by Casey Lane
Sunny felt positively drab next to the woman in the photo.
Carefully, she placed the photo back on the bed and crept out of the room.
She trod heavily down the stairs and into the kitchen, hoping to find the room empty. Her hope was dashed when she spied Matthew sitting at the scrubbed table. He drank from a coffee mug and looked about as down as she felt. “Hey,” she mumbled as she trudged into the kitchen and helped herself to a cup of coffee.
She could feel Matthew’s gaze on her as she moved around the room and waited for him to admonish her for drinking caffeine. When he didn’t say anything, she looked at him with a raised brow.
Shrugging, Matthew took another sip from his cup. “You look like you could really use a pick-me-up,” he said, apparently understanding her silent question.
She grabbed a box of sugary cereal Raven had started stocking just for her, and poured a generous helping into a large bowl. She carried it with her to the table and grabbed the milk, adding it to her morning sugarfest. At least it had calcium. Besides, it wasn’t like Matthew was going to judge her. “You okay?” she asked Matthew.
“Yeah. I’ve got a lot going on at work and it’s starting to catch up with me, that’s all.”
The tone of Matthew’s voice was off and his answer didn’t sound very convincing at all, but she let it go. She’d get it out of him later. Plus, he didn’t look like he wanted to talk about what bugged him anyway.
She crunched into her cereal, grateful they were in the kitchen and not the dining room like they normally were for meals. If was far less formal here and she didn’t feel the need to be polite. At least she managed to chew with her mouth closed. “Can I ask you something?” she said after swallowing.
“Sure.” Matthew sounded a little relieved to be talking about something else.
“Will you tell me about Sloan’s wife?”
Why was she doing this to herself? She must be a glutton for punishment.
Matthew looked at her with a sympathetic expression but started talking. “Well, I was only two years old during the last battle. And actually, my family wasn’t even at the battle. But from what I’ve heard, Dara was quite an extraordinary witch. She had remarkable control over her magic and could do as much with her power as Sloan, even though it wasn’t nearly as strong as a handler’s magic.”
The milk on her cereal suddenly tasted curdled and she put down her spoon. Here she was, struggling to manipulate a single flame to her will while this dead woman had had it all. She didn’t have it in her to hate the woman though. Sloan had loved her, which said something about her. He wouldn’t love someone so deeply if she was a bad person. He certainly wouldn’t still be grieving for her after twenty-five years if she was horrible.
Wow. Dara had been beautiful and talented. Everything she wasn’t. There was no way she could compete with Sloan’s memory of his dead wife.
Matthew squeezed her hand a little and she glanced over at him, unable to hide the tears threatening to spill. “I’m right there with you. Leith…”
He trailed off, looking helpless, and she understood he really did know what she was going through. “God, we’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” she said through a couple of sniffles. “We should do an ice cream night.”
He chuckled. “I have a better idea. Let’s meet one night this week and drown our sorrows in booze. There’s a pub in town that serves the best cocktails.”
She tried to imagine Matthew nursing a brightly colored drink from a margarita glass and failed miserably. “You drink girlie things?”
“No. I’m more of a scotch on the rocks man. But I thought you might enjoy a good tequila sunrise.”
Her heart loosened a little. It was good to have a friend. “It’s a date. When do you want to go?”
Matthew pulled out a small black day planner and flipped it open. “Well, I’m going with Raven and Leith—” the blond man’s name left Matthew’s mouth with a small whimper, but he kept talking like nothing happened—”to meet the dragons tomorrow night. How about the day after?”
“Sure,” she said immediately. It wasn’t like she had anything pressing on her schedule. She was only trying to learn to control her magic so that when the next battle happened, she didn’t end up dead. It wasn’t anything that couldn’t wait.
Matthew smiled and penciled the date into his book. “Seven o’clock okay?”
Before she could respond, Leith stumbled into the kitchen, looking distinctly rumpled, as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He headed straight for the coffee without saying a word and poured himself a large cup.
