The sliding glass door opened and Sara stood there holding a glass of purple liquid. “He disappeared?”
Edvard blinked. “Um. Yes. The fuck, Sara?”
She sighed and tossed the purple liquid in the general direction of where her son was. There was a loud screech and the form of Keanu came into a shimmery, purple haze.
“Stop disappearing when your uncle came in here to train you,” she snapped and went back inside. Right before she closed the door, she called to Edvard.
“It's new. Just started yesterday. To answer your question, it sucks, and I hate everything right now. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast, and now I have to put up with a disappearing kid.” She blew out a breath. “We are not The Incredibles. I don’t know what I was thinking marrying a goddamn dragon.” The door slid shut with a snap.
Edvard waited until she was back at the stove before he burst out laughing.
3
Carrie
Carrie stood outside, her hands on her hips, contemplating what to do with the rest of her land. The comment about food that Edvard had made the other day got her mind whirling. She loved to garden and it would be nice to have some fresh grown veggies. She wouldn’t put them in the ground here because that was fighting a losing battle with bugs. But...if she put up a greenhouse, she could grow whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to. There were three acres of land out here that belonged to her. Plenty of room to throw up a large greenhouse. It was just her right now, but eventually she wanted to have a baby.
When she finally felt safe.
She wasn’t sure when that would be, but she had a feeling something was going to happen. She’d been safe and happy for too long. Edvard was beginning to shake her peace up, but it wasn’t him she was worried about.
Well...she wasn't worried about him that much. She was worried about her ex finding her and finishing the job. She’d carried that worry for years now, and every time January first rolled around, she tucked those worries back into the box and tried to live a productive life.
It wasn’t easy living in fear all the time. She tried to alleviate the stress of it with surfing and exercise, but it didn’t always work. Anxiety could be crippling for her, so she knew that to ever get rid of it, she needed closure, however it had to come.
Carrie was intelligent enough to know it wouldn’t disappear overnight. Anxiety never worked liked that, but she knew she could finally get some peace of mind.
Or she’d be dead.
Either way, there would be peace.
She blew out a breath and scanned her property looking for the perfect place to stick a greenhouse. She’d need assistance – no way could she put one up by herself. She could hire someone, but she moved out here to be secluded. She didn’t want anyone besides her friends having her address.
It wasn’t paranoia if someone was really after you.
That had become her mantra over the years. No one knew how paranoid she was because no one knew what had happened to her. She’d almost died multiple times over the years. That took a toll on a girl.
It would take a toll on anyone.
Now that she was living on her own, she needed to start really living again. There was a lot of enjoyment to be had in life, and she wanted to embrace it with open arms. Carrie had never been introverted. She’d done a lot of things in her life, some fun, some not, but now she wanted to do things she’d never been brave enough for.
Moving into her own place was the first step she’d taken. It wouldn’t be the last big, brave thing she did, and that was amazing to know. She just needed to keep pushing herself. Because every day she was too scared to go outside, was a day that her ex won.
She was tired of him winning.
Carrie Kincade needed a win for herself.
She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and made some calls.
* * *
The good thing about having independently wealthy friends who were all mated with dragons was no one had a nine-to-five schedule. Carrie called them all at the drop of a hat a few days before, rattled off her plans to them, and not a single one of them had complained about having too much work piled up or being too busy. They’d rearranged their plans and made a time to all come over and assist.
Even Sara who had her hands full with a toddler dragon and one on the way. Her friend thought she was so great at keeping secrets, but she’d forgotten Carrie and the rest of them had all been with her when she found out she was pregnant the first time.
If she had to guess, she’d say Sara was around three months along. It was human superstition not to spill the beans about a pregnancy until after that. She had a feeling the dragons had no similar superstitions and all the men probably knew as well.
They would all need to act surprised when she finally told them.
Carrie spent the last two days hitting up every home improvement store in the area to get what she needed and she had to rent a truck to haul it all back. Everything cost her around four grand, but she knew she’d have to run back to the store several times before it was finished. That was the way things went when you were DIYing things.
Edvard was the first to arrive. He stepped inside her living room and had to duck to get inside the door. Carrie leaned against the kitchen countertop and waved at him. She wore a white tank top, a pair of cargo pants and a pair of slip-on tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back in a long ponytail and she noticed Edvard’s eyes lingering on her face.
She fidgeted a little under his inscrutable gaze. Carrie couldn’t tell what he was thinking. It was the same with all the dragons, though Sebastian was a little easier than the rest of them. That guy was a ball of weird emotions. Gregor was the worst. She could strip naked and dance around him and he wouldn’t bat an eye. Edvard was little better than Gregor.
She rubbed her face just in case he was staring at her because she had something on it. His eyes narrowed and dropped to her feet.
“Are you wearing those?” he asked.
Carrie blinked. “Um. Yes?”
“Those appear fragile. Did you know humans have twenty-six bones in their feet?” He waved at the offending things. “Perhaps you should be in something the humans call steel toe? People who work in construction and in plants wear those to keep their feet from being broken.”
