Unlike his usual cautious responses, Greg’s answer was quick. “It’s the prophecy. Look over there at Matt and one of them. She’s still shaking his hand.”
“He’s wearing gloves like we always do when coming back to the surface.”
“Maybe so, but she doesn’t look like even a flinch of electricity is bothering her. I’d say these two little ones must have some other blood beside human. They’re able to withstand all the power you’ve got pumping through here. Yeah, I checked your wards as well. Never seen them do that before with people you haven’t made allowances for. It’s as if the wards are protecting these ladies from itself.”
“Exactly. Do you sense they are using any dark powers like Julia?”
“No. They appear to be harmless, save that one’s obvious distain for you. Have you ever met her?” Greg asked, indicating the other woman, shooting glares of daggers at Lucien.
“Nope never met her, but she does intrigue me on why she’s pissed at me in our Lair.”
“Time to find out.” Lucien continued to look into the other dimensions the Lair straddled. In each one, a force field of protection supported the women. Muted but alluring power effervesced off of the one with the scowl. It was as if all the dimensions were in agreement with their presence. This was unusual—no—it had never happened with humans before. There must be way more to Hildy’s guests than met the eye. Humans couldn’t survive the vibrations of the Lair for long. Too many dimensions were pulling in different directions. The Guardians and special shifters like Hildy were bred and gifted with the ability to exist in multiple dimensions at once. The Lair was safe for them. Humans, on the other hand, were tethered to only one and would be physically pulled apart if they were subjected to the forces for long. No, these two definitely were not fully human.
He turned his attention back to the Earthly dimension in time to see Hildy dragging the little mean one over toward him. She sported a slight limp. Was it permanent or part of the reason she was here with Hildy? No matter, he’d get her and her friend out of here soon enough. The last thing he wanted was to worry about the welfare of human females caught in between the realms of dimensions. There would be no explaining why they were here if something were to happen to them.
When she came to rest in front of him, he looked her over. Close up; this Quinn woman was even more beautiful with the most alluring and exotic features. Light hints of some girly flower scents tickled his nose. Her smell was delicate and simply elegant—in direct contrast to the battle stance she’d taken, standing here before him.
The ever moving currents and clashes of the many dimensions following through the Lair. They aligned producing a single hum of harmonic resonance. Lucien cut an eye over to Greg to see if this rarity registered with him as well. Greg gave a quick and slight nod in the affirmative. Something momentous was happening and he wanted to know what it was.
Before Lucien could send out a mental link to Greg for his thoughts on what it was, Lucien’s Dragon stirred within. It came forward with enough force for him to fight to stay in control. Quinn’s faint breathing was enough to pull at his beast. Her nearness and the events that caused her injuries enticed his curiosity. He wanted to know everything about this woman who dared stand before the leader of the Dragofin Clan.
Before he could stop, Lucien found himself willing her to face him for deeper inspection. She was different, even from the other one. And she did something to him and his Dragon. It was… pleasant if he were being honest. Hildy made introductions. Quinn remained silent staring directly in front of her—his lower chest area. He wanted to laugh at the little minx of a woman. She refused to place nice as she stared into the lower part of his chest. The laugh he stifled rumbled in his chest.
Hildy went too far when she placed Quinn’s hands into his. Her hands were scraped and red with anger from abrasions. In spite of his attempt to be gentle, the feel of her soft, small hand in his felt like home. He never wanted to let go. Hildy won a reprieve for both Jax and herself when she tilted Quinn’s face up to look at him. Too taken with the large, expressive eyes and plump, full lips on this woman, he vaguely heard Hildy say something about being nice and on good behavior. For all Lucien cared all could go to wherever they wanted, save this one.
Snapping fire danced in her sable brown eyes as she tried—in vain—to hide her contempt for him. Hildy must have filled her in on his rules for the Lair, rules she didn’t like. No matter if he was attracted to her or not, she’d be gone soon enough after he played the role of the brute she was expecting. Lucien returned her glare with an equally menacing stare down. This was kind of fun. She wasn’t scared of him. Instead, the nostrils of her delicate little nose flared as she dug in. This Quinn woman’s features went through an entire repertoire of expressions as she clearly fought with what to do next.
