A Dragon's Heart

by Dahlia Rose

  “The Concord’s have been retired, so that’s not saying a lot,” she teased.

  “Let me get a warm coat and we’ll go.” Ginna drained her glass and set it on the table. “Bank the fire, would you? I’d like to come home to and find my house.”

  “You mean let’s go right now?” He looked almost pale at the thought.

  Ginna caught his face between her hands and kissed him gently. “No time like the present. I have faith that you can, you have to believe it too.”

  “Get a winter coat and some good jeans. You’ll need them.” Kalv smiled at her.

  She could see hope in his eyes, and she prayed with all her heart that he could open the door to the place he longed for. Excitement filled her as she pulled her winter jacket from the back of the closet and pulled it on over her sweater. She put her hair into a ponytail so it wouldn’t be blowing all over the place, and ran downstairs. Kalv was waiting by the door and took her hand. Together they walked to the darkened pastures in the back of her home, and he stripped out of his clothes. Ginna knew she would never get tired of looking at his body; five hundred years old and he was sexy as hell. She got the luck of the draw when he’d come over the hills and saved her.

  In a swirl of golden mist he transformed, and soon he was the magical beast. He always seemed so regal and proud in his dragon form. But he lay his head down against the grass patiently and allowed her to climb on. She pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket and put them on. The last time her fingers became colder than she would have thought. Ginna imagined that Greenland would be frigid compared to the fall skies over Texas. Like practiced horse rider she climbed onto his neck using his clawed hand as a step. His neck was wide and she got as comfortable as she could, hooking her fingers under his scales.

  Kalv waited until she was completely settled before raising his wings, and with a deep flap rocketed off into the sky. It took her breath away, of course, until he leveled out into the night. But that didn’t last for long, because before her the clouds seem to swirl together as his speed increased. She looked to where her hands were on his neck and noticed a glow. She looked around and saw that his entire body seemed be haloed by a soft light. It’s his magic, she thought with a grin while they sped through the midnight blue sky.

  It was a trip that would have taken hours, with a lay over and then more flying took less than an hour before she saw the tall hills of Greenland covered in darkness. It was ten o’clock when they left Texas. That meant if she was right with her time difference between the two countries, it was around one in the morning when they landed on the cliffside. Rough waves rolled in on the coast. The salt of the sea was in every breath of cold air she took, biting the back of her throat. Before she could make her way off his neck, Kalv lifted her off and she cried out in surprise. Ginna was in his huge grasp. His sharp talons could tear her in two easily, yet he set her gently on the ground. Kalv shifted back to human form and stared out over the hills.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve been here.” His voice was quiet. “I wonder if they hear me knocking and can’t open the door, or if they even want to.”

  Ginna wrapped her arms around him and pressed her hand over his chest and laid her head there as well. His heartbeat raced, and she knew it was from nervousness and fear. “I think they want you back just as much as you want to be in your own world. Try, Kalv.”

  He looked down at her for a moment before stepping away. He stood facing the mountains and said words foreign to her ears. Something was happening, she felt her ears pop like when the pressure in the cabin of an airplane changed. There was nothing in front of them, but the emptiness seemed to take shape and bow outward. She held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next, but it fizzled away and everything went normal again. Her heart sank and Kalv said the words again, the insistence of his voice made her cringe. Please work, please! She begged silently. The same effect but still nothing. She saw his shoulder sag with defeat and he turned away.

  “It can still work, you just need to let go of all that restraint you have. I’m sure…” She began to say and tried to hold him.

  It broke her heart to see him look so empty. He needed the connection to his home and it was lost to him. Anger burned inside her. Was the king who sat on the throne in paladin able to do something but didn’t. But nothing compared to the hurt she felt when Kalv pushed her away and looked at her with angry eyes.

  “What do you know of it?” he snapped. “You’re human, with such trivial things that bind you to each other. What can you possibly know about a connection that goes past your perception in this world? It’s so fleeting for humans, such fragile creatures you are. That’s why we were sent to protect you, and now my home is barred from me.”

