by Amelia Jade
She expected astonishment. Denial. A big flustery reply that would do its best to convince her that she was being preposterous. Possibly all of the above rolled into one, combined with an accusation of how she could possibly be serious? Dragons weren’t real, of course. They were just imaginary. Etcetera.
Instead Aric grinned proudly. “I always knew my mate was a smart one.”
“That’s the second time someone has used that word.” She shifted back and forth, uncomfortable at the base implication of the word and how it had been used.
“What word?”
“Mate. One of the soldiers up top said that it was nice to have another mated pair along.” She leveled her gaze at Aric, pinning him in place. “Just what the hell is going on here?”
“Come on,” he said, gesturing up the tunnel. “Let’s go somewhere you can sit.”
“You didn’t say no to my question,” she pointed out, but fell in alongside him anyway.
“I also didn’t say yes.”
“You didn’t look at me like I’m crazy though, which would indicate that there’s at least some sort of truth in whatever it is that’s going on here. Plus there’s the fact you just called me your mate. That’s not weird at all, considering I’m pretty sure we’re not together.”
Aric walked in silence, ignoring her until they could get to a side tunnel that branched off from the main line. There were several thick, reinforced doors that they had to wait to open, but after that they quickly found themselves back into the main part of the complex.
“This is the negotiation room,” she said as he guided her into an empty room, faintly amused at the irony of it all. “The place where we should have been finalizing the deal earlier today. Remember that?”
Aric nodded, flopping into his seat casually. “Sit.” He phrased it politely, but there was no room for her to do otherwise. So she sat.
“You’re very smart. Which is going to make what I’m about to tell you even harder to accept.”
She eyed him skeptically. “I just saw you electrocute a battlesuit with your bare hand. I’ve already seen a few things hard to believe today. I also saw that…that thing, in the cavern. The energy wall.”
“The portal,” he supplied.
Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry, the what? Portal? Like, teleportation?”
He shrugged. “Let’s stick to your other question first.”
“Which one? Are dragons real?”
“That one, yes.”
Kaitlyn studied his face, the smooth lines hardened in thought, giving his already chiseled face an extra bit of definition. Big cheekbones, thick lips that were very warm and soft, as she knew from experience. With Aric it was always about the eyes. They stood out like a sore thumb, the hardness of his gaze at odds with the gentle softness of his skin and facial structure.
“The answer is yes. Dragons are real.”
“Holy. Shit.” She rocked back in the chair, standing it up on two legs. “This better not be some kind of fucking joke, because that is not cool. The dragon I saw on the screen, the big red one fighting in the cavern?”
“Most likely Kallore, if it was footage of yesterday.”
Something else clicked. “The alarms. That’s where you went. Were you there fighting too?”
“I was, though not in dragon form.”
“What were those things?” She had so many questions. He was a dragon, she realized, her mind putting what he’d said together. “You’re a dragon? Are you serious?”
Her hand went to her stomach. She was pregnant with a dragon’s child. How the hell did that work? How was that even possible?
“Are you well?” Aric asked, concerned.
“How…how do you appear human?” she asked nervously. Was she going to give birth to a reptile? Was that what was growing inside of her?
The room spun and she began to feel nauseous.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aric
“Appear human?” He laughed lightly, amazed at how easy she was taking the news so far.
“Yes. If you’re a dragon, how do you appear human?”
“I’m a shifter,” he said. “I’m a human who can shapeshift into a dragon. The animal entity and I share the same mental space.” He grimaced. “It can make things difficult, but most shifters can control it, and we can change on demand. I suppose you could call it magic. We’ve never really looked into how it works with modern medical science. Too risky if the wrong people got a hold of our blood.”
Kaitlyn was still looking wan, like she was about to be sick.
“I don’t understand. So are you human or dragon?”
He mulled over the question. “I mean, technically we’re both. There is another…presence? Spirit? Soul? I’m not sure what you would call it, that lives within me.” He paused. “Though since we don’t come into our powers until puberty, I guess you could say we’re more human? Though I wouldn’t say that myself.”
His mate brightened considerably at that. “Not until puberty? So you’re completely human up until then?”
“Yes.”
“That…must be hell on parents, having to deal with hormones and latent dragon powers,” she said uneasily.
Aric grinned. “It’s definitely different, but when you’re also raised to expect it, to prepare, then the transition goes easier.”
Kaitlyn seemed to be coming back to herself, and to her credit she was adjusting to this revelation fairly easily. On the outside.
“How are you handling this?” he asked cautiously.
“Not well,” she admitted. “But having seen some video and firsthand evidence of it all is helping to ease the shock. Though I suspect I won’t truly believe until I see a dragon with my own eyes, you know?”
He nodded. “I get it.”
“Now, what’s this about mates?” Her voice was almost chilly. “Especially in regard to you and me.”
