“Good to meet you. I’m Emilia Dumas.” She smiled up at his amused eyes which flicked to his son and then back to Emilia.
“Good to meet you, too, Emilia.” Then to Thorn, he asked, “Do I need to call your mom?”
Thorn gave a brief nod. “I think she’ll want to hear our news.”
“Right.” Jonathon stood rooted to the spot for a moment, digging fork in hand as he looked right and then left. “Right.”
Emilia smiled up at Thorn through her long lashes as her mate chuckled. “Want me to find her, Dad?”
“No. She’s in the kitchen.” He took a step forward, then stopped. “Why don’t we all go? I might need to sit down.”
“Sure.” Thorn threaded his fingers through Emilia’s and gave her a squeeze of encouragement as they followed Jonathon through the garden, filled with an abundance of blooming flowers, and around the side of the house. Wiping his feet, he stepped inside the back door into a small room and slipped off his shoes. Thorn and Emilia did the same before they entered the warm, inviting kitchen, which was filled with the aroma of fresh bread.
The scent made her mouth water, and a well of emotion built up inside her.
“Rosemary,” Jonathon said gently to his wife, who turned around, wiping her hands on her apron as she saw Emilia by Thorn’s side.
“Hello.” Rosemary looked questioningly at her husband, who raised an eyebrow.
“Mom, Dad, this is Emilia.” Thorn smiled widely and looked at his mate before looking back to his parents. He didn’t have to say anymore, they knew without words that their son had found his mate.
Emilia’s throat tightened but she forced a smile on her face. “Hello.” She didn’t curtsey this time, realizing it was a forgotten tradition.
“Emilia. I’m so happy.” Rosemary took two steps forward and hesitated, unsure of what to do. Emilia let go of Thorn’s hand and rushed to meet her, falling into Rosemary’s embrace. “Oh, honey. Are you okay?”
“Emilia’s had a rough couple of days,” Thorn started to explain, then stumbled over his words. How did you tell your parent your mate had been asleep for centuries thanks to a madman who happened to be one of your ancestors?
“Come on, sit down, I’ll make fresh coffee and we can have bread and honey. Your dad collected some this morning.” Rosemary bustled around the kitchen, making coffee and cutting bread while Emilia sobbed gently, trying to regain her composure.
“I’m all right,” she told a concerned Thorn. “It’s a little overwhelming, that’s all.”
“What happened?” Jonathon asked. He took the lid off the honey pot and set it down on the table next to the bread.
“Emilia is a dragon shifter.” The bread knife slipped out of Rosemary’s hand and clattered on the table. “She’s been asleep for centuries until I woke her yesterday.”
Jonathon leaned back against the counter and ran a hand over his face. “You are serious.”
“Dumas. Dumas,” Rosemary repeated. “The man who was found walking in the mountains.”
“Was my brother,” Emilia finished for her.
“And he is a dragon shifter, too?” Rosemary picked up the knife and finished cutting the bread into thick slices.
“Yes, he is. Mom, are you okay?” Thorn asked, reaching out to take the knife from Rosemary, who was sawing at the bread as if trying to fell a tree.
“Yes.” She looked up and smiled, before relinquishing the knife to Thorn and sitting down heavily at the table. “Centuries? Is that even possible?”
“Yes,” Emilia replied, hating to see the shock and confusion on their faces. “I was put under a spell.”
“By who?” Rosemary reached out and took her hand. “Who would do such a thing?”
Thorn locked eyes with Emilia and then said, “Peregrine Manning.”
“Perry. Our Perry?” Jonathon asked in amazement. “I thought he was a weak man who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Love does strange things to a person,” Thorn replied as he finished cutting the bread, placed the knife down on the cutting board and then poured four cups of coffee.
“Love? Perry was in love... Oh, Emilia, I am so sorry.” Rosemary’s eyes misted up as she swallowed down her tears.
