The oak dragon brothers or Celtic dragons. They weren’t actual siblings, but a group of dragon shifters, all Celtic, and all carved from oak. As such, they’d instantly connected with each other and become a team, a group, brothers as it were. They’d stayed together and supported and advised each other for over a hundred years. The knowledge that they’d found their soul mate at last was so thrilling Penllyn couldn’t help dragging it out to think about it every time he had a quiet moment.
Trudy was everything he could have dreamed of. Beautiful, feisty, clever, a fully rounded person in every way, and more than a match for the four of them. Only a very special woman could cope with four partners, and Trudy had already proven she was more than capable of the task. She was hotter than hell in bed and just as worthy a companion out of it.
Penllyn had to hide a grin as he remembered Trudy putting her knee into Crevan’s balls and then his own shocked surprise as he went sailing over her shoulder. He’d never have believed such a tiny little female could do that to a big, fit man like himself if he hadn’t experienced it.
Crevan was spending the day re-establishing himself in the human world, organizing food and clothes, and locating an apartment big enough for the five of them. Penllyn was looking forward to that, to when they were a family in their own place. The museum was well enough for now, but to settle down as a family, they needed a home of their own. Penllyn wondered how Crevan was getting on with that task. It wouldn’t be easy finding an apartment that was totally secure, and big enough for four men and a woman, in an area where such a household wouldn’t attract unwelcome attention. In fact, Penllyn was glad he was guarding Trudy and the apartment was Crevan’s problem.
Graegor had still been with the watchers when Penllyn and Trudy had left the museum that morning, but he would be back there by now with Daegan. Mallory had sent them a very detailed list of instructions about cleaning some more statues. It sounded as if she was beginning to demand to get back to work, and Penllyn didn’t envy Angus, Mark, and William having to keep her away for another day.
Now that the museum security was upgraded, she’d be able to return, but that just made it all the more urgent for Crevan to find their own family an apartment. Penllyn thought they’d likely stay in a hotel for a few days once Mallory returned, but they definitely needed a home of their own, and soon.
Penllyn was really looking forward to their being a family. Not just the sex, although he knew that would be awesome. The time to be alone to talk, to share their hopes, dreams, and aspirations, to play silly games or eat popcorn while watching a movie. He also couldn’t wait until the clothing he’d ordered online arrived. Penllyn looked down at the black business shoes he was wearing. Oh how he hated them. They were Mark’s shoes from some years ago, and the sooner the new shoes Penllyn had bought for himself arrived, the happier he’d be.
He was back in Trudy’s office, sitting in a corner where he had a clear line of sight to both the window and the door. Not that he thought anything would happen. But he just felt more comfortable that way. She was returning phone calls and answering e-mails, doing the two things at once in the way only a woman seemed able to do. Penllyn felt sure if it was him, he’d end up saying what he was typing instead of answering the person on the line. But Trudy seemed to be managing just fine.
She made a few notes in her cell phone, likely appointments for the next few days, he assumed, then answered another call.
“Yes, Mr. Collin, yes, I can come out and look over your business…At midnight? That’s a little unusual…You want me to see the problems that might arise?…Yes. Uh-huh. No worries. Tenth Street at midnight tonight. See you then.” Trudy hung the phone up.
Penllyn jumped out of his chair and raced across the room, gripping her arms, the hair on the back of his neck standing up warning him of trouble. “You aren’t going anywhere alone at midnight, job or no job,” he said fiercely.
“Calm down,” she said, brushing him off as easily as if he was a mosquito on her sweater. “How often do I have to tell you four that I can look after myself? Of course I won’t go alone. I won’t go at midnight either. I’ll go about eleven thirty and see what he’s got hiding there. Quite likely it’s totally innocent, in which case I’ll do a security assessment. If it’s not, I’ll be gone long before midnight.”
“We’ll all be with you.”
“Not if you plan to go all caveman and stop me doing my job. A couple of you can sit on the rooftops in dragon form to keep a lookout for trouble. And only one of you may accompany me as long as you don’t get in my way and don’t try to answer any questions addressed to me. Understand?”
Penllyn laughed. Damn but she was a tough little thing. She knew her own mind, and there was no shifting her. “Yes, ma’am. But you need to understand we want to protect you.”
“Protect is fine. Try wrapping me in bubble wrap, and you’ll all be singing soprano for a week.”
He took her in his arms and kissed her. “Woman, I love you, but your right knee should be classified as a weapon. Save it for the bad guys, eh?”
* * * *
Trudy was well aware of how nervous the four men were about this meeting with Mr. Collin. Certainly, it was a little unusual to meet at midnight, but he’d said he wanted her to assess his business by night, which made sense. She’d worked before with people who’d made some strange requests, and mostly it’d been fine. She wasn’t an innocent princess. She knew damn well what kind of things happened in this town to women who let themselves be talked into dangerous areas, and she had no intention of risking her safety. But a job was a job, and she wasn’t so well off she could afford to blindly refuse to quote on security when asked.
