by Riley Storm
Victor came to the door, all close-cropped hair and turquoise eyes. Watching intently, he saw the sudden tensing of muscles as he recognized the bear shifters. Whoever they were, Victor did know them. For an idle moment, Valla wondered where he might have crossed paths with a bear shifter, but really it didn’t matter. The fireworks were about to start, and he had a front-row seat.
The large water dragon seemed to be swallowed up by the circle of bear shifters, and Valla all but giggled. This was just too perfect.
Enjoy your just desserts, Victor. You deserve all of them.
To his surprise, it was Victor who threw the first punch. Valla wouldn’t have bet on that. He’d thought Victor at least smart enough to try and extricate himself from the fight. One on one, a dragon shifter was a match for any bear shifter.
Eight-to-one odds were a different story entirely, and the water dragon quickly went down under their combined attacks. Valla watched as bear shifters reeled backward from the blows Victor was able to get off, but they always stumbled back, shook their heads and launched back in.
A mighty roar reached Valla’s ears, and he knew it was one of pain.
He watched for a few more seconds, then shifted into drive and started to go away. Victor might still be able to win, though he wasn’t so sure. The Ursidae were really giving him a thrashing. They might actually do it.
Shit.
Valla’s foot strayed over to the brakes, and his car slowed. He really was not a fan of Victor’s and thought the water dragon only slightly less arrogant than Aaric.
But he was still a Drakon, and a member of House Draconis.
And dragons never lost.
Cursing to himself, Valla threw the car in park and undid his seatbelt.
Time to come to the rescue.
14
Ice flowed down his forearms, covering them in a living, shifting layer of ice that flexed and cracked with every movement of his fingers, sending shards of deep-blue ice falling to the ground.
The sun had melted the light layer of snow that morning, leaving the ground damp, but wherever Valla walked, the liquid froze once again. Icy-cold breath turned to fog in the air as he breathed out.
“That’s enough!” he bellowed, leaping the stairs to the front door in a single bound and smashing his fist into the back of a bear-shifter’s head.
The child of Ursa flung forward like a bowling ball, splitting several of his comrades and momentarily distracting them from the beating they were administering on Victor. A full half of the bear shifters turned to face the newcomer with looks of grim determination on their faces.
“You dare interrupt our Challenge?” one of them spat, blood dripping from his mouth where Victor had connected with a fist, or foot, or perhaps a knee. It didn’t matter at this point; whatever it was, it hadn’t been enough to inhibit the shifter.
“Challenge?” Valla barked, dismissing the claim with a bout of laughter. “You call eight on one a challenge? Cowards, the lot of you. This is straight-up revenge, and you know it. You got your piece, take it and leave.”
On the ground, Victor growled through his bloodied face. “I’m not through with them yet.”
Valla rolled his eyes. “You just don’t know when to leave good enough alone, now do you brother?” he asked sarcastically, turning his attention back to Konine, who had stepped back to face Valla. “Leave.”
The bear shifters growled, and Valla watched several of their hands morph as they began to change, molding their human hands with giant clawed bear-paws into a hybrid version.
Those would hurt to be struck with, he could tell immediately, and vowed to deal with them first.
“No, I don’t think we will,” Konine said savagely, and charged at Valla.
One of the others, spurred into motion, delivered a savage head-kick to Victor that rocked the water dragon.
Valla thrust a hand at him and a ball of ice the size of a basketball shot forth and exploded against the side of the shifter’s face, ripping his skin in a dozen places and depositing him back on his ass.
“Get up then!” he roared at Victor before throwing himself backward off the landing, just before a pair of clawed hands swept through the space he’d occupied.
Enraged that their target had escaped damage, the trio of claw-sporting shifters came after him. The first one made the amateur mistake of doing what Valla had just done and throwing himself off the landing.
“Amateur.”
Valla’s fist cocked back and waited until the shifter’s eyes widened in knowledge of his mistake. Then he delivered the punch straight between the bear shifter’s eyes. Given that the unfortunate Ursa youth was mid-air when he was hit, all of Valla’s prodigious strength transformed into momentum in a new direction for his target.
The bear shifter flew off to the right for thirty feet before bouncing twice off the concrete drive-through. Then he wrapped himself around the thick solid-steel pole that acted as a support for the giant awning stretching from the Keep over the driveway, as it came up alongside the building.
Even as Valla watched it, he knew he’d made a mistake. There were two more shifters coming at him, and as pain erupted down his right side, he knew he was hurt. Throwing himself away from the blow, he rolled to his feet, willing his power to life.
A coating of unblemished ice smoother than anything man could make, spread out around him in all directions. Unseen to the bear shifters, tiny little spikes pressed down under Valla’s feet, giving him perfect fitting.
“Not fair,” one of the bear shifters muttered, trying to throw himself to the side before the furious ice dragon arrived.
But his shoes betrayed him, providing no traction. The shifter went down, and snarling in glee, Valla dove at Konine, the only one still standing. They went down in a tangle of thrashing limbs. One of the bigger shifters’ knees caught him in the stomach and the air whuffed from his lungs in a single blow, the muscles seizing up momentarily, preventing him from drawing breath.
