Zarin

by Sarah J. Stone

  ***

  Aris

  Aris paced the den, waiting to hear something—anything from Zarin. He’d left hours ago to meet his mate, and now he wasn’t answering his phone. His boss even called to see if he was all right. Cai was in a panic, curled into a sobbing ball. He didn’t know what to do. Nothing he or Sophie did could calm the boy. He was devastated and crying out for his mom. The poor boy.

  In the distance, Aris heard tires on the gravel. He ran from the room and threw the door open. It was the SUV, but it wasn’t his brother in the driver’s seat. He closed his eyes and scented the air. It was the mate, but she smelled of witch. He growled, knowing something was wrong. His claws shot out, and his eyes shifted. He felt Sophie’s small hand on his back, anchoring him.

  “That’s his mate, right?”

  “Yes,” he growled. “But something’s wrong.”

  “Let her speak.”

  “Love, if Zarin is—”

  “He’s fine, baby. Just let her tell us what happened.” Sophie’s lip curled. “And what is that terrible smell?”

  “Witch.”

  “Oh, well, his mate is a witch then?”

  “No but Bev, the owner of the diner we go to, is. It’s not something that’s advertised.”

  And that’s when he realized what his mate did. She distracted him enough to where his claws retracted, and his eyes went back to human. “Thank you, love.”

  She patted his back. “Now let’s meet Zarin’s mate. She’s going to be lovely.”

  Aris wasn’t so sure. When he’d saw her before, she was angry. She wore it like a badge of honor, and no one could miss the signs of a girl who’d been abused. She was like a dog–cute and sweet, but get too close, and she’d rip your throat out.

  The girl got out of the car, and all he saw was this tiny woman with the brightest red hair he’d ever seen. Against the afternoon sun, her pale skin nearly glistened. She shoved her hands in her pockets and lowered her head as she made her way to Aris.

  ‘Good, she knows who’s boss.’

  Sophie stood beside him, rubbing her growing stomach. Soon, he would be a father; he couldn’t risk anyone not worthy around his child or his family.

  “Where is he?”

  She froze and dug her toe into the ground. “Um, well here’s the thing. I’m not exactly sure what happened. But Bev says he’s pretty much in a magical coma.”

  Aris growled and jumped from the porch. He didn’t bother slowing down or holding back his anger. That damn witch. “Why the hell would you let her do something to your mate?!” His voice rose, and Willow shrank back when he yanked open the door, ripping it from its hinges.

  “I didn’t let her do anything. She used magic to move us out of public view. He fell and started seizing. I was trying my best to get him to stop in the middle of the park. Then, Bev was there trying to help.”

  “Aris, take a moment,” a soft voice said, and he instantly relaxed. Willow had never seen anything like it. Then, a petite—and very pregnant–woman sidled up next to him and took his hand in hers, guiding it to her protruding belly. “Feel your son and calm down. It’s not her fault. She didn’t ask for this witch to curse our Zarin.”

  Willow found herself entranced by the woman’s voice. It was soothing, and she felt every part of her body relax. “I’m so sorry,” she managed to whisper. “I tried to keep him from hurting himself. He’d just got done telling me about the boy we have to save.”

  Aris narrowed his eyes. “So you believed him?”

  “He showed me the letter, and the dragon, it…it…” Willow felt strange. “I guess it sort of took over and spoke to me. That was right before he started to seize. I don’t know how it happened, but this dragon–this one that says I’m its host–it told me that it needed me. I sensed its longing and need. It felt like…I don’t know—me?”

  Aris nodded. “Something similar happened to Andrea. She and Ilias told us about it.” He looked in the car and saw Zarin on the seat. It looked as though he was merely sleeping. “So, a magical coma, huh? How are we supposed to bring him back?”

  “Bev said I should be able to do it. In fact, it shouldn’t be hard, she said. But other than that, she didn’t tell me how to fix this, and the boy—he needs Zarin.”

