How to Date a Dragon (Paranormal Dragon Romance Book 1)

by Serena Rose

  She recalled with a shudder his changes, she recalled how she had heard a hollow cry, some muffled scream, all to show her what he truly was, and what she could be carrying. Was this going to be her child’s fate if he was going to be male? The child had no say in this yet, and she would never know until an ultrasound- wait, he had told her no ultrasound could penetrate through it, like dragon scales had surrounded it… she knew it was why he wouldn’t take any chances, but she wanted to.

  “I’m saving you,” she announced to herself with one quiet breath. Flipping through the pages, she found that his father had written more than William, and it chronicled fifteen transformations alone for a single month. Wasn’t that painful? She saw how William Anthony V shifted numerous times in 1903. The year his wife died. How painful was that for him? And how painful was it to Will himself? He didn’t want to subject the baby with what he had gone through before.

  He called her later on for dinner, and they had a quiet one, and William didn’t even bother to ask her what she had found so far. It seemed he knew she found nothing as of late.

  “There’s an eight-hundred-year-old abbey five miles from here…” he began. “Perhaps, we can find something there.”

  CHAPTER 13

  They made their way to the abbey at the first sign of light. The skies were still a grayish hue, and dew sparkled across the fields as he drove. Her heart leapt at the sight of wild flowers scattered about everywhere. He was quiet, lost in deep thought, so she said nothing.

  He rang the brass bell once, just outside of the door, and moments later, a lanky and white-haired monk nodded, greeting him quietly, and eyeing her carefully. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable, until she realized the monk knew who Will was.

  “How long has it been?” the monk asked him, leading him up three flights of stairs.

  “Forty years? Or more?” Will replied. “How have you been, Brother Arthur?”

  “I see you haven’t stopped travelling,” Arthur said, “and perhaps, researching?”

  “There’s so many things we need to learn until now, Brother. How have the repairs gone?”

  “With your family’s generous donations, we’re well on our way to a fixed roof at the east of the abbey,” Arthur replied with a hint of a smile. “Which means, you may sit in the library without fear of rain getting in.”

  William nodded, without a hint of a smile. “Glad to hear that. Do I need the key to-?”

  “I will be assisting you with whatever you need. We’re on chores today, and I am glad I need not prune the weeds this morning since you’re around.”

  Brother Arthur didn’t care about making small talk with her. It seemed like he knew why she was here, and why she was with him. Monks like him didn’t believe in such things, now, did they? And then at the corner of her eye, she saw a painting, a very old painting, encased in glass. A dragon, breathing fire, surrounding a small town. From another corner, she saw a dagger, surrounded with dusty glass. It was intricate, no jewels, but it was fine silverwork all in all. There were wings at the hilt of the blade. She wondered why the monks kept a dagger in a library…

  She got back to her senses, and then she walked to where they were. She hadn’t seen so many ancient looking books, protected behind black, wrought-iron bars and heavy chains. The books were chained as well, a medieval system, but it meant the system still worked until now.

  “Do call me if you need anything, translations and all. I’ll be at the entrance,” Arthur told him.

  As soon as he left, she turned to face William. “I don’t think he wants me here.”

  “He knows why you’re here. The last time a woman was here was when my father brought my mother in…” he grew quiet for a moment. “They all sort of know what happened to my family lineage. They take pity in it, pray for me, but apparently the Maker has other plans for now.”

  “It’s been that long. They kept quiet.”

  “It’s not something you can brag about. The monks here don’t number by the hundreds. There are about 30 of them left. Once the last one dies, this will become a museum, according to their wishes, of course.”

  “They’ve taken no one else in lately?”

  He shook his head. “No one. They didn’t exist for my family alone, but they know more or less about us. We used to be the devil’s familiars here, until they realized we hadn’t meant to become labeled as such. So, they’ve kept books, records, stories, and a history of the town, all related to our family. It’s why it’s hidden here. And only they and my family have access to it. Shall we get going? Excuse me, the books will get dusty.”

  He unlocked a heavy book, one which weighed around fifteen pounds. “It’s mostly here. Best we start with the annals of the Drake family.”

  It took them both all of ten hours, but their reading and poring, and talking yielded nothing. She saw the growing frustration on his face, even if they were on day two.

  “We have five more days,” she reasoned to him.

  “And that means five more days before I decide on that thing’s fate myself,” he uttered. “The longer that’s in you, the higher the risk-”

  “My risk is-”

  “My concern,” he finished for her. “The agreement stays. I know a facility that does this discreetly, and your scholarship won’t be affected, nor will your life be affected.”

  “You think I can just go back to a normal life after I’ve seen everything?” she said, flabbergasted. “You think I can just go home and pretend that it never happened?”

  “You’ll be well-provided for, even employment won’t be a problem.”

  “Are you hearing yourself? This is morality and mortality I’m talking about, I don’t care if you don’t love me, but-”

  “I do,” he interrupted her, looking at her intently. “That’s why I’m doing this, because-” He cleared his throat and looked away.

