by Kimber White
I could have said a hundred different things. Pleasantries reserved for normal people. Are you okay? Do you have everything you need? Those were things she could never say yes to again.
The reason for her pain formed an ugly scar on the back of her neck. Her Alpha’s Mark. Given to her in love by her fated mate. A wolf from my father’s pack who’d stayed and fought while I was hundreds of miles away. She told me he’d died in her arms. If my mother hadn’t been nearby, Maria would have taken her own life right after.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know my face causes you pain. I know I look just like my father.”
She didn’t turn. “I don’t want to talk about him,” she said. “You’re here. So you want something. Ask your questions, then go.”
I sat down at her kitchen table. Maria lit another cigarette. I declined when she offered me one. I knew why she smoked them. She was trying to mask my scent.
“I’m looking for someone,” I said. “Or… information, really. There was a transport, twenty shifters and their mates. I need to know if they got out safely. My sources tell me they came through Luna Point.”
Maria could have feigned ignorance. But we both knew no matter how much she wanted to remove herself from the rest of the world, nothing went on in Luna Point she didn’t hear about.
“I can’t help you,” she said. “And if you’re looking for transport out of here, you’re about a decade too late, Colm.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I just want to know what you know about that transport. It matters to someone I care about.”
That got a brow raise from her. She took a drag on her cigarette. “You’ve spent fifteen years trying to prove you only care about yourself. What’s changed?”
I didn’t answer. I cast my eyes downward, but not quickly enough.
“Shit,” she said. “Get out of it, Colm. For God’s sake. Don’t bring her here. Go absolutely anywhere but here. That transport you’re so interested in? It was the last one.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Luna Point is finished. They signed another treaty. Two weeks from now, this place belongs to the government,” she said.
My pulse skyrocketed. “They can’t do that. We’re part of the NZ.”
“Were,” she said. “And it’s already happening. I take it you didn’t actually go through town. Smart.”
“No,” I said. I was careful not to tell her exactly how I got here. Alarm bells went off. I wanted to get back to Cassia and fast. Now that Maria said it, the lack of shifter presence on my way in should have clued me in to something bigger going on.
“Somebody talked,” she said. “That transport made waves. Too big. Too much. Too fast. Whoever thought they could pull that off fucked things over but good for the rest of the body smugglers.”
“Brandhart,” I said, using a tone that I knew made it sound like a curse word. Hell, if everything Maria said was true, I wouldn’t be the only one. No wonder he’d dropped off the face of the earth.
Maria stared me down. “What do you know about him?” she asked. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“The transport,” I said. “Maria, what happened to it?”
She got a far off look in her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m being honest. I mean…I don’t know how it happened. But they said it was a massacre. Someone tipped off the Ring. They made an example of them. The story was, they executed the shifters on it and took their mates into occupied territory. By now, I’m sure they’ve been sold off for forced matings. Rumor I heard was most of the women were shipped overseas.”
My heart turned to stone. Fucking Brandhart. How the hell could he have let something like that happen? It made me think whatever happened to him he’d deserved.
“All of them,” I said, swallowing hard. “They killed all the shifters?”
“Well,” she said. “That’s the story.”
“What do you mean story?” I said. “These were public executions?”
She put out her cigarette. “The trucks came, Colm. I thought my number was finally up. But they left me and everyone else who already lived here alive. They brought us to the Lodge and told us about the transport. The air had that stench. Dead shifters. They spared us having to watch it. We were told if they found out any of us knew or helped that transport, they’d execute us next.”
“And sent you home so you could warn everyone else,” I said. Christ. I mouthed my next question. “Are they watching you now?”
Maria’s eyes narrowed. She gave me a long, cold look. Her shoulders fell, and she shook her head no.
“Brandhart,” I said. “The intel I got was Xander Brandhart was the smuggler behind it. Do you know if that’s true?”
She nodded. “He was there,” she said. “Big dude. A mage, I think. He had that smell about him. Fire. He looked like he might have been powerful once. Not anymore. He bore it all as well as can be expected. That was maybe six months ago.”
“They killed him in front of you?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Carved him up pretty good though. Not that it mattered. They had him neutered anyway. I didn’t see her there, but they had his mate.”
“You’re sure?” I asked. “You saw her?”
I pulled out the picture of Shae Brandhart that Cassia had given me, the one that looked so much like her.
Maria leaned forward and looked at it. She tilted her head to the side. “No,” she said. “At least, I didn’t see her. My guess is they shipped her off right beforehand.”
I slipped the photo back in my pocket. “Where were they holding the mates, Maria? Can you tell me that?”
She let out a breath. “They have one of yours, don’t they?” she asked.
I didn’t answer. I simply met her gaze. She frowned.
“Maria, please,” I said. “Tell me where they took them. Then I’ll never come here again. I promise.”
“If I tell you I might as well be signing your death warrant. I know that look in your eyes.”
“Don’t tell me you promised my mother you’d look out for me,” I said.
That’s when Maria went stone cold. “Your mother? You think I owe her anything?”
