by Autumn Dawn
“You’re sure dragon bones won’t be an issue?” Grigori asked anxiously as the crew piled the skull and various bones on the site of his new tree.
“They’ve been dead for a long time,” she assured him. “It’s the fresh, living stuff that gives the trees ideas.” Her expression darkened as she remembered why she was doing this, but she shook it off. “The day’s a’ wasting. Time to get cracking.”
She took an extra battery the size of a fist out of her satchel and placed it on the ground. In theory, it would provide extra energy, taking less out of her. If it worked, it would take less time to raise trees, hopefully eliminating the need for her to nap afterward. It would be nice not to have to linger in dangerous territory while she was growing anchors.
She placed a nut next to the battery and stood back, nudging it with her power, telling it what she wanted…
The burst of power made her eyes shoot open. The seed took off, sprouting with a vengeance. She focused, made certain it was growing to specifications. The nut split, dividing into framework bracketing a sleek amber cylinder. The amber reflected a rainbow of subtle colors, obscuring the tree’s contents while letting in light. Vines of iron flowers swathed the tree, ready to interlock and form a barrier if the tree was threatened. The tree itself took a mere twenty minutes, leaving her plenty of energy to deal with the interior details. An hour later, she took a deep breath and disengaged.
“That was amazing,” Kjetil said, handing her chilled pineapple juice. “How do you feel?”
She swigged the juice and grinned. “A bit tired, but nothing like usual. I’m calling this one a success.” She smiled at her curious audience, several of whom had filmed the action on cell phones. “Want a tour?”
The ground floor was a garage, ensuring safe parking for multiple vehicles. It had a separate space for a bricked, amber-lit root cellar. The second and third floors were climate controlled greenhouses and the fourth was a food processing/office area with a separate, two bedroom apartment furnished in simple elegance. The tree also had a lift for transporting goods and people between floors.
“This is your food factory, isn’t it?” Kjetil said, putting his arm around her waist. “You’re going to grow cocoa trees here.”
She smiled. “And bananas, citrus and coffee. Cocoa needs shade, and in this case, hand pollination. Each level has deep soil and a misting system. It’ll be complicated, but so much fun creating the proper ecosystem. I might even add birds.”
“It’s very impressive, but you could just grow tomatoes,” her mother said with a frown. “Why do you always have to make it complicated?”
“I like a challenge,” Juniper said simply, knowing her mom would never understand. That was okay, because this was her dream. “Why don’t we take a lunch break? I can do the next tree afterward.”
“Isn’t that too much?” Kjetil asked, concerned.
“Not today. I promise to be careful,” she assured him.
The new chestnut was patterned on the old one, but this one had open dragon jaws for an entrance and was wrapped in dragon instead of boar bones. It had four levels and was linked to the greenhouse tree by a wood and amber sky bridge on the second and fourth levels. The third and fourth levels were living quarters and greenhouse.
Grigori’s eyes shown with wonder. “It’s even better than the last one,” he whispered.
“I love it,” Kjetil said. “Well done.” The second level was the new wolf hunting lodge. Kjetil’s father had arranged to rent it. As leader of the local wolf pack, he could do stuff like that.
Juniper slanted Kjetil a look. “I’m still grumpy at you for not mentioning who your father was,” she said, happy but truly tired this time.
“Would it have been a deal breaker?” he asked, a knowing glint in his eyes.
She snorted and looked out the window of the lodge at the Iron Oak. “I’m thinking about it.” He joined her, admiring the view. “You have a lot of work to do in the next year. I respect that. I have many things that can keep me busy as well. None of that will prevent us from courting. I found you, and I intend to keep you.” Mindful of her fatigue, he kept his tone possessive, but mellow. They would get a chance to be alone later, but they needed to set ground rules now. “You’ll have a wolf escort whenever you plant a new tree. I need to know you have backup if you need it.”
She scowled. “You’re supposed to discuss this kind of thing, you know.”