  “I know you’re hurt,” she began calmly. “I love you. Even though you are trying to hurt me, I understand.”

  Kalv laughed harshly. “Your love has done the world for me. It seems I still am unable to see my home. Torvea’s held no boundaries…”

  Hearing how he rated her love against his dead mate shattered her in ways she didn’t know she could break. She wouldn’t let him see her die inside. Ginna stood tall and let the fire of her anger burn inside her. Later she would cry because he threw her love back in her face.

  “Don’t you dare…dare tell me my feeling for you lacks against someone who’s gone!” Her body trembled with rage. “I don’t have to be a dragon to know love or to fight. I fought for my parents’ land every goddamn day before I met you, and grieved for them when they died. I didn’t call you, you found me, and now you want to throw my love back in my face? You want to know something Kalv? You might be a five-hundred-year-old dragon, but you are dumb as rocks, selfish, and playing the pity card. ‘Oh poor me I can’t get home!’ The reason why is not because my love is less, it’s because you are. You are too selfish to see past your own goddamn face.”

  “Ginna,” he said and stepped toward her.

  She stepped away and held up her hands. “I’m not done. You think my love is lacking, fine. You think your Torvea could have loved you better…that’s okay. But I refuse to be in competition with a ghost. I know my self-worth and I won’t be a Jessica picking up scraps of affection when I can get it. There won’t be any doubts if I’m loved or not, with a shadow of any woman in my bed. One of these days you’ll see what you lost…again. Take me to my home and then leave.”

  “You won’t give me a chance to answer for any of what you said?” he asked.

  “Trust me, Kalv, I get you loud and clear,” she said between gritted teeth. “Take me the fuck home and then I never want to see you again.”

  He stared at her for what seemed like minutes, and she bit the inside of her lip to make herself not break down and cry in front of him. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he destroyed her. They said love was supposed to hurt, but damn not this much, please.

  Silently, Kalv shifted and he lifted her to his neck. She held on stiffly as he zipped back to her home in less time that it took for them to get there. He wants to be away just as quickly as I do, she thought brokenly. She didn’t enjoy the ride like she usually did. There was nothing miraculous and amazing about it. All Ginna wanted was to be home, and when she saw she was home relief filled her. Ginna made a mental note to throw his things in the hallway so he would have no reason to be in her bedroom. The sound of his motorcycle roaring away would be her signal that she could break down.

  He landed in the pasture behind the house as usual, and she was scrambling off his neck before he could even lay flat against the grass. She twisted her ankle as she hit the ground, preferring the pain to being on his neck any longer. She was hobbling away as he called her name. There was nothing left to be said, not one damn thing. With hurried steps, she moved toward the front of the house while he was putting his clothes on. She almost smirked knowing that would hold him back until she was safely in her bedroom.

  That wasn’t the case when a large hand clamped over
her mouth and she was lifted off her feet. Ginna struggled wildly trying to kick the shins of whoever held her, and bite the hand the same time. But it was locked tight around her mouth so she couldn’t open her jaws. Luke stepped into her line of sight and she shot him an angry glare.

  “You and that biker dude doing it nasty in the back?” he said. “And here I was thinking you would be a prude in bed.”

  With a snarl, Kalv dragged him back with one hand and shook him until she swore Luke would fall apart. He didn’t see the man coming up behind him and she made a sound but it was too late. The big butt of a shotgun was raised and slammed in the back of Kalv’s skull. In his human form he dropped like a stone, and the men had a few rounds of kicking him in the ribs while he was down.

  “You ain’t so tough now are ya?” Like sneered and kicked Kalv hard in the side.

  She struggled all the more and managed to get Luke on the shins with the heel of her boot, and he loosened his grasp for a moment. She almost escaped before he caught her up against him tighter.

  “Knock her out. I don’t need those legs kicking me all the way to the old mine shafts,” Luke snarled.

  Panic rose as a sweet-smelling cloth was put over her face and she felt herself fall into a dark abyss. She saw Kalv bleeding on the gravel bleeding from the head and that was the last thing she remembered before unconsciousness took hold.