Valla wasn’t about to let a simple lack of air hinder him, and he flailed with every pointy limb he had, each of them receiving a thick coating of ice just before it struck. He rained elbows, knees, feet, fists and even a vicious head-butt into the face of his opponent as they slid across the ice.
Konine was no amateur, however, and he got both feet underneath him and kicked hard. Valla was airborne then, and landed on his back, sliding the opposite direction.
That gave him time to check in on Victor. The water dragon had gotten to his feet again and was engaged in a blurry display of martial arts with several of the other bear shifters. Arms and legs moved faster than a human could have comprehended. Each time one of the shifters seemed to land a blow, however, the other managed to block it.
Getting to his feet, Valla prepared for round two with his opponents. He noticed that they’d split their shoes now, large bear claws slashing forth as they morphed their feet, the animal-paw giving them the necessary traction to fight on ice.
“Enough with your parlor tricks, dragon! Fight us properly,” Konine challenged.
Never one to be called a coward for using weapons his opponents couldn’t, Valla dismissed the ice on the ground and on his body. It faded into wispy strands of blue-white vapor as he stalked forward, ready to show the lesser shifters just how badly they had erred by coming to Drakon Keep.
This was dragon territory, and they were going to feel it.
Make it quick. You need to get changed before you leave. Your suit is in tatters, and also, there’s the issue of a bloodstain.
Valla could feel the warmth on his right side where the bear claws had dug deep. He would be battered and bruised all over when it was all said and done, but that was the worst of it. So far.
The only warning he had was the sudden shift in Konine’s eyes. Instead of focusing on the approaching irate dragon, they darted to the side. It was only a brief thing, a momentary lapse, but it clued Valla in to the sudden danger.
He wrenched hims
elf into a turn, bracing himself for the attack he expected to come. But instead of a flying shifter aimed at him, all he caught was a long blur.
Then the metal pole smashed into his face and all Valla knew was darkness.
15
“The heartbeat looks fine,” the technician told her, sliding the wand across her stomach, spreading the cool gel that accompanied it.
Liz hated it. The feeling wasn’t something she thought she would ever get used to, and she just wanted it to be over and done with as soon as possible.
It would have helped if Valla were here.
It was her own fault. Giving Valla a chance was stupid, and Liz had known it at the time. Known it and should have known better than to let him weasel his way into her giving him a chance. It was bound to end in nothing but disappointment.
No matter how strongly she’d braced herself for it, Liz had let that tiny, itty-bitty sliver of hope penetrate her wall, and now it had evaporated, letting nothing but crushing defeat and sadness slip through.
She’d wanted him to prove her wrong, to show up and be the sort of figure he claimed he could be, but Liz should have gone with her gut and said no.
From now on, stick to your guns. No giving in. Be strong. For you and for your child. It’s the least the baby deserves.
“Liz?”
She blinked, realizing the tech was talking to her. “Sorry, pardon? I drifted off there.”
“Not to worry, it happens more often than you’d think,” the young woman said with a smile. “I was asking if you wanted to know the sex of your baby.”
“Right. Um.” Liz fell silent.
Did she want to know? Was there any point in knowing?
“No,” she said, the answer coming to her swift and smoothly. “It doesn’t matter, I’m going to love them equally, no matter what. So, let’s leave it to be a surprise. Most of my coworkers think it’s going to be a girl, but I have a feeling it’s a boy. So, we’ll see who’s right in the end I guess,” she said with a laugh.
The tech just nodded and started cleaning her up. “In that case, we’re all done here today. Everything looks good and healthy.”
“Thank you,” Liz said, her mind once more straying back to Valla and his non-presence.
“Is…is everything okay?” the tech asked. “Were you expecting a different response? Have there been any issues you wanted to ask about? Now’s the time if so,” she said.
Liz smiled gratefully at the young woman. “You deal with a lot of this, don’t you?” she asked.
“A lot of what?”
“Women coming in here alone. Without their partner.”
The tech shrugged. “That’s the world we live in. I try not to judge. Sometimes the schedules simply don’t line up. Other times…well, it’s not my place to pry, you know?”
“Yeah,” Liz said. “I know.”
“If it’s anything about the baby though, and the pregnancy, you can ask. Don’t be shy.”
“No, no it’s not that,” Liz assured her, rubbing the swelling of her stomach. She was starting to show more and more by the day now as the baby expanded her curves beyond their norm. Soon it was going to become even harder for her to move around.
“You checked the…nu,” she fumbled over the word, her mind not at all focused on the moment like it should be.
“The nuchal translucency?” the tech asked with a smile. “Yes, everything looks fine there.”
Liz nodded, thankful for the tech’s willingness to get back on track. She should never have asked the tech about anything else in the first place. It wasn’t their job to be a therapist.
“Thank you.” She got herself dressed and left the office, glad she didn’t have to go back to work for the day. Cheryl really was the best boss.
As she exited the clinic, she forced herself to walk straighter. Valla had been given a chance, and he’d screwed it up. Too bad for him, but it wasn’t Liz’s responsibility to show him how to be a proper parent. If he couldn’t make it to a single appointment when he was well aware how much was riding on it, then too bad.
