Destiny In Flames: A Hot Paranormal Dragon Shifter Saga (Hidden Realms of Silver Lake Book 4)

by Vella Day

  Chelsea had only been in here once before with Kaleena who was friends with the owner. At the counter, Chelsea placed her order and then sat in one of the booths that overlooked the street. Being able to relax and do nothing helped calm her. Five minutes later, the owner came over with Chelsea’s order, placed it in front of her, and then slid into the booth across from her.

  “Hi, I’m Angelique. I believe you came in with Kaleena once.”

  Her memory was impressive. “Yes. She’s mated to Finn; he’s my twin.”

  “Ah, yes, I remember now.” Angelique was tall and thin with pale blonde hair and even whiter skin. She had an ethereal beauty about her. It might have been the early evening light coming through the window, but a glow appeared around her head, making it look as if she wore a halo.

  Chelsea had never seen anyone quite like her before. Her gaze was even a bit unsettling, like she could see right through a person.

  “Something is troubling you,” Angelique said with confidence.

  Chelsea forced a smile and said, “Nothing that a delicious cup of coffee and a pastry won’t cure.”

  Angelique returned a genuine smile. “That’s good to hear. If I remember correctly, Kaleena said you’re working at an animal shelter.”

  “Yes.” They chatted a bit about what she did, but Angelique didn’t seem all that interested in the details.

  “Let me know if I’m too nosey, but I get the sense that something happened today to unsettle you,” Angelique said.

  Was this woman some kind of psychic? Nothing would surprise her on Tarradon. Psychic or not, Angelique couldn’t know anything about her being sick this morning. “Nothing other than the ex-girlfriend of the man I like stopped by.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t care for her in the least.”

  Her eyes widened. “Ooh. I can see why. That must have been awkward. Was she snippy because you are now dating her ex?”

  “Not really, but there is no love lost between us. I really, really like this guy. He’s Kaleena’s brother.”

  “Ah, yes. Declan. I’ve seen him. Quite the hottie.”

  Heat raced up her face. “I agree, but therein lies the problem.” Angelique’s brows rose. Given how interested she seemed, Chelsea decided to tell her more and ask for her unbiased opinion. “You see, we aren’t mates.”

  “Oh. And you’re worried if and when your mate shows up, you might not want to be with him.”

  “Exactly.” How did the woman know just what to say? Chelsea explained that Declan had a mate, but that she’d passed.

  Chelsea wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to tell this stranger her life’s story, but Angelique gave her such a calming and safe feeling that Chelsea just found herself sharing.

  Angelique glanced around the shop before leaning forward. “In my experience, I’ve learned to take one day at a time. Enjoy him while you can. Life is too short.”

  There were those words again. She liked this woman. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Just then, four customers piled into the store, and Angelique slid out of the booth. “Be happy and have fun.”

  This time, Chelsea’s smile came out genuine. “I will and thank you.”

  After Angelique greeted her customers, Chelsea took her time savoring the richness of the coffee and the sweetness of the pastry, dreaming about what she wanted to do with Declan the next time they were together. Being surrounded by the excitement of city life was beginning to grow on her. She could see why Finn loved it here.

  The coffee shop started to fill up. Not wanting to take up a whole booth to herself, Chelsea finished up and vacated her spot to head home. Most likely she was procrastinating because she didn’t want to find out if she was pregnant—as unlikely a scenario as it was.

  Once in the cabin, she understood she wouldn’t rest until she checked. It only took a minute, but she must have stared at the results for ten. She was pregnant. Disbelief mixed with anger at herself for not being more careful. The timing was just plain bad. Had she been on Earth, she would have marched into her doctor’s office and asked for an explanation. Then she would have called her mom and listened to how being pregnant was one of the greatest joys in life. At the moment, she wasn’t buying it, but eventually she might.

  Suddenly, it hit really hit her that she was pregnant and with someone who wasn’t her mate. Could Fate be any crueler? Shit!

