Zed’s riotous nature was a far cry from Zander’s calm, strong presence.
“You lie!”
The girl piped up, and the two men looked equally surprised by her outburst. Rena had practically forgotten Arianna was even there. She had shifted back to her human form, and the woman was pissed. She stormed over to the brothers and pointed at Zander accusingly as she sidled in next to Zed, snuggling up to him like a snake.
“He is speaking untruths, Zed. Zander begged me to run away with him tonight.” She turned to Zed and batted her big eyes at him in a disgustingly coquettish move. “I told him that I loved you, not him. He spoke of killing you, my love. I couldn’t bear it.”
“Traitor,” Zed seethed. He pulled Arianna tighter against him as his furious gaze glowed brightly at his brother. “You shame our clan with your lies and deceit.”
The horrified expression on Zander’s face was nothing short of heartbreaking, and it made Rena want to punch that Arianna broad right in the nose. Chicks like her gave the rest of the women in the world a bad rap.
“Arianna!”
The booming and familiar male voice ricocheted through the woods, and Rena was stunned to see Vito, far younger and full of life, step out of the burned forest. This wasn’t the old, fragile man she had known over the past seven years but a vibrant, virile figure brimming with energy and youth. He didn’t look much older than Arianna and could have passed for her brother. The white hair Rena knew was instead a dark blond, and his barrel-chested build was leaps and bounds away from the frail form back at Sunnyfarm.
Vito brandished a massive sword in one hand and grabbed his daughter by the arm before yanking her away from Zed.
“I warned you to stay away from these creatures, Arianna.” He waved the tip of the sword toward the devastation and then aimed it at Zed. “Look upon the havoc they wreak. These beasts do nothing but burn and destroy. ’Tis why their clan is all but extinct. They fight among themselves like the simpleminded monsters they are. The Amoveo Council has forbidden them from mixing with our clans, a law you are all too familiar with, Arianna. The slayers shall wipe them all out before long, and I, for one, would be happy to help.”
With no warning and in a flash of fire, Zed erupted into his dragon and let out a roar that shook the earth. The fear and surprise on Vito’s face as he stumbled backward was rivaled by the expression of satisfaction covering Arianna’s.
“NO!” Zander shouted. “Zed, stop!”
Arianna’s father increased his distance from the brothers, pulling her with him as Zander shifted into his dragon and tackled Zed with the full force of his massive body.
The dragons clashed and tumbled into the trees as Vito and Arianna shifted into their fox forms and scurried into the woods. Rena cried out when a blazing stream of fire shot through the air and engulfed the forest in flames. The intense heat made Rena step back, and her arm flew in front of her face in an attempt to shield herself. Even though it was only a memory, it felt as real and raw as though she had been there.
The strangled, anguished cry of a man cut through the night, the sound of it bringing the battle to a halt. Rena swiped at her eyes, the smell of burned wood and something far worse filling her nostrils. Smoke clung to her, smothering her. She coughed and stumbled to the left, gripping the trunk of the tree to keep from falling.
The clearing was charred and black, leaving the moonlit forest a smoldering mess of scarred trees. Amid the ashes and destruction, there was the unmistakable form of a woman, frozen in time, like the images Rena had seen of Pompeii, people who had died where they stood, consumed by ash and lava.
The brothers had done exactly what Vito had said they would do. They destroyed and burned everything in their path.
Including Arianna.
* * *
Zander burst into the motel room and found Rena kneeling on the carpet. Her eyes were closed, and based on the radiant reddish light emanating from her hand, she was holding the spirit stone. Sweaty and still catching his breath, Zander closed the door quietly and moved cautiously toward Rena.
Unlike the first time she had taken hold of the stone, Rena was completely calm and oozed serenity. He didn’t want to do anything to disturb her, but he also didn’t want to take his eyes off her in case the situation changed. Her powers were emerging with surprising speed, and given that she was a hybrid, Zander didn’t know what to expect next.
