Dawn of the Dragons (Exiled Dragons Book 10)

by Sarah J. Stone

  “Since when do you and my father talk at length about anything?”

  “We had some time to kill,” Liam said.

  Dawn glanced over at him. She could both see and feel the sadness that washed over him as he thought about how helpless he had been while she was sick – the fear that had gone through him as he ran across the meadow with her unconscious and convulsing body in his arms.

  He had been too afraid to try to shift because he couldn’t hold on to her without doing more damage if forced to put her on his back or carry her in his talons. Instead, he had run until he could hardly run any further, beating on the door of a house and begging them to help him as tears streamed down his face. It wasn’t like Liam to be so emotional, but he had been, and it wouldn’t be the last time.

  His thoughts ravaged through her brain in quick succession. Nights crying outside her room, breaking down in his bed at night. He had been more devastated than she had imagined. It was something she hadn’t seen, even since coming home. He had hidden it from her, something he seemed to be getting better at as time passed.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve only healed one other person before, and nothing bad happened.”

  “What? Who?”

  She had never told him about Penelope. It was a faint memory from her childhood, one that had opened the door for Kergot to reach out to her and help her understand her special gifts. He possessed only a fraction of what she did, but he understood more than anyone else possibly could.

  “Penelope. Before she and Kergot came here, she had been poisoned by a witch in Scotland. It had taken her ability to fly and her ability to have children. I could feel their sadness. I didn’t know if I could heal her. Before that, I had only saved an animal by chance. I had found him by the road and picked him up, only to find him hopping away moments later.”

  “And you healed her of the poison?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. It just happens. I can feel a sort of surge that leaves my body and joins theirs. Then, they are just better. At least, Penelope was. It was just some sort of poison that caused her system to attack itself, taking away her body’s ability to change in any way outside it’s normal aging process. So, it took away her ability to fly and to have children.”

  “And did you get sick when you healed her?”

  “Not really. I felt a bit weak, but that was all.”

  “Perhaps it has to do with the nature of the illness or how long you held on to him.”

  “Maybe. Even Kergot isn’t sure about how it works. No one has ever had healing powers before, as far as anyone knows.”

  “Leave it to you to be the first.”

  “You’d be bored with me if I were normal.”

  “Never,” he said.

  Liam smiled over at her as he pulled into her driveway and parked the car. He grabbed his bookbag from the back and made his way inside. The smell of pot roast filled the house, but her mother was nowhere to be found. Stepping into the kitchen, Dawn saw that she had put it in the slow cooker and left a note that she would be back in a few hours.

  “Looks like Mom has gone shopping with Aunt Barb. We have the place to ourselves for a while.”

  “Probably not for long. Your dad will most likely be right behind us.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Listen, before we start homework, do you mind if I take a shower? My hair is about to itch off my head, and I really want to wash it right now.”

  “Sure, go ahead. I’ll get our stuff spread out on the table while you do that,” he told her.

  It felt weird to take a shower while she had a guy in the house, even if it was Liam, but she was really at the end of her rope with how greasy her hair felt. Climbing the stairs, she made her way into the shower. It felt heavenly to be able to just stand under the water and let the warmth hit her. It felt even better to finally have clean hair.

  Stepping out, she noticed her phone was vibrating on the counter top and picked it up. It was her father telling her that he would be a couple of hours and asking if she was okay. She replied that she was just fine and that Liam was still here with her to do homework together. Her father trusted Liam, despite his admonishments that might seem contrary to that at times.

  Pulling on a tank top and some clean jeans, she made her way back downstairs to where Liam sat in the kitchen. They began to do their homework, knocking a good bit of it out in a matter of little more than an hour.

  “You want to take a break? My head is beginning to hurt a bit.”

  “Why is your head hurting?” Liam asked anxiously.

  “Don’t worry, just a little headache from concentrating on the tiny words in that literature book,” she groaned.

  “Want to watch TV?”

  “Maybe. I just want to lie down for a bit, I think.”

  “Okay. I’ll go.”

  “No. Don’t go. We still have work to do, and you are supposed to stay for dinner.”

  Liam nodded, getting up from the table and following her to the living room. They curled up with one another on the sofa and began watching reruns of an old nineties sitcom. Before Dawn realized it, she had drifted off to sleep in his arms, no doubt a result of her lack of sleep the night before. When she awoke, she found that Liam had fallen asleep as well.

  She admired his face, the sharp contour of his jawline, and his full lips. He was so handsome. Dawn had seen the way some of the girls looked at him at school, how they tried to flirt with him or get his attention, but he seemed completely disinterested in them. He was devoted to her in a way most of them envied, and that was one more of the reasons he was her only close friend.

  “Are you watching me sleep?” he said, one eye opening unexpectedly.

  “Maybe.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  “You can be so weird at times, Dawn.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “No. It’s kind of adorable.”

