Dragons Crown (Elder Enterprises Book 2)

by Jo Vanz

  “How do you neutralize it?” Katie asked, her voiced laced with annoyance.

  “You have to collect the tears of a water dragon turned ice,” one of the men squeaked out.

  “Damn it,” Paul barked out. “Where do you keep a stash of the tears?”

  “We don’t have any right now. We used the last of it to test to make sure it worked.” The man tilted his head down to look at the floor.

  Katie looked up at Paul, “Wait, there are ice dragons now, too?”

  “In a way, yes. They are water dragons that have lived so far north for a really long time, their water has frozen and their bodies have evolved to accommodate it. The issue is, I have only ever heard of two of them.”

  “So I guess this isn’t going to be as easy as we originally thought?” Katie let out a sigh. It would be her luck that they couldn’t just get this done and over with.

  “Is the pedestal laced?” Paul asked as he eyed the book.

  “Not that I know of,” the last man spoke up.

  “Better to not risk it.” Paul turned to Mark. “Go find the longest tongs you can find and thick rubber gloves. We will read the book without removing it, at least until we can find a fucking ice dragon.”

  ***

  Paul watched from a a few feet away as Chiles flipped through the pages of the book. He had on gloves that went up to his elbows and in each hand he held a pair of tongs. As promised, the tongs would start to melt after about an hour.

  At first everyone had gathered tightly around Chiles as he read through the book. Chiles would mumble incoherently every now and then. Sometimes it would be in English while others it was in an ancient tongue that even Paul didn’t know. It unsettled him to know that Chiles could read this as if it was nothing, but it had taken him months to try and decipher it and had failed.

  Katie twitched in the seat next to him. Paul looked over to see her lids closed, head back, mouth open. She hadn’t slept nearly as much as she should have. Yes, he was to blame for that, too. He loved seeing her like this. She looked so peaceful, as if her world hadn’t been turned upside down.

  A small sigh escaped his lips. He had been so lost before he had found her. He didn’t really have a purpose in life; well, except to fuck everything up. Now? He had so much to live for. Katie, of course, was the biggest reason. But so was the fact that the dragon kind needed them. Needed their help to not only find these females, but to get them back on a track where life was great.

  “Paul, get over here,” Chiles whispered over his shoulder. Paul was grateful for that. Katie needed to sleep, he could deal with whatever was happening now. He slowly stood and walked softly over to Chiles, looking over his shoulder as he moved to make sure that he hadn’t woken Katie up. With a sigh of relief, Paul closed the space between he and Chiles.

  “The book can be destroyed, and I know how to do it, but,” Chiles looked as if he was having an internal fight with himself.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Paul asked, annoyance filling every syllable.

  “If I were to destroy it now, then I would never have the answers I seek. There has to be something in here telling me where I came from.” Chiles shook his head before looking up at Paul. “I have searched almost my whole immortal life for any clue as to where this hidden place could be. I’m not going to throw away that chance now.”

  Paul knew the feeling. Knew he couldn’t ask Chiles to give up now. Couldn’t ask him to throw away the only chance he had. Paul shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to look at his mate. He knew that he should ask for her opinion, but he couldn’t bring himself to go wake her up. He could handle this one situation on his own. After all, he was King.

  Chapter 9

  Katie woke to the feel of a soft bed under her. The last thing she remembered was watching Chiles melt tongs while reading that stupid book. The damn thing just kept causing more and more problems. She couldn’t wait for the damn thing to be destroyed.

  After stretching her whole body, Katie sat up to look around. Sure enough, she was laying in hers and Paul’s bed. Yet he was no where in the room. Sounds of people moving around in the next room caught her attention. There had to be at least three people moving around in there.

  “Great,” she whispered to herself as she flopped back down into the warm covers and fluffy pillows. She was starting to feel like she and Paul weren’t ever going to get any time to themselves. It seemed that their whole lives now revolved around everyone else.

  “It comes with being Queen,” she whispered. But damn, was it too much to ask that they get a few hours a day by themselves to be a couple? To get to really know one another? Yeah, she was now mated to Paul but between him being on the run and then being tossed unwittingly into the life of Royals, Katie still didn’t know just who he was.

  It takes years for someone to fully know the person they are with. To know the little quirks. To fall in love with everything about them. Even the things that they hate. Why? Because every little thing is part of that person. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Paul. Sure, he was great in bed, he cared about her, and had encouraged her to find out the truth about her birth parents, but there was still so much more that she wanted to know. Needed to know.

  With a sigh, Katie heaved herself up out of the bed and made a bee-line for the bathroom. Once in there, she quickly washed up and then went to get dressed. She really didn’t care what she was wearing, she just grabbed a few items and threw them on. The only thing she cared about was getting everything taken care of and then spending some time with her King.

  She paused at the door and took a few calming breaths before jerking the door open. As she stepped out of the room, three sets of eyes turned in her direction. Chiles and Mark quickly turned away and continued working on something. Paul, on the other hand, headed straight for her. Pulling her into his arms, he bent down to give her a quick kiss.

  “Moring, beautiful,” he said with a huge smile plastered on his face.

