Dragon Heart

by Susan Arden

  Not on Duncan’s best day. She elbowed him in his throat, then rapidly swung her arm again going for the bridge of nose. She would have jammed her elbow a third time, but he reached out, re-grabbing the wheel. Son of a bitch!

  Shay didn’t think twice as she slammed on the brakes and Duncan careened into the dashboard. The car started to slide on the icy roadway, fishtailed, and she fought to hold steady the wheel, letting off the brakes. It was too late. They headed for the sidewalk, then ate the curb, and sped forward, directly in line with the telephone pole.

  The whole world dimmed as though she were watching a movie of her life that played in slow motion. She stared ahead, powerless to change the course of the car and when the hood hit the pole, she jerked from the airbag deploying. First she went forward, then she was hurled back into the seat. Oh my God. The seatbelt tightened way too much across her belly. Scarlett and Hunter! My babies!

  The impact wasn’t the worse, even with the cracking and falling of the pole onto the hood of the car. It was the explosive tightening of the seatbelt as it bit into her body that made her rear back in pain and cry out in agony.

  Please, she moaned, trying to peel off the belt from her belly. My babies.

  • • •

  Drake stormed outside followed by the phoenix guards. Each step across the blacktop echoed his rage. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. His motorcycle booted feet thudded then stopped. Lifting his arms to the skies, he shifted into his dragon form. The ground shook and he bellowed, uncaring who or what saw him relay how fucked up this situation had turned. Curling flames leapt from his mouth with each breath he exhaled. Pure misery. More and more his blood flooded ripe in need of revenge—this fuckery tasted categorically bitter. From a mixture of frustration, anger, and anxiety that Shay his pregnant mate was kidnapped, he vowed he’d extract vengeance.

  He took to the sky, rocketing upward for a count of ten before he arced, changing his trajectory toward the ground. A little velocity trick he’d learned by using gravity to improve his propulsion, racing toward 104th Avenue like a falling bullet. It didn’t take long to locate the car in which Shay traveled.

  Fuck. No! The Porsche abutted a downed telephone pole that lay cracked over the front of the car. He swooped to where the 911 had crashed and tore off the passenger door, pushing aside the fully inflated airbag splattered with blood. His heart pounded, but it was confusion that blanketed him when he encountered the bloody face of a man. Not his mate.

  Drake grabbed the man, lancing him with his talons as the dude clutched his head, peering up at him with a look of horror spreading over his face as Drake roared, “Where is she?”

  The man gaped at him, his lips working. He made no sound with a broken nose and crushed windpipe, but that wasn’t was his problem.

  He focused his energy on Shay. He could smell her scent. His heart thudded and for a millisecond Drake thought he’d gotten his signals crossed. He heard Shay moan and flashed his gaze to the driver’s side where the ballooning bag hid the driver. In the light, he caught sight of dark fiery copper curls—familiar as his own hand. Bending down, he fingered the strands of copper hair that tormented his dreams. He pushed back the air bag.

  Holy shit. “Baby,” he groaned, skimming his knuckle along her cheek. Uncurling his girth from the passenger side, he roared for his guards who’d lifted the telephone pole off the hood of the car.

  “She’s on the driver’s side,” he thundered to his crew, glancing down at the fucker in the passenger seat.

  Drake sliced his talons across that son of a bitch’s jugular vein on his way to leaping over the roof of the car. He came down on the driver’s side and tore off the door, hurling it away from him. The phoenixes landed next to him and he glared at them, snarling, “We need emergency rescue, and deal with that fucker for what’s he’s done to her.”

  They stared back, then Noah shifted into human form and raced around to the passenger side. “That jackass should have a cell phone. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him and we’ll get answers.”

  Drake shifted back into human form and unbuckled Shay’s shoulder harness and whispered, “Kitten, can you hear me?”

  Filigreed snowflakes floated in the air on his breath, and landed on his baby’s face. Shay’s eyes fluttered and she smiled weakly. The sight of her ashen lips curved was a caress across his ravaged senses and he was desperate for better signs that she wasn’t badly injured.