Intriguing indeed.
If her myriad of expressions hadn’t caught him in her web, the wild, black coils of hair that crowned her head would have. The thick unruly mane seemed to have a personality of its own and was piled on top of her head in the most haphazard tilting ponytail he’d ever seen. She wore a bandage on her cheek. Instinct urged him to remove it and apply a healing frequency application to speed up the process. It took a lot of restraint, but Lucien managed to refrain. Had someone hurt her? He looked up and at Hildy in question.
Hildy was quick to comprehend. She gave him a quick shake of the head and motioned that it had happened outside the Lair. Rage rose before he could catch it. The grimace that must have etched his face would be at home during one of the Clans trips to the portal. Lucien wanted blood and to tear into pieces whoever had harmed her.
Eyes from the entire room were locked on them. Anticipation for what would happen next was palpable. Instead of playing into her hand by demanding they leave, he’d be gracious. Quinn had been on the losing end of a fight. He’d find out exactly what had happened and who did this to her.
This story of doing what he could to avenge any woman in distress made Lucien comfortable enough to accept his reaction to her right now. It wasn’t her that made him want justice, no, couldn’t be. He didn’t know her from any other Earth female. This feeling was born of his calling—yeah that must be it. As a Guardian of this realm, it was that all women were precious and to be honored—except for Julia and others like her. He’d protect and show his female guests he had the capacity to be gracious. That was his job and calling as a Warrior Guardian for this realm. And, if she benefited and thought kinder of him for it, that would be an added boon.
Quinn Bradford would be avenged, he’d see to it.
11
Quinn…
An idiot.
That’s what she was, standing here shaking this man’s hand with the slightest clue what to do next. Intense green eyes bore down on her as if he attempted to dissect her soul. She became acutely aware of the big ass bandage she wore on her cut-up cheek. It still burned a little when she smiled or did any big facial gestures. He continued to stare at her. Was he trying to figure out why she had all these bandages?
Quinn fought the urge that bordered on the need to tell him why she had all these injuries. Mantras of self-empowerment and the ability to stand up for herself in the face of male oppression ran through her head. That was right. She didn’t owe him a damn thing, let alone an explanation for how or why she was injured. His warfare tactics wouldn’t make her cave in.
She refused to be the first to break away from this stare down they had going. She was aware of the quietness of the room. They were the center of attention. She wasn’t about to give up any ground on showing him how much he wasn’t going to intimidate her.
Heat continued to transfer into her from his grip. It wasn’t hard or too firm. If she had to be honest, it a perfect handshake. He had the appropriate amount of grip, and touched her hand web to web. Quinn learned what made a great handshake in the graduate school part of her accelerated degree program.
He wasn’t such a brute after all. As i
f reading her mind, he broke the stare and said, “Excuse me Quinn. Pardon my manners or lack thereof. I’ve just come back from an especially trying… trip and I wasn’t expecting to have guest when I arrived. Please, allow me to make up for my rudeness by having you and Wren stay for dinner.” He released her hand with a gentleness that impressed Quinn—a little. He looked at Hildy to ask, “Did you show them around, or give them a tour of the gym?”
Hildy looked as stunned as she felt, but spoke up. “Um, no, Lucien. We stayed in this area and the ladies’ locker room. I didn’t want to make assumptions about what you’d be good with them seeing.”
He nodded. “Thank you for taking that into consideration. You know me well, dear sister. I’ll be able to show them around as soon as I’ve had a chance to shower and change out of these traveling clothes. In the meantime, would you mind starting by showing them the rest of the floor and the second-level offices?” He smiled back down at Quinn, and turned to leave. Without another direct word to Quinn, he said to the room, “I’ll be back.”
