by Lynn, Denise
“No need to apologize.” Mr. Drake rose. “It shows your interest.” He came around his desk and took a seat in the chair next to her.
He was tall. She’d noticed that when he’d opened the door to his office. He moved with the fluid grace of an athlete. Very little effort seemed to go into his movements.
What she’d not noticed was the length of his legs, or the width of his chest and shoulders. He dwarfed the armchair. Yet, when he stretched his legs out before him, he appeared comfortable. She only wished she could be half as relaxed.
“Since you live in Ohio, would there be a problem with moving to Tennessee?” Cam wanted to keep her talking. Her nervousness increased with every passing minute.
“No, that wouldn’t be a problem at all. There isn’t anything to keep me from relocating.”
A sudden movement from the ancient pun-sai dragon tree on the corner of his desk caught his attention. The blasted plant was slowly inching a branch toward Ms. Johnson. Silently, he ordered, Knock it off. The plant shivered and he got the distinct impression it was from laughter, not fear.
He drew his focus back to the interview. “Your family wouldn’t mind?”
She stared at her clasped hands. “There’s only my younger brother and we don’t see each other much anymore.”
Cam picked up a tremor in her voice, and despair wafted in the air around her when she mentioned her brother. So, he asked, “Does his job keep him away?”
Ariel shrugged. “More or less.”
“What does he do for a living?”
She hesitated. Her gaze drifted to the dragon statue, then roamed the office before she finally answered, “He’s an archeologist for a museum in England.”
Her lie sizzled and nearly crackled in the air between them. Once again the dragon tree stretched toward her. Cam rose and went over to pick up the plant. He wanted to get it away from the woman before she saw what it was doing.
“Oh, my, what a lovely bonsai.”
The pot in his hand trembled at the insult. Cam placed it on the window ledge. “It’s a pun-sai tree. It needs a little more sun than this office provides. I keep thinking I need to move it outside.”
He knew full well how much the plant detested the outdoors. As if it understood the warning, the branches gently stroked his wrist before settling back into place. Cam resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sudden petlike obedience.
While at the window, he glanced outside. Harold, the family’s right-hand man, sometimes chauffeur, mechanic and occasional handyman, inspected Ms. Johnson’s van. Apparently, he didn’t like the looks of the vehicle, or he’d found something suspicious, because he kept shaking his head as he scanned the undercarriage with a mirror.
Cam turned around to face Ariel and returned to his chair alongside her. “I apologize. You said your brother was an archeologist?”
“Yes.”
Again, negative energy from the lie sizzled in the air. “Which museum is he with?”
“It’s a private one.” She unlaced her fingers to brush an imaginary strand of stray hair from her forehead. “I forget the full name—Renalde something or another.”
Renalde? Cam frowned. Renalde? Something about that name felt…wrong. Renalde. The letters rearranged themselves in his mind. R-e-n-a-l-d-e…L-e-a-r-n-e-d. A cold, sinking feeling hit his gut like a fist. Silently cursing, he resisted the sudden urge to murder the woman where she sat.
He’d been right. About everything. Nathan wasn’t dead. And this woman worked for him. So that meant the jewelry she was looking for was most likely Alexia’s dragon pendant. She could look all she wanted, she wasn’t getting her hands on it.
He wasn’t certain what the box she sought might be—unless it was that cube Alexia’s dragon had found, and he wondered why she wasn’t searching for the grimoire, too. Not that it mattered, because that was another item she would never acquire—Braeden and Alexia had the family’s book of Druid secrets under guard at all times.
He knew what Nathan’s stake was in getting his hands on the pendant, but what was in it for her?
She was relatively new on the scene. She wasn’t a member of either family—not the Drakes, nor the Learneds. She possessed not even a trace of magic, so where did she fit in?
He retraced events of the past few months in his mind. During the last break-in at Mirabilus an intruder had been shot and taken to the hospital in a coma. The young man had miraculously disappeared before they could discover anything about him. A few weeks later Ariel had visited Mirabilus.
Without staring, he studied her. She couldn’t be more than twenty-six. The man in the coma was young enough to be her brother. While the shapes of their faces were different—the young man’s was more squared at the chin, where Ariel’s was more of a heart shape—they both had slight builds and dark hair. Was the missing patient and her brother one and the same?
If so, was she completing his job? She would fail.
His beast laughed, taunting him with the fact that she’d already succeeded at one task. She was here—the woman had gained entrance into the Drakes’ stronghold.
Cam leaned closer to her. He still sensed no magic, no hidden powers, which he knew meant little. His sister-in-law hadn’t possessed any powers when she’d first come to the Lair, either. But she’d quickly gained them.
The one thing he did sense was that she wasn’t here of her own volition. He’d recognized that same fleeting emotion at Mirabilus, too. He had the impression that she was being forced against her will. Since she didn’t seem to possess any darkness in her soul, it was likely that the Learneds held something over her.