Whether or not she was aware of it, Rena had spoken to him telepathically. How far behind were the rest of her Amoveo gifts? For all he knew, she could shift into her fox at an inopportune moment. Like on the back of his motorcycle, for example.
Shit. He hated flying blind, and after five hundred years, there was little that surprised him. Meeting Rena had changed all of that.
He knelt down beside her, and right when he was about to call her name, her eyes flicked open, and the spirit stone tumbled from her hand, onto the rug. Zander studied her carefully, waiting for her to say or do something, but she continued to stare straight ahead. Finally, after a dramatic pause, she turned her gaze to his and, without any warning, slapped him across the face.
Hard.
The stinging on his cheek was nothing compared to his bruised ego. It wasn’t the first time he’d been slapped by a woman, but somehow, being smacked by this woman was worse.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Rubbing the side of his face, Zander stood up and stepped back, giving her the space she clearly wanted.
“That’s for jerking me around and turning my life upside down.”
Rena rose to her feet and pointed at him accusingly. Her eyes shifted to glowing amber with flecks of gold, and her hands curled into fists at her side.
“How about if you cut the crap and tell me what’s going on? Stop doling it out to me a little bit at a time, like you’re giving me some kind of awesome surprise at the end of it all.”
Rena inched nearer, her oval-shaped face carved into a mask of determination. Her cheeks were flushed, and strands of chestnut-colored hair tinged with red framed her determined chin. Indignant outrage only made her more beautiful. Damn it.
“Not a little bit at a time. Not some of it. I want to know everything. About you, your brother, Arianna, Vito…and me.”
Zander met her fierce gaze with his but remained motionless as she continued to advance. Rena stopped about a foot away from him, and the heat of her body flickered over him in wickedly enticing waves. He swallowed the surge of lust and the finger-twitching urge to stroke her soft, satiny skin, to soothe the swirl of anger and indignation.
“Right now,” she said through clenched teeth. “Or I’m getting out of here. You and your brother can go straight to hell, and I’ll go back to pretending I’m not a complete freak of nature.”
Zander’s jaw clenched while debating exactly what to say, but an old adage ran through his head: it’s not what you say but how you say it. Though it had been years since he had tried to initiate telepathy with anyone, his instincts kicked in as his energy signature tangled with hers in an invisible dance.
His lips quirked. It was like riding a bike.
For starters, your ability to telepath has kicked in.
The expression of surprise on her face would have been comical if it weren’t so sad. Her eyes shifted back to their lovely shade of brown, and her lips quivered as her mouth fell open in disbelief. She shook her head and slowly backed away.
“What the hell was that?”
“Telepathy,” he said calmly. “Most supernaturals can do it. The Amoveo and Dragons among them.”
All Amoveo can communicate this way. I heard you in my mind before you picked up the spirit stone. Your powers are emerging more quickly than I expected.
“Hang on.” Rena held out both her hands as she continued backing up. When her legs bumped the edge of the bed, she sat down abruptly. “Wh-what else? And
just tell me the regular way, please. No more weird mind talking.”
Zander nodded curtly and squared his shoulders. Her confusion was heartbreaking, but he knew there was no going back. He could no longer take her transition as slowly as he had originally hoped or wait until they reached the Amoveo’s ranch.
Their time was running out in more ways than one.
As he spoke, he moved closer but kept his voice calm and even, hoping it would soothe her. The woman’s energy signature was racing around the room like the Tasmanian devil and tangling with his calmer one in the process.
The sensation was as enticing as it was distracting. His heartbeat ticked up, and desire stirred in his blood, but Zander forced himself to focus on Rena. Zander could handle discomfort—he had gotten used to it—but he wanted to minimize Rena’s if he could.
