by Eden Glenn
“Actually, I’m Cathwren Aldridge. I own this store.”
“Your token is a dragon?” He met her eyes, shock radiating from him. His brother moved in closer so he could look at the necklace.
Her gaze darted between the two while she fought for enough balance to stand on her own. “I hadn’t thought about it that way, but yes, I guess so.” She watched Ethan as he turned the necklace emblem in the light to get a closer look at the design.
A golden dragon curled into a relaxed pose wrapped around in the symbol for infinity. Two agates, one blood red, the other jade green, were clutched in the dragon’s claws revealed a swirling pattern of movement on the stone’s pitted surfaces. A second matching dragonhead on the other side of the body locked the piece together around her neck. A strange energy pulsed through the chain, tickling her skin.
Caleb looked on, his eyes bright with interest. “Where did you get this?”
“The pendant is a family heirloom. My grandmother gave it to me on my last visit.” In a lucid moment before passing, Gram had gifted her with the pendant and instructed no matter what, she should never take off this one piece of jewelry.
“Salynne’s was her place.” The cherished dragon necklace and the shop represented her remaining connection to family. “I was the only one in the family that had shown interest over the years and so she left it to me when she died.” Why was she telling them all this? She bit off the next installment on her autobiography threatening to spill out of her mouth.
Ethan looked around the room’s shelves at the different pieces of dragon art. She watched curious as he inspected her necklace again, avoided touching either stone clasped in the dragon’s claws, before he met her eyes.
An inner intensity gleamed from Ethan as he examined her.
When one brother started to speak, the other finished the sentence. “Your office is… full of dragons.” Their amused tones puzzled her. She had heard of the twin speak phenomena. They had it going on strong. The timbre of their voices blended and soothed her uneasiness. They were like meeting new friends at Dragoncon through a sense of shared bond you knew them even though you didn’t really know them.
“Yes, I collect them.”
Caleb’s laughter lightened the mood of heavy watchfulness. He leaned back against the door frame. “I never would have guessed that.” He chuckled again, shaking his head.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about his amusement. “I sell them in the shop. I only keep the most unique for myself.”
Ethan snorted -- She would have relished that thought, except she was irritated that after all that had happened, they actually shared a private joke, beyond her understanding.
Reality check, they were so not her new BFF’s from a convention. They were strangers off the street that happened to be strolling down her alley in time to catch her falling through stairs that someone had tampered with to try to kill her. Maybe they’d been the ones to damage the stairs. It was past time for them to go.
“I appreciate everything that you’ve done, saving my life and all.” Boy did that sound stupid. “I’ve taken too much of your time. I’m sure you must have somewhere else you need to be this morning. I’ll see you out.” She needed to get up. When she tried to stand, though, a dizzy whirl of vertigo threatened to flatten her. She steadied herself against something hard, Caleb, and something immovable, Ethan.
She marched toward the front of the store pulling them with her. She ignored their sputtering protests realizing full well if either of them dug in refusing to leave she’d be helpless to force the issue. She really needed them out of the shop. Fear and confusion played tennis with her emotions. She opened the walnut and glass door nearly pushed them out the front and shutting it with a satisfying jangle of the little bell attached at the top. She leaned her back against the glass and tried with a slow exhale to steady her libido from doing the tango with her good sense. She needed coffee and she needed it now.
≽∞≼
Ethan stormed around the corner of the building into the alley. She kicked us out. The fury didn’t stem from the girl pushing them out the front door of the shop with a casual thank-you-very-much-now-good-bye. Her flight reaction was just her response to some wild chemistry cocktail of lust and fear that had flared up between the three of them. He wanted to grin like a fool over her, yet a deeper rage burned at his soul. How dare someone try to hurt Wren, punctuated each step.
He pushed his emotions earthward through his pounding stride. Adrenalin rushed through him, feeding his aggression. A dull ache started underneath his breastbone. He rubbed heart chakra with counter clockwise circular motions, trying to soothe the feeling.
The thought of what would have happened to her if they’d responded to their premonition a moment slower became hooks dragging into his flesh, snaring him in what-if’s --and the biggest mystery of all-- how she had altered everything they accepted as reality by changing the outcome of the precog. He wanted to run, or scream or pound something until he ground it to dust beneath his fury. Ethan kicked a chunk of concrete out of his path.
Caleb lengthened his stride to keep up. “We’re going to have to stick around here for a while, and we’re not making any moves on her until we figure out what’s going on and what she is. If she is a recessive you know we’re supposed to turn her over to the Telihedran for processing and sale.
“I’m not giving her over to those animals for use in their sick slave trade.” Ethan hissed between clenched teeth to keep from bellowing. “If she’s fooled us and she can shift, we need to send her over to Drakin so she can learn her ancestry and gain self-control.”
“I don’t want to turn her over any more than you do. We’ve got a lot happening here that we don’t understand. Her necklace has two queen stones which gives her free access to and from our dimension. If she is to be believed, she doesn’t know how to use it to open a portal. Then, I have to wonder who the fuck was her grandmother that she was in possession of portal magic.
