The refugees all spoke words of heartfelt thanks before Peter continued with his introductions.
“And this here is Violet. She’s one of the most talented wizards in Falcon Cross, and she helped Weston with the attack that destroyed the bat cloning operation. She’s a great asset to our cause.”
Violet felt her cheeks turn pink at Peter’s praise, but he didn’t seem to notice. He continued speaking, turning to introduce the refugees who sat in the room with them.
“We have here a representative from each group of refugees,” Peter said. “There’s Mark, a bear shifter. He’s representing the shifters. Sid there is a wizard, here to represent the wizards. And Joseph is a full human.”
Violet nodded hello to each of the men. “Nice to meet you,” she said, then turned back to Peter. She knew the old wizard had a purpose for calling this meeting that went beyond just giving everyone the chance to get acquainted, and she was getting somewhat impatient to learn what that purpose might be. Peter did not keep her waiting for long.
“I’ve gathered all of you so that you can all hear what Mark, Sid, and Joseph have to say about their time as Saul’s prisoners. I know that you’ve all worked very hard to bring an end to Saul’s stronghold here, and I think you’ll enjoy hearing what you’ve saved these people from. Who wants to go first?”
“I’ll start,” Joseph said. He stood and looked around at the group, making eye contact with everyone. “This has been quite a difficult time for me, and for many of the citizens of Sandview. As I suppose you know, Saul invaded our town. He tried to force all of us to join his evil army. Some did, out of fear. But many resisted. Saul captured all those who resisted. His power easily overcame us. How could mere humans hope to stand up to wizards and shifters? Of course, we were all shocked to discover that shifters and wizards existed. And until we met all of you, we thought they were all evil. I’m ashamed to say that we were even wary of the wizards and shifters who were being held as prisoners with us. Even though they were nice to us, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to trust anyone who wasn’t human when we’d been treated so poorly.”
Violet sat up straighter, feeling a sudden sense of alarm. “But wait,” she said. “If everyone in Sandview saw Saul, surely there must be humans there who are freaked out and trying to go to the police or government. That’s going to cause problems for our war effort!”
Violet felt anger rising in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t understand how Saul was being so careless and exposing the world of shifters and wizards to humans. There was an unspoken agreement between all shifters and wizards, whether good or evil, that humans should not be allowed to see shifting or magic if it was at all possible to avoid it. Humans tended to freak out at these sorts of things, and this could make the lives of shifters or wizards difficult. When police or military witch hunts started, everyone suffered. But Saul had never respected these unspoken rules. Instead, he regularly recruited humans for his army, often using force to compel them to join.
“Well, the people in Sandview don’t remember Saul anymore,” Joseph said sadly.
Violet was even more horrified as the full implication of what Joseph was saying hit her. “You mean…”
Joseph nodded sadly. “Saul’s wizards did memory wiping spells on everyone in town. They don’t remember him at all. Of course, many of them don’t remember who they are, or have forgotten big chunks of their lives. Some of them have straight up gone crazy.”
Violet rubbed her forehead with her hands, fighting back tears. “Saul has to be stopped. He’s so awful.”
Murmurs of agreement filled the room. Violet shouldn’t have been surprised that Saul had used memory wiping spells on an entire town. After all, Saul’s dark magic and evil seemed to know no bounds. But she still sat in shock, thinking about how irresponsible and damaging such actions were. Memory wiping spells were dangerous. Falcon Cross only allowed their use in extreme cases, and even then their use had to be approved by a head council member. Such spells were highly intrusive and had the potential to go very wrong, as evidenced by the fact that many people in Sandview had now forgotten who they were or gone crazy.
“Saul’s bad deeds didn’t just extend to the humans of Sandview, though,” said Mark, the bear shifter. “He trapped many shifters from across the country and kept us as prisoners to do scientific experiments on us. He was trying to figure out a way to clone other types of shifters besides bats. I’ve seen so many of my fellow shifters subjected to horrible experiments. These experiments never resulted in Saul being able to clone anyone, but they did result in a lot of deaths.”