Ariel leaned back against the chair, her eyes wide. Cam sat up straighter. Obviously he’d intruded on her space. At the moment, though, he didn’t care.
What he was about to do would be dangerous. This might be a chance to thwart Nathan once and for all. Cam knew that it could cost him and his family their lives.
But from the day he’d first discovered his ability to shape-shift into a dragon, he’d been driven to outwit, and destroy Nathan the Learned. He wasn’t going to start running from danger now—not with so much at stake.
Cam stood up. “I’d like to thank you for coming.”
Ariel rose. He wondered at the panic briefly crossing her features, but pushed his questions aside. There would be plenty of time to find the answers.
“When would you be able to start?”
“You’re offering me the job?”
Her relief caught him off guard. Cam went back to his desk as an excuse to glance out the window. Harold was no longer in sight. “The salary you requested is reasonable. Your references checked out. And you have the experience. So, yes, I’m offering you the position.” He shifted his gaze to her face. “When can you start?”
Ariel fought to hide her surprise. Mr. Renalde had told her she’d get the position. He’d been right. How had he known?
She realized Mr. Drake was staring at her, waiting for an answer. “I need to find an apartment—”
“No need.” He cut her off. “We have a wing specifically for employees. An apartment can be ready in the morning.”
Is that what Renalde wanted? For her to be here 24/7? What did it matter? The man wanted her to get the job and she had. Why would he care about where she lived? And if he did, she could always manufacture an excuse for Mr. Drake about how she’d changed her mind and wanted to move elsewhere.
She nodded.
“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Drake. I could start tomorrow if that fits your schedule.”
“Good.” He extended his hand. “My father was Mr. Drake. I’m Cameron or Cam.”
Ariel shook his hand. She nearly melted from the warmth of his touch. If this was what a handshake did, what would a kiss do? Confused by the direction of her thoughts, she released his hand.
He walked with her to the door. “I’ll let Jennie know you’ve accepted the position. She’ll have a contract and other paperwork for you to fill out and sign.”
His words rushed against the side of her face and Ariel’s heart skipped. She frowned. Something about this man was vaguely familiar. Since it was unlikely she’d have forgotten someone who could set her senses reeling as easily as Cameron Drake, she was certain they’d never met.
She stared up at him as he opened the door and placed a hand on the small of her back. His sapphire eyes shimmered. The bitter taste of fear dried her mouth and the vision of a darkened ancient workroom flitted through her mind.
Ariel shook the absurd thought from her mind to say, “Thank you.”
She headed out to the receptionist wondering if she’d made a more costly mistake by accepting the position. Failure would have brought death.
Would success be worse?
Chapter 3
Something wasn’t right, but Ariel reached for the door of her van and refused to look back at Dragon’s Lair.
It was more the odd feeling of a presence than it was a knowing. If her off-kilter intuition could be trusted, someone watched her. Who—or what? More important, she wondered, why?
She gasped and peered into the windows at the rear of the van. What if the beast from Mirabilus was here? What if there really was more than just the one dragon changeling she’d seen on the island? What if he…it…had followed her here?
No. Ariel sucked in a steadying breath to stop the what-ifs from multiplying. Her concern for her brother, guilt about lying to get this position and the sudden reoccurrence of her dreams were fueling her fear.
She gritted her teeth against the all-too-familiar feelings of fear—terror—uncertainty. They’d become a part of her life—a part she despised.
Her days had been quiet, some might even say dull, before Renalde had entered her life.
Since then her days had consisted of constant worry and fear, not knowing from one minute to the next if she or Carl would live long enough to return to their dull, boring lives.
Never again would she complain that nothing exciting ever happened to her. She’d seen exciting, had witnessed the unexplained and as far as she was concerned the world was better off not knowing about magic—real magic with its wizards and beasts—that truly did walk the earth.
She had to wonder if she would ever be able to forget the events of these past few weeks. Would she ever again fall asleep and have normal dreams instead of nightmares?
Would she ever be able to walk down the street without looking over her shoulder, afraid that any moment a dragon would suddenly appear to bring an end to her life?
Stop! Ariel pushed the thoughts from her mind. She refused to let her imagination get the best of her.
Hopefully giving the appearance of a calmness she didn’t feel, she climbed into the van and drove away. Once there was enough distance between her and the Lair, she glanced into the rearview mirror.
Even with dazzling sunlight as a backdrop, Dragon’s Lair looked ominous. The imposing towers flanking the resort gave it the appearance of a medieval stronghold. It seemed more a place to be feared rather than revered.
Danger lived here, lurking around every corner, waiting for unsuspecting prey.
