Casey had to knock some sense into him, then. He heaved himself upward, his hands leaving Gavin’s head for only a second before he brought them down on Gavin’s nose. The dragon let out a pained sound as its chin hit the ground.
Casey tried to peer over his shoulder to see if the humans were out of the way, but Gavin used his distraction against him. Gavin flicked his head, and Casey’s feet lifted from the ground. Casey cursed as he flew through the air.
Evangeline shouted. The words were lost while Casey’s beast howled to be set free. Still, he sought her out and found her unharmed. Evangeline’s hair fluttered in the hot night air. She held her hands to her chest, fear pulling her eyes wide. She wasn’t afraid for herself.
Her fear was for him.
Even as he watched Trevor run past her and grab her arm, she shrugged the man off and ran toward the dragons.
Casey’s dragon broke free of his control. The beast ripped its way out of him and planted itself between Evangeline and Gavin. His mate had put herself out of Trevor’s reach, but into dangerous territory. Casey used his tail to nudge her out of the way.
She said something snarky, but Casey didn’t have time to appreciate her gumption or the fact that she trusted a wild dragon over her human ex.
“What is going on?” one human screamed.
“Monsters, man!”
Another hollered for everyone to run.
Casey didn’t want to have to fight Gavin all night and then spend the next day intimidating a bunch of humans into silence. Once they scattered all over town, they would start telling everyone what they saw. They would blame Casey and his family for the fire.
His life had turned around. For a brief moment, Casey had hope. He’d looked toward the future, pleased with what lay ahead of him.
In one night, that future had crumbled. They would have to run. He couldn’t ask Evangeline to uproot her life, though he knew she would. The series of events that would follow this night unfurled in his mind, showing his demise in slow motion.
* * *
Evangeline felt useless. She wanted to do something. Anything.
She staggered away from the burning cabin and the snarling dragons. A single thought rose to consume her mind.
I wish Nellie was here.
Evangeline wasn’t sure what Nellie could do, but she had magic. Nellie could do something.
Trevor and his goons hadn’t left. They stood on the edge of the property, watching the dragons fight. Jaws were nearly touching the ground, but then they moved like a parting sea. Someone stepped between them, the form tapping each man on the temple. They slumped to the ground like sacks of sand.
Holy shit, my wish worked.
The light of the burning cabin revealed Nellie. She gave Evangeline a queasy smile before turning her attention to Casey and Gavin. The two were wrapped around each other, snarling and biting like an angry ouroboros. Nellie stretched out a hand, and Evangeline watched her friend’s eyes turn white.
The fighting slowed. The red dragon slackened in Casey’s grip and dropped to the ground. Casey stared at Gavin in disbelief. He gently set Gavin down as if they hadn’t been fighting moments before.
“Your winged firefighters are on their way,” Nellie said, her hand plummeting back down to her side.
She let out a breath and collapsed. Evangeline startled, but Nellie waved to tell her she was fine. The spell must have taken a lot out of her. Evangeline glanced around, at the heap of men sleeping on the ground and Gavin’s unconscious form. He shrank, becoming human again.
Overhead, two dragons spilled water over the burning cabin. Evangeline squinted, trying to figure out how they’d carried the water. As the light from the fire diminished, her vision became limited.
Evangeline and Nellie backed away from the cabin as Erik and Dillon dropped water over it two more times. Upon passing Trevor and the others, Evangeline asked what would happen to them. She had no idea what kind of spell Nellie had woven over them.
When they woke, they would still know what Casey and the others were. Nellie didn’t seem bothered, though.
“They’re in for a blackout and a big ass hangover. Throw them back in their truck and drive them out to the middle of nowhere. They won’t remember a damn thing.”
Evangeline stared at her friend.
“I wished for you,” Evangeline confessed. She paused, epiphany dawning on her. “Does that mean I have magical wish powers?”
“I passed by your apartment,” Nellie said. “When I saw the doors had been ripped open, I figured something bad was happening. Then I saw the fire up on the hill. My gut told me that was Trevor’s handiwork and that if the fire was still going, that you and your clan would need some help.”
Nellie gestured to the ruined cabin on the hill.
Dread made Evangeline’s mouth taste like ash. She would never forget that smell in the air. She shook herself, trying to break free of the fresh memory.
“I thought you hated them,” Evangeline asked.
Nellie shrugged and refused to meet Evangeline’s gaze. “Just because I don’t want to be around them, doesn’t mean I want their secret to get out. Besides, I’ve always wanted to screw with Trevor, and this was the best excuse.”
Nellie hadn’t just messed with Trevor’s memory. She’d wiped all four of his friends’ memories while also sending Gavin to sleep. Evangeline hadn’t been aware of what her friend was truly capable of. She’d always known that Nellie was a witch. Nellie’s healing salves were the best tattoo ointments out there.