“I promised your father. Otherwise, he said he’d camp out here in dragon form until he felt it was sufficiently tamed.”
It sounded like something Indris would say, and if he were here, her mom would be close. She shot him an annoyed look. “You know, even after a year, I won’t necessarily be ready for children. I wasn’t one of those little girls who dreamed about having kids. I was into plants.”
He brushed a strand of hair away from her temple. “Who said you had to?”
She scowled. “You know what I mean.”
“Sex? Honey, there are lots of ways for us to have fun without getting you pregnant. I’ll be happy to demonstrate.” His eyes caressed her with banked heat. He wasn’t shy about fantasizing about her now that he’d staked a claim.
She huffed, but couldn’t ignore the way her body heated. “Yeah, right. What happens when you start pressuring me for more? Men are famous for that.” She had friends; they talked. She knew how the world worked.
“How do I know you won’t start pressuring me?” he asked, amused. “I’m a wolf, honey. We can kiss and touch all we want, but you know what mating does to my kind. You don’t get any until you say the vows.”
She gave him a baffled look. “What does mating do?”
His brows rose. “You don’t know?”
“We don’t have wolves in our neck of the woods,” she said, feeling cranky and impatient. Suddenly feeling the weight of raising two anchor trees in one day, she turned away to look out the window.
“Ah. Simply put, once our fluids mix, if we cheat on our spouse, we go insane.”
That got her attention. “Insane?”
He nodded. “It takes a year of abstinence before we can be with anyone again; it takes that long to get the hormones out of our system. Some people wait an extra half year, just to be sure.”
She goggled. “That’s…”
He brushed a kiss over her lips. “So you see, I’ll guard my body diligently, love. You have nothing to fear from me.”
Still processing, she demanded, “What if I don’t want to have kids for five years?”
She felt his grin as he kissed her again, the merest tease. It made her want to chase his mouth. “We’ll talk about that when the time comes.” He lifted his head, but kept his arm around her. “Your father is coming. I might as well take you home.” He took her hand and headed for the door.
“I really am impressed with this tree,” he said, nodding as they met Indris by the amber enclosed lift. “The armory, common room, kitchen, bunks…you did a great job. There’ll be a waiting list with wolves from out of town.” He met Indris’s stern gaze. “Carefully vetted, of course; we police our own.”
Indris nodded, warning in his eyes. It was clear Kjetil was still on probation. He looked at Juniper, and his expression softened. “We’ll be leaving early in the morning. Your mother and I wanted to say goodbye. Gilly will be staying for now. If she gives you any trouble, call me.”
Juniper laughed tiredly. “You know she won’t, but if she did, I could handle it.”
Indris smiled wickedly. “You always had a way with her. I think binding her with trees at a young age left an impression.” He became thoughtful. “I will enter her in a dragon school this winter. It’s time she was properly introduced to dragon society.”
“Does she know that?” Juniper asked, alarmed. “That’s a big change.”
Indris inclined his head. “You will be introduced as well. It will be this fall, and I will tell you when to make the time.” He looked at Kjetil in subtle challenge. “There
are several interesting drakes I want you to meet.”
Feeling mulish, she muttered, “We’ll see what’s happening this fall,” but they both knew she would go. One didn’t argue with a dragon.
Kjetil looked thoughtful. It was clear he was up to something. Did he think he could seduce her into loyalty?
She shivered at the idea, but she knew the reality. She was going to be swamped for the foreseeable future. He might think he wanted her now, but Kjetil was going to have to work hard if he wanted to chase her. Would he lose interest when he saw how little time she had for dates and fooling around?
Chapter 11
She wasn’t kidding about being busy. She had to raise trees two or three times a week, supervise the professors and interns in the new greenhouse, keep an eye on her sister, who’d taken over the shopping and domestic chores “so they wouldn’t starve”. She would shove food at Juniper, who sometimes forgot to eat when she was busy. Other times she was so hungry, she’d eat like a dragon, devouring everything in sight.