  * * * *

  Kalv opened his eyes and the light made his head ache worse. His ribs felt sore, and as he moved he could feel he was tied to something. Ginna! Thinking of her made him look around wildly.

  “She’s not here. By now Luke’s probably got her nice and loose, ready to sign over the land to him.” The man sat peeling an apple with a short-bladed knife. He put a piece in his mouth. “Yep, she gonna get it real good.”

  “Tell me where she is and I won’t hurt you,” Kalv said calmly, belying what he felt inside.

  He wanted to rip the man’s head off and spit it into the sky. But more so, his fear for Ginna made his heart ache in his chest. He’d hurt her badly, and now she was being held by some land-hungry fool with a vendetta. Please let her be okay. If she was, he could spend the rest of his life making it up to her. For being a total ass in Greenland, for not saying he loved her…everything. Jesus, it takes her being in danger for me to see that I loved her? Kalv swallowed the hard lump of fear in his throat. She was right, selfish was only one paltry word to describe his stupidity.

  The man cackled. “What you going to do pretty boy? Those knots aren’t going anywhere, tied ’em myself.”

  Kalv gave the man an evil grin. “Do you want to see a trick? I bet you these knots break and I break you into little pieces.”

  The man sat back and laughed again. “Go ahead, show me what you got.”

  Not caring about clothes or the barn he was tied in. Kalv dropped his head and let the change take over him. “Holy shit! What the fuck?” he heard the man gasp. The jeans tore into shreds of cloth unable to hold his massive frame as his grew. The knots in the rope frayed and broke and the beam he was tied to creaked and snapped, bringing down the loft full of hay. The man screamed and ran for the door as the barn started to come down around his ears. Kalv roared loudly and burst up through the roof, sending wood flying. He saw the man heading for the driveway for his car. Kalv took great pleasure in landing on the metal that crumpled like paper beneath his feet. He picked the man up in his claws and slammed him on the ground. It knocked the breath out of the terrified man and gave Kalv time to change back into his human form. Not caring he was completely naked. He dragged the man to the house and slammed him up again the wall. The man moaned and screamed when he opened his eyes.

  “Do you like my trick?” Kalv said in a deadly voice. “Tell me where Luke took Ginna and I won’t eat you. You may be wondering if that was possible.” He leaned in and met the man’s terrified eyes. “Yes it is, and trust me, I will if I have to.”

  “H-he took her to the old mine, t-t-twenty miles past his house.” The man stammered. “He’ll be a few feet in and won’t go no further. It’s caved in pretty bad. He plans to get her to sign the land over and drop her down the shaft.”

  “Why does he want the land?” was Kalv’s next question.

  “It’s got oil beneath it. Luke found the surveyor’s report his dad had done on the property without the Masters family knowing. It’s rich with oil and natural gas, and he wanted it by any means necessary.”

  “So that’s why the little prick is hard for this valley,” Kalv said and then asked. “What’s your name?”

  “Boyd.” He began to cry. “Please don’t eat me.”

  “I won’t. Jesus, stop blubbering like a fool,” he snapped. “But you’re going to take Ginna’s truck and drive into town and get the sheriff out to the mine with backup. You’re going to admit to everything Luke did and your part and for stealing her truck. If you tell them anything about what you saw, Boyd buddy, you won’t make it to prison. There are more like me, and most won’t think twice about using you as a tooth pick.

  “Yes sir, right away sir,” Boyd said.

  Kalv let him go and he ran to Ginna’s truck. She kept the keys over the visor, and Boyd pulled it down and the keys fell into his hands. The truck roared out of the driveway seconds later. Without a second thought about if Boyd would go to the sheriff or not, Kalv ran upstairs to grab some jeans and a T-shirt and his boots. He tied the laces together and held the bundle in his hand while he changed back into a dragon. There was no way he could go into the mine as a dragon; his weight and the crumbling rocks would be a bad combination. So he’d fight for Ginna as a man, and hopefully when it was over she would listen to his pleas for forgiveness.

