by Terry Spear
Before she could speak, or Alton could explain his mistake, Willow said, “She’s undercover.”
And that blew Alton’s whole line of defense.
“Really,” Halloran said, breaking off a piece of bread and buttering it. “Pray tell what you are undercover for?”
“I was teasing Willow.” Kayla glanced in her direction and Willow smiled back.
“Why are you using two different names and two different auras?” Halloran asked.
“I do so because I can.”
Halloran raised a brow. “Why did you pretend to be a golden fae in front of Alton then?”
“He caught me watching him and Olaf practicing for the games. Okay? I know some dragons don’t like it when others try to learn their secret moves that they’ll use in the games.” Kayla shrugged and forked up a slice of pork. “When I saw him coming for me, I pretended to be a golden fae and ran off.”
“You’re practically a beginner. How could you use his maneuvers?”
“Like you said. I’m practically a beginner. I thought learning from a pro would help.”
“And then you saved him in Texas and couldn’t bring Muriel home at the same time? As a dragon, you could. Why couldn’t you then?”
“I’d never tried to carry two people before. Because Alton was badly wounded, I had to hold him close. I think that’s when we fell in love.” She smiled at Alton.
“No,” he said, not missing a chance to help the story along. “It was when she ran away. I knew then she was the one for me. Only I didn’t catch her in time before she vanished.”
Ena patted Brett’s arm. “Just like with us.”
“Not the same at all. He was your prisoner.” Halloran studied Kayla for a moment, but she was eating some of her pork and ignoring him now. “Well, maybe something similar, if she hadn’t gotten away from me.”
“So what did I do wrong? You can’t just throw any fae into the royal dungeon for no good reason, can you?” Kayla asked.
“Alton said you were a golden fae who planned to steal Ena and Brett’s gold. That’s the aura you were showing off when I saw you after you brought Muriel home. What was I to think? Why wouldn’t you have been a dragon fae? Why would you vanish instead of showing off a dragon fae’s aura, or turning into a dragon? And don’t give me that bull about being undercover.”
Willow’s mouth gaped wide.
Kayla smiled. “You planned to arrest me and ask questions later when I had just saved two of your friends. Well, Alton. Not sure if Muriel is a friend. I had no intention of being bullied by you or anyone, so I left. Here, I’d helped out and I had no thanks from you. Not that I needed any, but I was just so surprised you’d want to arrest me!”
“Alton had tried to have you arrested.”
She smiled at Alton. “His mistake.”
Alton finished his bread. “Yeah, an honest one to be sure.”
“So you’re marrying her now?” Halloran asked him.
Now that line of query put Alton on the spot. All this talk of love and courting and such, and they could never truly develop a relationship that deep because she wasn’t even a dragon. How could he live in the golden fae territory if he wanted to marry her? He couldn’t hide his dragon fae aura, nor would he want to. She couldn’t live in the dragon fae territory either, not when she didn’t have Sigrid’s magic to maintain her dragon fae aura, and the dragon shifter ability, when everyone would think she was a dragon shifter.
His hesitation to comment made Kayla speak up instead. “Oh well, you know how it is. He needs to meet my mother first. And of course with everything else going on, we haven’t had time to do so.”
“In the place you listed on your form?” Halloran asked.
She nodded.
“Can you change into other auras?” Halloran asked.
“Sure.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Halloran wasn’t going to be dissuaded from questioning Kayla all night, Alton could see.
“Enough, Halloran. We’re having a nice dinner with Ena and Brett and to say thanks to Kayla for saving Muriel.” Alton gave his friend a stern look, saying he didn’t want to hear another thing from him with regard to Kayla.
“Kayla now,” Halloran said, a brow cocked.
Alton would never be able to keep it straight.
At Ena’s castle, her servants often ate with her. Though they also served the meal and got up to get more food for them. Unless they felt they shouldn’t intrude. In truth, they did at his castle also, but when he had guests, they preferred to eat after he and his guests had their meals. Especially when it looked like he was courting Kayla.
So for now, Muriel and the others were seated at the other end of the table, listening in on the whole discussion. Then he wondered where the prisoner was. He turned to Ena. “Where are Mark and Bryan? And that Hannah human?”
“Eating in the kitchen. They wanted to keep her company,” Ena said, “trying to convince her that we’re not so bad after all.”
“Good luck with that,” Halloran said. “If I had any say in it—”
“You don’t.” Ena sliced her brother a glower.
When it came to Ena’s taking care of humans, she wouldn’t let her brother say anything against them. It was her business to deal with.
He just shook his head.
“So,” Kiernan said, “of all the experts signed up for the games, who do you think will win the gold?”
Kayla had enjoyed the dinner with Brett and Ena, and appreciated everyone for protecting her from Halloran, but she suspected he believed she was still a golden fae, not to be trusted, which was understandable because she was definitely here under false pretenses. He took Alton aside and spoke briefly to him after the meal ended. Kayla tried not to watch them, but she noticed Alton was frowning at Halloran and both looked back at her, which made her face heat with getting caught.
