Quintin pulled up his sleeves. “I didn’t say you were. Matter of fact, I know you are not.”
“Don’t be so sure of yourself.”
Quintin pushed in the rack of rotated eggs. He closed the door and moved onto the larger incubators. “Dr. Kovak wants you to check the haven nests and prepare for a delivery.”
“Delivery?” Ashlyn didn’t remember her foster father mentioning anything about a delivery, especially one which would require the use of the haven. In fact, she hadn’t spoken much since her foster father’s return from seeing Emily.
“Sigurd and the Irish druk are due back tomorrow with it.”
“Tomorrow? So that is where he has been. Why didn’t anyone tell me?” She put her hands on her hips, irked.
“Maybe he thought you needed time to cool off. I hear a little time apart makes the heart grow fonder.” Quintin winked. “And the makeup sex…” He whistled.
“Oh no you didn’t!” Ashlyn punched him in the arm, her cheeks on fire.
Quintin laughed, dodged her next punch, opened his arms wide. “What? Have make up sex? Or just sex? It’s a common thing between males and females. How do you think eggs are made? Or did you really think they came in padded cartons or rescued and extracted by trained Keepers, like your mother and sister?”
She glared at him, hard. Concentrating with all her might, wanting her eyes to shift or at the very least sparks to fly from her lips. But they didn’t. What kind of dragon was she if she couldn’t shift at will? Or even make fire?
She sighed heavily. She’d let the remark go about her foster mother and Emily. “I’m the daughter of an oologist. Of course, I know where eggs come from. You, on the other hand….” She waved her hand, “I’ll have to talk to Minna to see what she’s been teaching you in the dark.”
“Ashlyn Sullivan Kovak.”
Ashlyn stiffened at the sound of her foster father’s voice. She dared a glance at him. He pushed up his glasses, and she slouched. She’d done it now.
“Quintin, the haven?” Dr. Kovak asked.
“I’m on it.” Quintin gave Ashlyn a nod and headed out of the incubation room.
She tried to put on a smile, pretend his voice didn’t startle her or the look in his eyes didn’t cause the younger version of herself to fear what she had done wrong. What did she do wrong?
She watched Quintin retreat.
“Ashlyn. My office.”
“Yes, Father.” Ashlyn followed him. Neither spoke as they left the room, or down the hall. Dr. Kovak held the door of his office open for her and indicated for her to step inside. Once he closed the door he walked over to the window looking out at part of the Harghita mountain range. His desk had recently been polished, she could smell the beeswax and lemon scent rubbed into the wood.
“You’ve changed since I’ve left.”
“How so?”
His eyes, so like her sister Emily’s, softened. He took off his glasses, cleaned them, then put them back on his face. “First of all, you called me father. I don’t think I have ever heard you say it. At least, without the ‘foster’ in front of it.”
“Yes, well. Someone pointed out to me that family is more than blood.”
Dr. Kovak took a seat by the window and indicated for Ashlyn to sit in the chair beside him. “And would this someone be a certain male dragon?”
“He told you.” She grabbed her wrist, covered his mark on her flesh, just a faint outline against her skin.
Dr. Kovak took her hand and uncovered her wrist. “He didn’t. You did.”
“I’ve failed. I’m no better than Emily and now I have put us all in danger of losing the hatchery.”
Dr. Kovak shook his head. “Ash, you always have had a way of looking at the worse to come. I suppose it is the fear in you after losing Edgar and Mary.”
Ashlyn hadn’t heard anyone speak those names before she came here. Her parents, the ones who tried to protect her, the ones who she could never ask about the truth. “But Emily, and now that I have…” she didn’t want to say it. Didn’t want to see that disapproving look on his face she’d come to dread in disappointing him.
“Found your mate? It is all right if you say it, dear.” Dr. Kovak tilted his head and waited for her admission.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I feel like a fool. I have only known him for such a short time, days really, but I don’t know how to explain it.”
“It’s called love. You feel it more deeply than others. It’s part of your DNA I’m afraid. When a dragon finds its life mate, the connection can be instant.”
