Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5

by Emilia Hartley

  In the morning, she would make herself a big breakfast and remember to prep dinner for once. She’d make something nice to ask her uncle for forgiveness. Everyone screwed up once in a while. Surely, he would forget all about this.

  ***

  Ryker was restless once again. Dark had fallen over the mountains, over Grove. The tiny town glittered with little lights. Somewhere down there, Kennedy and Wyatt were cuddling the night away. Behind him, Makenna and Ashton were probably driving Jasper mad and keeping him out of trouble.

  Unable to sleep, Ryker had taken to the skies. He flew over town. The wind whistled beneath his wings and slipped between his claws like water. It’d been a long time since he’d felt comfortable enough to shift and fly so freely. The past years he’d been moving from city to city, always surrounded by humans who wouldn’t understand the presence of a dragon.

  The other shifters in the crew had it easy. Sighting a wolf or a bear was strange, but explainable. A dragon, on the other hand, was impossible. Despite everything he hated about the mountains, he couldn’t argue that being able to fly was more than worth the silence.

  He coasted over town, high enough that no one would sight him immediately. Below, he glimpsed a familiar house, one he’d driven past numerous times the night before. He hadn’t realized where he was going until he was there. He’d tried to call her again, but she hadn’t answered.

  Ryker should have taken that as a sign that she wasn’t interested, but his beast clearly disagreed. The creature had sought her out again.

  He twisted, intending to drag the beast away, when shouting came from the ground below. It was faint at this height. He never would have heard it if it hadn’t been for his dragon abilities. Immediately, he swooped toward the ground below. There was an empty lawn behind Mina’s house that he landed in. His claws tore up the turf.

  He didn’t stop to think about the damage he was causing. All he cared about was the shouting inside. Lights flicked on and the shouting grew louder. Then, the back door flew open and Mina stepped out into the night.

  She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the giant dragon in her backyard.

  “What are you doing here?” Mina hissed, eyes wide.

  Her arms were crossed over her chest, but her shoulders were hunched. Ryker looked to the house behind her and growled. Someone inside was hurting her. Ryker wanted to make them stop, make them apologize. He wanted to carry Mina far away from here.

  “Get out of here,” she said, waving her hands at him like she was shooing a stray dog.

  He should have known better. Mina didn’t want him.

  Still, he wanted to protect her. Their relationship had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Ryker lowered his head to get a better look at her. In his dragon form, his sight was sharper. Tears fell down her cheeks. A growl filled his throat.

  She wiped at her face as if she could hide them now that he’d seen the evidence. Her hair was mussed, tangled on one side. Did she have a boyfriend that he didn’t know about? He hadn’t smelled male on her. He’d assumed that she was single.

  No one came to the door behind her. He was tempted to force his way inside and stomp on whoever was hiding in there, but it was Mina’s house. He wouldn’t destroy it like that.

  Ryker lowered his whole body to the ground so that he was level with her. She let her hands drop, no longer trying to shoo him away. In fact, she stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ryker moved, tilting his head to keep her from accidentally stabbing herself on a rigid spike.

  How she thought he was cuddly was beyond him. Ryker was the sharpest of all the dragons. Spikes ran down the length of his back and clustered at the tip of his tail. He looked as though he were made for fighting, and for doing the most damage in a fight.

  “Your nipple ring has nothing on your dragon form,” she mumbled against his scales.

  The sound of her voice so near his ears comforted his enraged beast. He let out a breath and leaned into her, careful not to knock her over. Whatever had been going on inside was now over. Ryker couldn’t go inside and change it. It wasn’t his place, though he wanted it to be. He didn’t know how much trouble he would cause by marching in there butt-naked.

  When Mina pulled back, he tossed his head toward the skies. He wanted to see her beast. It also meant that as long as she was in his company, she wasn’t inside that house. He would know she was safe, at the very least.

  “I can’t.” Mina shook her head. “I have work in the morning.”

  Work at my house, Ryker thought. He wouldn’t be mad if she was a little late or if she took the day off for herself. Once more, he tossed his head. This time, he flapped his wings. A trellis against the house shuddered unsteadily.

  Mina shook her head again, but he saw her indecision. One foot was placed forward. She wanted to fly with him, but something held her back. He had no voice to ask her why she wouldn’t fly or what scared her. All he could do was wait for her to come to a decision.

  To make things easier, he shuffled around so that he was faced away from her. If she wanted privacy while she shifted, he could give it to her. Though, the desire to peek was overwhelming, he distracted himself with an oversized rock embedded in the ground. He poked at it with his claws, pried it out of the earth, and pushed it around.

  A small beast crept around him. She was nearly half his size and as dark as the night sky. Tiny silver spots glittered on her scales like the stars above. Ryker was at a loss for words, grateful that he couldn’t speak anyway. At least he couldn’t embarrass himself as he fumbled with his tongue.

  Mina looked up at him, her head slightly cocked. He let out a sound, his beast pleased. She bobbed her head. She leapt over the fence separating her yard from the next and spread her wings wide. In moments, Mina was in the air. She circled above to reach higher and higher.