  “Morning,” she replied as she burrowed her face into his chest and took in a deep breath. She loved the way he smelled like fresh air. It calmed her. “So what are you guys working on this morning?” she asked.

  Paul let out a small sigh. “We can’t destroy the book yet. Chiles knows how to, but he still needs to find where all the secrets of his people are hidden. So we are working on our own protection for the book.”

  Katie’s head snapped up to look at Paul. “Excuse me?” she snapped. “Everything we have been doing has been to get rid of that damn thing. We have given up time to get to know one another, searching for all the females out there, and figuring out who my parents are.” She pushed away from him. “You should have talked to me before just making up your mind.”

  Paul bowed his head a little. “Yes, I should have, but I also knew you were exhausted. Hell, you didn’t even stir a little bit the whole way home last night. Your body has been through a lot of changes recently. You need to rest more, so I thought I could take care of this one problem. Trust me, love. Everyone will win.”

  Katie hated the idea that the book was still here, it meant she and Paul wouldn’t get any time together until it was gone. But she knew that Paul was a smart man, so if he had decided to keep it around, there was a reason for it. “Fine, I will let this one go on one stipulation. I am done waking up in that bed alone only to find people here in our home. I need time with just you.”

  A smile spread out over Paul’s lips again. He stepped toward her before pulling her into him. “That is something I am willing to do,” he whispered before leaning down and taking her mouth. A tingle of pleasure spread through Katie’s body. He pulled away a few moments later, leaving Katie weak in the knees. He turned his head to look at Mark and Chiles. “You hear that, boys? You are not allowed over here in the mornings until I have had time to ravish my Queen.”

  Mark shook his head with a huge grin and Chiles let out a soft laugh before going back to work. Katie peeled herself off of Paul
before turning and heading into the kitchen to retrieve a cup of hot coffee. “So are you going to tell me the plan?” she asked as she poured the hot liquid into a huge mug.

  “For now, the book will be transferred here. We have found out that we can move the whole podium, so that’s what we will do. Mark and Chiles are busy putting together our own defenses to include some magical aspects.” Paul walked over to the oven and pulled out a plate full of food and handed it to Katie.

  “Then once Chiles has found out everything he needs to know, we will destroy it,” Paul said as Katie took a seat at the breakfast bar.

  “How long will it take him?” Katie asked before shoveling food into her mouth. A slight moan escaped her lips. She didn’t know if she had ever had such wonderful food. It made her wonder if it was just her body evolving or if Paul was just that amazing at cooking.

  Paul sighed. “That’s the problem, we don’t know. It could take a few days or a few weeks. Either way, we need to be patient with him.”

  Katie nodded her head in agreement. She knew that Chiles was a hot head and now being teased with the idea that he might find out more about his own race was probably killing him.

  It only took Katie a few more minutes to scarf down her food. When she was done, she grabbed her coffee cup and walked over to Chiles. “I have an idea so that we all win in this situation. Mark tells me that you guys have worked together before.”

  “That’s right,” Chile’s said as he looked up at her.

  “Then in exchange for you getting to find out all the secrets that are unfurling inside of you, I want your help to locate our females.” Katie watched as confusion spread across his face.

  “One of our females has been leaving our female babies with the humans, then passing off dead human babies as our own. We were made to believe they were dead,” Mark explained.

  “Damn, that had to be one pissed off bitch,” Chiles said with a laugh. “But I fail to see how this has anything to with me.”

  “You work well with Mark, he could use some help when he starts going out in a few days. It will take time for you to find all that you need to know, so why not help some friends out since we are helping you?” Katie watched as Chiles stood there silently for a few minutes.

  “Fine, I will do it,” he bit out. “But I want help when I locate the tomb.”

  “We can do that,” Katie said without a second thought.

  A ringing phone sounded behind Katie. She turned to watch Paul pull his phone out of his pocket and stick it to his ear. After a few moments, his face changed. He hung up the phone and walked over to Katie.

  “We have some news concerning your parents and my sister,” he said, face hard as stone. “We need to go into Elder Enterprises and find out what is going on.”

  Katie nodded and Mark was already halfway to the door. Chiles followed suit but Katie could tell that he didn’t want to be joining in on this.

  Sweat beaded on Katie’s brow as the elevator made it’s descent to the main floor. It would seem they were walking this time and not driving. Katie didn’t mind, she ached to feel the cool breeze against her damp skin. She hoped that it would bring her some peace.

  It would seem that the time had finally come for her to find out who her parents were. She had seen the hope in the eyes of each of the families just a few days ago. They were just as worried about if she belonged to them, too. Worried they had missed out on a lifetime with her.

  Sure, Katie wanted to know. Needed to know. But she didn’t feel the same urgency as she did before. Now she was worried that her new family would try and use her power as the queen. She wasn’t even used to all she was capable of, was she ready to drag others into it?

  Paul placed his arm around her as they stepped out into the lobby and headed for the doors. By time they stepped outside, her heart was racing. Katie tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, but nothing was helping.

  “Love, we don’t have to do this right now.” Paul’s calming voice surrounded her.

