by Donna Grant
Erith didn’t know the future, but she knew the type of man Con was. He did what was right, even if it went against his own wishes. He had done it on two occasions already. When the time came for the third – because it would – she wasn’t sure which way he would go. He might surprise her and think of himself for once.
Most likely he would continue on the path he had begun long ago. But she really wished he would do something for himself. Because he, too, deserved happiness.
“Do you live in the city?” he asked.
She poured fresh tea in her cup. “For the moment. And you?”
“I’m here for business.”
“Is that why you keep looking at the clock?” she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders in his gray wool suit. “I doona need to be there.”
“But you planned to attend,” she guessed. Her eyes went to his wrists and saw the dragon head cuff links. She wanted to smile at the sight of them, but she held it inside. All while wondering if he’d kept the pocket watch.
So much of Con’s time was spent thinking of the future and what directions to take as well as any possible roadblocks that might pop up that it took him a second to realize that he wasn’t thinking about any of those things.
There had only been a handful of times where he his mind had been quiet. Two had occurred within the last four hundred years. One had been with Heather. More recently, there had been Iris.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
She didn’t seem at all taken aback by his request. Willow met his gaze and said, “Just someone who happened to run into you.”
“I think it’s more than that, lass.”
A frown puckered her brow. “Why would you think that?”
He pulled the watch from the pocket of his vest and set it on the table. “What does that mean to you?”
For a heartbeat, she simply stared at it. When she reached for it, her movements were slowed, as if she was hesitant to touch it. Right before her fingers met the metal, she paused and lifted her eyes to him. “It’s beautiful, and appears to be an antique.”
“It is. It’s also more than that.”
“Like what?”
No matter how hard he searched her face or any inflection of her words, he found nothing that would tell him that she was lying. And yet, his instincts told him otherwise. He retrieved the watch and returned it to his pocket. “You’ve never seen it before?”
“You only showed me the outside.”
The fact she didn’t answer his question made him doubt her even more. Asking direct questions would get him nowhere. He would need to be subtler about it if he wanted to learn anything.
“I heard someone mention dolphins in Beauly Firth. Care to walk with me to see if we can find them?” he asked.
Her smile was bright as she nodded. “That would be fantastic.”
She reached for her purse the same moment he pulled coins from his pocket and tossed them on the table.
Willow looked at the money then to him. “This was suppose to be my treat.”
“Allow me. Please.”
She considered his words for a long moment before she nodded. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He rose and held out his arm. “Shall we?”
Willow pushed back her chair and stood. They walked through the market together, pausing often when something caught her eye. She greeted everyone with a smile and listened as they tried to sell her their products. She bought some candy and a lavender scented bar of soap, while managing to decline everyone else with generous words.
It wasn’t until they reached the flower shop and she touched every flower that he realized he had seen someone do the same thing. If only he could remember who it was. Being immortal made it difficult to remember everything. There was only so much room in his head, and a great many things he believed inconsequential he forgot. Now he wished he could dredge up the memory that teased him mercilessly without revealing anything.
Willow smelled every kind of flower. Everyone and everything else was forgotten as she became enamored with them. When the shopkeeper asked her if she would like to purchase some flowers, she replied that she would never be able to choose.
She gave him a fleeting smile as her gaze ran over the flowers once more. Then she turned away and began walking. Con caught up with her easily. He knew plenty who enjoyed the beauty and smell of flowers. He was one, but he had never seen anyone so absorbed by them before.
“Are you a horticulturist?”
“Not in the professional sense,” she said, cutting him a look and a wide grin. “But I love flowers. All kinds. I am very proud of my garden. Any time I come across a new plant, I add it to the others.”
They left the market and made their way north to the bay. She said little, and while they walked in companionable silence, he noted that her gaze missed nothing. Willow was as eager to watch a young mother with a newborn as she was to observe an elderly couple bent with age holding hands.
“You seem amazed with life,” he pointed out.
She laughed softly. “And you do not.”
He had to admit that he didn’t. Not after all that he had been through.
“It would be naïve for me to say that I only see the good. I know there are wicked people out there who do unscrupulous things,” she said. “I choose to look at other things. From people just falling in love, to someone who has lost his way.”
He looked to where she jerked her chin and saw a man leaning back against a building with his eyes on the ground. It appeared that at any moment he would shatter, that the only thing holding him together was his skin.
“I can only see the corrupt,” he said.
She pressed her lips together. “That’s too bad. Has it always been this way?”
Con thought about the few friendships he’d had with mortals. William Shakespeare had been one. Michelangelo had been another. Men who were great thinkers and doers. “For the most part. There have been a few instances where the opposite has happened.”
“So there is hope for you.”
