by Linzi Baxter
Ursula screamed as she flew over the car. The two men fell to the ground, and she ran over to them. She couldn’t help but wince as the car bounced. Once she was at the end of the alley, she slammed on the brakes, and they skidded to a halt. In the review mirror, she saw Gideon running for the car. The two men weren’t moving. Guilt washed over Diem. She’d never killed anyone before.
But she stopped feeling guilty as she watched Ursula peel her body off the ground and stand up. Her blond hair was no longer perfect. Her red dress was torn on the side, and she was missing a shoe. She limped down the alley toward them.
Gideon threw the door open and jumped in. “Go!” he yelled.
Diem slammed her foot on the gas, forgetting that she’d put the car in reverse. It sped backward as fast as it had gone forward. The car bumped as it went over the two bodies, and she heard the third crunch as it ran over Ursula.
“That won’t kill her,” Gideon grumbled. “We need to get out of here before she gets back up.”
He reached over and slipped the car into drive. Diem slammed her foot on the gas, and the car lurched forward and sped down the alley. The bump over the bodies hadn’t been as bad the third time.
“Do you think I killed the two men?” Diem asked.
“Maybe, but they were going to try to kill me.”
“I don’t feel bad.”
“And you shouldn’t. If they worked for Ursula, they’ve done evil things.”
“I was worried about you.”
“Next time, you need to save yourself. I about died of a heart attack when I saw the car coming down the alley.”
She didn’t bother replying to that. There was no doubt in her mind that she would always try to save him, even after they went their separate ways. “Do you think she will come after us again?”
“I don’t know. If Garth can get to her, no. He will lock her up until I get ahold of the council. She tried to kill us because she wants your scale. Taking a dragon’s scale is a crime punishable by death. Even the attempt can get her years in jail. Once we’re in the air, I will call Kirin, and he can take care of her. So she shouldn’t be an issue any longer.”
“That’s good to know. We already have enough going on.”
“She’s not coming after us this second. You can slow down.”
“You weren’t scared of a crazy-ass woman, but you're scared of my driving,” Diem said.
He clutched the door as she weaved through a few more cars. “Yes,” he ground out.
For the next twenty minutes, they sat still in traffic. Her finger bounced on the steering wheel in annoyance. She wanted to get to the airport and to the next step of their journey. Gideon reached out and grabbed her hand. His touch settled her. It was like taking a Xanax.
Once they made it through the traffic jam on I-4, they pulled off into an executive airport.
“We need passports,” Diem said.
Gideon got out, walked to her side of the car, and extended his hand to help her out. She followed next to him as they walked up to a sleek white plane with gold speckles. Her dragon purred at the sight of gold.
A young man in a pilot’s uniform walked down the stairs and held out his hand. “Hello, Gideon. And you must be Diem.”
“Were you able to get the other things I needed?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, everything is on the plane.”
Over the years, Diem had seen a lot of planes but never any private jets. She only flew commercial, even though the pilots in the private industry made more money. It was the total opposite type of career from flying commercial. Those pilots were more like personal assistants and would need to cater to every need of the customer.
Inside, the plane was breathtaking, and Diem wondered why she’d never tried to get into private jetting. Commercial pilots were disgusting. Pieces of sandwich meat and crumbs were always on the floor. She would spend ten minutes cleaning her station, or her fingers would stick to half the things in the cockpit.
She bet the cockpit on this plane was clean. The flight attendant handed them each a glass of bubbly. Needing something to take the edge off, she downed hers in one gulp.
Gideon leaned over and whispered, “You know you can’t get drunk, right?”
That was another thing that sucked about being a shifter. The first night she was free, she’d bought a bottle of vodka, and when she drank the last sip, she felt nothing. Now she could only drown herself in ice cream, and even that never helped much. It just left her hungry for more and never gave her the comfortable full feeling she used to get.
He led her to the couch and pulled her down next to him. Gideon reached across her lap and buckled her belt. His forearm brushed against her nipples, causing them to go hard immediately. He grunted. When she looked into his green eyes, they were lowered to her chest. Her cheeks heated up. If she didn’t think of something other than how he made her body hot, she would jump the poor man.
“You know we’re in the plane now,” she reminded him. He’d said he would tell her the story on the plane.
“The door isn’t even shut. Are you sure you want to hear it? You won’t look at me the same.”
“My dragon isn’t pressing at my skin yet. I need a distraction.”
He let out a sigh and rested his head back against the plane wall. “Did you ever meet Arrow? He was in the jail cell next to Nyx.”
She’d met him. That was another thing she’d done against her will. The collar around her neck hadn’t given her a choice. “I’m the one who helped take him and his brothers down.”
Gideon gave an understanding nod. “I’ve known Arrow for years, along with his mate. Her name was Alexis, and she had two sisters. One you met today, and the other is her twin.”
She reached over and grabbed Gideon’s hand.
