“Ooh,” the woman said as she stepped up to the flames. “It’s amazing, though. I haven’t had fire in ages.”
Arielle watched, completely astounded, as the woman shifted right there. Well, part of her at least.
She exclaimed, “You’re a dragon!”
“My name is Charlie. And yes, I’m a dragon. But that shouldn’t surprise you. I mean, you’ve been walking around the city all day. It wasn’t hard to find you.”
Arielle gasped. Shit. “I didn’t know you could do that?”
Charlie chuckled. “Of course you didn’t. You’re the precious princess who was kept in the castle like Rapunzel. We all know your story. You’re the reason there’s a new king on the throne.”
She hadn’t even finished speaking before Arielle was shaking her head in denial. “That wasn’t me. That was Danica and Mary. They’re the ones who fought. I was just a damsel in distress.”
Charlie laughed, and kept feeding from the fire. “You are a damsel. And you were in distress. But I have no doubt that once you were able to, you’d have found a way to free yourself.” With a shrug and a comment like that, Arielle felt closer to Charlie than she did to anyone in Gilcurry.
“How did you know who I am?” Arielle tried to change the subject, otherwise she was apt to start crying.
“Oh,” Charlie said dismissively. “I make it my business to know everything I can about the dragons who live in the human realm. It’s the only way I can stay safe. The only possible way I’ve been able to come to full power and defend myself.”
“Have you had to defend yourself?”
While she waited for Charlie to answer, Arielle’s mind raced with the consequences of meeting another female dragon. Her whole life, both before and after her life as a prisoner of the Mad King, Arielle was told that there weren’t any female dragons left that were capable of mating. Although it seemed like everywhere she turned, there were more popping up.
“My family hid me here, in the human realm. When I was little, it was easy to hide in the dragon realm. I never left my mother’s side, so my scent of a female they always assumed was her. But as I grew up and it wasn’t possible to pretend I was a boy anymore, they sent me here. To hide. To survive. I’ve adapted, but there have been times when it wasn’t enough. So, to answer your question, I have been forced to defend myself. But I’m very good at it.”
Arielle’s heart broke for the woman in front of her. She knew what it was like to be alone, but at least she’d been surrounded by other dragons. It seemed like Charlie had no one.
“Your family? Do they know where you are?”
“No.” Charlie looked into the dying fire, a faraway look in her eyes. “It was too dangerous for them to know. My father said I was too precious to him. My brother, too. Our family could lose everything if they didn’t turn me over to the Mad King. They chose to keep me safe. But my safety came with a price.”
Arielle thought about what Charlie said while the last bits of the fire in front of them went out. She thought about the sacrifice that Charlie’s family must have made to ensure her safety, and how Charlie must have felt so alone for all these years.
“My brothers are trying to keep me safe,” she said. “Drake, the king, has assigned bodyguards to make sure that I’m safe and taken care of. I ran away when they were installing security cameras on my property.”
“I mean,” Charlie interrupted her. “You should be glad they want to keep you safe. They could be more like your father. But I mean, security cameras are soft of a big deal. Why would they do that?” Dawning realization stuck her face. “Oh, gods. Someone is after you, aren’t they?”
Arielle watched as Charlie started to panic when she didn’t answer. She couldn’t lie to this woman, but she was also too ashamed to tell her the truth.
“You can’t be here.” Charlie grabbed her by the arm. “If someone is after you and your brother hasn’t killed them, they’re going to hunt you down to the ends of the earth. You’re a dragon. You know what it means to be a dragon. To be willing to die to find what you’re searching for.”
Arielle’s heart sank in her chest. She knew. Hell, she’d been searching for freedom since the moment she was taken from her father’s castle.
“You’re not safe here,” she told Charlie. “You should go.” If whoever had tried to take her was going to come back, she didn’t want an innocent in the crosshairs.
Charlie scoffed, still pulling her by the arm. “I’ll be fine. You’re the one I’m worried about, Princess. We need to get you back to Gilcurry, where you’ll be safe.”
Arielle tried to pull her arm free, but it was no use. Charlie wasn’t letting go, and she had no choice but to go along with her or be physically dragged along.
“The border isn’t far from here. That’s why I like to come out this way at night. The magic from the barrier seeps out, and it’s almost a substitute for feeding from flames. Not really, but you get what I’m saying.” Charlie rambled on some more, but Arielle was caught in her own mind and wasn’t paying attention.
When Charlie came to an abrupt stop, she let go of Arielle’s arm and turned with a huff. “Here we are. You go home. But give me your number, and I’ll text you really quick. That way if you want, you can text me. If you need me for anything, or you need help … you can call me.”
Arielle nodded. “Okay, my phone’s dead though.” She gave Charlie her number, and then watched as Charlie sent her a text right then.
“Make sure you text me if you need anything. I know what it feels like to be alone,” Charlie said. “I don’t want you to take off and end up getting hurt. Especially if you’ve already got someone coming after you.”
Arielle hugged her. It was impulsive and felt extremely awkward, but she needed that physical contact.She had a feeling that Charlie needed it too. Her suspicions were confirmed when Charlie hugged her back, albeit briefly.
