“Why does it have to be anything other than your sister?” Carmine looked at her. “Did you know that they’re all my sisters? That we were born on the same day in the same year, each of us have a different creator.” “You mean father.” Sapphire told her no, that they were dragons, some of the few first ones. “So, you’re very old like Uncle Danburn?” “Yes. His grandmother was one of the founding mothers to us all. Her and a group of women, all very smart and strong in their magic, created the rules and regulations that we all abide by. Well, we’re supposed to abide by them. There are plenty of dragons that don’t still. But Danburn, because of who his relatives were and that he is the strongest dragon ever born, he is the king.” She looked out over the land, remembering it when it was nothing but a speck on the earth and in poor shape to boot. “We used to be friends with the humans. Helping them with whatever they needed. Then when it was apparent that dragons had tears of gems, the humans wanted them. And the dragons. So, someone decided that there had to be something, some one person, to make it so that the humans could find the gems that they cried without them killing the dragons. Or holding them captive.” She looked over at her bickering sisters when Carmine did. “The first time that she was out in the world to plant the gems, put them where the humans could find them, it was difficult for the dragon to figure out what sort of gems to leave behind. And it was very draining on her to make sure that each kind could be produced. So back to the drawing board to work on that. The three of us were created and added to the first to make the gems that were sought after. It only took them one day to figure out what needed to be done. I have seen governments take years to make a single decision.” “Did it do any good? Having the four of you instead of just the one?” Sapphire pointed out that they were still there. “But you don’t think it will be all that special to them anymore, do you? You’re sort of losing your job.” “Yes. We are, sadly, and it’s getting harder and harder for humans to realize the difference between real and fake. I can tell, as will you be able to when we show you, but a great many people can’t. So, the cheaper versions of us, the emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, are becoming harder and harder for us to beat because of how cheaply they are made. Not to mention, they’re perfect every time. Ours have flaws, but to me, that’s what makes them beautiful. No one wants them any longer.” She asked about the opal. “The opal hasn’t been reproduced as well as the others have because they have certain colors to them. Like on your box. Those colors are ones that Opal made just for you. The way it spells out your name on the box, that took a great deal of her magic, and I would think that she had to rest for several hours after that.” “What language is this?” She told her it was dragon. “Is it hard to learn? I think I’d like to learn it someday. I’ve only heard it spoken once, and that was when I was in the living room when Uncle Danburn smashed his thumb putting the baby bed together.” “It’s doubtful he knew you were there or he might have used one of the other languages that he knows. Dragon is only spoken to other dragons. And while you have a great many of them around here, they will not know to respond to you as such. You are not wholly human any longer, Carmine—you are an immortal. However, you are still a human to us.” Carmine said that she was useless. “Nay, you are never that. Without you, my sister would have died. And from what I have heard from the others, you have been a great deal of help rounding up others that would want to kill our kind. And you have something very special with what you can do. You require no magic. Iron will never bother you. You can use your powers with or without the help of the earth. Those things are important to our kind. Without magic, the earth wind and fire, there is no way that Danburn could have built his home, met and married his one true love. There is magic everywhere—you have a bit, but you are unique in that you were not given it but made it all on your own.” “Thank you for that. I was feeling sorry for myself, and my sister said that’s not the way to get things done.” She put her hand out when Sebastian joined them on the deck. “He’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. And people think that he isn’t real. But I have one right here in front of me.” The rest of the afternoon was spent with the young girl running around the yard with her pet. Sebastian, not usually fond of humans, seemed to enjoy the little girl, and was very gentle with her. The sisters were still working on the garden. And while they were still arguing over what herbs to plant and where to plant them, her sisters had included Carmine when she came back to see how they were doing. It was a lot of fun watching her try and get her sisters to be reasonable, and