Chapter 1
George and Theo were at the airport when the plane landed. They’d gotten breakfast together, then had gone to a craft store to pick up some things to make some embarrassing signs to welcome their brother home. Sure, he’d only been gone for a few days, but the three of them were closer than the rest of them. As soon as Theo saw his brother, the signs were discarded, and he and George rushed to their brother.
“What’s happened?” Milo told them to just get him home. “Sure. But you’re going to tell us why you look as if you’ve lost everything. Did someone hurt you, Milo? Where are they? Are they still here at the airport?”
Theo was looking around and missed that his brother had stopped moving. Going back to him, he told him he was sorry. George was asking him again what they needed to help him with. Milo said he just wanted to go home. That he was exhausted.
He must have been. No sooner had they gotten his luggage from the jet and Milo into the car than he was sound asleep. They’d planned to spend the day with him, getting lunch with him and hooking up sometime during the day with Jamie in order to see if the two of them were mates. But this seemed serious enough that Theo debated telling his mom.
I know he’s tired. Theo hadn’t been so relieved to hear his mom’s voice as he was in that second. I spoke to him on the plane. The poor boy has been working double shifts for us in getting some information, and he’s worn out. Nothing more, just exhausted.
I’ve never seen him like this before. For that matter, anyone. She said she’d told him to rest up, but he was stubborn. Yes. I wonder who he might have gotten that from?
Not me. Theo laughed and told George what Mom had said. He thought that Milo was stubborn, but Mom was ten times worse. Anyway. If you’re finished insulting your mother, I’d like for you to get him home and into his bed. Anything you were planning with him can wait until he can enjoy it more. Also, it might be a good time to take Jamie over to see him. While he’s out. It might be sneaky, but you’d have an answer. I want one, too, as a matter of fact.
He didn’t feel good about that, but his mom was right. They’d all know and could move on to the next phase, whatever that would be. Theo did think that Milo could use a mate, if for no other reason than for him to get laid. Also, she’d be there to make sure he didn’t overwork himself like Milo tended to do.
Stopping by Jamie’s house seemed to be the best course of action. While he didn’t want to wake Milo to have him sniff her, George had pointed out that if she were his mate, she could take him into her home instead of them taking him across town to his own. Where someone would have to be there all the time.
“I can tell you don’t have a mate.” George asked him what that was supposed to mean. “You wouldn’t dream of saying something that selfish to your own mate.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Theo told him. “Oh. Well, I suppose I was being selfish, and it was a little sexist of me to want to pawn our brother off on a woman. I didn’t think of it as it being her duty, but I did want to have him well cared for. I guess I need to work on that, being a better male when it comes to what I think a woman should be doing.”
“You don’t have to if you want to have the shit knocked out of you by your mate.” George asked him if he thought his mate would be a ball cruncher. “Have you met any of the Manning women, George? I mean, there isn’t a timid one in the bunch. That goes for our mates too. I’d not want to take on any of them. And work very hard in keeping on their good side. Related or not, I think they’d find a way to have me fall from a great height and let me lay there until I healed.”
They pulled into the driveway of Jamie’s home. It was something, this home that she’d just had updated. It was larger than his by a great deal, and even Finn’s home was small by comparison. She was sitting on the front porch, rocking in what appeared to be like one of the swings his parents had at their home when he’d been younger.
“I think I might have run off Jangles. He was here for a little while this morning but decided I’m going to have to find me something to do.” Jamie laughed. “I’ve been getting my recertification to work in the new hospital. What are you guys up to?”
“We’ve brought Milo over to see if he’s your mate.” Theo looked at George and wondered if the guy would ever find a way to ease into a conversation. He was entirely too blunt and honest right from the start. “Mom said you might be able to tell, and then we’d all know.”
“You’re not getting on my good side, George.” He asked her why not. “Because this isn’t how I wanted to start my day off. I was going to take a walk. Then maybe go into town and have some lunch. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a meal out on my own before. Now you two show up with my potential mate and fucking ruin my day.”
“I’m sorry, Jamie.” She looked over at Theo as he told George to get back in his car. “I don’t know what we were thinking. Milo is going to rest up for a little while, and he’ll see you when he sees you. I’m sorry.”
“How does this work?” Theo asked her if she wanted to see too. “I do. I don’t know what it might mean for me, or him for that matter, but I’d like to know. Since you’re here already. Will he wake up if I’m his mate?”
“Honestly? I haven’t any idea. Mom didn’t give us any details when we spoke to her about it. She just said to come by and see if you might be his mate. You don’t have to do this.” She told him she knew that. “All right. I guess you’d have to do the sniffing thing. I know you hate that, but I really don’t have any other idea on how we need to check.”
Leaning into the back seat where Milo was sleeping, she stood up. The look on her face was pure confusion. When she didn’t say anything, he didn’t either. However, George didn’t have the filter that he would hopefully get when he found his own mate.