  With a shake of her head, Katie pushed away from him and looked up at him. “No, it’s now or never.” It all just made her nervous. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that said something big was about to happen. Something no one expected. With every step they took toward Elder Enterprises, the feeling grew. By the time they stepped onto the elevator to go up to the top floor, Katie had to hold back the vomit that threatened to come up at any second.

  Mark and Chiles talked softly the whole way. Katie picked up a nervous lilt in Mark’s voice every now and then but Chiles did a good job erasing it quickly. Katie was beginning to see that they did truly work well together. A small part of her wondered if there was more going on between them than just being friends, but she wasn’t going to voice that curiosity just yet.

  The elevator dinged. Suddenly, the small space was filled with tension as the door slowly slid open. Taking a deep breath, they all filed out and into the open area. A man Katie didn’t know rushed over and gave a quick bow. “My King, we have not been able to reach your father. I was hoping that you may have heard from him.”

  “Shit,” Katie whispered. She had forgotten to release Fabian from his home. Before she could say anything, Paul had pulled his phone out and stepped away. Everyone stood there silently as they waited for him to return.

  A few minutes later he came back, face hard as stone. “He will be here in fifteen minutes. So let’s start with Katie’s parents and then move on to Lilith.”

  No one argued. They all nodded in agreement and headed for the long table in the center of the room. The older gentleman stayed standing while everyone else took a seat. He shuffled some files around. Hands shaking, he looked up at Katie.

  “My Queen, it seems there was a slight mistake.” He looked down at the table. “Thanks to the DNA test, we now know that none of those families from Maryland were your parents.”

  Katie’s heart skipped a beat. Breaths came in short, loud puffs. “What exactly are trying to say? Do you not know who my family is?” Katie asked as she clenched on to the side of the table.

  “On the contrary,” the older gentleman said. “We decided to run your DNA against all those we had on file.” He paused to take a breath. “There is no easy way to say this, but your parent’s died almost twenty years ago.”

  “Oh,” was all Katie could say. She slumped back in her chair as tears started to roll down her face. Paul reached over and squeezed her hand. She would never get to know the kind of people her parents were. Never get to know if they had truly loved her.

  “You do have one sister,” the man said in a softer tone.

  Katie sat straight up. “Who?” she snapped.

  The man didn’t say anything, he just handed Katie a file. Sweat rolled down his forehead and his hands shook so badly that Katie had a hard time gripping the papers.

  Once they were on the table in front of her, she hesitated. She felt everyone’s eyes on her as she flipped the folder open and looked at the picture of the woman in front of her. She had seen that fiery red hair before. Knew that face. A face she had come to hate. Julie Embers.

  “That’s impossible,” Paul whispered next to her. “How is this fucking possible?” He looked up at the man standing there.

  “Their mother was a fire dragon, their father a water dragon. It would seem our Queen took more after her father and Julie is more like their mother.

  Katie couldn’t speak. She couldn’t breathe. Hatred ran through her veins. “How did they die?” she snapped.

  “A car crash,” was the only response she received.

  The rest of the world faded away. Katie couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Julie was her sister. The woman who had been trying to kill her. Had she killed their parents, too? Katie wouldn’t have put it past her.

  A laugh escaped Katie’s lips. Everyone looked at her as if she were crazy. “Love?” Paul tilted his head to the side.

  “I had always wanted to know what true sibling rivalry f
elt like. Now this bitch is taking it to a whole new level.” She shook her head and laughed even harder as tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Chiles walked over and looked at Julie’s picture before going pale. “I saw her. She was right outside Mark’s building after it exploded. But she seemed to be fading in and out of my vision, as if she had been cloaked in magic.”

  “Are you sure?” Paul asked. When Chiles nodded, Paul cursed under his breath. “I thought I had seen her before meeting up at the café, but she just disappeared so I though that I was just seeing things.”

  Heat spread out over Katie’s body. Anger started to grow. The bitch had killed all those people. Had almost killed off the entire dragon race. She deserved to die, only Katie didn’t think that she could bring herself to give that order now. A part of her needed to know everything she could find out about her family. Julie was now the only one that could give her that information.

  Fabian chose that moment to walk in. He gave Katie and Paul a nervous smile before coming over to kneel before Katie.

  “My Queen, I am so sorry for my actions as of late. I was not thinking of the race as a whole. I have been selfish and uncaring. I swear from here on out, I will do better.” He waited until Katie tipped her head before standing again. He then turned to Paul and Mark. “I am truly sorry for everything I have done to the two of you. I wasn’t the best father but I promise to change that as we move forward.”

  Paul didn’t say anything, he just clenched his jaw and held his head high. Mark just shrugged at him and turned to the man standing at the head of the table. “What did you find on Lilith?” he asked impatiently.

  “We managed to trace her through the many foster homes that she had. Then from there she attempted to go to college, but dropped out during her second semester.” The man paused and took a deep swallow of water.

  “What happened to her after she left college?” Paul asked in a whisper. The knot in Katie’s stomach began to twist again. She reached over and gripped Paul’s hand.