by Juniper Hart
“Hunter! That is enough—”
Her words died in her throat as she froze in the doorway, her eyes trying to understand what she was seeing. Hunter stood, his black and tan body rigid as he alternated between whimpering and growling. Brooklyn could not blame him.
Cass had disappeared, and in his place stood a snorting beast, his wide nostrils flaring with anger as a set of amber eyes glowed against the dark room. His face had shifted into a leathery head of spikes, a forked tongue slithering from his blue-green lips. But the body of the creature remained that of a man’s, one Brooklyn had grown to know well over the past few hours.
She opened her mouth to scream as his gaze slowly moved upward to rest on her stunned frame, but she choked on the sound.
Almost as if she had imagined the entire scene, she blinked and stared into Cass’s hazel irises, his eyes shrouded in worry.
“Wh—wh—wh—” She kept stuttering on her words, trying to formulate a coherent sentence, but she could not bring herself to do it. Dizziness overcame her body, and she turned to run. Her knees failed her, buckling underneath her and sending her down to the floor.
“Stop!” Cass thundered, rushing to her side. “You need to breathe—”
“Don’t touch me!” Brooklyn screamed, hysterical, wildly waving her hands as he fought to hold her. “Let me go!” Cass instantly dropped his arms and stood back, watching her closely as she floundered for more to say. “Wh-what are you?” she gasped. “What was that?”
Hunter growled, his confidence growing with her presence, though he didn’t lunge at Cass. Brooklyn wondered if her poor dog was afraid of the creature he had seen.
“I don’t know what you think you saw—” Cass started to say, but Brooklyn backed further down the hall, her hands up as if to ward him off.
“Don’t touch me,” she gasped again, her back against the wall. “Just get the hell out.”
“Brooklyn,” he tried again, “you can’t just—”
“GET OUT!”
At the bottom of the landing, Brooklyn heard Veronica calling out to her. “What is going on? Do I need to call the cops?”
The smell of burnt pancakes filled the air.
“Get out,” Brooklyn whispered, her face colored with fear. “Please. Just go.”
Cass stared at her as if he wanted to protest, but Brooklyn kept her eyes lowered, carefully avoiding his gaze until he brushed past her, buttoning his shirt as he did.
“You don’t understand,” he muttered, and Brooklyn could hear the bitterness in his voice as he moved down the stairs. She didn’t care. She didn’t want to understand.
She did not exhale until the front door slammed and she heard Veronica turn the lock. Hunter ran into her arms, whimpering slightly, and she stroked his head lovingly.
“Shh,” she mumbled quietly. “Everything is all right now, boy. He’s gone.”
Hunter shuddered, and just as Brooklyn allowed her body to relax against the wall, a piercing beeping reverberated through the air, followed by a scream from her roommate.
“I’ve got it!” Veronica yelled, rushing to deal with the smoke detector and the burnt breakfast as Brooklyn struggled to compose herself. The shrill noise was not helping her state of mind, but Brooklyn was grateful that Cass had left without incident.
Then she realized that his absence didn’t mean that she was safe. He knew where she lived. What if he came back for her as whatever monster he had transformed into? How could Cass be such an unbelievable creature? She hadn’t imagined it, and she knew Hunter hadn’t, either. How, though, could anyone be a beast like that? How could he be… a dragon?
Although she was aware that the idea was preposterous, no amount of logic could calm Brooklyn’s fears.
He’s just some important bigshot who will disappear back to wherever he came from, she thought. I have nothing to worry about.
Veronica finally managed to stop the alarm, and when she returned to the second floor, she folded her arms across her chest, her face demanding an explanation.
“What the hell was that about?” her roommate asked.
“Nothing,” Brooklyn answered quickly, pushing herself off the wall and turning back to her bedroom.
“It didn’t sound like nothing! Did he hurt you?”
“Just leave it alone, Veronica!” she snapped, slamming the door to block her out. Veronica jammed her foot in the doorway to stop it.
“This is my house, too!” she reminded Brooklyn. “I feel like I’ve been living in a soap opera with you.”
“Then feel free to move out!” Brooklyn growled, her hands still trembling. Veronica looked taken aback by the words.
“I am your friend,” she replied tightly. “Even if you don’t treat me like one. If you have brought danger into this house, I have a right to know about it.”
Brooklyn glared at her, feeling exceedingly defensive, and also slightly guilty for treating her so poorly.
“You’re not in any danger,” she retorted, spinning to dismiss Veronica, even though she had virtually no confidence in the words she spoke. They might both very well be in grave peril.
Brooklyn had just come face to face with a dragon, and she had lived to tell the tale. Of course, she knew she would never tell anyone what she had seen. It would be a secret she and Hunter would take to the grave… whenever that grave might claim them.
6
Cassius’ life continued as it tended to do, despite the nagging in his gut that something terrible was going to manifest from what Brooklyn had witnessed weeks earlier in her bedroom. Cassius had agonized at the stupidity of his move, exposing himself so carelessly—he had only been playing with the skittish dog, asserting his authority.
He had meant no harm to the animal; he certainly would not have hurt him. Who could have guessed that Brooklyn would choose that precise moment to appear?