Matthew made a show of checking his watch. “Look, I really have to get to the office. I’ll see you at the pub if I don’t run into you before.”
He rushed out of the room, leaving a very bemused Sunny. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only seven in the morning, way too early for any sane person to be dashing off to the office.
Then again, she could completely understand his desire to avoid Leith. The last thing she wanted to do was face Sloan right then. Not that she had much of a choice. He was her trainer and she couldn’t really hide from him.
Sighing, she got up and dumped her now mushy breakfast down the drain and left, mentally preparing herself for a day spent with her one-sided love interest.
Chapter Sixteen
Holy crap. This place was huge. Sunny clambered out of the limo, thanked the woman who’d driven them, and then stared at the massive rock face that housed the dragon prince’s lair. She spun around and grabbed Raven’s hand, making his arm jerk as she nearly jumped around in her excitement. “Thank you so much for letting me come,” she gushed.
A warm arm wrapped around her middle and gently pulled her away from Raven. “Don’t break the man’s arm off,” Sloan commented, his irritated tone completely at odds with the tender way he held her.
Matthew joined them, looking up at the dragon’s lair with an expression of awe. “I know these are part of the same cliffs I suggested searching, but it seems totally different up close than they were in the aerial photos.”
Sunny nodded, aware her mouth hung slightly open at the amazing sight. How the dragons had kept humans from finding their lair, she’d never know. The entire face of the cliff was carved like a giant palace. The ocean crashed feet from the entrance and at high tide, it would lap right up against it.
Leith started muttering about pompous ass dragons as he climbed out of the car and Sunny goggled at him. Didn’t he realize the woman who’d driven them here was probably a dragon? She could have Leith barbecue if she wanted?
Luckily, the driver smiled slightly, as if she was used to hearing such words.
Soon, the little group of MacAlister witches were gathered a short distance from the cave’s opening. Sunny took stock of what was going on, trying to control her excited reaction a bit. She, Raven, Leith, Sloan and Matthew had all come to meet the dragons. Out of all of them, she and Matthew seemed the most excited, but there was something sort of peculiar with Raven.
Before she could question him on why he looked almost giddy, a huge shadow fell across them and she swung her head upward, gasping at the sight that met her eyes. A giant green dragon flew overhead, circling a few times before plunging headfirst into the ocean.
“Dragons swim?” Matthew blurted, looking as astonished as Sunny felt.
Their driver smiled again and shook her head. “Not really. But we do like to fish.”
As if the dragon had been waiting for a cue, it exploded from the water with a massive fish clamped in its jaws.
“Show off,” Sloan said loathingly.
Sunny poked him in the side without taking her eyes of the magnificent beast as it disappeared among the cliffs. “Be nice.”
“Yes,” Raven agreed, slinging an arm around Matthew’s shoulders even as he gave Sloan a quelling look. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Yeah,” Matthew said, shrugging out from under Raven’s arm. “If you were just going
to be miserable the whole time, why did you even come?”
Sunny had to hand it to the lawyer. He knew exactly what to say to Sloan to get him to stop muttering. Sloan had never expressly said anything about why he insisted on coming with them when he so clearly wanted to be somewhere else, but she had a feeling it had something to do with her reaction to finding out about the handsome dragon prince.
She should have been a little insulted by his obvious jealousy with regards to the lizard prince, as Sloan had taken to referring to him as, but she actually found it a little endearing. At least she knew he wanted to be with her.
“We should go in,” the woman said. “Prince Gareth will be impatient to meet with you.”
“An impatient dragon is never a good thing,” Raven muttered under his breath.
Sunny looked at Raven quizzically. It sounded like Raven knew about impatient dragons from personal experience. Of course, Raven had dealt with the dragons before, but his words hinted at a much more intimate connection with them.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Raven had a relationship with one particular dragon. She couldn’t help but notice the unfocused, slightly misty look Raven got in his eyes whenever someone mentioned the dragon queen. Could there be something more between them than just a working association?
