by Sadie Sears
“Send over the paperwork for that one. I want it closed by the end of the day.” To keep from disturbing Vince, I tried to whisper with my stock guy, but of course, he couldn’t hear me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how anyone could get any work done in noise like that. “Yes, please do.”
Flipping the burner off, I slipped the last pancake onto the plate and placed the skillet in the sink. I set the stack of food on the table, along with a couple of empty plates and forks, then tapped the wood top with my fingertips to get Vincent’s attention.
His mercurial glare was the only response until I added the pitcher of orange juice and slid the bottle of syrup up next to the plates. Then his attention went from hostile to mildly interested. I nodded to the back door, then shrugged on my jacket and stepped out onto the back porch to finish my conversation.
I couldn’t help picking up Vincent’s mood, and I had a big day. I didn’t want to be a sourpuss for my first real case since I’d moved to Spruce. The fresh air would help to clear my head, even if my stockbroker’s shouting didn’t. I took a seat at the small table on one side of the porch, tucking one foot under me.
Sipping my coffee and looking over the large backyard, I told Chance—my stock guy with the ironic name—how best to handle my investments. It was peaceful back there, like escaping to another world, and it all backed right up to the forest that edged the town. Leath and Ben had worked together to create the space for me, and I could see their individual touches in each area, from the garden to the small pond. I wasn’t entirely sure if the ducks were an attempt at a prank or a thoughtful addition, but the sounds only added to the ambience of the space.
When I finished talking—or rather, shouting—to Chance, I went back in, set my empty mug in the sink, and sat down to eat my pancakes. By now, Vincent was in a much happier mood. Food had a tendency to do that, anyway, but I was sure that taking my conversation outside had been a contributing factor as well. “Better?” I asked.
He put down his book and nodded from his spot at the window seat in the corner of the large kitchen. “Sorry,” he mumbled around his food. “I’ve been cranky.”
I shrugged. Cranky was a bit of an understatement, but Vincent was an emotional sort of guy. Not that I could talk much; empathy was an ether dragon trait, and I had a bad habit of taking on other people’s moods. I set my phone on the kitchen table and tipped the syrup over my plate while Vincent ambled over with his food in his hand.
“Why do you bother with all that?” He nodded toward my cell.
“Phone calls?” I asked, intentionally obtuse. I lifted an eyebrow and tried not to smile.
Vincent snorted and sat across from me, apparently warmed enough from the window to rejoin me in the breakfast nook area of the kitchen. “No, stocks, bonds, trading. It seems like a lot of fuss when you could just make your own precious metals.”
Inevitably, everyone I got close to asked me that question. Sometimes, like now, it was genuine curiosity, but more often than not it was greed. Ether dragons like me were notorious for being able to change the properties of metal. “Well, for starters, it’s a shitty thing to do.”
Vincent rolled his eyes as he chewed. He was still very young by dragon standards. I’d been less morally grounded in my youth as well, as I was sure most were. Everyone thought they were invincible or untouchable in their youth. That was how boundaries were tested.
“I got all that out of my system in my first century,” I said. He took a big bite and waited for a better explanation. “The stock market is great for keeping me on my toes, too. It’s an intellectual challenge to figure out what to buy and sell, how to manipulate the market. When it pays off, it’s a significant high, as well.”
Vincent accepted that explanation with a shrug. “Ether dragons are too smart for their own damn good.” He grinned around his pancakes, and even though I wasn’t fully trying to read his mood, I knew he was just teasing me.
“When sudoku and crosswords don’t do the trick anymore, you’ve gotta step up somewhere.” I shoved a bite of fluffy goodness in my mouth. “And sudoku never made me any money.”
“Your ethics are way too strict.” His jovial disposition turned more critical. My scowl should’ve been answer enough, but he kept talking. “And moral compasses are subjective and malleable.”
“It’s just parlor tricks, man.” I waved my fork at him as I talked. “Besides, I couldn’t change enough metal to make the kind of money I make with stocks. Not even close.”
Vincent grunted his concession and took a long swig of the orange juice I’d squeezed fresh early this morning. It was a particularly delicious batch, if I did say so myself.
“Besides, I’m more worried about my first job today.” I followed suit and drank my orange juice. “It’s nice to finally have a real job with the Dragons for Hire.”
Vincent knew how I felt. Air dragons like him and ether dragons like me were better suited for behind-the-scenes work. We typically didn’t have the muscle to take on tougher jobs. Air dragons were thin and built like ballet dancers, but were especially agile and quick, making them great for emergency rescues and such. Ether dragons were more built for strategy, the “brains behind the operation” type. More often than not, I was the one assigning missions, or helping the others come up with ideas about how best to apply their individual talents.
My assignment today had me looking into something supernatural, which was also something I was suited to. I could track energy patterns like a scent. If there was anything strange going on around my client’s house, I was positive I could get to the bottom of it. Or, at least pretty sure.
“I’m nervous,” I admitted. “And I want to do it right.”
“Listen. I know you’ve got some hang-ups about your brother and all that happened, and that’s okay. There’s no time limit on healing.”