“I found the folder on your desk.” She didn’t like telling on herself.
“I hoped you would.”
“You did?” She expected that look, disappointment or a frown, but instead she could swear he appeared relieved.
“It was due time. There are far greater secrets amongst us to hold this one. I see no point in concealing your true birth from you. Seeing Emily with Blake and the family they have become with little Aurelia tells me I have made the right choice.”
Ashlyn sat back in her seat. “So, the egg hatched? Or is that what we prepare for the arrival of?”
“No. Blake’s fiú hatched and claimed Emily as it’s surrogate. The delivery we prepare for comes from elsewhere. Your mate will explain when he arrives. Until then it is best little or no information about this is shared. Prepare the deeper nest, the one for keeping the endangered females hidden.”
“He’s bringing back a female?” She crossed her arms, tried to shield her heart from the pang of him being away with another.
“No, but we need to keep this hush, hush. Understand.” He stared at her, looked her hard in the eye. “No one. I repeat no one, besides you, me, Sigurd, and Quintin shall know where and what is in that nest.”
“We have to tell Margaret. As the leader of the Keepers, she must know.”
Dr. Kovak stood, balled his fist and walked over to the window. He kept his back to her, his posture stiff. He stared out the window. “Margaret may have stepped up to lead the Keepers in Laurel’s absence, but it is no business of hers what happens in my hatchery. The government funds my research and this haven, but I still control who and what may enter my doors.”
Slowly, Ashlyn got to her feet. She’d never seen him so upset, not since Laurel, her foster mother, had been found dead when a retrieval mission had failed. “I’ll go prepare the haven with Quintin. Do you know when Sigurd will return?”
Dr. Kovak turned back toward her. “He didn’t say, but knowing how long the two of you have been kept away from each other already, I suspect him here very soon.”
Or not at all, she thought, but kept it to herself. “I’ll go see to the haven. Don’t worry, Father, all will be kept safe. You have my word.”
She started to walk out the door, turned and went back and hugged Dr. Kovak. It took a moment before his stiff posture relaxed and he wrapped his arms around her. “I have no doubt.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sigurd waited until night, spreading his wings out wide to glide between the mountain peaks, and dove into the opening of the haven’s sky entrance. He circled several times, slowing his speed, preparing for landing. His eyes zooming in on the best place to touch down feet first as his arms cradled his precious cargo.
He didn’t know who he feared more, Edmund’s mate, Cassandra, if he cracked one of these unhatched fiú, or his own mate, Ashlyn. He hoped she’d had time to cool off and by the steady beat of his heart, come to terms with their bonding. He’d also accepted, he would never shift into a dragon again, if it meant keeping his bond with her.
He landed near the mountain entrance into the caverns. He growled low, a warning signal to anyone around him to stay clear.
Ashlyn stepped out from the shadows of the cavern entrance. He almost shifted and ran to her, but remembered the fiú cradled in his arms. He blew out steam from his nostrils as Ashlyn approached him.
Shadows danced through the moon light beams
between the trees. She smelled of damp earth and smoldered ash. She’d braided her hair down her back. A smudge of dirt graced her cheek. Her eyes glowed emerald green and he wanted to hold her.
“I thought it was you I heard. Father wasn’t sure when you’d arrive.” She reached out and ran her hand down the side of his face. He let out a shaky breath and she shivered.
“You’ve been waiting for me?”
“Someone needed to be here to receive the delivery.”
“Is that the only reason?” He closed his eyes, tried to ignore the heat of her touch arousing him.
She leaned against his face. Her small warm cheek pressed to his cool dragon skin. “I missed you.”
“I’m still a dragon, baby.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Let me help you with these eggs. I’ve clean and prepared a hatching nest for them near the core where it’s warmest.” She pressed her lips to his leathery skin. “And I’ve prepared one for us to share this night, too.”
“You know what will happen if you take me into the caverns?”
