by Ashlyn Chase
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Copyright © 2016 by Ashlyn Chase
Cover and internal design © 2016 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover art by Aleta Rafton
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
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Contents
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
A Sneak Peek at My Wild Irish Dragon
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Cover
To my loving family
I know, I know. That’s boring. Everybody thanks their family and I usually try to be more creative than that. Oh well.
This is dedicated to my loving family.
So there.
Chapter 1
Thunk.
“What the hell?” Rory picked himself up off the floor beside his bed, rubbing his sore hip. Three little men dressed in green stood by his bedroom door. One of them looked angry, and one of them was trying not to snigger. The other seemed like a neutral party with his hands in his pockets.
“Rory Arish, you’re being charged with theft,” the angry one said.
Rory blinked and stared at the little men. “Theft, is it? What is it I’m accused of stealin’?”
“Me gold. All of it.”
Rory scratched his head. “Lucky, is it?” he asked, trying to put names to their faces.
“If you’re talkin’ about me name, it’s Clancy. Lucky is me brother.” The man with his hands in his pockets withdrew one and waved at Rory. “If you’re talkin’ about your day, I’d say this is the unluckiest of your whole long life.”
The red-haired man who’d been trying not to laugh moved his hand, uncovering his short, red beard. “Nobody steals from leprechauns and gets away with it—no matter how big you are.”
Rory sighed. “There’s been some kind of misunderstandin’. I haven’t stolen anyone’s gold—or anythin’ else for that matter. Do you see anythin’ worth stealin’ here?” He spread his arms wide and swiveled, indicating the whole sparsely furnished room.
He and his sisters had moved from the crumbling castle on the cliffs to the caretakers’ cottage a few years ago. The Arishes hadn’t changed much, leaving the cottage about the same as when the caretakers had lived and died there.
“Move your arse, dragon,” the angry one said. “March me to my gold!”
“I will not march anywhere,” Rory said. “Especially when I don’t know where your feckin’ gold is.”
Clancy balled his fists.
The gleeful one muttered, “Oh, that did it.”
“Be quiet, Shamus,” Clancy snapped. Then he focused his attention on Rory again. “Mr. Arish, I’m trying to be reasonable, but I’m not a patient man. Now, admit what you did and rectify the situation, or we’ll be forced to end the treaty between our people.”
Clad only in their nightgowns, Rory’s sisters appeared in the doorway behind the little people. Well…behind and over them. Even at five foot five or six, the girls were easily twice the size of a leprechaun.
“What’s goin’ on here?” his sister Chloe mumbled as she rubbed the sleep out of her green eyes.
“Apparently I’m bein’ accused of a crime I did not commit,” Rory said.
His youngest sister, Shannon, piped up. “Crime? What crime?”
Clancy whirled on the girls. “Mayhaps one of you took me gold. We don’t know if it was your brother or not, but it had to be the work of a dragon. Who else would have the strength to move it?”
Rory rubbed his forehead. “Now wait a minute. Me sisters didn’t steal anythin’ either.”
Clancy pointed a finger at Rory. “Then you admit it! It was you!”
“I admit nothin’.” Rory’s annoyance was growing now. Fine, wake me up. Accuse me of something I didn’t do. But don’t go pointin’ fingers at me sisters!
“It could have been any one of you…or all of you colludin’ together. The punishment will be meted out to each and every one until somebody confesses.”
“Punishment?” Chloe laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”
Oh shite. That was probably the worst thing she could have said, but leave it to Chloe to poke the beast. Even though they came in pint-sized packages, leprechauns possessed powerful magic. Either Chloe didn’t remember the treaty because it was signed when she was so young, or she didn’t believe the leprechauns held the power to protect or expose her and her family. But how else could their castle in the cliffs have remained hidden from humans for all these centuries?
It’s true that the bulk of it was built underground with entrances in the cliff’s caves, but there was one turret, like a large rook on a chess board, in plain view. It was for the few humans brave enough to live near dragons, plus the royals had posted a sentry there to see anyone coming by land.
Clancy narrowed his eyes at the three of them. Finally he said, “You leave me no choice! You will march to the cliffs—now. If one of you doesn’t confess to the crime before you get there, I will cast you into the ocean and ban you from ever setting foot in Ireland again! In fact, you’ll be banned from all of the United Kingdom!”
“Ha!” Chloe said. “Nobody’s goin’ anywhere.”
* * *
Moments later, dragons Rory, Shannon, and Chloe Arish bobbed on a raft just off the western shore of County Kerry, Ireland. They had been marched, against their will, to the edge of the cliff, and then magically transported to the raft. Rory, head of his clan, shook his fist at the little bastards dancing and laughing on the cliff above them, right next to his clan’s, now fully exposed, ancient castle.