Ethan shook his head. “Yeah, more questions than answers. I don’t have a clue why our skin absorbed her blood either.”
“Another what-the-hell complication in my life, none of which I need right now.”
“Well, I want answers. If she’s a true recessive, we’ll add her to the list we’re keeping watch over.”
“Okay, add your research about what’s happening to all the other projects. Our private list of who to look out for and keep up with is getting a little long and more scattered out than the two of us can monitor alone. Plus, if we do what we both want to do with her she’ll be exposed and we might not have a choice. Her visibility will make her a target and they’ll take her from us.” Recessives that didn’t manifest their change by the end of puberty were sold to take their place in Drakin society as servants, most of them entering the sex trade in one form or another.
Ethan’s hiss reached a growled roar. “Nobody is going to take Wren from us to make into a slave in Wyrmarach.” The policy that progeny of recessive ancestors which took refuge on this side of the veil were to be identified and remanded to the Drakins was nothing short of sex slave trafficking. A heinous act which Ethan and Caleb long ago decided they would have no part.
“I’m going to need you to calm the fuck down.”
Caleb had a point. Ethan was grateful for the shared twin connection that allowed them to borrow stability from each other; he closed his eyes and breathed deep. His brother’s calm enveloped him, restoring a sense of balance and purpose. Something had hijacked their emotions, something that emanated from this petite beautiful woman.
Anyone caught abducting humans whether they were recessive dragons or not would fuel a war on their race just as quickly as a stray dragon popping here or there in the Earth dimension. He just wished they had a scientist on their side who could figure out the impact of dragon genetics. In the meantime, they were working blind.
He made his way to the side stairs. Looking around the ground, he found a couple of stray bolts
. He jumped off the pavement with a push to scale the side of the building and the underside of the stairs until he was hanging beneath the missing steps.
The stairs were engineered for prefabrication, each board held in place to a metal frame with three bolts. Easy to see where someone had unbolted the boards from the metal rail work and simply removed them.
Wren could have been in her kitchen and not heard a sound. The stair case made a turn at her door and wrapped around the building to provide access to several small apartments making up the second floor over the strip mall below. Wren’s shop and apartment were the corner units.
Ethan cursed as waves wrapped around him, squeezing his heart in a vice of emotion. He didn’t need to look any closer. The damage was intentional, sabotage. What motivation could anyone have for wanting to hurt Wren Aldridge? What significance could she possibly have that the Goddess had drug him and Caleb onto the scene? And maybe more significant, did one have anything to do with the other?
CHAPTER FIVE
Wren recognized she was still in shock over the events of the morning. She hadn’t thought to call the police to report the damage. Ethan and Caleb had done so after she’d pushed them out the door of her store. What they’d found checking the stairs had prompted the call. The two had sat on the bench outside in front of the display windows. They’d made it clear they weren’t going to leave anytime soon.
She’d called around trying to find someone who could fix the stairs today for a reasonable amount. The two concepts seemed mutually exclusive to the three handymen recommended by the hardware store.
Wren contemplated her ability to rent a saw and fix the damn steps herself when the police cruiser pulled in one of the parallel parking places right in front of her shop. Not hard to tell where he was going. Caleb and Ethan had joined her when the officer arrived. Their presence did seem to steady her nerves. The officer looked around the shop with a smile.
“Ethan?” She put her hand on his arm. “What really happened to my stairs?”
“Several of the treads were unbolted and removed.”
Caleb nodded his verification of what Ethan said.
“Removed?” Wren gasped. That led to the most grueling, frustrating hour talking to the detective about the ‘vandalism’ to her stairs and the unlikely idea that someone might want to harm her or one of her neighbors.
The officer smiled. “In all likelihood it’s a simple case of prank vandalism. Your stair treads are probably being repurposed into a DYI book shelf over at the college dorm by now. Well now Ms. Aldridge, if you think of anything else, call this number.”
She walked him to the door. The officer handed his card to her with a printed phone number for the station and a penciled in case number and started toward his car. “Good thing you at least reported the incident. I don’t expect you’ll have any more trouble. Call the station and we’ll send someone out if there are any more problems.” The officer left, getting into the car and with a wave, pulled away from the curb.
“Vandalism” Ethan scoffed. His hostile energy had slowed to a simmer.
She wanted to believe it was all a horrible misunderstanding, that the officer was right, simple mischief. Ethan’s words somehow made the events of the morning too sinister. It also occurred to her how quickly she’d come to trust the two.
“Like I told the officer, I don’t know anyone who would want to hurt me.” She was already stiffening up from the bangs and bruises of the fall.
She had a good relationship with the other business owners in town. They’d all respected her Grandmother who owned the shop. She didn’t have much conflict in her life.
Oh, last night the break up with Ron Packard, the man she’d recently dated, had embarrassed her more than anything. He wasn’t even a blip on the radar. Before that she’d teetered on the verge of becoming involved with Kiernan Walker. She’d thought at the time, dating him, they might have had something special, but he’d dropped her about six months ago without a backward glance. His rejection still stung. But, no he wouldn’t want to hurt her.