  How could Ibe such an asshole, especially to her? There was no way he should have let his anger hurt her like that. Torvea would have been ashamed of him, the way he callously treated Ginna’s love like it was nothing. Torvea was gone, and in the years since she’d fallen in battle, he’d learned to live with the loss. But while he would always hold a special place in his heart for the mate he had, a new one took hold and gripped his heart tight, giving it new life. Ginna.

  With that admission, it was if a lock was thrown open and the last vestige of what hardened his heart was released. It hurt, a physical pain that made him forget to fly and drop out of the air like a meteor that hurtled through space and fell to earth. Branches cracked and trees were bent and splintered under his weight as he hit he ground with a massive thud. It was so easy pretending over the years that nothing mattered, caring only about himself and that he didn’t need love or his home. Being angry at the world was easy. The emotions that he locked away when Torvea fell were the simplest thing to him. Feeling everything flood through him, the love he so carelessly threw back in Ginna’s face, the years that had gone by…The pain was unimaginable, letting it all back in, and he moaned in agony and tried to claw his chest. The offended heart, it beat fiercely, making up for the centuries where it hardly moved. Yet it was still a sweet pain.

  Focus, he ordered himself and sat up in between the trees that were destroyed. He picked up the strewn clothes and his boots and took to the sky again. The mines were not far away; he saw the trucks parked outside easily. This time when he set down there was no damage in the least. He shifted easily and rubbed his hand over his chest. He almost grinned at the new sensations running through him. It had been beating for weeks since he’d been with Ginna, but nothing like this.

  He dressed quickly and made his way to the mouth of the mine. The dark enveloped him as he went through dusty entrance to the mine. Kalv could hear rocks falling without any outside interference. His worry grew for Ginna because it was definitely not safe to be in there. Luke’s voice came to him clearly, nasty, cruel, and filled with hateful glee. Kalv clenched his hands as he moved. Soon, Luke would answer for his actions. He saw them and hung back in the darkness, looking for the best way to make his move.

  * * * *

  “Your man is probably
dead by now. Boyd was gonna carve him up real pretty,” Luke said.

  “You’re a piece of shit, Luke. You know that? Kalv was a hundred times the man you were, in more ways than one,” Ginna said and looked around at the three men who stood with him. “Did he tell you the one time he was with me, your boss here couldn’t even get it up? And when he did.” She snapped her fingers. “It was done like that. Jessica has to be getting something on the side to deal with your pathetic excuses in bed.”

  Luke grabbed her face. “Do you want me to show them exactly how good I am right here, bitch?”

  Ginna defiantly glared at him. “Do you think you can without the little blue pill? Won’t that give you performance anxiety? Maybe it won’t work, and you’ll have to explain to them… Why, should I tell them how you prefer Chippendales to the Pussycat Dolls? Yeah, me and Sophie saw you a while back…”

  Luke slapped her across the mouth. “Shut up with your lies, bitch!”

  But Kalv could see the panic in Luke’s face and knew what Ginna inferred was the truth. Don’t push him too far Pixie, he thought and used the dark to cover him as he got closer. He was close enough that he could call up one of nature’s elements. He used the wind; it seemed the safer than anything else in the rickety mine. The gust sent two men toppling over, and Luke and his other companion looked around wildly.

  “Where the fuck did the wind come from?” Luke shouted and the shoved a paper in her face. “Sign the goddamn deed!”

  “I think not, kill me if you want to, but you will never get that paper signed.” Ginna lifted her head defiantly.

  “I don’t have to kill you,” Luke said. “But I can make it hurt for a long time.”

  Luke was getting panicked, and in a man who was at the point of no return, that was a dangerous thing. Kalv unleashed another gust of wind. This time along with it he rushed out with a savage roar and hit the men who were trying to get up off the ground. In a series of hard punches he had them on the ground and moaning in pain or at the brink of unconsciousness. He returned his attention to Luke, who now had Ginna in his grasp and a gun to her head.