Princess Lyrian: Dragon Breeze Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 7)

by Rinelle Grey

  Brad had no idea what she was talking about. Half the words were foreign to him. But he was pleased that she sounded more cheerful. “Maybe,” he agreed.

  Lyrian gave a laugh. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” she teased.

  “No, but if it makes you happy, then I hope it’s true,” Brad said seriously.

  He could feel Lyrian’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look over. He stared at the road ahead, not sure what he’d say if he looked at her.

  What was there to say?

  They hit the outskirts of town, and Lyrian turned back to watch the road as well. Luckily the streets were mostly dark, only a few streetlights shining on the occupants of the battered ute.

  Brad glanced over at Lyrian and baby Anarian, and bit his lip. Hopefully the police were busy somewhere else right now. If they got pulled over…

  Or worse, had an accident…

  He needed to find somewhere they could stay for the night as quickly as possible. Then he could figure out where they were going to go from here in the morning.

  He headed towards the brighter lights, even though being closer to more people made him nervous. Sure enough, the main street sported a pub. It was a quiet, mid-week night. Hopefully they had a room to spare.

  He parked the car in the gravel carpark out the back. “Come on, we’ll see if we can find a room.”

  Lyrian though, hesitated. She stared at the building suspiciously.

  “I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to find any dragons here,” Brad said, hoping to reassure her.

  “No,” Lyrian said slowly. But she still didn’t move.

  “Is something wrong?” Brad asked, trying to curb his impatience. He just wanted to get her and the baby out of the car. Even though they weren’t driving any longer, the lack of a car seat made him increasingly nervous.

  “Will there be lots of… humans?” Lyrian asked nervously.

  Brad glanced over at the pub. At that moment, a raucous cheer went up from the main bar.

  He winced.

  “Yeah, probably,” he admitted.

  Lyrian shrank back, putting her arms protectively around Anarian, and shaking her head. “I can’t go in there. They’ll stare at me.”

  They probably would too. He certainly would have. But not for the reasons Lyrian feared.

  “Sure, they probably will,” he agreed. “But not because they know you’re a dragon, because you’re beautiful.”

  Lyrian’s expression didn’t lighten any. In fact, she frowned.

  Brad tried another direction. “Look, that dragon who’s searching for you, its going to want to stay away from all those humans far more than you do. Which means we’re safer here than anywhere else.”

  Lyrian looked a little uncertain at that. “Maybe,” she allowed.

  “Come on,” Brad encouraged. “I’ll be with you. I won’t let anyone bother you.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, and Brad held his breath.

  He wasn’t sure why he was so anxious that she agree with him. Well, other than the fact that he couldn’t think of anywhere else they were going to sleep tonight.

  But this wasn’t about that.

  He wanted her to trust him.

  More than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life.

  Chapter 12

  Lyrian clutched Anarian, wrapped in the sheepskin, making sure none of her blue hair showed like Brad had told her, as she followed him into the bar.

  Humans were okay when there was only one or two of them at a time, but a whole group of them? All staring at her?

  Brad had said they were staring because she was beautiful.

  She wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.

  It did help her stare back at them defiantly when they did stare. Most of them looked away when she did.

  Lyrian felt a little better as she followed Brad up to the bar.

  “Can we have a room for the night?” Brad asked, his voice casual.

  The man behind the bar looked them both up and down. “New in town, are you?” he commented.

  His questioning made Lyrian nervous. Could he tell that she wasn’t human?

  Of course not. He had no idea that dragons even existed. How could he possibly guess she was one? Even Brad hadn’t guessed, and he’d been closer to her than anyone.

  “Yeah, I’m from America,” Brad said easily. “My Uncle Henry died and left me his house. My wife and I,” he indicated Lyrian, “have been out checking it out, but it’s not really suitable to stay in overnight.”

  The man’s suspicious stare didn’t change. “Henry Cotting?”

  Brad nodded. “Yeah.”

