by K.N. Lee
She smirked, grabbing his oven mitt so she could take the pan of bacon out of the oven. “I did. But I wanted to make you breakfast in bed.”
He stepped up to her, gathering her in his arms. Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, he rubbed her back. “I think my body sensed that you were gone, and I had to find you.”
“I’m never leaving you again,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist as she looked up at him.
Asher looked even more attractive when his blond hair was messy in the morning. Cailyn ran her hands through his hair, letting the strands slip through her fingers.
“Good. Because I’d find you,” he said, tickling her.
With a laugh, she pulled away. She smacked his hands. “You know I hate being tickled,” she said.
She put bacon on their plates and they sat together at his breakfast bar.
“How did you sleep? Any nightmares?”
Cailyn shrugged. “I’ve had crazy dreams and nightmares since childhood.”
“Don’t you write them down?”
She took a bite of bacon and nodded. “I have since middle school.”
“That’s right. I remember stealing that journal once.”
“I remember that too,” she said with a grin. “You were such a pest back then.”
“You were so easy to annoy.” He laughed. He drank a gulp of his coffee and closed his eyes in bliss. “God, this is all so good. Thanks, baby,” he said and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.
“I was pretty spoiled back then.”
He raised a brow. “And you aren’t now?”
She laughed.
“Wait. I remember reading some of your nightmares. It was some pretty sick stuff for a little girl to be dreaming about.”
Cailyn chewed a chunk of pineapple, her smile fading.
“Did any of that stuff really happen?”
Her stomach churned. She stared at her plate. “Which stuff?”
“Not the stuff about wizards, obviously,” he said, chuckling. “But what about the dead bodies you saw in the basement.”
Cailyn swallowed. How could she tell him that both parts were completely true?
She faked a grin. “It must have come from a movie I shouldn’t have been watching.”
“Yeah,” he said. He checked his watch. “We better get going soon. I want to catch my parents together before dad heads off to the diner.”
Cailyn nodded. “Good idea. It’ll make it easier that way.”
Asher cleared his throat. He reached into the pocket of his basketball shorts and placed a box on the counter.
“Might as well tell give them the good news early.”
Cailyn’s face drained of color when her eyes landed on the square, cream-colored box.
Tear-filled eyes flickered up to Asher’s.
Her heart beat so fast that she could barely catch her breath. No words came out of her mouth when her lips parted.
Was this really happening?
The smile on Asher’s face was so big that she couldn’t help but do the same.
He took her hand and stood from the bar stool. Gently, he pulled her to her feet.
Cailyn covered her mouth with her other hand as Asher went to one knee.
She balled as he opened the little box, revealing a perfect princess-cut diamond on a white gold band.
“Cailyn,” Asher said, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “I think you know that I’ve loved you since we were kids running around in the woods pretending to be knights of the roundtable.”
Cailyn laughed. She missed those times. They always made up the best games to play together.
“I was one hell of a knight.”
He kissed her hand. “Yes, you were.” He let go of her hand to take the ring from the box. “But I think you’d make an even better wife.”
She beamed through tears of joy.
“Will you be mine?”
She nodded. “Yes!”
He put the ring on her finger and she let out an elated squeal, tackling him to the ground with hugs and kisses.
Laughing, he held her up by her waist while she straddled him on the floor. “Whoa,” he said. “Easy now, baby.”
She laughed. “I love you more than anything. Oh my goodness. You’re going to be my husband!”
He nodded and kissed her full on the lips. “I was going to propose at the Halloween party, but thought I’d do it early since we are leaving.”
“I’m glad you didn’t wait.”
“Good. Now, how does celebrating our engagement in Paris sound?”
Cailyn’s jaw dropped. “Sounds like a dream.”
He kissed her again. “Good, because I want to replace your nightmares with only dreams of happiness and our lives together.”
Her heart melted at those words.
How can I be so lucky?
Life couldn’t get any better at that moment. Still, something in her stomach made her feel a bit queasy. Perhaps it was her constant fear that when things were going right that something always seemed to go wrong. She shoved that feeling and notion aside and just prayed that nothing would rip her happiness away.
Chapter 12
“Cailyn,” Cecilia said over the phone. “I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
Alarmed, Cailyn stopped at her car door. Her hands shook. Her mother’s voice sounded strained, rushed.
Terrified.
“What’s wrong?” The panic in Cecilia’s voice put Cailyn on edge.
Cailyn’s cheeks reddened as she imagined everything that could possibly go wrong.
“Dinner tonight is canceled. I’ll tell you everything soon. Just stay away from Alexander Hall...and stay away from Connor. ”
“What the hell is going on? Tell me now.”
“I can’t right now,” Cecilia said. “We are taking care of it.”
Dial tone.
Cailyn’s hands shook when she pulled her phone from her ear.
“Everything okay?” Asher stood by her car door, a bag of Tupperware filled with leftover jambalaya from lunch with his parents in his hand.
The sky seemed a little darker that night as the clouds moved to cover all traces of the stars and moon.
Something was not right, and even nature seemed to send her warnings.
