The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  Casper looked between them and then between their hands. He saw more than he was letting on. Hailey spent a lot of time watching people. Living in a city will make a people watcher out of anyone. He knew. Hailey tilted her head and looked at his eyes. Casper knew that they were acting. Or that Dak was acting. The realization must have shone on her face because he directed his gaze back to her and winked. Was he complimenting her to get a rise out of Dak? Because her predicament wasn’t bad enough.

  "If you are in such a hurry to know, I do not plan on fighting with you. We here in Silver are independent. If you want one to fight then you need to ask them yourself. I will not make the decision for all of them. They can make that decision for themselves."

  "But if you go one way, they will follow."

  He nodded. "True enough."

  Dak stood bumping the table in the process. Her mug toppled over onto the white table cloth. Hailey quickly reached for some napkins and began to sop up the liquid. Dak barely even paused.

  "Then this meeting is over."

  "As you wish," Casper said with a smile.

  Dak turned to leave but Hailey was still cleaning up his mess. Casper lent her a hand and began to help her.

  "Hailey!" Dak yelled. "We are leaving."

  "I'm sorry he is being so rude," she told the older dragon. "He's been stressed with this war," and because of their issues. She wasn't sure what Casper knew but she wasn't about to fill in the details for him.

  "Of course he is. It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Holloway." Casper tipped his head. "Now, I think for both our sakes you should go to your Mate."

  Hailey looked over her shoulder where Dak was not so patiently waiting for her. She could see the smoke rising from his skin and the shimmer of scales that were fighting to surface. "Oh, that's not good," she said more to herself than him.

  "Good luck," he laughed, "and Merry Christmas."

  Chapter Sixteen

  They were only minutes from Silas's house when he exploded. Dacea had not spoken to her since they left. Instead, he opted to let his anger build inside. Watching Hailey get blatantly hit on and then to hear Casper talk about how lucky he was, followed by his refusal to join the war was the perfect storm for his temper to overtake any rational thought.

  "Pull over," he growled.

  The car elegantly swerved to the side of the road. It was a side street in Chestnut Hill. No one else was on the road; everyone was with their families gearing up for Christmas. Dacea took the lack of people in his favor and burst from the car. He couldn't breathe with Hailey sitting so close. Her scent was everywhere. The heat from her body licking at him. So when the cold air surrounded him, he welcomed it. It was fresh and cleansed his mind. For a minute he stood in the middle of the road with his eyes closed, just breathing.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  He needed to calm down or he would change right there in the middle of the fucking street.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  He needed to stop thinking about how Hailey was still sitting in the car. How she was watching him in the beginning stages of a break down.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  How all he wanted to do was get his mouth on her and prove to himself, to her, to everyone that she was his.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  He wanted the Inn managers of the world to know she wasn't available to flirt with.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  And he didn't need to hear how fucking great she was. He knew that already. He wanted, needed to mark her so everyone else could know it too.

  In for five.

  Out for five.

  His hands fisted and shook as he tried to reign in his emotions. He couldn't do this. He couldn't get back in that fucking car with her. At this point he was a danger to everyone, but especially Hailey. "Help me," he said through gritted teeth, pleading to his dragon.

  "Dak?" she asked cautiously and from far too close.

  A shiver went through him as his dragon settled into place. "Go away, Céile," he said softly.

  "Are you ok?"

  "Dak, as you call him, is having a difficult time at the moment. Please get back in the car and have his driver take you home." He turned and tilted his head sharply as he looked at her.

  Hailey's eyes narrowed as she watched him. She caught his disjointed movements and the flash of his forked tongue. He knew she had never seen his dragon in full control before and he was doing his best not to scare her.

  "Who are you?"

  "You know the answer to that already. Now get to safety before he fights for control. You won't like it if you stay."

  "Ok." She began to back away cautiously. The scent of her confusion held hints of sweet and sour. It clouded in the air around him.

  "Céile?"

  "Yes?" Her warm brown eyes gazed at him care.

  "We miss you."

  She paused, her mouth thinning into a straight line, and nodded. He turned from her and tilted his head back up to the sky and waited.

  Footsteps. Car door. Engine. Silence.

  When she was gone, Dacea came back into his body and roared. The change came faster than usual. One moment he was human the next he was a 15 foot dragon in the middle of the street. Magic cut through the lingering traces of Hailey's confusion replacing the scent with the smoky notes of his magic. It concealed his form to anyone looking outside their window. To them, it was just an empty street. Still, he had to move.

  With a leap straight up into the air he took off flying.

  *****

  was waiting for him when he finally made it home. Dacea wasn't sure how many hours had passed but it had been daylight when he sent Hailey away and it was now full dark. His head of security held a letter from Katherine. Dacea shook his head. "Burn it," he said. "I'm done with that shit." He was done for the night too. His feet drug barely lifting off the ground with each step.

  The steps to his room dragged on, each one taller and wider than the last until he finally made it to the third floor. At this point sleep was his only goal. His mind and body were exhausted.