“Also to avoid electrocution,” Carrie blurted out, because what else was she supposed to say during a conversation that had skidded off the rails like this one had?
Edvard’s eyes gleamed and his head tilted. Was he turned on? Carrie resisted the urge to snort. Dragons were weird.
“No, you are wrong. My readings tell me all metal conducts electricity. It wouldn’t make any sense to wear steel-toed boots when you’re working with electricity.” He grinned at her in a superior manner and crossed his arms over his massive chest.
Oh. So he wasn’t turned on. He just liked being right. “Au contraire, mon frere,” Carrie said as she straightened up from her lean. “I’m afraid you’re incorrect. Metal only conducts electricity when it touches another metal. Steel-toed boots are surrounded by leather, rubber and other types of insulated material, so I think you need to adjust your Google Fu.”
Edvard blinked in surprise. His appraisal of her took on a calculating look and he stalked toward her, his gait loose-hipped and his arms at his side. She swallowed hard and felt like a gazelle being hunted down by a lion. Perhaps she should not have been so high and mighty.
“I do not know what this Google Fu is you speak of, but I know that the Google is a search engine. Perhaps it is not all-knowing.” He stopped in front of her, about an eighth of an inch from invading her personal space. “Are you so sure you’re right in this matter?”
Carrie felt short of breath with him in such close proximity to her. “Quite,” she said and swallowed hard. “I’m quite sure I’m right. So maybe don’t climb any telephone poles in metal boots,” she said and laughed lightly, trying to disguise her reaction to him.
“Don’t b
e silly,” he said deadpan. “Metal boots would be painful to walk in. I can’t imagine I’d ever buy a pair.”
She wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not so she didn’t respond. The silence between them drew out and just when Carrie was about to blurt out something awkward to make it stop, Sebastian came lumbering into the door with his new wife, Jillian.
“Hey, bitches!” he shouted.
Carrie let out a surprised bark of laughter. All the dragons liked to learn about humans. Sebastian was sometimes a little more into learning the unsavory aspects of humans more than the useful aspects.
Edvard rolled his eyes and took a step back, allowing Carrie to breathe again. “Sebastian,” he greeted. Jillian, his dark-haired wife, gave him a friendly wave.
“Jillian,” Edvard said, his face warming at the sight of her. Carrie knew he liked all the women they’d stumbled on when they left their deep sea sleep. She liked to think, of course, she was his favorite, but knew that Edvard thought all of her friends were worthy of their dragon mates.
“Hey, Edvard.” Jillian stepped up and landed a soft kiss on his cheek, then went to Carrie and gathered her in a hug. “Hey, chick.”
Carrie returned her embrace. “You still with that big lug?” she asked, unnecessarily.
Her friend let out a put-upon sigh. “Yeah. I can’t seem to shake him.”
Sebastian snagged Jillian around the waist and placed a kiss in the crook of her neck. She snorted with laughter and snuggled into him.
“Gross,” Carrie said, laughing.
Gregor came next, holding open the door for his mate, Ella. Carrie’s gaze softened at the sight of them. She loved all of her friends and the dragons, but Gregor and Ella were her favorite. Two wounded, serious and contemplative people had found each other in a world that was too loud. She was proud of her friend for coming to terms with her demons and allowing Gregor in. Carrie had only found out later about Gregor’s first wife. She was glad he let Ella in, too. They made a striking couple and as she looked at them, melancholy hit her square in the chest. Hers was a lonely existence, made even lonelier by her fear of getting involved with anyone.
Ella’s smile dropped as she watched Carrie. She said nothing and gathered her into an embrace. “Whatever it is,” she whispered in Carrie’s ear, “I’m right here.”
Carrie held back the tears pricking at her eyes and squeezed her friend. “I’m fine,” she whispered back. “I’m just so happy to see all of you.”
When she pulled away from Ella, Carrie could tell her friend did not believe her, but Ella didn’t press it. It was one of the things she loved most about Ella. Until very recently, they’d roomed right next to each other and Carrie had no doubt Ella had occasionally heard her crying through the walls when things got to be too much for her. She’d come in once, sat on the edge of the bed, and taken her hand. Carrie would never forget it.
She quietly sat with her while Carrie dried her eyes and finally said, “There isn’t anything you could tell me about yourself that would make me walk away from you. If you’re ever ready to talk to me, I’ll be right here with you and share this burden.”
Carrie hadn’t wanted to talk that night but maybe she would one day. And if she did, it would be with Ella.
Gregor came up and swept her into a hug. “I love this place,” the gentle giant said. “It’s very Walden-esque.”
Ella snorted with laughter. “He’s been reading Thoreau,” she said. “If I’m not careful, he’ll sell all our belongings and move us to a cabin in the North Carolina woods.”
“He has great ideas about simplicity and solitude,” Gregor said, pulling his wife close and placing a kiss on top of her head. “It would be a great place to raise our children.”
Ella leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder. “And nowhere to go for a break,” she said, but her cheek dimpled prettily as she smiled. “There are no babysitters in the woods.” Ella winked at Carrie. “I think we need to get him some new books about serial killers in the forest or something to get him off of this weird kick.”