Then Halloran thanked Brett and Ena for a lovely meal, said good-bye to the rest of the guests, but only glanced in Kayla’s direction with a warning look. She knew if she changed auras and was again a golden fae, he would arrest her, just on principle, and then question her without Alton and the others sticking up for her.
When the others wouldn’t leave, though it appeared Brett and Ena wanted to have a word alone with them, Alton took Kayla’s hand and said, “We’re leaving. We have some business to take care of early in the morning before the games. Thanks again for the lovely meal.”
“It was great,” Kayla agreed. “Thanks again.”
“And thank you,” Muriel said, smiling at her.
Ena thanked her again also, for saving both Alton and Muriel, and added, “Sorry about my brother. He’s a stickler for wanting everything to be perfectly normal. If there’s any deviation of that, he wants to get to the bottom of it.”
“I don’t blame him, really,” Kayla said. Though it annoyed her, but she could understand his position. “That’s his duty.”
“It is,” Ena agreed, “and he takes it to heart.”
Then Alton nodded, and he and Kayla said their good-byes again and returned to his castle.
“Before the games begin tomorrow, I want to take you to where my treasure is,” Alton said, taking her for another walk in the gardens before they retired for the night.
Kayla was surprised he’d offer to take her this early, instead of waiting for the games to end. “Will your gold be safe from me afterwards, do you think?” She thought he was only half joking that he was really planning to take her there. “Oh, you’ll probably blindfold me.”
“Good idea. I hadn’t thought of it.” He smiled down at her.
She suspected he really hadn’t planned to blindfold her then. She appreciated that he trusted her enough to show her the location. Then she thought again and realized it would probably be guarded or have traps set for the unsuspecting so if she even thought of sneaking there on her own, she would be in real trouble. “I imagine it’s well-guarded.”
“It is.”
She
smiled. “So no blindfold really needed.”
“You’re right.”
She laughed. “So who guards your treasure?” She loved seeing the stars and crescent moon sitting high above against the black night. The gardens smelled heavenly scent of roses, jasmine, and honeysuckle. She thought about how nice it would be if lavender scented the air too.
“When you have your locket back, maybe you could see if any of your lavender could grow here.”
She was surprised he would suggest it. She thought he didn’t mind taking her to the gardens because she loved gardening herself. “I could try. I thought you would wait until the games were over before you took me to find the lockets.” She appreciated that he was willing to give them back and allow her the choice to leave or stay. She took his hand and smiled up at him as he returned the smile.
He squeezed her hand. “I want you to enjoy the games without worrying about the lockets. You can leave anytime you wish that way. If Halloran or anyone gives you trouble, you can just go. Not that I want that to happen, but just in case.”
“You don’t think I’ll do so badly, or be too afraid to chance playing in the games, do you?”
“No. Not really.”
“I’ve thoroughly had fun, you know. Trying out was scary, especially since we hadn’t practiced some of the maneuvers, but I was glad I tried the next level of games that were more difficult. Sometimes challenging ourselves can make it all the more worthwhile, whether we succeed or not. It’s the effort we make that is so important. Not the win.”
“I like the win.” Alton sounded so serious, she was surprised to see him smiling down at her. “I’m glad you’re enjoying them and being here. The beginners’ games are tomorrow. We can go up to the mountains and get the lockets, then watch some of the games, or after we find the jewelry, you can practice some more.”
“What if we practice on the way to the mountains?”
“We can do that.”
“So is your treasure in a cave?”
“Yep. On Wolf Mountain. Have you ever been there?”
“Last summer. But I didn’t find anything. No treasure or no…” She paused. She figured she’d sound foolish if she let on she thought wolf fae really existed.
“No wolves?” Alton raised his brows in question.
She laughed. “I know it’s silly. But forever, I’ve heard that fae wolf shifters live around that area, which was why it was called Wolf Mountain. Of course, I didn’t find any sign of them.”
“They’re known to be elusive. Not like us dragon shifters who tend to be showier. It’s hard not be when we fly against the sky for all to see. And we’re big, not small and inconspicuous.”
She closed her gaping mouth.
“Yes, they’re real. They howl mostly at night to gather their pack or in the morning before they run.”
“Where do they live? I mean, if they’re fae shifters, they must live in some sort of buildings when they’re fae.”
“Cottages in the woods. Very much like yours, made of stones, some of wood, but covered in moss and ferns so that it looks like their surroundings.”
“Are they winged? I’ve heard of both winged and wingless.”
“They’re both. Kind of like the fae and the winged fae, or the dragon fae and the dragon shifters. I wanted to ask you a question. Did Sigrid give you the ability to change into any other fae aura? Wolf even? Or are you only able to switch back and forth between dragon and golden fae?”
“I don’t know. I would think only dragon fae because that’s all I would need.”
“Try to shift into something else.”
She tried and couldn’t. Her heart raced at the thought she had been put on the spot by Halloran, but hadn’t had the ability to change it.
“You can’t,” Alton said, taking a deep breath and letting it out.
“Yeah, I guess Sigrid figured I would only need to be able to do the one and nothing else.”
“Good thing I spoke up then.”