This was the tricky part. The place where he could either win Kaitlyn, or lose her, potentially for good. There was no way for him to know how she would take what he was about to tell her, and no way for him to back out either. He had committed to this action when he’d admitted that dragons were real, and that he was one of them.
“Dragons can date, and take lovers, much like humans. There is courtship and emotion and physical connection, just like you would expect. However there is only one mate for each dragon. Ever.”
“So a soulmate. You stole that from us,” she said smugly.
Aric returned her look. “Actually no, your mythology stole that from us.”
Kaitlyn’s forehead wrinkled as her eyebrows lifted. “Really. That’s interesting.”
“Thieves,” he joked, before resuming. “Anyway, when a dragon finds his or her mate, they will become mated, a pairing that lasts until the dragon’s death.”
He watched her face, saw the lines and creases come and go as she thought through all the implications in her head. “And you’re saying that I’m your mate.”
“No, not quite. I’m saying that we’re mated. To each other.”
“But I’m not a dragon.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re drawn to each other. That’s why our connection is so good, so strong, despite it being such a short period of time.”
“When did you realize this?” she asked suspiciously.
“On the plane here.”
Hair bounced everywhere as she shook her head. “How did it take you nearly a month to come to that conclusion?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But on the plane I sensed that something was different about you. Something had changed.”
Kaitlyn’s attitude disappeared in a flash, the white, pasty look returning to her normally pinkish-tan skin. “Oh?” she croaked. “What was that?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet.”
“What was all that talk about money then?” she asked. “Offering me a big payday if I would come along? If that wasn’t to mate with me, why not?”
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He shrugged. “I wanted to have someone along who would be fun, so we could enjoy our time here. My goal wasn’t to sleep with you at all, to be honest. Only once we were on the plane did I realize I needed to form a connection with you.”
“I see.” Kaitlyn looked lost. “So there’s no payday then, is there?”
Aric suddenly realized something. “That’s why you were so upset with me earlier, about the negotiations being postponed?”
“Yes,” she said sharply, the subject of mates already being pushed into the background, much to his dismay.
“I didn’t realize you were so obsessed with money.”
“I’m not.” She spoke quickly, too quickly. “I wasn’t, at least. Like you said, things have changed. I could use it for something important. I don’t like being lied to about money either.”
Aric laughed. “Kaitlyn, you never have to worry about money again. You can trust me on that. You’ll have access to more than you ever dreamed of with me. I’m sorry; I had no idea you were so worried about that. I didn’t mean to leave your well-being hanging.”
Kaitlyn smiled tightly before looking away. “You’re forgetting something, Aric.”
His smile faded at her quiet words. “What’s that?” he asked, nervousness coursing through him like a flash flood.
“I haven’t agreed to be with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaitlyn
Aric looked lost for a moment, and in that instant his external defenses dropped away. Kaitlyn was afforded a full glimpse into his soul. She saw the trepidation and insecurity, and the worry that he might lose her forever. All of it was written on his face and conveyed with his eyes. It was the most vulnerable she’d seen him yet, and it actually swung her in his favor, despite his likely worries to the contrary.
“You can’t deny that there’s something between us,” he said, trying to sound confident. “I know that much at least. You have feelings for me, just like I do for you. Whether you’ll act on them or not, I don’t know, but do me the favor of telling the truth.”
Kaitlyn relaxed into her metal folding chair. “You’re right, Aric. I do have feelings for you. This you.”
His face scrunched up. “Huh?
“But what you am I going to get? The one I’ve seen since we boarded the plane? Happy, easygoing and quick to crack a joke? Or the hard-nosed asshole that the entire office both fears and loathes all at once? Or the penny-pinching dick from earlier today who postponed the entire negotiations just so he could make a quick extra dollar?”
“This money thing is a big deal for you, isn’t it?” he asked. “And the negotiation delay isn’t what you thought.”
Kaitlyn looked away, biting her lip while she formed her sentence. “Yes. I…when I was younger, I had roles in some commercials. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was a good amount of money, and it covered several years. It was, by most normal people’s lives, enough to change their life in a good way, though not enough to retire and say screw the world.”
“I understand.”
She doubted he did. He came from money, breathed money, bled money. But his attempt to understand was nice enough. “My parents were in charge of the money, because I was a child. When I turned eighteen I was supposed to gain access to it.”
Aric’s face dawned with understanding, and then anger. “It wasn’t there, was it?”
“No,” she said weakly. “My parents gambled it all away within the first two years, I found out. What should have sat there gathering interest was instead squandered by the two people who were supposed to raise me. It destroyed my family, and has left me a bit touchy about money issues since.” She looked down. “I don’t normally tell people that. It hurts so much.”
“I don’t blame you,” Aric said, reaching out to rest his hand on hers.
She didn’t pull away. The warmth of his touch was nice in a moment like this.
“If it’s about the money, let me just settle that right now.” He pulled out his phone, sent several texts, and then waited for a minute.
Kaitlyn stared, wondering what he was doing, and what he was waiting for. About four minutes passed before his phone buzzed again.