Carrie pointed to a box sitting in the corner of the room. “I have some thrillers in there if you want to look through them. I’m sure at least one of them has a terrifying scene in the woods.” She tried to squash down the image of Edvard stuffing her paranormal romances into his bag, but she couldn’t quite do it.
Ella tilted her head at Carrie and walked to the back of the house. She pushed her way into Carrie’s bedroom and, once Carrie was inside, shut the door. Ella plopped down in the middle of her bed, her legs all akimbo, and wiggled her eyebrows at her.
“So, I hear Edvard has been over here quite a lot,” Ella said. She put special emphasis on a lot.
Carrie shrugged, saying, “Not anymore than usual.” This was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
Ella blew a raspberry and fell backwards onto Carrie’s pillow. “Everyone should be having as much fun as we are with these dragons.” She rolled onto her stomach and grinned at Carrie. “I never thought in a million years I’d find someone like Gregor.” Ella shut her eyes and a dreamy look stole over her face. “He reads to me sometimes. He’ll pull me against his chest and open a book…” she sighed. “The sound of his voice rumbling against my ear is the sweetest and sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced.” She reached out and took Carrie’s hand. “I just want the same for you.”
Loneliness hit Carrie square in the solar plexus. It might have happened for her friends, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen for her. There was no bond between her and Edvard. If there were, she would have figured it out because someone would have let it slip. They were all too good of friends now not to have someone accidentally spilling their secrets. It was all too much for her. No matter how much she wanted it, she wasn’t sure she ever could.
Her past would hold her back until it caught up with her. She wasn’t devious enough to get involved in a relationship without divulging that part of her. It was what made her who she was and she couldn’t separate herself from it. She was weak and yet so very strong. She was decisive and proud and desperately wanted to fall in love again. But she was so scared, too.
Carrie didn’t even want to open this conversation with her friend because she didn’t want to fill Ella with false hope. “There's no bond,” she said and pulled her fingers from Ella. “If there were going to be one, it would have happened by now.”
Ella shook her head, her glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose. “If Gregor can have two mates in a lifetime, there’s still hope.” Her eyes narrowed. “Perhaps something is holding it back.”
Carrie sighed and bent down to drop a kiss on Ella’s head. “Alright, Cinderella, it’s time for you to go back to the ball. This isn’t part of my story. We have a greenhouse to build.”
“Fine,” Ella grumbled as she rolled off of Carrie’s bed. “But this conversation isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”
Carrie held the door open and shooed her friend out. If there was no bond, there was no bond. There wasn’t anything else to say about it. If someone else came along and Edvard was destined to be mated with them, there wouldn’t be anything she could do about that either. Though the thought put a huge lump in her throat and made her breathless. Edvard deserved to have someone, she told herself. Especially since it didn’t look like it was going to be her.
* * *
Carrie took a moment to compose herself before she walked back out to the small living room, made even smaller by the sheer amount of people inside of it.
“Everyone ready?” she asked.
Nods all around. Sebastian and Daegal looked especially eager to get started. Those were the two who liked to smash the most stuff, but there wasn’t anything to smash today. She hoped they’d take care with all the new plywood she had out there.
Carrie led them all outside and to the back of her property. Jillian gasped when she saw all the materials.
“Damn, girl. You planning for the apocalypse?”
She guessed it did look like she was planning something. There were several stacks of plywood, corrugated metal, boxes of screws, plastic sheeting and miscellaneous other materials lying all over the place. She’d cleared part of her land to make room for it, so there was a large patch of earth next to them. Carrie dug into her back pocket and pulled out the plans for the house.
She’d spent the last couple of days drawing everything out and was pleased with what she’d come up with. Carrie was by herself and could feasibly exist on what she could grow out here. She’d have to go into town to get her refrigerated items and the fruits and veggies that couldn’t grow in their climate, but that wouldn’t be too often, especially if she built the greenhouse right the first time.
Sebastian took the plans from her fingers and perused them. His brow wrinkled. “This looks much, much harder than I anticipated,” he announced and handed the drawings back. “I will supervise.”
Gregor rolled his eyes and walked over to her. “May I?”
She handed the drawings to him and watched as understanding dawned on her face. Gregor was the dragon most likely to understand what she’d done. Ella told her Gregor rebuilt the shelf Sebastian broke a long time ago and it was no easy feat. Since then, he’d gotten the building bug and made the bassinet for their newborn and was in the process of building a new house on a small plot of land they’d purchased earlier in the year.
“This is ambitious,” Gregor said. “Are you trying to become self-sufficient?”
Carrie nodded. “For the most part. I’ll see what I can do later on to make the switch to total solar power. Right now, I just want to have a hobby and get some use out of it.”
“Hawaii has a good climate to grow things in it, but a greenhouse is a genius idea to keep the bugs out of it.” A look of distaste crossed his handsome features. “There is nothing worse than biting into a tomato with a wriggly worm inside of it.”
Carrie wrinkled her nose and took the drawings back from Gregor. “Everyone ready?” she called.
The Alpha Dragon's Protection (Dragon Shifters 0f Kahului Book 4) Page 3