoil of curiosity.
To give herself something to do, Mellie went back to the table that they’d recently vacated in favor of the living room area and its phone, and started to clean up the dinner dishes. She stacked them as quietly as possible and brought them to the sink, going about the routine chores in an effort to calm her nerves. When she heard the phone receiver click down into the cradle, she spun around, unable to contain her excitement, but Granny Ivana’s expression gave no clues about the outcome of her phone call.
“Well?” Mellie demanded of Peter. He glanced back to his grandmother.
“Nikita’s last knowledge of his whereabouts ends in Italy,” Granny Ivana revealed.
“Italy!” Mellie’s mind raced with ideas. “We can call Nonna. She has really good contacts there.”
Granny Ivana offered the phone to Mellie, but she demurred, pulling her cell from her pocketbook instead. “I have Nonna’s number programmed in here, and she’ll know it’s me calling from this number,” Mellie explained, even as she connected the call.
Nonna didn’t seem surprised by Mellie’s call, though Mellie felt some satisfaction at being able to ask for something Nonna hadn’t anticipated. Good granny that she was, though, she readily agreed to call her friends in Italy as soon as possible. Mellie then handed the phone to Granny Ivana so she could pass on the details firsthand.
Mellie and Peter shared a wide-eyed look when the two grandmothers were speaking. It sure sounded as if they were old friends, and when the conversation went from English to Italian, Mellie was astonished to learn that Granny Ivana had spent time in Turin and Parma during her long life and still spoke the language very well indeed.
Granny Ivana ended the call and handed the silent phone back to Mellie with a broad smile. “Very sensible woman, your nonna,” Granny complimented. “I should like to meet her in person one day.”
“We’ve been asking her to come up for a visit to see the shop and the town, but she claims the time isn’t right yet,” Mellie said. “Urse thinks I have to do my part to protect the place first, and only then, will Nonna come. Nothing like a little more pressure, right?” Mellie gave a nervous laugh as she put her phone away.
“Try not to stress about it, vnuchka. What will be, will be. Worrying about it cannot help,” Granny Ivana said. Mellie knew just enough Russian to be charmed that Granny Ivana had called her granddaughter. “Now, let me tell you a few things about dragons, should your nonna succeed. You will have to approach cautiously. Dragons are not like us cuddly bears. They are secretive and deadly.”
Mellie sobered immediately. This woman had actually known a dragon shifter. She, and her grandson, were related to a dragon shifter. They were as close as Mellie had ever come to a dragon, and she would take any advice she could get.
They sat in the living room, sipping coffee and watching while Peter stoked the fire in the fireplace. Granny Ivana held court.
“My grandfather was a dragon. Bartolomeo was his name. He was Italian, which was why I traveled to that country in my youth, to try to track down his people, but I had no success.”
“Wait a minute. My great-grandfather was Italian?” Peter asked, coming over to sit next to Mellie on the couch.
“You didn’t know?” Mellie blurted out, unable to help herself.
In her family, lineage was everything. Even though the strega gift was passed down through the female line, she knew as much about her paternal ancestors as she could. It seemed impossible to her that Peter wouldn’t know such a crucial fact as the origins of his ancestors.
“It’s not his fault.” Granny Ivana was quick to come to her grandson’s defense. “We don’t talk much about the dragon. Only that he existed, and only in strict confidence. Dragons were hunted long before the Destroyer made killing them into a sport. Bartolomeo was one of very few dragons in the world during his time, and for the most part, he hid his nature from everyone but those closest to him. When he came to Kamchatka, he found his mate in my grandmother, Nadia, but he also found acceptance among our people in a place that few humans ever visited. Kamchatka, even to this day, is sparsely populated, and way back when Bartolomeo and Nadia lived there, it was even quieter. He could fly when he wished and not worry about being hunted. The entire Clan was on his side, protecting him and his secret. The secret of our family. It is not something we speak of often, even among ourselves.”
Mellie realized the gift Granny Ivana was giving her in telling her all this. “I will never speak of your ancestors or your family to anyone but Peter or yourself, Granny. This I swear.” Mellie put a little charge of magic into her oath that Granny Ivana and Peter could probably scent, being highly magical bears themselves.
Granny Ivana nodded with satisfaction. “I believe you, which is why I speak of these things. Also, I think you need to know this in order to complete your task and help make my grandson, his chosen comrades, and all those that come under their protection safe from the evil in the sea.”
Mellie nodded respectfully. Granny Ivana truly did understand all that was at stake here and was being incredibly gracious. She went on at length, describing the quirks of her grandfather and the things that would upset him. She also talked about his need to fly and how he did so without attracting unwanted attention.
“Dragons are more mobile than almost any other shifter,” Granny Ivana told her. “They can cover more ground in less time than any bird shifter and fly higher than any other creature. Bartolomeo was born in Italy but had travelled the world before finding Nadia. That she was of Kamchatka worked out well for him because of the isolation and the protective nature of our Clan. They welcomed him into the Clan and protected his secret.”
Mellie was hanging on every word. This was a woman who had actually known a real live dragon shifter. She had experience and knowledge that could be invaluable to Mellie in her quest to find that final ingredient.
It wasn’t just an ingredient she was after. It wasn’t like finding an herb in the forest and picking it at exactly the right moment. No, this substance had to be obtained directly from a living, thinking, feeling, possibly elusive creature. A person with ideas and demands of their own. Mellie would have to deal with that person in both human and dragon form, if she was to complete her task.
Knowing as much as she could about dragon shifters and their quirks as possible might prove vital. Granny Ivana’s willingness to help prepare her for a
possible encounter with a dragon shifter—and especially her helpfulness in trying to track one down—was an amazing gift. Mellie had already decided to like Peter’s grandmother, but now, she was coming to respect and admire her, as well.
“Dragons have never had an easy time of it in the mortal world,” Granny Ivana went on. “They’re so big and scary.” She laughed at her own description. “Of course, people say that about us, too, but we’re not so visible, stalking in the woods, as they are flying high above in the sky. They’re very vulnerable until they achieve a certain height, or can find cloud cover to hide behind. On land, they are immense in comparison to most creatures. Very hard to hide, which is why, I think, they enjoy cave systems so much.”
“Have they always been hunted?” Peter asked.
“As far back as I know, yes,” Granny Ivana confirmed. “Although, there are legends, even among humans, about the time when they were friends and comrades with kings and mages alike. The legend of Merlin and Arthur comes to mind, and there are other stories from the east of dragons transporting emperors in China and elsewhere. Dragon sages and mages.”
Mellie’s imagination had been captured by the tales of Camelot, Arthur and Merlin when she was a young girl. The idea that the dragons in the old stories might actually have been real was like something out of a fairytale. Magical and unexpected. She felt almost giddy at the prospect of meeting such a mysterious being. Excited and, at the same time, scared to death. Dragons devoured young maidens, didn’t they?
“I don’t know what kind of dragon we may find in this day and age. They have not had it easy for the past few centuries. It would be wise to approach with caution and utmost respect for the fact that he is more deadly than any other shifter in existence. Peter,” Granny Ivana spoke to her grandson, “you must go with her if she finds the dragon. You must protect her. We Kamchatka have great magic of our own, and you have dragon blood. You might be the only thing that can stand between her and an enraged dragon for any length of time.”