  “Yes,” Shay whispered and winced, her skin blanched. “You came.”

  “I always will. You’re part of my mind, heart, soul,” he rumbled.

  “Be careful of her neck and spine,” Evan said thoughtfully.

  His body tightened, and he wanted to howl in fear. Carefully, he slipped his hands under Shay’s body.

  “Babe,” she murmured.

  He lifted her from the car, his whole body growing cold and he fought the feeling. No! “Hold out your wings. One of you!” he barked at the phoenixes. With the utmost care, he laid her in Grant’s embrace.

  They needed more than a paramedic team who might not even show since this was a shifter accident. Drake rubbed his hand over the cuff and centered his thoughts. Jinni. I need you now!

  He stared at his hands covered in blood. The scent was familiar and he grounded himself from all thoughts save one. Shay’s life force must be maintained. “Give her to me,” he said. “Fly back and find Sherry at the Den. Tell her we’ll need a shifter doctor.”

  “Specializing in obstetrics,” Evan commented as he glanced down at the street. “Drake, her water just broke.”

  “Drake.” Shay reached up and lightly touched his face. “Please, our babies are coming.”

  “Shay, I swear on everything we both hold dear, that I’ll keep you safe. Stay with me or I’ll tear up this world and the outer realms to prove I mean it.”

  The Hood Jinni appeared next to him, bowing. When he rose, the genie asked, “How may I serve you, Lord Herensuge?”

  Drake lifted his eyes. “Save her!” he commanded the Jinni. “Do whatever it takes.”

  “That is something I cannot do.”

  “I demand it of you!” Drake roared so loud the branches of the trees swayed as if a strong wind had blown through.

  “You know it’s impossible to alter lifelines in this realm. That is not of my power,” the genie replied softly.

  Fuck! It was true. If the Jinni could, surely he would have saved his mother. “What can you do? I won’t accept that history is about to repeat itself.”

  “That isn’t something I can determine. But there is something I can offer: modern medicine. If you agree, I’ll deliver you both to the Greenleaf Clinic, experts in high risk deliveries. And clothe you so you aren’t arrested.”

  He hadn’t noticed those minor things, and probably would have barged into the hospital stark naked, breathing fire, and cursing … but he also would have gone down on his knees and begged, offered his life to save Shay’s. Whatever it took, he’d agree to as long as she was saved. “Yes right away. Convey us to Greenleaf and get Shay admitted and treated. Please, do that. Now, Jinni.”

  “As you wish, so shall it be.” The Jinni bowed.

  CHAPTER 24

  Flames and shouting more like the roaring of a thousand angry men—or a terribly pissed off dragon filled her mind. The ground shook. She tried to escape but she was pinned in place. She pushed against a white sheet but it bounced back … it was soft like a balloon. Each time she slapped at it, her hand pressed forward and was swallowed within the confines of sheeting. But she couldn’t keep her arm raised. The pain was too great. The balloon pressed against her face, no matter how she turned her head. With steely concentration, Shay lifted her left hand and pushed the balloon off her face, but when she suddenly coughed, her insides twisted. Jagged bolts of pain shot through her.

  Her babies!

  Scarlett and Hunter. Her mind raced. Oh my God! I’ve been in accident. Drake held her in his arms and then there was glaring light that made thinkin
g next to impossible. C’mon, someone turn out the light! She kept asking or maybe it was only a thought that floated in her mind.

  More pain lanced her body, razor sharp to the point of forcing cries of agony from her. She tried to link her mind to Drake’s and beseech him to help Scarlett and Hunter, but the words remained glued on her tongue.

  Green flaming swirls caught her, carried her. She blinked, staring up into Drake’s distressed face. She’d never seen his eyes sorrowful and she wanted to reach up and brush away his sadness.

  He kissed her and let go, infusing her with his fiery magick that wrapped around her, easing the pain from her being. “Whatever it takes, find her the best care!” His voice sounded like a sonic boom that echoed inside her brain.

  She shivered as she was lifted away from him. Snow was falling in single flakes, then falling faster and heavier. She focused on the stranger who stood over her, a man covered in tattoos. He pressed his hand on her, wound a band of metal around her wrist. “Sleep,” he whispered.

