Defiance and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 1)

by Sloane Meyers

  Knox had a lot of connections with shady people skilled in things like creating fake replicas of gemstones. Bree didn’t ask him for too many details. She figured that when you spent your life tracking down ancient artifacts and guarding those artifacts, you had to play a trick or two now and then. One of Knox’s trickster friends was working on a fake sapphire to match the dragon sapphire, and would be handing it off to them when they arrived in Silicon Valley.

  The best case scenario would be if Knox and Bree could get the real stone and replace it with a fake stone before the men who were hunting down the stone realized what had happened. This would be difficult to achieve, however. Bree knew that the men were following the stone closely, and would likely make a move to steal it as soon as it arrived at its final location in Silicon Valley. Luckily, Bree had magic on her side, but she wasn’t sure that even that would be enough.

  Bree walked out of Knox’s cabin and into the fresh air and bright morning sunshine. She breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of the Redwoods that had quickly grown on her. She loved it here at the dragons’ base camp. Things felt so peaceful and safe, and Bree had loved having a few days to relish the relaxed atmosphere.

  Bree walked toward the fire pit, where Myles, Vance, and Owen were already sitting, waiting on Noah and Knox to finish up their meeting in Noah’s cabin. Bree frowned slightly as she saw Vance look at her and then glance quickly away. If one thing had not been relaxed about her stay here in the Redwoods, it had been dealing with Vance. Bree could tell that Vance was still reluctant to trust her, even though she had proven she was really a wizard. He had gone through the information Bree had about the dragon sapphire, questioning it line by line, acting doubtful as to whether the information was actually accurate.

  Bree had no doubt that what she knew about the dragon sapphire was correct. She had done extensive research while still in her position at the Advocacy Bureau, and she had found many texts confirming that more than one dragon stone was created. Wizards had helped with their creation, since this had been back in the days when wizards and dragons were still friendly to each other. Perhaps only the wizards still retained the ancient texts discussing the stones’ creation, because the shifters didn’t seem to have even the tiniest bit of knowledge on any of the other stones. Vance didn’t seem to trust wizard information, though. In fact, Bree wasn’t sure that he was entirely convinced that wizards were real, despite the fact that she had demonstrated that she could do magic even without her magic ring. She’d heard him muttering something about how many magic objects could be used within a certain distance even if the person using them wasn’t actually holding them. He thought the magic ring was still responsible for Bree’s magic, even though she had not actually been holding it.

  Bree frowned. No matter, she told herself. Knox was in charge here, and he believed her. That was all that mattered. As long as Knox was on board with this mission, things would continue to move forward. Bree sat down on one of the log benches to wait for Knox, avoiding eye contact with Vance as she did.

  She didn’t have to wait long. Less than a minute later, Knox and Noah came out of Noah’s cabin. Noah was laughing loudly, while Knox poked him in the ribs, teasing him about some inside joke or another. Bree smiled. She liked Noah, and she was glad that Knox was so close to him. Noah had been on board with the idea that more dragon stones existed from the very beginning. He had seen things while off in Portugal that had confirmed for him that the additional stones existed, and Bree knew that his faith in the stones had been a major factor in Knox’s taking the situation seriously.

  “Alright, everyone,” Knox said, growing more serious as he approached. “You know the plan. I’m leaving Noah in charge, with Myles serving as his second. I’m asking all of you to be ready to come join us at a moment’s notice, if necessary. We are hoping to be able to take the stone without resorting to violence, but if we have to fight, then we will—and we might need your help.”

  Bree looked around as all the dragon shifters nodded enthusiastically, even Vance. She got the impression that they would much rather be off fighting than sitting around at base camp. That was a comforting thought, since Bree had a feeling that it was going to be difficult to retrieve the dragon stone without instigating some sort of battle. Even if they did get the stone before the other men did, they might have a hard time keeping the men from tracking them down and making a desperate attempt to get it back.

  But Bree couldn’t worry about that too much right now. She told herself to focus on one thing at a time. The first step was to get to Mountain View. Knox would fly them out of the Redwoods and to a small town near the edge of the forest where a rental car had already been arranged. They would drive the rest of the way, acting like two normal humans instead of a dragon shifter and a wizard. They would go to the apartment that Knox had already rented for them, acting as though they were there to start a new life in the thriving tech industry of Silicon Valley. Hopefully, no one would question them too much.

  The plan got fuzzier and fuzzier from there, but Bree figured they would figure it out as they went along. That’s what she had done when she left Falcon Cross to wander in the woods. So far, winging it seemed to have worked well for her. She could only hope that the trend would continue.

  While Bree’s mind had been wandering, Knox had finished his pep talk to his clan. Now, he was undressing and preparing to shift. Bree turned her eyes away. She still felt awkward when Knox got naked to shift, even though he didn’t seem to give it a second thought. He had spent his whole life stripping down to shift. But for a wizard, who usually put on robes when something extra magical was about to happen, the idea of randomly getting naked was so strange.