  They got a nod of approval then. “A double with a portacot?” the man asked.

  Lyrian wasn’t too sure what that meant. Brad seemed to understand though. “That’ll be fine,” he agreed.

  As Brad handed over a piece of plastic, and filled in some sort of form, Anarian began to fuss. She wanted a feed. It was surprising she’d lasted this long, but perhaps she’d picked up on her mother’s anxiety.

  Lyrian jiggled her up and down. “Not long now,” she promised.

  Anarian wasn’t convinced. Her fussing grew louder.

  Lyrian offered her a finger, which helped for a moment.

  The man behind the bar gave Brad another plastic card. “Third door on the left,” he said, pointing up the hallway. “I’ll bring the portacot up in a minute.”

  “Thanks,” Brad said. He put his arm around Lyrian’s waist, and guided her in the right direction.

  Lyrian wasn’t even upset. She just wanted to get away from all those stares to somewhere quiet where she could feed her baby. She followed Brad into the room, only looking around enough to find a bed to sit on. Then she lifted up her shirt and attached Anarian.

  The baby suckled hungrily.

  Lyrian heaved a sigh of relief. They were safe.

  They would be safe here, wouldn’t they?

  She looked up at Brad to ask if he thought they would, only to find him staring at her. Or more specifically, at Anarian feeding.

  His face was a mixture of amazement and wonder. It warmed Lyrian’s heart.

  Maybe, just maybe, this would work out somehow.

  When he saw her looking at him, Brad came over towards the bed, and after a moment’s hesitation, sat down next to her, watching Anarian a little obsessively.

  “So,” he asked eventually. “The blue hair…?”

  Lyrian shrugged uncomfortably. “She takes after me.”

  It wasn’t an answer, not really. Lyrian knew what he was asking. She knew no human babies were born with blue hair.

  She heaved a sigh. “She’s a wind dragon, like I am.”

  His eyes widening was the only sign of shock Brad gave. “So, uh, that means...?”

  There was so much to explain, so much he was going to need to know, as the father of a dragon. Lyrian didn’t even know where to start.

  And that was before she considered the fact that she still wasn’t convinced they were safe from being followed by the Trima dragons. But she didn’t want Brad to get the impression she was avoiding his questions.

  He deserved to know.

  “Luckily, baby dragons can’t take dragon form until they hit puberty,” she reassured him. “You’re safe for a few years yet.”

  “Great, just in time for her to fireball me when I won’t let her date the guy she wants,” Brad joked.

  Lyrian’s heart gave an eager leap. Brad planned on still being around by the time Anarian reached puberty.

  Or maybe he was still expecting her to come to America with him.

  Lyrian ignored the fact that she’d almost been considering it earlier. That had been the fear talking. She wasn’t ready to give up on her brothers just yet.

  The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that the attacking Trima dragon indicated that Calrian was alive and well, trapped asleep inside his Mesmer chamber. She needed to rescue him.
r />   And keep Anarian safe at the same time.

  Brad was watching her, his head tilted to one side, and Lyrian realised she hadn’t responded to his comment. What had he said again?

  “Anarian won’t have any fire,” she said, a little distractedly.”

  “Lightning bolts then?” Brad guessed.

  Well, she couldn’t blame him for that one.

  “Different dragons have different magical specialties,” she explained. “As a wind dragon, Anarian will be able to control the wind and the air.”

  Brad heaved an exaggerated sigh. “That sounds a lot safer than fire or lightning.”

  Lyrian gave a ghost of a smile. “Don’t be too sure of it,” she warned him. “A serious wind can carry you quite a way.”

  “Of course,” Brad said. “I’ll be careful.”

  Then his expression grew more serious. “So what do we do now? We may have escaped this dragon enemy of yours, but it’s obviously not safe for us to go back to Henry’s and we can’t stay here forever.”

  Lyrian knew the answer. The only answer.

  The trouble was, would Brad agree with it?