  “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I freaked out, but I’m quite protective over my family and of the tribe. That includes you now.”

  The girl seemed shocked. She looked as though she hadn’t had an ounce of love for the better part of her life. She was damaged, too. What was it with the goddess sending them a mate that really had no clue what love was like? Maybe because they themselves didn’t either?

  “I, uh, messed things up, and you’re still being nice?”

  Aris left Zarin in the car and strode toward Willow. He gripped her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes. “You are Zarin’s, and Zarin is yours. That boy inside, who is sobbing because he’s worried about you two is your responsibility, your fate. You have to buck up and find a way to bring our dragon back so you can be strong for Cai. He needs you now. This is about more than you and Zarin mating. This is about an innocent child being hunted just because he isn’t a purebred.” He growled the last part—so sick of Halflings being hunted by the pures. It didn’t make any sense to him; they still shared the same blood and the same magic as their full counterparts. That should have been enough.

  Willow didn’t pull from his grip. He watched as her eyes filled with tears and acceptance. She nodded, and he dropped his hand.

  “I just need help figuring it all out.”

  Now he smiled. “That’s what the tribe is for. We’re family, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.”

  Sophie nodded. “We’ve got you, Willow. You just have to let us in.”

  Willow stared at them both. She looked like she’d taken in a lot of information, and shock marred her features. He wanted to coddle her; she was his newest fledgling. The baby of the group. Even without the dragon inside of her, he felt the bond building already. She would be a strong addition to their family. He felt it in his bones.

  He glanced at Sophie, and she nodded. Good, his mate felt it, too. Willow was going to be a good addition to their growing tribe. He knew they needed all the dragons they could get. Danger loomed in the future, and he didn’t know exactly how they were going to make it through. The more loyal dragons, the better.

  Chapter 9

  Somewhere in the other realm

  It was frigid cold. Goosebumps pricked over his bare skin. His breath puffed out, and he shivered. Zarin rolled over and reached for his blanket without much thought. Sophie messed with the thermostat all the time now that she was about to pop. It seemed the further along she got, the colder the house became. No one complained. They just got more blankets and wore long-sleeves to bed. It seemed the cold only bothered them when they were sleeping. Any other time, they weren’t bothered by temperature at all.

  His teeth chattered, and he went to pry his eyes open. They didn’t budge. He tried to lift his arm, but it wouldn’t move. There was something holding his eyes closed. He needed to wipe it away, but he couldn’t use his hands either. Heaviness pressed against every part of his body. Even his hair. With a racing heart, he realized something wasn’t right. And then the temperature dropped even more. With force, he ripped his eyes open.

  A scream tore from his throat as the pain slashed through him limb by limb. Each passing moment, his agony grew as if struck by lightning and set on fire all at once. His body convulsed, and he blinked back tears that couldn’t fall. They froze right in the ducts.

  He scanned the area and realized he wasn’t home. Everything was gray and white. Snow and ice covered the rocks, and not far from where he lay, there was a yellow bench covered in ice. It was the only piece of color in sight. How odd that was.

  A small figure sat on the bench. He couldn’t make out the features as it was covered in a gray cloak with a hood hiding its face. It was hunched ov
er, keeping its face out of view from him. The thud of his heart warned him that everything was not all right and to be careful. In the back of his mind, his dragons lowered their heads and narrowed their eyes. They stepped back, never taking their eyes off the figure. They didn’t know what this was either, and that alone is what sent them into protection mode. His dragons were old souls. They knew of many things, yet they knew nothing of this. How could that be?

  ‘Maybe it was a dream?’

  Zarin tried to move again but didn’t make much progress. He found that each time he clenched his muscles, a small piece of ice broke from his body. It was no wonder he was freezing. He was covered in ice from head to toe. And the ice wasn’t going anywhere on its own. Even the warmest dragon couldn’t withstand the bitter cold of this ice. It wasn’t like the ice he was used to. It was…more.

  ‘Where the hell am I?’