  She bit her lower lip and looked sideways as well, unable to believe she had heard that from him. He loved her? It was unexpected. She had thought he wouldn’t reciprocate. This wasn’t the time for it, she told herself. But she couldn’t help but find it bittersweet, and to her horror, she felt tears spill from her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, but he had seen it.

  She felt his hand around hers, and she looked at him.

  “We’ll find something,” he told her softly, as if trying to soothe her emotions.

  “Don’t be nice, just because I’m pregnant and my hormones are all over the place,” she found herself saying.

  “Well, you already know how I feel about you, so I don’t have to put up fronts anymore,” he told her.

  Fronts? Like he didn’t need to pretend he didn’t feel anything for her? Or he didn’t need to pretend to be the least bit kind to her?

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said to her, looking at her intently.

  *

  Fifteen hours, fifteen hours of poring over ancient manuscripts, fifteen hours of dusting off books, reading the tiniest of texts, translating anything thought to be of significance. Fifteen hours of Kelsey bending over, trying to find something, anything. And that had been day one. They were now on day 5. The week had passed by so quickly, and time for that thing in her was running out. He could no longer hide his frustration and apprehension.

  Kelsey didn’t show yet, no bulging belly to make him fret even more. Imagining it as a clump of cells and blood was better than thinking of it as a human, thank thinking of it as his child and hers. The abbey proved to be a foil in their plans. She was insistent, quietly insistent on a cure of sorts. There was no cure, he knew, and this was just going to keep on going on and on. He saw her reading through pages once more, cross-checking online for texts she could have misunderstood. If only that damned hermit had left a clue, some way to ease the burden on his ancestor’s descendants.

  He had told Kelsey that the abbey was founded from that same hermit, to guard the countryside’s borders from infidels and those who threatened to destroy the town. Did the
hermit resent his family so much that there was no way for their loved ones to survive? He wished he could go back in time, maybe there could have been a way to stop it from happening. He looked at Kelsey once more, his heart aching for her. She wanted to live, wanted to keep the child so badly, she was willing to go through tortuous lengths for it.

  “Kells, maybe you should rest?” he asked her, closing one book.

  She looked up to him, her face somber. “You know Will, if I die, at least I still have a few more months to go, maybe I can still-”

  “You are not dying,” he said through gritted teeth. “Isn’t that why we’re here? Get some rest, I’ll keep looking.”

  He watched as Kelsey walked out of the family library, her muscles clearly sore, and her eyes bloodshot from all the reading and the dust combined.

  The monks had been helpful, to the best of their ability, but William could only tell them so much. He had half the mind to burn the abbey down. It was a gift by his ancestor to the early Christians in the old town, as if to appease the curse. It did no such thing. According to history books, the hermit had died within the abbey’s walls, a deranged man, upset at losing his little home by the glen, cared for by the first monks. He felt his body temperature rise, inviting the idea of burning the abbey down. He took a deep breath, controlling himself.

  He continued to read, not knowing that he had finally nodded off from exhaustion. He dreamt.

  He was standing in the center of somewhere, some old courtyard, with bare trees- and then he realized he was in the abbey. No one else was around, but he could hear someone crying, screaming, and calling out for his name. His ears strained, wanting to know who it was… and then he realized, it was Kelsey. Kelsey was screaming. She was screaming in pain.

  “Will! William!” she cried out, her voice garbled somewhere deep in the abbey.

  “Where are you?” he shouted out to her.

  “Where are you?” her voice echoed out. “I can’t find you!”

  “I’m here! In the center! I’ll come for you, I’ll-”

  And as soon as he stepped out, a wall of fire exploded from the earth, and he stepped back, the heat unbearable. He tried to touch the fires, but his hand recoiled, and he saw blisters. What was going on? He ran t another corner, and fires shot up from the ground, finally surrounding him completely. He was no longer immune to flames.

  “Kelsey!” he shouted out. “Where are you? I can’t get out of here- Kelsey!”

  “William?” her disembodied voice called out once more. “I’m here! I’m here! Please, help me!”

  William’s panic rose, knowing he would never be able to get out. The flames began to recede, and he saw Kelsey in front of him, tears streaking down her face.

  “I’m here, Will,” she whispered to him.

  William took a tentative step, wondering if the flames would burn him. They no longer did, and he looked up, ready to run to Kelsey, when he saw something else. She was bleeding, blood dripped from her legs, forming a pool of blood.

  He looked in horror as she took a step for him.

  “Help me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” she said, reaching out for him. “Did I just lose the baby?”

  His hand reached out for hers, just as she burst into flames, leaving only blood in her wake.

  He had gasped upon waking up, terrified with the nightmare. It was different this time. She had lost the child, or he had forced the loss of the child. Was it a manifestation or his wants? She lost the child, so she had to get that child removed. It was Day 6. He had slept for over two hours. He crept down the hall to check on Kelsey. Quietly, he watched her. She stirred in her sleep, restless. He hoped she wasn’t having nightmares, as she already had enough on her plate.

  How long can you hold on? A voice in his head asked him. Kelsey shifted in bed, and he quickly and silently closed the door to the room.

