“How could she be happy about the possibility of losing a son?” Emily replied.
“I just have to make sure he is ready for it. I’m going to need your help with that,” he told her, stroking her cheek with his finger.
“I don’t know what I can do to help,” she said with a frown.
“Owen is hopelessly solemn. I need to keep his spirits up. I’m afraid that with his current demeanor and the toll all of this will take on him, it will only get worse. I can get his body in tip-top shape, but I need his mind to be clear, as well. I’ve noticed that he seems a bit more upbeat when you are there.”
“You aren’t implying he has a crush on me, are you?” she said, seeming alarmed by the notion, which wasn’t a bad thing, he thought.
“No, not at all. I think it’s just that he enjoys having a woman around but that he doesn’t have to be too attached to himself. Although, I think he would be surprised to realize that he is attached to you more than he realizes You’ve become an extension of me, and he sees you as a friend – a sister even. I can see it in the way he dotes on you when you are there.”
“Dotes on me? I hardly see that at all. I mean, he’s nice, talks to me a bit here and there, but that is about it.”
“Then you haven’t learned enough about Owen yet. For him, that is doting,” he laughed.
“I still don’t understand what it is you think I can do for him, though,” she replied, studying his face as if she would find the answer there somehow.
“Just what you already do. Maybe spend a bit more time over at the house to help me keep his spirits up. I mean, I don’t want to intrude too much on your ‘me’ time, but just when you can,” he said.
“Are you kidding me? Why would you ever think I’d not want to spend more time with you and with Owen, for that matter? I mean, we both know he’s a bit of an odd duck, but I have gotten used to him. He’s really a great guy once you get past that reserved exterior of his. He even tried to tell me a joke last week.”
“A joke? Owen? That is impressive,” Connor laughed.
“Well, the joke itself was horrid, but at least he tried,” she laughed.
“Which one was it?” Connor asked, knowing most of Owen’s handful of bad jokes already.
“Something about hearing backwards music coming from a grave in the cemetery,” she said with an eye roll.
“Ah, Beethoven…decomposing,” he laughed.
“That’s the one!” she said, joining him in his amusement.
“He’s been telling that joke since we were kids. Our music teacher told it in class when we were kids and, for some reason, it just stuck with him. He thinks it is hilarious.”
“Yes. He actually laughed after he gave me the punchline!”
“Really? How did I miss all this?” he pondered.
“I don’t know. I think you were making dinner at the time, and we were in the living room,” she replied.
“See what I mean, though? You bring out a better side of him,” he told her, pulling her close.
“I’ll do what I can. You know that,” she said as they fell into another kiss, all thoughts of what might lie ahead for them disappearing as they spent what might be their last day of having complete privacy.
Tomorrow, he would begin working with Owen, training him, watching his nutrition, and Emily would spend more time at the house with the two of them. With her aunt’s return, they wouldn’t have a place to get away to be alone like this unless Owen went on one of his overnights, which was something Connor would recommend he not do, though Owen would do what he wanted in the end.
CHAPTER 11
“Connor, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” Aiden said casually.
Connor bristled as he turned slowly toward the sound of the leader’s voice. It was the following day, and he had come into town to get what he needed for Owen’s training. Emily stood by his side, looking a bit anxious herself as she realized who had spoken. She turned around as well, but said nothing.
“Yes. I’ve been pretty busy,” Connor replied, trying to keep his tone even. He had no desire to set Aiden off before the time was right for Owen to take him down.
“So it would seem,” Aiden replied with a smile as he glanced in Emily’s direction. Connor felt her hand tense in his as they stood there in front of the shifter they now knew to be a killer.
“I hate to be rude, but we are in a bit of a hurry. We’ll catch up some other time, if that is okay with you, Aiden,” Connor told him, struggling to maintain an even tone.
“Absolutely,” Aiden replied, a sickly smile on his face. He never took his eyes off Emily as they said their polite goodbyes and made a hasty retreat.
“God, he gives me the creeps,” Emily whispered after they were well out of earshot. “The way he looked at me was was bad enough when I first met him, but it’s even worse now that I know exactly how vile he really is.”
“I want to tear him apart myself, but there is a time and a place for that. Owen will take care of him when the right time comes. We just have to maintain appearances until that day arrives. God, I just wanted to throttle him with my bare hands back there. Forget shifting, I just wanted to hurt him. I hate the way he makes me feel,” Connor growled.
“I’m glad you kept your wits about you. How long before Owen challenges him?”
“I don’t know,” Connor replied. “I have him on a six-month plan. We’ll see how he does with it.”
“Six months? That’s a long time to keep your cool,” she said uncertainly.
“Yes, it is. That’s precisely why both Owen and I need to avoid running into Aiden as much as possible. I would like for you to do the same. I didn’t like the way he was looking at you one little bit. I’d have reduced anyone else to an ashy residue for just that. He does it on purpose, to emasculate other shifters by making us feel he can do what he wants and we can do nothing about it due to who he is. He’s the scourge of the earth.”
