by Tl Reeve
“Right, okay. Bree. Yeah, that’s what her uncle calls her. But her name is Aubrey. Aubrey Dalton. Would you be willing to have a test done to see if you’re related?”
“Yes, of course. I—I’ve always wanted to meet my sister. My parents didn’t think it was a good idea. I’m not entirely sure why. Like I said, they only mentioned her a couple times over the years. And when they died, I just didn’t know how to find her. Honestly, I didn’t have it in me to try. But you think you’ve found her?” The question was nearly desperate. Riley needed this as much as Aubrey did.
Despite his hesitations, Nate said, “I do.”
Riley’s face fell for a second before he asked, “What do you mean she’s been going through some stuff. Is she in trouble?”
“No, no. She’s just. . .she’s been having some medical issues, and we thought it would help if we could find her biological parents. Get some family history to help with the diagnosis.” Nate explained. He wasn’t about to ask Riley if he was a dragon. One step at a time.
Riley still looked a little crushed. “Like what? Autoimmune? Cancer?”
“Uh, no.”
“Then what? Is she really sick?” Riley wasn’t making it easy to take things slow. The man clearly wanted to know everything all at once. He cared about this sister he’d never met.
“No she’s mostly fine, she just has episodes. They seem to be brought on by, uh, stress. Look, why don’t we do the test, and then we can talk more?” Nate wanted to know for sure that they were related before he dove into specifics. If Aubrey was a dragon, and Riley wasn’t her brother that could have huge consequences for her.
“Can I meet her first?” Riley asked.
This could go very poorly. Clearly, they’re related. They look too much alike for this to be a coincidence. But still. . .
“Let me talk to her. She doesn’t know that I came here to talk to you. She doesn’t know that I found this lead.” Nate explained. Yep, she’s going to kill me.
“Okay, sure. That makes sense. But I want to meet her. I’ll know if she’s my sister. The test can confirm it, but I’ll know.” Riley sounded so sure.
Nate assured him that he’d talk to Aubrey, and get back to him. He also asked Riley to keep this quiet until Nate had a chance to get back to him. Last thing he needed was Dalton catching wind of it.
Nate wanted to kill Riley Brandt. It didn’t matter that Aubrey was smiling. She was also crying. Maybe tears of joy. It still didn’t matter. Riley was a dead man.
Six hours. That’s how long it had been since Nate had left Riley at Waldenburg University. Six fucking hours. And yet here the asshole was, standing out front of Prufrock’s Coffee and Literature, hugging Aubrey.
I will kill you.
Aubrey caught Nate watching them. She pulled away from Riley, whispering something to him before squeezing his hand, and then she was heading toward him.
“Hey,” she said softly, stopping short of hugging him. He knew he’d brought this on himself, but still her deliberate attempts to keep him at arm’s length was maddening. The winter solstice was in four days. Four days. And the pull he felt toward Aubrey was overwhelming. His desire to protect her was admittedly beyond the normal scope of his job. Winter solstice was turning him into some sort of barbarian.
“Hi,” he replied. Don’t touch her. Do not touch her. Four more days.
“You found him.”
Yes, and your asshole brother couldn’t even keep quiet about it until I talked to you.
“I think I did, yes.”
She was moving that green-eyed gaze over his face, trying to read him. He knew he was being cold. He knew he looked like a dick. And yet, he couldn’t let himself soften. If he softened, he’d touch her, and if he touched her, he wouldn’t stop. He’d push her against the plate-glass window, shove that fucking wool pencil skirt up to her waist, tear through her tights and fuck her.
Sweet fuck, winter solstice is so soon. Lock it up, Evans.
Elation painted her face. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Nothing has been confirmed.”
Aubrey looked over her shoulder at Riley, who was watching them closely, and then back at Nate. “Really? Nate, look at him. Turn him blond, and bam, you see it. Right?”