At first, Cassius had been worried that Brooklyn would tell someone. What if his father found out about what he had done? But who would she tell, and what could she possibly say? Who would believe her?
She doesn’t even understand what she saw, Cassius reasoned as days passed and he heard not a breath of what had happened. He had long since retreated to his private island in the Coral Sea, but his he couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful blonde woman.
Even though it had been seven weeks since the fateful night in Burlingame, Cassius often relived it: the touch of Brooklyn’s skin, the magnetic pulse between them, all fresh in his mind.
It’s a blessing she saw what she did, he told himself, trying to stop the flood of thoughts from swarming him endlessly. You would be chasing after her like a lovesick puppy otherwise.
The infatuation he possessed for the sexy blonde was almost obsessive, and he knew it.
Cassius had been unable to pinpoint exactly what it was about the woman that had him so captivated, but the more he tried to forget about her, the less he was able to do so. He had been certain that over time, he would just remember her as a fantastic acquaintance, a woman with whom he had spent one of the best nights of his life. It had taken him little time to realize he was only lying to himself.
“Mr. Williams?” Kirra, a member of his staff, strolled down the long dock toward his secluded spot among the sparkling teal of the sea. “Your brother is on the line.”
Cassius’ estate on the ninety-six acres sprawled high and wide against the many reefs, docks forking out from eight access points like a compass, the four longest points at north, east, south, and west. From a bird’s eye, the spot was shaped like a pendant, which was why Cassius had named it Pendulum Island when he had purchased it two hundred years earlier for pennies from the British, who’d had no use for such uninhabitable land.
Even then, he’d had a good sense for the future, investing in obscure land and properties and turning them into gold mines. Of course, no one knew he was the original owner of Pendulum Island, but that was the benefit of such isolation—all Cassius was required to do was change his st
aff every few years and pretend he was the next generation.
His employees were all from the mainland: quiet, respectful people who minded their own business. They worked diligently to maintain the sometimes untenable property in his many absences. Staff like the lovely and efficient Kirra, who handed him one of the many telephones from the main house.
“Which brother?” Cassius asked tiredly. He had finally felt himself drifting off to the sound of the surf before the intrusion.
“Max,” she answered, and Cassius found himself tensing. Maximus was the brother from whom he wished to hear the least. He gritted his teeth as he considered rejecting the call, but he knew that would be a very dangerous idea. A call from Maximus meant a summons from the king, undoubtedly.
Kirra handed him the phone, and after Cassius nodded his thanks at her, she turned to leave him alone on the dock in the middle of the sea.
“Hello, brother,” he sighed once he had put the phone to his ear.
“I wasn’t sure I’d catch you at home,” Maximus said, and Cassius wished he had not.
“How are you?”
“I am well,” Maximus replied, but Cassius could hear he wanted to cut to the chase.
“That’s good. I just returned from a trip to—”
“Father would like you to come home,” his brother interrupted before Cassius could keep prolonging the inevitable. “He expects you in a fortnight.”
Cassius grimaced, glad that Maximus had not come to deliver the news in person. It was becoming harder and harder to hide his displeasure when it came to King Rui’s whims.
“Oh, I’m not sure, Maximus,” he said slowly. “I have several properties that need—”
“He will not accept a refusal this time,” Maximus interjected. “He is beginning to take your slights personally.”
“Slights?” Cass echoed. “Max, I have a very successful business. I can’t simply jump every time Father has the impression he must see me.”
There was a slight pause as Maximus inhaled somewhat sharply.
Oh, this cannot be good, Cassius thought, waiting for whatever his brother was trying to avoid saying.
“You will want to be here for this,” he finally said. “It is important, and it affects all of us.”
A feeling of dread swept through Cassius, and he hung his head.
“Have you tried talking him out of it?” he asked in a low voice.
“I will tell him to expect you, then,” Maximus said crisply, and Cassius realized that King Rui was likely in earshot.
“Two weeks,” he groaned. “Fine.”
“The night of the full moon,” Maximus agreed. “Looking forward to seeing you. “
The call disconnected, but Cassius did not immediately put the phone to his side as he tried to think of a way to get out of the impending trip.
Opal had done much more than trap the kingdom into a state of immortality, she had ensured that King Rui would remain the patriarch in all his madness. The aftermath of her curse had always been a bitter pill to swallow.
They had been so eager to accept her help, so willing to believe the lies sprouting from her mouth—yet after it was all done, after their fates had been sealed, Cassius had wondered if they would have done anything differently, had they known what would happen to them at the time.
If we had known that we would remain dragons forever, he often asked himself, that our contact with humanity would be limited, and that our father would join us in limbo, would we have still done it?
Sadly, he was certain they would have done the same, their imminent fear of death overtaking their good judgement.
Kirra appeared at his side again.
“Should I take the phone, Mr. Williams?” she asked, but Cassius shook his head.
“No, thank you, Kirra. I have a few phone calls to make.”
She nodded wisely and disappeared again, leaving Cassius to wonder how she always managed to be right at his side without a sound. He supposed that was why he had employed her.