“I know what you mean,” Emily said. “I’m a woman, and I’d like to scorch him into nonexistence.”
“We might have to start shopping outside of the village square for a while just to keep clear of him, especially Owen. I can’t have him getting us into a battle with Aiden before we are ready. As much as it hurts my male pride to say it, we’ve both gotten soft, and he would rip us apart. Owen isn’t the only one that will be getting his power up during the next six months.”
“I really don’t like the thought of you diving into a battle with the likes of him, but I know there’s no use arguing the point,” she replied ruefully.
“I’ve little choice if it comes to that,” Connor said. “Anyway, let’s get into the shop and get what we need. Owen will be waiting for us back at home.”
After a quick trip into his health food and supplement shop and a subsequent trip to the nearby grocery, they began making their way back to the more remote area of the village where they both lived. As expected, Owen met them at the front door to help with the bags.
“We saw Aiden in town,” Connor told him, trying not to sound as unnerved by it as he had been.
“Yeah? Anything I need to know about?” Owen said in a concerned tone.
“No. Just his usual sleazy self. Asking how I’m doing while leering at Emily.”
“Leering?” Owen asked, obviously not happy about it either.
“Yes, very much so. I wanted to hurt him just for that, much less all the other things he is guilty of doing,” Connor admitted.
Owen glanced in Emily’s direction, his face dark. Though she was his brother’s girlfriend, he was as equally protective of her as Connor was, and it obviously didn’t go over well that Aiden seemed to have taken an interest in her.
“Keep away from him, Emily. Don’t go into town without one of us,” Owen told her.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she replied. “Connor and I have already discussed not shopping in the local shops for a while so that we can avoid any unnecessary confrontations with him.�
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“That sounds like a good idea for all of us,” Owen said, nodding. “By the way, Mom called. She wants us to come over for dinner.”
“Shit. That is not going to fit in very well with our training plan. You know how she cooks.”
“Yep. You want me to tell her we can’t come?”
“No. It will just hurt her feelings,” Connor said. “We’ll have to throw visits to her up to cheat days. It’s just not a good way to get started on our plan. Might as well just go enjoy an evening with her and then start first thing in the morning. That’s probably going to get us off on the right foot a bit better anyway rather than starting mid-day.”
“Maybe. I’ll feel like a complete glutton by then. Between the beer and pizza I put away last night with the guys and Mom’s home cooking, I’ll feel like a beached whale that needs to get on the ball with some healthy living.”
“Oh, please. It’s not like you are the least bit out of shape in the first place. I am not even as fit as you, and I’m a fitness expert!”
“I suppose,” Owen said. “I’ve got to get a hell of a lot stronger, though. Aiden might be older, but he is also more experienced and incredibly powerful.”
“We’ll be ready for him, both of us.”
“No. Not both of us. This is my fight, Connor. Just help me get ready for it.”
“We’ll see,” Connor said dismissively.
“This conversation is getting a little tense. I think we should all have a bite of lunch and relax a bit,” Emily interjected.
“Sounds good,” Connor said with a look in his brother’s direction. They both knew it was best not to talk about what might happen when things came down to the wire, especially not in front of Emily.
“Lunch would be good. I’m starving,” Owen said with a rare smile.
Emily and Connor began making sandwiches, heating up a nice bowl of lentil soup to go with them, as Owen looked through the contents of the bag from the health store. When the food was ready, they all sat down to eat.
“So, where did you and the boys go last night?” Connor asked.
“Same place as always – the pub in Newry,” Owen replied. “Got there right at the top of happy hour and drank our fill before stumbling home. I figured that this was my last hoopla before I get put on the wagon and worked like an animal.”
“You are an animal,” Connor teased.
“Only when I want to be,” Owen corrected him.
“Always,” Connor replied in playful disagreement, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Fine. And what are you, then?” Owen asked, his spoon poised midair above his soup.
“The same. We’re one of a kind, brother,” Connor said with a wink.
“I can live with that. No one on Earth I’d rather have my back,” Owen told him as he dipped into the last of his soup.
“Listen, if you two girls are done complimenting one another, Connor can help me with the dishes,” Emily told them as she got up from the table, having finished her food during their exchange.
“Sure thing,” Connor said with a laugh.
He and Emily stood side by side at the sink, washing the plates and glasses from lunch before she headed out to take care of a few things at home before dinner with their mother.
“I don’t want Mom to know anything about what I plan to do,” Owen told his brother once Emily was gone. “Make sure Emily knows that, too. It will only worry Mom.”
“Not even the fact that Aiden killed our father? Don’t you think she has a right to know that?”
“Yes, she does, and she will when the time comes. I don’t want her to know what is happening until after it’s done. If I fail, you can tell her. If I succeed, I will tell her myself, or we can tell her together.”
“I don’t know about all that, but I will do as you wish,” Connor told him, knowing full well that if his brother failed, he might well suffer the same fate in trying to finish the job on his behalf.
