Hidden Heart (Dark Wing Series Book 1)

by Ellie Pond

  Hidden Heart

  A Dark Wings Series Paranormal Romance: Book One

  Ellie Pond

  Book Cover Design by: Moonstruck Cover Designs

  Copy Editing by: Aquila Editing

  Proof Reading by: SB Edits

  Copyright © 2020 by Ellie Pond

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Prologue: Captain

  2. Sail away

  3. Room Service

  4. Pillow Pile

  5. McHotness

  6. Last Dance

  7. Little Brother

  8. Night Swimming

  9. Get Physical

  10. Tempest

  11. No Hat Required

  12. Refuge

  13. The old one, two

  14. The Game is On

  15. Aurora

  16. It’s Not Always Good to Be King

  17. Game Day

  18. Rum and Punch

  19. Family Dinner

  20. Locked Down

  21. The Touch

  22. Puzzle pieces

  23. Up, Up

  24. Eggs, Bacon and Magic

  25. Which Sense, Witch Since

  26. Shift a Lot

  27. Friends

  28. Cheers

  29. Between the Lines

  30. Powers that Be

  31. Full Circle

  32. For the Win

  33. Sam

  Epilogue 1: Violet

  Epilogue 2: Matthias

  Dear Reader

  1

  Prologue: Captain

  Matthias put his feet up on the sofa with his shoes on. His mother’s long-gone voice echoed in his head. He dropped his feet to the floor; he didn’t have time to be sitting. Today was change-over day. On change-over day, everyone did three jobs. As captain and owner of the ship, it meant a full schedule, especially today. He had taken a break last night when they pulled in early; his ‘friends’ left almost before his first appointment this morning. The girls were discreet enough; he made sure to cut those who weren’t out of the rotation. And any that got too clingy as well. It was a mutual benefit for him and them. That reminded him—he needed to remember to lock the outside office door.

  His eyes closed for half a minute as he smirked to himself. He didn’t need to be Captain. He didn’t need to be on the ship. Within a year of sailing, the ship was profitable, his crew trained. He could be sitting on his private island and taking care of business from the office he never went to. His dragon roared its disapproval. The ship had become his hoard, the crew his pack, and he couldn’t leave daily operations without a careful extraction.

  He sprung to his feet and unlocked his computer. Today’s turnaround wasn’t on schedule. But they never were, no matter how hard they planned for it. The supplies were only fifty percent loaded. He glanced at his watch: 13h00, fifteen percent behind. Fuel on target. But housekeeping showed thirty percent behind.

  His fist came down on the intercom button next to his desk. “Edvard.” He hit another button, a click echoed on the deck below, and the door from the bridge to his private stairs unlocked.

  A minute later, Edvard bounded up the spiral staircase. He wore his khakis and a red Dark Wing polo instead of officer’s whites.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  Edvard didn’t consult the tablet tucked under his arm. “On deck one, a forklift carrying a pallet of tomatoes overturned and tomatoes splattered all up the wall and rolled down the highway. It took maintenance forty minutes to get the loader back on its wheels and running so we could continue loading. It took sanitation another thirty minutes to clean the crushed tomatoes off the walls, floor, and even the ceiling.”

  Matthias nodded. “Did they find more tomatoes?”

  “Marilyn’s working on it now. But she hasn’t had luck so far.”

  “Copy.” He rubbed his lip and sat on the edge of his desk. “Are you going to tell me how the forklift turned over?”

  “I would rather not.” The two of them stared. For a human, Edvard had balls. Matthias said nothing.

  “But I suppose you want to know?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Two engineering interns unstrapped a battery cart, and it glided out into the highway at the wrong time.”

  “Shit, anyone hurt?”

  “Only the tomatoes. The forklift driver was Kurt Hume.”

  “So you’re saying that the interns have been punished already?” Hume was a bastard—a hard worker, but a general all-round jerk.

  Edvard nodded.

  “Did he shift?”

  “No, thank God. Marilyn and Dr. Cottage happened to be walking by and talked him down.”

  “Load’s an hour behind?”

  Edvard shook his head. “Maybe more. They’re a little on edge down there.”

  “And housekeeping?”

  “Normal. A few of the rooms need to be rebuilt.”

  “Studs?”

  “Not that bad this time. All soft goods, complete wash down.”

  With a ship full of shifters, things happened from time to time. Messy things. Smelly things.

  * * *

  Matthias didn’t flinch when the FaceTime alert on his tablet next to his computer rang with the red siren of a fire truck. “That’s my sister.”

  Edvard dismissed himself down the stairs. When Matthias heard the door click, his finger lingered over the open button before he opened the link.

  “Moira.” Her fair skin, blue eyes, and red hair took up the entire window.

  “Mattie. Took you long enough.”