“I’m going to do it alone,” she said, holding her head high. “You can do this, Liz. You don’t need his help.”
No more chances, no more opportunities. Liz simply wasn’t going to put that sort of stress on her unborn child.
She was almost at the door to her car when tires screeched into the parking lot as a car came flying in.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered, eyes drawn to the little red coupe.
Get in the car. Get in the car now and leave before he finds you.
But she fumbled with her keys in her rush and accidentally hit the lock button. The car beeped loudly twice, and Liz froze. She’d just done the exact opposite of what she wanted, drawing attention to herself.
“Liz!”
It was Valla’s voice. He’d seen her. She groaned and hit the unlock button. Maybe he would just go away if she didn’t acknowledge his existence. Maybe he’d assume there was another curly-haired redhead in the parking lot who just happened to look like ‘Liz’ but was actually someone else.
She got the door open, but heavy footsteps behind her indicated Valla’s presence. She got a vague outline of him in the window, but otherwise remained facing forward.
“What do you want, Valla?” she asked, hating herself for even giving him the time of day.
“Liz, I’m so sorry, listen I—”
“No,” she said harshly, refusing to turn around, to give him that satisfaction. “I’m not going to listen to whatever excuse you have for me, Valla. I told you when and where to be. I gave you a chance after you begged me to do so. Against my better judgment, I caved. You didn’t show. End of story.”
“It’s not my fault though, there were—”
Again, she cut him off. “Really Valla? You’re not willing to accept even the slightest bit of blame for not making it here on time?”
Liz heard him take a slow breath in and out. Part of her wanted to turn around, to look him straight on and watch his face as she spoke, but she didn’t. As strong as she wanted to pretend she was, Liz knew that seeing his face, watching him talk, would just make her weaker. He had that effect on her and she detested it, but there was no denying it was real. To do so would just be lying to herself.
“I’m sorry.”
Her fingers tightened around the top of the car door. There was pain in his voice. Real pain, and possibly even regret. Liz wanted to believe that. She desperately wanted to believe that some sort of freak occurrence had prevented Valla from being at the appointment.
But she knew it wasn’t that. If that was really the case, he would have called her, or the clinic, and had them relay a message to her. But instead, he’d probably just overslept and then sped into town hoping to catch her in time. Nothing more, she figured.
“I’m sure you are sorry, Valla,” she said, acknowledging it. “I don’t think that you maliciously missed the appointment. You’re not an asshole. You’re just irresponsible.” She sucked in a deep breath. “And that’s not the type of parent I will have around my child.”
“It’s our child,” he growled.
“You can file for custody if you feel that strongly,” she said. “But I will be raising the child on my own. Without you. I will be going through this pregnancy. Without you. I simply can’t afford to keep giving you opportunities. The stress of it isn’t something I can take. Do you understand that?”
“I do,” Valla said, his shoes shuffling on the pavement. “I really do. If you would just give me a chance to explain though, I can—”
“No!” she cried, finally spinning, her anger getting the better of her. “It doesn’t matter what happened to you, because—oh my God, Valla, what happened?”
Valla looked like he’d been through twelve rounds with a professional boxer. His face was bruised, the sharp, angular lines that normally defined his classically handsome features hidden behind massive amounts of swelling. All his hair was a
mess, instead of the perfect style that had practically come to define him the few times she’d seen him.
Her eyes noticed he seemed to be favoring his right side as well, his body language showing an uncomfortable lean to that side, as if standing up straight hurt. When he shifted, she thought she glimpsed some darkness on the inside of his suit jacket.
The most defining thing of it all, however, was the huge black line that ran across his face, nearly from ear to ear and right over the eyes, like a visor. It was thick, puffy and already turning a yellowish-purple-black in some places.
“Are you okay?” she gasped, involuntarily taking a step toward him. “You’re a mess.”
“I told you I could explain,” he said with a wry smile.
16
“You shouldn’t be here,” Liz said, looking him over. “You should go to a hospital. You could have a concussion.”
“I’ll be okay,” he promised. “I heal quickly, trust me.”
She flinched at the words trust me, and Valla cursed himself. Of course, she didn’t trust him. He’d not shown her any reason to do so yet. Especially after he’d missed his first and best opportunity to prove to her that he could be responsible.
“Someone beat you up,” she murmured, her attention still mostly on his face. Thankfully, she hadn’t paid much attention to the rest of him, or she might have noticed the blood that had stained his fresh suit before the wounds on his side had closed. “But who? Why Valla? What was this all about?”
“They weren’t after me,” he explained. “They were after Victor.”
“Someone wanted to beat up Victor?” Liz said with more than a bit of sarcasm. “I wonder why that might be?”
Valla knew that Victor hadn’t been the most lovable character before he’d met Cheryl, and now he was getting some proof of it. Others thought he was a dick too, helping validate Valla’s opinion.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I was all ready to be here too. Was going to leave two hours before the appointment. I was dressed, I had even pulled my car around front to ensure that it worked and that nothing would delay me. I was going to be here,” he insisted, trying to drive that point home.