Having said all that, she was wearing her work boots with the steel toecaps, and she’d wrapped some padding around her right knee under her jeans so she could drive it even more forcefully into a man’s most sensitive area if needed. It’d worried her that Crevan hadn’t been completely incapacitated when she’d kneed him. Of course, now she knew him, she was glad she hadn’t hurt him. But still, at the time, she’d have been a lot happier if he’d been hurt more. A would-be assailant lying on the sidewalk gasping for breath meant she could be a block away before he was even capable of getting to his feet.
Shortly after eleven, Crevan and Daegan, the two darkest colored dragons, left for the rooftops on Tenth Street. Because of the watchers, they took the stairs up to the roof, inching the fire door open only the minimum distance needed for them to squeeze out and duck behind the shrubbery. There they left their jeans, transformed, and disappeared well away from any camera lens.
A few minutes later, Trudy and Graegor left openly by the front door at exactly the same time Penllyn snuck out the back door. “With a modicum of luck, that will have confused Teivel,” Trudy whispered as they started walking down the street. She set a brisk but sustainable pace. Although it was only nine blocks, she didn’t want to arrive short of breath or unable to run if necessary. Wearing her heavy boots was perfect for fighting but less desirable for running. She’d weighed up the decision quite carefully and gone with the fight power.
She had a clear mental image of the town but couldn’t picture the building she was to assess. The neighborhood around Tenth was a middling one of businesses and shops. Hopefully the building wouldn’t be too old. Older structures were always harder to deal with as the wiring and plumbing were not necessarily up to code for current standards, and good wiring was essential in her business.
She kept her gaze straight ahead, but she knew Graegor would look for Crevan and Daegan on the rooftops, and if there was a problem up there, somehow they would communicate. She must ask them how they did that. They seemed to talk without words at times yet had assured her they couldn’t read her mind. Was that it? They could only read each other’s minds, not other people’s? Or only males, not females? Or only other dragon shape-shifters? No, that couldn’t be right because they hadn’t known what Graegor had been doing when he was with th
e watchers. Right, I’ll ask them tonight. I need to know exactly what their capabilities are.
“So far so good,” whispered Graegor.
She nodded, still keeping her face forward but her body alert as it always was when she walked the streets, day or night. This was not a particularly dangerous town, but a woman always had to pay attention to what was going on around her.
When they arrived at the building, Trudy walked around the outside of it, looking at the high, blank side walls, the one barred window beside the door at the back, and the heavy front door. There was no sign or nameplate out front. “This looks more like a lock-up warehouse than an office building. It’s certainly not designed to draw in trade from off the street,” she said.
She climbed the three steps to the front door and pressed the buzzer. A disembodied, mechanical voice said, “Please look up at the camera and state your name clearly.”
Looking straight ahead, Trudy replied, “Do you have so very many people at your door at midnight? Is this a vampire bar or something?”
She heard Graegor’s muffled laugh behind her but was concentrating on the building. There was no sound of footsteps and no static from the intercom either. She’d bet the intercom was an automatic recording and not manned by a person at all.
Trudy sat down on the top step, leaning her back comfortably on the door, still keeping her face partly turned away from any camera. If there even was a camera, and it wasn’t just the owner trying to act like he had security that didn’t exist. Rather like those people who had tape recordings of a dog barking but no dog dishes around. No one in their right mind fell for that hoax either.
Graegor paced up and down the sidewalk, looking right and left, then up at the roof from time to time. After about ten minutes, he stopped pacing and said, “He’s coming. From the back.”
Trudy nodded, stood up, and brushed the dust from the seat of her jeans.
A man hurried around the side of the building. “You’re early,” he said in a querulous, slightly breathless tone.
“That recorded message on your intercom wouldn’t fool any burglar over the age of fifteen,” she replied.
“What?”
“There’s no static, and it’s a very cheap intercom. There would be static if it was live. I also doubt there’s a camera. A burglar would be inside, have taken what he wanted, and have left with your valuables before you could get here. It took you ten minutes, and you’re breathless, so likely couldn’t have done it much faster. Your professional thief needs six, maybe seven minutes maximum for a building this size.”
“Why you cheeky little bitch. Who do you think you are to—”
“I’m a professional locksmith and security adviser, and you invited me here, if you remember. If you don’t want my advice, that’s fine, but don’t come crying to me after you’ve been robbed and the insurance company refuses to pay up because your security sucks.”
“If I get robbed, I’ll be telling the police it was you,” he said viciously.
“That’s your privilege. I’ll be leaving now.”
“No you won’t. Ralph!”
The huge man appeared around the side of the building. He took one look at Trudy and said, “Oh no. Not her. She damn near busted my ribs last time,” and he took off down the street.
Trudy felt her face split in a grin, but she didn’t trust Mr. Collin. His hand went to his side pocket, and she decided their conversation was over. Trudy took a quick step forward and kicked hard with her steel-capped boot at where his hand and wrist should be. Then she ran like hell down the street.
She heard footsteps coming after her and knew it was Graegor, not Collin. She had to say, Graegor had been very good. He’d stayed in the background and hadn’t interfered. She’d thank him later. In a block or two. Trudy kept up a fast pace for another block then slowed down to a quick walk.
