Noah waited until the women of the household were finished talking before he spoke. He’d been waiting for some time now, about forty-five minutes. But he knew that as soon as they were finished with their plans, they’d let him speak.
“I’d not count on it, my lord.” He grinned at William when he landed on his shoulder. “Do you suppose that they ever take the advice of others? They seemed to also be loud in their talking.”
Noah had made a comment that the women were very loud. And that had them turning on him so quickly that he had to remind himself that he was a dragon and much larger than them. After that, he’d decided that he’d not only keep his mouth shut but would wait. Glancing at the large grandfather clock in the room, he realized that he’d been wrong. It had been an hour and forty-five minutes. He needed to get their attention.
He’d always been good at whistling, and he had an attention grabbing one that could break glass should he do it long enough. But when he did it now, it had the exact result that he’d hoped for. They all three turned to him and glared. He supposed that he should have waited a bit longer.
“I have a question. Well, several, but this one needs to be answered for me to be able to keep up. The WC, Witches’ Council, is made up of three witches—none of them terribly smart, and all men. Why is that?” Bea winked at him as she sat on the couch beside him. “I’m pretty smart, if you’re thinking that I won’t understand.”
“It’s not that.” Laura sat down too as she continued. “They have always hated that I’m Bryce’s mother. And when she got her okay to be a full-fledged witch, working with them instead of against, I guess they hoped that Bryce would want to rid herself of the dead weight—what they called me—instead of what she chose as her one rule.”
“So, this trial of sorts, this is to try another way of getting rid of you.” Laura nodded. “And why would it matter to them one way or the other if Bryce has you as dead weight? I don’t believe for a moment that you are, but they should have a reason, shouldn’t they?”
“Oh, they do. They don’t like Mom. They think she’s a busybody and holds me back from my full potential.” When Bryce sat across from him, nearer the fireplace that was unlit, he wanted to get her and have her sit on his lap. But this was serious. “The day before I graduated with honors, they tried to say that I’d cheated, that my mom had put me up to it.”
Bea laughed, and he looked at her.
“It’s doubtful that anyone, for a great many years, will try that one again. Not only did Bryce prove to them that she’d not cheated, but she took the man to...I guess you could call it to task.” Bea laughed harder. “The man accusing her had been pitted against Bryce, because his thinking was that no woman would be stronger than a warlock. Anyway, I do believe that they’re still picking pieces of him out of the carpet. I told them to put in hardwood floors, but no one listened to me. They do now, thanks wholly to Bryce, but—”
“Grandma, you’re rattling on about things that Noah doesn’t need to know.” Bea patted him on the arm and said she’d fill him in later. Bryce continued, but now she had a tone to her voice that made him think she wasn’t happy with either of them. “They’re saying that my mother killed a man unjustly. And that I cannot represent her in front of the council.”
“She didn’t kill anyone. I’ll never believe that she did.” Laura turned to him and smiled. “You did it? You killed someone? Christ, now I have to know how.”
“He was trying to have his unwanted way with me. Not sexually, though that would have been so much worse. Douche head was trying to get me to let him experiment on my body.” Laura laughed. “The man thought that I should allow him to enlarge my breasts and other parts of my body so that he could touch them. He was doing an experiment, he told me, trying to figure out if the feelings were the same. I turned him down. I thought I had an ample enough bosom.”
“And I take it that it didn’t end after you said no.” She shook her head and glanced at Bryce. “Did your daughter protect your honor?”
“Oh no, I killed him. But it was the how I did it that has made the council upset. You see, when my husband was killed, they assumed that I’d follow him, the way the coven we were in at the time did it. If you didn’t die of a broken heart, then you never truly loved each other.” He said that dragons did that as well but weren’t made to do it. “Yes, well, I loved Austin, but not enough to die with him. I had family support, and that kept me going. Also, Bryce and Bea gave me a bit more magic to add to what Austin, Bryce’s father, had given me. It was enough to not only kill the man, but also more than enough that his death wasn’t easy. I was angry myself, as you can well understand.”
“Yes. I understand. And this man, the one you keep calling douche head, he was going to help you along with joining your mate?” Laura nodded, then shook her head. “He was there, but there was more to it, correct?”
“When they came for my mom after he—his name was David—was dead, they said that I had to kill my mom in the form of payment to his family. Since I’d already told them that my mother was the one person in the world that I’d never give up, they decided to make an example of me. That didn’t work out so well either. And now, they’re coming here to collect.” He asked what they were hoping to collect. “You. They know that I’ve taken a mate, that we’ve become one. However, what they don’t know, and I hope you plan to make them aware of, is that you’re a dragon.”
It took Noah several seconds to realize what she was saying. She wanted him to show himself to be a dragon, and maybe warn them off. Noah was still laughing when William went to sit on the shoulder of Bryce, something that he’d never seen him do before.
“Yes, I’ll do this. Gladly. But what if they don’t care that I’m a dragon, and try to take me anyway? I’m sure that they’re going to try.” Bryce said that he could count on it. “Then what? Do I get myself in trouble too?”