She barely made it over the border before she saw a dragon flying high in the sky. She tried to hide, but it was useless. He saw her and she knew it too, because he immediately dove toward her. She panicked, and before she knew it, her wings were starting to sprout from her back.
“No,” she groaned and tried to suppress the change. Barely managing to contain her wings before the dragon landed, Arielle started to cry in relief when he didn’t see her shift. Her shirt, on the other hand, was going to be shredded in the back.
The dragon landed with a crash, and she recognized the color on his scales. Emerald green, blended with gray and black. His scales were the exact same shade as Matthew’s eyes, and Arielle was immediately put at ease. When he began to shift in front of her, she turned away to save herself from seeing him completely naked. Most dragons flew with a change of clothes in their claws here in Gilcurry. She’d seen it multiple times, and she hoped that he’d done the same. It was a random thought, but she didn’t want to have to see him naked. Not yet, at least.
His very human roar told her that he’d finished shifting behind her, but she didn’t turn around. “Where the hell have you been?” His voice was closer than she expected, but she still didn’t turn.
“Out,” she said while the anger built in her chest. All of the remorse she’d felt while talking to Charlie vaporized instantly with the way he was addressing her. He was treating her like she was a spoiled child, and not a grown woman.
“We thought you were gone … taken.” His tone didn’t shift.
Arielle still kept her back to him, staring up into the sky above Gilcurry. The stars made it beautiful. She heard him tapping on his phone and then silence.
“Yeah,” he said clearly not addressing her. “I found her on the border. I’ll bring her back.”
The definitive sound of the call being disconnected filled the tense silence between them. Although Arielle wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, she stood tall.
When he stepped around her, turning so that they were face to face, Arielle didn’t have a choice but to look up. Pulled into those
green eyes that she’d seen in the coffee shop, and the second they locked onto hers, she felt all of the worry and pain that she’d caused—which made no sense.
Arielle was supposed to be a job to him. Just a job to all of them, but when he pulled her into a hug a moment later, and then pressed a kiss to the top of her forehead, his heart was racing. If she was just a job to him, just an assignment from the Dragon King … why did it feel like there was so much more going on?
8
Matthew was lucky to have spotted Arielle when he did. Flying over Gilcurry took time and was annoying as hell, but it was the only way he felt useful while they searched. Stefan was being a dick, and Adam was acting like he didn't care that she was gone.
Arielle had vanished into thin air. The cameras weren't working yet, but there was no other scent at the house, but hers. If she'd left through the front door, someone would have seen her. None of her neighbors did, though. No one saw a dragon in the sky, or the princess on the move either. Stefan kept saying that there was nothing for them to do except go door to door. He was convinced that the man who tried to take her at the party had succeeded. Still Matthew, remembered the look in her eyes. He had seen that desire to flee, staring them all in the face.
Arielle had done this on her own. And when he saw her, sneaking back over the border coming into Gilcurry, he just about lost his mind.
He hit the ground, still in his dragon form and shifted quickly, despite the pain he was feeling from the overly rapid movement. While he got dressed, furiously yanking on the clothes he carried in his claws while flying, Matthew berated her for what she was thinking. After he called Stefan to tell him that he'd found her and that they were on their way back
Then, she turned around and the look in her stunning blue eyes almost brought him to his knees. The shock and trepidation in her eyes surprised him and he moved without thinking. Arielle was in his arms, his heart racing, and he didn't want to let her go.
He held her there, trying to assure himself that she was okay. Reminding himself that she wasn't harmed and that she was a job, a mission, slipped his mind when he had her there.
"You scared me," he said quietly. "You can't do that, not if we're expected to keep you safe."
Arielle sniffed, not saying anything as she kept her head pressed against his chest.
"Let's go," he said when he was finally calm enough to release her from his hold. "We need to get you home, where it's safe."
He pulled her along, expecting her to argue and refuse to go, but she went along with him.
"Why did you do it?" They were halfway to the center of town before he asked, and he almost didn't expect a response.
When she spoke, her voice didn't hold the same disdain that she'd had before. It was like she lost that part of her spirit, and that made him angry for an entirely unknown reason.
"Have you ever been to the human realm?" She sidestepped his question with one of her own, and Matthew had the sudden image pop into his head of her playing chess. He had no doubt that she'd be adept at it. Most likely, she'd wipe the board with all of them, keeping a smile on her face while she did it.
"Yes," he told her. "It's not something I do very often, because it's so different from home. But I've gone." Matthew didn't tell her that when he did, he was searching for something that he wasn't sure he'd be able to find. She wouldn't understand.
At his admission, Arielle stopped walking in the middle of the road. It was late, and he hadn't seen a car since he'd been out patrolling. Still, with a sigh he turned around fully expecting her to throw another temper tantrum. She didn't, instead she stared at him with a doe-eyed expression. Matthew fought the urge to reach forward and kiss her, barely keeping himself in check. Just a job.
"I want to be free," she told him. Then, she stepped around his body and kept walking toward her house through the center of Gilcurry.