“You can’t do this! Our people have coexisted for centuries. You’re violatin’ the treaty signed by our ancestors,” he roared.
Shamus, the most gleeful of the three redheaded leprechauns, yelled back, “We don’t know who signed it. We weren’t there. Maybe the dragons forged our ancestors’ signatures.”
“Why would they do that?” Chloe yelled. “We were protectin’ each other. Your pe
ople with your magic and our clan with our might.”
“Ha! Look who’s high and mighty now,” Shamus called back.
“This is the same as murder!” Chloe yelled. “You know damn well this raft won’t make it across the ocean. And look what you’re doin’ to me poor sister.” She pointed to Shannon, who was lying prostrate on the lashed logs, sobbing. The bastards hadn’t even let her say good-bye to Finn, her intended.
Lucky elbowed Shamus. “She has a point.”
“About a cryin’ sister? Who cares?”
“Not that. About the murder part.”
Clancy stroked his red and gray beard. “We should give them a worthy craft and enough food so they don’t starve.”
Shamus’s delight faded fast. “You’re not goin’ soft on these thieves, are you? They took your gold!”
Clancy leaned in close, but Rory’s superior hearing picked up what he thought was an admission of doubt.
“We didn’t take your damn gold!” he shouted at the leprechauns.
“You did,” Shamus insisted. “Who else but a dragon would covet our treasure?”
Rory set his hands on his hips. “Oh, I don’t know… Everyone?”
Clancy finally addressed his brothers. “They should be kept alive. If we don’t find the gold in their keep, we may have to question them some more.”
Lucky nodded. “I agree.”
Suddenly the dragons found themselves on a fishing trawler, probably large enough to make it across the sea if the weather was perfect the whole way.
“There. Now they have safe transport and all the fish they can catch,” Clancy said.
Shamus let out a defeated sigh. “All right. I guess that covers our arses.”
“Speaking of arses,” Rory yelled. “What do you little shites expect us to do for money if we land somewhere? Are we to sleep on the docks and starve while we look for work?”
Lucky said, “Certainly not.” He turned to Shamus. “There are women aboard.”
Shamus rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
A dozen plastic cards rained down on the dragons, bouncing off their heads.
“Ow,” Chloe said. “You bastards did that on purpose.” Then she picked up one of the credit cards and yelled, “Who the hell is Molly McGuire?”
Shamus shrugged. “Does it matter? She probably won’t miss it for a bit.”
“Surely we can have the treasure that you know belongs to us,” Shannon pleaded. “All you’re missin’ is gold. We have jewels, antiques, silver…”
Clancy nodded and a jewelry box, a harp, and a silver tea set appeared on the deck. Suddenly the ship dropped a little lower in the water.
“There’s more below,” Lucky yelled.
“And what about our clothes?” Chloe called out. “Our instruments!”
Clancy tossed his hands in the air and said, “Do I have to do everythin’?”
“I’ll get them,” Lucky said. A moment later three small suitcases and their only means of income, the family’s musical instruments, landed on the deck.
Suddenly Shannon shimmered off her nightgown, shifted into her dragon form, and flew at the cliff. Before either Rory or Chloe could scold her for changing in broad daylight, she bounced off an invisible barrier and landed in the sea, stunned.
Chloe gasped. “Shannon! Are you all right?”
A curl of steam escaped Shannon’s nostril. She righted herself and flew at the cliff a second time—faster, as if speed could break through whatever magic barrier the leprechauns had created. Again she bounced off and landed in the ocean. This time her eyes were closed and her wings were limp as she floated on her back.
“You killed our sister,” Rory yelled. He shimmered off his sweat pants, shifted into dragon form, and swooped down to grab his precious baby sister’s limp body. After he’d returned her to the deck of the boat, he shifted back to human form and put his ear to the soft part of Shannon’s scaly chest, listening for one of her two heartbeats. Rory always suspected her softer nature was a result of those two hearts. He sometimes wondered if she’d also gotten Chloe’s, because his middle sister could seem a bit heartless at times.
He heard a few faint beats. Ah, she’s alive. Damn good thing too, or I’d have found some way around that barrier to toast every one of the little bastards and serve them as s’mores.
Lucky and Clancy leaned over the cliff and appeared somewhat concerned. Shamus folded his arms and said, “If she’s dead, she killed herself.”
Clancy whirled on Shamus. “Shut your trap.”
Shamus’s back stiffened, but he didn’t argue with his brother.