Just like Vincent to throw it all out there like that. My brother and I had been close, so much so that we’d decided together to join the military. We’d been officers and didn’t see much of the action up close, for which we were grateful because that would’ve debilitated us. Feeling death was a wholly different kind of pain for us than feeling a roommate’s bad moods. A few years ago, however, while stationed in the Middle East, an IED took out the vehicle he’d been in. I’d been right behind him and could almost still hear his screams in my nightmares.
“I still feel half broken.” I didn’t meet his eye as I spoke. “Like it makes me weak.”
“I know that we’ve been left out of the action more than the others. But we have our places, and they’re incredibly important to the company.” He sucked in a deep breath and met my eyes, smiling. “You hide your anxiety well. I didn’t even realize you were nervous.”
I shrugged more casually than I felt. “I don’t want to worry anyone. If I say something, they’ll try to coddle me, take me off of it and bring Theo on or some other option. Maybe say an unintentionally condescending phrase like, ‘you’ll be ready next time, buddy.’”
Vincent set his fork down and leaned forward. “Cam, you’re in a new community. And you’re in a position to help people. You’re going to heal more and more as time goes by.”
Averting my eyes, I shoveled the last bite into my mouth. He was right and I couldn’t argue his point. Doing good things for my new town, my new home, was a sure way to speed up the healing process. I just wished there was more that I could get involved in besides just being the money man.
I put the dishes in the sink and left Vincent to load the dishwasher. “Wish me luck,” I called as I grabbed my keys and wallet. I looked around for a second before realizing I was already wearing my jacket. Nerves were a heck of a thing to push past.
“Luck, but you don’t need it.” He already had the thing half loaded. I smiled and headed out the door.
My house was close enough to town that I opted to walk to the park where I was to meet my new client. It was an old historic mansion at the south end of Main Street, tucked away from t
he hustle and bustle of downtown. I never could have a house in town, and if I had a roommate, I had to have a house with a lot of space for us to split between us. I needed room to get away from the constant noise of others’ emotions. Luckily, I was able to use the added intelligence from being an ether dragon to make the investments that got me enough money to bankroll our operation here in Spruce and buy big enough houses to keep me comfortable.
Smiling at everyone I passed, I read their auras and tried to absorb the people who were clearly happy or calm. I needed all the help I could get today. Some days, being an ether dragon was too much. Across the street, I caught sight of the enormous beech tree that Sam had been obsessed with for a while, wondering briefly if it would help with my anxiety. I’d be willing to try anything at that point.
Sam was one of my best friends and a fire dragon. He’d found his destined mate, Gretta, earlier this year, and I couldn’t have been happier for him. I’d personally not thought much about finding my own mate, opting to play the field instead. Getting attached romantically didn’t particularly appeal to me; I had a difficult enough time managing my own emotions, much less someone else’s. It took me nearly to the brink of my patience just to deal with Vincent these last few months.
In addition to the beech, the other leafy trees scattered around it had started to turn brilliant shades of gold and red, autumn’s waving flag signaling that it was here. There was one that was still clinging to some green in its lower leaves, creating a sort of rainbow effect as it went up. While I didn’t care much for the cold, I could admit the changing colors were beautiful.
I saw the vibrant crimson foliage of the giant red maple announcing the park just up ahead and sped up. The sidewalk traffic was starting to thicken as I closed in on downtown and I needed the open space around me. After I crossed the street and walked into the park in the center of town, her voice hit me first. Smooth and melodic, I couldn’t make out yet what she was saying, but the tone and cadence of the woman’s words washed over me like a warm shower.
I walked around a particularly large tree and stopped in shock. My breath stalled in my throat. Sunlight glinted off of her curly blonde hair as the brisk wind tossed it around her head, shining like a beacon that was meant to draw my attention to her. My anxiety melted the moment she came into my sight.
No longer did I worry about how this meeting would go. The feeling was replaced by the certainty that I’d found what I’d been searching for my entire life, and it was as if I could breathe for the first time in my entire existence. I’d found the missing part of my soul.
My destined mate.
It was hard to believe, and if my heart wasn’t so full of love for this woman whose voice I’d barely heard and who still hadn’t set eyes on me, I would’ve said I’d lost my last bit of senses. Maybe I had, anyway. How could I possibly have just thought I didn’t want this woman in my life?
My dragon knew who she was the moment I did. He moved around inside me like a puppy who had just been reunited with his brothers and sisters. And he wanted to be closer to her. The most beautiful woman in the world. Sophie.
I wanted to be closer, too. I wanted to feel if her hair was as soft as it looked. The sheer need to touch her, to make sure she was real and genuine and mine, forced action into my legs.
With a huge smile plastered on my face, I walked forward, feeling like I was floating on clouds. She was still way too far away, halfway across the park, halfway across the world. As I picked up my speed, a young girl with nearly identical golden hair ran up to Sophie and handed her a feather.
She smiled and touched the girl’s face. There was love in her expression, excitement in the girl’s. I hesitated, my brain fighting free from the happy fog to work out the mental math in this equation.
She had a daughter. That would complicate things.