  The hardest part was figuring out how to tell Declan and not having her mom around to help her through this. For a few seconds, she debated asking Finn to take her back to Earth, but that wouldn’t be fair to Declan. As the father, he had the right to decide where they should go from there.

  Chelsea was about to grab a bottle of wine, only to realize that water or juice would be her drink of choice from now on. Her life was about to change—and she hoped for the better.

  The next morning at work, Chelsea became sick once more, but this time she’d learned her lesson. She worked close to the building so she wouldn’t be too far from the facilities. She’d also stashed a spare set of clothes in her car in case she made a mess.

  As Chelsea was gathering some food from a bin at the side of the building to feed the animals, she noticed Stick rounding the corner. “Hey Chelsea, I just got an emergency call. Do you think you can handle whatever comes up? I shouldn’t be gone more than an hour.”

  “Sure. No problem.” From the way his gaze was shifting from right to left, something bad had happened. “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure. Marty called and says he needs help with something. I’ll be back as quickly as I can. Call if you need anything.”

  She smiled, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Will do.”

  The moment Stick pulled out, she dashed inside. The few times when Chelsea had to speak with Stick about something, he’d been very secretive about what went on in the back room. Sure, his office was in the rear, but she had the sense he was hiding something. Could it be stolen animals that he only showed to his special clients, or was it something more sinister? Perhaps it was her hormones interfering with her thoughts, but Stick was an odd duck that she didn’t trust.

  Fearing her boss would change his mind and come back sooner than he’d said, she headed to the rear. When she twisted the office knob, it was locked. Damn. However, having grown up around a sea of brothers had its benefits. Her dad was in the security business and had taught all of them some tricks of the trade—the first being how to pick a lock.

  She rushed to the front, located two paper clips, and returned. The lock looked similar but not identical to that on Earth, but it didn’t take her long to figure it out. After a little fiddling, the door popped open.

  Chelsea stepped inside and was immediately disappointed. It looked like an ordinary office, complete with a lone file cabinet and a desk with a lot of junk on top. Behind the desk sat a door, which was an odd location for one.

  She walked around the small space, trying to decide if her imagination was out of control. The answer? Yes.

  As she headed out, a whine filtered through that odd-placed door. Aha! Chelsea turned around. As she edged closer, a wave of shifter signatures hit her all at once. What the hell?

  Pressing her ear to the door, she heard multiple grunts and growls. She grabbed the handle and yanked. Of course, this door was locked too. Unfortunately, it didn’t have an ordinary lock. She’d need a key to open it. Even though she didn’t expect to find one, she pulled open each desk drawer and carefully looked for one. In the back of the third drawer sat a set of keys.

  With trembling fingers, she tested each one until the fourth key did the trick. Slowly, Chelsea opened the door. Not only was the inside pitch black, but the smell overpowered her. From the stench and shifter signatures, someone was there. She ran her hand along the side of the wall until she found a switch. When she flicked on the overhead light, her heart broke.

  Along the back wall were ten cages, each containing a wolf or some other small animal. Around each of their necks was a s
ilver collar, similar to what Kaleena said she had been forced to wear around her wrists when she’d been held captive by the Royals.

  “If any of you can understand me, I’ll try to find a way to free you.” She doubted they could shift and survive. The collar would choke them.

  Sounds of tires crunching on the driveway jerked her attention away from the dilemma. Was Stick returning? Shit!

  She flipped off the lights, closed and locked the door, and then shoved the keys back into the drawer. Too bad the odor from the other room lingered in his office. Damn. It was too late to do anything about that.

  As fast as she could, she locked his door and rushed down the hall. Through the glass front door, she spotted Stick’s truck. Had he forgotten something?

  Not wanting to be seen, she ducked into the bathroom and hid in the stall. Footsteps sounded. Once he passed by, she flushed the toilet, and then washed her hands, waiting until her blood pressure dropped a little. With her head held high, she left the bathroom.

