Dragon Marked

by Amelia Jade

  Had she made a mistake?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hel

  “What combination do you like for cabinets and countertops?” she asked as they walked the aisles of products at a specialty kitchen store.

  He shrugged. “I don’t care, truthfully.” Leaning over toward her, he swung an arm out and rested it around her shoulder. “As long as it’s not completely hideous, I’m happy about the choice you make.”

  “Good man,” she teased. “I’ve always been partial to dark cabinets with light countertops. I think it makes them pop. Add in some lighter backsplash and we’re good to go. Does that strike you as hideous?” She didn’t move away from his arm.

  “Not at all. I could quite easily live with that. Were you thinking marble?”

  “Quartz.”

  He nodded. “Good idea. Stains less.”

  “Among other things. Oh!” She stepped toward a sample of quartz, holding onto his arm with one hand so he was forced to accompany her. “What about this? Isn’t that a beautiful gray?”

  The sample in question was cloud-gray shot through with specks of black. He liked it, and said so.

  “This is great,” he said as she took a picture of the sample and its item number on her phone for future reference.

  “What is?” she stepped along, repeating the process twice more with similar samples.

  “This. Us. We’re out here choosing stuff for a kitchen. We’re basically an old married couple,” he joked, chuckling at himself.

  Megyn didn’t laugh. She looked sick, and stepped out from under his arm, wandering away down the aisle.

  Hel frowned. Where had he gone w—Oh hell.

  “Megyn, wait,” he said, catching up to her easily. “Listen, that was dumb. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t even thinking; I was just trying to make a joke. ‘Cause the remodeling, and a house, and letting you choose and…” he slowed to a halt, seeing that none of it was having any effect.

  “I’m an idiot.”

  “Yeah, you are.”

  “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No, you weren’t.” She turned closer toward him.

  “I was just enjoying myself, and it slipped out. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to remind you of everything.”

  Megyn was silent. Furious with himself, he decided maybe it was best if he removed himself from the equation for the rest of the day. Let her go do her own thing in peace, without his idiotic comments.

  “I’ll see you back at the apartment,” he said softly, taking a step back in preparation of leaving.

  “Hel. Wait.”

  He froze, then put his foot down slowly, not wanting to spook her.

  She’s not a deer, you moron. Just act normal. You know, that thing you can’t seem to do around her? Try doing it now. She needs it.

  “I’m not mad at you,” she said softly, then looked up at him, her brown hair flicking from her face.

  “You’re not?”

  “Not really. It was a comment that would normally fit in a situation like this. I know why you made it; I get it. I’m not stupid.”

  “I know. That’s my job.”

  Her lips twitched, which was a good sign. More than he could have hoped for really. “Perhaps. It just reminded me of everything that went on, that’s all.” She fell silent, but he let it linger, realizing she wasn’t finished. “You should know something.”

  Hel was completely alert and attentive.

  “Even before you stopped things, I was having second thoughts.”

  “You were?” He could barely breathe, trying to contain the dual emotions that had followed in the wake of her confession.

  Elation and joy warred with pain. He wanted to be happy, to know that maybe she realized on the inside that Ian wasn’t the right option for her, but he couldn’t. Not while he knew that she was hurting about it as well.

  “That’s why I was outside that night you came to tell me not to marry him. I went out there to talk to my mother, to try and tell her that I wasn’t so sure that marrying Ian was the right idea. Of course you know what she said.”

  “The cold-feet speech?” he guessed, knowing how her mother was when it came to marriages.

  “Yeah. She didn’t listen to a thing I had to say.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, you know. It really is. It was clumsy, and horrifying, and it’s had some really weird twists and turns to it, but the way you went about things feels…okay. Not amazing, though I’m having fun with you, but it feels okay. Normal, almost.”

  Her face eased as she spoke, muscles relaxing, until the pain was gone.

  “I’m still sorry,” he said, stepping forward and opening his arms wide. “I should have been more considerate, no matter how you’re feeling.”

  “Probably, but you wouldn’t be the bad boy that you think you are if you didn’t do dumb shit like that from time to time.”

  Hel grinned and pulled her into a hug, realizing he was forgiven. They broke apart and he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

  “What do you say we look at some more samples then?” he asked, dropping his hand and opening his fingers to release hers.

  To his surprise, Megyn gripped tighter, preventing them from splitting. Hel covered his surprised hiss by pointing out another sample of countertop. “What about this gray?” he asked, forced to slow his tongue so he could pronounce every word properly.

  “I think it’s too dark.”

  “Take it off the list then. What sort of idiot would even suggest something like that? Clearly it has to be much lighter.”

  She giggled and pulled him along. “Come on. We’ve got another store to visit after this one.”

  “We do? What else are we looking at?”

  “You didn’t see the flooring store across the street when we got out of the cab?”

  “No.” He’d been too busy staring at her to even notice it. Oops.

  “Well, we’re going to go check it out. I want some nice thick planks of hardwood in here.”