  “I’m a little busy running a ship. Like you, I have things to do.” He didn’t growl. She was the only one on the planet who could get away with calling him Mattie, a name she gave him when she was little.

  “You growled at me.”

  “I didn’t,” he lied.

  “You did. But that’s okay. I’ll let you have this one.”

  “What do you want, little sister?” He let out a breath.

  “Who says I can’t call just to talk to my favorite big brother?” Her only brother.

  “It’s turnaround day. I’ve got a lot to do, Moira.” He didn’t mean to be a hardass, but he did have a lot to do.

  “Turnaround day is the only day you have a decent enough signal for me to face connect with you.”

  “Fair.” He nodded. Improving the connectivity on the ship was something he wasn’t sure he wanted. He missed the old days of not being available to everyone on the planet at the same time. And part of him thought it was good for the passengers, too. He had put off the connectivity improvements on the ship. Technology had changed vastly during the five-year construction phase, and the two years since her christening, but he didn’t order improvements.

  “I miss you. Why don’t you come visit me?”

  “It’s a little hard to get away. You could come on board. I have a suite all set up for you.”

  “I … it’s hard for me, too.” That was the problem with dragons. Leaving your hoard caused pain. For him, moving to the ship was the way to get rid of the paparazzi. There weren’t too many dragons, and once shifters were out, everyone wanted a picture with a dragon—in skin or scale, it didn’t matter. In international waters, he was the law.

  “You need to come at least once. Once you know the joy of flying with no one around you, no one to take your picture … it’s invigorating.”

/>   “So you’ve said.” His sister's eyes dropped. “Have you thought about my other proposition?”

  “I have. It’s not the right thing to do to the passengers.” His temple throbbed. Not helping his sister was hard. But what she wanted him to do was invasive.

  “You’ve got the seer. You can tell who the mates are.”

  “Moira, it’s a big invasion of privacy.”

  “Matthias, it is, but you could tell them afterwards. They might give it to you freely, then. If you explain.”

  “If this were to get out, it could ruin my whole business.”

  “I don’t mean to sound thick, but you told me when you started this you didn’t need the passengers; you could run the ship off your stock portfolio for the next two hundred years. Your hoard doesn’t need to be any bigger.” Her blue eyes stared at him through the tablet and then she laughed. Because a dragon not wanting their hoard to be bigger didn’t exist.

  “I’ll give you half of my hoard.”

  His dragon perked up. His little—and only—sister might be two hundred years old, but her hoard was anything but little. But he couldn’t take it. Anyone else’s, yes. But she didn’t know that. For her to offer half her hoard … this meant something to her.

  “You don’t have to do it to all the couples. Pick five. See if it works. My guys say it will and that the data will help. We’re not going to hurt them. Just collect data, please, Matthias? I won’t ask for anything again. At least not for a decade. If I had a seer, I could do it myself. But seers don’t tend to hang out in grocery stores.”

  “Speaking of grocery business, do you think you could get us a pallet of tomatoes?”

  “I might know a guy in Fort Lauderdale.”

  “Today?”

  “Did you get my package?”

  “Not sure. But if you sent it, it’s here somewhere.”

  “Two couples.”

  “One and my tomatoes by 1500.”

  “Done. I’ll have the tomatoes to the ship by 4 p.m.”

  “1500 is three, Moira.”

  “Right, three. I love you Mattie.”

  “I love you, too.” The tablet went dark as she hung up. He punched the large button next to his desk again and unlocked the door.

  “Edvard, did I get a package from my sister?”

  “I’ll check, sir.” Edvard’s voice echoed over the com.

  Matthias checked the ship stats again. Housekeeping had turbo jets going and were almost back on target, while the supplies were still behind.

  Edvard took the spiral stairs two at a time and dropped a one-foot-square box on his desk. “This is addressed from Fresh Farm field tech solutions.”

  “That’s got to be it.” He frowned at the box and put it under his arm. “Thanks for getting it.”

  “No problem, sir.” Edvard trudged down the spiral staircase as Matthias left through his side door.

  * * *

  The back stairs to the highway smelled of antiseptics and salsa. It reminded him of when his wolfhound had a run-in with a mother skunk more than fifty years ago.

  Crew members greeted him as they hustled down the corridor. The ship’s energy pulsed differently on a turnover day. The crew wore their informal uniforms of polos and khaki pants or shorts. Everywhere, crew bustled around the ship. He liked it. Matthias rubbed his hands together. As soon as he got this task out of the way for his sister, he could get on with the rest of turnaround day. The loading for today would take a little longer, since this cruise would take them out for two weeks. A good long cruise always excited him. New passengers and a vast stretch of ocean to glide over at night. He dodged around a group of racks tied down along the highway. He peered into the vat. Squash. A ton of squash. With a quick tug, he pulled the cover back over the squash and wound his way through the back-storage rooms and in the side door of kitchen logistics. Marilyn sat at her computer, her long gray braids bouncing up and down as she talked to an assistant. He gave a brisk knock on the metal door frame.

