“You don’t understand,” he said, shaking his head. “That kind of pain hurts me to witness.”
The tendrils of smoke split and faded into a glistening, barely-there stream that could have just as easily been mistaken for an errant beam of sunlight. It disappeared into Maddie and Bodhi’s mouths as they inhaled between the lyrics of their song. By the time the last note had faded, their auras were steady and they’d visibly relaxed.
“You know what time it is?” Bodhi boomed over the noise of the crowd. “It’s time for the toast!”
He stepped up onto the piano stool next to Maddie, towering over the room. His gaze passed over our little group, landing on me for a split-second. He gave me a wide smile and winked before looking out over the crowd.
My heartbeat sped up at that wink, warmth flooding my chest.
“Should I be jealous?” Rohan murmured in my ear.
“Do you even get jealous?” I asked, tilting my head to look at him with a smile.
“Nope. Which means I think you need another treasure to hoard with the rest of us. I’ve made it my mission to teach you the old ways of the dragons. My great-great grandmother kept a harem of twenty human mates. Don’t you think we should bring that tradition back?”
“Twenty?” I gawked at him.
Llyr scowled at us and I clamped my mouth shut, but not before I caught a suggestive eyebrow wag from Rohan. I shouldn’t mate even one of them, if Fate already had mates chosen for them somewhere, much less twenty.
I dismissed the idea and redirected my attention to Bodhi, my stomach somersaulting at the sight of him. He’d dressed up in a starched, cream-colored button-down shirt with short sleeves that exposed his mesmerizing tattoos. The warm light enhanced the colors in the ink and made his gray-green eyes gleam and his black hair shine as it curled around his jaw.
If I could let myself want what Rohan had suggested, I’d happily invite Bodhi to be a part of it, but I knew better than to tie down a man who would be better off finding his true soul mate. With a sigh, I resigned myself to listening to his toast and being happy for the couple.
Bodhi lifted his glass and directed his gaze toward his grandmother. “You all know Susannah Dylan as the woman dedicated to both family and music. Her house has always been filled with both. I know this because I live here. I grew up with her love and wisdom, and there has never been a day when we didn’t have music in our lives.”
His strong voice must have carried outside the house, because the entire place had shushed, and when I glanced around past the wide shoulders of my three companions, I saw every hallway and room beyond packed with heads tilted up to listen. There had to be at least a hundred people here.
“Until three weeks ago, anyway,” Bodhi said, his voice turning somber. “When Grandma got sick, we all learned what life would be like without her here. But I believe Fate had a hand in our lives that day, because now I know if she hadn’t been in the hospital, she’d have never met Gus. Those two old fools somehow found each other, even though one of them was in a damn coma!”
He paused while the crowd laughed, then shot a look at me before speaking again.
“There we were, wondering why the hell this crazy old woman insisted on sitting at the bedside of a complete stranger and singing to him. We humored her and sang along, of course. She could’ve been dying. But when Gus opened his eyes and looked at her, my grandmother just nodded and said, ‘Yep, you’re the one,’ and kissed him squarely on the mouth.
“They healed each other, these two, and Mom and I got to see firsthand what love at first sight really looks like.”
The room erupted in laughter and cheers once more. Bodhi’s shoulders shook as he gazed down at the couple, particularly at Gus, before adding, “You never knew what hit you, did you, man?”
Gus chuckled and stroked his silvery goatee. “When it’s that good, you never see it coming,” he said, then pulled Susannah into a deep kiss.
“Needless to say, these two knew they belonged together, and at their age, they also knew there was no time to waste. So I want to toast the happy couple for grabbing hold of love when Fate chose to give them one more chance to have it.”
He lifted his plastic champagne flute and everyone followed suit, some with similar glasses, others with coffee mugs, and a few with nothing but glass jars. Someone shoved a glass into my hand, and I glanced at the guys to see that they’d each been given their own mismatched cups that they were lifting in the air with the others.