He shrugged. “I’m just saying it hasn’t been confirmed yet with a blood test. Something scientific.” Could I be more of an ass? Please, Blondie, don’t push me. I’m holding on by a thread.
He needed to make it past the solstice. He needed to know that this buzzing wasn’t a result of the pull of the season, the charm of Festival. Ever since Summer suggested it, the idea had been in his mind. This attraction was merely a result of the extra charge in the air, their powers pulling them together.
She was staring at him as if she expected more from him.
“Yeah, there’s a similarity,” he admitted.
Aubrey frowned at him. “You don’t look happy.”
He wasn’t happy. He was furious, but that wasn’t her fault. “I’d hoped to talk to you first. I didn’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Her face brightened again. “We ran into each other on campus, of all places. I did a double take when I saw him. It was the strangest moment of recognition. And I’m not getting my hopes up. I mean, I guess I am. But really,” she lowered her voice, “I have a brother. I had no idea. And I’m freaking out a little. I mean, what does this mean? Was he given up for adoption too?”
Nate realized a moment too late that the last question was actually directed at him and not rhetorical. “I, uh, no. They didn’t.”
All the joy went from her face, and then her lips tried to tug it back. “Okay.”
“Blondie,” he whispered, reaching out to soothe her. He could have softened his tone when he’d answered her. He could have taken a moment to realize that this wasn’t as easy for her as she was trying to make it seem. Instead he’d been trying to keep that distance. And now that he was letting that distance drop, seeing his mistake, she was pulling back. She took a step away from him.
“No, I mean. Right. That’s rough, but. . .I have a brother. And he seems happy to see me.” She pulled at the lapels on her coat. “And he seems nice.”
“Riley is a great guy, from what I’ve heard.”
“You know him?” Her face darkened in confusion.
“A little. Friend of a friend really. Look, can we talk, but not in front of Prufrock’s?” He reached for her arm again and she took another step back. It was like she’d slapped him. In fact, slapping him would have hurt less.
You did this to yourself.
“Riley is waiting for me. We were going inside, for coffee,” she stammered, her eyes on his hand. He let it drop back to his side.
Nate was vaguely aware that he was nodding. And then he watched her walk away, back to Riley, then inside Prufrock’s. He stood like an idiot staring after her, wanting to go with her. He should have apologized for allowing so many days to go by without talking about what had happened between them. He should have told her why he was pulling back when all he wanted to do was rush forward. Lauren would have told him he was being chicken-shit if she were there instead of spending the holidays with their parents in Denver.
Lauren. He should call her. He needed to talk to someone, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk to any of his coworkers. Most of his friends since moving to Waldenburg he’d met through work, which didn’t leave him many confidants. And he could rely on Lauren to call it like she saw it.
As he walked away from Prufrock’s and Aubrey, Nate dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed his sister’s number.
12
Everything about Riley felt right. Looking at him was like looking into a weird alternative mirror. Listening to him talk about school made Aubrey feel like they’d secretly been friends for years, but neither had ever known until just now. The fact they’d never before met didn’t put a damper on the feeling she was talking to an old friend.
She brought
him up to speed on how she’d come to Waldenburg and her new job. She told him about trying to go to Festival to talk to the Elders, and meeting Nate. And healing him.
“You actually healed him? Completely?” Riley asked with a shocked but impressed look on his face.
“He has a scar, but yeah, otherwise he’s fine.” Oh sweet mercy is he fine.
“You know he told me you were having health problems, and I freaked out a bit. I thought maybe cancer. Dragons are notoriously healthy. We can heal ourselves too, like you did for Nate, so it’s rare that we get really hurt. But cancer. . .if it’s the nasty stuff, the fast spreading kind, it can kill us,” Riley explained.
“So far all the tests have come back as negative on that front. I don’t know what’s happening anymore. I overheated the other day. I could see scales, and my eyes were black, and. . .well, I passed out. Nate said my temperature was really high.”