Casey must have listened in on their conversation, because he started gathering up Trevor and his friends. His massive dragon hands made it easy to grab two or more bodies at a time. He gently set them in the truck bed before his size shrank, and he stood naked before them.
Evangeline thought he would get into the truck and drive off, like Nellie suggested, but Casey jogged toward her. Though they’d been through the night from hell, she still admired the way his dick bobbed as he ran.
Upon reaching her, he cupped her cheek and kissed her. “Next time I tell you to leave, leave. Don’t go running into a dragon fight,” he said after he pulled back.
“Probably not my smartest moment,” she said.
They were all in one piece, though. That was all that mattered. Though, Gavin was probably going to flip his lid when he woke up. The cabin had suffered. The western wall was charred and sopping wet. Heat had shattered the windows. More glass lined the lawn from the bottles Trevor had thrown.
Casey swept her up into a hug, clutching her tight.
“I’m fine!” she tried to tell him through her laughter.
Nellie backed away. “I’m going to get out of here before he wakes up.”
She pointed to Gavin before spinning and heading out. Evangeline wanted to thank her friend, but Nellie booked it out of there.
“I didn’t know your friend was a witch,” Casey said.
Evangeline’s heart stopped. She put her hands on Casey’s shoulders and gave him a look of warning. “I know your kind doesn’t like…”
“Hey now,” he said. “Nellie is the hero of the night. I don’t have anything against witches. It’s the old dragons that hate them. Gavin might be a little pissy towards her when he wakes, but we won’t let him out of our sight.”
She bit her lip. “You can’t baby sit him all the time.”
“You bet your ass I can. We’re going to have to rebuild the cabin. His ass is getting put to work.”
15
Evangeline sipped her iced coffee while sitting on the hood of Casey’s truck. She watched him hammer a nail into a two by four. Her core clenched as his muscles bunched. By the time he set aside his tools, she had heated through and through.
Gavin shouted. She saw movement, but Casey spun before she could say anything. He snatched the piece of wood Gavin had flung at him and threw it back.
“Who said you get a break?” Gavin asked.
“Do you want me to march over the
re and shove that wood up your ass?” Casey snarled.
Dillon didn’t hesitate to tread between them, laughing the entire time. The laughter broke the tension. Gavin sneered at Dillon, and Casey went about his business.
“I see work is going about as well as expected,” Evangeline said when Casey reached her.
He leaned between her open knees and tilted his chin up, quietly asking for a kiss. She obliged him and sank into the contact. It didn’t matter if this was their hundredth kiss. It always felt like the first. Her head spun and her heart sputtered excitedly.
Casey pulled back and kissed the tip of her nose. “Things are actually going better than I thought. I think the manual labor helps with the rage issues.”
She raised a brow and stole a glance at Gavin before turning back to her mate. “That’s better?”
Casey shrugged. “He’s almost the man I used to know.”
She laughed.
“He wants to thank Nellie,” Casey added. “He said he wanted to do it in person.”
Evangeline rolled her eyes. “Not going to happen. There’s no way in hell that you’re going to get her to willingly enter a room with Gavin in it. I’ll just pass along his gratitude. She’ll be fine with that.”
“That’s what I figured as well, just wanted to let you know so you could tell her.”
Evangeline hugged her mate tight. He moaned when her hands slid along his bare back and into his waistband. She wanted him right then and there, but there were too many eyes around.
“When will you be home tonight?”
Casey pondered for a moment. “I could take you home right now. Just you and me and the neighbors that probably hate us.”
Since Casey had left Gavin’s cabin and moved in with her, there hadn’t been a night when she hadn’t screamed Casey’s name. The buildings downtown were old and pressed tight together, so when she stepped outside in the morning, her neighbors did their best to avoid looking at her. She didn’t care about what they thought of her. People had always assumed the worst of her, but she looked forward to a new place if only to give the neighbors the quiet they deserved.
She and Casey had picked out a plot of land not too far from town. They would start building on it when the cabin was done. She’d designed a mural for their dining room already.
“How’s your tattoo healing?” she asked even though she knew Casey could heal faster than she’d ever seen before.
He twisted to show her the dragon on his shoulder. Of course, the skin had already healed over. It hadn’t even gone through the gross peeling stage. She was a little jealous, to be honest.
She bit her lower lip. A stray thought had resurfaced. She’d tried to shove it down time and time again, but it kept coming back.
“I don’t want to be useless when Zander comes,” she said.
Casey leaned back, his playfulness vanishing. Shadows slithered over his eyes. She’d expected this conversation to go this way.