He jerked his head to her, but she was looking elsewhere. The walk to the inlet was long, but she didn’t seem to care. She didn’t slow once or appear tired. And when they finally reached the water, she scanned the surface waiting to see the dolphins.
“Do you travel often?” he asked.
She shrugged, not looking at him. “No. I prefer to remain at home, but sometimes that isn’t possible.”
“Aye,” he murmured.
Her head moved forward and back, angling to see if she might be missing something. “I have never seen a dolphin.”
Con put his hand on her back and guided her to the right where the dock was. “Then we shall remedy that.”
“For someone so cynical, you are being very nice.”
He smiled and snorted. “I am cynical, but I like to believe I’m a decent man.”
“You are.”
There was no time to reply as Con approached a boat and found the owner. After a little haggling, Con paid the fee and helped Willow into the craft. He stepped in without aide and ushered her to the front.
The way she gripped the wood with tight fingers caught his attention. “Have you never been on a boat?”
“No,” she said with a nervous laugh.
The sails unfurled and caught the wind, pulling the vessel away from the dock. The joy on Willow’s face as they picked up speed had him smiling. She enjoyed the small things in life, things that he had taken for granted long, long ago.
She caused him to look at such things with fresh eyes, and it reminded him that there could still be good things. Despite everything, he and the Dragon Kings had made a great life for themselves. Sure, they might have to hide who they really were, but it wasn’t difficult with their magic.
Maybe the burden he bore could be lightened somewhat if he allowed himself to recall the simple things, to take in the beauty of nature
, and maybe even admit that humans weren’t all evil creatures.
The last one might take some doing, but he was fairly certain the other two could be done easily. And it began that day. Thanks to Willow.
“You’re smiling,” she said.
He looked down at her and realized that he was indeed grinning. “So I am.”
“It looks good on you. You should do it more.”
Just as he was about to reply, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. “Look!” he exclaimed and pointed.
As the boat clipped through the water, a pod of dolphins had come alongside, jumping and swimming next to them. The awe in Willow’s expression made the entire day worthwhile.
He didn’t care if she was Iris or someone else. He didn’t care if she had been lying about it all. It was the best day he’d had in ages. Not once had he thought about the fate of his brethren or the dragons. He hadn’t worried or tried to plan. He had simply been in the moment.
And now he was experiencing one that he hoped to remember for thousands of years to come.
“They’re so beautiful,” Willow murmured.
The sleek dolphins jumped from the water, their bodies arched gracefully. The sight of a baby made Willow gasp as her hands clasped together at her chest as she looked on with delight.
For the next thirty minutes, the dolphins remained with them, but as the captain turned the vessel around, the pod swam off. Willow sighed as she watched them until they were out of sight.
“If I was brave enough, I would’ve jumped in the water with them,” she said.
“You should have.”
She shot him a smile. “I will one day.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“Thank you for this. No one has ever done anything so special for me before.”
He frowned at her words. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Oftentimes, it’s the small things that make a big difference. I’m rather... independent.”
“I hadn’t noted,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
They shared a smile before she continued. “I have always been this way. It was by necessity rather than choice. When someone has to guide themselves through life, there are so many options to choose from. I like being my own woman.”
“Is there no one else?”
She shrugged. “For the most part, I am on my own. I’ve been like this so long I don’t know if I could have it any other way.”
“I had a family once.” Con thought back to the days before the war with the humans. “It’s so long ago now that sometimes I wonder if it really happened or was just a dream.”
Willow closed her eyes and lifted her face to the wind. “I stopped dreaming of my family a long time ago. I made the decision to look ahead – not back.” Her gaze opened as she turned her head to him. “Do you understand?”
“I do, but I doona have that luxury. I must keep hold of mine.”
“But you can still look ahead instead of to the past.”
“Have you never heard that people who doona know the past are destined to repeat it?”
She looked to the sky to watch the seagulls. “I have, and I believe it. However, I don’t think that applies to you. You seem like the type of man who never forgets anything.”
That wasn’t exactly true. He still couldn’t remember who it was he saw touching the plants. But the past and his mistakes involving the humans – and Ulrik – were ones he would never forget.
Or repeat.
Con focused on the feel of the wind on his face since it reminded him of when he shifted and flew over Dreagan’s sixty thousand acres. He was conscious of the woman next to him and the fact that she had made him take a step back and reevaluate how he looked at life.
After millions of years on this realm, that was a feat in itself. It was easy to bask in the hate and anger so that it began to swallow him from the inside out. That’s exactly what had been happening without him even knowing it.