Riley nodded as if this were all very typical. “Makes sense. No one ever trained you to control the power, that’s all. You’re what, mid-twenties?”
“Twenty-eight, nearly twenty-nine,” Aubrey replied.
“Okay, so I doubt it’s hormonal. Sometimes puberty can trigger horrible flashes, but that doesn’t happen often. Hormonal triggers are rare. Usually it’s emotional. Something tragic, or life changing. Exhaustion can bring it about too. Overworking. Straining your body until it decides it’s going to repair itself. He said you’ve been stressed.”
“My sister and I have been drifting apart in the last year, and then I was competing for this job at WU. I’ll admit that I wasn’t getting enough sleep, but I didn’t really feel too tired. I didn’t really feel too worn out. More like I was moving through life in a cloud.” She shrugged.
“That’s taxing on the body, and I think yours responded like any dragon’s would have, using your own magic to heal yourself, to make it easier. But you were never trained to control that power, so it was acting all on its own. And that’s dangerous, like having an ungrounded-outlet in a bathroom. You’re bound to have sparks and scary moments.”
Listening to Riley made it all make sense. Aubrey could look back on the times she’d passed out, when she’d gotten too hot, when her body had pulsed and ached, and she could link each time to a stressor.
“Speaking of sparks,” she said slowly. Riley nodded and leaned his elbows onto the table between them. “Is it common to feel like a low hum to a buzzing sensation around witches?”
“All witches?” Riley asked, surprise etched in his voice.
“Well, no. Just one.” She bit her lip, silently cursing that her face felt very warm. Damn blushing problem.
Riley studied her for a moment and then smiled. “Just one? Which one?”
“Nate.” Full blazing heat in her cheeks. She was sure she had scrawled across her face “I want to jump this man, but I can’t because he’s avoiding me like I’m a flame-breathing monster.”
“Interesting. So when you, uh, touch him, you feel this?” Riley spoke with great care.
“No. I mean yes. I mean, it’s a hum, a low vibration when he’s near, and it intensifies as he gets closer, and then when we touch, it’s electric. Not bad, though,” she added quickly.
Riley nodded and sat back in his chair, looking off to the side as if he was thinking quite hard. When he looked back to Aubrey, he said, “You didn’t finish healing him, right? There’s a scar.”
“He was shot. I would be shocked if he didn’t have a scar.” She pointed out.
“Right, if he had sought medical attention. But you didn’t take him to the hospital. You pushed your power into his body and then in drawing it back out, you healed him. What you’re feeling is your energy that’s stuck in his body. I’m 83 percent, no 90 percent, sure of it.” Riley smiled like he’d just solved a jigsaw puzzle by himself for the first time.
“What’s that mean then?” Aubrey hoped she hadn’t done something horribly wrong that couldn’t be fixed. Had she actually hurt Nate in trying to help him? Or maybe she’d hurt herself.
“Well, it means you need to finish the job,” Riley replied with a chuckle. “I can train you on how to use your power, or at least get you started. I know someone who would really be a better teacher than me, but he’s not in Waldenburg. I can also teach you about our traditions and rules.”
“Rules?” she asked with a groan.
Riley let out a full belly laugh. “Yes, rules. Witches have them, so do we. You probably don’t know that some witches are very bad. For us, I mean. There are hunters who want our power. Our power is different from their power, and can be used in different ways, such as to heal.
“Anyway, it’s a long history lesson best suited for another day in a private location. The point is, don’t reveal to anyone what you are. And don’t go around saving people’s lives all the time. You chose the wrong profession if you wanted to do that. Many dragons are doctors for the very reason that they feel obligated to use their powers to help others. You’ve chosen literature. Also a noble pursuit.”
Aubrey’s head was spinning with all the information.
“It had seemed a little too much like a fairy tale to believe it meant true love,” she muttered.
“Because of the solstice, you mean?” Riley asked.
“Yes, a friend of mine mentioned it. I hadn’t really thought it was true.”