more so when they finally quit in a huff and Carmine took over. She was ordering them around like a pro. I’ve been thinking. She smiled when Dana spoke to her. A date night shouldn’t be over hot dogs and burgers. I think we should have a real date with real cloth napkins. That way when we get up, there is an air of celebration in the air, and the staff isn’t wearing dirty black aprons. And when a tray is dropped, the hounds from hell aren’t laughing and making fun of the waitress. That had happened the other night when they’d been out. The poor girl had not just dropped a tray, but it had been filled with an entire table of dirty dishes. Also, there were wine glasses as well as beer steins. It was much too heavy for her to carry in the first place. What would we be celebrating? He mentioned several things, but the one that stuck in her heart and mind was meeting her. And him her. I like that idea. Yes, we should do it. You’ll have to let me know when to be ready, as well as what sort of dressing up we’re doing. I can do formal wear all the way down to a pair of shorts and a dirty tee. How soon can you be ready? Sapphire said that she only needed seconds, because like him, she could think of her clothing and have it on. Good. I’ll be by to pick you up. Where are you anyway? I’m home and you’re not here. I checked, even under the bed. I’m at Hanson’s home now. We came over here to give gifts to Carmine for her help in saving Em’s life. He laughed and said that was very sweet of them. Yes, well, you might want to think of ways to close off your work area from them. My sisters have agreed to live with us. They’re gathering things that they’d like to see in their rooms. And so you know, they don’t need anyone to clean up after them. I forgot to mention that they all have their own magic and sometimes practice it in their rooms. Sebastian is Em’s helper, I think the only one you’ve met. Mine is a cat. Not a cat, I guess, but a lemur; his name is Purr. You’ll meet him tonight. He’s been doing work for me. Wrinkle is with Ruby, and he’s a three-headed jackal. Opal has an eagle, but he doesn’t come into the house much. Not unless she needs him. His name is Rom. Great. Will I have one as well? Or do I use Purr? What a lovely name for a lemur, by the way. She told him how there was a list of them that wanted to work with him. You know, that sounds like a blast. I’ll pick one later with your help. So, let’s go out to dinner. I have the entire date planned. Should I be afraid? He told her never, not with him. I believe you. You’re a kind man, aren’t you, Dana? And a romantic. I’ve never met anyone like you before. I don’t think I am, but you never know what others might think of as kindness. As for being a romantic, thank you. I think you bring that out in me. And I might just be a sap where you’re concerned. She told him never. I’ll see you soon. I love you, Sapphire. With that, he closed the connection. ~~~ “My lord.” He looked up from his desk to see an unfamiliar man standing there. Just behind him was another man, and two more behind him. They seemed to be of the same dress and facial expression. “We’re here on behalf of a very wealthy man. He wishes for you to help him in contacting a woman by the name of Emerald Smith.” “Why do you think I’d know anyone by that name?” He called to Sapphire and told her who was here and what they wanted. Though he didn’t really know either, but he was worried, as all of them were upstairs at the moment. “We believe that she lives here. With you.” Dana leaned back in his chair and regarded the man while trying to think. When nothing came to him, he called out to Danburn and the rest of the dragons. “She is worth a great deal of money to this man, and he wishes for your help to talk to her. There is no harm in a little conver
sation, now is there?” “He wants me to let him talk to her? Sounds.... Well, I’m not sure how that sounds, but it certainly doesn’t sound legal. Why doesn’t he just call her up and talk to her? I can find her phone number out for you if I ever meet her. As I said, I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” Danburn said he was with Rette and Hanson and they were on their way. Dana thanked them. “Why, again, do you think that she’s here? I mean, you have to have a reason to come into my home, uninvited, and think that I’m going to cooperate with you in any way. Trespassing in a man’s home is a serious offense.” “You have her here. I have seen her upon the grounds.” Dana said nothing, but the men spread out in the room. There weren’t four of them, as he’d thought, but as they continued to multiply, he began to think he was in more trouble than he had thought. “We wish for you to retrieve her for us and allow us to take her. We will not be thwarted again, Lord Blankenship.” “Thwarted? I don’t know how you came up with that, but I do know that you’re not being honest with me. As of right now you’ve lied to me twice.” The front man shook his