Dragons For Hire: A Dragon Shifter Romance

by Sadie Sears

  After thumbing through the book, I concluded the accusations were wrong. All the spells within were, or seemed, good and right. I’d have to let Glenda have a look to be sure, but at least for the moment, I was proud of my heritage and what I’d found.

  I woke the next morning still surrounded by the past. After neatening it up, I headed downstairs to see who was making the house smell like yummy baking.

  Part of me hoped it was Cam, that he’d ignored my words and come over anyway.

  It was Shae.

  “Hey, sweetie. Thank you for making breakfast.”

  She gave me a dark look. “I didn’t. The dragons dropped off grocery store cinnamon rolls. I just microwaved one.”

  They were too scary to be around, but she sure could eat their cinnamon rolls.

  For that matter, so could I. I peeled an enormous roll off the bun and popped it in the microwave. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  Shae took a long drink of milk and then sighed. “I’m fine.”

  “Have you talked to Zoe?” I asked gently. I wanted my daughter to talk to me, but I didn’t want to push it too far or too hard.

  “No. I texted her, but she replied that unless I was supportive of her becoming a dragon, then we had nothing to say to each other.”

  The glass made a sharp clang as she slammed it down on the counter. I winced, but it didn’t break. “And are you?”

  “No!” she exclaimed. “Dragons are too scary. And now I’m losing my best friend.” She turned and waved her hands out dramatically. “I can’t be around her after this!”

  “I think you should take some more time to calm down and remember that what happened in the woods, all of it, was the work of a witch. The dragons helped us. They saved us. It wasn’t their fault.”

  She huffed out through her nose in an expression of anger and disbelief. Then she looked at me with her bottom lip quivering before darting out of the kitchen. I ran after her but didn’t even get halfway up the stairs.

  “Don’t follow me, Mom! You’re just as bad as they are!” She slammed her door to punctuate her emotions.

  Great. Now I was the enemy, too. I should’ve left well enough alone.

  What did I do now? Go soft and understanding or hard and give her some tough love?

  My grandparents had been the tough-love type. I wouldn’t take that path.

  The worst of this anger and fear was due to things changing. Zoe was going to change in a major way. I hoped they’d find their way to the other side of this with their friendship intact, but I couldn’t add Cam on top of it.

  I’d considered taking Shae with me to Sacred Spaces so I could keep up my client list, but in the end, I’d opted to have Lila cancel my pending appointments so I could be here with my daughter. I’d also arranged for her to have her schoolwork delivered to the house for a small fee. I’d explained that we had a stalker and having Shae at school would present a problem for the entire population of the school, not just Shae. The principal had become very accommodating after that.

  The day continued going wrong as I tried repeatedly to reach Shae. She rebuffed my invitation to dinner, ignored my voice when I called her for a snack and asked me to go away every time I knocked on her door.

  My anger grew as the day went on, but I curbed it and bit back my sharp retorts. I wouldn’t be like my grandparents.

  Lila turned up with a pizza and a sympathetic ear after Sacred Spaces closed. I let her in with a relieved laugh. “Thanks for stopping by. I’m beginning to piss myself off with my sour mood.”

  “Shae!” I yelled up the stairs. My voice had lost its sweet tone at some point throughout the day. “Pizza!”

  Of course, she came stomping downstairs for that. When she didn’t even thank Lila for the food, I slapped my hand down on the kitchen table. “Stop,” I said in a low, threatening voice. “You’ll thank Lila for bringing dinner or you’ll go hungry.”

  Shae looked down at her paper plate and blanched. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her voice sounded so miserable, my anger evaporated, and I wanted to melt into the floor. “Thank you for dinner, Lila.” She shuffled out of the kitchen and up the stairs slowly and with her head down.

  Once I heard the slam of her bedroom door, my anger and anxiety erupted. I stared at my longtime best friend and couldn’t see how this wasn’t all on her. “This is your fault,” I whispered.