  Earlier, when they’d been sitting in the car, he’d said he wasn’t going anywhere until she found her brothers. Had he really meant that?

  Did he plan to leave after that?

  She had no idea, and she’d have to worry about that later.

  Brad had also said he’d help her find this Lisa, this woman who may have a clue to where her brothers were. Had he meant that as well?

  What if he had? What if she didn’t have to do this alone?

  Lyrian hardly dared hope.

  Well, there was only one way to find out.

  “The only way to be safe is to find my clan,” Lyrian said firmly. “Two of us have no chance against the Trima clan alone.”

  “How do we do that?” Brad asked quietly.

  Lyrian stared at him.

  He meant it.

  He didn’t ask why that was the only option. He didn’t suggest going back to America, like she’d thought he would.

  He’d just asked how he could help.

  Lyrian’s heart lifted, and for the first time in a long time, she felt like she might just be able to.

  Chapter 13

  Brad stared at Lyrian, lying in the bed next to him, a strange feeling of contentment creeping over him. She lay on her side with his daughter, Anarian, snuggled in close to her.

  The barkeep had brought a portacot up last night, but when Brad had explained what it was for Lyrian had stared at him in horror. She’d insisted on having the baby in bed with them. At first, Brad had been dead against it. It seemed dangerous to have the small baby in the bed while they slept. What if Lyrian rolled on her?

  Lyrian had patiently explained that she always woke if Anarian moved, and that having her in the bed with them meant she could feed her when she needed during the night without getting up. She seemed so confident and certain that Brad had reluctantly agreed.

  Now, lying here beside both of them, he couldn’t help feeling that there was something right about this.

  Anarian stirred first. Her little face screwed up and she turned on her side and rooted against Lyrian’s chest. The tired mother lifted her shirt and attached her to the breast without even opening her eyes. Brad couldn’t help smiling. The arrangement did seem to work quite well for both of them.

  Though it was clear Lyrian and Anarian would have slept for longer, Brad couldn’t go back to sleep now. There was too much to do today. They needed somewhere safer to stay, somewhere that Lyrian and Anarian could be more comfortable. And for them to find that, he needed a carseat for Anarian.

  Last night, when they’d been fleeing from an attacking dragon, a carseat had been of secondary concern. The enemy dragon chasing them meant leaving Henry’s immediately had been essential. It was too isolated for them to be safe there. The angry dragon posed a far higher risk than travelling without a carseat.

  Today though, in daylight, with no sign of the enemy dragon, it was urgent. Even if he could bring himself to risk his daughter’s life by driving without one, there was too much risk of being pulled over. He definitely didn’t want any trouble with the police.

  First though, they needed breakfast.

  Brad eased himself up on one elbow and this time Lyrian opened her eyes and looked over at him.

  Her hair was tousled from sleep and her expression relaxed and drowsy.

  She’d never been more beautiful.

  It felt normal and natural to be here beside her. Like they were a family.

  He never would have imagined that this would just feel so right. If someone had asked him if he wanted a family, a wife and child, he would have backed away slowly. If they’d asked if he wanted a family with Lyrian, he would have hesitated, torn.

  But right now, lying here in bed with Lyrian and their baby, he wanted this. All of it. He just needed to figure out a way to convince Lyrian to move back to America with him. Maybe she’d be more open to the suggestion now that Henry was gone and her brothers were missing. If they couldn’t find them, then there would be nothing holding her here anymore, would there?

  Brad hesitated, but the lure was too great. He reached over and brushed back a lock of hair that was hiding her blue eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

  She stared at him intently for a few moments.

  Neither of them said anything.

  The impulse to lean down and kiss her upturned lips was overwhelming. The thought felt as normal and right as being here with her did.

  Brad let impulse take him, and he bent to kiss her.

  For a moment, her lips were soft and welcoming under his. She was kissing him back.

  That felt right too.

  Then something changed. She pulled back, and when he looked down at her, her eyes were wide with…

  Was that fear?