“Thanks for the dinner invitation,” Wren said, in her usual polite manner.
He gave another quick nod and turned to disappear into a darkened hallway.
“You heard the man, your are staying for dinner, yes?” Matt asked, standing closer to Wren than Quinn would have liked. As if thinking it was a foregone conclusion that they would, he went on. “What do you ladies fancy for food? We’ll place the order for dinner. If you don’t mind, we’re all starving and would like to eat sooner than later.” He looked at that do-everything-Swiss-Army-type of watch on his arm and added, “It’s a little after five now. Is seven o’clock too soon? That’ll give us time to grab showers and put our gear away. Hildy, you good with showing them around while I steal Jax away to help us?”
“Of course I am. You and Jax do your thing.”
Ajax spoke up, “Don’t I have a say in this? What if I wanted to hang out with the ladies instead? Manual labor isn’t as fun as showing them around.”
“You’d have to help all us see your way of thinking,” Matt said, pointing at the other men and giving Jax a look that meant he needed to start helping.
Matt moved away from Wren’s side to go toward the pile of duffle bags. Quinn noticed how her face fell a little at that. Yeah, Wren had been bitten by the charm of that one. Quinn had to put a stop to this.
“Hey fellas, if Lucien would have waited, he would have heard me inform you that I can’t stay for dinner. Like him, I need to get back and take a shower. I want to clean and redress my cuts and get some rest.”
Wren shot her a look that could curdle milk. But what she said was more direct. “That’s fine. I can stay for dinner, if Hildy or someone would be willing to give me a ride home tonight. Better yet, I can see if my friend Zia could swing by and give me a lift. She’s nice, you’d all like her if you met her. Let me give her a call.”
This was some bullshit. Really Wren, threatening to call your precious Zia? Quinn had to shut that down fast. “Wait, Wren, don’t you need to come with me, to let me into your apartment?” Quinn wanted to add and help take care of her, but she didn’t.
Wren rambled through her purse and threw Quinn her keys. “I thought you had a set, but here you go. You can let me in when I get home.”
The ground must have disappeared beneath her, because Quinn almost stumbled where she stood. This was truly mixed up. She was normally the one trying to get Wren to be more adventurous. Now it was the other way around. Quinn wanted to shake some sense into the woman and make her leave with her. She had to think of another way to go about this.
Hildy said, “Wren—no need to call your other friend. I know how we can accommodate everyone. Wren and I can follow Quinn in Jax’s car back to her place. Wren can grab a change of clothes and we’ll take showers when we get back here. While we’re out, we can grab the food too. That way Wren can hang out with us and not have to have Quinn stay. Wren hangs out, and Quinn can get some rest. Problem solved.”
On second thought, Hildy was ass-out on her friend list. Quinn didn’t like how this was going, not one bit. And Wren was as quiet as a church mouse over there. Where was the loyalty? The first sign of a cute guy’s interest and Wren was dumping her for him and her new friends. It hurt and Quinn wouldn’t be suckered into it.
She put on her best face and said, “That’s fine. You all have a great evening.”
Matt spoke up. “No, please Quinn, I’d feel better if you came back too. Wouldn’t it be better for you to have friends around if, worse case scenario, you develop a fever from infection? I can tell you must have fallen.”
“No, I was shoved—hard.”
“Even worse,” he said, not missing a beat. “We’d love to have you stay and get a chance to know you better. And that gives us a chance to watch over you and make sure you don’t get sick. I know I’d like having both of you here as much as Hildy. Not to embarrass her, but I never thought she’d be able to make one friend, let alone two.”
“Shut the hell up, Matt,” Hildy said, laughing at him.
Matt was smooth, Quinn would give it to him. He must have picked up on her mood, because he’d found a way to make it where she needed to stay. If she flat out refused, she’d come off as looking like an unreasonable brat. Nice move Matt. She’d watch him more. He might be more of a clever fox than a feel-good drug.