  He didn't bother turning on any lights when he reached his room. It would just be a wasted effort. Instead he striped right inside the door and stumbled blindly toward the bed. His thighs hit the mattress first, followed by his upper body as he collapsed into the bed.

  There was no time to block out their bond. So the moment he fell asleep he immediately searched her out. The land of dreams was made up of billions of people's unconscious thoughts. They were like bubbles of clarity surrounded by dense fog. Once he found her, everything would be clear but as he waded through the land, his eyes would not find focus.

  One minute everything was blurry, the next he was standing in a meadow. He had found her dream. With the clear vision came a clear mind. Dacea shouldn't be there. It was an intrusion and one he had no right to anymore.

  And yet, he couldn't stop his eyes from searching her out, or his feet to stop moving. Dacea traveled the meadow. The long grasses rippled and shined like silk in the breeze. He found her in the middle of it all. She was sitting crossed legged on the ground watching him. Well, not him but a memory of him. It was like a hologram, a full three dimensional image that was just slightly transparent. In the memory, her head was in his lap as they lay on the ground by the fire. He read aloud to her as she watched the flames flicker and lick at each other. It had actually been an uneventful night; they had read a few chapters and went to bed. He was curious as to why she had chosen that memory when a new one came to life.

  This one was of them eating breakfast. He was on his tablet checking email and eating a bagel. She was pouring a bowl of cereal. They ate in comfortable silence. Again, nothing extraordinary had happened. This could have been any day from the past two months. It was just a slice of their everyday.

  Another memory took over and another. Soon he was just as enraptu
red by their time together as she was. Hailey picked the little things to remember. A touch, a kiss, a laugh, watching TV, everything they did that was normal, mundane even. She readjusted. Her legs uncurled and she lowered her upper body to the ground. With an arm curled under her head acting as a pillow and the other clutching her stomach, her knees bent up into her chest. He frowned at her in the fetal position. She looked so small. So young. His bond demanded he go comfort her, hold her, but he couldn't. Dacea had made his choice.

  A new memory came to life but it was hard to stop watching her. The emotions on her face as the memories played were better than the memories themselves. He felt like he was looking into her soul. This is what she had hid from him. This was what he had wanted all along.

  A tear leaked from her eye and left a glistening trail in its wake across her cheek. He looked then to the memory. They were in bed, he was already half asleep but he kissed her, just a peck on her lips, and mumbled, "I love you. Goodnight."

  Then the memory repeated. And again. And again. By the third run through it had been shortened to just his words.

  "I love you. Goodnight."

  "I love you. Goodnight."

  "I love you. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight," Hailey said back. His throat constricted as he watched. He shouldn't have but it was already a whisper off his lips. "Goodnight, Hailey," he told her and backed out of her dream.

  Dacea came awake. He rubbed the heel of his palm in the center of his forehead trying to push out the headache that had settled there. The clocked stated that he had slept for 45 minutes. And just like that he was wide awake again. Someone started the engine in his brain. Even though there was no gas in the tank, it still wanted to go.

  He rolled onto his back and stretched his arms out across the bed. "You will not think about it." His voice was deep with sleep still heavy in his throat. "It" he had called her, because saying her name might mystically call her to him. It wasn't impossible for that to happen but it was pretty improbable. Regardless, he wasn't taking a chance.

  There were things that needed his attention other than his headache of a relationship. Dacea had been neglecting his duties. As king most of his duties were ceremonial garbage. It was his signature that needed most, not him. There was an ever growing pile of documents on his desk. Dacea had been spread so thin lately that he had not been able to attend to his most basic function.

  He rolled with a grunt and got to his feet. His body began to wake the more he moved. Dacea shuffled into his closet for a pair of sweatpants. When he walked out again he was clothed and catching his second wind. He'd work for an hour then try to sleep again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  "Do I really have to wear this stupid thing? I promise to keep my eyes closed." Hailey's arms were stretched out in front of her jittering about wildly trying to guide her blindly through the empty space of air in front of her. Silas had pulled her out of bed and blindfolded her. He was guiding her by her shoulders but she had already tripped twice. Neither time did he hide his amusement but only because she couldn't see the smile on his face.

  "I don't trust you to keep your eyes closed," he told her with a sprinkling of mischief in his voice.

  "Should I be scared?"

  Silas laughed but didn't answer. Carefully he turned her shoulders directing her around a corner. When he straightened her back out, he pulled back with the tips of his fingers signaling for her to stop. They were in the living room, but she didn't know that. Silas had spent all night decorating the place for her. Christmas had always been just another day to him, but it obviously meant more to her. And since her plans had been thwarted by a stubborn dragon, he took it upon himself to give her a nice Christmas.

  There was an eight foot Douglas fir tree with entirely too many lights. The woman at the store had told him that more was better, but he wasn't so sure. Being that this was his first time decorating a Christmas tree, he had to trust her judgment. The ornaments were random and mismatched. The selection was not the richest on Christmas Eve. Next year, he promised, he would get better quality and ones that at least coordinated with each other. Miscellaneous was not something he enjoyed.