  “You’re so typical,” he teased. “Hardwood, quartz, dark cabinets. Is there going to be a big island in the kitchen too?”

  “Absolutely. It’s going to look gorgeous, and you’re going to regret teasing me about that.”

  He frowned as they wandered another row, pausing only for her to take pictures. “Why would that be?”

  “Because now I’m going to pick things that are the most work to install.”

  Hel groaned. “That’s not very nice.”

  Megyn just laughed, dragging him along by the hand for another pair of aisles, before deciding she wanted to go next door. Hel was just happy to be with her. Everything about what they were doing just felt normal. They’d spent two days designing the layout for the units together. Not many changes had been made to the original plans—they were fairly optimal—but Megyn wanted to put her own stamp on it, and he wasn’t going to complain.

  He was happy on the outside, and on the inside he was too, though he had to fight back the increased clamoring from his dragon as it told him to just take her already. That too felt normal. It felt…sane. Other than the fact they were running from some people, nothing about what they were doing felt wrong to him.

  I’m sane. Aren’t I? Would I know it if I weren’t? Or would I just think I’m normal…like I do right now.

  “Can I ask you something?” he said, pitching his voice as light and carefree as possible.

  “Of course. Now!” She darted out into the road, crossing the busy street between gaps in cars.

  Hel followed with ease, unconcerned about the traffic. “Do you think I’m sane?”

  She snorted. “That’s a joke, right?” Not picking up on the gravity of the question, she kept talking. “First you stood up at my wedding and objected. Nobody does that. Not by the book at least. Then you fought my groom and his groomsmen and his extended family. In front of everyone. You kicked Danny in the
nuts. You threw one of them out a window!”

  “Two,” he corrected quietly.

  “Two what?”

  “I threw two of them out a window. One was standing up in front of it, and the one I threw took both of them out.”

  “Fine, you threw two of them out a window! Then you half-kidnapped me away to a mountain cabin, took me on a car chase that nearly killed me, and then spirited me away to the other side of the world.” Megyn paused. “Is this answering your question?”

  Hel just nodded, not having anything more to say. Something about his response must have clued her in, because Megyn’s eyebrows came together, her eyes searching his face for a moment before she sucked in air.

  “Oh, you were serious, weren’t you?”

  He nodded, unable to meet her gaze.

  “This is crazy,” she said. “You should know that. Everything that’s happened. It’s crazy. But I’ve had some fun along the way, and you’ve been good to me, Hel. It’s crazy, but not insane.”

  That helped, but now he was left with the awkward subject of his potential insanity. Hopefully his screwup wasn’t so epic that he couldn’t recover from it. Asking serious questions about his sanity was not on the list of approved methods for winning over a mate. He was pretty positive it was near the top of the list of things not to say.

  “I told you it’s all weird,” she said, taking his hand once more and pulling him into the other store. “You signed us up for this massive job without hesitation. This thing is going to take months, Hel. You know that, right? I have two weeks. Less than that actually. Then I have to go back to work.”

  She didn’t, but he couldn’t tell her that. Not yet. Once she was convinced she cared for him, and that he was the right one for her, then he could tell her that she would never have to “work” another day in her life, though she’d probably want to pick up some hobbies. For her own sanity.

  Hel smiled at his own joke. Megyn took it as him smiling at her, and that brightened her mood considerably, which made him then in turn smile larger at her, until they were both grinning from ear-to-ear like a pair of lunatics. Which they might just be.

  “You really would stay over here that long, wouldn’t you?”

  “Maybe. If I had to.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ian will lose interest in me soon enough I’m sure.”

  Hel didn’t agree, but before he could say anything else his phone started to buzz in his pocket. It didn’t stop either, indicating it was a phone call.

  “What is it?” Megyn had noticed the change in his behavior.

  “My phone’s ringing,” he said, puzzled at who it might be. The caller ID just said it was a private number. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Hel.”

  There went his good mood. “Stoen. To what do I owe the honor?”

  “You know damn well what this is about. You fucked with the Farmier wedding. You know that Coltaine is their sponsor. Who the hell did you think they would go to?”

  Truthfully he hadn’t even thought about that aspect of things. “In that case what took you so long?”

  “There are bigger fish to fry than you, if your ego can believe that.”

  “It can’t. I’m the biggest around,” he boasted sarcastically. “What do you want?”

  “To make you an offer.”

  Hel bared his teeth. “I’d be careful about that if I were you.”

  “Come in now,” Stoen continued, speaking over the top of him. “Before something happens that you regret.”

  “Are you threatening me?” he hissed, trying to hold back his anger.

  “We know the girl is with you.”

  So it was Stoen and Kase, as he’d suspected. The pair of them were coming after him.

  “Touch her, and you’ll regret it,” he growled protectively, trying not to note the widening of Megyn’s eyes in response to his comment.

  There was a pause on the other end. Stoen must have realized that threatening his mate was a mistake. What an idiot the blunderhead could be sometimes. Of course, Stoen was unmated as well, so he lacked a proper grasp of just what it meant to have a mate.