“It’ll be alright. The hatching nests are away from the other areas of the cavern. I’ve seen to the scents. Please, Sigurd, I want to sleep with you. I want to sleep with you as a dragon.” He could not deny her the stars if she’d ask for them, let alone this simple request.
“Where are the others?” He followed her through the entrance, careful of his cargo.
“I sent Quintin away. He helped me clear and prepare the nest where we will sleep, but I promised to ensure the eggs are safe, so I prepared a different place for them that Quintin isn’t aware of.”
“I don’t have to tell you then; these eggs are more valuable than the lives of those who have sworn to protect them.”
Together, Ashlyn and Sigurd deposited the rare dragon eggs into the hidden nest she’d prepared. It rested near the core inside the mountain, where the heated rock from the volcanic core within warmed the enclosed cave. She nestled each egg in furs and feathers.
“I know of this one.” She turned to Sigurd, still in his dragon form. “Emily found it at an estate sale. The owner had it stashed in a furnace room. I recognize the smudge where the heat damaged the shell.”
“I believe Cassandra calls that one Bob.”
“Cassandra? As in cousin Cassandra? How did Cassandra get a hold of it? Margaret told Emily the egg had been stolen and she needed to retrieve the egg to return it to its rightful guardian.” Ashlyn smoothed her hand back over the fur. She’d helped Dr. Kovak clean the egg and examine it to make sure the fiú inside lived.
“Cassandra has become Edmund’s mate. My pendragon, Blake, sent Edmund to follow Margaret when she retreated to the island. It led Edmund to Cassandra and these fiú.”
“Edmund is part of your merry band then?” She took his muzzle, directed it in the way she wished him to follow her.
“We’re playing in Stonehenge soon. You can meet them all when we go, if not before the wedding.”
“Wedding?” She paused looking at the narrow passage to the next cavern, but Sigurd bumped her ahead.
“Ours. Unless you want my head mounted in Dr. Kovak’s office.”
“You’ve spoken to him?”
“Before I left. He gave his blessing, by the way.”
“I know.” She looked back, watched him scratch his scales against the walls and groaned. “Too tight?”
“Just right.” He pushed her forward, the rough rock on the side of the tunnels rubbed his scales like a full body massage. He kept his wings close to his body. These passages had been made for lesser sized dragons.
She hooked to the right where the tunnel dipped low and turned another sharp right, where the cavern opened to a large den. In the center, a dip in the floor where a female had once circled and laid to cover her eggs for the decades of incubation required to hatch them.
A soft glow came from the rock, illuminating the space in a flush of orange, pink, and red from the live core inside the mountain.
“We’re on the other side of the mountain.”
“Below the nest we left the eggs, yes?” He moved inside the den, left his wings relax after holding them so tight against this back. He curled his tail back from her and started to shift.
“No.” She touched him. “Stay a dragon.”
Her eyes had changed. Those beautiful green orbs blinked back at him with narrow pupil slits. He curled himself and gathered her against his side. He turned his head to watch her. “I’m not at all soft like a bed or cuddly like a cat.”
She laid with her head resting on his dragon arm and snuggled against the smooth scales of his side. “I love the feel of you.”
He noted the huskiness in her voice. He purred, a rumbling sound in his throat, and she stroked her hand over his arm.
“You will marry me, won’t you?”
Exhausted, he heard her sigh. “We are mated are we not?”
He’d take it for a yes and curled himself around to cradle her tighter. His back muscles ached from carrying the extra weight of the five dragon eggs across the oceans to reach here. In the morning, he’d show her how much he had missed her.
Chapter Sixteen
Deep inside the tunnels of the caverns, time often became lost. But in the early hours of morning, Ashlyn’s skin erupted in a wild fire of hot welts and itched something crazy. She rubbed her shoulder against her dragon’s scales. She shifted her hips to no relief, she sighed and slipped from Sigurd’s large dragon arms. His head curled around as his body cradled her their deep lair. His cool body did nothing to sooth her heated skin.
Softly he snored. Ashlyn kissed his muzzle, whispered, “I’ll be back.” As soon as she got this insane itching to stop! She walked, broke out into a sprint down the passageway until she came to the main area of the cavern. Her head swam with scents of sulfur and… hibiscus?