“Pureblooded Amoveo begin to gain their powers during puberty. It starts with dream walking, then telepathy, then shifting into their clan animal, and at full strength, most can use the power of visualization. They can use it to travel with the speed of thought and make almost anything materialize purely with the power of the mind. Dragons, my people, have these gifts as well. Though we have other gifts the Amoveo do not have.”
“You mean aside from me supposedly being able to turn into an animal—”
“A fox.”
“Right,” she laughed, but it held little humor. “I will also be able to simply think about something and make it appear. Like, think about a book I want to read, and boom, there it is? Or I blink like Jeannie, and wham, I’m in New York City?”
“Yes.” A smile tugged at his lips, and he bent at the knees in front of her. “There’s a bit more to it, but that’s the idea. Your mind is your most powerful tool. But since you are a hybrid, I’m not sure how many of the Amoveo gifts you’ll have.”
“This is insane,” she whispered shakily. “Like, there isn’t one single bit of this situation that isn’t completely outrageous.”
Rena was looking down at her hands, which were clutched in her lap. He could see she was trying to hold it together but worried that she was reaching her limit. Unable to stop himself, Zander covered her fingers with his and gave them a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
“Your hand seems to be feeling better.” He brushed the edge of the gauze with his thumb. “If you pull back that bandage, I bet you’ll find that the wound is completely healed.”
Wordlessly, Rena peeled off the bandage, and her eyes grew wide as she studied the scar that had already replaced the bloody wound.
“I-I hadn’t even realized…” Her voice trailed off as she lowered her hands back into her lap, running one fingertip over the pale red mark. “Everything’s happening so fast,” she whispered.
“Richard and the other Amoveo at the ranch will be able to explain things to you better than I can.”
“Because you aren’t Amoveo, you’re a dragon?” She shook her head as though trying to rid herself of something unpleasant. “I cannot believe I just said that out loud. It sounds even crazier than it does in my head.”
“The Dragons are related to the Amoveo. We—they—are all shifters, but some of our powers are different. Or in my case…were.”
She lifted her face, and when her teary eyes met his, it was like a kick in the gut. He tangled his fingers with hers and stroked his thumb over the top of her hand, which was far smoother and softer than his own. A knot of need curled in his stomach. Touching Rena, even if it had only been meant to comfort her, had been a mistake.
“Were?” Her brow furrowed. “What happened to them?”
“My people are all gone, Rena. Zed and I are the last, but—”
“You and your brother are dragons,” she whispered. Her brow furrowed as her warm, brown eyes searched his. “You fought over Arianna, and she was killed during the battle. That much I got, and now I understand why Vito was so upset by seeing you.”
Zander nodded and swallowed the bitter swell of guilt as he tore his gaze from hers and stared at their intertwined fingers. Her smooth, fair skin stood out against his more weathered hands, the contrast only highlighting their differences. In spite of knowing what the right choice was, all Zander wanted to do was drop to his knees, wrap his arms around her, and bury his face against her soft, warm body, seeking shelter though he deserved none.
“It was an accident, Zander.”
The gentleness in her voice called to him. Zander tightened his grip on her, mesmerized by the slow stroke of her thumb over his. With each sweep of flesh against flesh, more of his resolve crumbled. She was like the tide rippling over the sands, wearing away layer after layer, leaving him bare.
“Perhaps,” he whispered, “but there hasn’t been a single day in all the years since that I haven’t wished I could go back and change it.”
“When did all of that happen?” She let out a nervous laugh. “You guys looked like you stepped out of an episode of Game of Thrones. And why do you look exactly the same, but Vito is an old man now?”
“After Arianna was killed, Vito enlisted a local witch to curse us because he believed death would have been too kind. We were stripped of our powers. I was trapped in my human form, and Zed was banished to hibernation. He’s walked the dreamrealm in his dragon form, and it’s driven him to madness. If the curse isn’t broken by the five-hundred-year anniversary, then Zed will be trapped there forever, lost and confused with no way out.”