She could think of countless other things she’d rather do than take a position at Dragon’s Lair. The idea of moving here, living inside what could essentially be the proverbial belly of the beast, made her ill.
Only for her brother’s sake had she accepted the position. Ariel knew she would have to get as close to Cameron Drake as possible. But how close?
She’d be living under his roof while working for him. Would that be close enough to satisfy Mr. Renalde?
You will get as close as it takes to find what I need.
Ariel cringed, shuddering at the cold, ominous tone of Renalde’s warning buzzing in her head.
As close as it takes? Didn’t he realize where that could lead?
If you have to sleep with the man, try to smile.
Obviously he knew exactly where it could lead.
The mental image of Mr. Drake’s…Cameron’s…naked long legs and broad chest stirred warmth into her veins. Ariel’s cheeks flamed at the sudden vision of him looming over her, with those sapphire eyes mesmerizing her, holding her spellbound, as he came closer…then closer—
Renalde’s sudden burst of laughter in her mind chased away the warmth.
What had she been thinking? Did Renalde possess the power to control her desires? She waited, but nothing—no one—answered her unspoken question. Apparently she was once again alone with her thoughts.
Ariel gripped the steering wheel tighter. She might have no choice but to succeed at the task she’d been ordered to perform, but nobody was going to tell her who to sleep with.
* * *
Something nudged the ancient wizard, dragging his soul from a prolonged slumber.
Aelthed studied his prison knowing that nothing tangible could have invaded his makeshift cell. That was one certainty about being trapped inside a wooden puzzle box—nothing, and nobody, could gain entry.
Another certainty was that he couldn’t escape. He’d tried for well over eight hundred years. But the spell Nathan the Learned had used still held fast.
Only love would set him free. He’d interjected that little kink in Nathan’s spell of his own accord. Unfortunately, he’d not specified whose love.
He thought that once the Dragon Lord of Mirabilus found his soul’s mate that he’d finally be free. Since each generation of Dragon Lords had found their specific mate, apparently that wasn’t the case.
So, what had pulled him from his deep meditation, his only form of escape?
A tendril of warmth circled around him, inviting him to pay attention. He pulled away, unwilling to get involved once again.
But like a demanding child who refused to be denied, the warmth urged him to focus on the race of emotions building outside the walls of his cube.
Fear, lies and distrust wafted strong. Still, he wondered why he needed to pay attention to such mortal emotions.
Hunger, desire and need sizzled in the air. Like a thunderbolt lacing the night sky, the emotions crackled around him with an intensity that would not be ignored.
Aelthed rose, a smile curved his lips. “So, another dragon has found his mate.”
From the power and hunger pulsing beneath the desire, he could only surmise it was the changeling.
A frown wiped away his smile. Getting this dragon to acknowledge his feelings wouldn’t be easy. The man had fallen in love before.
Unfortunately, because of an angry, frightened curse spoken centuries earlier, his beast hadn’t been interested. Unless it could find another of his kind it was cursed to thirst for nothing more than Learned blood, the dragon would never know love.
Since another of his kind didn’t exist, the man had fallen in love with a human woman. And when danger had threatened the man’s beloved, the dragon had ignored the
frantic call for help. An act that had ended with a woman’s death and a man’s horrified distrust.
Aelthed worried that a part of this changeling unknowingly despised his beast. That hatred had been the downfall of the other Drake changelings.
If the Drake dragon wanted to break the curse, to live or to ever experience the fulfillment offered by taking a mate, the changeling needed to embrace his inner dragon.
Aelthed paced his cell. There had to be a way to help. He paused, his eyes widening as he sensed something else on the wind.
Impossible.
But as he focused harder, a smile curved his lips. The impossible had happened. He didn’t know how and could hardly fathom the event, but somewhere out there this dragon’s true mate did indeed exist and she was close at hand.
How would he bring them together? He frowned again, then finally rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
Once again hunkering down in a corner of his prison, he traced symbols and letters in the air. A thin trail of smoke followed his fingertip before dissipating.
With a wide grin Aelthed wrote faster, knowing for certain that the smoke would reappear as ink on the pages of the Drake family’s grimoire.
* * *
Cam had watched the van disappear down the mountain and still he stood before the window, staring at the vast expanse of mountains and sky.
Something about Ariel Johnson affected him on a level he couldn’t quite define—a level that made him strangely uncomfortable.
Her looks were most definitely a part of his attraction—after all, what man wouldn’t be drawn to a woman with killer curves and a brazenness that belied her no-nonsense appearance? No one who looked at her would guess that beneath the all-business guise lurked a criminal and a liar.
Ariel Johnson could probably fool a not-so-discerning investigator. If they didn’t pay close attention, they might miss the way the flecks of green in her hazel eyes darkened when something unsettled her. The sudden quickening of the pulse along her pale throat might have gone unnoticed by another—but he had seen it.