Willow turned a mirror on him and forced him to see himself as she did. He hadn’t liked what he’d seen. If he wanted the Kings to find contentment, then it began with him. Because his reactions and emotions spilled over to the others. They had come so very far, and he didn’t want to ruin any of it.
One day there might be a time when the humans were tired of this planet and left. There was even a chance – a very slim one – that the dragons and mortals could coexist. Con put his money on the former option. If he and the Kings could just hold out until the humans were gone, then the dragons could return.
When he looked at all the years the Kings had hid and suffered in silence, they could continue as long as they had hope that the dragons would return. Meanwhile, he would find something each day that would either bring a smile to his lips, or make him stare at the beauty.
Be it new life, a soaring golden eagle, or the wind over his scales as he took to the skies. As Willow said, it was the little things.
When the boat drew alongside the dock once more, Con leapt to the platform and held out his hand for her. As soon as he had a grip on Willow’s hand, he pulled her to him.
She turned and looked out at the water. “Thank you, Constantine. I will never forget this day.”
“Neither will I,” he said.
Her head turned to him and her lips curved into a smile.
“Neither will I.”
His words gave her comfort, because she honestly believed that he would always remember. And if she were ever to come to him again, she would have to change up more of her appearance.
Unless it was time to tell him the truth.
She dreaded the day she told him everything. He would either understand – or he wouldn’t. Erith really hoped he could forgive her.
“I have taken up enough of your time,” she said.
He frowned and looked as if he where about to oppose, but he remained silent.
“Good luck with the business endeavor, Con.” She turned to walk away.
“Willow.”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”
“Family isna always blood. It’s those you have around you, the ones you look to for friendship.”
“Do you have a family then?”
“A verra large one, in fact,” he replied with a crooked grin.
She nodded as she glanced away. “I think I have one, too.”
“Then you will never be alone.”
Erith smiled. Each time she thought Con needed her, it turned out that she needed him more. He’d left his mark on her. With his compassion, his wisdom, and his friendship. In fact, he was the closest thing she had to a best friend.
And he didn’t even know it.
“Farewell, Willow,” he said with a tip of his head.
“Farewell.”
It was harder for her to leave than she expected. Con was easy to talk to. And she could be herself. She didn’t have to shut her feelings off as she did anytime she was near Cael or the rest of the Reapers for fear that they might discern all that she hid.
Con accepted her just as she did him. He demanded nothing from her, nor did he want anything. He could have pushed to know who she was. She’d felt his impatience, but for whatever reason, he’d pulled back his questions.
She walked to the end of the pier and looked back one last time. Con was facing the water, his hands in his pockets as the wind ruffled his blond waves. She continued on until she was at a safe enough distance that she could teleport to the small isle in the middle of a loch.
As soon as she walked through the Fae doorway, her magic discarded the clothes of the twenties and returned her to her black gown with full skirts. She shook out her long black hair and let it flow freely as she walked among her garden.
She didn’t feel quite so lonely today. It helped spending time with Con, but it was the reminder that she had a family that cemented everything.
~ ~ ~
Con rocked
with the train as it rolled down the tracks toward Dreagan. He’d left Kendrick a note at the hotel to explain that he was returning a day earlier. After the peculiar meeting with Willow and subsequent hours in her company, Con wanted to be alone.
She had given him much to reflect on. He’d been in a rather gloomy state for the past few months, and then an afternoon with Willow changed everything. He’d wanted to follow her but had stopped himself. He’d wanted to make her give him the answers to all the questions he had about her, but he didn’t.
If she was Iris, then there was a reason she kept her confidences and came to him as a different person each time. He wished he knew what that reason was, and he suspected he would find out eventually.
Immortals were a patient breed. Look how long the Kings had slept within their mountains until Con let them know they could wake. The thousands of years on Dreagan keeping others out had only reinforced that patience.
He blinked when he felt the train begin to slow. Had they already reached his destination? A glance out the window confirmed that. He had never had a train ride pass so quickly, but then he had been deep in his thoughts.
There was a knock on the door to his compartment. He bade them enter and found a conductor in the doorway holding a small package.
“Good evening, sir. I was asked to hand this to you before you departed the train.”
Con looked from the older gentleman to the parcel. Curious, he held out his hand for it. He barely noticed when the conductor backed away and closed the door. Con turned the package over in his hand inspecting the brown paper it was wrapped in.
He pulled at the string tied around it and unfolded the paper to reveal a rectangular wooden box about the length of his palm without any markings on it. Lifting the lid, Con’s gaze landed on a fountain pen held in purple velvet.
When he lifted the pen from the box, he saw the top of it was white with six points, like a star. He ran his finger over the black casing with gold accents before he unscrewed the cap and saw the silver writing tip that was outlined in gold. It was utterly magnificent.