Shannon groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She shifted back to human form and touched her head. “Ow.”
“What were you thinkin’, Sister?” Chloe demanded as she rushed over with a tarp. “I get the first time, but the second? Did the first bump on the head knock the sense right out of you?”
“Finn… I need to see Finn. How will he know what happened? He’ll think I’ve just run off and left him.”
“No, he won’t,” Chloe said. “You two have been joined at the hip since you were sixteen. He’ll know somethin’ is drastically wrong.”
“And that’s supposed to comfort me?” Shannon moaned.
Chloe just held up the tarp while her sister shimmered back into her nightgown. Soon Shannon was bawling again.
Rory began fiddling with the controls in hopes of getting the boat started. He couldn’t stand it when his sister cried. “Try to buck up, Shannon. I’ll do whatever I can to get this vessel to a safe haven. From there you can call or text or whatever you want to do to him.”
Chloe smirked. “I’m sure she wants to do more than that to him.”
Shannon let out another wail, and Rory narrowed his eyes at his middle sibling. “You’re not helpin’, Chloe.”
At last the engine caught and he pushed the throttle forward. They sped west. Eventually he’d figure out all the controls and possibly even hit Iceland.
* * *
Amber, along with the other flight attendants, boarded the plane from Iceland back to Boston.
She noticed a young red-haired woman with her adorable daughter—the resemblance couldn’t be missed—seated in her first class section. She thought she heard the woman explaining to the little girl that she could have snapped her fingers and they would have been home instantly, but she didn’t want the girl to think that was the normal way to get around. The little girl nodded and her big, blue eyes didn’t blink, as if the explanation made perfect sense to her. It made no sense to Amber. She must have misheard.
All was going well until a bit of turbulence ruffled the plane’s smooth path. Amber happened to be standing next to the mother’s and daughter’s seats.
The captain announced over the intercom, “Sorry, folks. We seem to be experiencing a bit of rough air.”
At that moment the plane bounced dramatically, and Amber braced herself against the passenger’s seat and the overhead bin. “No shit,” she muttered under her breath.
The woman giggled as if she had superior senses and had heard the inappropriate comment over the engine noise.
“Please be sure your seat belts are fastened,” the captain continued. “Flight attendants, return to your seats and buckle up. It’s going to be a bit bumpy.”
The woman seemed to be glancing at Amber a little more frequently than she’d expect—almost sizing her up.
Oh well… If she’s going to lodge a complaint against me, it will take the decision to quit or not to quit out of my hands.
Amber had been flying the skies ambivalently for several years. After high school, she didn’t have the money for college and didn’t know what her major would be, so rather than waste her mother’s hard-earned money, she’d decided to go to work. She figured as soon as she discovered her passion, she cou
ld go to college and by then she’d have a bunch of money saved up for school. Maybe it was time…
A few hours later they made a safe landing in Boston, and Amber waited to deplane after everyone else.
The redheaded woman and the adorable mini-version waited until they were the very last passengers.
Amber couldn’t help being a little nervous. Did the woman want to confront her on her language? Chastise her privately? She wouldn’t blame her. The little girl didn’t act as if she’d heard Amber swear, but using such language was inappropriate nonetheless. Yup, it was definitely time to think about finding another job. This had to be a sign of burnout.
Ah, good. The woman walked past her and disappeared into the crowd. Amber headed for the airport bathroom.
When she entered the restroom, the redhead was washing her hands.
Damn it. She hadn’t seen the woman enter, but here she was. It must be a sign. Amber would have to stop trying to avoid her and just face the consequences of her stupid remark. Or maybe the woman wasn’t upset at all. Better to keep it casual and see.
“What a beautiful little girl,” Amber said.
“Thank you,” the woman responded, beaming. “She really is a great kid.”
The little one giggled and nodded.
“Awww… What’s her name?”
“Nikki,” the mom said. “And I’m Brandee.” She extended her clean and now dry hand to shake Amber’s, so she grasped Brandee’s hand for a firm handshake. Brandee held it a little longer than necessary and a smile spread slowly across her face.
What was that about?
A woman in a crisp business suit joined them and stood next to Brandee. She seemed happy to see her. It wasn’t unusual for travelers to bump into people they knew at the airport, so Amber didn’t think anything of it until…
“I might have a candidate for you,” Brandee whispered to the businesswoman, who gave Brandee a smile.
“Do you now?”
Brandee tipped her head in Amber’s direction, but she was already on her way to a stall. When she turned to close the door, she saw the woman pat Brandee on the head and say, “Good girl. I’ll take it from here.”