“He wasn’t my mate, I couldn’t give him what he wanted. So he put me under the spell.” Would they believe her? Or would they secretly believe she was responsible for Perry’s actions, that she’d brought this on herself? In her own time, women were often blamed for things outside of their control. They were never equal to a man.
“That’s terrible.” Jonathon shook his head, his eyes resting on Rosemary. “If he wasn’t your mate, you had no choice but to tell him you were not the one for him.”
“And she couldn’t be his mate, because Emilia is my mate.” Thorn hadn’t actually said those words yet, but his parents already knew, was it so obvious to everyone? She pictured Magnus, recalling the love in his eyes every time he looked at Ruby. And she knew of the depth of her own love.
“I knew the moment I saw you two together in the garden.” Jonathon got up and left the room. For a heart-wrenching moment, Emilia wondered if he couldn’t stand being in the room with her, but then he returned. “I think we should celebrate. I don’t have champagne, but I do have some homemade honey mead.”
“Honey mead, my favorite,” Emilia said, allowing herself to relax.
“You can tell me if it tastes like the real thing,” Jonathon said enthusiastically as he set the bottle down on the table and then fetched four wine glasses from a cupboard. He poured the mead and then picked up a glass, holding it in the air. “Here’s to your happiness. Welcome to the family, Emilia.”
“To you both,” Rosemary said, and they all touched glasses and drank the honey-colored liquor.
“That’s wonderful,” Emilia told him. “Sweeter and stronger than I remember. I think Perry used to water his mead down.” She covered her mouth as the words tumbled out.
“No, tell us everything,” Thorn said as Rosemary offered everyone bread and honey.
“I’d love to know what the gardens were like at the big house,” Jonathon said eagerly.
“You’ll soon figure out where Thorn gets his love of history from,” Rosemary told Emilia.
“And Emilia has plenty of first-hand knowledge,” Jonathan enthused.
“Jon, don’t put pressure on Emilia. She’s been through enough by the sound of it,” Rosemary said gently. “It must be difficult, with all the people you’ve left behind. Your parents?”
“My father was killed when I was a child. He was a dragon shifter. My mother was a human and she died four or five years ago...” Emilia clasped her hands together, digging her thumbnail into her palm as she fought for control of her emotions.
“I’m so sorry.” Rosemary looked helpless as she struggled to find words of comfort. “We are here for you. You’re Thorn’s mate, part of our family. Whatever you need, we’re here for you. I know I can’t replace your mother, but I want you to know...” Her voice caught in her throat.
“Mom always wanted a daughter,” Thorn told Emilia. “She had to put up with me instead.”
“You know I love you,” Rosemary said lightly. “But, sometimes I would appreciate talking about more than fishing or cars.”
“What about the garden?” Jonathon asked. “We share a love of growing things.”
“We do.” Rosemary leaned over and kissed Jonathon’s cheek. “Now, we should eat and drink.”
“Then we can go into the garden and Dad can show Emilia the rosebush.” Thorn took a bite of bread and honey, his eyes rolling up in his head in ecstasy. Of course, she was sitting at the table with bear shifters and everyone knew bears liked honey.
“Which rosebush?” Jonathon asked, then his eyes widened. “Oh, Emilia Rose. That was named after you.”
“The rose grew outside the cottage Emilia lived in with Magnus by the river.”
“Wow,” Rosemary said. “He really was in love with you. The first
cutting from that bush was brought here in his time. The family has tended it for generations.”
“Which leads to another question,” Magnus began. “No one has ever been allowed to rebuild the cottage.”
“Correct, it was written into Peregrine Manning’s will,” Jonathon said. “I am a direct descendant of his. This house has been passed down through the years, it will be Thorn’s one day.”
“We were wondering about rebuilding the cottage by the creek.” Thorn looked at his parents as if it were not open to discussion. But did she want to live in the cottage, where so many memories would haunt her? Or perhaps Magnus wished to live there. It was not her decision to make alone, but it seemed it was not Thorn’s either.