  “Hey there, good-looking, what are you doing down here?” The smile spread over her face. She was so short, the crisp part of her hair only reached Matthias’s armpits. The assistant gave a wave and headed out the door to the kitchen.

  “It smells like …” she hesitated.

  “Like?”

  “Vomit.”

  “I was going to say salsa, but now that you mention it, you’re right.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

  “I can’t find tomatoes anywhere.” Her leathery face scrunched up as she pointed to a list of phone numbers on her desk.

  “I heard. First, thanks for taking care of Kurt.”

  “Oh, he’s a shithead, but a good worker. He’s out of balance. I keep trying to get him to take some supplements, but you know.”

  He nodded. He knew Kurt. The Dark Wing was what was keeping him out of Shifter detention. “He lets his beast control his actions.”

  “Oh, that’s not his beast; that’s stupidity. But like I said, good worker. I am going to have to redo a lot of the menu if we can’t get tomatoes.”

  “My sister is coming to the rescue.”

  “You sure we can afford the organic, sung-to, hand-polished tomatoes they sell in your sister’s stores?”

  “I think so. She better not send me an invoice.” He laughed. His sister was a great business person. There would be an invoice.

  “She’s not going to send us her rejects? Some white, pasty, unripe tomatoes?”

  “She better not. Make sure you take a good look at them.” That wasn’t like her, but someone else in her company might try and pass off something.

  “Mm. That’s fantastic, then. Tell her thank you from me. Any chance she’s coming on board soon?”

  “Not likely.”

  “Thanks for the rescue, Captain.”

  “You too, Marilyn.” He gave one of her braids a tug as he left her office.

  * * *

  Matthias glanced at his Patek Phillippe Nautilus watch. He quickened his pace to his next stop.

  He listened at the door before he knocked. Only one heartbeat, and it was the younger of the two witches. That would save a lot of time. The list of other things to be done loomed over him.

  * * *

  With the name from the witch of the soon-to-be couple, he made his way past the infirmary. Matthias hesitated. He owed Dr. Cottage thanks for helping with the overturned tomatoes and Kurt’s temper, but he would see her later. After the discussion they had this morning, she definitely wanted to talk to him. The tour for the press couldn’t be late. He left the crew stairwell and, on the third level, crossed to the main staircase. Being able to walk up the main staircase without signing an autograph thrilled him. He glanced up at the Renoir on the staircase, the everyone thought was a copy. The Impressionistic art movement left him with a climate-controlled warehouse of paintings and a pit that made him miss turn-of-the-century Paris and his long-gone friends.

  * * *

  He rounded the corner to the grand lobby. The crystal animals moved around the chandelier. Only a young agent with brown hair stood at the front desk. Hope. She was the perfect agent for his task. Matthias remembered being introduced to Hope at the Christmas party, which meant she could do the task he was about to ask of her but hadn’t been around long enough to think the request was odd. Matthias put the box down on the front desk. “Hope …”

  2

  Sail away

  Aurora’s phone dinged. “Wow, that was fast.” She held her phone up for Spencer. With a touch, the bright yellow and red ship app dissolved into a photo of them smiling. Aurora clicked through the four photos of the two of them and one with Tad standing distracted beside them. Spencer’s black hair, slicked back and with a light curl at his collar, lay perfectly, just like every picture she had of them. But in this one, his eyes were finally the color they were when she looked at him. In all the other photos she had of the two of them, he had sunglasses on or his eyes glowed with his wolf. Here they were the
light hazel she liked, with the left eye having a slight golden amber tone. She held out the phone for Spencer to see and stumbled into his arm as they walked down the gangway. He reached round her and moved her to the right.

  “Didn’t see that giant pillar?” He pointed behind them and laughed.

  “What? Nope. That flash thing, they were right.”

  He took the phone.

  “That’s cool.” He smiled at her as he handed back the phone. A smile that felt less like her best friend and more like a boyfriend. Or a best friend who made a mating pact. She gulped and took a few quick steps to catch up with Spencer’s cousin, Tad.

  “You okay, Aurora?” Tad removed his sunglasses.

  “Sure. I am nervous about the tournament.”

  “This is Nationals, but you won Western Pennsylvania. And this is a great prize.” Tad patted her hand. Spencer growled behind them.

  “Seriously?” Tad stopped and faced his cousin.

  Aurora turned too. She gawked back and forth between the two guys.

  “I read it in a magazine. They say age is just a number; it doesn’t have to change anything.” Tad glared at Spencer.

  Did Tad know of her pact with Spencer? When Spencer turned thirty-two, if he hadn’t found his fated mate and she hadn’t married, they would mate. She hadn’t told anyone. Had she? They made it such a long time ago.