When Bodhi climbed down, he made a beeline for me, and before I knew it, he’d pulled me into a tight embrace. His warmth and scent enveloped me, so similar to Ozzie’s, yet so different—earthier, despite the sense of being surrounded by the ocean breeze.
“Thank fuck you found me. I was worried I’d never see you again.”
With my face buried against his chest and his strong arms nearly squeezing the breath out of me, I couldn’t form a reply. After a moment, he loosened his hold and leaned back.
“Sorry I didn’t mention your part in everything. I wasn’t sure you wanted the attention.”
“It’s all right. I don’t need credit. Seeing them happy and whole is enough.”
I turned my head toward Susannah and Gus, who were working their way through the crowd, greeting guests. Music began to play from a stereo system, and a moment later, Maddie was beside her son with arms open wide.
“Thank you, sweetie. We owe you everything for helping Mom get better.” She swept me into a gentle hug, her faint orange blossom scent wafting over me.
“It’s my job,” I said, realizing for the first time that it was the truth. Someone had to protect these people, and that someone had to be me.
“Who are your friends?” she asked, eyeing the three guys with open interest and a single lifted brow. “Handsome. Not exactly, um, you know—human?” She whispered the last word in my ear.
“Not exactly,” I said, laughing. “Any chance we can borrow Susannah and Gus and talk someplace private for a few minutes?”
Maddie nodded and left to track down her mother. I stood facing Bodhi awkwardly for a second while he stared back at me with an expectant look. Finally, he gave a little shake of his head and chuckled.
“I’m Bodhi Dylan,” he said, shooting his hand out to Rohan. I realized with a twinge of shame that I’d completely failed at the very simple social task of introducing them to each other.
“Sorry! Bodhi, this is Rohan, Keagan, and Llyr. And everyone, this is Bodhi. He’s . . . well, we can sort all that out in a few minutes.”
“Great to meet you!” Rohan said, yanking Bodhi into a big hug. Keagan’s and Llyr’s responses were a bit more formal and businesslike, but their auras both flared as if they were threatened by him.
Maddie returned with Susannah and Gus in tow. The hounds were still at their heels, looking smug and flush with magic, and for all the world like they had no better place to be. I resisted the urge to yell or sing at them; I didn’t want to look like a crazy person.
We followed Maddie up the stairs to a sunlit parlor overlooking the boardwalk and the ocean beyond.
“You look wonderful!” I said to Susannah, happily accepting her hug. When I wrapped my arms around Gus, he laughed and returned the embrace with fervor.
“I don’t know you, but Susie seems to think you’re pretty important. I can see you and those three hulks are . . . let’s just say special. Am I allowed to ask?”
“Considering I’ve got questions too, I’d say so,” I told him. “What I want to know is how you two managed to heal your souls.”
For a second I worried I’d have to explain what I meant, but they didn’t seem confused by the question. Still, they both shrugged.
“My energy came back as soon as Maddie and Bodhi were attacked,” Susannah said, “but something just wasn’t right. I wish I could tell you what Gus and I did that changed everything, but yesterday was such a blur, what with my daughter and grandson insisting we leave the hospital. I could
n’t leave without Gus once I knew he was one of us, and especially not after we woke him up and I looked into his eyes.”
She shook her head as though reliving the moment, her eyes sparkling with pure joy. “We went straight to the Justice of the Peace and got hitched. Bodhi was right—there was no sense wasting time. After that, well, all I can say is that we woke up this morning and the world was just brighter.”
“Didn’t you do something for us after you left?” Maddie asked. “Bodhi and I weren’t sure we’d have the strength to leave the hospital. After you told us to go, we made it as far as Mom’s room again and nearly collapsed. Mom distracted the nurses, telling them we were just tired, but I could feel my strength seeping away bit by bit. But then it just stopped. I wouldn’t say we were exactly fine after that, but I knew we wouldn’t die. I thought for sure you’d done something to help us.”
I eyed the hounds, perplexed yet again by their disinterested behavior. They seemed perfectly content to just hang out around Susannah and Gus despite the fact that Rohan’s dragon soul was in the room and still bore one of their marks.