  The house behind him shook when he opened his wings and beat the air. He pushed off the ground and launched into the sky after her. She snapped her wings closed and rolled out of the way. He watched her wings open again and the air lift her away from him. He growled and gave chase.

  They frolicked, flying after one another for what felt like hours. More than once, Ryker lost her. She became the night sky and disappeared. His heart would thump and then he would catch a hint of movement, stars dancing just out of sight. The rushing of wind filled his ears with a soft roar as he tucked his wings into his body and dove after her.

  Mina twisted out of the way. He caught nothing but empty air. They did this a few times, until the light of early morning began to bleed over the horizon. He knew they would both have to return to their lives soon, but the desire to continue frolicking was nearly overwhelming. He flexed his claws, like he could cling on to the moment and make it last forever.

  She’d already turned back toward home, dutifully returning despite whatever had shaken her earlier. Ryker wanted to shift back to his human form and pull her aside to make sure she was safe, but Mina went on without him. Before he could do anything, she was landing on the ground.

  He circled overhead. Mina, back in her human form, didn’t waste a moment before running back inside. She was a flash of pale skin and dark hair. There and then gone.

  Ryker found himself hoping this wouldn’t be all there was to their relationship. He craved more of her laughter, of her carefree playfulness in the air.

  Chapter Seven

  Mina was exhausted the next day. On her way to Ryker’s house in the mountain, she stopped and used her meager change purse to buy an iced coffee, hoping the cool liquid would shock her awake. She hadn’t meant to spend all night flying with Ryker. The hours had slipped away from her, nary a thought about responsibility on her mind while she was beside him.

  It meant she only got a couple hours of sleep before she had to dash out the door in a frantic rush. Thankfully, she managed to bypass her uncle. He was probably still asleep after having woken her in the middle of the night.
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  Mina knew that sneaking inside was a risk and that her uncle would find her eventually. In the moment, she’d been too tired to care. It’d felt like she’d barely laid her head down before he burst into her room. He shouted and flung his hands, claiming she no longer cared about her family, that she was a disrespectful brat.

  A spark of bravery had ignited inside her and she’d tried to defend herself. She really had. The words had been on the tip of her tongue, but her uncle was too loud. He was too dominant. In the end, Mina had trudged downstairs to make his dinner. As soon as she finished, she ran outside.

  It’d been a surprise to find Ryker in her back yard. The way he’d looked at the house, with murderous intent in his metallic eyes, had frightened her. Not because she thought he would actually hurt anyone, but because she feared what his presence meant.

  Ryker was far above her. If her uncle knew she was hanging out with a metallic dragon, he would tell her to look for a new job, one where she didn’t interact with anyone. He would remind her that it wasn’t her place to even look at a man like Ryker. Already, Mina knew she was indulging in attention that never should have been hers.

  Ryker should have been searching for a mate to keep him company and give him little dragons. Not flying in the middle of the night with Mina. The difference between them was staggering after she’d shifted. Her beast was easily half his size. Where he was elegance with his sleek steel scales, she was a mess of white spots on murky blue.

  Iced coffee in hand, she rushed inside, not once stopping to notice that the door was unlocked. She quickly set up and got to work. The boxes were finished, tucked away in the bins that Ryker hadn’t realized were for recycling. Now, she had to dust and wipe down the windows.

  What then? Once the house was clean, she wouldn’t have a job here anymore. It should have been a good thing, but she found herself mourning. Having Ryker in her life had been an unexpected surprise. He was much nicer than she thought the metallic dragons would be, despite his frightening appearance.

  While she was deep in thought about Ryker, the front door opened. She hadn’t seen him at all since she arrived and, when she stood, she went looking for him. The man standing in the foyer was not Ryker. Mina had to school her face to hide her disappointment.

  He stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes wide in appreciation as he took in the house around him. Those eyes flashed metallic when the light caught them. It was another of the court, Mina realized.

  “I didn’t know what the floor looked like,” the man commented. He laughed and shook his head before noticing Mina trying to retreat.

  She stopped, feeling all too much like a rabbit in the headlights. Her blood ran cold and her feet turned to bricks.

  “I didn’t know Ryker was seeing someone,” the man said. “If you guys are busy, I can come back later.”

  Mina was shocked by the idea that anyone would think Ryker would date her until she looked down at herself. Her work smock was still in the car and her hair was kind of a mess. Anyone might assume she’d slept over from the way she looked.

  “Ah, I’m not…” She struggled to find the right thing to say. “I’m just, you know, cleaning.” She waved her duster as if that explained it all.

  He narrowed his eyes, clearly not following, until his lips formed an O of understanding. He slapped his hand over his forehead. “I completely forgot about the maid service. I’m standing here thinking about how clean the place looks and I didn’t even think about that.”

  She offered a small smile. All she wanted to do was slink back into the shadows and get on with her job. Ryker had not shown up yet, and she felt oddly vulnerable being alone with this dragon. Mina shouldn’t even be in the same room as him.

  “Have you seen my fool of a cousin?” the dragon man asked, stepping further into the house.

  Mina just shook her head. She wished he would appear in the doorway, perhaps at the top of the stairs. She wouldn’t blame him for sleeping in after the night they’d had, but the house didn’t smell like he’d been there recently. Ryker’s scent was faded, especially now that the house was cleaner.