Maria spit on the ground at my feet. “I already told you. The Lodge,” she said. “They’re holding the mates at the Lodge. Now go. Keep your promise to me and never, ever come back here. Because you’re right. You look too damn much like your father.”
I rose. I turned my back on Maria and let my wolf out. It twisted my heart to hear her cry as I ran out the front door.
Chapter 16
Cassia
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been truly alone like this. Back home on Angel Lake, my uncles kept a watchful eye after my father left. They loved me. But it felt like a prison. I’d lied to them all about coming here to the Neutral Zone. They would have tried to stop me. I made them think I’d made my peace with my parents’ disappearance. All of their efforts to find them had failed.
The silvery expanse of Lake Erie beckoned. I’d never stepped on these shores before. My father had. Even now, I could feel his presence. But it was only an echo. A ghost. I stepped to the water’s edge. My cloaking magic swirled around me.
There was no need for it. I closed my eyes and inhaled. There were no other shifters here. Not today. Only one. I reached out with my mind. Colm’s pulse filled me. He was calm. He was coming.
I let out another breath and pushed off from the beach. My wings spread behind me, lifting me above the water. I went as high as I dared, then opened my eyes.
Luna Point stretched before me, its ruined lighthouse casting a long shadow. It was quiet there. I would ask Colm, but I sensed maybe five hundred people spread out through town. I wished I could fly and swoop like my father did. But my wings weren’t as powerful. I could go high, not far.
Fire rose within me, crackling along my spine.
I saw him. Rather, I saw him as an infrared heat signature streaking through the wooded area just b
eyond the beach.
My heart skipped. Desire flared through me. Colm. My wolf. I hovered above the water, waiting.
His wolf was beautiful. No. That wasn’t even the right word for it. Black as night with golden eyes that sparkled. He came to the shore and lifted his head.
He couldn’t see me. And yet, he knew I was there. Colm lifted his head and let out a howl that sent shivers of pleasure through me. My lust hit me so suddenly, I lost my focus and went careening downward. I recovered just in time to get my hands out in front of me so when I hit the water; I went in headfirst in an arcing dive.
I let the magic go. I came up for air and saw Colm standing waist deep in the water. He’d let his magic go too. His muscled chest glistened in the moonlight as I found my feet and went to him.
His glittering eyes found mine. His hunger, his naked lust sent a shockwave through me. My clothes clung to me. I pushed my wet hair back and went to him.
“You were supposed to stay out of sight in the dunes,” Colm said, his voice deep and filled with concern.
“No one can see me but you,” I said. We stood in the water. I felt like I needed it, or I wouldn’t be able to bear my own heat let alone his.
There was something in his eyes. His expression. God. He looked sad.
“Colm,” I said, my voice breaking. “You found out something. Tell me.”
“I need to know what you can do,” he said. “All of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I can’t… if… It’s not safe here. I never should have brought you. You should go back to Angel Lake and stay with your uncles.”
“Stop it,” I said, my anger rising. “Tell me.”
He bared his teeth and advanced on me. “I need to know. You’ve been telling me for days how you can take care of yourself. So prove it. Show me what a dragon halfling is made of.”
“What?” I could barely catch my breath. Colm’s eyes narrowed. His fangs dropped. He moved so quickly it almost didn’t register. Then he was on me.
Powerful claws dug into my shoulders. He dragged me down, pushing me beneath the waves. Water filled my lungs. I thrashed, unable to break his grip.
My fire. I needed air to let it out. He denied me. I pushed against him, but Colm was so strong.
Finally, I twisted in his grip. My wings sprang out. The force of it knocked Colm backward. Choking, gasping, I got my head above water.
Colm started to get his feet under him. Primal instinct took over. I inhaled and blasted him straight in the chest with a column of rainbow-colored fire.
Colm’s whole body jerked. My fire lifted him. He landed hard, sending up a wall of water.
Fueled by his shifter strength, he recovered in an instant. This time, he shifted completely. His wolf charged me. I shot straight into the air and hovered ten feet above him.
Colm growled, but retreated. He completed his shift and walked out of the water on two legs.
Anger boiled through me as I came back down. My legs ached as I trudged through the water and went to the beach to join him.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked.
Colm’s chest heaved from the exertion of his little exercise. “Not bad,” he said. “You’ve got some tricks if you get cornered.”
“You could have just asked!” I shouted.
Smiling, he gripped me by the shoulders. “When was the last time someone came at you intending to do you real harm?”
He was so close. His breath kissed my cheek. I was mad at him. I wanted to scratch his eyes out. And yet, my sex throbbed with heat and it took everything in me not to go to all fours and offer myself to him.
He knew it. I felt it in the pounding of his own pulse as it matched my own. As much as I wanted to submit to him, his need to dominate made his wolf eyes flare.
“When?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“The answer is never, isn’t it?” he asked. “They’ve protected you. Your father. Your uncles.”
“I handled you well enough!” I spat.
Colm rubbed a hand across his chin. His eyes raked over me. Measuring me. Judging me. But his lust bled through it all.
“I don’t want you dead,” he said. “Or worse.”