  She gave me a surprised look. “How do you figure that?”

  I dropped my head onto my hands and lay on the table. “If you hadn’t made me hire a dragon then I wouldn’t have met Cam and fallen in love with him.” A sob caught in my throat, prompting me to breathe deeply and try to control it.

  Lila didn’t take it personally. After all the years of me helping her deal with her emotions over her disease, I deserved a bit of understanding now, and thankfully, she gave it. “Oh, honey. This will work out. Shae needs a few days, and maybe a bit of a firmer hand?”

  I lifted my head and glared at her. “I won’t give her tough love.”

  She held her hands up in surrender. “I’m not saying you should. But remember, you’re the adult. She’s the child that needs to be guided through these enormous life events, so she’ll know how to navigate them as an adult.” She paused and we stared at each other in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. “I know you have a thing about it after the way your grandparents did, but there’s a balance between being understanding and giving her room to feel how she feels and being too indulgent of bad behavior.”

  She raised her eyebrows, but I couldn’t argue with her. I dropped my head again and moaned. “This is too hard,” I complained.

  “I know. But to be fair, you definitely would have met him, since he works with my destined mate, and this is one extremely small town.” I laughed through my tears. “Stop being such a smartass.”

  She snorted and rubbed my back. “Are you resistant to moving on from Riley?”

  Without lifting my head, too sad to look up, I shook it. “No. I’m ready. I think he’s supportive of it. He wants me to be happy. I’m worried about Shae.” I knew my words were muffled by the table and my angle, but I didn’t care.

  “I think what Shae is expressing is normal, but she’s a big-hearted girl who would just want her mom to be happy, once she got past the big changes this involves. It was your call to end things with Cam. Are you sure you’re not mistaking residual fears about moving past your relationship with Riley?”

  I let her words sink in. While I did fully believe Riley was ready for me to move on and be happy, was I? “You might be right. Maybe.” And that thought made me even more depressed, thinking that I was hung up on Riley, who hadn’t even been around lately. I’d never felt so truly alone.

  Lila changed the subject and moved on to other things, telling me about Zoe’s pending change, but I barely heard her. She left not long after and I waited for it to get dark enough outside to go to bed and sleep away this pain.

  That night in bed, I considered calling Cam but stopped myself just in time. Miserable thoughts plagued me. I missed Riley, yearned for Cam and my daughter wouldn’t speak to me.

  I was so completely lost and alone for the first time in my life.

  16

  Cameron

  There wasn’t anything left for me to do until Friday, so I stayed in bed for the rest of the week. Vince brought me plates of pizza rolls and a bunch of other stuff that could be run through a microwave, but most of it went untouched. Some of the others had stopped by to check on me, and I was grateful to Vince for intercepting them and steering them away. I couldn’t deal with anyone else. Being good company just wasn’t in me right now, especially given the fact that I’d just pick up on their moods, too. If anybody came to visit with a less than a perfectly happy mindset, it would set me off and put me into a darker place. I had to protect myself.

  The moment Sophie walked out of the door just kept replaying in a loop in my mind. Trying to stop her again just would’ve made her cry
more. Convincing her to just accept me would’ve meant ignoring her daughter’s feelings. There was no winning for me. Or for her. So I lay in bed and watched it happen again and again until sleep claimed me, then I woke and did it again.

  At some point, Vince brought a TV into my room, and I watched old comedy shows on a streaming service, and that helped take my mind out of the loop for short bits of time.

  My dragon would remind me. He’d wail or send a particularly strong surge of emotions my way, and it would go all over again. Replay.

  When Friday finally came around, I forced myself out of bed and into the shower. I wasn’t entirely sure what I did in there, but I came out wet and hopefully cleaner. My mind was foggy and numb, and it was difficult enough to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. I was amazed I didn’t pitch myself down the stairs.