head, confusion all over his face. Actually, it was on all their faces. They were the same faces too. Right down to the little wart on the end of his nose. “You said that you believed she was here, when in fact you knew she was. Or so you said. Okay, then you said you wished to talk to her. Now you want to take her too. Taking a person against their will is a very serious crime in and of itself. That isn’t just a lie, gentlemen, but also against human law.” The door opened and there was Danburn in all his glory. As soon as he bellowed “Be gone,” the men, all of them, were gone, save the one that had been talking to him. Danburn walked right up to the man, picked him up by his neck, and shook him hard. “Melville, what are you doing on my family’s lands? And you dare to send minions of yourself instead of coming here and talking like a person should? I should have you arrested and then put in irons. You moron. You scared us all with your tricks and sleight of hand. Show yourself now. Where are you?” He shook him harder this time, then threw him across the room. The man landed with a hard thud but didn’t get up. “I asked you a question.” “I want the emerald dragon. I saw her first, and I want him to bring her to me so that I can have her as a pet. You have taken all the good ones, Dan—Lord Danburn, and I think that you have more than enough special ones on your side.” The roar took his breath away. Dana nearly fell to his knees when Danburn drew in a deeper breath to do it a second time. “Please, I beg of you. Don’t hurt me again.” But it wasn’t a roar, it was a name, said in a language so old that he’d nearly forgotten that he could, at one time, speak it. The language of their kind. The man that appeared in the room was dressed all in blue. It wasn’t until he moved that Dana realized that it wasn’t blue at all, but purple. Royal purple, and he felt the urge to bow before him even before he said his name. “Lord Danburn, I’d like to—” Danburn corrected him. “Marquess English, Lord Danburn, I hadn’t been informed of your title change. Who died?” “None of your business. What right do you have to be here, Baron Melville James? And even more so, why are you sending in duplicates of yourself instead of coming to talk to me directly? Does this have anything to do with the council looking for you? I told them that I’d bring you in, but they said that they wanted to talk to you first. So you understand me, if you dare send yourself here like that again, to any of the houses that I consider to be family, I shall take you to task, and that will not bode well for you.” Baron James waved him off, as if Danburn wasn’t just higher on the food chain than him, but would gladly have him for dinner, quite literally. “What reason have you to come here, looking for a pet, as you called her? The emerald dragon is here, but she is no longer your concern. You’re to stop looking for her. You have been warned, Melville. Unless you wish for me to—” “Not my concern?” Baron James or Melville, or whatever his name was, looked at Dana, then back at Danburn. “She will forever be my concern. I’m the one that wounded her. Not wounded her, but was playing around when I accidently hit her with a shard of iron. No harm meant, but I would like for you to bring her to me now.” “You wounded one of my dragons?” He said that she wasn’t his and it was an accident. “Why were you playing with iron? I made it perfectly clear the last time I spoke to you that you’re not to dabble in things such as that. And when I tell you that she is no concern of yours, that is what I mean. Stay away from what I consider to be my family, Melville, or you’ll be hurt. She is family, and family does not get harmed nor kidnapped while they’re a part of what I consider mine.” Sapphire came into the room then, and even Dana could tell that Baron knew who she was. As Baron reached out to touch her, Sapphire put out her hand and his arm from wrist to shoulder turned to stone. A blue sapphire stone. “You will not touch what I do not give you permission to touch, sir.” He took his arm to his chest and smiled. Dana could almost see him thinking. A blue sapphire dragon as well as an emerald? In the same house? And his proof was right there in his hand. His sapphire hand. But little did he know that as soon as he left the property, his hand would be normal other than a slight blue tint that looked as if he was dyeing himself. “You are very beautiful, my dear.” Dana stood up and let a little of his dragon go, but not enough so that he’d know that there were five such dragons in the house. He wasn’t even sure that Danburn knew that the others were here and what they were. “What could I pay you, Danburn, for such a prize? Come now, you have your price. Everyone does.” “She’s my mate.” That had all of them turning to him. He was sure that it was his tone; he let his beast talk for him. “Touch her again, or even attempt to touch any of my new family, and I will kill you. No threat, Melville, but