Violet shuddered again. She almost didn’t want to hear what Sid, the wizard would say. But Sid was standing too, now, and Violet held her breath as he spoke.
“As for the wizards, we also suffered a great deal. Saul captured many of us and tried to force us to learn dark magic to join his army of dark wizards. If we refused, he would have his dark wizards use us to practice dark magic spells. Many wizards also died or were wounded.”
Violet looked over at Peter and Knox, who both had grave expressions on their faces. And no wonder. Everything Violet had just heard was horrifying. She reached over and squeezed Weston’s hand. He squeezed back and looked at her, his eyes wide and sad. She knew they were both thinking the same thing: they were so glad they had rescued these people. Their only regret was not doing so sooner.
Peter stood then, and looked at the three men who had just told of the horrors they had suffered at Saul’s hands.
“We would again like to extend to all of you an invitation to come to Falcon Cross,” Peter said. “Anyone who wants to join us in our wizard town will be given safe passage and protection in our town. I know it doesn’t make up for what you have suffered, but hopefully it offers you the promise of a better future.”
Violet watched the men look at each other, and then back at Peter. Sid, the wizard, spoke up first.
“We’d like for you to take the children, and any of the women who are willing to go,” he said. But the rest of us have already decided to stay. We want to help the people in Sandview who are suffering after having memory-wiping spells used on them. We want to rebuild the city, and make it a stronghold against evil. If Saul tries to come back, we’ll be prepared. He’ll never take this town again.”
Peter smiled. “I can’t argue with that. If there’s any help we can give you, let us know. And please let the children and woman know we’ll be leaving for Falcon Cross tonight as soon as darkness falls. Anyone who wants to come with us is welcome.”
“Thank you,” Sid said, and Joseph and Mark murmured their thanks as well. Violet thought she saw the hint of a tear in Joseph’s eyes, but he brushed it away quickly.
“What about Blackstone?” Weston asked. “Do you think any of the townspeople here saw what was going on?”
Knox spoke up. “We haven’t heard anyone saying anything. We’re hoping that because we’re out on the edge of town and have tried to operate mostly at night, no one saw us. Or, perhaps, if they did see us, they think they’re not seeing things correctly, and couldn’t possibly have seen a dragon.”
“We’ll keep an eye on Blackstone,” Sid said, “and make sure to let you know if any humans here get concerned.”
“Well then,” Peter said. “I guess that settles it. Everyone who’s leaving, pack up your things. Tonight, we fly to Falcon Cross.”
“Did you hear that, V?” Weston asked, looking over at Violet with a huge smile on his face. “You’re going home. And, of course, I’m coming with you.”
Violet’s heart leapt in her chest. “I can’t wait,” she said. “Let’s head to our apartment and pack our things.”
The mission to Blackstone had been a life-changing experience, and Violet was grateful for it. But she had never been as excited to head home as she was right now.
Chapter Thirteen
As darkness fell over Blackstone that evening, a small group of humans, wizards, and other shifters rose into
the night sky. The wizards rode on broomsticks, and the humans and shifters rode on the backs of the dragon shifters. They flew like the wind, and, in two days time, reached the wizarding city of Falcon Cross, where they received a hero’s welcome.
Violet had never been so glad to be home. She was honored to have had the opportunity to serve on the mission to Blackstone, but there was nothing quite like being in your own bed. The first night, she slept for twelve hours. She had barely had time to wake up and sit down at her kitchen table with a mug of coffee when a knock sounded at her front door. A smile crossed her lips as she stood to go open the door. She already knew it was Weston. He’d gone to his own apartment in Falcon Cross the first night, so he could get some of his things. But he’d promised to come over as soon as possible today, and here he was. She saw him take in her bathrobe appreciatively.
“Not dressed yet, eh?” he said. “No complaints from me about that.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I haven’t been awake that long. I slept twelve hours, if you can believe it!”