  Sleep … that sounded good.

  Then she floated into a void where no pain existed. Nothing existed. Afraid, she gasped, flashing open her eyes and meeting Drake’s mesmerizing gaze.

  “Baby, I’ve got you,” he repeated over and over. He was with her.

  She and Scarlett and Hunter were blanketed with Drake’s dragon essence and she closed her eyes, reveling in his eternal magick. Her children were being taken from her and she cried out. Over and over, until her voice was hoarse, but she was too tired to fight the pain.

  • • •

  Shay woke to the sound of beeping. Soft but constant. Something beep-beep-beeped. More glaring light surrounded her, so bright she shut her lids until a large palm—Drake’s hand—curled around her arm. “Kitten,” he said, tracing a slow circle with his finger on her skin.

  “Where am I?” she whispered, her mouth too dry to even swallow. Her throat felt raw and she was so, so thirsty. She tried to lift her hand but her arm got snagged and she growled in frustration. She expected to hear him explain but he stopped touching her … he was gone.

  She tried once more with greater force, using her other hand to untangle the vines holding her prisoner. She’d run a long way in her leopardess form to get to Drake. Maybe that’s why she was so thirsty. She’d been hurled against a wall and had to reach the top to find her way out of a gully, toward the bright light. Surely, he’d be there waiting for her but she was so tired.

  “Sleep,” a voice commanded and she shut her eyes. She wasn’t alone anymore.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  “I’ll be right here,” Drake said in a voice that sounded as though he were far, faraway.

  • • •

  Light streamed in from three large windows off to the side. At first when Shay woke, she clawed the sheets and tried to lift her head but was overcome by a cloud of dizziness. Nothing was about to happen fast in her condition as she struggled to sit up, clutching the bedrail. Curling forward, she fought the sorrow that lanced through her, bone deep. She brought both of her hands to her belly and cried out, terror gripping her to the core where her children no longer lay protected within her body. She hugged her arms to her middle, anguish filling her. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she rocked, wanting so much to have her children back. God! The images of the car crashing and fire wasn’t some horrible nightmare. She was alone. So so so alone. Had she lost her children and Drake? Her world teetered, ready to come crashing down around her. She needed answers. Where on earth was this place?

  The curtain slid open. “What are you doing?” Drake took a step inside the space and then rushed forward, a deep frown marring his handsome face. He stopped at the side of the bed, and she tried to inhale as if in preparation for what he was going to say. Up close, his face had shadows, darker under his unsmiling eyes, and his lips where stretched tight and pale. She gasped, pressing a hand to her chest as she slumped against the bed rail.

  “Careful,” Drake commanded, holding onto her by her shoulders and helping her back onto the pillows as he stared at her, eyes hard.

  “What happened to our children?” she asked, searching his face as they both regarded each other in a heavy, drowning silence.

  “You were in a car crash yesterday … what do you remember?”

  “Don’t hold back from me. Tell me. What happened?”

  “You’re in a hospital and you’ve been unconscious since yesterday. I’ve been waiting for you for to wake up … how do you feel?”

  “Like I was hit by a train.” She flashed her gaze over his shoulder at the pale yellow wall and the red numbers flashing non-stop on the machines. “Our children? Please, Drake—”

  He caught her hands and lifted them to his mouth. Drake kissed her palms and her eyes widened as she watched him, reeling in pain and misery.

  He lifted his head, meeting her stare and nodded. “Our babies are fine. Fighters, both of them. And as beautiful as you,” he murmured.

  “They’re fine?”

  “Fine and as equally stubborn as their mother.”

  “I—”

  He cut her off and his features went steely. “You promised you wouldn’t put yourself in danger and I believed you. You said we were a team. You endangered your life and the lives of our children!”

  She swallowed, unable to find the words as her throat constricted. “I heard you talking about some covert mission you were on and I wanted to do something too. You were very much a team of one. Are you going to tell me I was wrong?”

  “Wrong?” he echoed. “You can’t imagine how wrong you got that one.”