“We would have to get a lawyer to go over the will. My father told me about the clause when I was a kid. I’ve never read the exact terms.” Jonathon licked his sticky fingers and eyed the mead bottle. “It’s always been known we can’t rebuild it, but if Perry put you to sleep he might have been thoughtful toward the chance of you waking up and wanting your home back.”
“It was our home, but not our cottage. We rented it off the Manning estate. It was his to do with as he wished,” Emilia said quietly. She wasn’t hopeful of Perry making any allowances. A man who conspired to put two dragon shifters to sleep might not have been in his right mind when it came to writing a will.
“I’ll get the family lawyer to dig out the will and go through it with a fine-tooth comb. I would like to think that Peregrine Manning wasn’t all bad.” Jonathan stood up. “Shall we go and see this rose of yours?”
Emilia nodded, pushed her chair back and stood up. “Yes please.”
Thorn took her hand and they left the kitchen with Jonathon and Rosemary following. A couple of minutes later they were back out in the garden, the sun shining down on them as they stood next to a large rosebush with ruby red flowers that smelled like heaven. Emilia was a little girl again watching her mother water the roses on a scorching hot summer’s day. The air filled with the fragrance of the roses as her mother recounted stories of their father.
“This is it,” Jonathan said proudly. “Not the original rosebush, but over the years the Mannings have always made sure Emilia Rose survived. There is even a story that my great-great-grandfather took a cutting of the rose down to the shelters during the war, so no bombs could wipe it out.” He swung around and pointed to a hothouse next to the house. “I’ve recently taken some cuttings of my own. Perhaps it’s time that Emilia did return to the cottage by the creek.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Thorn said as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and held her close. “I’d like this family to help make amends for what Perry did.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Jonathan replied. “Emilia, I know there is no way to give you back what Peregrine took away. But if there is anything you need, please ask.”
Emilia looked at each one of them in turn. “I have what I need right here.” She leaned into Thorn and placed her hand on his chest, feeling the steady thump, thump of his heartbeat. “That’s all I need.”
Chapter Eleven – Thorn
“So, I’m all you need?” Thorn asked as they drove away from his parents’ house. The meeting had gone well, and he was certain his parents would love Emilia and welcome her into the family.
“I was trying to impress your parents,” Emilia replied, averting her gaze.
“Sure you were.” Thorn’s grin widened. “They like you.”
She half turned to look at him. “I like them. I like them a lot.” Emilia drew her knee up to her chest, her foot resting on the seat as she hugged it. With her chin resting on her knee, she tilted her head and watched him as he drove back to his house.
“Where are we going now?” Thorn asked. “Do you want to come back to my place or go see Magnus?”
Emilia thought about it for a moment. “I’d like to see Magnus. I want to talk to him and try to make sense of everything that’s happened to us.”
“Because he’s an important piece of your life, too.” Thorn turned onto the road leading up to the dragons’ house. He’d spent so long trying to figure out an angle with these shifters, a way to infiltrate them. For no other reason than they fascinated him as he really wanted to see a dragon flying over the mountains. It was surreal to think not only had he seen one but had also flown on the back of one who was also his mate. He hadn’t exactly infiltrated them, he was an actual bona fide part of the family.
“Of course, he is. In a completely different way than you. He is family, while you are...” She looked inside herself, assessing her feelings toward Thorn. “Everything. You are everything to me. If I lost you now... If I went back to sleep...”
“Never going to happen,” he reminded her again.
“What are you going to do while I talk to Magnus?” She figured that was a gentle way of telling him she wanted to see Magnus alone.
“I could go into town and do some more research. The information Mr. Tully gave us is incomplete. If we search deeper, try to access some old records, we might be able to figure out who cast the spell.” He looked at her awkwardly. “I know you might not want to rake up the past, but we could use any information Magnus might have about this Oriental guy you remember.”
“I thought Perry wrote about him in his journal.”
“He did, but he only used his initials. C. S. So we know Chin is likely to be his first name. But we might need more to go on.”