Gilly seemed in her element, screening mail and visitors. People wanted to sell her stuff, had business propositions, or were flat out curious. There was also the occasional piece of hate mail, because any time someone did something highly visible, someone crawled out of the woodwork to hate them.
Daisy moved into the new tree, delighted with the changes, and became heavily involved in the greenhouses. Grigori and his brother went to work in the shop, using Grunt to tow in old cars to fix or part out. For security and to prevent the place from resembling a junk yard, he couldn’t have a bunch of old cars outside, but there was plenty of storage inside the tree for spare parts.
The wolves were discreet, but she waved to the ones she knew as they went in and out of the tree. Now that she knew them better, their presence made her feel like the park was safer for everyone.
Which was good, because there were still monsters. Two days after the tree was raised, the wolves bagged a pair of warped, tusked lions. After the stink bear incident, Juniper had set up a special composting station to deal with the bodies. Nobody wanted to smell that ever again.
Kjetil stopped by as often as he could, but had to settle for shared meals and stolen kisses. Hot stolen kisses, but she was usually too tired, or ironically, too busy for more.
Saturday he demanded she take an afternoon off so she didn’t burn out. He was going to meet her at the Lemon Tree for lunch, but got called in for a fire at the last minute.
“I’m not giving up,” he said on the cell phone, sounding frustrated, but determined. “I’m going to get you alone, honey. Not even your schedule will stop me.”
She smiled as she hung up the phone. She was disappointed he couldn’t make it, but this was the Lemon Tree. She could soothe herself with a lemon pound cake.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one in the mood for sweets.
“Well, look at this. It’s farmer girl,” Mandy said, spying her as she headed for the door. Dressed in moronically tall heels, a sundress and designer everything, Mandy looked at Juniper like she’d spied a bug. She raised a brow at Juniper’s riding boots. “Did you scrape the manure off, honey?”
Juniper made a face. “If I hadn’t, no one would smell it over the bucket of perfume you’re wearing.”
Mandy flushed. “You know you’re nothing to him but a favorite lapdog, right? I feel sorry for you. As soon as the ‘new car’ smell wears off, he’ll dump you for some bimbo. He’s an animal in bed, but you’re just the bitch of the week.”
“You know he’s a wolf, right?” Juniper found she had a possessive streak. She didn’t like the idea of another woman rolling in the hay with Kjetil, even if it was past tense. It made her want to draw blood. Just a little scratch. She almost said that even if Mandy bathed in perfume, it wouldn’t cover the stench of another man on her skin. It was a stab in the dark, but Mandy fit the profile.
“So?”
Juniper laughed instead. “Jealousy is an ugly thing.” She went inside, refusing to be sidetracked from her lunch. It didn’t matter if Kjetil liked her or not; she wouldn’t lose a dominance game with a loser like Mandy.
Mandy didn’t follow her inside. Juniper caught a glimpse of her jabbing at her cell phone and talking furiously as she stomped off. Dismissing her, Juniper waited for her turn at the counter and gave her name for her coffee order.
The lady at the counter smiled. “Kjetil says “hi”. He already paid for your order, hon, and added some chocolate orange biscotti for the road. He sounds like a keeper.”
Juniper laughed. Lapdog, indeed. “He’s a sweetie.”
“Does he have a brother? My daughter’s single.”
“Sorry, he’s one of a kind.” Feeling good, she took a window seat and indulged in some people watching as she savored her cake. Even when he couldn’t be there in person, Kjetil managed to make her feel good. What would he be like five years from now? Ten? Would he be like his father, still stealing kisses from his wife?
She was down to her last few bites when a commotion caught her eye. Something was happening in the park. Frowning, she grabbed her biscotti and hurried outside to stuff them in Twix’s saddlebag, and mounted up for a better look.
The trees were swallowing people.