Then again, if Raven had a romantic relationship with the queen, he and Leith wouldn’t have been looking so hard for the dragons. And the steady stream of women Raven seemed to entertain on an almost daily basis was hardly indicative of a man in love.
Sunny glanced around at the men as they followed the woman into the palace. Matthew looked at Raven consideringly, as if trying to puzzle out the hidden meaning behind the man’s words.
Leith’s expression didn’t give anything away. Of course, it was highly possible that Leith really questioned Raven’s dating habits. Sunny doubted very many people looked past the constant stream of women Raven brought home to see the man was actually miserable.
She looked up at Sloan to see if she could decipher what he was thinking, but instead of looking at Raven, Sloan’s eyes had widened and his mouth hung open slightly.
Swiveling her gaze from Sloan’s face to the cave they were entering, Sunny felt her own jaw drop. If she’d thought the outside of the cliff had been impressive, she was floored by the interior.
Instead of plain gray stone, the walls were covered with brightly covered tapestries. There were beautiful carpets on the ground and gigantic fireplaces with roaring fires. She wandered over to the hearth, trying to figure out where it vented, since it wasn’t spewing smoke into the room.
There were electric lights in the ceiling, computers scattered around the room and a television in one corner. Clearly, there was a generator somewhere because there was no way they were on the grid.
“Do you have any questions? I’ve lived here all my life and I can probably answer anything you ask.”
An absolutely gorgeous man stood in front of them. He smiled at them, an amused expression on his face. Good lord, the man was like a Greek god come to life. He was tall and muscular without being too bulky, and had cheekbones that could cut diamonds. His damp hair was cut short and fell in thick waves just above one of his eyes. And speaking of his eyes … God, his eyes. They were such a bright green, it almost hurt to look at them.
As attractive as the guy was, Sunny’s magic still tugged toward Sloan and she stepped a little closer to him, even if it was only to reassure the already tense man she was only interested in him.
It turned out she didn’t need to show Sloan that her interest lay solely in him because Mr. Greek god seemed to only have eyes for Matthew. The man’s smile, while it encompassed all of them, seemed to be directed at the lawyer, and she repressed a little squeal of girlish excitement.
Of course, Matthew, as fair as his complexion was, had turned a dusky shade of pink and seemed to have lost control of his mouth, because it kept opening and closing without actually forming any words.
Leith brushed against Sunny’s side as he stepped forward, but she didn’t think he even realized. He made a beeline for Matthew and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Please excuse our Matthew. He still has the curiosity of youth.”
If Leith had said that about Sunny, she would have had some very choice words for him. Matthew certainly handled it better than she would have. “What is your hang up about my age?” he shot back lightly. “I get that I’m not five hundred years old, but I’m not a child.”
Sunny nodded once in agreement and towed Sloan over so they stood next to Matthew. Leith rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything more. Instead, he jerked his head at Raven as Mr. Gorgeous left the entrance with a wink. “Keep an eye on Matthew before he offends someone,” Leith hissed at Raven.
Raven’s eyebrows shot up but he stepped closer. “He’s fine,” Raven commented.
Leith let out a clearly irritated breath and stalked farther into the cave. Sunny chewed on her bottom lip, trying to figure out what was going on with him. She looked at Matthew, who stared at Leith’s back with a confused expression.
Despite his reassurance that Matthew’s attitude was fine, Raven did turn to them with a serious look. “I want you two to be careful,” he said, pointing to both Matthew and Sunny. “Dragons might parade around in human form, but remember, they are most definitely not human. They think differently than we do. Sloan has dealt with dragons before, so he already knows this, so I’m confident he’ll be on his best behavior.”
Sunny nodded, but the image of the great beast plunging into the ocean wasn’t one she’d soon forget.
The young woman who’d picked them up smiled again. “Please, follow me.”