A tidal wave of emotions tumbled through her mind, robbing her of breath. These men interested her beyond reason. Admittedly she was attracted to the rugged bad boy vibe they exuded on overdrive. Part of her knew they were way out of her league.
The other part of her wanted to be the double stuffing between these two demi-god cookies. Nothing good could come of it. The whole thing smacked of inviting a wrecking ball into her well-ordered life. “I don’t seem to be able to get rid of you two today. I’ve got to get my store opened and find someone that will fix those stairs.”
“You will open the store soon enough.” Caleb’s words soothed her. “Ethan will go buy the boards to repair the stairs.” Ethan gripped Caleb’s arm and pulled. They crashed together like two boulders in what passed for a man hug. “I won’t be long. You know what to do.”
Caleb released his brother with a look Wren didn’t grasp and continued his conversation with her. “We have them blocked off to prevent anyone else falling. I will stay inside, for now, to keep you safe.”
Outrage surfaced, Wren didn’t need anyone to keep her safe. A chill rippled down her neck. Well, maybe it was okay to let them think she needed a body guard, for now. “Don’t you two have a job to go to or something?”
Caleb gave her a patient look that communicated more than words she wasn’t going to shake them that easy. “We work for a special unit of forestry fire fighters. We’re on call a lot.” Caleb turned the welcome sign to open, behaving like an experienced shopkeeper.
Her mortification kicked into overdrive. She dropped her head in her hands. Her skin burned for their touch. Oh My God. What had happened to turn her life inside out?
“Wren, are you alright?” Caleb paused in the midst of exploring the shop.
What the hell had she gotten into? Instead of a, thank you very much for saving my life catch ya later, she had turned her problems over to two virtual strangers. Strangers she was panting to get to know more intimately.
“No, I’m not alright. I fell through my stairs this morning into wonderland. I allowed two strangers to--to take over my life and…and…. I have crazy thoughts in my head I don’t understand. No, I’m not alright. I feel like Alice on crack.
She stood on wobbly legs teetering through the office doorway. She leaned on the frame gathering strength. “Yet, you look like a Greek god puttering around my shop, behaving like the green grocer. I didn’t give Ethan money for the wood to fix my stairs. As if he should be fixing my stairs. And all I can think about is how to get you both to. . .” Her tirade abruptly ran out of steam. “I need coffee. I haven’t had coffee.” Perhaps all this would make sense with the help of a strong fix of caffeine.
“Tea is better for you.” He moved into her break room office and set up her drip-through coffee maker to heat a cup of water. “You have an herbal blend for sale that will help, try it.” His voice held a humorous, indulgent tone.
She turned to lean back against the doorway. “Another thing, you know your way around my shop like you’ve worked here. Of course, you blew it on the java thing…thinking I would drink Tea uck!” She was in overload and still didn’t have any answers. Caleb returned with a steaming mug grinning at her. Did the man have the gall to try to look shy?
“Arrghh.” She slid down the wall to sit.
Caleb leaned over and held his finger to her lips. “Trust yourself.” He wrapped her fingers around the cup. “Now drink your tea.”
She stared at him. He had the uncanny ability to make this freaked out mess seem normal.
She pushed off the floor and stood. First a walk through her store, normalcy of routine should be enough to jerk her back from the urge to attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
“I can do something to help you this morning.” Caleb followed her on her trek through the shop.
“I might as well show you how to run the register on the off chance someone actually comes by to purchase something.
The cops being here might draw the gossips hoping to get juicy news to spread. I’m not up to facing them.”
She showed him the mechanics of making a sale. “Everything is marked with a price. There’s fifty dollars in the register, for change. I cash it out at the end of the day. If you make a mistake it comes out of your pocket. I’m going to work on the books and try to figure out how to pay for the repairs to the stairs.”
She stared at him trying to figure out what was missing from the picture. Oh, hell. She’d turned his shirt into a rag. She nodded at his shirtless state. “Pick a t-shirt off the rack here. Yours is trash after I bled all over it.”
Noticing her own blood-splattered tank top, she grabbed the first small green t-shirt off a hanger. The trade logo, Just do it, seemed like cosmic advice for the decisions assailing her.
“You would clothe me.” Caleb’s voice nearly purred with satisfaction.
She didn’t quite understand the look on his face. “Well, the least I can do is give you a new shirt. There should be something here that would do. Why, would that offend you?” She pointed toward the different extra-large t-shirts sporting popular logos and trade-marks.
“No, you honor me.” He smiled this time and paused as if considering something important. “Would you clothe Ethan as well?”
Obviously something more crucial was going on than simply giving away a t-shirt.
“Of course, I mean, he probably doesn’t need one, but he can have it… if he wants … I mean, yes, of course, give him a shirt also as my thank you.” She trailed off, feeling foolish.
Caleb nodded, his smile stamped with boyish enthusiasm. “Good.” Sparks lit the golden highlights in his eyes.
“Now, short of bringing in a bus load of customers, I’m not sure what you can do, dust, sweep, read a book? I will be in the office, holler if you have a problem.” She paused by the array of thematic t-shirts. They were one thing that consistently sold.