  Silas understood the colored glass balls, and had found a few that he didn't hate on sight, but the pickle ornament was somewhat of a mystery to him. It amused him though so it secured a spot on the top below the star.

  The rest of the room had been decorated as well. He had stockings for each of them on the mantel. Garland and wreaths were draped and hung, candles were lit, and he even bought her enough presents to fill the space below and around the tree. She was right, it was beautiful. After spending all night fixing the room up for her he had sat with his coffee and admired the tree in all its grandeur as the sun rose.

  "Can I take this off now?"

  Silas swept his eyes over the room once more. "Yes," he told her when he was satisfied everything was in place

  Hailey didn't bother with the knot but pushed the blindfold up taking half her hair with it. "Oh..." The knotted fabric dropped to the ground as she stepped further into the room. "Oh wow." He watched from a distance with his arms crossed over his chest as she turned in a circle and took in every detail. Her face was just how he imagined it would be. The enchantment of her inner child sparkled brilliantly in her eyes.

  "This is...perfect. You did this?" Those doe eyes turned on him.

  "Yes. I wanted you to have a good Christmas." The magic of the moment was rubbing off on him as well and he found himself returning her beaming smile. "I'm glad you like it."

  "It's wonderful! Thank you." One step, two, by the third she had thrown herself into his arms and was squeezing him hard. Small whispers of repeated thanks tumbled from her lips. He hugged her back, the gesture not awkward to him anymore.

  "You're welcome, Hailey. Now go open your gifts."

  "Gifts! Crap." She jumped back and looked over her shoulder to the tree. A pile of wrapped presents sat under and around the tree. Admittedly, he had gone a little over board. "Yours are upstairs. Let me grab them."

  His? "Mine?" Silas stared dumbfounded at his sister.

  "Yes, yours."

  "But...why?"

  The corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement. "Why did you get me presents?"

  "Because it would make you happy," he answered honestly.

  "Exactly. It's what family does." Hailey was running out of the room before he had a chance to respond. She had gotten him gifts. It was, well, it was a first. His family didn't celebrate much and when he had gotten gifts it was in the form of weaponry or schooling.

  He heard her quick feet on the stairs seconds before she slid into the living room with an armful of wrapped gifts. "Ready?" she asked beaming between packages.

  "I guess."

  They spent the next hour opening and admiring, laughing and smiling. When the floor was covered in a few inches of discarded paper, Hailey announced from her spot on the floor beside the tree that they had opened everything, which was good because he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it all up. Silas was still new to having a sister and sometimes it became a little overwhelming.

  "We have somewhere to be in an hour," he told her when he noticed the time.

  "Where are we going?"

  "Dacea's house."

  Her eyes narrowed sharply. "Why?"

  Besides all the material things he had gotten her, Silas's main gift was going to be to get her back with her Mate. She wanted it even if she hadn't decided so herself. So for another first, Silas was going to play matchmaker.

  "He has news to tell me. I thought you might like to go along to gather some of your things." It was mostly the truth.

  Her eyes stayed narrowed at him and after a moment she hesitantly responded with, "Ok."

  Silas was taken back. He hadn't been expecting that answer. "Ok?"

  She nodded. "Yep."

  "So you decided what you will do then?" A smile tilted at his lips. At some point over the course of the night she had
done some thinking.

  "I did." Hailey looked resolved. "I'm not going anywhere. I have a Mate to win back."

  "Good." He stood and held a hand out for her pulling her up with him. "Then let's get to it."

  *****

  Dak was out. Doing what, she didn't know but that left Silas and Hailey to wait. She left Silas in the kitchen and went out the back door to her house. It felt strange being there. A week ago she had been living in it and now she was just a visitor. That would change, she thought. Hailey had made up her mind and she would call this place home again.

  He had found her last night. She felt Dak's presence in her dream like a warm blanket. While memory theater played she barely could keep herself from calling out to him, to looking over her shoulder and search him out. Their bond was just a leak at this point. A drip in the faucet it had once been. But in her dream she felt the bond open to a trickle. It warmed her down to her toes.

  It had been the first steady night of sleep she had had in days. His presence and the bond created the perfect atmosphere for her to crash. And she did. Hard and fast. Then this morning when she woke, Hailey knew what to do. His presence in her dream gave her something to work toward. He wasn't as done with her as he had led on and that was something to fight for.

  Her house appeared on the path. It was dark and cold like the world around it. She had left before she could decorate for the holiday. Inside it was a mess. Half wrapped presents were everywhere. Wrapping paper lay discarded in a heap of bows and ribbon. Right, she thought, I meant to finish those.

  Hailey gave the mess a wide berth and walked around into her bedroom. She was here for clothing and whatever else she wanted to take back with her to Silas's house. However, there were only three things that she had come for: her nook, Dak's shirt she wore to bed, and her bathroom supplies. Silas had great expensive French soaps and shampoos but she missed her Herbal Essences. Everything was right where she left it. It only took her a moment to grab it all and put it in a backpack.