He needed to think about how he was going to proceed. Tightening his arms around her so her back was flush against his chest, he then curled his body around hers. He might not yet know what was causing her nightmares…but he would still protect her the best he could. Closing his eyes, he let himself rest.
“Autumn, stop teasing your brother.”
The words had Autumn turning around, and watching as her father and mother rounded the last curve of the path holding hands.
“Dad, she won’t let me see what she’s found!” Jack complained, jumping up trying to grab what Autumn was holding over her head.
“That’s because it’s mine,” she told him.
“I only want to see it,” Jack whined.
“Yeah, right. First I show it to you then before you know it, it’s disappeared into your room never to be seen again.”
“Well, it would be safer there.” He stuck his little chin out at her.
“Right,” she said, disbelievingly.
“Autumn, let him see it,.” her mother’s soft voice told her.
Slowly, Autumn lowered her arm, but she wouldn’t let Jack take it from her.
“Let me see that, Autumn.” Their father walked up to them and she grudgingly handed it to him.
“This is smoky citrine quartz,” he told them, holding it up to the light of the lowering sun. “A nice sized one too. I wonder how it got here.”
He handed it back to Autumn. “Come on, let’s get home. It’s starting to cool off.”
“Dad, can we roast marshmallows around the fire pit tonight?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, weren’t you just teasing your brother?”
“Yeah, well he deserved it,” she told him stubbornly. “He won’t stay out of my room.”
“Jack,” Peter frowned down at his son. “What have we told you about that?”
“I know,” Jack gave him an abashed look, “but Autumn always finds the neatest stuff.”
“Stay out of your sister’s room,” Peter told him firmly. “Understand?”
“Yes, Dad,” Jack responded, but Autumn knew it was only a matter of time before he would be in her room looking for this crystal.
As a family, they walked down the last of the path and into the meadow where their summer cabin sat waiting for them.
“So, Dad, can we roast marshmallows over the firepit after supper?” she pressed.
“Oh yeah! Can we? That would be so cool!” Jack begged as if it were something he’d never done before.
Autumn just rolled her eyes. Everything was like that with Jack. It didn’t matter how many times he’d done something, each time was new and exciting. She had to admit it was one of the things she loved about the little twerp. He made life fun, and when he turned those baby blues of his on their parents, they could never say no. They’d gotten a lot of ice cream out of that look.
“You’ll have to bring up more wood from the shed,” their father warned. “We used it all last night.”
“Cool!” Jack turned to fist bump her, their earlier disagreement forgotten. “I’ll help after I go check on my room,” he told her then took off running for the cabin.
That was another of Jack’s little quirks. He always had to make sure his ‘treasures’ were where he left them whenever they came home.
“You know that means you’ll be gathering the wood by yourself,” her mother told her in an amused voice.
“Yeah.” They all knew once Jack got into his room, they would have to pry him out of it.
“I’ll help you after I take out the garbage,” her dad told her.
“Okay.” Smiling, Autumn skipped ahead of her parents.
A scream suddenly filled the air, freezing them all for a moment. It was Jack. Her dad was the first to react, reaching the cabin just as Jack came flying out the back door, tears streaming down his face.
“They’re gone! They’re all gone! Someone stole them!” He launched himself into his dad’s arms sobbing.
“Jack,” Peter’s arms easily caught him, “What are you talking about?”
“My room! Someone’s been in my room. All my treasures are gone!”
Peter turned questioning eyes to Autumn.
“It wasn’t me, Dad.” Autumn knew why he thought it might be. To pay her brother back for sneaking into her room, she would often take his things, and wait to see just how long before he would notice. It never took long. “I swear.”
“Autumn wouldn’t take everything, Dad,” Jack quickly came to her defense. “It had to be someone else. Monsters, maybe.”
Monsters had become Jack’s reason for everything bad that happened lately.
“There are no real monsters, Jack,” her mother told him, running a comforting hand over his hair that was so like his father’s. “Let’s go in and look.”
“You stay out here,” Peter ordered. “I want to make sure whoever broke in is gone.”
“Peter…” Mary gave him a concerned look as she took Jack from him.
“I’ll be fine, Mary. Stay here with the kids.”
“Mom…” Autumn whispered.
“It will be alright, Autumn. Your father will be fine.”
Autumn somehow knew her mother was saying it to reassure herself, as much as Autumn.
Even though it felt like an eternity, it really wasn’t that long before her father returned, his face grim.
“I called the sheriff,” he told them.
“Someone really broke in and took Jack’s things?” Mary asked. “What about the rest of the house?”
“It doesn’t look like anything else was touched.”
“Peter,” setting Jack on his feet, she stepped closer to her husband. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she said in a low voice.
“I know, but it is what it is.” They both turned to see that Jack had backed up into Autumn, who had wrapped her arms protectively around him. Both kids gazed up at them uncertainly. “It will be alright, guys. Nothing was taken that can’t be replaced.”
“But…” Jack started.