“Are you?” She looked at his brother, then looked at him. “You’re teasing us, aren’t you? That’s good that you can have a sense of humor about this. I know that when my mate comes along, I’m going to dazzle her—”
“Hush.” George snapped his mouth closed with an audible click. Jamie looked at Theo before she spoke again. “He smells funny. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like he’s ill. I haven’t any idea why, but he smells of old blood.”
“Old blood or iron?” She asked if there was a difference in the smells. “I don’t know the answer to that, but Milo isn’t a dragon. I didn’t think iron would kill him any more than it would any of us, but if you smell it, that’s something we need to have checked out. I’m going to call Winnie here. She’s the protector, and she might be able to help with what it is you’re detecting on him.”
Winnie appeared just as he finished telling her what was going on. She asked him a couple of questions that he didn’t know the answer to. He and George were told to take Milo into the house, and Theo was surprised when Jamie was all right with that. She enjoyed her alone time more than any person he knew.
“I smell iron too. Not a great deal of it, but he’s sick with it. I doubt that he’d die from it, but it has affected him.” She put her hand on his belly then up around his chest. “It’s here. Surrounding his heart. After I take it out, I’m going to leave here to make sure I find the person responsible for this. All right? That means you’ll have to wait for questions from me. If you have any, now would be the time to tell me.”
“Is he my mate?” Theo watched Winnie as she seemed to struggle with answering Jamie. “I mean, all I could smell on him was the iron, as it turns out. If you can figure that out, I’d like to be made aware of it now.”
“Much like you, I can’t focus on anything but his illness. Trust me when I tell you, it will become clearer in the days ahead. Can he stay here? His faerie will be with him. If it’s too much of a burden for you—”
“No. I want him to stay here. For no other reason than that, I owe this family my life, and I will do anything needed of me to take care of one
of their own.” Winnie nodded, then asked if she had any more questions. “Just one more. No biggie, but if he is my mate, will I have to worry about iron too?”
“Yes.”
Winnie turned back to Milo. The bed he was lying on was perfect for his size. Whoever made the bedroom suite for this room had kept in mind that all of the Mannings were larger than life. Milo was the shortest at six foot ten inches.
Winnie didn’t strain or anything like that when the iron that had been in his brother’s body was pulled free. As soon as she put Milo into a deeper sleep, she told them, she disappeared, taking what appeared to be about a cup of iron in small, almost powered particles. Lily, Milo’s faerie, knocked at the window, and it was Jamie that let her in.
“Whatever you need, you tell me, and I’ll make sure you have it.” Lily told her thanks and went to her master. “I’m assuming he’s going to sleep for a little while. I’ll be around if you need me.”
Jamie just left them there. Theo looked at his brother, then at George. Neither of them seemed to understand what had just happened. Was she mad at them? Did she not want him in her house now?
Instead of standing around without answers, Theo went to find her. She was the closest thing he’d had to a sister, excluding Rachel, and he didn’t want her upset with them. He found her in the kitchen.
“I’m going to have some cookies and tea. Would you like some?” He told her that would be good. “I’m going to talk, but so you know, I don’t want you to answer. I’m just babbling right now, and if I don’t, my head is going to explode. All right?”
“Yes. However, if I can answer, do you want me to?” She shook her head as she put a kettle on the burner to make some tea. “You do need to sit down, Jamie. I can hear your heart beating very quickly, and I don’t want you stressed out. Just have a seat, and I’ll make us the tea while you babble.”
She sat down but played with the cup and saucer she’d been holding. He pulled the kettle off the burner then put his hand on it. In a shorter time than it would have taken the stove, he had hot water. Pouring them both a cup and finding her stash of scones, he sat down across from her. She stared at him for several moments before she spoke.
“I’m not going to lie to you when I tell you I’m terrified of becoming a mate to any of you.” He asked her why. “I’ve come from a long line of people with mental illness. When I went to visit Missy yesterday, the doctor told me her illness is hereditary. It’s like a missing gene, he told me. That it more than likely would make it so that if I were to have two children, one of them would be affected by it.”
“No, not anymore.” She looked at him instead of at her teacup then. There was so much hope on her face that he was really glad he could help her out with this. “You’re not able to have any illnesses. That would include anything that might well have been passed down to you. The reason I know this is because when I was younger, I asked one of my aunts if the possibility of having gene pool issues would be a problem for an animal as big as we are. As in, what if a mate was ill with something like you’re talking about, how would it affect a dragon. She told me it wouldn’t be there. That essentially, when you were given the ability to live forever, you’d be free of anything like that, along with cancer and other long-term illnesses. You’d have nothing in your DNA that would produce a child with a handicap.”
“Will you and Pem have children?” He told her they were working on figuring that out. “Because you’re a dragon, and she’s not. I would imagine that her having an egg would be difficult since she isn’t built for that.”