  The more he thought about the question, the faster his heart raced, and the less air he had. He couldn’t allow the panic to take over. He was the thinker of the tribe, damn it, the one who kept his cool, the one everyone relied on to be two steps ahead. That was how he preferred it, but how could he be ahead of the enemy if he didn’t know what he was fighting?

  There was no time to be patient. He had to act and fast. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but his gut clenched, and his dragons whimpered. Again, he tightened his muscles, but this time he ripped his arms from under the thick layer of ice that had imprisoned him. The tears slid down his cheek, and they didn’t freeze. There were too many of them. Zarin let the tiny drops of warmth wash away the white powder that covered his face.

  He took a deep cleansing breath and sat up, ignoring the stabbing pains through his body. He was able to see better, than he could when he was tied down by the ice.

  Strange. The yellow bench looked like it was closer to him now. He studied it now that he could see it correctly. It was gold, not yellow, and the light film that covered it wasn’t ice exactly. He wasn’t sure what it was, and he realized quickly that he didn’t want to find out.

  The figure turned toward him as if in slow motion. Zarin didn’t know what to expect, but what he found wasn’t it. He opened his mouth to speak or yell, but no sound came out.

  It held out a cloth-covered arm, reaching for him, and as he studied the face, he felt its cry for help. It didn’t speak. It looked at him with such torment and sorrow. The cold all but disappeared and was replaced by pain–a pain so strong, his breath left him.

  Chapter 10

  Willow’s nerves got the better of her as she stood in a large room, surrounded by large men. There were two women, but it still felt like the walls were closing in on her. One of the women was the one from outside, Sophie, the queen. As for the other girl, Willow first noticed how beautiful her skin was. She stood by one of the men with a hand on his shoulder as if she had no choice but to touch him. It was strange, but their bond was nearly suffocating. She could tell it was new and fresh just by how overpowering the tension in the room was. Willow staggered when she focused on it too much. She braced her hand on the wall next to her.

  Well, that was new.

  “Are you all right?” one of the men asked.

  She wasn’t sure but nodded anyway. “Sure. I’m okay.”

  Everything about Stratham screamed different, and she was starting to wonder if it was so strange because of the dragons. Were they the reason, or was it something else? The feelings she got weren’t normal. She was just an ordinary human who found a way to get sucked into a world that she really didn’t think existed, and now she was starting to wonder why she’d wished for more excitement in her life. There’d been nothing but excitement since she came to town only a week before. It seemed so much longer than that.

  The awkward silence went on. After Aris carried Zarin into the house, Sophie told her to come inside, so she did. It had to be the biggest house she’d ever seen. It was also the most beautiful one, too. She tried not to look like she’d never been anywhere so magnificent, but the truth was that Willow didn’t come from money, and even though Jeremy had a lot of it, he never gave her any to spend on herself.

  “So, he’s in a coma?”

  “Bev said he’s in a different realm, but yes, it’s a magical coma of sorts.”

  The man who asked had hair as bright as hers, but it was long and in tiny braids. When he looked at her, what she’d thought were blue eyes were actually gray. They were like clouds on a stormy day. They held knowledge she couldn’t even begin to comprehend, and the sadness—or maybe loneliness–radiated off of him in waves. It felt similar to how she had lived her whole life.

  He gave her a small smile of acknowledgment, and she wondered if he knew what she was thinking. It seemed he was listening to something no one could hear.

  “You can read minds,” she blurted in a high-pitched voice. A voice she knew was created out of fear.

  His smile fell from his face. He lost all expression. “Sort of.” He didn’t move. “But how did you know that?”

  She shrugged. “It looked like you were reacting to my thoughts, as if you heard them.”

  The others all stayed silent, leaving an eerie feeling floating in the room.

  “Well, you’re an intuitive one.” He wasn’t sarcastic or rude. It was a statement said in a monotone voice.

  She wasn’t sure what to make of it. “I’m sorry.”