Rohan collapsed into an armchair with a groan. I cast a concerned look at his pale, drawn face and went to him. “You don’t look good. Let me help.”
I cupped his face in my hands and he tilted his head in submission, sighing as I urged some of my magic to flow into him. When I turned around again, I was greeted by utter stillness and the wide-eyed stares of the four humans in the room.
They may have been bloodline, but they’d likely never seen a display of magic like that before. Rohan’s complexion visibly warmed and he sat back.
“I got bit yesterday,” he explained to them. “Me and another dragon named Willem. We’re bloodline too, and for some reason, these creatures Deva can see seem to have a particular taste for us.”
“Creatures?” Gus asked with a worried frown. He rubbed a hand over his midsection, a sign that he somehow remembered his own attack, even if only subconsciously.
“They look a little like dogs,” I said, then proceeded to catch Gus up on the theory I had about the hounds. I didn’t know why they bit, or why each hound’s bite only seemed to affect a single victim at a time, but thus far, I knew the bites left behind a heavy darkness on a person’s soul.
“And only you can see them?” Gus asked, scrubbing a hand over his chin.
“They respond to me, at least if I use the right words. Songs seem to work.”
I stopped, not wanting to admit how utterly lost I was as to any useful information about these creatures. Then I frowned down at the hounds.
“They’re in the room now. Nobody else at this party’s been attacked, have they?” I asked, already knowing the answer. If someone new had been bitten, I was sure Rohan’s soul would have stopped bleeding magic.
The rest of the room tensed and darted wary glances into the shadows. Gus pulled Susannah tighter, the taffeta of her skirts rustling against him. “Where are those little shits?”
“Sitting at your feet like they belong there.” I pointed to the floor beside Susannah where the creature with the blaze down its face sat. The one with the booted paws sat beside Gus.
The old man frowned down at the floor, his gaze fixed about a foot wide of where the thing actually rested. “And they’re just . . . waiting for a new victim?”
“I don’t think so,” I said cautiously. “I get the sense they’re soaking up the love between you two. They look . . . happy.”
Gus and Susannah shared a look and Susannah’s mouth twitched. “Well, there is a good bit of that here,” she said, her ruddy cheeks reddening.
I shrugged. “I just don’t know what the hell they want, why they did it, or how to stop them from doing it again—or why I’m the only one who can see them.”
Gus shifted over to a sofa and sat, pulling Susannah onto his lap. She giggled and snuggled into him.
“You say they look like dogs, right?” he said. “And now they’re just soaking up the love where there’s love to be had? Makes me wonder if whoever their master is maybe doesn’t treat them too well. Maybe they’ve run away and gone wild. They’ve forgotten how to be normal dogs, and all it takes is a little love to remind them how to behave.”
I didn’t know a thing about how feral dogs behaved, but I’d heard stories about feral dragons. After witnessing Rohan’s behavior the day before, I understood how dangerous that could be. If we hadn’t replenished his magic, he’d have lost his mind and devoured us, then probably terrorized the entire West Coast until someone took him out.
A shiver threaded down my spine at that thought and I reached for his hand, grateful that Keagan and I had managed to keep him sane.
“Maybe you’re right.” I squatted down and reached out a tentative hand to the hound with the blaze—the one that had bitten Rohan, and Bodhi before him. “Is it love you guys need? Or something different? Please help me understand what you’re after.”
The hound’s ears perked up and it took a step toward me, head outstretched. I held perfectly still, hoping for some revelation from its behavior. A glowing violet tongue slipped out and grazed like velvet fire over my knuckles, leaving them tingling from the immense power the creature seemed crafted of.
Then it lifted its nose and sniffed, tilted its head up, and let out an eerie, warbling howl.
Bodhi jumped out of his seat with a curse. Rohan’s head whipped around at the sound before he rose too. Both men closed in on me, and when they were within inches, the hound’s howl faded.
“What the fuck was that?” Bodhi asked. “It was like I had a song stuck in my head and a rope tied behind my eyes pulling me to you.”
