“That she would bring you to me.”
Chapter 14
I have a get wussy.
-You read that wrong.
Ian
I left my house under the cover of night.
“You good?” Jean Luc asked.
I looked up, surprised to see him standing there.
“Will you do me a favor?” I asked him.
“Sure, mon ami,” he said. “What do you need?”
He looked almost surprised that I asked, and it took everything in me not to smile.
“Will you go inside, keep my woman and my sister company?” I paused. “My sister…she’s not in the right frame of mind; try to make sure she doesn’t leave.”
Jean Luc’s mouth tipped up into a grin, his blazing white teeth standing out starkly against his tanned skin.
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” he grinned. “I’ll love meeting her.”
I rolled my eyes, but the anger that would’ve come not even a few weeks ago is now gone, and in its place is contemplation.
It wouldn’t break my heart to have my sister with a man like Jean Luc.
However, what would break my heart would have my sister with someone like Farrow, the stupid motherfucker that was now walking up behind Jean Luc.
“Don’t,” I said, holding my hand up.
Jean Luc froze and turned, his movements sluggish and difficult, almost as if he were trying to move through quicksand.
“Stop it,” I said once I realized that Farrow had been stupid enough to use his power—the one that allowed him to affect others by telekinesis. “He’s going to fucking kill you when he gets himself loose.”
Farrow grinned.
“Is that right?” he asked.
My eyes narrowed.
“What is your problem?” I asked. “Do you just like being a douche to everyone who gives a shit about you?”
Farrow lifted his lip in a silent snarl.
“I’ve been instructed by the high and mighty King of dragons himself to come over here and offer my services,” he bowed slightly. “So here I am, to follow the Prince of awesomeness as he does his nightly routine.”
I lifted my hand in a placating gesture to Jean Luc, but the moment he worked himself free, he was gone.
See, Jean Luc wasn’t like the rest of us.
His powers weren’t defensive. They were all offense.
That was why he was often overlooked—why people looked at him and didn’t see a dangerous man.
Apparently, they hadn’t pissed him off like Farrow did, though.
The moment he was able to move himself out of Farrow’s hold, he moved like lightning, gathering himself up and then he was just gone.
Jean Luc can fly.
He could also…
A branch from the tree above Farrow fell, knocking him out before he even realized he should be paying attention.
Jean Luc’s powers were of the knock-them-out-and-kill-them variety.
As I was saying, he could fly. He had superhuman strength. He could move things with his mind. And he could get himself free of any hold or lock—as he’d done with Farrow and his telekinetic ability.
It didn’t help that Farrow was still so new to his powers. He didn’t have the same control, nor had he participated in the fights that Keifer used to test our abilities.
“Jean Luc,” I warned before the next branch came down. “He’s a stupid kid.”
Jean Luc dropped down, landing on the balls of his feet with one hand planted into the earth, and glared at the stupid pile of shit.
“I can’t fucking stand him,” he growled. “The kid is a fucking piece of crap who deserves to be quartered and cooked.”
I snorted and turned toward the door.
Wink.
Wink’s head appeared moments later in the parted drapes that covered the window of the front room of my house.
Come here.
My sister’s head appeared next, first looking at me and then her eyes went huge at the sight of Jean Luc standing next to me.
I rolled my eyes at the whispered communication that went on between the two of them while they made their way outside.
“Yeah, Ian?” Wink asked as she stepped outside.
She had her hand around Mattie’s wrist, hauling her with her as they breached the outside steps.
“Mattie,” I said. “This is Jean Luc. Jean Luc, this is my sister Mattie.”
Jean Luc nodded his head. “Cherie.”
“Jean Luc is going to stay with you while I do patrol tonight,” I said. “We’re going to…”
I stopped when Mattie’s phone rang.
She cursed and fumbled it out of her back pocket before placing it to her ear.
“Hello?” she answered.
Shock fell over her face, and then tears started to gather in her eyes.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She hung up and we waited for her to explain the call, me more so than anyone else.
“My house caught on fire tonight,” she said when she realized we were waiting. “I have to run to my house and give them some information.”
“Is it okay?” Wink asked as she looked at her best friend worriedly.
“They said it was a total loss. They weren’t even able to get my neighbor out of his house before it spread to three other houses surrounding mine.”
I swallowed as something, a wave of fear, washed over me.
“I’m coming with you.” I took a step forward.
She held up her hand to stop me.
“No,” she said. “You just told us you had to go to work, not even ten minutes ago. I’ll be fine on my own.”
I looked over to Jean Luc, who understood immediately.
“I’ll go,” he offered. “I’m done for the night. Is that acceptable?”
When she looked like she’d protest, Wink butted in.
“You don’t know what they’re going to need from you, and you don’t even have a car. You’re going to need to lean on someone for now,” Wink said gently.