“I see. I never met him. Although I do remember Perry saying something about Chin being an explorer like you.”
“And no other details? Because if we have a full name, even though it was a long time ago, we might be able to track down his records. I think Chin is too broad a name.”
“His records?” Emilia frowned. “What kind of records?”
“Birth, death, perhaps even his children’s birth certificates. It’s a long shot since he could have gone back to wherever he came from.” He pulled up in front of the dragons’ house and switched off the engine. “Are you, all right?”
“Do you think Perry sought him out to cast the spell?” Emilia’s face was pale.
“He could have. Alex’s mom and dad live in the Himalayas. There’s a good chance dragons were all over the world and that Perry hired someone from outside of Bear Creek who knew how to cast the spell.”
“If he hired him, why didn’t Chin take our treasure?” This question had been on his mind, too. “Do you think Perry killed him?”
With a sharp intake of breath, Thorn shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“Why don’t I think Perry killed the person who cast the spell?” It was a good question, and he had no real answer. “I don’t think Perry was a murderer.”
“Why? Because you do not want to believe you have a murderer’s blood running through your veins?” Emilia’s words hit him in the chest and left him breathless.
“I suppose so.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes and shook off the need to shift and run into the mountains. Thorn did his best thinking when he was loping over the high peaks in his bear form. “But it’s more than that, he could have killed Magnus to keep his secret. And then there’s the amulet. Why did he use it to protect you and your treasure?”
“Or did he use it simply to keep me trapped in the cave even if I woke?” Emilia placed a hand on his arm. “I do not mean to hurt you, Thorn. But we all have monsters in our closets. Only sometimes they don’t look like monsters. They look like ordinary people.”
“I’ll keep an open mind, because there is another explanation.”
“Which is?” Emilia cocked her head and studied his face. His eyes flicked down to her lips and he wanted to kiss her, to end this conversation and leave her breathless with only thoughts of him, not of another man who was in love with her. As stupid and worthless as it was, Thorn could not help feeling some degree of jealousy toward Perry. The man who had put her to sleep had also known her well enough to fall in love with
her. They must have shared intimate moments, shared their hopes and dreams, while all she shared with Thorn was a mystery they might never solve.
And one amazing night of passion, his bear reminded him. Jealousy was what set this all in motion, do not make the same mistake.
His bear was right. Peregrine Manning was long dead. Emilia was Thorn’s mate. Those were undeniable facts.
“Thorn.” Emilia stroked his cheek and when his eyes met hers, he saw the concern there.
“Sorry.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “This takes some getting used to.”
“Tell me about it.” She looked at him expectantly. “The other explanation?”
“Oh, yes. What if the same memory potion that was used on Magnus was also used on whoever cast the spell?” The words gushed out of his mouth like a mountain spring after the winter snow melted on the peaks.
Emilia’s head jolted back, and her eyes narrowed. “Really?”
Thorn shrugged. “We might never know for sure, but the deal Perry made must have had a contingency plan attached. He would never allow someone to cast such a spell and leave you and Magnus sitting on your treasure unguarded.”
Emilia stared at the ground as she turned away from Thorn and walked in a small circle, her fingers pinching her lip as she thought it over. “That’s why he was prepared to wipe Magnus’s memory. He already had the potion.”
“Perhaps.” He reached out for her hand and pulled her back toward him. “Go and speak to Magnus, and I’ll go and dig up what I can in the town records.”
“Thank you.” She kissed his lips and warmth flooded his body. Warmth and longing all wrapped around each other.
“I’d do anything for you. Anything to solve this mystery.” He took a step back as Magnus appeared at the front door of the dragons’ house. He must have seen them out here and wondered if there was a problem. “Go and speak to your brother and I’ll come back in a couple of hours.”
“I’ll ask him if he remembers more about Chin.” She pressed her lips together and frowned. “I cannot remember his name.” She put her fingers to her temple. “My head is still fuzzy on so many things.”
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