“I believe it,” Weston said, walking into the house and shutting the door behind him. “I would probably still be sleeping if Knox hadn’t dragged all of the Redwood Dragons out of bed for an emergency eight a.m. meeting.”
“Eight a.m.? Really?” Violet asked. “What could possibly have been that urgent?”
“The dragon ruby,” Weston said. “Knox wants to send a search party out for it. We have a few ideas of where it might be, and he thinks it’s better to go out and look than to keep sitting around here researching and hoping something turns up.”
“Wow,” Violet said. “I guess that makes sense. It sounds like something Knox would want to do, anyway.”
“Yeah,” Weston said, cracking a smile. “None of us dragons really like to sit around in front of computers.”
“So are you being sent on the mission?” Violet asked. Her stomach did a funny little flip flop. She wasn’t sure if she could convince Peter to let her go on another mission right now, but she didn’t want to watch Weston go off on a mission without her. Weston just shrugged.
“I’m not sure yet. Knox is going to talk to Peter and hammer out the details. Hopefully we’ll have a more concrete plan by tonight. But in any case, don’t worry. If I do go, I’m going to insist on taking you with me. I’m not leaving you again so soon after finally convincing you to admit you’re in love with me.”
Weston leaned over to give Violet a kiss, and she laughed. “I didn’t take that much convincing, did I?”
Weston’s face turned slightly serious. “You sort of did. I was afraid for a while there that you were seriously going to make me wait until the war was over for us to be together. Or that you were too mad at me for disagreeing with you in that one meeting to ever let me have a chance at dating you.”
Violet grinned. “Maybe I was a little bit stubborn,” she said.
Weston rolled his eyes. “Just a bit,” he said. “But that’s alright, everything worked out in the end. I got the girl of my dreams, and we’re relatively safe from the war for the moment. I say we should celebrate.”
With that, Weston lifted Violet up in his arms, and carried her toward her bedroom. She shrieked, and put up a bit of a struggle, but it was all just for show. She’d never been so happy to be carried by a man. His strong arms felt warm and secure, and his face looking down at her made her heart skip a beat. He was so wonderful, and so handsome. And he was hers. She was still in awe of the fact that he had chosen her, and that they belonged to each other.
Once they were in the bedroom, he set her down, then pushed her up against the wall with a kiss. She let herself melt into him, relishing the feel of his lips on hers. It didn’t matter in that moment that the world around them was in turmoil, or that the dragon ruby was still missing. All that mattered was that they were here, together.
Violet had spent her whole life working hard. She’d poured her heart and soul into being a Wizard Advocate, and she loved her job. But it was nice to be able to forget about work for once. To just be at peace here in her home, with the man that loved her. She marveled again at how relaxed she felt when Weston’s arms were around her. He centered her, like no one ever had.
His kiss was so sweet. It quenched her thirst, like rain on a dry desert. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d wanted love until love had found her. She’d always been strong on her own, but it felt good to let Weston’s strong arms hold her for a while, too.
Weston was in no hurry, and Violet loved that unhurried pace. He reached his hands up to hold the side of her face as he let his tongue dance with her tongue. Violet closed her eyes and let his heat wash over her. Her whole body tingled and trembled at his touch, and she could feel herself growing wet with anticipation. This was going to be a damn good morning.
Eventually, Weston pulled away from Violet just long enough to pull his t-shirt up and over his head. Violet bit her lip happily as she took in the sight of his bare chest. It was a work of art that she would never tire of admiring. She put her hands on his chest, and let them slide down, feeling his strong ribs and sculpted abs before stopping at the button of his jeans. She looked up at him coyly through her lashes as she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, then pushed them down so they fell around his ankles.
“Oops,” she said, grinning.
He smiled, kicking off his shoes and then stepping out of his jeans. She loved the easy way he moved, like they’d been doing this forever. There was no awkwardness when they made love, just a sweet, sensual heat that slowly built, burning them both up in the best possible way.