Every eye in the room focused on her and her response. It looked like she was going to have to concede this one, but Quinn wouldn’t give up the war. She looked over to Wren, who returned her look with a determined resolve to stay. Okay, Wren had chosen sides. Fine, Quinn would stay, to keep an eye on Matt and Wren.
Deep down, Quinn realized that if the shoe was on the other foot, Wren would do the same for her. Hell, she’d done it many times already. Yep, Quinn was being stubborn and trying to get her way. But Wren was her little naive friend who was falling fast for a hunk who was smoother than silk. She would give Hildy and him props, though. They’d beaten her at her own game. Point one for them on this one.
“Matt, I’ll see how I feel after a hot shower. If I can, I’ll come back after I’ve had a chance to redress these bandages.”
“Good, that’s all I ask, but please do reconsider. I know Lucien would love to have you here for dinner as well.”
And he had spoiled it. She was warming up to the idea of coming back until he said that name. No matter, she’d be here as long as Wren was under his spell.
Sounds of feminine laughter continued to float on the cold dusk of day. He watched, hunched behind the steering wheel of his car, as the figures materialized out of the wooded area across the street. The last streams of sunlight made their retreat as he watched the trio.
Sitting in his car in the farthest part of the Diner’s darkened parking lot, he watched as Hildy and two other women had emerged out of the darkened thicket of trees. They got into an SUV and one of those hyped-up luxury electrical cars.
The expensive tip from earlier had paid off. It had set him back a few thousand dollars, but he now had a firm lead on where to find the bitch and bane of his existence. No sooner had he’d finished up the transaction and was getting back into his car to leave, than he spotted the group emerging from what looked like out of no where.
He had to release his steering wheel when the grooves cut into his palms. How could she be so happy-go-lucky, laughing and chatting with these women as if she were a normal person? The looks on the other two women’s faces didn’t give off any hints on whether they were like her or knew of her true nature. They were shorter, but thick in frame too. He watched the darker of the two get into one car, as Hildy and the other got into the other one. The one who drove alone looked a bit perturbed. He’d keep this in mind, if the time came to make a deal with her. She might be willing to give him more information on where Hildy was hiding out.
Tail lights faded before he dared to turn on his car’s lights. They’d turned, going toward the outskirts of town. It was too dark
to follow them without detection from Hildy. Poor eyesight demanded he use his lights to see at night. If this was a meeting place, Mr. Scott would send some of his other assets to keep an eye out for her. For now, he’d investigate what was on the other side of the street.
After another half hour or roaming around in the dark to see nothing but eerie trees, he gave up. Back in his car and headed home, he noticed a text message from Liza. The groan filled the car as he got onto the Interstate to make it home. It was late and she must be pissed he’d missed another one of her family gatherings or some other menial event that meant nothing to him.
Personally looking for Hildy was causing added discord between him and his wife. For that, he’d make her pay in some way once she was back in the agency’s possession. This had taught them all a lesson. Animals were best kept on a leash. This bird had flown the coop, and who was out in the cold January nights looking for her? Untrained and ill-equipped, Mr. Scott never meant to do any field work. Yet, when Hildy had left he’d been forced to get out and hit the streets to locate her. It was that or find out what happened to wayward colleagues of his past.
Think of a plan, this will not overrun my life.
Staying out here night after night was a sure fire way to plunge him into a costly divorce. Liza wouldn’t stand for much more of this bizarre work project he’d been working. If she left him, there’d be no reason to continue on with life. Enough was enough. There had to be a better way to handle the situation. Along with posted assets at that Diner, he’d reach out to the upset woman from the car.
Now… what was her driver’s license plate number again?
Showered, with fresh bandages, and back at the gym, Quinn sat at the end of the long table in a cleared area of the large room. They’d assembled a large eating area out of card tables placed end to end to make room for everyone. Her facial expression must have been set on resting bitch face. Wren kept catching her eye and motioning for her to smile.
Lucien: Dragofin Mated: Book 2 (Dragonfin Clan Mated) Page 9