“I’ll call Shane,” Mattie suggested. “And I also have the Uber app, which is what I used to get here in the first place.”
Wink barely hid her smile.
“Shane’s working today,” she said. “I just spoke with him an hour ago. He said he was going into his lair, and you know what happens when he goes into his lair.”
“He doesn’t take his phone so he can work without interruption,” she growled in frustration.
I barely hid the smile that started to overtake my face.
She was uncomfortable at the thought of Jean Luc going with her.
That was just too bad. If she didn’t want him, she’d get me.
Either way, someone would be taking her where she needed to go.
“Just give in,” Wink snorted. “One of them is going to go with you.”
Mattie grimaced and forced a smile. “Okay, Jean Luc, I hope you’re ready for a wild, eventful night.”
Jean Luc nodded his head. “I have a car at my place, but it’s not anywhere close.”
He looked at me, and I nodded at her.
“She knows.”
Mattie’s eyes widened.
“You’re a dragon rider, too?”
Did her voice get higher in the last twenty seconds, or is that just me? I asked my woman silently.
Wink’s lips tilted up in a smile.
She’s excited. Leave her alone, Wink chastised me gently.
Ready, Freddy? Mace asked, touching down at my side.
I patted his neck and waved to my sister.
“Promise to call me if you need me,” I ordered her.
The wide, excited eyes that met mine were freakin’ beautiful.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, getting her first good look at Mace.
I looked at him, too, and wondered for the first time if he rea
lized just how gorgeous he was.
Mace was over sixteen feet in length and as wide as a train car. He was stocky and short, but he made up for that shortcoming (in his eyes, not mine) with his beautiful coloring.
Midnight blue with streaks of neon blue that ran all over his chest and back.
He had spikes midway down his back all the way to the tip of his tail, and bright blue eyes the color of lightening.
He had bright, white sparkly teeth—all the better to eat you with.
I know, I’m beautiful.
I rolled my eyes and mounted his back, climbing up until my knees were resting on either side of his neck.
“Call me the minute you know anything,” I asked Jean Luc.
He nodded his head and whistled.
His dragon landed at his feet within twenty seconds of his call.
“Oh, holy shit,” Mattie whispered.
Wink giggled and waved, blew me a kiss, and then disappeared back into the house.
I waited until my sister mounted Jean Luc’s dragon, Tele, before taking off for my usual scheduled patrol.
My brother with you?
I looked over to find Keifer circling the grounds of my house, and I shook my head.
He’s asleep.
Keifer’s gaze darkened.
Why? he asked.
A grin split my face.
He tried to hold Jean Luc still while he had a discussion with me.
Keifer cursed and had his dragon circle around until he landed by his still-knocked-out brother.
Jean Luc waved at Keifer as he too took off, and I urged Mace to take a hard right.
Let’s do our normal route, only backwards this time.
Mace pumped his wings, and suddenly we were high above the trees, and I felt like I could breathe easier. The feeling of riding on my paired dragon was exhilarating. Words couldn’t explain how right it felt to be up high above the ground where the air temperature was cooler. Where people and buildings seemed insignificant. Where I could ride, and feel the wind in my hair, and not have to worry about someone hitting me with their car. It was quiet…so freakin’ quiet.
It was an entirely freeing experience, and one that would only be better if Wink was up there with me.
I love you, but this bed is heavenly.
I sent a mental kiss to Wink, and then shut the door on our link. Not completely, though. I did it just enough that I knew what was going on with her, but she wasn’t privy to my every thought and feeling.
The same went both ways, though.
This would be a time for Wink to reflect on her day without me sitting front and center in her brain, listening to every damn thing that went through her thoughts.
We flew for what felt like minutes, watching, calculating, and learning.
We passed markers in the land, examined property lines, as well as the shield boundaries that kept out any unwanted guests.
We checked on The Heart, felt the exhilaration at being so near, and then zipped through the night like we were one with the wind.
Chapter 15
I rode a dragon and I liked it.
-Wink’s secret thoughts
Wink
Ten hours later
I rolled over in bed, my eyes going to the light shining through the window.
“Ian?” I called, rolling over to look at the bed beside me.
He appeared almost as if he’d sensed me waking, and I smiled at him.
“What time is it?” I asked him.
“Twenty minutes until one,” he said, coming around to my side of the bed.
My eyes closed, and then snapped back open.
“Ian!” I yelled, scrambling out of bed. “You were supposed to wake me up two hours ago! I have a session in the park!”
His brows furrowed. “I thought you said that was tomorrow.”
“It is,” I grumbled. “Or was. I told you yesterday that it was tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been checking on my sister and the shop.”
“What shop?” I questioned him as I searched for pants. “And how is she doing?”
“Her house is gone,” he said. “As for my shop, it’s my woodworking shop.”