“No. You burn one of them. They won’t die, not this group, but by hurting one of them, to prove that you and I aren’t a couple to fuck with, then they’ll back off.” He asked her if she knew this or hoped that it would make them back off. “I’m hoping. They’ve been chasing this dream of taking my mom for some time now. And I want it to end.”
“They wish to control you, my lady.” Everyone turned to look at William. “I have seen their minds. Nasty places, if you should like to know. They know that you are stronger than them. And should you wish it, you could take over and make the rules. They think that you won’t make the rules to suit yourself, as they have done, but that your rules will benefit all witches.”
“I don’t want to run the council.” He asked Bryce why not. “Because it turns a person into something else. A man that I knew and admired was put on that thing, and now he’s starting to be no better than the rest of them. No, I don’t want to be something that I’m not.”
“Black was always as you know him, worse now that he has some power. He hid it in his head that you and he could become close. So that he could be the voice of reason when it would benefit him. And now that he’s where he is, high man on the council, he’s decided to use the power that he was given to kill you.” Bryce looked at him, and then at her grandmother. “If they can control you, by any means, they’ll kill those that mean the most to you. After that, they feel that they will be in a better position to make you do as they wish.”
“I don’t understand. I already dislike Kurt. How does he think this is going to get me to trust him?” William said that grief can make a person do odd things. “Yes, I know that too. So, their plan is to take my mate and hold him over my head. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll more than likely kill him too, if they can, and let me think that it was some sort of accident.”
“Your family will be targeted as well should you prove to be less than helpful to them. There will be trouble, not just for Lord Noah, but for us and the faerie queen as well.”
Noah knew that if called upon to help, all the faeries of the world would come to their
aid. He just hoped it never came to that.
Noah watched Bryce think. She was very quiet, unlike him, who would toss out idea after idea. She didn’t fidget either, just sat there looking relaxed while she went through more ideas than the council would ever think of—or for that matter, think that she’d ever think of—and then discarded them.
“There are others that we can call on, Bryce.” She nodded and looked at Bea when she said more to her granddaughter. “There is a governing council that oversees the WC. They’re very difficult to get in touch with, but I do believe that one of them told Bryce once that he would be at her beck and call. She saved him, you see.”
“I didn’t save him. I simply told him that he’d be better served in not marrying Janice. She wasn’t what he wanted in a mate.” Bryce shook her head. “Most people that met him would have known that it wasn’t women that he was attracted to. That’s all I did, just pointed out that he might want to pursue that avenue before marrying the first woman that he slept with.”
Noah loved his new family. They were witty, fun, and a group of the most beautiful women that he’d been around in a long time. And they made him feel like he could take on the world. He wasn’t sure why he felt that when he was with them, but he did feel that if they ever needed him, he could slay...well, slay another dragon should they need for him to.
“I have an idea. But it’s going to take some help from William.” The little man puffed out his chest and told Bryce that he’d do anything for her. “You might want to wait until you hear what it is first. You might just want to take that back.”
“Never, my lady. I am here to serve you.” She nodded and looked at Noah. If she was asking for permission, he couldn’t give it to her. William now belonged solely to Bryce. “He will have his own faerie now, my lady. I was with him only until you showed up. Not to say that I have not enjoyed my time with him, but he will need a female faerie, to balance him out. As I will do for you.”
“Okay, but if you don’t want to do this, then that’s fine too. And before too much more time goes by, I want you to get to know Fred. He’s my animal to call.” She looked at Noah again. “Unless you’d like the job. Fred has wanted to retire someplace warm for a long time now. If you would be my animal to call, then that would make things easier for us both.”
“Yes, I’ll do that for you.” He had no idea what that meant, other than he’d be there for her. And since that was his plan anyway, he thought he could do this as well. “What do I have to do?”
Before she could tell him why she was smiling, he realized that he should have asked that before he said he’d do it. His body felt like it was humming. That his dragon was somehow being hurt. And before he could guess what was happening to him, the pain took his breath away and called his dragon.
~*~
Bea couldn’t stop laughing, and it seemed that the more Noah glared at her, the harder she wanted to laugh. His dragon hadn’t found it very humorous either when he’d been ordered out of the house an hour ago. They were separate beings now, man and beast, and Bea hadn’t expected that to happen.
“You can put him back.” Noah growled at Bryce. “You said you’d do it. It’s not my fault that you just jumped right in and said—”
“You at least warned William. Why wasn’t I given the same warning?” Noah asked Bryce what she said when she mumbled. “I can’t hear you. Did you just tell me this way was more fun? I’ll have you know that we’ll never get those scratches out of the floor. And the fireplace is ruined.”
“Oh, you sound like an old woman.” Bryce’s reply made Bea laugh all the harder. Noah sort of did act and sound like an old woman. But Bryce wasn’t finished with him yet. “We can have the faeries fix things back. Will that make poor little Noah feel better?”
He growled again just before he leapt at Bryce. As they rolled around on the floor, Bea made her way to the kitchen. Laughter rang through the house, and Bea thought that the sound would make a wonderful doorbell sound just as the infernal thing started ringing. Going to the door, Bea jerked it open before the person on the other side rang it again.