2
Sophie
“Look!” My daughter, Shae, ran up to me clutching a feather. “I caught it on the wind!” she twirled around holding it, and I knew the words that were coming next. “It’s from Dad!”
My heart squeezed with happiness that my late husband, Shane Riley Hudson, had sent our daughter a sign. Though he preferred going by his middle name, Riley, he’d insisted on naming her Shae when she was born, following some odd family tradition going back to his great-great-something-grandfather. Now, I was glad for the closeness it made her feel to him.
My husband had been the closest to a soul mate that I could ever begin to imagine. We had been complete opposites: where he was practical, I was fanciful; where he was a skeptic, I was open to all possibilities. Regardless, he’d supported me in every way in everything I wanted to do, all the way back to our high school days. He’d been a wonderful husband. I couldn’t imagine anything better than that.
Riley had died three years ago in a horrible construction accident while on the job, when Shae had been only nine. There were months afterward that I would wake up in the middle of the night, still expecting to find him lying there beside me. Those nights, when the sudden loss came crashing back over me until I couldn’t breathe, were behind me now. Even Shae’s bouts of depression had eased up, for which I was grateful; I hated seeing her in so much pain.
It had been months since I’d had a sign from him. I used to get them all the time. Fireflies that congregated close around me, rogue feathers in the wind that fluttered around my face, a warmth that would surround me when I felt the most vulnerable. They were all Riley. Having Shae get a sign from her father now after all the months without one felt like a blessing for my meeting today. Riley supported me trying to protect us.
The wind kicked up, and I tugged my sweater tighter around me. This was my absolute favorite time of year. Spruce was blessed to feel all four seasons fairly intensely. Summer was too hot and winter too cold. Spring was great, but the allergens in the air were murder.
But autumn…autumn was my special time. I felt closer to the earth, closer to the spirits. It was as if they came in louder and clearer when the leaves had a golden tint to them.
Too bad I was too tired to enjoy it. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night. I’d been far too worried about the freaky poltergeist crap that happened at my house to settle down on the couch at Lila’s and get comfortable enough to drop off. I’d been doing a tarot reading for a client I’d seen a few times when the entire thing went haywire. My regular spiritual contacts disappeared and something else took over the cards, then right after, my framed picture of Riley started floating around the room.
Leath, my best friend Lila’s fated mate, had gone with me to pick stuff up at the house afterwards. He hadn’t been able to sense anything in or around the house, but he said it was because he was an earth dragon. They didn’t have the sort of intuition that was needed on a case like this. What I needed was a sensitive and intuitive ether dragon like Cameron Charles.
And the Dragons for Hire agency had set us up to meet today. Now that I knew Riley was supportive of Cameron’s help, I was less nervous and more looking forward to the meeting.
I was bothered that I had to bring in a dragon on this in the first place, but not because I disliked dragons; Not being able to figure this out on my own made me feel like a failure. The spirits were supposed to be on my side. They liked to speak to me and through me any other time. What was going on with this one that I couldn’t handle it?
When I took my gaze off my daughter, who still had the feather in her hand and was gazing at it adoringly, I noticed a man approaching from the opposite side of the park. He hadn’t seen me yet, but I couldn’t help but notice him. Beautiful didn’t even come close to describing this man. His hair was so blond it was almost silver, and even under the jacket he wore, I could see the toned muscles in his slim build.
“Look, it’s the same color as Daddy’s hair,” Shae exclaimed.
“Hm?” I tore my gaze away from the man across the park and examined the feather. “You’re right.” My heart panged harder, the pain from losing my hu
sband not as raw as it was three years ago, but it was just as intense. I didn’t think that would ever go away. The pain was still there, I’d just learned better how to cope with it.
Shae said something else about the feather, but I could barely hear her. The man, Cameron—and I knew with every fiber of my being that it was him—had stopped and his gaze was glued to me. It was unreadable, especially from across the park, but even several hundred feet away from him, a sense of peace washed over me. This man was good.
The wind whispered in my ear. Words weren’t discernable, but it brought his scent—maple syrup, oddly enough—and more feelings of being settled and safe. Ether dragons were known for their ability to read moods. Could they project them as well? I wasn’t sure.
Shae kept prattling on as he came closer. Her words were important, probably about her father’s spirit, but I couldn’t seem to get the cotton out of my ears or my eyes off of the handsome dragon walking ever closer. My chest tightened and I almost forgot how to breathe. Something like anticipation thrummed through my veins.
It dawned on me that Shae hadn’t said anything for a few seconds. I tore my eyes away from the approaching dragon to look at my daughter, only to discover her staring at me slack-jawed.
“What?” I asked.
Shae’s eyes drifted from me to Cam, who had entered the grassy area we’d been waiting in. He stopped again and smiled tentatively. Now that he was closer, I could see the beautiful kaleidoscope effect of his eyes. I looked from Cam to my daughter.
She’d realized how transfixed I was by this man. This gorgeous, vibrant man.
He closed the distance between us and held out his hand. “Hello.” His soft voice ran all over me. Goosebumps erupted on my arms. “I’m Cameron Charles.”