  How long can I hold on? If she dies, that’ll just give me more reason to die myself. He knew it wasn’t right to use her as a reason to cease his existence, but it was a comforting thought, that he follow her in the event of her passing. He was running out of time, and he didn’t have any answers. She was going to lose that child. No, they were going to lose that child. Her life came first, she would understand this soon enough, but she would loathe him too, he knew.

  Just because you admitted you love her, doesn’t mean you have to act on it right away. He hadn’t known a sensitive like this existed in him. Suddenly, everything was about Kelsey. He had denied himself of her for months on end. The irony that he had to break-up with her, only for her to end up here.

  He walked back to the library, helpless at the face of the adversary that lived within him, and the adversary that was now lurking in her body. Could he hire the best doctors to ensure she was kept alive? And then, perhaps, find a way to silence them? His mother didn’t have those benefits back then, but it was a curse he didn’t want to risk, seeing how it was for him already. The sun began to rise over the hill, hazy, misty- fighting through the cold. It was how he had been ever since. He fought through the heat, wanting to feel the cold, and masking his emotions along the way helped a great deal. Why bend to the beast too often, just to be himself? He was born a monster, though, and there was no masking it. His child, his son-

  William stopped himself. He was thinking about the child too much now. The thing was now a child to him. He walked for the window sill, watching as the sun rose higher. He thought about his dream, and the damned prophecy. He thought about readying himself for the fact that Kelsey would be unyielding with her declaration, he readied himself for the fact that he would be burying someone in the next 7 months.

  Was that how life was going to be for him? Material wealth, in exchange for emotional desolation? A child in his life meant he had to live. Was this how his father felt like? His father had known life was going to end up like that for himself, and for his sons- yet, he still allowed for it to happen. Whatever happened to his plans of the Drake family name just stopping with him?

  Why was I in that courtyard, again? It had always been a maze, always. Even if I had no idea that Kelsey would be that person in my dream, she was there already. A maze before, and now, a courtyard, in the abbey, where the graveyard had once been, where they had once buried the hermit.

  William gasped, and a wild thought crossed his mind. Could the hermit have left something with him? He was no ordinary hermit- that was for sure… Without another thought, he raced out of the house, leaving Kelsey trapped in dreams of her own.

  *

  “I’m sorry to have awakened you this early, seeing it’s not yet six-” William said, out of breath.

  “Nonsense,” Brother Arthur told him. “You know it’s never a bother. Have you found anything to aid you and the young woman?”

  “I just had a crazy idea. Perhaps, it was the reason I had that dream. I remember my father taking me here as a child, to donate things to the previous brothers; and I always passed by the center courtyard, to run around. There was an old apple tree in the center-”

  “Which is long gone now.”

  “Have the graves in the courtyard been relocated?”

  Brother Arthur looked at him questioningly. “Graves? You mean the ones behind the chapel at the far end of the-”

  “No, no, the old graves.”

  “I believe so.”

  “I’d like to see what’s underneath the courtyard,” he announced.

  “Surely you don’t mean ruin what you’ve just repaired. The costs were-”

  “Of no consequence. Brother Arthur, if it isn’t too much to ask, I’d like you to take everyone out of this area.”

  “I don’t quite like the sound of this,” Arthur told him.

  William nodded. “I don’t intend to ruin the library, nor do I intend to ruin the monastery itself. Just this courtyard, I need to look at this courtyard.”

  Arthur shook his head. “Give me thirty minutes to warn all.” He turned his back to leave, when he heard
William call out his name.

  “Yes, Sir Drake?”

  “I’m only doing this to save someone I love,” William uttered.

  Arthur nodded once, and then excused himself. Thirty minutes had gone by, and with Arthur’s blessing, he stripped himself of his clothes, feeling the cold air prick on his skin and insides. He had no intention of destroying something that had been a part of history, but he had to dig deep, in the courtyard, just to prove to his nagging brain that his instincts were still intact. It was getting harder to shift, he realized.

  The anger wasn’t as strong as it had been, the resentment had nearly gone from his life. What was going on? Had Kelsey-? No, he had changed, somehow. Kelsey made it all different for him, all the better. He had to recall the most painful instances in his life, just so he could shift into his full form. Mind intact and uncorrupted by the dragon, he began to use his claws to dig through stone, debris flying everywhere. He felt the flames licking at the edge of his tongue. He had found nothing, he thought, frustration mounting once more.

  No, this can’t be. I felt like I was so close, he thought to himself. And then something clanged at the bottom of the courtyard, fifteen feet below ground lay a chest. He grabbed it clumsily with his tail, setting it down the ground as gently as he could. He had to shift into human form again.

  “Will?” a voice broke the silence and sanctity of this thoughts. He looked up, using his reddish hued eyes, to see Kelsey standing there, wearing red wellingtons and a thick sweater and jeans.

  He shook his dragon head, as if to warn her to stay away. She took a step back, as if getting the message. With a roar, William reverted to human once more, shivering, naked, and visibly injured. He felt the weight of his body against his now broken ribcage, and he struggled to breathe. Kelsey ran to him with a cry.

  “What are you doing, Will?” Why are you here? You didn’t wake me up.”