  Vince came down from his attic room when he heard me shuffling around. His blond hair was disheveled, and he was bundled up in a thick bathrobe. “Hey, man, are you getting ready to meet with Glenda the good witch?”

  I grunted an affirmative as I looked for something to eat before I left. I’d barely eaten all week, but it hadn’t dawned on me to be hungry until now. Unless Vince put it on my bed, I hadn’t eaten, and he’d tried, but he hadn’t exactly served up three squares. Not that it had been his place to. Nothing in the fridge looked appealing, so I stopped standing listlessly in front of it. I checked the cabinets, but blech, nothing there, either.

  “You want me to whip up something for you?” he offered. There was no sarcasm in his tone, only sincerity, but I couldn’t even cope with that. It was too much emotion on top of my own.

  “I don’t think my stomach can tolerate pizza rolls again.” I closed the cabinets and shambled back over to the fridge.

  Vince grabbed my hand before I opened the door again. “You look like crap. You need to eat something, even if you don’t want it. Keep your strength up so you will be strong enough to go after Mary when the opportunity comes.”

  He was right, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. Honestly, I was doubtful that even Glenda had information on her. That would line right up with the last couple of weeks. No trails, no clues, no identity; just brief glimpses and lots of disappointment. What was the point?

  “I’ll just grab something at Snowshoe,” I said, pulling my arm away. It was going to take everything in me to guard myself against the emotions of the people there. I’d eat there as a way of distracting myself.

  I started to walk past him when he stepped in front of me and grasped my upper arms. His silvery gaze met mine. “Hey, everything will work itself out in time. You’ll see. Also, turn your shirt around before you leave.” He arched an eyebrow down at my blue tee.

  Stupid tagless shirts. He let go and stepped back so I could peel it off and fix it. I made doubly sure I had everything before I walked out the door, then grabbed the keys and left. I wasn’t particularly in the mood to walk that day. At least being in the truck would give me a small bit of protection from passersby.

  For a Friday, the town wasn’t particularly busy as I drove down Main. I made a left onto Black Willow Way and turned into Snowshoe Brew’s parking lot. It was busy, but not abnormally so. Inside, ignoring everyone as hard as I could, I ordered a sandwich and a coffee, then hunted down the booth that Sophie and I had met her at the last time. I was surprised to see Mitias sitting there already. Interesting.

  Were Mitias and Sophie discussing me and agreed for Mitias to come to this meeting as well? If they had, it was most likely just about the case, since it was a Dragons for Hire thing, and I’d sort of signed off on it. How could I go guard Sophie’s house when she was right inside it, and I couldn’t be any closer to her? Or he was here for a totally unrelated reason. He probably just wanted some breakfast.

  Sliding into the booth across from him, I nodded politely. “Good morning, Mitias.”

  “Cameron,” he said with a smile. “It’s good to see you out. Your friends have been worried about you.”

  “I’m supposed to be meeting someone soon.” I looked at my watch, which was actually just a wrist because apparently, I’d left my watch at home. So much for double-checking everything.

  Mitias chuckled and looked at his. “It’s a quarter ‘til. Who are you meeting, if you don’t mind my prying? You know us old folks and gossip.”

  “A local witch by the name of Glenda,” I told him. “I’m hoping she’ll have some answers regarding the case I’m on.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Ah, a very good witch. I’ve met her, and several of her kind. They’ve kept this town safe for generations.”

  I frowned and sat up straight. That was news to me. “What do you mean? I thought that’s what we were here for.”

  He thought the words over for a moment. “When your team first arrived several months ago, Sam found his mate. A couple of months later, Leath found his. I had been ready to chalk it up to coincidence because they were sisters, but then you found yours shortly after. Three in less than a year is hardly chance.”

  What else could it have been? “So, you’re saying destiny brought us here?”

  “In a way, perhaps.” His gaze went out of focus as he spoke like he was watching something I couldn’t see. “I’ve lived in this area since I was young, off and on. I’ve seen this place built up from a couple of small cabins to a quaint town. And I know something of the magic that has protected this place until recently.”