  Without glancing at Stick’s office, she took a step toward the front door when he called to her. “Chelsea?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chelsea spun around and painted on a look of surprise at her boss. “You’re back! That didn’t take as long as you thought. I take it everything turned out well?”

  “Yes. Marty overreacted. I wasn’t needed after all.”

  “Great!”

  “No problems here?” he asked, his gaze searching her face.

  Sweat pooled under her arms. “Nope. No one showed up. I’m just going to take my break. I have a snack in my car.” She strode out of there, holding her breath the whole time.

  As soon as the door closed behind her, she exhaled. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. She eyed her car, debating if she should leave now or wait. If she drove off now though, Stick would know something was up. He’d chase her down—assuming he figured out that she’d discovered his secret. What that secret was exactly, she didn’t know. It could be innocent, though she doubted it. Putting regular animals in quarantine was one thing, but at least two of them were shifters—and both Marty and Stick would have known that.

  No, the best thing to do was act natural—and call Declan as soon as she could. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be in his animal form and could answer. Fighting fires didn’t seem to be a dragon thing, so he probably hadn’t shifted.

  She sat in her car for her fifteen-minute break since that was what she had told Stick she’d be doing. Once her time was up, Chelsea went back to work. Thankfully, she had plenty to keep her busy. She finished feeding the animals and then raked out some of the pens. When Stick didn’t come stomping out, she decided it was safe to call Declan. Or should she wait to contact him? She certainly didn’t need his big dragon self to leave his Guardian duties just to snoop around. What if nothing was seriously wrong? She’d lose her job over nothing. Yikes.

  Kaleena, on the other hand, would be more levelheaded. She would contact the right people to investigate quietly. Making sure that Stick wasn’t near, she slipped out her phone and called her. Kaleena answered on the third ring.

  “Chelsea, this is a surprise.”

  “I only have a minute,” she whispered. “I saw something that I don’t think I was supposed to.”

  “Are you in danger?” Her tone went from cheerful to serious in a flash.

  Probably. “Not right now.”

  Chelsea explained about the cages in the back, the silver collars, and the shifter signatures.

  “Shit. That sounds like the Royals are involved in this. I’ll call my father and see what he wants to do. Whatever you do, don’t call Declan. Knowing him, he’ll think you’re in danger and come barging back from fighting the fires. He’ll be in there cleaning house before we know what’s going on.”

  Chelsea almost laughed. “You’ve got that right.”

  “Stay where you are and act as if nothing is wrong. After you leave work, come meet me.”

  “At SinCas?”

  “No. How about Angelique’s Coffee Shop?”

  She had no problem with that, but that seemed like an odd place, especially with so many people around—or maybe that was the point. “Okay. I get off work at five. See you then.”

  “Good. Stay safe.”

  Easy for her to say. Chelsea tucked away her phone and worked harder than she ever had before, all the while keeping a keen ear out for Marty or Stick. She didn’t know what kind of shifter either of them might be, but chances were that one of them at least, was a dragon. While she’d never fought one, she could only imagine that she’d be the one who ended up dead.

  When five o’clock rolled around, she slipped into the front office, punched her card, and hightailed it out of there. The moment her butt hit the car seat and the engine fired up, she let out a big sigh of relief.

  Not only was it terrible that Stick might be holding some shifters against their will, Chelsea wasn’t sure she could go back to work at the shelter now. Both Marty and Stick scared her. Hopefully, Kaleena would have answers.

  Once in town, she parked in back of the coffee shop and entered through the rear entrance. Because Kaleena hadn’t arrived yet, Chelsea went ahead and ordered a coffee and a small ham sandwich. Angelique wasn’t out front, which might be a good thing. Sharing Chelsea’s discovery with a stranger probably wouldn’t be smart.