  “What do you mean? Drake, I mind linked. I heard you talking to some man.”

  “Covert mission. I wasn’t doing anything dangerous, unless looking for a salamander in a creek with a bunch of guys is edgy stuff. Not very exciting, but Christ, Shay, what you got involved in is mind-bending and has me seeing red. Your safety isn’t a game and isn’t open to interpretation. And if you don’t respect me enough to be on a team with me, then just say so. Tell me you want to be alone, but don’t go behind my back.”

  “I made a horrible mistake,” she said. “But a mistake.”

  “A mistake of immense proportions. I would never do that to you.”

  “Are you saying you can’t forgive me?”

  “That’s what makes this so hard. I can. I’m in love with you. But this goes to the heart of us staying together. Baby, have I ever lied to you?” Drake spoke in a low, low voice and she understood this was more than words and talk about love—this was being fully committed as mates and she’d hurt him deeply.

  “No-o,” she replied in shaky voice, so frightened he was going to level her entire world. Her heart boomed, ready to claw its way out of her chest.

  “When you asked that I stand down, I did. I didn’t let my pride get in the way of what was important to you. Did I?”

  Anything she might have said evaporated. What he said was true. He didn’t go out and seek revenge against the Dark Fae, which as a dragon must have required a helluva lot of self-control—for her, he’d kept his cool. She assumed he was out with his crew and family, doing something kickass and exciting when she should have waited for him to return. Talk about being the idiot of the century. “No. You’re a straight shooter.”

  “Do you or do you not want to be my mate? I made a deal with myself to ask you without pressuring you into a reply. You don’t need to answer me now, but I do expect an answer in the near future. I won’t coerce you. No storming or yelling, and I won’t take the kids. But I will go—”

  “No!” Her heart hammered wildly beneath her ribcage. “Please don’t. Drake, I was epically foolish and should have told you long before now. I love you.”

  He fused his gaze with hers. “Don’t say those words because you feel obligated—”

  Again, she cut him off. “I love you! I’ve loved you since the moment I bared myself on the terrace of the villa. Maybe before that. But you were so sure of yours
elf and you pissed me off. Yeah, I’ve got to work on my pride, but I do love you.”

  “Me? Piss you off? Damn woman, you totally own that one.” Suddenly the sound of crying filled the air.

  “Our babies. Where? ” she blurted out.

  “Right here.” He stepped aside, tugging the curtain back, and she immediately focused on the two Plexiglas bassinets next to the bed.

  “Please, let me see them.” She gripped the bedrail, reading the cards on the front of each bassinet. “O’Connor Girl Baby and O’Connor Boy Baby.”

  Scarlett and Hunter.

  Are those their names? Drake asked, mind linking with her.

  Oh my, she gulped. “No. Not really. Not if you have another choice.”

  Lifting up their daughter, he came over to her, and lowered their sweet baby girl into her arms. “Paloma was my mom’s name. I was wondering—”

  She gazed down at their baby. Tiny little fingers and the sweetest little bow mouth. Her lashes were long and dark like Drake’s and her skin was tinged golden like hers. She lifted her eyes to his, her heart thudding. “Oh yes. Yes, Paloma is perfect. I adore the name.”

  “And for our son?” he asked, caressing the tip of his finger along Paloma’s cheek before he kissed the top of Shay’s head. “Hunter is an excellent choice. Considering our family.”

  “Then it’s settled. Paloma and Hunter.”

  “Paloma Scarlett and Hunter?” Drake looked at her and smiled his heart-melting grin. He arranged their son’s blanket and picked him up, holding him snug in two burly arms. What a sight! Drake was already a pro at picking up their children.

  “Hunter Drake O’Connor. You know you want to,” she replied, smiling up at him.

  He laughed, giving her a view of her son’s face. A replica of Drake’s. Both of them had a sleeping baby as he whispered, “I’m not going to deny it. I’m possessive and proud and I love you.”

  • • •

  “Just sign here,” the nurse said, handing Shay a clipboard with the doctor’s discharge orders. The nurse cooed over the twins. “Your babies are so cute. And such good sleepers for being just a week old.”