“We all have our myths,” Riley said dismissively.
Aubrey moved the conversation away from Nate, and the buzzing, and love and fairy tales, to her parents, and Riley’s life and trying to get a better picture of who he was. Relief washed through her the more they talked, and yet also disappointment. She’d not believed the feeling she got when Nate was near was due to fate, or destiny. But she did like it. And the fact she could so easily get rid of it didn’t excite her.
As Riley told her about her parents, and his life with them, one question lurked in the back of her mind. Asking it hardly seemed fair. Riley couldn’t possibly have the answer. And still—
“I don’t guess they—I mean, maybe they hinted—” she stopped and took a deep breath. “Why, if something like this could happen, with us being what we are, and apparently rare, why would they…” She couldn’t get it out. Riley put his hand over hers on the table and shook his head from side to side.
“I wish they’d told me more. I really do. They were scared, I know that. Not just because they’d been young.” Riley looked around nervously, as if someone might appear and stop him from saying more.
“Afraid of what?”
Riley leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You know they died in a car crash, but personally, I think someone arranged for them to die in that crash. I know that makes me sound crazy. The police and the coroner’s reports don’t support my claim, but…well, there are people out there who don’t think we should exist. Mom and Dad were always so worried someone might find them. Not find them out. Find them.”
She squeezed Riley’s hand as she fought for something, anything, to say to her brother. She wasn’t sure what to think about what he was telling her.
“I know it sounds crazy. I do. But I also have lived in this world my entire life, and trust me, it’s possible. I think they were trying to protect you. These health problems you’ve been having, they don’t happen for all of us. Mom and Dad probably thought you’d go your entire life without knowing what you are. They probably hoped that would be the case.”
“Are you, no, are we in danger?” she asked, not fully grasping what kind of threat could be out there.
“You’ve got some good people on your side, Aubrey. I don’t think you’re in that kind of danger. But you should be careful about who you tell. My best friend in this whole world is a witch, and I know she’d never betray me. That detective, he’s good too. Just be cautious.”
Aubrey hoped he was right. Her life felt crazy enough, right now, without having to worry about someone trying to kill her. “Anything else I should know?”
Riley narrow
ed his eyes in thought before he replied, “I can’t think of anything just now. But I was wondering about something Nate said.” She nodded for him to continue. “Did your uncle somehow know our parents? Nate says he calls you Brie.”
She grinned. “No, he didn’t know our parents. He didn’t know what I am either. I earned that nickname by binging on too much cheese when I was a kid.”
He chuckled. “Sounds rough.”
“It wasn’t my finest hour.”
Nate had just received the phone call that he was sure would lead to a major breakthrough in the Mansfield case. He’d also received five texts from Aubrey in the past hour. The first three he’d read, to make sure there wasn’t an emergency. And there wasn’t. She was excited about her brother, which was awesome, but he didn’t have time to celebrate with her. He needed to get down to Denver and follow up on this lead in person.
Highway 25 was at a standstill. Nate leaned his head back against the car seat and went over alternative routes in his head. The 287 might be his best option, assuming the construction around Lafayette had cleared away. He ran over the details of the Mansfield file in his head, making mental notes of all the key pieces of information. He couldn’t afford to over look a single detail. If he was on top of his game and 100 percent focused, this would be a slam dunk, assuming the tip he’d received was solid. The traffic was an unfortunate distraction. Every delay was an opportunity for this case to go south.
His phone rang and he answered without checking the ID on his dash. “Detective Evans.”
“Wow, official greeting. I guess you’re still at work?” Aubrey’s teasing voice came through the stereo of his car.
“What’s wrong, Aubrey?” The question held way too much bite as his anger from the traffic delays transferred to her interruption.
“Nothing is wrong.” She sounded taken aback.
“Then why are you calling?” he asked as the car in front of him slammed on the breaks.
“I just wanted to tell you about my meeting with Riley.”