  A few moments later, as Bree stared intently up at the tops of some of the redwoods, she heard a loud pop and felt a rush of powerful energy rocking her body. She turned around, and Knox had once again become a dragon, large and fearsome. He flexed his giant wings, giving them a few flaps to work out the kinks. Then he turned his large dragon head toward Bree, giving her a nod to tell her he was ready for her to hop on.

  She tightened the straps on her backpack, then scrambled up Knox’s dragon back. He had crouched low to allow her to climb up, but it still took some effort to get up. Once she was firmly seated on his back, Noah passed up Knox’s backpack for Bree to hold onto. She placed the pack firmly in front of her, then held on to Knox’s scaly back as best she could.

  Noah gave a nod and then slapped Knox’s dragon on its haunches. The shifters all gave Knox and Bree a small salute, and then backed up to give Knox room to fly. Knox raised his dragon head. He let out a large roar, and then, without warning, he let a long stream of fire loose from his mouth. Bree smiled at the sight. It was the first time she had seen him breathe fire, and the sight was both terrifying and beautiful. Of all the shifters she could have found to help her with the task of recovering the dragon sapphire, she was glad her paths had crossed with Knox and his dragons. If anyone could make her mission a success it was them. And Bree desperately needed this mission to be a success.

  She had tried not to think too much about what might be going on back in Falcon Cross. But as Knox’s dragon rose high above the forest, and everything became still and quiet except for the white noise of rushing wind, Bree found it nearly impossible to keep her mind off of her wizard clan. She wondered how much energy they were still putting into searching for her. Had they doubled up their efforts after the drones? Or had they assumed she wouldn’t make it in the wilderness very long on her own.

  Bree shuddered to think of what might have happened if Knox hadn’t flown her out of the forest after the drones found her. If the wizards had caught her, well…she didn’t even want to think about it. She would probably be permanently ex-communicated from Falcon Cross and stripped of her magic by now.

  But then, a smile crossed her face. She hadn’t been caught, she wasn’t stripped of her magic, and she was on her way to find the sapphire stone with a magnificent drag
on shifter—a dragon shifter who seemed to have connections with many of the good shifters who would be willing to fight if necessary.

  Things might just turn out okay, after all.

  * * *

  The rest of the day passed by in an unremarkable blur. After flying to the small town where they picked up their rental car, Bree drove the rest of the way to Mountain View. The trip had been horribly planned so that they arrived at the height of rush hour traffic, and Bree found herself bored and flipping through radio stations while Knox slept in the passenger seat and traffic inched along at a snail’s pace. By the time Bree pulled into the small apartment complex where they would be staying and the GPS announced “You have arrived,” she was ready to pull her own hair out in frustration.

  Knox, on the other hand, woke up fully refreshed. He sat up, looked around, and smiled.

  “We’re here?” he asked.

  Bree grunted.

  “Wait here,” Knox said. “Everything is supposed to be taken care of so that I can just walk into the office and get the keys to our apartment.”

  Bree nodded, and sat staring idly out the window as Knox bounded off to the office, seemingly unaware of how annoyed she was. He came back less than ten minutes later, a broad grin on his face.

  “Got the keys,” he said, holding up a small yellow envelope. “Ready to go see our first home together?”

  He winked, obviously in a jolly, flirtatious mood. Bree felt quite the opposite of jolly right now. She just wanted to stuff her face with some greasy comfort food and then take a long nap. But she managed to force a smile as she got out of the car and grabbed her backpack, then followed Knox to their second floor apartment.

  The apartment was tiny, but Bree had expected this. She knew that housing prices were ridiculously high in this area, and figured they had been lucky to find an apartment at all. Knox seemed to have connections for everything, though, and he had somehow finagled them a good deal on a readily available apartment.

  There was only one bedroom, but the place was cozily furnished and the couch was large and soft.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll sleep there,” Knox said when he saw Bree eyeing the couch. The thought briefly crossed Bree’s mind that she wished they could sleep together in the bedroom, but her cheeks turned pink at the thought and she quickly looked away from Knox so he couldn’t see.

  “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” she asked, more because she wanted to change the subject than because she actually needed to ask the question. She knew that there was no real plan for tonight. Their only goal for today had been to arrive safely in Mountain View without setting off any alarm bells that a shifter and a wizard had just arrived in town. Tomorrow, they would begin in earnest their attempt at stealing the dragon sapphire.

  “Dinner,” Knox said. “This weather is beautiful, and we’re going to find a restaurant with outdoor seating to enjoy the weather and eat some real food.”

  Bree managed a smile. After several hours in the car, eating mostly snacks from gas stations, she was more than ready for real food. Maybe after eating she wouldn’t feel quite so grumpy, either.

  “Let’s go eat, then,” she said. “The sooner the better.”

  “Do you want to change or shower or anything first?” Knox asked.

  Bree frowned at him. “Not really. I just want to eat. Why, do I look like I need a shower?”