Shock froze her for an instant before she spurred Twix across the road, reining in next to an elderly gentleman who was being swallowed alive. “Hold on,” she ordered, grabbing the tree with her power and giving it a good “shake”. She reached down and grabbed the man’s shoulder to steady him as the tree released him. “Run!”
She spun to the next tree whose roots were wrapped around a woman with a double stroller.
“Help me!” the woman screamed as her babies wailed.
“Spit ‘em out,” Juniper ordered grimly, freeing the woman, even as she realized there were too many trees involved. The woman snatched her freed stroller and limped off at top speed as Juniper closed her eyes, reaching into the heart of the park. She frowned at the bizarre magic twisting the tree roots. It felt almost familiar, but there was something foreign about it. Brushing aside the analysis, she sent her power among the tree roots, freezing the attacking trees. It was harder here, without the Bramble to draw on, but the trees responded to her command. Slowly, limbs unfurled, roots retreated and trees regurgitated their prey.
“That’s right. That ‘a boy,” she murmured. Twix stood like a statue under her, making it easy to concentrate as she probed the roots, seeking the source of the disturbance.
That’s when a bolt of energy hit the back of her skull.
Juniper sat in an interrogation room, squinting with the pain beating in her head. She wasn’t sure what the cops had hit her with, but it packed a punch.
“You’re not helping your case, Miss Baily,” the cop across from her said. “I’m trying to help you.”
Her hands were bound with magic-suppressing cuffs and the chair was hard. She knew Kjetil was busy with a fire, so she’d called her mother and apprised her of the situation. She’d been a bit punchy and had slurred her words, prompting her mom to ask if she was drunk. She’d been furious to know her daughter had been hit with a stunner.
“Just tell me what happened.”
She couldn’t blame the cops. They’d arrived to find a known tree mage mucking with the trees and a bunch of hysterical people who’d nearly been eaten by said trees.
Of course, it would have been nice if they’d asked her to cooperate before stunning her. He body ached and her shoulder throbbed where she must have fallen. She hoped Twix was okay. Unless they’d stunned him, he would have gone crazy when she fell.
“Miss Baily,” the cop began, only to be interrupted by a short, round man in a crisp business suit.
“Miss Baily,” the stranger said. “My name is Edward Bass and I’ll be your attorney today. Your father hired me.”
Juniper wilted with relief. Her mom came through.
It turned out Twix had been stunned as well, and she was able to collect him
from impound, which she insisted on doing before seeing a doctor. The doctor said her shoulder was wrenched and she’d need to see a chiropractor, but she would live.
Kjetil met her at the hospital, and he wasn’t happy. Still reeking of smoke, it was obvious he’d come straight from a fire. His grim expression softened as he looked her over and folded her into a careful hug. “What did the doctor say?”
She had wanted to go straight home, but her lawyer told her it was best to get a medical paper trail. That, and her mom nagged. “Banged up, but I’ll live. I want to go home and stick a fork in this day. I’m done.”
“I’ll drive,” he said, confident that Twix would follow, even in the city.
“I don’t want to make him trail us. He’s been through a lot.”
“So have you. If he’s capable of it, let him follow. You can reassure him at home.”
She stared at the lights through his windshield as he drove, teetering between numb and furious. “Someone waited until I was near to stir up trouble. Any one of those people could have been hurt.”
“But they weren’t, because of you.” He took her hand. “You did well, Jun.”
Her sigh was harsh, tight. “The magic tasted of my brother.”
He sent her a sharp glance. “Oh?”
She looked away. “There was some other power source there as well, but yeah, I’m sure.”
“Did you tell anyone else?”
“Not yet.” She was silent. “I can’t prove it.”
“I’ll send someone to check it out. We may be able to find his scent on the scene.”
“It’s not enough to prove anything.” Her heart hurt. This was low, even for Justin. “He’s crazy to pull this stunt. I don’t understand how he could sink so low.”
Kjetil had been in F&R a long time, knew that people were capable of terrible things. “You need to eat and rest. A long bath would do you good.”