  The man scowled and turned looked out the windows, his gaze going blank. He shook his head. “It was his turn to host family day,” the man said with a sigh.

  “Family day?”

  He snorted. She caught the glimmer of bronze in his eyes and thought this must be Wyatt Drake. Mina was fairly sure she could tell the difference between copper and bronze. Last she heard, Ashton was a trickster, and this man wasn’t particularly funny or troublesome.

  “We aren’t the tight-knit group we should be, so Ashton thought it would help to get together every week. He has experience in team-building, according to the bank, but I can’t help but wonder what they’re teaching him. I don’t think charades or pin-the-tail-on-the-dragon is all that inspiring.”

  Mina couldn’t stop the laugher bubbling out of her. “Pin-the-tail-on-the-dragon?”

  Wyatt groaned. “Ashton went out and special ordered a poster that looks like Ryker and hung it in Jasper’s house. They’ve been pinning studs and spikes on it for weeks. When we get together, he has us trying to pin a mini flail he got at a renaissance faire to the dragon’s ass.”

  “Now that I would like to see,” Mina said before she remembered herself.

  It wasn’t her place. Their family days were for metallic dragons. Not lowly chromatic beasts like her. She pressed her lips together and half turned away, trying to hint that she’d like to go back to work. Already, she’d wasted too much of Wyatt’s time.

  “You’re welcome to come,” Wyatt added.

  His offer stopped her dead in her tracks. Didn’t he know where she stood? She didn’t belong among them. Perhaps it was just a nice thing to say, once he’d spoken of it. Wyatt didn’t truly expect her to take him up on it.

  Mina nodded and rushed back to the kitchen. This was her last day working for Ryker. She needed to stop thinking she belonged here. Ryker was not her friend. He was just an acquaintance.

  But did acquaintances show up in her back yard right when she needed a friend? Did they make coffee and share cake for breakfast? Her head spun until she marched up to the stereo system. Heavy metal blasted from the speakers all around the house. Screeching guitar riffs quieted the chaos in her mind.

  ***

  Ryker hadn’t been ready to go home. He wished Mina could have stayed with him, that she never had to go back to the house that frightened her and turned a majestic dragon into a meek mouse. Not quite ready to shift back to his human form, he perched on the mountainside. His steel body blended in with the rocky terrain, reflecting it so that he was nothing more than a boulder.

  By now, Mina would be at his house. He should have pushed off the cliff and flown home, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. This would be her last day cleaning for him. It felt final, like he would never see her again even though they lived in the same town. Mina had flown with him, but she seemed intent on keeping a gap between them.

  Ryker did his best to respect it, but his beast desperately wanted to clamber through the divide and convince her that they could at least be friends.

  No.

  Ryker wanted a lot more than that. He wanted to fold her into his arms and never let the world bring her down again. He wanted to make her coffee in the morning, every morning. The desire gripping him was unfamiliar, but all-consuming. Never before had he felt so strongly about anyone.

  He took his position in Jasper’s court seriously. Generations of dragons before him had upheld the standards that kept their family and the mountains safe. While he longed for the life he’d led before he came home, he knew his place here was important, that he was doing the right thing. This feeling had nothing to do with the people here and everything to do with duty, with honor.

  Then came Mina. For the first time since he’d come home, he found a reason to stay that would make him happy. He’d thought his future would be filled wi
th begrudging work. That would surely be a part of it, but if he could show Mina that he wanted her in his life, then maybe there was more to living.

  Ryker hadn’t realized he’d stood, but he found himself on the edge of the cliff, wings spread. His home sat down below. Mina’s car was parked outside, as was Wyatt’s. A growl trickled from his muzzle, but Wyatt was a mated man. Ryker had nothing to fear from his cousin.

  Before Ryker could drop down, a roar split the air. It shook his wings and brought his attention up. Jasper soared above. Ryker cursed and launched himself up into the air, racing after his cousin. The gold dragon was huge, but Ryker knew how to hit like a wrecking ball.

  He turned just in time, his side slamming into Jasper’s ribcage. The dragon coughed and sputtered in the air, dropping. Ryker chased after him. He hoped Wyatt could see the fight from the windows in his house. Wrangling Jasper was never an easy job.

  As if to prove his point, Jasper spun around and snapped at Ryker. Unlike his cousins’, Ryker’s wings were protected by a thin layer of scales along the edges. Jasper’s teeth glanced off the metal scales. Ryker would have let out a sigh of relief, cold filling him, but Jasper was quick. The gold dragon shot up into the air, banking to fall behind Ryker. Before Ryker could maneuver away, Jasper landed on Ryker’s back.

  The weight of the gold dragon sent him careening toward the valley below. He opened his mouth to let out a roar, but Jasper reached and held Ryker’s muzzle closed. All Ryker could do was thrash back and forth in the hopes that he could buck Jasper off.

  This was a losing fight. While Jasper wouldn’t kill his own family, he’d been known to put his cousins out of commission for days. He didn’t mess around. Whatever his beast wanted was worth the blood.