  “Well, no,” Knox said uncertainly, and to Bree’s surprise she saw his cheeks turning red. It was the first time since she’d met him that he seemed truly uncomfortable. “But I thought…I mean…I’d heard girls always like to take a lot of time to get ready and they complain if they don’t get a chance to get dolled up and…I don’t know. I was just trying to be polite. You don’t need a shower. You smell great, like the fresh air high up in the sky. And you look beautiful.”

  His face reddened even more, and he shrugged his shoulders, looking at a complete loss as to what else to say. Bree felt her pulse quickening when he said that she was beautiful, and her face heated up even more. The electricity in the air between them practically crackled, and Bree suddenly found herself awkwardly trying to break the moment.

  “We’re walking distance from a bunch of restaurants, right?” she said abruptly. “Why don’t we just walk down to the main street here and see what we can find?”

  Knox looked immensely relieved. “Sounds good,” he said. “I’ve heard there are some pretty good spots there.”

  Bree forced a smile, but she couldn’t quite share the relief that Knox seemed to feel. All she could think about was that her heart was running away with her feelings—and choosing the worst possible time to do so.

  Chapter Twelve

  Knox peered over his menu at Bree. Her brow was furrowed as she studied her own menu, and her skin was lit up in a warm orange glow by the light of the setting sun. They had found a restaurant with a large bar that boasted typical bar fare like burgers and wings, and Bree had seemed excited at the prospect of a large, juicy burger. The place had a large outdoor seating area and a lengthy beer list, so Knox had been more than happy to choose this place for dinner.

  He would have been happy with any place, really, as long as Bree was there with him. He couldn’t keep himself from staring at her every chance he got, even though he knew the idea of a romance with her was ridiculous. He lived with a bunch of bachelors in the middle of the woods, and Bree was used to living in a large community. A large magical community no less. Sure, he could change into a dragon. But that was the extent of his special abilities. What could a shifter like him offer a beautiful, intelligent wizard like her? Not much, he thought, other than brute strength to help fight another battle to get another dragon stone.

  Knox tore his eyes away from Bree to stare at his menu again. His stomach felt like it was twisting up from the painful mix of emotions flooding through him. He hadn’t given much thought to finding a lifemate until Bree showed up. He knew that trying to bring a woman home to the Redwoods would be complicated, and no woman had ever been enough to tempt him to deal with those complications.

  Bree was different. It was more than just her beauty and intelligence that called to him. There was something more. When she looked at him and their eyes met, he felt like their hearts shared the same heartbeat. Even though in many ways their lives could not have been more different, they had also shared many of the same struggles. They had both lived as humans who weren’t fully human, and had to live their lives on the fringes.

  Knox wondered if it was actually possible that destiny had chosen a wizard for his fated lifemate. Was that even possible? Could two lives be so different and yet be destined to intertwine? He had always thought that the idea of fated lifemates was a little silly—until now. He’d thought that believing that there was one person for everyone was the same thing as believing in magic. Possible, perhaps, in your wildest dreams, but not likely. But the last several days had changed everything. He’d seen firsthand that magic did still exist, and not only in ancient artifacts but in living, breathing humans. The wizards still walked the earth. And if magic still walked the earth, then was it really such a stretch to think that perhaps love did, too?

  “Knox?” Bree asked. “Are you okay?”

  Bree’s voice brought Knox sharply back to the present. He looked up to see Bree and their waitress both staring at him with funny expressions on their faces. The waitress was holding a pad of paper and a pencil and looking at him expectantly.

  “If you need more time I can come back,” the waitress said politely.

  Knox realized that she was here to take his order, and he felt his cheeks heating up again as he realized that he’d been too caught up in thoughts of Bree to even realize what was going on around him.

  “Oh, no, sorry,” he said. “I, uh, I’m ready. Give me just a second. Bree, why don’t you order first?”

  The funny expression on Bree’s face deepened. “I already ordered, Knox,” she said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”


  “Oh, right, I knew that,” he said, feeling even more foolish as he desperately scanned the menu. “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. Um…give me the Western Burger, with extra cheese. And I’ll take another beer when you get a chance. It’s been a long day.”

  He gestured toward his nearly empty beer glass and smiled weakly. The waitress smiled back.

  “Coming right up,” she said. Knox could tell by her expression that she thought he was a bit of a nut case. Maybe he was. It was pretty nutty to be so caught up in a girl that you completely zoned out from everything going on around you.

  After the waitress walked off, Knox forced himself to look up and meet Bree’s eyes. She was still looking at him with concern, and the way she raised an eyebrow at him told him that she wasn’t going to let him easily get away with saying that nothing was wrong.

  “You’re quite distracted,” she said. It was more of a question than a statement. She was asking him why he was distracted, and he knew it.

  Knox took a deep breath, trying to come up with some sort of explanation that would satisfy her curiosity, when a sudden, strange impulse took over him and he decided to tell her the truth.

  “Well, you’re quite distracting,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Truth be told, he could hardly believe that those words had just come out of his mouth. On the outside, though, he looked perfectly calm and cool.

  “I’m…distracting?” Bree managed to ask. Her cheeks had turned pink, telling Knox that she had definitely understood what he meant. He decided he might as well run with the moment, now that he had admitted to his feelings.