“I’ll help you find more treasure, Jack.” Autumn turned Jack so he faced her. “Better treasure, and we’ll start with this.” She held out her crystal to him.
“Really?” He raised hopeful eyes to her. “You’d let me have it?”
“Sure,” she shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
Taking the crystal, Jack wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a big hug as he looked up at her adoringly. “Thanks, Autumn. I promise I’ll stay out of your room from now on.”
Supper was a quiet affair that night. The sheriff had come and gone, taking his pictures and telling them he would file a report then they had cleaned Jack’s room.
As they cleared the dishes, Autumn looked up to her dad. “Dad, are we still going to roast marshmallows?”
“Autumn, I don’t think…” her mom started.
“Of course we are,” her dad interrupted, giving his wife a silent look. “I’ll help you get the wood.”
“Alright,” her mother finally agreed giving them all a wobbly smile. “Just be careful.”
“We will.” Peter gave her a hard kiss. “Come on, kids.”
Jack jumped up from the table. “I want to hide my crystal first.”
“Alright, but if you forget to come out and help then you don’t get a marshmallow,” his father warned.
“I won’t be long,” Jack promised.
“You’re a good big sister, Autumn,” her father told her, adding a few more pieces of wood to her outstretched arms. “I know you really liked that crystal.”
“He’s my little brother.” Autumn shrugged her shoulders as if that explained it all. “He was scared. I’m supposed to protect him.”
“And you weren’t scared?” Peter loaded his own arms with wood, and they walked over to the fire pit in the back yard.
“Maybe a little,” she told him honestly, because she was always honest with her dad. “Why would someone do that, Dad?” she asked.
“I don’t know, honey, but no one was hurt, and that’s what really matters, right? Our family is safe and whole.”
“Right,” she agreed.
“Peter!” They both turned as her mother stuck her head out the side door. “The garbage?”
“Be right there, honey.” He turned back to Autumn. “I’ll be right back, baby. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine, Dad.” She started to stack the wood, then looked back and gave him a sassy grin. “You always said I was braver than any Dragon.” That was their ongoing joke. Her dad had become fascinated with Dragon lore ever since his grandfather told him they somehow descended from Dragons. Autumn wished she could have met the man. “So let that thief show back up, I’ll use my ‘claws’ on him.” She held up her fingers with her short nails in the imitation of claws.
Peter laughed, “I believe you could. I love you, Autumn.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
A terrified scream filled the meadow echoing off the mountains.
Her mother’s.
Autumn froze, but her father didn’t even hesitate, and sprinted to the side door leading to the kitchen and his wife.
And he thought she was brave.
When her father’s roar of rage was quickly followed by one of pain, she broke free from her frozen state and followed him.
What she found was blood, pain, and screams.
“No!!!!” she screamed.
Autumn’s scream tore Kirall from his sleep, and his arms instinctively tightened around her, while both his Beast and Dragon rose up ready to attack.
He found himself struggling to hold her in his protective embrace, as she kicked, bit, and fought to get away.
“Autumn!” He refused to release her. “Stop! It’s me! Kirall! You are safe!” His words seemed to finally penetrate her nightmare, and her struggles ceased as quickly as they started.
“Kirall?” she whispered, her body still stiff in his arms.
“I’m here, Autumn,” he reassured her. “You are safe. My vow. It was only a nightmare.”
“It wasn’t,” she whispered, but her nails stopped digging into his arms. “It was real.”
“Then tell me about it so I can help,” he found himself pleading.
“You can’t. No one can. They’re dead.”
“Let me try, Autumn.” Carefully he turned her so she faced him. “Tell me what happened.”
Autumn looked up into his eyes, and saw more than just his Beast was watching.
“Kirall…” she whispered.
“I know. My Dragon is watching…and listening…tell us, Autumn. “
With a trembling hand, she reached out and touched the corner of his eye, wishing she could touch his Dragon. He suddenly gave a strange cough, and she could see from the widening of Kirall’s eyes that it had surprised him as much as it did her.
“Was that…?” she trailed off.
“Yes, it was my Dragon. Tell us, Autumn.”
Autumn looked at him for several minutes, unsure what to do. She didn’t want him to know everything, but she had to tell him something.
“We were at our summer cabin,” she began. “It was tucked away up in the mountains, and had been in my dad’s family for generations. We would go for a whole month every summer. We’d hike, bike, and fish in the stream during the day. At night, we’d roast marshmallows over the fire while Dad told the most amazing stories, mostly about Dragons.” She gave him a small smile. “It was so perfect.”
“Go on,” he encouraged when she paused.
“It happened on one of the last nights we were there when I was ten. We’d been out all day, walking the trails. When we got back, we discovered that someone had been in the cabin.”
“They were still there?”
“No, but they came back when Dad and I were outside. Mom and Jack were inside. When Mom screamed, Dad ran in.”
“And you?”
“I froze, by the time I got in the house, it was too late.”
“Autumn…”Kirall didn’t like how blank her eyes or how flat her voice had become. From the first moment he’d met her, both had been so full of life.