  I leaned forward, interested despite my dismal mood. I was still an ether dragon, bent on all knowledge, all the time, after all. “Witch magic?”

  He nodded and finished off the coffee in his mug. “There was a family that lived on the south side of town. One witch in particular was very powerful. When bad things started happening in the area, the same or worse than you’ve seen here recently, she used her own life force to lay a spell on the land that would prevent dark practitioners from practicing here.”

  “So, what’s happening to the spell if they’re coming back now?” I asked.

  “It has slowly been degrading over the years.” He shook his head sadly. “I’ve felt it myself. Even as old as I am, and not so easily affected by such things, the waning magic called to me and urged me to call you all here to set up additional protection. Especially after finding evidence of practicing wizards in the mountains. I did not, however, anticipate so many of you finding mates here.”

  I huffed over my coffee mug, then took a sip. “Three isn’t exactly a lot.”

  He gave me a knowing look. Was it more than three? “When destined mates are so rare among our kind, it is indeed a lot.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s not going so well on my end.” Sighing, I sat back in my seat, fingers tapping on the mug. “I can’t even find one person in this tiny town, and now Sophie wants nothing to do with me.”

  “You are still young yet,” he said. “Give it time. Things will right themselves naturally.”

  Right on the hour, as the bells tolled across the street at Town Hall, Glenda walked in the front door. She spotted me and waved, then hopped in line at the counter.

  Mitias stood and patted my shoulder. “Between the wars I fought in those years, I was never able to keep track of that powerful witch’s descendants. I think it’s possible that you may have found one, though.” He paused and squeezed my shoulder. “And there’s more to your house than you realize, if I’m correct.”

  Then, he left. I stared down into my coffee cup and thought over his words, only two bites taken from my sandwich. My stomach wasn’t happy with me for more than one reason. Was he talking about Glenda? Or Sophie?

  “That’s a good man, there.” Glenda slid into the booth in front of me with a cup of herbal tea and a bagel, watching Mitias go as she filled his vacated spot. Then she turned her eyes back to me. “I could see your heartbreak from all the way across the room, honey. You okay?”

  “Sophie broke up with me a few days ago,” I muttered. Saying it again was like carvi
ng into my soul with a dull knife. In my mind, I was watching her leave all over again.

  “Well, after two hundred or so years,” she squinted at me, then nodded, “Yes, two hundred. You should know better than anyone by now that time will heal everything.” She reached over and patted me on the arm, snapping me out of it before it went too far. A café was not a good place for an anxiety attack, especially when my friends weren’t there to help pull me back down. Not to mention if I slipped into a panic, everyone’s emotions would overwhelm me in an instant.

  “Why do people keep saying that?” I groaned and hung my head. I could hear my petulant tone, but it was somewhere in the back of my mind, at a distance too great for me to worry about. “I don’t want time to heal things. I just want Sophie back. I don’t want to wait another day, let alone a year, to be with my destined mate.”

  I felt her hand squeeze my arm one more time, then she pulled away. When I looked up, she was sipping calmly at her tea. She smirked at me over her cup.

  “I suppose I could always do a love spell for you, if it’s that bad. She’ll come running back into your arms before you know it. I’ll even give you a discount.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter one way or the other to her.

  No way. I couldn’t do that to her or Shae. A spell for something like that was too close to forcing them back to me against their will. That would be a huge violation I didn’t think I could sit well with. And it was a bit dark for the type of magic I was sure Glenda performed.

  “Thanks for the offer, but it’s not worth having if it doesn’t happen naturally,” I replied politely and stiffly.

  Glenda sat back and laughed. “Not always true, but in this instance, I’ll agree. However, I know that you and Sophie are meant for each other. What you have is a rare magic, and one that should be cherished always.”

  “Speaking of rare magic,” I started, “what do you know regarding the spell put on the land around this town a long time ago?”