  She carried her order number over to a table and sat down, her mind racing. Had she really sensed shifters, or had her hormonal mind played some trick on her? All of the cages had animals in them. That much was a given. It might have been the silver collars that made her think something sinister was going on. If they were merely quarantined, why collar them?

  “Chelsea?” Kaleena stood at the table with an order number in her hand. Obviously, Chelsea had been so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t noticed that Kaleena had arrived at least a minute or two ago. As soon as Kaleena slid across from her, Chelsea could feel her muscles relax.

  “Tell me exactly what you saw,” Kaleena said.

  Chelsea inhaled. “Mind you my imagination might have gotten the best of me, but I broke into Stick’s office and—”

  “Hold it right there. You broke in? He’ll figure out that you uncovered his secret then.”

  “Maybe not. I picked the lock but locked it before I left.”

  Kaleena’s mouth twisted. “If he is keeping illegal contraband back there, he’ll have surveillance cameras everywhere. Did you see any?”

  Her heart dropped to her stomach. “I, ah, didn’t look.” Shit.

  Kaleena blew out a breath. “Let’s hope he isn’t that sophisticated. Go on.”

  Chelsea detailed what she believed she saw, though in the retelling, it sounded implausible. “I should have snapped a picture, but before I could even think, Stick returned.”

  “He didn’t see you leave his office, did he?”

  She shook her head. “No. I managed to get out of there and duck into the bathroom before he entered the building, but if he had been paying attention at all, he would have smelled the scent of his animals. When I opened the door, the aroma went everywhere.”

  “Crap. He might think someone else snuck in if you were in the bathroom.”

  “It’s possible,” she said, but Chelsea wasn’t optimistic.

  “If he didn’t run after you right away, we have some time to figure out a plan.”

  “You said you’d contact some of…you know who.” She didn’t want to mention the Guardians in a public place.

  “Yes. I called my father. He’s looking into it.”

  “He can’t just barge in and demand to look in the back, can he? At least on Earth, he’d have to get a warrant. Stick has rights.”

  She shook her head. “No, but there’s nothing illegal about flying over and trying to sense any shifters. If they find concrete evidence, they’ll move in.”

  That sounded okay. “What should I do? I’m almost afraid to go into work tomorrow.”

  The waitress carried over their d
rinks and Chelsea’s sandwich. The aroma from the steaming brew helped perk her up.

  “Call in sick tomorrow until we can figure out what to do.”

  That made a lot of sense. “I can do that. Does Declan know what happened? Or Finn?”

  She shook her head. “Finn’s working tonight, so I haven’t had a chance to fill him in yet, but once I tell him, he’ll want to rush over to the shelter and break into the back. That, I’m afraid, might ruin things for all involved.”

  That almost made her laugh. “He would do that. And Declan?”

  “I didn’t want to bother him until we know more. I fear my brother would do even worse damage. When Declan returns tonight, I’ll call him and pass on the information you told me along with anything new we may have uncovered by then. In the meantime, go home and rest. We’ll figure something out, I promise.” Kaleena shook her head. “I am really sorry you ended up at this shelter. I wanted your experience on Tarradon to be a good one.”

  Chelsea reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “It has been. Everyone has been amazing. Okay, not everyone, but most people have been.”

  Kaleena smiled. For the rest of their visit, they chatted about Kaleena’s job. As much as Chelsea was tempted to broach the topic of being pregnant, she wanted Declan to be the first to hear the news.

  “You’re going straight home, right?” Kaleena asked.

  “Yes, but then I need to go for a run to clear my head.” She could see Kaleena about to protest. “It’s safer when I’m in my wolf form. Trust me.”

  “You’re right. You can hide easier.” She tapped her chest. “I know, remember?”

  Chelsea kept forgetting that Kaleena could now shift into wolf form too. Once they finished, they left a tip and headed out. After hearing Kaleena’s plan, Chelsea was far less tense than on the drive over. She’d go for a run, and then settle in at home with a good book. If she couldn’t have Declan, she could fall in love with some book boyfriend.