“Damn it, woman. He had a gun you know. I was all set to fly up to the roof with you.”
“I told you I could look after myself. I didn’t trust him for a second.”
“Yeah, well, that was Teivel, you know.”
“Really? Teivel in person? That makes sense. Daegan said he wanted to be in control of everything himself, so no wonder there wasn’t a real Mr. Collin. Unless his name is Teivel Collin. Or Collin Teivel.”
“I’ll be having a word with Crevan and Daegan. They should have taken out Ralph.”
“What on earth for? He was no danger to anyone.”
“And where the hell is Penllyn?”
“Right here. And I was ready to stop Ralph for you.”
“Fuck!” Trudy jumped. She hadn’t heard or sensed anyone coming up behind them. Usually she was much better than that.
“That’s something we need to talk about. We need to transform you so we can protect you better. Letting you run around at night in human form is lunacy with Teivel around. Not to mention all the other bad guys out there,” said Penllyn.
“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” said Daegan.
“We are home. And you men can answer some questions for me first,” replied Trudy, unlocking the front door of the museum and resetting the security codes as soon as they were all inside.
Trudy ran up the four flights of stairs to Mallory’s apartment and then sat in an armchair where she could face all the men. “Now let’s start with this mind reading gig. How do you do it, and what are the parameters. You said you couldn’t read my mind. Is that the truth?”
“We need to be talking about Teivel, not mind reading,” argued Daegan.
“You have to agree to let us transform you. It’s far too dangerous for you to remain as a human,” said Penllyn.
“Will someone tell me what exactly just happened? I was watching the back of the building remember.” Crevan sounded frustrated.
“Silence. Stop acting like two-year-olds and answer my questions first.” Trudy made her voice as firm as she could. She knew they’d be back demanding to transform her into a dragon as soon as she stopped to draw a breath, and it hadn’t taken her more than about ten seconds after they’d first described the process to her to know she’d agree. It wasn’t like she had a reason to stay human. Building a family with these men was what she wanted more than anything. But right now was her best chance to find out more about the dragons and Teivel. She had the advantage over them and meant to make the most of it.
It was Crevan who answered, proving once again he was their leader. “We can only mind read each other, no one else, because we are bonded together. But it is even less powerful than that. To do it, we have to be able to see each other’s face. When we were held here in the museum, under the power of Teivel, believing it was the only way to save our village from ruin, occasionally one or another of us would transform to find out information about our village or about Teivel. We were very, very careful to keep our shape-shifting adventures totally secret. Then that dragon would mind-speak to one or more of us until we all knew. Fortunately, we were in a group and we could see at least one other dragon’s face. No one ever knew we’d transformed occasionally, no one guessed, although Mallory commented that we were less dusty than the other statues.”
“After you bond with us, once you are able to become a dragon, you’ll be able to mind-speak with us, too,” added Penllyn.
“What about Angus, Mark, and William, can they mind-speak?”
“No, they’re stone. We’re Celtic oak, and oak is very powerful. Now what happened with Teivel? I was around the back of the building and saw nothing after Teivel walked past, followed by Ralph.”
“Teivel wanted Ralph to attack me. Ralph hasn’t got many brains, but he’s not that stupid. He ran away,” said Trudy laconically.
“She forgot to mention Teivel went to pull a gun on her, and she broke his wrist,” added Graegor.
“Did it really break? All I did was kick as hard as I could.”
“I heard the bone snap right when you lit out of there like someone had put a rocket under your ass.”<
br />
“Well, good, that should cramp his style for a little while.”
“Unless Teivel tells the police you attacked him,” said Penllyn reprovingly.
“I’ll tell them about Ralph. According to what Sinclair told me, the police know Ralph, and he’ll tell them everything they want to know to avoid going back to jail. He doesn’t like jail,” said Trudy calmly.
“What we ought to do is go back and search that building, then find out where he came from. It’s a fast ten-minute walk from where we were. We could go in dragon form and leave no traces if Trudy loaned us her picklocks,” said Daegan.
“If you break and enter, I don’t want to know anything about it. I have a business to keep clean. I’d also suggest you take photographs of everything, and don’t touch anything or remove anything. The photographs will give you all the information you need, and the police won’t be interested in pursuing a case if nothing is stolen or damaged.
“We can talk about that later. Right now we need to talk about you joining with us, bonding with us,” said Crevan.
Penllyn dropped to his knees at her feet. “Trudy, it’s the only way we can protect you. You must agree to unite with us and became a dragon. I can’t bear it when you keep going into danger as you do now. As a dragon, you’ll be so much stronger and more powerful.”
Daegan and Graegor moved closer to her, touching her, stroking her arms, and staring into her face. “Please, Trudy, please agree that we can become a family. I love you so much it hurts,” begged Graegor.
Trudy looked at them and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Two of them were still naked. These men, they seemed to ignore the need for clothing. But she loved them all. Each was unique and special to her in different ways and for various reasons. One thing was certain though. She couldn’t bear to be separated from them. “All right,” she said.
Brown, Berengaria - Dragons Redeemed [Dragon Lovers 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 5