“Let me guess…the deadline is…”
“All Hallows’ Eve.”
“Halloween. That’s this Saturday.”
“Yes.” His voice was gruff and strained. He should let her hands go, but her womanly skin felt like satin against his. “For five hundred years, I’ve tried everything else, but nothing has worked.”
“I still can’t believe you’re five centuries old, but you are, aren’t you?”
He nodded curtly but said nothing, studying Rena closely for her reaction. Her eyes drifted over him, and her energy signature began to smooth out, some of the tension easing back. The hard knot of unease in his chest began to unfurl bit by bit when she didn’t freak out, like he thought she might.
“I’d say you and Vito both fared pretty well,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Although you don’t look like you’ve aged at all.”
“I haven’t, and believe me, living forever isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He closed his eyes and reveled in the gentle weight of her hands in his. “It’s lonely and, at times, hopeless.”
“Zander?” Her voice was soft and hesitant. Rena cupped his cheek with one hand and gently lifted his face, so he would look her in the eyes, which were filled with determination. “What exactly does all of this have to do with me?”
“There is only way I know of to free my brother.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Why do I feel like I’m not gonna be psyched with what you’re about to say?”
“Zed’s mate, the one woman who is destined to bind her life with his, should be able to release him.”
His heart clenched in his chest as he forced himself to speak the words for the first time. He didn’t think it could sound worse if he said it out loud. However, as the truth tumbled from his lips and he stared into her large brown eyes, filled with a desperate need to understand, to comprehend the enormity of what he was telling her, something in Zander’s chest crumbled.
The loss of everything he had wished for in the secret, unspoken corners of his heart was swift, immediate, and crushing.
“You are Zed’s mate, Rena. Only you can free him from the curse. Free both of us.”
As her brow furrowed, she opened her mouth to argue with him, but Zander shook his head, forcing himself to release her hands before rising to his feet. He went to the door and yanked it open, his frustration increasing by the second. All the muscles in his back bunched as the image of his dragon flickered throu
gh his head.
“No way.” She shook her head furiously. “You’re telling me that I’m supposed to go find some cursed dragon and be his mate? Some guy I’ve never even met? This is the twenty-first century, Zander. Stuff like this doesn’t happen. Hello? Ever heard of feminism? I get to choose who I want to be with. It’s not supposed to be dictated to me.”
“There’s no fighting fate, Rena. You belong to him—to Zed.” Zander couldn’t look at her any longer, because if he did, it would shatter the last of his resolve. “I’ll go get us something to eat. You should get a shower. I’ll sleep on the floor. The bed is yours.”
Without waiting for her to respond, he shut the door and strode toward the diner. It was all out in the open now. She was meant for his brother, not for him. There were no more surprises waiting for either of them, and the path ahead was clear. By Saturday, Zed would be free, and so would Zander. This was what he had been wishing for, for the past five centuries. He should be elated. Jumping for joy. Instead, he wanted to beat the piss out of someone.
Zander tugged open the door to the diner with another familiar saying drifting through his mind.
Careful what you wish for…you shall surely receive it.
Chapter 10
Even with the sleeping pill she had taken, Rena had barely gotten any rest last night. Between the latest revelations from Zander and the physical exhaustion from the road trip, to say nothing of the draining visions, Rena had tossed and turned for hours. She hadn’t dreamed either, but since she hardly slept, that was no big shocker.
Her emotions were all over the map.
Excitement mixed with fear about her newly discovered heritage, but curiosity dominated, which was why she hadn’t hightailed it out of there. She had spent most of her life wondering where she came from, and while the answer wasn’t anything she had ever expected, it sure as hell was interesting.
The part that wasn’t so interesting and the piece of this little adventure that really pissed her off? Being somebody’s mate. What the hell kind of crap was that? Zander said she “belonged” to his brother? This was the twenty-first century, and women didn’t belong to anyone other than themselves.
Undiscovered Page 14
