by Eliza Gayle
Anger surged through her. Galen was beginning to sound like a broken record and she refused to hear it anymore. “Unless you’re planning to drug me and forcibly remove me from The Dragon, I’m not going anywhere. And don’t even think about trying that. Your dragon might be slightly stronger than mine, but I’m far more diabolical and I’ve got raging hormones on my side as well. Trust me, you do not want to test that. So you can either accept my decision or I’ll walk out that door now and we can be enemies with no hope of providing a united front that the shifters here probably need. It’s your choice.”
When she finally took a breath she realized that the kitchen had filled with smoke and said smoke was coming from her. She looked down at her hands to find claws and scales pushing at her skin. She was losing control of the shift.
Before her brother could say anything, she continued. “I know. I’m going.” She strode past him before he responded with something stupid and out the door she’d entered through. His house was simply too small to accommodate a full size dragon and she wasn’t sure she could stop the change.
Outside she took deep breaths in an attempt to temper her rage. If this was the kind of thing out of control hormones caused, she was in more trouble than she thought. Same thing for anyone who got too close when she struggled with an agitated state.
“You okay?” Clearly Galen didn’t get it.
“I just need a minute or a hundred,” she said through clenched teeth.
“How about a truce? Would that help?”
She lifted her head and faced him. “Probably. Arguing with you is causing me to lose control. I don’t like it.”
He chuckled. “Oh trust me. I don’t either.”
“Does that mean you’re okay with me staying?” She didn’t want to push it, but yeah—actually she did. The sooner Galen accepted the truth the better off they’d all be. She didn’t have time to keep arguing. Not when she had a region to map and security systems to configure. Oh and she needed a place to stay.
“Does this house have a basement?”
Galen smirked at her question. “Some things never change, do they, vampire dragon?”
She rolled her eyes at the nickname. He always liked to tease her with when her need to avoid the daylight, and sometimes any light at all actually, got the better of her. “You know the drill. I like what I like. So what’s the deal?”
“This house does not have a basement. I didn’t have a lot of choices in large homes and definitely couldn’t be picky about something underground.”
“That’s a pity. Then I’ll have to hit the mountain and check out the old homestead. Is it still standing?”
They both turned towards the largest peaked mountain off in the distance. Despite the miles between them and it they could see its ragged, snow topped peaks quite clearly.
“Oh it stands all right. But it’s a mess. The amount of work it needs to be livable again is staggering. We’re going to need a team to get it done. It might actually be easier to just build something new.”
She scoffed at him. “Team Schmeam. The two of us are pretty capable and I need a place to stay as soon as possible. You can leave that part to me.”
When Galen didn’t respond, she turned to see him fixated on the mountain as if he hadn’t heard her. Except the tic in his jaw gave him away. He clenched it so tight she expected to hear grinding teeth any moment. The decision on whether she would stay here or not wasn’t settled as far as her brother was concerned. But he’d have to get over that.
Scotland wasn’t a safe haven for her anymore and she couldn’t go back. And despite the decades there, she’d never felt as connected to an area as she did this one. The earth beneath them teemed with magic, somehow anchoring her. She shook her head at her strange thoughts.
The idea that she could be so connected to a place so soon after her arrival sounded ridiculous.
Besides, she knew it wasn’t her choice of living location that he found to be the biggest problem. No, that came from the heat inside her.
Getting her brothers to let go of their family past and come to some sort of agreement so they didn’t have to turn her into the family baby making machine wasn’t going to be easy. Unless…maybe she could find a suitable human for Galen to mate with. It wouldn’t be easy. While dragon/human mating was possible, it was her understanding that the success rate was somewhat low.
But there had to be someone out there suitable for her brother. Somewhere. She could start a search. She’d need a computer and strong wifi. Surely one of the locals here could accommodate her request.
Maybe even that wolf she’d met at the bar.
Simon.
She nearly groaned out loud as she remembered their agreed upon date. Breakfast. She grimaced. Not that she had a problem with the meal. Breakfast foods were her favorite. Only she preferred to eat them at night because daytime was for sleeping.
“Well, do you have any rooms without windows in this strange house?”
Galen shook his head. “You really are crazy. C’mon I’ll give you a tour and you can pick where you want to sleep. I might have a closet without a window.”
She scrunched her face. “A closet? Someone my size cannot fit in a closet. What if I shifted in the middle of my sleep cycle?
He turned away from her on a scoff and headed toward a hallway that seemed to lead deeper into this new home.
“I’m serious, Galen. I’m not sleeping in a closet,” she said, trailing after him.
“We’ll see, vampire dragon. I swear you have got to be the only dragon alive who is nocturnal.”
This time she grinned. Him calling her names had to be a good sign. At least that’s how she decided to take it. She refused to believe that living here in the tail of the dragon couldn’t work out. First, she’d take a nap and then when the sun set she’d head up the mountain and survey the situation herself.