“My brothers and I are the first generation of dragons that were born to dragons that were turned into human shifters.” He explained to her that his father was a dragon when he’d been born and changed to shift into a human when he was just a young dragon. “So, in answer to your question, I don’t know if we’ll be able to have any. You and Milo would be able to if he’s your mate. You’re neither one dragons, so we’re betting that the possibility of you having a child would be better than with me having one with Pem.”
“Because of the dragon thing.” He laughed and told her that was it. “I don’t know if I’m his mate. I don’t know what to think about him being the one either. I’m just getting my life together and figuring out what I can do. I’m not saying that I’d turn him down. I mean, just hanging around you guys, I know there isn’t anyone better than the Manning men.”
“Thank you for that. I’ll pass that on to my parents. They’ll be happy to know they did a good job of raising us.” Theo sipped his tea. He didn’t push her into whatever else she wanted to talk about but let her work it out. Looking around the kitchen, he realized that she was doing for herself. There was no cook here. No staff that he’d come across. He wondered if she had not hired them because of her need to have things quiet or just hadn’t gotten around to it. Theo started to ask her about it when she spoke again.
“I’ve noticed that you don’t tell Pem what to do. Do you suppose that if Milo is my mate, he’ll do the same thing?” Theo told her he thought she could put him in his place if he did start that. “Yes, I suppose I would. I’m not much of a people person. I’m all right once I get to know you, but I’m not the sort of person that goes out much and parties. I prefer a good book over the television. Working in the yard instead of being in the house. Also, I enjoy just being out of doors. I’m not sure how that is going to work either.”
“It’ll work because the fates have chosen you if you are above all other women in the world to match up perfectly with your mate. Milo, for the most part, would rather stay home than to date. All of us enjoy the outdoors. I think a lot of that stems from being a creature of the earth. George and Milo are not dragons, but they are powerful beings. They get their magic the same as us, from all the elements that make magic for the world.”
The two of them spoke for several more minutes before George joined them. He opened her fridge and closed it. When he opened it the second time, he could see that it had been filled. Taking out the stuff to make subs, George told them what he knew.
“First of all, I want to let you know that your fridge is magical. I believe all of ours are, and there isn’t any reason for you to do without. Whatever you want will appear in it. Including juice, which, no matter if Milo is your mate or not, you’ll need to drink more of. Magic is draining.” He set a thick roast beef sub in front of Theo and a meatball one in front of Jamie. “Milo is resting now. No longer in the deep sleep he’d been in. Just having the iron taken from his body is making him feel a great deal better. I’ve not bothered talking to Winnie. She’ll let us know when she knows what happened.”
Again, they talked for a while. Pem joined them when they moved to the parlor. After a while, the rest of the family showed up, each of them checking on Milo to see if he was all right. Mom and Dad had been informed and said they would be there soon. He felt terrible that they’d been here so much. Maybe they’d move here soon. That would be great.
Supper was ordered when it became apparent that no one wanted to leave just yet. Jamie, for all her liking quiet time, was doing well with all of them there. He hoped that Milo was her mate. It would be epic to have them together.
~*~
Milo didn’t move around too much. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, but he was achy. He’d never experienced anything like this before. Lily had brought him some clothing from his house, and he had thought about taking a shower. Even the thought of getting out of bed again after going to the bathroom made him want to nap again. Lily asked him if he was all right.
“I’m sure I am. I just feel like I’ve been run over. I never understood that saying before today. Christ, I do feel like exactly that has been done to me.” Lily laid her head on his forehead and told him he was no longer as hot. “Good. That means I’m not feverish anymore.”
That had startled him, having a fever. Even as a child, he’d never been sick. Never had
anything close to a fever. Nor had he fought a cold. He thought this was the reason he felt so sore. It had never happened to him before.
The lady of the house hadn’t been to see him since he’d woken up. His brothers had. So had Rachel and Pem. He’d thought she was avoiding him, but Lily assured him that she was very busy taking a test. It had taken him asking his brothers what sort of test would take so much time, and it turned out she was simply studying for her board exams, not just taking a test.
“She’s going to work in the hospital. Run the entire surgery department for us.” He asked Theo if Pem was going to work there as well. “I’ve not asked her directly, but I think that is her plan. The two of them together have been making adjustments to the plans that even the architect is impressed with. Also, you’ll be glad to know it’ll be easier going green with this project. Solar panels are going to be on most of the roof, as well as one-quarter of the back lot. Having all that land is going to save a great deal of money in the way of heating and cooling.”
Milo told Theo about the things he’d been able to unearth where he’d been. Getting in and out of computers had always been something he’d been very good at. Apparently, in the office they ran—it took care of their massive amounts of donations—the computers had been bogged down with not just games, but movies and personal information that was slowing the computers to the point of them not running as well as they all knew they should have been.
“The program I designed will not only keep them from using the computers for anything personal, but now that they have to log in and out of the Internet with their cards, it will make sure they’re working when they should be. I was amazed to find out that almost sixty percent of their time was spent on shopping and browsing the Internet. No wonder it takes them so long to get back to us on payroll questions.”
Milo: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 2