“Emma’s sister, Jasmin, is kind of on the crazy side. But back then, I liked crazy.” Gideon paused, and Diem’s body tensed. “Near the end, I was only staying around because Arrow's mate was having complications. We haven’t talked about my healing, but I have the power to heal.”
“Did something happen to her?” Diem asked.
Gideon’s eyes were trained on the window across from them. They were heading into the sky, and it didn’t even faze her dragon. She wanted to comfort Gideon.
“Yes.” He sighed. “She wasn’t due for another week. I just needed to get away from Jasmin for a few days. Arrow knew his sister-in-law was crazy. That morning, Arrow and I talked, and he told me to go but to stay close enough to drive back.” Gideon looked from the window back to Diem. “If I’d known what would happen that night, I would never have left.”
She knew he wasn’t looking for her to say something, so she squeezed his hand, waiting for him to finish the story.
“I didn’t go very far. But when Alexis wouldn’t tell Jasmin where I was, they got into a big fight.”
“Where was Arrow?” Diem asked.
“Jasmin made up a story about how someone attacked her. She wanted my attention. So the pack went looking for this guy. Jasmin went to her sister, wondering where I was. When Alexis wouldn’t tell her, she hit her.”
Even if Kayda had been the reason Diem was turned into a dragon, she would have forgiven her. There was no way she would ever harm her own sister. Family stuck together through the hard times and the bad. Jasmin sounded pure evil, and Diem wished the woman was in shifter jail.
“Did something happen to the baby?” Diem asked.
Gideon raked his hand down his face. “Yes. When Jasmin hit Alexis, she fell backward and landed on the table. Jasmin didn’t wait to see if her sister was okay. She left her there alone. When Arrow arrived, Alexis was in labor by herself. He called me, but I was too far.”
“Did she…?” Diem could barely form the words. Tears formed in her eyes, for the baby, for Arrow, and for the guilt Gideon was carrying.
“Mom and baby didn’t make it.”
What she didn’t understand was why Arrow worked for Gideon. She thought they
’d been close until the end, when Arrow had gone against Gideon.
“I thought you were friends,” Diem said.
“Arrow needed an escape. He came with me. I know he doesn’t blame me, but having him by me was a reminder of what I did. I’m glad that when I acted out of character, he went and did what he thought was right.”
Friends weren’t something she had. As a pilot, she’d been in a male-dominated field. And barely being home enough to connect with anyone, she couldn’t imagine having a friend she would sacrifice her happiness for, but she would go to the ends of the world to try to help her sister.
She didn’t know where the sudden urge to be close to him came from. With a flick of her fingers, she undid her seat belt buckle and climbed onto Gideon’s lap. Not saying anything, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s Jasmin’s fault.”
“If I’d kept her happy until the baby was born—”
“Then it might’ve been something else. She was crazy, and I hope she is in jail or dead for what she did. If Arrow blamed you, he wouldn’t have come to West Virginia with you. Maybe it was his way of making sure you didn’t feel all the guilt.”
“The last hundred years, I’ve been a shitty friend to him. I don’t even know what I made him do.”
Gideon still hadn’t dealt with having been controlled for a hundred years.
“Have you talked to him since you got control?” Diem asked.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He blames himself for not figuring it out sooner.”
“You two both need to stop blaming yourselves and live life. Stop living in the past, and enjoy what is in front of you.”
Gideon moved her so that her knees were on either side of his thighs and held her closer. She felt his hard member against her. “No more talking about my past.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. It wasn’t soft and gentle. His kiss was demanding, and she felt the fire start in her body.
When he pulled back too quickly, she couldn’t help but whimper. “Why did you stop?”
“If I go too much more, I won’t be able to stop myself, and we can’t have sex before the ritual.” He shifted under her, causing his member to push harder against her jeans.
How does the man have so much control? “How would they know?” she asked.
“They would. Now, let’s talk about something that will make my dick go soft.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. For the next few hours, they talked about her sister. She told him stories about how they would spend time together when they were younger.
10
Diem
She’d had a hard time sleeping in the bed next to Gideon. He kept telling her they had to wait until after the first ceremony. She wondered how sex could affect a journey to find answers. But she listened.
Now it was seven o'clock in the morning, and her body was wound tight. She could see the yoga mat on the back balcony. Gideon had gotten them a private villa on the water. The deck was clear, and she could see fish swimming below.
Her mind made up, she threw the covers to the side and walked out onto the patio. The sound of the waves was soothing. She hadn’t changed in two days, and her dragon pushed at her skin. The shaman, Ethno, had asked her to change before the ceremony that night. He reminded her of a surfer who’d turned into a monk.
But if he would help her get one step closer to finding her sister, she would do it. She laid the mat down on the floor. Behind her, she heard soft footsteps. She looked over her shoulder to find Gideon standing with a cup of coffee in his hands, watching her.
His tousled hair added to his appeal. The previous two nights, the man had slept without a shirt on. She didn’t know how many more she could take before she jumped him.