They followed her down a hall and into another huge room, where a long table was set up. Twelve people were already seated around the table, including Mr. Gorgeous, who sat at the head of the table.
Their escort stepped forward and addressed the room. “Your Highness, my lords. May I present Raven and Leith MacAlister, Matthew Samuels, Sloan Shirer and Sunny Kerrigan of the MacAlister witch clan.”
Mr. Gorgeous rose from his seat and nodded. “Thank you, Leandra. You make take your seat.”
The woman bowed low, her long hair nearly brushing the floor. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
Sunny’s gaze jumped to the man at the head of the table. Of course, the prince would be seated at the head of the table. He was gazing in her direction with a knowing expression on his face, but he didn’t seem to be looking at her. His eyes were fastened on Matthew, who stood beside her. She glanced around the table as discreetly as she could, searching for any sign of who might be the queen. Nobody stood out to her. Then again, it wasn’t like she had a whole lot of experience in identifying dragon royalty.
Suddenly, Matthew bowed low, in the same manner as Leandra. Sunny fidgeted a little, unsure of what to do. Bowing certainly seemed appropriate enough, seeing as she was in the presence of royalty. But no one else in their group bowed, so she bent down in a stiff half bow.
Leith’s tutting caught her attention and she straightened to see him giving her and Matthew an exasperated look. “You doona need te bow,” he said in his suddenly thick brogue. “He is no’ yer prince. He is an ally, nothin’ more.”
She smirked a little even as she allowed Sloan to steer her toward the table. Apparently, Leith’s brogue and proper English became extremely pronounced when it came to Matthew. Could the man be hiding feelings for the young man?
The lawyer, on the other hand, seemed extremely irritated. “It doesn’t hurt to be respectful,” he shot back. He was quiet enough that only he, Sunny and Leith would be able to hear what he said. “We do want them to support us in the war, after all.”
Leith didn’t answer. Instead, he took Matthew’s elbow and guided him to an empty chair about halfway down the table, right next to the one Sloan nudged her toward.
Matthew never made it to the chair, though. “I would like Matthew to sit next to me,” the prince said with aut
hority.
Sunny poked Matthew in the side when he didn’t move. “Matthew,” she whispered, feeling wicked. “Go up and sit with the sexy man.” She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.
“Shut up,” Matthew whispered back as he blushed again. But he did make his way to the head of the table and sat down in the chair to the right of the prince.
The table was promptly set with a beautiful meal. There were roast chickens, steamed fish, colorful vegetables and tureens of thick, rich gravy. It smelled divine but Sunny was far more interested in watching the interaction between Matthew and Prince Gareth.
She tapped Sloan’s knee excitedly under the table when the prince placed a slice of cake on Matthew’s plate. “Try this, sweet one.”
Sloan slipped his hand over hers and forced her to stop shaking his leg. “Sunny, you’re going to dislocate my hip. Why are you so excited, anyway?” he whispered.
“Matthew seems so lonely and sad. I’m happy someone is giving him the attention he deserves.”
Sloan linked his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand lightly. “I expect being in love with Leith is no easy thing. And I agree, the prince does seem to be rather taken with our Matthew. I guess that’s a good thing. As long as Prince Gareth doesn’t eat him, that is.”
She giggled, happy that Sloan seemed to have relaxed a little now that he knew the prince had his sights set on someone else. He even seemed to be enjoying himself.
Her good mood wilted somewhat when Leith started talking. “I would hardly call Matthew sweet. He’s a legal shark, a master computer hacker and is highly accomplished in several forms of martial arts.”
Sunny cocked her head and frowned. While Leith’s words were all compliments, they came off kind of condescending and she got the idea he was rigidly controlling his accent. “What’s his problem?” she whispered to Sloan.
Sloan shrugged and forked another bite of chicken into his mouth.
However, far from being put off, the prince looked intrigued. “Perhaps fierce one suits you better. Going back to our conversation from before, do you have any questions?”