“Check your bank account,” he insisted, pointing to her pocket with her phone in it.
“What do you mean?” But she did as he asked, logging in to her banking account and—
“ARE YOU NUTS?” she shouted as the balance registered with her. “Aric, that’s a lot of money.”
“A quarter of a million. Or at least it had better be.”
“It is,” she breathed, stunned. “But…I don’t understand?”
He smiled. “I was trying to cover something up by saying the negotiations are delayed,” he admitted. “Not trying to screw you out of money. I wanted to show you how serious I take my commitment to you.”
Kaitlyn was silent. That was a pretty serious sign, in her eyes at least. Would he take everything about her as seriously? Including a child? She hoped the answer was yes, that the person she was seeing now was the real one, the real Aric, but she just didn’t know.
“You said you were covering something up?” she asked.
“We were attacked,” he said. “You saw it in the cavern.”
“I don’t understand.”
Aric made her understand. She learned all about the horrors of the Outsiders, and how some of them were now on the run, out in the world putting people in danger. All the other dragons were being tasked to go after them, while Aric was going to stay here and help guard the base.
“That sounds dangerous.” She wrung her hands. “You aren’t mated, so you don’t have protection from them. You could die, Aric.”
“I could. But if one of them makes it back with word of our defenses, our strengths, or about the existence of dragons, then it could screw everything up. They need to be stopped, no matter what, Kaitlyn. If that means putting my life on the line for millions or even billions of other people? I can’t do anything else. It’s not who I am.”
She frowned. “Who are you Aric? Which one of the men I’ve met are you?”
“The one you see before you,” he said, spreading his hands open, just like he was doing with his heart. “The office Aric, that’s a guise. It keeps people away, and stops them from asking too many questions.”
“It sounds lonely.”
“It was, until I met you.”
It was cheesy. Dammit it was cheesy, but he meant it, and that just made her heart ache. She could be with this man. This version of Aric. That was a man she could spend time with. A lot of time.
First though, she would have to tell him her secret, the one that had haunted her every night they’d been here, and most waking hours as well. It was past time he knew that he was going to be a father. That his mate was pregnant with his child.
“Aric,” she said, opening her mouth.
The door burst open without warning. Aric leapt to his feet, moving like a blur to interpose himself between her and whoever was at the door.
“Aric, I’m sorry to bother you.” It was the voice of the first guard who had apprehended her. “But we’ve been breached. One of them is heading for the tunnel now, and all of our ready suits just left to pursue the others. We’re low on personnel and—”
“I understand,” he said, his voice filling with command and calm, the aura swallowing Kaitlyn as well, making her feel more at ease. “I’ll be there.”
He turned to Kaitlyn. “Kaitlyn Harver. I love you. But I need to go.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aric
He only waited long enough for the impact of his words to register on his mate’s face. That instance of wonder and delight was the last image of her he would take into the fiercest battle of his life. It buoyed his spirits and made him long to be back there, to scoop her up into his arms once more.
If there had only been time he would have done so, kissing her hard, giving her something to remember him by in case the worst were to happen. T
here just wasn’t time for him to do that, though. The pain in his heart at being ripped away from her without a parting kiss screamed at him to go back, to rectify that mistake, but he couldn’t. It would be the wrong move.
The soldiers wouldn’t have come and found him if it weren’t urgent. The situation was dire. Nobody had expected the Outsiders to come back to the portal so soon, if at all. All the brainstorming had given them days, if not weeks while the alien creatures skulked around, collected intelligence and formulated a plan. It was the smart thing to do.
It was what a human would do.
They’d failed to realize this wasn’t a human, nor even a shapeshifter from earth. This was an alien, and they thought in alien ways.
It doesn’t matter how they think. All that matters is stopping them.
Aric knew that was partially flawed logic. If he could understand how it thought, he could find a way to beat it. The Outsiders didn’t leave much in the way of…well, anything, besides their exoskeletons and the purple goo that as far as anyone could tell was the Outsider, some sort of protoplasm-being that science couldn’t understand.
Either way, they could be killed, and Aric needed to do just that. He increased his speed though the tunnel, catching up and passing the soldier. He didn’t apologize for leaving him behind. The base was low on the battlesuits built to combat the aliens, and they had no dragons left behind either. All of them were out combing the countryside for the other escapees, trying to stop them before they did too much damage.
It would be up to Aric and whatever handful of suits and brave unarmored soldiers they had left.
He reached the tunnel and skidded to a halt, listening. From much farther up the shaft he heard the staccato of gunfire, automatic weapons firing in short bursts, interspersed with the shouts of officers, and the occasional scream. He wasn’t too late.
Aric started heading up the slope, drawing power to him as he went. Several other soldiers formed up around him, though they stayed several paces behind after the first surge of electricity flowed out from him into the nearby metal support ring. It wasn’t intentional, but he was carrying a lot of power in him just now.
