Stroke of Fire
Page 28
Somehow, she’d make it work. Syn promised her the chance to see her dreams come to full fruition.
With a sigh, she shook her head. “No. After the other week, it seems Taryn is anxious to sell. And I think it’s best if we stay away from here for a while. That all of the dragons have returned to The Hollow speaks volumes of the dangers here.”
“We’ll still come back and visit.” Syn caressed the side of her face with his knuckles. “Taryn isn’t going to put the house up for another month or so. If you change your mind, all you have to do is say it. He’s sitting on the house just to make sure you don’t regret your decision.”
Briella smiled. “He’s such a great guy.”
“Hey, now.”
She nudged his arm and they laughed. “But you’re the greatest.”
Syn winked and led her from the room.
Taryn was in the living room, the last box of her paintings wrapped up in a custom dragon-sized sling he had a friend design to transport her pieces and equipment to The Hollow. He flashed them a smile as they descended the stairs.
“And here I thought I’d have time for a beer and a sandwich.”
“We know how to behave,” Syn told him, taking Briella’s hand as she stepped off the last stair. His chivalric manners never ceased to amaze her. As if he didn’t own her heart in its entirety—after fearing she lost him, she insisted on bleeding into his jewel and sealing their lifemate bond—somehow he managed to find a new little piece to take as his. “Probably should get going. Dawn’s quickly approaching.”
Taryn’s attention turned to Briella. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
Briella looked around the house. So much had happened here in such a short time. Her entire life changed when she walked through the front door. Myths became reality. Goals turned onto new paths.
And love. Sweet, powerful love found her at last.
She would always love this house for all it gifted her, but now, as she took it in one last time, she knew it wasn’t home.
Home was The Hollow. Home was in a mountain.
Home was with Syn.
She nodded. “Yes. I’m sure.”
Taryn grinned. “You’re always welcome to come here and hang out. My house will always be open to you, until I sell it.”
“Of…”
The living room disappeared, taking Syn and Taryn with it. For a split moment, she stood on the front stoop, staring at the door, her skin tingling and her heart racing. A mixture of anxiety and delight twisted together in a strangling rope of emotions.
The one-line thought that ran through her head shocked her more than the vision itself.
“Sweet?”
Syn’s concerned voice sounded far away.
Briella blinked.
She stood beside Syn, both he and Taryn watching her in confusion. She waved their concern away, but couldn’t shake the words that echoed in her mind. The voice of a woman, not herself.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I am. Just a vision.”
Taryn snickered. “Your visions aren’t ‘just’ visions.” He hoisted the sling with her paintings and secured it over his shoulder. “Let me get this in the truck.”
“You said Taryn’s Keeper died, right?”
Syn arched a brow. “Yes. Why?” His eyes narrowed. “Your vision was about Taryn? His Keeper?”
“I don’t know.”
The doorbell rang.
Briella’s shoulders stiffened. Taryn paused in the act of reaching for the doorknob. He glanced at Syn, then his gaze lingered on Briella.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Briella said.
“Expecting someone?” Taryn asked them. They both shook their heads. “Maybe one of your friends?”
“They think I’ve already left. Unless Emma is hoping to see you.”
She knew that wasn’t the case. Whoever stood on the other side of the door was a stranger, but someone who knew Taryn.
Knew he was a dragon.
Taryn hesitated before he pulled the door open. Syn angled his body in front of Briella, prepared to protect her if danger presented itself.
A tall, slender woman looked up at Taryn from brown eyes painted with makeup. Her lips parted on a gasp and her cheeks took on a light rose. She looked to be the same age as Briella’s mother, but time had not been as kind to her.
“Taryn,” she said, hands clutching her purse. “I’ve been searching all over for you.”
Taryn’s head cock and his brow quirked. Briella glanced up at Syn, noticing the way both men had gone rigid.
“You know her?” she asked her lifemate.
“Yes and no. She’s not someone we cared to associate with.”
“Why?” She didn’t miss his use of the past tense.
“She’s what you’d call a gold-digger. A selfish creature who wanted to mate a dragon for what he could give her, not who he was.”
“What are you doing on my doorstep? Certainly up to no good,” Taryn said, his voice chilling. The good-natured man Briella knew was gone. “How did you find me?”
“The news.” The woman shrugged. “Not many things can breathe fire from the air. I need to talk to you.”
“I’m about to leave, so it’ll have to wait.”
Syn took Briella’s hand and led her to Taryn. The woman gave Syn a smile, then dropped her gaze to Briella. Her smile vanished. Briella lifted her chin at the woman’s reaction.
“I don’t think it can. Corvin told me if anything happened to him, I needed to find you,” the woman said.
Taryn’s expression turned stone cold. “Corvin died over thirty years ago. Why are you looking for me now?”
“Who’s—”
“Corvin was his Keeper. Killed before he could escape The Hollow.”
Ohhh. Somehow, she knew this wasn’t going to be good.
“I tried to find you, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t get in touch with anyone until I saw the news report a couple weeks ago. I came straight to New Orleans.”
“Well, you’re here and you can leave. If you’ll excuse us.” Taryn began to sidle past the woman. She threw up a hand and grabbed his arm.
“You’re not going to want to leave until you hear me out.”
“Why?”
“Because.” The woman pulled a photograph from her purse and held it up. Briella leaned forward enough to catch a glimpse of the young woman in the photograph. Her eyes widened. “Corvin would have wanted you to know I carried his child.”
“Holy shit.”
Briella might be new to the Firestorm way of life, but she heard the shock in Syn’s cuss as strongly as she felt it in her chest.
Judging by the look on Taryn’s face, he was far from pleased. “Ridiculous. He’d never lay with you.”
The woman shrugged, a smug grin on her mouth. “He did. The night before he died. And I conceived. His daughter, might I add, in case you couldn’t tell by the photo. You know what that means, right?”
“Nothing, because you had a way of laying with more men than most could keep track of,” Taryn snapped. He yanked his arm from her hand and stormed down the stairs toward his truck. The woman turned to Syn and held the photo out for him. He took it reluctantly.
“Let him know that my daughter is ready to meet him at his earliest convenience. She’s going to need his protection, after all,” the woman said. She took her leave, barely glancing at Taryn before disappearing through the gate.
Briella’s fingers tightened on Syn’s. “This isn’t good, is it?”
Syn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The one thing we can’t ignore is the pull to our lifemates. If what she says is true, then there’s a chance her daughter might be Taryn’s lifemate, which ultimately means that conniving piece of shit might finally get what she’s wanted all this time.”
His lips thinned in an unhappy line. “Her claws sunk into Taryn, with easy access to his hoard. And if it turns out her daughter really is Taryn’s lifemate… If she’s anything like h
er mother, he’d be better off never meeting her.”
THE END
Watch for Dance of the Dragon, The Firestorm Chronicles, coming Spring 2019!
About the Author
Born and raised a Jersey girl with easy access to NYC, Kira was never short on ideas for stories. She started writing at the tender age of 11, and her passion for creating worlds exploded from that point on. Romance came later, but since then, all of her heroes and heroines find their happily ever after, even if it takes a good fight, or ten, to get there.
Kira resides in Central Florida with her husband, four children, two bunnies, two hermit crabs, and a parakeet. She works part-time as a nurse when she’s not writing or traveling between sports, other activities, or her characters’ worlds.
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