a promise you might well take to the grave with you. This is my mate. And the sister you want, she’s not to be touched either. They’re under my protection from now on, and I will kill you should you harm any of them again. Do you understand me?” “Your mate is yet untouched by you, Lord Blankenship. So, as far as I can see, she is free for anyone to take.” His laughter did nothing to calm his dragon. “I think that I shall petition to Lord—no, sorry, Marquess English—and see about just simply taking her as she is. And you cannot force her to mate with you, now that—” Danburn disappeared. Just within a single blink of an eye, he was gone. Melville laughed, his laughter making it harder and harder for Dana to hold onto his beast for much longer. And when Melville went to Sapphire again, this time not touching her but making it look as if he wanted to, he smiled at her. “I shall return, my dear. And when I do, we’ll have such fun.” When he too disappeared, she looked at Dana. “Come here.” She shook her head. “Please. My dragon is getting more and more difficult to hold onto, and he needs to know that you’re all right. Let me touch you, and that should calm him down a great deal.” “Where did Danburn go?” Dana told her that Danburn had gone away to give them time. “Time for us to be mated, you mean. So that Melville couldn’t take me.” He told her that was right. When he held her in his arms, all he could think about was that his hands were being tied. And he was being forced into something that he didn’t want. No, that wasn’t right. He did want Sapphire, but not like this, not to force her into something that she’d never want.
“What do we do now? Have sex?” The throat being cleared had him remembering that Rette and Hanson were still there. Looking at the two men, their faces red with embarrassment—or anger, he wasn’t sure—he asked them what they were to do now. “She had a good idea. But other than that, I’m going to have someone come and stay here, and then follow our buddy Melville.” Rette looked at Sapphire as he continued. “I’m sorry, my dear. I know that this is going to be tough on you both, but we have to take precautions on this. He appears to be stupid, and stupid men make the worse kind of mistakes when they’re angry.” “I know. I just thought, like Dana said, we’d have more time to get to know each other. I mean, we’ve only just met.” Hanson asked if what he’d said was true about claiming her. “Yes, he can claim me, but he has to have the permission of the lord of the realm that I’m living in. It has to
be formal, written out, and approved. Then he can take me or any of us at a moment’s notice.” “So that leaves the others to be caught too.” Dana told Hanson that he didn’t think that he knew of all four of them, just Sapphire and Emerald. “You have them all here? Christ, man. And in college you could never get a date.” “Funny. But I do have an idea. I’m not sure how the others are going to like it, but it might buy us some time.” Ruby and Opal entered the room, and he had a feeling that even this plan wasn’t going to work. When they were all five together, they shone, like a bright beacon that would draw anyone there. “I need protection around the house so that no one may enter without permission from Danburn. Also, I would like for you both to touch all of them so that in the event he tries to take one of them, we can find them. Because of the kind of dragons that we are, just a touch is all that it’ll take.” “Done.” He looked at the woman who had entered the room. “I am Lady Beatrice. Lord Danburn sent me to help you. I am the lady witch that has helped him as much as he has me. What else do you need, my lord?” It took them several hours to get things managed. He was right, neither of the other sisters liked his plan. But when he pointed out that they had to think of something better, they decided that this was the only way. To avoid giving themselves over to James, they agreed to hide where Dana said. In plain view of them all. Now he needed to talk to Quinn and see what she knew. The woman was a walking encyclopedia of dragon lore and information. She would know the loopholes. Because he knew as well as they all did that there were loopholes to every set of rules ever made. Usually to help out the one writing them. Danburn contacted him just after they were settling down to dinner. I will not be returning until this is settled and you’ve taken a mate. Em will be safe if he asks for them both because he’ll have to petition all over for one of them. I could keep him busy for months. For now, I have gone to my home in.... Perhaps it would be best if I didn’t say except that for now, he’ll not find me. What is your plan? He told him what he was thinking of doing, what he’d done to the women other than Sapphire. Brilliant. I’m going to assume that Beatrice has shown up? My mother will be there soon too. She has something to add to your plan.
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