“It’s still linked to you both, I guess.” I gave the hound a perplexed look. It tilted its head back and forth, as though waiting for me. Then, seeming to grow too impatient, it stepped forward and shoved its nose into Bodhi’s hand, turned, and repeated the process with Rohan.
“Give me your hands,” I said, reaching out to each man. They placed their palms against mine and I squeezed, then looked back at the hound. “Is this what you wanted?”
The creature chuffed, lifting its tail and wagging it back and forth.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m not sure what it means, but it likes that we’re in contact.”
I held onto the two men for a few seconds longer, oddly reluctant to let either of them go. Bodhi squeezed my hand and I glanced at him, warmed by his tender, grateful smile. He let go of my hand and I impulsively sank back into Rohan’s arms, needing his comfort after losing that contact with Bodhi, no matter how brief it had been.
The dragon slipped his arms around me and nuzzled my hair. The hound ambled around the room, its nose raised in the air. It passed by Keagan with a dismissive snort, but paused at Llyr, a low growl rising in its throat. I couldn’t help but smile at the random thought that its reaction to Llyr was an indication that it understood me.
“It’s near me, isn’t it?” Llyr asked, straightening. “What’s it doing?”
“I don’t think it likes you much,” I said. “Good puppy. Now leave Llyr alone, all right?” I held back a laugh at Llyr’s scowl. “You aren’t bloodline, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“The hell I’m not,” he shot back. “All you saw were the members of the bloodline who came after Meri. Did you ever think to look for the ones who came before? I’m not part of Meri’s bloodline, but I am part of Dion’s. All the satyrs are. So don’t fucking encourage the beast, all right?”
I stiffened, chastened by his words. “I’m sorry.”
“I get that you want to learn how they work, but please don’t use them to carry out your own misplaced vendettas.” He slipped out of the room, leaving me with a lump in my throat.
Rohan tightened his embrace. “He’s the one who’s jealous. Not Keagan,” he said.
“If he wanted me, he wouldn’t have lied about me,” I said bitterly. My face heated when I caught the interested looks of Susannah and the rest of he
r family. “Ah, anyway, I’m pretty sure they’re not a danger to the rest of your family, but I’ll keep an eye on them. You guys should go enjoy your party.”
Gus and Susannah departed, the hounds at their heels.
“So am I off the hook? I don’t feel any different.” Rohan gave my hip a squeeze and I glanced down at his abdomen, wishing for a different outcome, but knowing nothing had likely changed.
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think this changes anything except giving you a short reprieve.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Until the honeymoon is over, I guess. I’ve been to a few turul weddings before. When a pair of true mates find each other, you’d think a whole bevy of Gold dragons flew in and breathed magic smoke on the occasion. That’s how much love and happiness floods the place from their bond.”
“They aren’t turul, though,” I said. “They’re human.”
“True, but that couple are two of the truest mates I’ve ever seen, and there is most definitely turul blood in this family. They’re bloodline, so it’s possible. Hell, it’s likely I have a little too. There aren’t many dragons who play music.”
“You play music, man?” Bodhi asked, perking up. He glanced at Keagan, who gave a slow nod.
“We dabble,” Keagan said.
Rohan snorted. “He’s being modest. We pretty much live and breathe music.”
“Shit, I thought you two were just rabid Fate’s Fools fans.” Bodhi gestured to Rohan’s t-shirt, the pale gray cotton displaying the band’s winged emblem superimposed atop the eye of a hurricane. Keagan’s shirt was black with the name of their latest album, “Fool’s Folly,” written across it, the stylized Fs extending like banners in a high wind.
“Brother, we are Fate’s Fools,” Keagan said. “As of three weeks ago when we made it official.”
Bodhi’s aura flared so brightly he looked close to orgasm, but his excitement was not quite the same as sexual arousal. Beside me, Rohan’s big body shivered with barely restrained amusement.
Bodhi admirably got himself under control, and with a grin and a nod, said, “Fucking rad! You guys want to jam?”
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