She was in the sphinx pose when Gideon took a seat on the chair outside. His eyes heated with each movement she did. Fucking hell. He was making it hard for her to concentrate on what she was doing. Her eyes flicked to his shorts then back to his face, and he smirked. The man knew what she was thinking.
“I know he said to eat something, but I’m so nervous.” Diem was supposed to have breakfast, change into her dragon, and meet Ethno at noon.
“I ordered some fruit. It should be here soon. You’re going to need your energy. The first day is the longest and hardest.”
He told her he’d done this a few hundred years ago, and it wasn’t that bad. She wasn’t so sure she was going to go off with an old memory.
“It’s crazy we have to do this twice.” She stretched her front leg forward into lizard pose. “If we don’t see it the first time, how are we going to see it the second time?”
“The first time gets you grounded, and the next time helps guide you. And there’s a possibility of a third time.”
She rolled her neck, trying to get the tension out of her body. The yoga wasn’t helping. “What are you going to do while I go change into my dragon?”
“I’m coming with you.”
She hadn’t expected that. “Why?”
“I’ve spent time with you but not much with your dragon. And the time I did spend with your dragon was quick because we were fighting someone. This is part of the mating thing.”
They hadn’t talked about the mating thing at all. She’d tried to bring it up on the plane, and he kept saying they would discuss it later.
Someone knocked on the door before opening it and wheeling in a cart of food. Gideon hadn’t only ordered fruit—he must have ordered everything on the menu. She’d told him she didn’t know if she could eat, but her stomach growled at the sight of the food.
“Thank you,” Gideon said to the butler and handed him some cash.
Her eyes were on the food as Gideon put one of everything on a plate and handed it to her. When her teeth bit through a juicy strawberry, her early thought of not being able to eat went away. For the next thirty minutes, they ate in peace until everything was gone. She wasn’t the only one who could eat a lot of food. Gideon picked on her for always being hungry, but he joined her each time, and sometimes he ate more than she did.
She leaned back in the chair and patted her stomach. “I’m not sure my dragon’s going to be able to fly after eating that much,” she groaned. “Speaking of my dragon, I don’t remember where he said I had to go so I could shift.”
The shaman had walked them around when they got there, but she was so busy taking in her surroundings that she only caught half of what the man said. Hopefully, she hadn’t missed the information she would need to know before the ritual started.
“We’re on the side of the resort protected by magic. You can shift on the back balcony and go from there.”
“My dragon can swim in the water out there?”
“Yes.” Gideon walked over and wrapped her in his arms. “But I would like to come along with you for your flight.”
“You want to ride on my back?”
“Yes, but if you don’t want me to—”
“It’s not that I don’t want you to. I’m worried. What happens if I drop you?”
“I’m sure you won’t drop me. Are you ready, or do you want to eat some more?”
“No more food.” She laughed.
Diem stood and walked out onto the back balcony. When she glanced around, she couldn’t see another person for miles, so she slowly peeled her tank top over her head and worked her yoga pants down her body. Gideon’s breath caught as she turned and faced him. His eyes traveled up and down her body. The simple look was enough to make her insides feel like they were on fire.
“God, you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. Now, hurry and change into your dragon before I drag you into the room and ignore everything the shaman made me promise not to do.”
Changing was the only thing she felt like she’d mastered. She closed her eyes, and her dragon took over her body. Everything was different when she was in her dragon form. The colors seemed sharper, smells
were more robust, and her hearing was on another level.
“You’re going to have to bend down a little,” Gideon huffed.
She lay against the glass patio and hoped it was strong enough to hold her giant dragon. Gideon used her leg to boost himself onto her back. When his hand touched her scales, her dragon purred.
Not wanting to think more about his touch, she stood and pushed off the back patio. Her wings flapped in the warm air. With each stroke, the two of them went higher. Gideon didn’t say a word as she took them through the trees. When she dipped down and splashed water upward, he chuckled. When she flew through the sky, everything wrong in her life evaporated, and even time seemed not to exist.
She didn’t know how long they’d been up in the air when she heard Gideon say, “We need to head back.”
Her dragon fought her for a second, loving to be out and complaining because she didn’t shift enough. She promised herself that when everything was settled, she would shift more and become closer to her dragon side.
They made their way back to the patio, and she landed with grace. Gideon slid off her back, and she turned back into human form. She reached for her clothes, but Gideon drew her into his arms, and his lips lightly touched hers.
She drew back. “You said we had to wait. I’m only holding on by a thread.”
His eyes darkened to a forest green. The tension was thick in the air. He slid his hand around her waist, keeping her close to his body. His tongue pushed past her lips and explored her mouth with wild abandon.
With a groan, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and his hands cupped her ass. In that moment, everything disappeared. The only thing she cared about was Gideon.
He walked her backward until her back was against the glass door. She tugged upward at his shirt. He broke the kiss long enough for her to lift the shirt over his head. His chest pressed against her boobs. His fingers drifted lightly over her skin.
A throat cleared in the room, and Gideon pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. “If you don’t get the fuck out of here, I’m going to kill you,” Gideon said.