  He shoved a loose braid that had fallen into his face back and wrapped his arms around his knees. “It’s not something I like to have, and it’s not actually mind reading. I’m an empath. I can feel everything you do. And before you ask, yes, it does hurt.”

  Aris cleared his throat, and with a soft voice, said, “Blane, I don’t think she was trying to offend you.”

  He looked at her with a raised brow as if telling her to hurry up and smooth it over. She had no idea why he was so upset. But Aris seemed to read that. These men knew everything.

  “He’s an empath, and every emotion you feel, he feels. He’s working on putting a guard up, but as you can see, it’s not easy. Ilias is the one with the mind-reading abilities.”

  So, she wasn’t wrong, not really. Reading emotions was a lot like reading minds.

  “But it hurts like a bitch, and reading your mind doesn’t,” the one Aris called Ilias said.

  Dang, she couldn’t catch a break. She held out her hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I just—”

  “No need to apologize. We’re used to being picked apart and studied.”

  “I think you’re all lucky. You have gifts that can help others.” She meant it. It was why she read fantasy while wishing that she could step into the pages, and it seemed like she was now a part of it.

  Ilias chuckled. “It’s not always seen that way.”

  She imagined not. People could be mean and hurtful. That was something she’d always hated. Pain from others, whether it be physical or mental, was still pain nonetheless.

  She drifted into her own pain but didn’t stay long when a heavy thud landed against her and thin arms wrapped tightly around her middle.

  “It’s you. Oh, you’re so pretty.” The voice said.

  She looked down and saw blue and gasped. And the blue squeezed her so tight. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she stood still, wondering if she was about to get eaten.

  “Don’t fear him. This is the boy Zarin told you about. He did tell you, right?” Blane said.

  She was pulled out of the fear and darkness that tried to pull her under.

  Right. She had a new path now, and she swore she would follow it without fail. But first, she had to save the man who was going to help her start her destiny.

  The boy pulled back, and she was shocked again to see bright yellow eyes staring up at her.

  “I knew you’d come. He wasn’t sure, though. He’s so scared of rejection. But I knew you wouldn’t be able to say no to us. I told him I’d help. I don’t think he believed me, though.”

  Willow op
ened her mouth to say anything, but no words came out. The rambling boy stopped talking and held her gaze. They were locked, and she couldn’t look away. She was entranced in his eyes. Something she’d never felt before flowed through her body. It was warm, and it rushed through her, knocking down any of her doubts, the fears, and all the past wounds. Everything seemed to disappear. The tension and struggles left her body in a puff of nothingness. Now this boy held her up. Everything clicked into place, and the reason she was finally able to leave Jeremy made sense.

  Now, she knew why she was brought to Stratham. Out of anywhere in the world, she had followed the signs that led her to this place. Now she knew why she existed. She was part of something bigger. Even if she didn’t know what it was yet, she knew she had to play her role correctly.

  ***

  “Why is he so cold?”

  Willow looked up to find Cai staring at her with his big, yellow eyes. “I’m not sure. It could be because he isn’t actually here anymore.” None of the dragons knew anything about other realms or witchcraft, but Blane, the genius of the group, was doing research, while she stayed with Zarin, trying to bring him back with her warmth.

  So far, nothing had changed from the moment she realized something was wrong at Bev’s house until now.

  Every time she touched him, she only felt a coldness that was colder than anything she’d ever felt before, and her heart ached knowing that it was her fault that this happened. Bev was only trying to help her, and now he was stuck in some realm with no way out. At least, that’s what she was told. It was up to her to get him out, but how could she do that?

  Cai did his part. He tried bringing him back using magic he wasn’t even sure he had, but nothing happened. Forlorn and sad, he sat beside Zarin’s head on the couch and hadn’t left his side since. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to those wizened eyes staring at her with such adoration and hope. No one had ever looked at her that way before, and the thought of being responsible for him both frightened and excited her at the same time. No one had ever wanted her the way he seemed to. Even before meeting her, he loved her. That was something not many people experienced in their lives.