“There was blood everywhere…” she whispered, not noticing his concern. “On the walls. On the floors…”
“Autumn…” he tried to get her to look at him.
“The sheriff came back and found me barely alive…He’d forgotten to have Dad sign the report.”
“If he hadn’t?” Kirall didn’t know what a ‘sheriff’ was, but it didn’t matter for he already knew the answer to his question as he ran a light hand over her scars.
“Then I would have died with my family.”
“Who was it, Autumn?” he demanded, feeling his Heat rise, but this time it was from anger. “Who attacked your family?”
“Drug-crazed teenagers, at least that’s what they told me.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “They found their bodies later in the woods. It seems they turned on each other.”
“But?” Kirall prompted.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “I’m sure they were right. After all, I was just a ten-year-old, traumatized child. What I thought I saw couldn’t possibly have been real.”
“What did you see, Autumn?” When she tried to turn away, he stopped her. “Tell me.”
“You’ll think I’m crazy.”
She gave him the strangest look then started to laugh. It wasn’t a pleasant sound.
“Oh my God! Maybe I am. Look who I’m talking to… a man who can turn into a Beast and says he can turn into a Dragon. Maybe I’m still in that damn hospital and none of this is real.”
“Autumn!” Kirall shifted his grip, rising so they sat facing one another, and gave her a hard shake not liking her words. “You are here with me! I’m as real as you are!”
“Then maybe I’m not real…”
“Stop!” Kirall wouldn’t let her talk like that. “Tell me!”
“I can’t!”
Kirall saw something flash in her eyes before she cut herself off, then she seemed to crumble before his eyes. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she curled into a protective ball.
Neither Kirall, his Beast, nor his Dragon could hide their shock at the waves of pain coming from Autumn. They all wanted it to stop.
Chapter Eight
Autumn didn’t know how long she lay there, her back against Kirall’s chest, his arms wrapped securely around her. All she knew was she felt safe, protected, and cared about. It had been so long since she had felt any of those things.
For so long her life had been nothing but a haze filled with pain and confusion. She’d finally been able to fight her way out of it, and she refused to go back.
Kirall was real.
The steady beat of his heart against her back was real.
The arms that held her were real.
If that was true, then maybe what she’d seen was real too.
Was it actually possible?
In those early days after the attack, everyone told her she was projecting. That it was her mind’s way of trying to make sense of what was incomprehensible. It was only later, when she refused to change her story, that they decided she was crazy and needed to be medicated.
Kirall would know if she was.
“It wasn’t teenagers with knives,” she whispered, knowing Kirall was listening intently. “Knives don’t rip out people’s throats. Teenagers don’t hiss a language I’ve never heard before.”
Kirall stiffened, hearing her words. Hissing? There was only one creature in the universe that hissed its language.
“I went running up the steps and into the kitchen after Dad, but before I could take more than a few steps, my feet flew out from under me. My breath was knocked out of me when I landed, and I could only lay there trying to breathe while something warm and sticky soaked into my clothes. When I finally could, I rolled over and came face-to-face with…Dad. He was just lying there, staring at me. Then he… he blinked at me and his lips mo
ved, but nothing came out because his throat was gone. I scrambled away from him. The man that had protected me all my life, I just left him there. To die. Alone.”
“Autumn…” He tried to comfort her, but she didn’t seem to hear him.
“I turned to get up. To run away, and that’s when I saw Mom. She was slumped over on her side, covered in blood, her throat ripped out just like Dad’s. Only minutes before she had been alive asking Dad to take out the garbage. Now she was dead, and I suddenly realized that it was blood that had been soaking through my clothes, blood that was covering my hands.”
“Their blood.”
“I couldn’t get it off. I wanted it off. I turned to run to the bathroom on the other side of the house, and that’s when I saw them.”
“Saw who?!!” Kirall demanded.
“Monsters,” she whispered. “The ones that Jack had been so sure existed. I should have listened to him, but lizards aren’t supposed to be able to walk on two feet. They aren’t supposed to wear pants or attack and kill people.”
“Autumn,” Kirall turned her so she was facing him, forcing her to meet his gaze. This couldn’t be. She had to be wrong. There was no reason for the Varana to attack and kill her family. “Tell me more. How many were there?”
“Three,” she immediately answered. “But it was the big one, the one with all the black straps crisscrossing his back that was in charge.”
“Straps…” Kirall’s voice trailed off. Straps were a status symbol for the Varana, one strap for every Dragoon they killed.
“They had Jack surrounded, and their hissing sounded as if they were laughing at him. Laughing!” She could feel that powerful rage filling her again. “They had just killed our parents, and there they were, laughing at my terrified little brother. I wasn’t going to allow that! I wasn’t going to let them do to him what they had done to our parents. He was my brother, and it was my job to protect him. So I jumped on the biggest one’s back.”
“You did what?!!” Kirall couldn’t believe it. Varana could be up to eight feet tall, and she’d only been ten.
Bound By Heat - Dragon Shifter Page 9