It couldn’t be as bad as Galen let on…
Actually it could.
Several hours later and refreshed from a nap that she did actually take in a closet. Although was it really a closet when it’s twice the size of a normal bedroom?
Kenzie now found herself inside a crumbling stone castle high atop the mountain. Decades of abandonment had not been kind to their old family home.
Still…she could see the possibilities and they were endless. And more importantly it had a huge underground section that could easily be converted into living quarters for her. She took it as a sign and it made her almost giddy.
As for the rest of the house…
Well, Galen had been right as usual. It was going to take a massive amount of work to restore. But restore it she would. She crossed the vast space of the wide open living area to the crumbling exterior walls, dodging piles of rubble until she could look over the edge.
The view astounded her. The castle had been built at the highest vantage point that gave her a sweeping view that went on for many miles. It was obviously intended as an overlook for the clans below. The cougars to the left, the wolves to the right and the seers behind them both. That left the tiny village in between.
A curious place if nothing else. A place where shifters, seers and even witches if her nose didn’t lie, congregated together without fight. The fact she’d encountered a hybrid witch yesterday afternoon on her way into town reminded her that she needed to talk to Galen about the curse.
When she’d finally drifted to sleep, dreams of her father telling his bedtime tales had filled her head. And one memory in particular had remained when she woke. That curse had stood for decades and should have prevented her or her brother from entering this territory.
It wasn’t from the lack of magic. No, that she knew still existed here. She’d felt it vibrate across her scales the moment she flew within range, growing stronger the longer she stayed. Kenzie inhaled deep, letting the rich scent of ages old magic fill her. The air was rife with it. More so than probably anyone here knew.
No wonder dragons had settled here.
The earth magic was as strong here as at home. Maybe even stronger.
“I see it didn’t take you long to make your way here.”
Kenzie laughed. Of course her brother would follow her. “Are you going to chaperone me every time I leave the house? If so you should probably know that I am meeting Simon in the village in a few hours.”
“Simon?”
“The wolf from the bar.”
“What the hell for?”
She lifted her shoulders. “A meal apparently. He seemed nice.”
“Nice! What the hell, Kenzie? He’s a wolf.”
She turned and walked towards her brother. “What difference does that make? I’m not planning to screw him. Although, as long as I’m planning to stay here I think it’s important to make friends with the locals. And apparently Simon is the only healer in this region. Did you know that?”
“That’s not important right now. You going out on a date with a wolf. That is going to be a problem.”
She finished crossing the debris-strewn room to stop in front of him. “Nae, Galen it isn’t. Let’s get something straight once and for all. I did not come to America so you could tell me what I can and cannot do. I came here to start a new life, same as you. So you need to either get on board with that or get the hell out of my way. I will not be dictated to. Ever. And besides, it is not a date. Dragons don’t date, remember?”
“But—”
“No! Don’t you dare go there. I know what you’re thinking and my mating heat has nothing to do with this. I’m going to eat breakfast, not sleep with him. I would never take that kind of risk.”
His eyes flashed and she waited for him to lash out at her. Dominant dragons like her brother liked being told what to do even less than she did. However, by some miracle he kept his mouth shut. She’d take it, although she’d have to brace later for whatever payback was surely brewing in that brain of his.
“Perfect,” she continued. “Now that we have that out of the way. I need to know more. How are we here? As in what happened to the curse on this place that locked us out all those years? It’s not as if the magic is gone. I can feel it and it’s incredibly strong.”
He shuttered his eyes and broke eye contact. “You’re right. It’s very powerful here. Stronger than I’ve felt anywhere else in the world. As for the curse that locked us out all those years ago. I haven’t quite figured that out. The last time I came here to check on things, I discovered the wards preventing my entrance gone. At this point I can only assume that the last of the witch’s line who created it has died out. Although I haven’t been able to confirm that. The witches, if there are any left here, are in hiding.”
“That’s convenient.” She didn’t mention the hybrid she’d encountered the day before because there was a chance she’d been wrong. It would have to be looked into and she didn’t believe in reporting on anything without all the facts.
“I don’t know about that. We’ve been forced to wait generations to return. And in the meantime the remaining clans have dug in and violence and evil now runs rampant in these mountains.”
A shudder worked up her spine. “Why does that not surprise me? From one frying pan to another, right?”
His brows drew together. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Brother. Absolutely nothing.” She wasn’t ready to get into the political turmoil she might have left behind if any other dragons had figured out her situation before she left. She also preferred facts over feelings and until she knew something concrete, she’d keep quiet. If any of their rival clans wanted to hunt her all the way across the globe, she’d be ready for it.
Chapter Six
Simon took a seat in the far corner of the Sweet Retreat bakery that gave him a view of all entrances and exits. Maybe it made him paranoid to do so, but his experience with the Blackwoods taught him to stay on guard at all times and it felt ingrained in him now. He expected no trouble, but it made him more comfortable nonetheless.