“Yeah. Nice save.”
“You mentioned your mother. Where is your father?”
Kayla shook her head. “Mom said she met him when she was living near the hawk fae border. And, well, she didn’t marry him.”
“Oh. Any reason why not?”
“She would never talk about it. I think I was a mistake, but she would never say I was. If I said so, she would tell me that I was wrong. That she wanted me. She never married anyone else, so I think I put kind of a crimp in her social life. She sees family from time to time. She’s visiting a sister right now, which is the reason I can get away with being gone. She thinks I’m with Tanya visiting a relative in the human world.”
“I wondered about your family.”
“I earn my own way from sales of my lavender products. So I’m pretty independent, but my mom and I are really close too.”
“Have you ever wanted to meet your father?”
She had been curious about him, naturally. But since he had never made an effort to be part of her life, she didn’t want to see him. “No. My mother always said it was my choice, but I figured it would upset her if I visited him. So I haven’t bothered. He could have seen me instead, but he never bothered either.”
“He’s alive though, still, right?”
“Sure. According to my mom.”
“My parents were murdered by an earlier dragon fae regime. I often wish they could have seen how I grew up—how prosperous I’ve been, all the high-risk missions I’ve successfully completed.”
“And they probably would have said no to you going on them.”
He laughed. “Probably. Just as your mom probably would have said no to you coming to rescue me and Muriel.”
“Yeah, and not telling her anything about it.”
“Or about me.”
She sighed. “She’d have a conniption if she knew what I was up to.”
“What if I had one of my people broker a deal with you to sell your lavender to my queen? Maybe if we had money crossing the border between our territories, the royals would understand how it could benefit both sides,” Alton said.
“I would have to ask Queen Avalon if she was agreeable.”
“It might be a start.”
“All right.” Kayla loved the idea and that way she wouldn’t have to sneak over to see Alton across the river, because she knew in her heart, she’d made a real friend, and she didn’t want that friendship to end. Not with him, or with any of the other dragon fae or shifters that she’d made friends with.
“Did I get you into too much trouble by mentioning that we were getting married?” Kayla asked, raising a brow.
He laughed and headed back to the castle. “They will know it’s all my fault when you tell me off and we call off the wedding.”
When they reached her room, he kissed her again, as if they really were getting married and they hadn’t had their faux fight yet.
And she kissed him right back, wishing with all heart they could be more than friends.
12
Early the next morning after eating some porridge topped with brown sugar and slivers of almonds, Kayla and Alton took off to the mountain chain were Wolf Mountain towered over all the other mountain peaks. It was snow-covered at the top, and a perpetual snow cloud clung to the peak, though the cloud would drop down lower in the winter months and persist.
She had never considered anything so beautiful, flying high above and even diving through the misty snowflakes, catching it briefly on her wings before she dove down again for the forest below. She still wasn’t used to her wingspan and would sometimes clip twigs with her wings, or knock off a shower of leaves. But she was getting better at it. And she loved how Alton took her to the top of a tree and made her land without putting her weight on top so that she looked like an ornament on a tree, her wings flapping gently to keep her stable.
Or to grab a pinecone from a tall, sturdy pine and set it high atop that same tree until the wind toppled the pinecone. Then she had to grab it bef
ore it landed on the ground. That was a trial in and of itself. No matter how many times she tried to grab a falling pinecone, she couldn’t. Not with her talons. It was going too fast or her reach wasn’t right, or the wind had knocked it out of her grasp. She finally gave up and went for it on the tenth time with her dragon’s beak. And caught it!
She hoped Alton wouldn’t be laughing at her too much. She knew she should be able to catch the pinecone the other way, but it just seemed to be beyond her ability, at least for now. Yet, she didn’t have much longer to get it right before being a dragon would soon be a thing of the past.
That disappointed her more than she wanted to let on. But what would be would be. She couldn’t be something she wasn’t, forever.
For now, she wanted to make the most of being a dragon though and enjoyed the sights from her high vantage point, seeing a couple of fae down below who waved at them. Or at Alton. Did they know him even when he was this color? Violet? Like her? Or maybe they were aware his scales had been changing color since he took her locket.
When they reached the cave on the south side of the mountain, she was filled with excitement—both of wanting to see the wolf shifter in person, and with seeing piles of dragon treasure. She would never have the opportunity to see such a thing ever again. She had to be the luckiest golden fae in the world.
Alton motioned for her to wait for him, then flew into the cave. After a minute, he walked onto the rock ledge in his fae form and said, “We’re good. Come on down.”
She couldn’t slow her racing heart as she landed on the ledge beside him, feeling perfectly safe in her dragon form, but she shifted to show she wasn’t afraid of the wolf or wolf fae, whichever form he or she would be in.
When she entered the cave filled with torchlight, she saw a beautiful fae, hardly noticing the ten to fifteen foot piles of treasure to begin with. The fae herself was a treasure and made Kayla feel pale in comparison. Blond braided hair was curled up on top of her head, and she had the most beautiful green eyes that stared back at Kayla, as if trying to read her mind, or intimidate her, or something.