Cassius’ attention quickly shifted to the other matters on his mind. He rose from where he was sprawled on the deck and stretched his long legs, bowing gracefully for his lumbering form. Of all his brothers, he was easily the largest, a towering six feet five inches, and he had been considered a giant in previous centuries. Still, he maintained a certain elegance, despite his frame.
The water seemed to be calling out to him, and Cassius wondered what he could do to ease the twinge of melancholy seeping into his bones. Without a second thought, he began to run, using his feet as leverage off the end of the pier as his wings spread and he shifted into his reptilian shape.
In seconds, he was above the clouds, a full-fledged dragon, terrifying the flock of roseate terns who were out for exploration. They dove out of his way, squawking in dismay, but Cassius had already left them far behind, heading north toward the land he loathed the most.
He had two weeks to worry about King Rui. However, as he flew, a vision of Brooklyn flooded his mind, overtaking any concerns that his brother’s phone call had instilled in him.
I must see her again, he thought. The two weeks he had before he was forced to deal with his father were nothing compared to the seven weeks he had been agonizing over Brooklyn. She took precedent in his mind and in his deeds.
As Cassius flapped his prehistoric turquoise wings, his tail swirling behind before straightening to soar, he debated what he was doing. Why was he torturing himself? Even if he saw her, he couldn’t approach her. He was actually lucky she had apparently not said anything about him to anyone. If she caught him following her, she might blow the whistle on him.
But it was a circular conversation, and as his belt-like wings beat over the ocean air, he reasoned there was no one Brooklyn could tell, no one who would believe her. Besides, he knew there was no future with her. She was horrified by what she had seen, and nothing he could say would put her at ease.
If by some miracle she did decide to give you a chance, Cassius thought, she would always be afraid of you. You are only going to drive yourself crazy with this endeavor. Turn around and go home. Get your affairs in order before returning to Misty Woods. God knows how long you will be stuck under Father’s rule this time.
Cassius only flew on, carefully avoiding commercial aircrafts as he swooped through the cumulus clouds, his huge body dipping over the glassy waters of the Indian Ocean before climbing over the equator into the northeastern hemisphere.
He teased the Humpbacks in the North Atlantic, chasing them along the surface of the water before land became apparent again. Whirling upward, he stuck to seclusion of the mountaintops and made his way back toward the west coast—toward the woman he had not been able to forget since the first time they had laid eyes on one another.
Cassius knew his actions defied logic, and he wished he could stop himself from acting so rashly, but the magnetism was far too intense, and he had spent too many hours denying what was so obvious to him. Maybe if he saw her once more, the attraction would disappear. Then he could move on with his life and forget all about her. As he drew closer to his destination, though, he knew he was only fooling himself.
I will not go near her, he vowed. I just want to see how she is doing and look at her face one last time. At least, that was the plan.
Cassius floated into the outskirts of Burlingame, California, landing with a tremendous thud on the banks of San Andreas Lake. He casually glanced around to ensure he was not observed, shifting back into his mortal form as he collected himself.
Cassius had not been idle regarding Brooklyn over the past month and a half. He had Googled her name based on what he already knew about her—which, admittedly, wasn’t much—and found out the little additional information he could learn about the girl.
He already knew she was form Burlingame, a receptionist at a small pharmaceutical company. She had graduated from Berkley four years earlier with a bachelor’s degree in business, but beyond that, he could not get more of a handle on
who she was. At one point, he had considered hiring a private investigator to find her, but he knew that second-hand information would not suffice. He needed to see her again.
He found his way to a main road and immediately hailed a taxi.
“Where to, sir?” the cab driver asked.
“Laguna Avenue,” Cassius instructed. “But I need you to stay with me today.” The driver arched an eyebrow.
“Stay with you?” he echoed, and Cassius nodded curtly as the man began to drive away.
“I may need to go to San Francisco.”
“That’ll cost you,” the driver informed him. Cassius produced a fistful of bills from his pockets, dropping one hundred-dollar bill onto the passenger seat.
“Is this enough of a retainer?” he asked, settling back, knowing it was mostly a rhetorical question.
If she is not home from work yet, I will go to the Financial District and see if she is at the office, he thought, noting the late afternoon sun dappling through the trees. He knew it was a work day, but he had no idea what time it was, the time zones blending as he had passed from day to night and back to day again in his flight above the heavens.
The car slipped down El Camino Real, up Grove Avenue, and Cassius remembered the neighborhood. Instinctively, he felt his heart beginning to pound at the nearness of Brooklyn’s house, but when the car turned onto Laguna Avenue, his breath caught in his throat.
There was a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn.
“Stop here!” he cried to the cab driver, who screeched to a half. Cassius leapt from the car and hurried toward the front door. His legs grew heavier with each step, the combination of disappointment and exhaustion overcoming him. At the stoop, he peered into the glass panes of the front door, and his fears were confirmed; the house was empty.
Brooklyn was gone.
He spun toward the cab, determined to find Brooklyn at her job downtown. Just as he was about to climb back into the taxi, a neighbor exited her house.
“Excuse me!” Cassius called as the woman locked her door.
She eyed him warily. “Yes?”