It was ten minutes to nine and he was alone at the moment. Sienna, the owner of the bakery and mate to Gage, a wolf hybrid, was flitting back and forth between the front bakery case and the kitchen. He’d heard about this place since the day she opened. A lot of shifters he knew often used an overload of sugar to fuel their insanely fast metabolisms and considering how good a baker Sienna was, her shop was extremely popular among the locals as well as the smattering of tourists who sometimes wandered through their tiny town.
He was more of a carnivore himself, but he indulged in something sweet now and then. And to be honest, the donuts she kept refilling the case with smelled divine. He could smell pumpkin, maple syrup, apples and his favorite, cherries.
“You sure I can’t get something for you while you wait? I can practically see your mouth watering from over here.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Nah. I’ll wait until my friend arrives.”
“Friend huh? That sounds cryptic.”
Oh boy. The last thing he wanted to do was activate the gossip chain today. Not that he wanted to accuse the sweet human of such a thing, but he knew her well enough. Her and her group of friends here in the Gap were notorious when it came to gossip.
She rounded the corner and his gaze zeroed in on her full rounded stomach. She was days past her potential due date and if he was honest, part of the reason he kept spending so much time in town was to keep an eye on her without alerting her or Gage to his worries.
He expected cross species gestation to be a little fluid and while his preliminary tests indicated the shifter DNA to be dominant, the gestation period for a wolf cub had long passed. So they were flying blind into the unknown at this point.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nuh uh, don’t try to distract me with questions about this baby who refuses to come out. As you can see I’m doing just fine. I guess she/he will get here when it gets here. Now tell me about this friend you’re meeting. It sounds mysterious and far more exciting than this.” She pointed at her rotund belly and he had to force back a smile.
For a half a second he contemplated how he could deflect her questions until the door opened and he caught the scent of the woman in question. He and Sienna turned to the door and stared. Him, because he’d thought of nothing else since she’d left the bar and seeing her again soothed something restless inside him.
Sienna probably because she’d never seen her before and would now have first dibs on lighting up the local cell phone tree.
“Wow.” Sienna sat in a nearby chair as if Kenzie’s presence had taken her breath away. He understood the feeling exactly. His heart was already beating a little faster since catching her scent. “Is that your friend?”
Simon didn’t respond. He was still drinking her in. She looked different from the evening before. Brighter maybe. Or more relaxed. Her thick, red hair still flowed freely down her back and sides, but she’d changed from denim casual the night before to a free flowing sundress that stopped just short of the floor, while still managing to hit all the right curves on the way down.
And holy hell. Those curves looked even more perfect in the light of day than in a darkened bar after too many beers to count.
She reached up and removed the sunglasses covering her eyes. He nearly whimpered when her gaze met his, mesmerizing him even further.
He stood as she approached, purposely ignoring the snort from Sienna as she watched shamelessly. Kenzie, on the other hand, looked between the two of them with clear confusion settling in her eyes.
That got Sienna’s attention as she struggled to her feet. Simon lunged forward and grabbed her arm until she steadied herself. “Well, excuse me while I get back to work. As soon as you know what you two want to eat just give me a holler. Besides the full bakery case I just finished refilling, I’ve got homemade Belgian waffles with fresh berries and cream on special this morning.”
“Okay.” That was the extent of his conversational skills at the moment. He still cou
ldn’t take his eyes off of Kenzie.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Kenzie said as she approached. “Should I come back another time?”
“Lord no,” Sienna squeaked. “Simon’s been sitting here all morning waiting on ya. Although if I’d known ‘his friend’ meant a gorgeous red headed stranger, I would have ribbed him a whole lot more.”
Kenzie didn’t smile, but he did notice she bit her lip to probably hide one. “Thank you. Although I was just thinking how incredible you look. When are you due?”
Sienna rubbed her stomach again and smiled. “Any day now I think. I guess this one wants to be stubborn. Although that doesn’t surprise me considering how stubborn my ma—my baby’s father is.”
Kenzie smiled too and he nearly swallowed his tongue. Whatever sacrifice to the Goddess he needed to make to see that happen again, he was ready to do it. Right now. Anything.
“Don’t worry. I know all too well how stubborn shifters can be. My name’s Kenzie by the way.” She held out her hand to the other woman.
“Sienna. It’s—uhh—nice to meet you.”
While they shook hands he tried to recover enough wits to reenter this conversation. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Sienna is one of my patients and the owner and creator of this delicious establishment.”
“I figured the patient bit since you mentioned you were the only healer—doctor in this region.”
“He is. Although since Bhric got mated to Marci not too long ago, we now have a nurse who is practically a doctor in her own right.”
He nodded. “It’s true. Marci is great and we are lucky to have her.” Although why they were talking about him when all he wanted to do was find out more about her he didn’t know. He needed to get his head on straight or this little meeting would go south quickly.
“Well, anyways…I’m going back to work and will leave you to it. But seriously, let me know when you want breakfast.”