“You make wood?” I teased, looking over my shoulder at him as I pulled my pants up and over my hips.
His eyes were on my ass, though, and not on the question.
“I do,” he confirmed. “I harvest my own trees and mill them into boards, logs, and beams.”
My mouth dropped open.
“How did I not know that yet?” I asked. “We’ve been together for weeks now, and this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
He shrugged.
“Been doing it since I was sixteen and working for an old man who used to own a mill,” he explained. “I bought it from him about two years ago.”
“Doesn’t Keifer own a garage?” I asked, grabbing my shirt that I pulled out of the top of my pile.
“No,” he smiled. “He owns a chain of them. Vassago Motors.”
My mouth dropped open.
“You’re shitting me,” I said in surprise. “They’re fucking everywhere!”
He nodded in agreement as he lifted the shades of the window. “They are, which is how and why Keifer’s able to afford a great big place like this.”
He pointed out the window, and I squinted, just barely able to see the tops of the sanctuary.
“Are you coming with me?” I asked him.
He gave me a look that quite clearly said what he thought of that absurd question.
“You can’t wear that, though,” I told him, pointing at his shirt, that I just now realized was covered in sawdust.
He looked down at the shirt that said, ‘Drink Up, Fuckers.’
“Why not?” He pinched the shirt and pulled before letting it go, causing a cloud of sawdust to fall off his shirt and land in an arc all around him.
I gritted my teeth and vowed to make him vacuum later before heading to the closet for my shoes.
I was pleasantly surprised to find not just the one pair of shoes I’d been going for, but all of my clothes that’d been in my closet at my apartment.
Somewhat excited that he’d brought my belongings, I picked out a comfy pair of pants and an old t-shirt, as well as my old Nikes that looked like they’d seen better days.
I’d be doing a shitload of walking, and likely running around after the couple’s children and dog, so I didn’t want to be stuck in ones that hurt my feet.
I didn’t bother to do much more than brush my teeth and use the restroom before I was dragging Ian out the door.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“To my apartment,” I said. “I need to get my other camera and the rest of my lenses and equipment.”
He cleared his throat. “Your stuff’s here.”
I stopped.
“What?” I asked.
“I had it brought here, along with the rest of your shit.”
“Where?” I asked, looking around his house.
He pointed to the door that led to the backyard, and I followed his directions to a shed I’d only seen, but not been into.
“But…why?” I asked.
He gave me another one of those ‘are you kidding me’ looks, and I stifled the urge to smile.
“Your apartment was broken into three times by your neighbor before I decided to bring all your belongings here,” he said. “I was able to recover your panties and computer, as well as your camera, but I chose to throw the panties away, and store the rest until you asked about them.”
I grinned at him and twisted the knob to the shed, freezing the moment I got inside and saw what he’d done.
It smelled like fresh cut wood, sweet and clean, and I loved it instantly.
The walls were made of cedar planks, and the floors were much the same.
At just a little bit over ten by ten, the entire thing was just about
perfect in size.
“This is like an office,” I said in awe. “Is this yours?”
He nodded his head. “It was. Then I moved to my new shop and didn’t have use for this place anymore. I used to do some woodworking in here, that’s what you smell.”
“It’s nice,” I told him honestly. “What are you going to do with it now?”
“Now…” he turned his eyes to study me. “It’s yours. If you want it, that is.”
I was already nodding my head.
“Oh, I want it.”
He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket.
“I just unlocked it this morning, but usually it’s locked. Here are the keys.” He gave them to me, dropping them into my outstretched hand and smiling as he did.
“Where’s my camera stuff?” I asked him, looking back down at my watch.
“Check the shelves over there,” he gestured to the wall to ceiling shelving unit that was all the way across the room. “I didn’t see them unpack it, but I know it’s here because Jean Luc asked me where he thought that I should put it.”
I found it with a loud ‘ah ha!’ and came running toward him.
“Are we taking the dragon or your car?” I asked.
He grinned at me.
“Neither.”
Thirty minutes after we pulled up into the park that I was shooting at, and I couldn’t have been more elated.
That was my first official long ride on Ian’s Harley.
Ian, apparently, used to ride his bike quite a bit before I came into the picture.
Now, though, he had too much on his hands.
That, or it was raining, which seemed to be the norm in our state at the moment.
Today, though, was an absolutely beautiful day, and couldn’t be better for the pictures I was taking of the soon-to-be-newlyweds and their about-to-be-blended family.
I spotted them the moment we pulled in, and I dismounted and started waving almost immediately.
“Hello!” I called as I made my way toward them, slinging my bag over my shoulder.
The bride to be waved at me and started forward.
The moment she stepped in my direction, though, the man behind her grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
He held up his phone, and then gave her an apologetic look before he answered it and walked off.
I waited for her to make her way to me, and then smiled at her.
Oh, My Dragon Page 11