  She smiled down at him, surprised as he reached upward and tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her toward him. His lips met hers in the softest of kisses.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Why did you do that?” Dawn asked, a bit flustered.

  “You didn’t want me to?”

  “I, I…I guess I did.”

  “You guess?” he asked.

  Dawn looked up at him and smiled. He was smiling knowingly down at her. Most people would have been surprised to know that they had never kissed in all these years. People at school assumed they had done much more since he had nothing to do with anyone else and they were always together. The truth was that even though she had wanted him to, he had never tried to kiss her and she had never tried to kiss him.

  Perhaps she had been afraid of rejection. It was easy enough to assume he had not done so because he just wanted to be friends. Even their recent admission that they loved one another could easily be construed as platonic.

  “I don’t have to do it again,” he said, pulling away from her.

  “Yes, you do,” she replied, putting her hand on his face and pulling him closer into another kiss.

  Dawn felt something she had never experienced before, something she had only heard the other girls whispering about when they thought no one could hear. She knew all about sex and how it worked. She had seen their memories with boys at school. Some of them had beautiful memories. Some, not so good, and still others were horrible thoughts about unwanted advances or worse.

  It all left her with a curiosity, but one she was in no hurry to explore. What if the one guy she loved most in the world turned out to be like one of their bad experiences? She couldn’t imagine him being unkind to her, but he was just as inexperienced as she was. Though he had always done his best to keep thoughts about sex away from her, she had seen them from time to time and knew he was a virgin like her.

  The sound of a car pulling into the driveway drove them apart. They quickly sat upright on the sofa and smoothed the
mselves down for a moment in an effort to pretend like nothing had been happening.

  “We’re supposed to be doing homework,” Liam said guiltily.

  “Right!” Dawn replied, hurrying over to kitchen table with him in tow.

  They opened books and went back to work, already engrossed in picking up where they left off by the time Dawn’s mom came in the door with her arms full of packages.

  “Oh, I’ll help you with those!” Liam said, jumping up and reaching out to help her.

  “I’ve got these, Liam, but there are some more in the car if you don’t mind grabbing those for me.”

  “No problem,” he told her.

  Dawn smiled as he walked out and her mother began babbling about how bad traffic had been. She was still waffling on as Liam came back in with the rest of the bags and sat them on the counter.

  “Do you have a lot more homework to do?”

  “A bit,” Dawn admitted.

  “Then I’ll let you guys get back to work while I finish up dinner. You are staying to eat, aren’t you, Liam?”

  “You know I am, Mrs. McCord,” Liam replied.

  Dawn noticed that even though talking to her mother, his eyes never left her for a moment. She could feel his heart, and it was full of love, a love that she returned wholeheartedly. They settled back into their work, their legs touching softly beneath the table. Dawn’s father came home and joined them after a while.

  “Everything okay?” Dawn’s mother asked.

  “Yeah, just had to gather up the council to make a decision on the boys that bullied the young man that died.”

  “Harlan?” Dawn asked, her curiosity piqued.

  “Yes, Harlan.”

  “What will be done to them?” her mother continued.

  “Unfortunately, most of them will escape without more than a slap on the wrists.”

  “What? How? They deserve to be punished!” Dawn complained.

  “I agree, but we just don’t have the evidence to do anything to them with the exception of Tommy, and we can only charge him for assault based on the accounts of witnesses.”

  “Assault? He murdered him!” Dawn protested.

  “Dawn, it’s not that simple.”

  “It is in the eyes of the council. He will spend five years in jail and be exiled upon his release.”

  “Five years for taking the life of someone who was weaker than him, someone who did nothing wrong,” Dawn barked back.

  “I’m afraid you’re not going to get any disagreement from me, but it’s not my decision. We have a justice system here like anywhere else. We all must abide by it.”

  “It’s not right.”

  “Right or wrong, it’s out of our hands.”

  Dawn scowled at him. Liam was frowning as well, but what could they do or say to really change anything? Five years and exile would have to do.

  “Okay. Enough of this talk. Liam and Dawn, if you’ll clear your homework away, we’ll get dinner on the table. Some nice, hot food will do everyone some good,” her mother told them.

  Dawn and Liam did as asked, putting their things in the den and returning to a table filled with delicious food. Everyone settled into their meal and conversation about anything but the situation with Harlan and Tommy, though Dawn knew all of them were thinking about it in some way. When dinner was over, Liam excused himself to go home, and Dawn walked him to the door.

  Her parents laughed in the kitchen as they cleared away the dishes together. Dawn knew she was lucky to have parents that not only loved one another very much but always seemed to be having a lot of fun together. She couldn’t help but wonder if she and Liam would one day be that happy together as she kissed him goodnight, something that was new but that she felt like she could get quite used to.

  “Goodnight, Liam.”

  “Goodnight, turd.”

  Dawn chuckled as she shut the door. At least some things didn’t change. She was still Liam’s favorite turd.