“Yes?” The woman looked at her, then to her left. Bea knew who was there—Noah had come to see who it was as well. Just as she was going to ask the woman again who she might be, she looked at Noah.
“They told me that you were the best there is at figuring it out. My brother, he was killed several weeks ago, and the police keep telling me that it was suicide. It wasn’t. Parker would never do anything like that.”
Noah invited the woman in and led her into the parlor as she continued to talk. Bea made her way to the kitchen again. Asking for some tea and something to go with it had every creature in the room vying for a chance to put something on the plates. She watched as a high pitch of buzzing and talking accompanied the little creatures, arguing over what was the proper way to put things together. But as soon as Bryce walked into the room, it was as if a spell had been put upon them to freeze where they were. The only movement was their wings.
“We have a guest, as I’m sure that you’re aware of. And since she was able to step over the threshold, you also must be aware that she has no desire to hurt anyone in this house.” Bea hadn’t known that was there, that little bit of protection, but was glad for it. “All right. She is tired and upset and flittering about in this room is not making her welcome. I want you to figure out who will be in charge of the kitchen area, and for that person to hire as many of you as they wish for this room. After that, I’ll take requests for the rest of the household.”
Bea was impressed. Her granddaughter had taken to being in charge like a pro. And when one of the faeries shifted from their tiny self to a little elderly woman, she knew that they had a cook now.
“I’m simply called Flower, my ladies. I will organize and take care that the kitchen is well stocked and good meals come from here.” Bryce thanked her. “I should like to have me four helpers, if you will please allow it. I might need more, but we can take care of that as we go, if you please.”
“Perfect. Now, we’ll need a butler. William will be my faerie from now on, and I will have Noah’s dragon as my animal to call. You all are aware of what we women are, so if you wish to not stay, that is perfectly fine with me. Also, we will need garden workers, as many as wish to work with the flowers and such. And the rest…well, I guess we’ll work those out as we go.”
A young man—more than likely older than both her and Bryce put together, Bea realized—was dressed in a lovely suit, as well as the whitest gloves she’d ever seen. He asked to be called Melville. It was from a story that he had heard once, and he loved the name.
“Good. Now, take the tray of cookies and tea and such into the parlor. From now on, please ask before we take something. They might not have a wish to harm us, but that doesn’t mean we want to make them comfortable. But then I’m sure as butler, Melville, you’ll be able to tell when they’ll wear out their welcome fast or not.” Melville said that he would, bowed to them and took the tray. Bryce looked at her. “Grandma, I’m sure you could use some help in the gardens. Please do take a few with you so that you’re not alone. I don’t know that anyone would want to harm you, but you never know.”
“I will, darling. And I must say, you’re doing very well as queen of the castle.” Bryce stuck her tongue out at her and and Bea laughed. “There she is. I knew that the real Bryce couldn’t stay hidden for long.”
She went with her to the parlor. Noah was comforting the woman on the chair, and just shook his head when she asked if things were all right. When they were all seated, Bea served the tea and cookies while the woman, her name was Hannah Westin, was wiping her tears.
“Hannah has a brother, Parker, who was found dead five weeks ago of an apparent suicide. Since then he’s been cremated without her permission, and his ashes have been returned to her. The problem is, she can’t get anyone to help her figure out why he did it, nor where his body was found. All the police are telling her is that it’s
a rough side of town, and that she should be happy that anyone found him at all.” Bryce asked why she didn’t believe them. “Ah…well, there has been a time, recently, that the entire town thought that the station house was corrupt. And that they’re hiding things, such as the death of her brother, because of something that they did to him. Parker was a good man—studying for the priesthood, as a matter of fact.”
“And what are they saying to you about the place, other than it’s in a terrible location?” Hannah said that was all she could get. “And the newspaper. What did they print up about it?”
She pulled out a file with papers in it and handed it to Bryce. Hannah said that was all they had written. That they’d printed almost word for word what the police had told her.
“That a man had been found in an undetermined area of the town and that he had committed suicide. How on earth can they say an undetermined area? That’s saying that they don’t have any idea where he was found. Idiots.” Bea noticed that Hannah was getting fired up, and a little of her sadness was gone. “I want to find out what happened. I need to know. My brother was all I had in the world, and now they’re saying this crap about him. Please, I’ll pay you whatever you want. Just please tell me the truth. That’s all I ever wanted.”
Noah looked over the newspaper clippings and asked several questions about them. Bryce sat there, not really looking at anyone, but Bea had a feeling that she could tell what everyone had said and knew where everything was in the room. But for now, she was working on something. This was how she did it best.
“I’ll go and look for you.” Hannah thanked Noah. “Don’t thank me yet. Whatever I find out, it might not be anything you want to hear. Are you going to be prepared for that?”
“Yes. As I said, I need to know what happened. If it turns out that he killed himself, then I’ll have to live with that. But if he didn’t, I want to know why the police and everyone around me is trying their best to cover it up.” Noah nodded and looked over at Bryce. “I’ll pay you whatever you wish.”
Noah: House of Wilkshire ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 5