“I have no idea.” She stared at her phone, wishing it would ring again and that she’d get some answers.
She glanced over at his parent’s house. His mother and father still stood in the doorway, watching them leave. They’d been thrilled to hear the news of their engagement.
That elation quickly dissipated as fear gripped her.
Cailyn put her phone in her cross-body purse. “Something isn’t right.”
“Can I do anything?”
“I really don’t know,” Cailyn said. “She just told me to stay away from Alexander Hall.”
She left out the part about Connor. Asher still had no idea what was going on with the newcomer. She really didn’t know either.
“That’s weird. Is everyone okay?”
Sighing, Cailyn leaned her back against her door. They were just getting ready to leave and tell her family the good news. Now she didn’t know what to do.
“I hope so. I don’t know what to do now,” she said. She held her hand up to look at her ring. Despite the worry simmering in her gut, she smiled. Only a few more hours and they would head to the airport, pick a place, and leave.
“I know what you can do,” Asher said.
“What?”
He tilted her chin. “Go and tell Tessa the good news.”
Cailyn’s smile faded. She wanted Tessa to know that she and Asher were engaged, but she couldn’t stand to tell her the news of her departure.
“Oh boy,” Cailyn said. She pursed her lips and nodded. “You’re right.”
She stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. “Okay. I’ll go and tell her.” She waved at his parents again. “I’ll come back after I see her and we can figure things out th
en.”
His ice-blue gaze was hooded with worry. “I wonder what’s going on.”
“Me too. We might not get to tell them in person.”
“Wow,” he said, his eyes widening. “That would be crazy. We can’t leave without telling your folks.”
Cailyn shrugged.
I’m over it.
“We’re leaving no matter what,” she said and got in the car.
“Damn, Cailyn. You’re really manic about this. Do we really have to leave Haven Cove in such a hurry?”
Cailyn closed the door once she was in the driver’s seat. She quickly sent Tessa a text to meet her at Kittie’s Coffee in an hour.
She looked up at Asher as he stood outside, reaching a hand out the window to him.
He took her hand, stroking her knuckles before he kissed the engagement ring.
“Yes,” she said. “We do.”
Her eyes darkened as if shrouded by shadows.
“And you’ll understand why soon enough.”
Chapter 13
Cailyn’s hand trembled. Her heart beat so quickly you’d think she’d just completed a marathon. If only she could take Tessa with her.
Closing her eyes, Cailyn tried to take deep breaths and calm herself. She couldn’t take everyone with her. Cailyn simply wished Haven Cove wasn’t the dangerous place she knew it to be.
She looked up when she felt Tessa’s small hands on her shoulder. A hesitant smile came to her lips as she turned to Tessa, putting a hand above hers.
Tessa’s eyes grew wide. “No freaking way!”
Cailyn snatched her hand back, hiding her engagement ring behind her other palm. She bit her lip, looking up at Tessa sheepishly.
“Why are you trying to hide that boulder on your finger? He proposed? When?”
Tessa’s eyes were still wide, and so was her smile.
Cailyn nodded. “This morning.”
Tessa squealed, tossing her arms around Cailyn in a tight hug. “I am so happy for you. Congrats, girl. When can we start looking at dresses, and venues, and cake makers, DJ’s, the whole shebang?”
A half-hearted giggle escaped Cailyn’s lips as she looked at her friend’s genuinely happy face. Tessa was beautiful, kind and loyal. She’d miss her more than anyone in her family.
That was a sad truth.
“Have a seat,” Cailyn said, motioning to the empty chair across from her at a red table in the back of Kittie’s Coffee.
Tessa raised a brow. “Uh-oh. I know that tone.” She sat down, smoothing her pink sweater dress. “What’s up? Cecilia give you shit about marrying Asher? If she did, I'd set her straight for you.”
Cailyn couldn’t help but smile as she looked Tessa in the eye.
Loyal to the end.
She knew that Tessa was dead serious. She didn’t care if Cecilia was her mother or not. Cailyn knew all of Tessa’s secrets as much as Tessa knew hers, and the girl could take care of herself.
“It’s not that, Tessa. I wish that were the only thing bothering me.”
Tessa picked up the mocha latte that Cailyn had ordered for her, hooking her thumb through the green ceramic mug. “Then what is it? I know something is wrong,” she said, sipping.
Cailyn sighed, folding her hands on the table before her. “Tessa, Asher and I have decided to leave Haven Cove.”
“Big surprise,” Tessa said, shrugging. She took another sip. “You’ve been saying this for years. When are you leaving?”
“Tonight.”
Tessa set her coffee mug down. For a moment, there was silence between the two as Tessa took off her glasses and wiped her eyes.
Cailyn felt tears sting her own eyes as she watched Tessa. She reached a hand out for Tessa’s, stroking her soft skin. “I’m sorry.”
Tessa shot her a pained look. “You’re keeping something from me. What is it?”
“I just need to leave. Haven Cove is not the place for me.”
“Why don’t you stop lying to my face?” Tessa pulled her hand back, tucking it under her arm as she folded her arms across her chest.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth,” Tessa hissed as she leaned across the table.