  CHAPTER 12

  Dawn smiled as she sat in front of the dressing table. Her mother flitted around her, fussing with her hair while she tried to do her makeup. It wasn’t something she was used to. Normally, she only wore a bit of lip gloss and some mascara, but today was a special day and she wanted to look amazing.

  “Mom, hurry up. We’re going to be late!”

  “We won’t be late. Just calm down.”

  “It’s a long drive. There might be traffic.”

  “Dawn, it will be just fine. We will be there in plenty of time.”

  “Where is Dad?”

  “He’s downstairs. He’s all ready to go.”

  “I’m glad someone is,” Dawn replied.

  She adjusted the strap of her dress and looked in the mirror one last time before leaving. It was hard to recognize herself anymore. She had changed so much in the past few years. Her full cheeks had thinned, and her hair had gotten much longer, usually hanging halfway down her back in loose curls. Of course, today it was pulled up at the nape of her neck.

  She had hardly been home a month from her own college graduation, and now she was going to Liam’s. It was weird that they were graduating so close together due to their age difference, but she had gone for a full four-year business degree while Liam had opted for an accelerated creative writing program. Together, they intended to build a successful media company from the ground up.

  It was something her mother – who was a former radio personality in America – was very supportive of, and her father…well he was just happy with whatever his daughter wanted to do. They both adored Liam, which Dawn was grateful for because there was no way she would ever let him go. Their relationship had grown so much even while they were separated in two different schools.

  Now, she was going to his graduation, and they could get started on building their future. She was so excited that she could barely contain herself. It felt positively euphoric as she got ready to leave the house and join him in Dublin, where they would watch him graduate and then meet with his parents, uncle, and aunt and a few other people from the village.

  She never felt as proud as she did the moment he walked down the aisle in his cap and gown to receive his diploma. The diplomas were handed out alphabetically, so he was at the beginning of the ceremony, and it felt like eons that she had to wait for it to be over so that she could see him afterward. She practically raced up the aisle to greet him as he emerged from the rows of seats where his class had sat.

  “There’s my girl!”

  “I’m so excited!” she replied.

  Liam caught her as she flung herself into his arms. He whirled her around and kissed her before sitting her back down on the floor and smiling for a moment before turning to hug his mom and dad, followed by handshakes all around.

  “Well, are we ready for dinner?” his father asked.

  “I’m always ready for dinner,” Liam joked.

  “I know that’s right. Thank goodness you are about to be paying for your own meals. I can finally afford to have a mid-life crisis.”

  “You’re going to miss me at Sunday dinner.”

  “I doubt it. I suspect you’ll still be there,” his father laughed.

  “Yeah, probably,” Liam replied as they all headed out of the building to take pictures before walking down to a nearby restaurant for a meal together.

  Once dinner was done, they all headed back out for home. All except Dawn, who was staying in Dublin with Liam to help him pack up stuff in the house he shared with some other students before they headed back together the next day. After quick goodbyes with everyone, they made their way to his place.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked.

  “Gone home for the summer. I had to stay longer for the graduation, but they went home last week. I’m the last one here.”

  “So, we’re alone then?” she replied, biting her lip a little nervously.

  “Yep. Just you and me, turd.”

  “You say the most romantic things,” she replied.

 
; “I know. I’m not even sure how you resist me.”

  “It’s very difficult.”

  “I’ll just bet it is,” he said, pulling her toward him and kissing her.

  Dawn felt a familiar tingle go through her body. She and Liam had resisted having sex until they felt it was right for them. Though they both knew they loved one another deeply, they didn’t want to do anything that might push things too far, too fast. It hadn’t always been easy not to do what they both wanted to do so badly at times. It just seemed the natural progression of their relationship. Yet, they both felt strongly enough to keep their promise to one another that they would wait.

  “Listen, now that everyone is gone and it is just us, I have to tell you something, Dawn.”

  “What? Is something wrong?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  Dawn tried to read his thoughts, impatient to know what was on his mind, but he was clouding them, misdirecting her at every turn so that she couldn’t figure out where he was going with this conversation until he was ready to tell her.

  “You remember when we were little and you told everyone we were going to get married one day?”

  “Yes. I remember it.”

  “Do you still believe that?”

  Dawn’s hearted thudded heavily. Where was he going with this? She wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good or bad conversation. Her breath was shallow, partially held as she waited to see what he would say after her reply.

  “I’d like to believe it.”

  She watched as Liam fished around in his pocket and pulled something out before pulling her hand upward toward his. Her eyes widened as he slipped an antique canary diamond on her finger. She recognized it immediately. It was the same one his mother used to wear on a chain around her neck. It had belonged to her mother and her great-grandmother before her.

  “You can believe it. You can believe me, always. I love you, Dawn. Will you marry me?”

  Dawn stared at him in a bit of disbelief, too surprised to respond immediately. He watched her face, studying it and perhaps looking a bit worried.