He tried to mask the confusion he felt at her blunt admission. "You are free." It didn't take him long to catch up to her and match her sedate pace with his own. "I don't see why you had to go to the human realm to prove that."
"I want to see the world. To experience new things. I don't want to stay in my room like a good little dragon. I had an entire life of that, before Danica freed me."
Her words, so filled with pain, lanced Matthew through the chest, and he masked it with a subtle cough.
"I understand," he said solemnly. He really did, too. He understood the pain and heartbreak she must be feeling. "You know that your brothers are just trying to keep you safe, though. Because of who you are and what you are. You're precious not only to him, but to our entire world. He wants to keep those who would harm him through you, away from you. It may not be serious to you, but since someone tried to abduct you right in front of a room full of witches, dragons, and other shifters, tells us that they don't care about their lives. The mission they have is greater than they are. And dragons are inherently selfish beings. We're single-minded, and once we're put to a task, we will follow it blindly regardless of the danger we're in." Matthew took a deep breath, needing to refocus himself before he said something that he would regret.
"Why?" Her words were whispered, and he could feel the desolation pouring off her in waves.
"Because whether or not you like it, you're our princess. You're precious to our world. Beyond that, you're female and with a dying population, there will be men out there who want to force you into mating."
He saw her flinch at his blunt statement, and Matthew berated himself silently for putting that thought into her mind.
Thankfully, they'd made it home. He took a deep breath, relieved that their walk had been uneventful. He'd been on high alert the entire time, and although he wouldn't say it, he was slightly disappointed that nothing had happened. He hadn't had a reason to hurt anyone in months, and he could feel the urge to fight waiting just under his skin. It was causing him to be restless.
They were on the steps when the front door opened and Stefan stepped into the doorway.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Even Matthew took a step back at the vehemence in Stefan's words. "You could have been hurt, or taken. And there's nothing we would have been able to do about it."
"Stefan." Matthew stepped in front of Arielle to protect her from Stefan's pissy mood. "Stop. Before you say something you're going to regret."
"The only thing I regret," Stefan said angrily. "Is that I took this assignment from her brother in the first place." He pushed Matthew out of the way, and snapped at Arielle, "You're going to make it impossible for us to do our jobs. If we can't do our jobs, you will end up dead."
Showing fire that Matthew didn't know she had, Arielle stepped up to Stefan in challenge.
"I'd rather be dead than held prisoner," she said calmly, deceptively so. In a flash, her hand connected with Stefan's face, and Matthew chortled at the wince she had on her own face after the fact.
She clutched her palm to her chest, and Matthew reached out to comfort her, but she pulled away from him. "I'm fine."
Then she turned to Stefan, and Matthew was sure that he was going to have to step in to protect her from being hurt.
"My life is my own," she hissed.
Stefan took a step forward, obviously about to put her in her place. Matthew was on edge. They didn't need this and it was too public. Especially not in the middle of the front porch where anyone who decided to open a window or step out onto the street would be able to hear them.
"Let's take this inside," he suggested.
Stefan glared at him, before taking a deep breath and moving out of the way so they could get in.
"Drake has a lead on the man who tried to abduct her," Stefan told them both as they went into Arielle's house. "It's not good."
Of course it wasn't good, but Matthew didn't say it. He meant what he told Arielle on their walk home. Whoever did this, whoever was trying to kidnap her, was doing so with no concern for the repercussions.
"The man who tried to take her is
a mercenary. He served the Mad King, and he's known for abducting and killing any female dragons he can get his hands on. Even those who are mated. The only ones he leaves alone are the elderly ... those incapable of breeding."
Matthew was looking at Stefan, too busy trying to keep himself from stabbing his friend in the eye. Arielle didn't need to know that information. She didn't need to know the extent of the danger she was in. Actually, though, she really did. He was so busy trying to wrap his mind around Stefan being right that he completely missed that Arielle was panicking. Well, she was, but she wasn't. The first indication that something was wrong was the thud that came from behind him. Both Stefan and he turned around to see Arielle on the ground. She was curled in on herself, breathing heavily and rocking back and forth.
"Shit," Matthew said. He tried to touch her, but she whimpered and sunk even further into herself, if that was possible.
"What's wrong with her?" Stefan stared down at her, horrified.
"She's having a panic attack," Matthew explained. "Everyone experiences them differently, and it seems that her reaction is to protect herself." His mind raced with the implications. "It's most likely a result of her being abused at the hand of the Mad King."
The realization that Arielle was abused, or scarred at all, because of her father, had Matthew wanting to bring the dead man back to life so that he could destroy him all over again. His immediate violent, visceral response to Arielle's pain was confusing, and Matthew knew that he'd have to figure out why at some point.
"You know she's got PTSD," Adam said from behind them.
Matthew watched him finish the beer in his hand and set it on the table before he stepped forward slowly.
"They don't call it that anymore," Matthew said uselessly. Honestly, it didn't matter what it was called. Trauma and stress were so closely associated that it was almost normal to see. Looking at the small woman on the ground though, so horrified that she wouldn't let them touch her, Matthew didn't think he would ever get the image out of his mind.
Using Her Dragons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Omega Book 3) Page 6