She whirled around, scratching her elbow. Her eyes narrowed, despite the flickering gas lanterns shining throughout the large area. Ashlyn stumbled, her eyes adjusting to the shadows, searching for the scent, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling.
From out of the haven’s entrance into the cavern, Margaret Moldvan stepped into her view. She wore a black silk wrap, her silver-gray hair pulled back and twisted like she’d stepped out of a spa, came through the falls to enter the cavern.
“Margaret. What are you doing here?” Ashlyn came up short. She took a deep breath and let it out slow, bending her knee and reaching down to rub her calf. She hissed at the burn, preferred it to the itch.
“Perhaps the better question, dear Ashlyn, is what are you doing down here?” Margaret tilted her head, tapped a well-polished fingernail against her ruby lips. “There hasn’t been anything down here for years, or has there? Have you been holding out on me?”
“Of course not.” Ashlyn scratched her neck and slid her foot up to scratch the opposite leg.
“My. My. My.” Margaret swatted Ashlyn’s hand away from her neck. She tilted Ashlyn’s head and peered at the ravaging spot on Ashlyn’s neck. “That’s a nasty rash you’ve acquired.”
“Father had me checking on the habitat. I must be allergic to some of the fauna.” Ashlyn glanced around, if she looked the elder woman in the eye Margaret would catch her lie. Her pulse race and she bit her lip against a groan as another itch erupted on her flesh. This time, behind her ear.
“Father? So, you’re calling Istvan father after all these years? What changed? Or dare I ask who? Not that I blame you. After all, Emily and Cassandra have both taken their dragon’s mark. Why should you be any different?”
Something cold curled inside Ashlyn’s belly. “I’m not like my sister. I’m not.”
Margaret gave Ashlyn’s shoulder a squeeze. “Of course not. Which is why I dare say you have disappointed me. I expected more from you.”
“More?” Ashlyn flexed her fingers, she needed to scratch again.
“He’s marked you.” Margaret grabbed Ashlyn’s wrist. A wan smile curved up on those ruby li
ps. “This is why you’ve ignored my messages?”
Ashlyn lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry. There wasn’t anything to report. I swear. Father went to visit Emily. She sent a dragon to fetch him. The egg hatched, but I just found out when father returned it had hatched.”
“I should have been informed immediately of Istvan’s departure and his return. Are you going to tell me if the fiú was male or female? Or is that not important either? And I’d still like to know what you’re doing down here, if not hiding your mate. Does Istvan know of your bonding? This is unacceptable. You of all know the dragons are dangerous and the bonding between a dragon and a Keeper is forbidden.” Margaret’s hand tightened on Ashlyn’s wrist.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. You should have been informed. I just thought Father would wish to give you the news himself. Emily has a daughter, Aurelia. And he’s given his blessing to Sigurd and I. We don’t have to hide, and as far as our bonding, the laws of the Dragon Keeper Society do not apply to me or my mate.”
Margaret released Ashlyn, tugged on her silk wrap, and tapped her fingers against her shoulder. “You know.”
“Yes. I know.” Ashlyn scratched her neck, hated this detainment from seeking relief of this horrible itch, irate. “I’m a dragon, and you didn’t tell me.”
Margaret waved her off. “What is a tree if it doesn’t bear fruit? Nothing, for it will dwindle and die like a weed. You’ll never shift. You didn’t from birth and you won’t now.”
“How do you know?”
“I was there when you came into this world. Don’t make me be the one to take you out of it.” Margaret’s voice turned cold, her eyes flashed and shone in the dim lighting. Silver bled into her dark irises.
Ashlyn gasped. Margaret’s eyes glowed, two silver orbs with her pupils turning to slits. “You’re one of them.”
Margaret jerked back as struck. She blinked, blinked until her eyes returned to normal again. “Where are the eggs?”
Goosebumps raced up Ashlyn’s arms. “What eggs?”
Her Hidden Dragon Page 6