He would just have to make sure that Emily knew what to do in the event that neither he nor Connor were around to explain to their mother what had happened. It would not be a conversation she would want to have with him, nor one she would want to relay to his mother in the event of their demise, but she would have to understand the possibility and accept it. At the end of the day, they were dragon shifters, and this kind of danger came with the gift.
“I’m going to go for a walk. Would you like to come with me?” Owen asked.
“No, I’ve got some things to tend to here,” Connor told him. Despite Owen’s invitation, Connor knew his brother preferred to go out for his walks in solitude.
“Okay. I’ll see you when I get back,” Owen replied, his tone dark once again.
“Just make sure you turn back up before it’s time to go to Mom’s house. I don’t want to have to explain to her that you aren’t coming over. You know how she is. There will be a million questions, and she’ll have me out in the dark looking for you.”
“You’ll have to pick up Emily, so no need for you to have to come back over here before heading to Mom’s. I’ll just see you there,” Owen replied without acknowledging what he had just said.
“Good enough,” Connor replied, heading off to his room to do some paperwork he had brought home from the health food store.
There was no use worrying about what Owen would or wouldn’t do. He had learned long ago that Owen would do what he wanted, and no one could change that. It wasn’t that he would purposely stand up their mother, but he did have a tendency to lose track of time when out for one of his walks. Connor often wondered what he did during them. Was he just walking and thinking, or did he sit down somewhere and stare into space? The thought of how deeply Owen still hurt only made Connor sad, so he tried to push the thoughts out of his mind.
By the time he was done with his paperwork, he realized that he didn’t have much time to shower and get over to Emily’s to pick her up. He chuckled to himself at how he was always so conscientious of being clean and shaven when visiting his mother, but Owen would turn up after hours in the woods, sweaty and disheveled. Their mother had taught them to be fastidious about their appearance, but it seemed Connor was the only one listening. Owen preferred to shower and go, messy hair and stubble be damned. Still, Connor hurried to get himself in proper order before leaving.
“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately upon arriving at Emily’s house.
The look on her face when she opened the door was absolutely haunted. She looked drawn and pale, as if she had more worries than a woman her age should possibly have to endure.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she replied, her feigned smile a silent contradiction to her words.
“Something is not fine. I can see it. I can sense it. Tell me what it is.”
“It’s nothing, Connor. Just let it be. We need to get going to your mother’s house. We will be late,” she said tersely.
“So, we’ll be late, then. Owen can entertain Mom until I get there.”
“Later, Connor. Let’s just enjoy dinner and then we will talk. Okay?” she said, almost a plea to let it go.
Connor studied her face closely. Though they had barely been together six months, he already knew her as well as he knew himself. At least, that was what he would like to believe. Something was definitely bothering her, but he knew that there was no use discussing it with her until she was ready to talk. Until then, she wouldn’t have anything to say about it at all. She was as stubborn – if not more so – than he was.
“Okay, then, but we will talk about this after dinner,” he conceded.
“Yes. We will,” she said softly, raising a hand to stroke his face and then kissing him softly with a smile that, to him, still looked somewhat haunted.
CHAPTER 12
Connor was surprised when they arrived ten minutes early to find his mother and Owen sitting at the table, chatting away. Owen was never early, and Connor couldn’t help but think that his brother was as plagued as Emily seemed to be today. I
t wasn’t like him at all to arrive on time, much less early.
“Ah, there’s my baby boy!” their mother said excitedly, getting up from the table to hug Connor. “Emily, always good to see you, dear. Are you keeping these boys out of trouble for me?”
“Yes, Agatha. Though you did a marvelous job of raising them, so it’s not much trouble at all,” Emily replied.
“I’ll pay you for saying that later,” Connor said with a laugh, nudging Emily playfully.
“Behave, Connor. Anyway, come on. Get a seat. The food is almost done,” Agatha said, motioning for them to sit down.
“I’ll help you bring it out,” Emily offered, trailing behind their mother to the kitchen. It was no secret that the pair of women adored one another. Agatha was the mother Emily had lost, and Emily was the daughter she had never had.
“Are you still flying?” Connor overheard Emily ask her through the kitchen door.
“Not that often. My wings have gotten a little stiff lately. I cramp so badly after a flight. I’ve tried to just keep it to a few times a month to make sure they still work, but it is hard. Never get old. I don’t recommend it,” his mother said with a laugh.
“Nothing wrong with trying to keep it up. You look well, anyway,” Emily told her.
“Oh, thank you, dear. I hope Connor pays you extra for that, too,” Agatha said with another laugh.
“I mean every word.”
“It’s kind of you, dear. Come on. Let’s go get these boys fed.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Emily replied, helping Agatha carry out the plates of food as she transferred them from the pots and pans on the stove.
“Ah, women coming from the kitchen where they belong with food. That’s one of my favorite sights in the world!” Connor said playfully.
“You want to eat this food or wear it, mister?” Emily said.
“I’ll stick with eating it, I’d say,” he admitted.
“Wise decision,” she said, and then kissed him on the cheek, putting down a bowl of potatoes and a fresh loaf of homemade bread.
“I know. I’ve been trained well,” he replied with a smile.
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