  And to what lengths Hel would go to protect her.

  “If you ever so much as lay a finger on her,” he added. “Then you’ll find out that Coltaine and the rest of the Enclave fear me for a reason.”

  Then he hung up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Megyn

  “Soooooooooo,” she said after a solid thirty seconds had passed and Hel looked like he was getting his breathing back under control. “That was fun.”

  “I’m sorry you had to be a part of that.”

  “My name seems to have come up in the conversation, so maybe it was a good thing,” she countered. “Hel, who the fuck was that and why are they going to hurt me? And don’t try and tell me it was Ian. I’m not stupid. I don’t know any Stoen, or Coltaine, or Enclave.”

  People were looking at them now. Passersby on the sidewalk, and even a couple standing in the parking lot talking to a store worker.

  “We should go,” Hel said, stepping up to the downtown street and waiting for a cab to signal.

  “Right. I’m not sure I should go,” she said, standing her ground.

  “Food.”

  “What?”

  “We’re going to get some food. Then I’ll explain everything to you.” He frowned. “Everything I can,” he amended.

  “Give me a clue, something to snack on,” she said firmly.

  “That,” he said heavily, “was the real reason we left the country. They’re from my past.”

  Megyn wanted to know more, but he managed to get them a cab at that point, and she knew further conversation would be impossible until they were seated and awaiting food. Hel wasn’t going to speak about this around others.

  Getting into the cab, she sat in silence. She hoped there was a private table, because not knowing was driving her insane. What past was he talking about? Who were they? The Enclave? That sounded very secret-societyish.

  Not for the first time, but with increasing anxiety, she wondered what the hell she’d gotten into. Was her trust in Hel misplaced?

  Even thinking the question now she didn’t doubt him. She believed him. Ten years of friendship and experience couldn’t be wrong, could it? He’d never lied to her, not once in all the time they’d known each other. Hidden things from her yes, but he’d been blatant about having to keep it a secret, and regretting it all at the same time.

  The driver pulled up outside a pub near the tower they were staying at after Hel spoke briefly. “Excellent service,” they were informed.

  She read the sign. Mcguivers Pub.

  “Interesting little place.”

  Hel took her inside and they were quickly shown to the table in the farthest corner at Hel’s request. The sole worker, a bartender named Andria, was cheerful, despite saying that she didn’t normally work there anymore but was filling in during her day off as an assistant at a nearby physiotherapist’s office.

  “Talk,” Megyn said as soon as they placed their orders.

  Hel looked at her, gathering his thoughts. “Those are the people I originally expected to come for me at the cabin,” he said slowly. “They’re the same ones who found me and dragged me off the street the day I told you not to get married.”

  Megyn interjected almost immediately. “They did what? Are they the police? Is this why you didn’t want to go to them? Have you been lying to me about this?”

  “No. They’re not police.” He hesitated. “Not exactly. They have no authority over you.”

  “They don’t? Who do they have authority over then?”

  “Me.”

  “Why are you dancing around the answer?” She was less than impressed.

  “Because I have to,” he said, burying his face in his hands, for the first time revealing to her the depths of the frustration he felt in having to keep things from her.

&nbs
p; Maybe she wasn’t the only one suffering, the only one who wished that she could know everything going on. That gave Megyn pause. Should she cut him some more slack? At least for now, to find out what else he was willing to tell her?

  “Talk to me about them pulling you off the streets.”

  “I went out and got drunk after seeing you,” he admitted. “I was…not in a good place.”

  She nodded, saying nothing.

  “I started a fight.”

  “Typical.”

  “Okay, a few fights. Well, one big fight with a lot of people.”

  “Why would you do that?” She had an idea of what may have upset him so much, but like before, Megyn wanted to hear him say it. To have Hel admit it.

  That was what was wrong, she realized suddenly. Why things had gotten weird after sex. Something should have been said there, and it hadn’t. Hel hadn’t been able to. Again. Just like the night he was talking about now. And others, throughout their friendship.

  Hel looked down, then away. “The same reason I kissed you, and that I was holding your hand today.”

  That took a lot out of him, but she was past caring. This was simple stuff. Relationships 101. If he couldn’t figure that out, then she wasn’t the right one.

  The right one? How could I possibly know if I’m the right one for him? I only just discovered he was into me a few days ago.

  Hel growled to himself, and she could see the anger building. Taking pity on him, she reached out across the table and took his hand.

  “I want you to answer something. Complete honesty, no misdirection.”

  His neck cracked he looked up so fast. “What?”

  “Have you ever opened up to someone about your emotions before?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t need to tell people when I’m angry. Or happy.”

  Megyn squeezed his hand as hard as she could in irritation. He didn’t seem to notice. “Right. But what about when you care for someone? Or when you’re afraid?”

  The disdainful snort could have blown over a donkey with its power. “What do I have to be afraid of?” he scoffed, sitting up straight.