Cailyn sat back in her chair. She sighed as she took out her ponytail and shook her head. “Fine. I know my father has enemies, and I know that we aren’t safe from them now that he’s dead. I want Asher and me to start fresh, somewhere that no one knows me or my father. I want live somewhere where no one gives me dirty looks or whispers about me because they think I’m evil or cursed. I’m tired of fearing if someone is following me or out to kill me.” Cailyn wiped tears from her cheeks.
She glanced up at Tessa to see her do the same.
“I just want to be free,” Cailyn said, her voice cracking.
Tessa leaped from her seat. Ignoring the looks from the only two other people in the coffee shop, she wrapped her arms around Cailyn and held her tight. “I know,” she said, stroking Cailyn’s hair. “I know. You deserve that life, Cailyn. I’ll do whatever you need to help you get it.”
Cailyn closed her eyes against Tessa’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Tessa. Thank you for being my only true friend.”
Tessa sucked her teeth. “Silly girl. I’m your friend, but Asher is your soulmate, and I trust him to take care of you.”
“You’re right,” Cailyn said.
“You’re going to be fine,” Tessa said. “I can feel it.”
Chapter 14
Extending her arms above her head Cailyn began to transform. Every fiber of her body trembled, her skin stung, and lights flashed before her eyes as feathers took over and bones bent to a new pattern.
A dragon.
A creature of myth.
Cailyn’s second form.
Now her arms were wings and she stretched them outward for optimal grace during her takeoff. She soared to the top of the mountain, thrilled by the freedom she felt.
The look on Tessa’s face when she told her the news ate at her. She hated to hurt her best friend, but she had to go. There was no choice. Somehow she knew that once she left Haven Cove that life would be better. The stigma of her family’s past would be lifted. The danger she felt around every corner would dissipate.
Still, she needed this time alone to collect her thoughts. Tessa had been hurt, but she’d also been surprisingly understanding.
The mark of a true friend.
After she’d revealed that she was to leave later that evening, the news of her engagement had overshadowed everything else.
Now that that part of her life was tied up nicely, Cailyn wished her mother hadn’t been so cryptic in her phone call. Cailyn could only pray that her mother and brother were okay.
A loud screeching sound caught her attention as she stood on a boulder facing the town side of the mountain. Her senses were sharpened by her shifted form. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
She was strong, powerful, and free.
Cailyn flew back down to the clearing where she’d left her clothes. When she returned to her human form, her phone had thirteen missed calls and eight text messages.
Her heart lurched as she scrambled to check the missed calls. They were all from Cecilia.
Good. I could use some news. Any news.
Sighing, she stepped into her boots and made her way through the forest to her car.
She called her mother back, dreading what news she would hear.
“Cailyn,” Cecilia said.
“What is it? Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” Cecilia said, with a sigh. “But, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“Connor,” she said, and Cailyn’s face flushed.
Every inch of her body tensed. “What about him?”
After a brief pause, her mother replied.
“I tried everything within my power to undo what your father has done, but the truce is stronger than anything I could fathom.”
Her brows furrowed. �
��Truce?”
“Yes,” Cecilia said. “You were promised to wed Connor before you were born.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“And, he’s come to claim you.”
Chapter 15
Cailyn’s hands shook as she stepped into her mother’s office. The smell of a eucalyptus candle wafted into her nostrils.
The lights were dim, just how Cecilia liked it. It helped her wind down when she was stressed. Cailyn noted the bottle of wine in the waste basket and an empty glass on the bay window seat.
She’d raced there after the call, ready for answers.
“What’s going on?”
Cecilia turned around, her arms folded across the front of her black dress. Her face was pale, her eyes glistening with tears.
Cailyn’s face twisted in worry. Every nerve was on edge. She shook as she stood there, not ready to hear the worst. Yet, she had to know.
“What happened? How do you know Olivia is missing?” She stepped forward and Cecilia lifted a hand, stopping her.
“She hasn’t been home, and I have an idea of where she is. We can make this right. Together.”
Cailyn tilted her head, lifting a brow. The tension in the air was thick, making her palms sweat with anticipation.
“What do you mean?”
“Have a seat.”
“No,” Cailyn said, shaking. “Just tell me what’s going on for Christ’s sake.”
Cecilia’s shoulders slumped, her bottom lip trembling as she looked at Cailyn with glossy eyes.
“It’s Huntley.”
Cailyn’s stomach fell to the floor.
“No,” she gasped. “Please tell me he isn’t dead.”
“He’s alive,” Cecilia said. “But barely.”
Cailyn nodded, a small shred of hope filling her heart.
“He was cursed, Cailyn.”
“Cursed?”
“Yes,” Cecilia wrung her hands. “We tried to protect you. We did everything we could to keep you out of this, but it is now clear that you are the only one that can save this family.”
“What do you mean? Tell me everything.”
“Olivia went after Connor to save Huntley’s life.”
Alarm filled Cailyn’s eyes. Olivia was the closest thing she had to a sister, and now she and her brother were in danger.