“Are you done?” I said. “Did you get that out of your system? No. You’re right. My father’s done a good job of keeping me safe. That doesn’t mean I’m defenseless.”
“What does Dragonsteel do to you?” he asked. Colm circled me. He kept his fighter’s stance, practically hopping on the balls of his feet.
“Stop it,” I said, not liking his intense gaze one bit. No. That wasn’t it. God. I wanted to bend to it. The flesh at the base of my neck pulsed with heat. I craved his bite. His mark.
“Can it hold you?” he asked. “If I chained you up?”
A groan escaped my lips. I didn’t intend it. But, fuck. I wanted him to chain me up. I wanted to give myself to him in every way I could.
“What about Dragonstone?” he asked.
“It would kill me,” I said. “Same as you if I got shot with it in a kill zone. Same as…”
Colm’s eyes went wide. “That’s how you kill a dragon,” he said. He wore the Dragonstone ring on his pinky. He raised it. “Then why the hell would you barter with it?”
I set my jaw and glared at him. Colm understood. “Shit. You were never planning on letting me keep it. Christ, Cassia. That’s a pretty risky move. What if those bears had stolen it from me?”
I let out a breath. “It’s not… It’s a forgery. A very good one. I made it from an opal and scored it with Dragonfire to give it that glow and that… vibe you get when you’re holding it. Only another dragon would be able to tell the difference.”
Colm’s eyes narrowed. He looked ready to attack. Then, his face split into a grin and he threw his head back and laughed. I smiled. He came to me and kissed me deeply, making my blood hum. When he pulled away, his eyes grew dark again.
“But the real thing, it could kill you?” he asked.
My throat ran dry. Everything. I’d given him everything. Without thinking, I pressed my palm against the base of my neck. His eyes flashed.
“Yes,” I said, knowing there was no point in lying to him anymore. He could feel my truth pulsing through me, just like I could feel his.
“And it’s the same for them,” he said, “Your mother and father. Fated mates.”
“Yes,” I said. “Colm. Stop this. Tell me what you found out. I know it was bad news. I can… I feel it in you.”
He bared his teeth, dropping his fangs once more. He clenched his fists and let out a fierce growl.
“They’ll use you,” he said. “If the Ring gets close to you…God…if they find out what you are.”
“I can…”
“Don’t!” he shouted. “Don’t fucking say you can take care of yourself because you can’t. Against one or two shifters, maybe. If you reacted fast enough, you could push away with your wings like you did to me. Can you dodge a bullet? And now we know you can be drowned. It keeps your fire from you. Dammit, Cassia. You’re too… You’re too fucking valuable to go any farther. You have to go home. You have to go to your uncles and stay with them.”
“No,” I said. “No way. We’re close. You found them, didn’t you? My parents. You know what happened. Tell me.”
Tears stung my eyes. Colm flinched, feeling my pain.
“No,” I said. “I’m not as physically strong as you are. But you’d be dead if it weren’t for me. Did you forget that already? It was my blood that healed you from those bear attacks.”
Colm ran a hand over the now faint scars on his chest. “So that’s true too,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “I…at least…for you. I’ve never tried anything like that before. It just… It just happened.”
He was on me. Colm caught my wrists and pulled me against him. “Does your blood heal other shifters, or just me?”
Blinded by lust, I tilted my head back, exposing my nec
k to him. “I… God. I don’t know.”
“But a full dragon, like your father. Your uncles. Their blood could heal anyone. Of anything.”
I nodded. “Yes. If they got there in time.”
“Fuck,” Colm said. “That would be worth…”
I jerked away from him. “That knowledge isn’t for sale. I’ll kill anyone who tries to use it against my family.”
It was my turn to test Colm. I let my fire out. It caught him off guard. He landed on his back and I pressed my advantage. I jumped on top of him.
Wind kicked up, sending my hair flying around my face. I drew a breath. I could have done it. One blast of heat. Colm’s eyes locked with mine, daring me.
Then, slowly, his lips curled into a wicked smile. A different kind of heat took over my heart.
Colm threaded his fingers through my hair and drew me down to him. I melted into him. He rolled me, pinning me to the ground. Instinct drove me and I spread my legs, wrapping them around his waist.
He was naked, his erection pressing hard against me. His fingers were skilled and nimble as he freed me from my clothes. I reached for him, sliding my hand around his hardness.
“I want you,” he growled.
“Yes,” I gasped.
Then, he guided himself into me. I opened for him. My body fit around him. So deep. So right. I clawed at his back and the world fell away.
Chapter 17
Colm
Cassia glowed. She lay on the beach, spread out before me with her back arched. I devoured her.
The secret parts of her tasted like salt and honey. I loved the way she groaned when I licked her there. She tore her fingers through my hair, drawing me closer.
I licked my way along her thigh, over her stomach, swirling around her belly button then up and up until I caught her nipple gently between my teeth.
“Bring it,” I whispered. A command. A dare. She didn’t need to be told what I meant.
With two fingers, I spread her folds and slid inside of her. Her heat surrounded me.
“Bring it now!” I shouted.