  What? What had he done wrong?

  She turned away before he could say anything, fussing over the baby, as if she were pretending he wasn’t there. As if the kiss and the feelings it had evoked hadn’t happened.

  Brad couldn’t figure out what was going on. He’d assumed her earlier reluctance to continue anything with him was based on keeping the fact that she was a dragon secret. Now that he knew, shouldn’t that reason be irrelevant?

  “Are you okay?” he asked eventually, when she didn’t say anything.

  She didn’t look at him. “Of course, it’s just that we have a lot to do today.”

  Brad hesitated, but she didn’t volunteer anything more.

  He wanted to push for answers, but he swallowed the questions down.

  He was getting good at that.

  “I’m going to go down and get us something to eat then,” he told her. “Will you and Anarian be okay here for a while?”

  Lyrian nodded. “We’ll be fine,” she assured him.

  Brad rolled over and out of bed, still at a loss as to what he’d done to upset her. She hadn’t seemed to mind the kiss. Had seemed to like it even.

  He let himself out of the room, making sure to lock it behind him, and headed downstairs, hoping that the pub served some sort of breakfast.

  Luckily, they did. Brad ordered two big breakfasts, his stomach growling at the thought of sausages, bacon, eggs, and toast, and sat at the bar waiting while it was cooked.

  A newspaper, sitting on the edge of the bar caught his attention. The headlines asked, “Dragons in the Australian Outback?”

  Brad’s whole body stiffened, and his heartrate increased.

  Was Lyrian’s secret out?

  He scanned the article. Underneath the headlines was a picture of what looked like a giant purple blur skimming low over tufts of grass. Brad regarded it thoughtfully. The image had clearly been enlarged far more than was practical, deteriorating the quality significantly. Not that it had been high quality in the first place, probably from a phone using digital zoom.

  The purple blur did closely resemble the shape of
the dragon that had been chasing last night. Closely enough to convince Brad of its validity. Now that he knew dragons existed, it seemed likely it was a dragon. But not Lyrian. He couldn’t imagine she’d be a purple dragon, not with that blue hair.

  Next to the blurry picture was a clear one of a couple. A woman with red curly hair, and a man with dark hair and a tattoo of a dragon on his bare chest. Brad stared at it intently. This was someone else. Another dragon?

  Could it be one of Lyrian’s brothers, or was it one of her enemies? And who was the woman?

  Brad scanned the article, but there was very little actual information. Just the name of the woman, Lisa Evans.

  That sparked a memory for Brad. The strange man he’d encountered when he first arrived, the one who had first mentioned dragons, had been looking for Lisa. Could this be the Lisa he was looking for? It seemed likely.

  The man was referred to as Verrian. The similarity to Lyrian’s name was unmistakable. There was a good chance this was one of her mysterious brothers.

  The rest of the article was just conjecture and speculation. Brad skimmed it quickly, but could see nothing of interest, so he returned to the picture.

  He stared at the black and white image, his heart sinking a little. He wanted to be glad he’d found a clue to one of Lyrian’s brothers. He had no doubt she’d be thrilled. But he knew that if she found them, then any hope he had of convincing her to come to America with him would be gone.

  This wasn’t just about him though. He needed to think about what was best for Lyrian and Anarian. And he knew without a doubt that finding her brothers was important to Lyrian. There was no way he’d ever feel good about keeping this information from her.

  Even if it meant losing her.

  The barkeep came in with two plates and put them down on the bar. He noticed Brad reading the paper, and grinned. “Quite a kerfuffle, that caused yesterday. I had several men in here last night claiming one of those ‘dragons’ must have stolen their missing cattle or sheep.” He gave a laugh. “Complete baloney if you ask me.”

  Did the man guess Brad had something to do with the dragons? Could he tell Lyrian was one? Her blue hair was certainly distinctive. But no, the man was looking at him in a conspiratorial manor, expecting him to share his disbelief.