Weston continued smiling as he reached down to untie Violet’s robe. He pushed it off of her, letting it fall to the floor and leaving her naked underneath. His eyes roved over her whole body, and Violet could see his erection growing and stiffening beneath his tight briefs as he took in the sight of her.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said. “I fell in love with you for your beautiful soul, but your body is gorgeous, too. There’s no part of you I don’t love.”
Violet felt the tingling, trembling sensation within her increasing. Just the sound of his voice turned her on. It was so warm and comforting. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his, and she marveled again at how at home she felt right now. He had so quickly become her everything.
He leaned in to kiss her again, and she reached for the hem of his underwear as he did. She pushed it down and off, never breaking their kiss. His erection sprang free, poking against her stomach and causing the wetness between her legs to grow even more. She had enjoyed the slow pace at which Weston was moving until now. Now, she wanted him. She’d had enough waiting.
He had reached the same point, it seemed. With a low, hungry growl, he grabbed her two breasts in his palms and squeezed them tightly, using them as anchors to hold onto while he positioned his stiff dick right in front of her and pushed into her with another growl.
Violet’s eyes closed again, and she let out a moan as the pressure and heat in her body became wonderfully unbearable. Her breasts throbbed beneath his touch, and she bit her lip in an effort to contain the building tingling sensation. The room felt like it was spinning. Even though she knew her back was securely against the wall and Weston had a secure grip on her, she couldn’t keep from feeling a bit like she was floating. Or flying, perhaps. Whatever the sensation, Violet drank it in, wanting to relish every second of being here, safe and happy with Weston, filled with a passion like she’d never known before.
It didn’t take long for him to push her over the edge. She tried to hold back, to drag out the buildup as long as she could. But it was impossible to resist the tremors trying to overtake her body. With a loud scream, Violet threw her head back and let her release come. She felt her inner muscles clenching around Weston, throbbing with the heat and moisture of her desire. Wonderful shivers of delight rushed up and down her spine, and she let herself collapse against Weston. It felt so good to fall into his arms while he was inside her.
She felt loved, protected, and wanted. She could not have asked for more than this.
Weston held her tightly, and thrust deeper into her. His breath was hot in her ear as his hips moved with a greater urgency, searching for a release of his own. It didn’t take him long to find it. With a roar, he came into her, pulsing and digging his fingers deeper into the soft skin of her back. He was probably going to leave a few red marks, but Violet didn’t care. All she knew in that moment was that he wanted her so badly that his primal animal instincts were taking over. There was nothing in the world like being wanted on such a deep, honest level. Violet pressed her chest against his, and they stood together like that, breathing rapidly, until the tremors in each of their bodies had subsided.
Weston kissed her gently on the forehead and slid out of her, then reached down to grab her robe off the floor. Without a word, he gently held it up for her to slide her arms into, then tenderly retied the front sash for her.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered, winking at her as he pulled her into his arms again, still naked himself.
“I could say the same about you,” Violet said. “You know that.”
Weston’s chest shook with laughter against Violet’s face. “I’m glad you think so,” he said. For a while there I thought you just thought of me as annoying.”
“Oh that, too,” Violet said, looking up and giving him a wink of her own. “But I guess amazing won out in the end.”
Weston laughed again, the musical sound of it filling the room.
“In all seriousness, though,” Violet said, wrapping her own arms tightly around Weston’s broad back. “It’s good that we can disagree with each other now and then. Knowing we can argue and still love each other and be on the same team makes us stronger.”
“I agree,” Weston said. “A life with no fireworks is a little boring, don’t you think?”
Violet smiled. “So boring,” she agreed. “And, anyway, I can’t believe how wrong I was about waiting until the war was over to be with you. It doesn’t make sense to put our entire lives on hold because the world is full of uncertainty. In fact, I feel better now that I have someone to hold on to during the times of uncertainty.”
Fury and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 8) Page 11