“I haven’t made a decision yet,” she added. “I wanted you to know that I’ve been thinking about it. I’ll think on it a while longer, but would you be willing to help me if I decided I wanted to be like you?”
His lips pressed into a grim line. She thought she saw tears reaching his eyes. Was the process really that horrible?
Evangeline had lived through a lot of pain, physical and emotional. If anyone could survive this change, it would be her. She knew, deep down, that she had what it took. And if she could have her own dragon, then she could help when Zander came for her family.
This was her family now. She loved Casey with all of her heart, body, and soul. Erik and Dillon were her brothers now. Gavin would always remind her of her grandfather. They were all so much more than she’d ever thought she would have.
Running wasn’t an option for her.
Casey was silent. His emotions rolled across his features, morphing through the stages of grief right before her eyes until he finally reached acceptance.
“If that ends up being something you want…” He closed his eyes and sucked in a haggard breath. “If that’s what you want, then we’re going to call my sister.”
Evangeline raised a brow.
“I want someone with their head on straight when we do this,” he said. “Daphne can be strong willed, but she’s reliable, unlike some of my new clanmates.”
Erik shouted, “We can hear you!”
“And we support your decision,” Dillon added.
Evangeline hid her smile behind her hand. Casey shook his head and scooped her off the hood of his truck.
“We’re going home for the day,” he called back to his clanmates.
But when he set her down, he paused and patted his pockets. He let out a curse and ran back to the cabin, probably for his phone or his wallet.
While he was gone, Gavin approached her. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he did the same to her.
“Are you serious about becoming a shifter?”
“I’m seriously considering it, yes.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Gavin hadn’t yet gotten the clan tattoo. She didn’t think he’d committed to the idea of it yet, like he could still escape responsibility like there weren’t three other dragon shifters looking to him.
He surprised her, though. He nodded and said, “You’d make a good dragon.”
She blinked, surprised. Before she could say anything, Gavin turned and left her standing alone. Casey took in the shock written across her face as he caught up to her.
He touched her elbow. “Everything alright?”
His skin on hers helped settle her. She settled right into a decision, too.
She would become a dragon. Maybe not today or within the month, but she would do it.
“Yeah,” she replied with a grin. “More than alright. Everything is great.”
He cocked a brow but didn’t ask more. They climbed into the truck and debated what was for dinner, like they were any other couple heading home for the day. She wanted to be a dragon, so she could protect this. All of it. From Casey and her future with him to the others.
She had some fight in her now, and she was going to use it.
Finding the Forgotten
Rogue Dragon Series - Book 2
16
Isabella Fox sat on the edge of the bathtub and watched a second little pink line appear on the pregnancy test. At first, it was faint. She didn’t know if the test was defective and regretted not putting down the money for a better test.
But the line began to darken until there was no room for doubt.
She was, in fact, pregnant.
“Oh,” she whispered.
Panic tried to take ahold of her, but it was chased away by another feeling: excitement. Her mother wasn’t going to be happy, especially since Isabella had recently left Tommy. After seeing the drastic difference between Trevor, Evangeline’s ex, and Casey, Evangeline’s mate, Isabella had realized she wanted to be just as happy.
Isabella’s mother would tell her to go back to Tommy, so the baby could have a proper father, but Isabella would never willingly set foot within Tommy’s vicinity again. She, Evangeline, and Nellie had packed her things while Tommy was out. Isabella had booked a motel room to buy time until she could find a proper apartment for herself, but she’d asked Evangeline to stop at the pharmacy first.
Evangeline banged on the bathroom door. “Is everything okay in there?”
Instead of heading to the motel, Evangeline had brought them back to her apartment in town. Isabella had to admit that peeing on a stick was already awkward enough. She was grateful she didn’t have to do it in a strange room.
“If you don’t unlock this door, I’m going to do it for you,” Nellie threatened.
Isabella rolled her eyes, but a smile touched her lips. She tossed the test aside and washed her hands, listening to her two best friends rattle the door.
“Well?” Evangeline asked once Isabella finally stepped out of the bathroom.
Isabella l
et out a breath. It wasn’t as shaky as she thought it’d be. Instead, she touched her stomach and felt a flickering hope flare in her chest. “I’m pregnant.”
Evangeline and Nellie wore guarded expressions.
“Tommy’s going to…” Evangeline began.
“He’s not going to find out,” Isabella said. She sank into a chair at the kitchen table, her heart thundering at the thought of Tommy.
She knew what he would tell her. He’d never supported anything she’d wanted. She’s turned to self-publishing romance novels because he’d never wanted her to leave the house. She hadn’t told him that she wrote romance or that she published the books, either. He’d assumed that she was writing unpublishable drivel, but all the income she made from them had helped her escape him.
Had he known that she’d been writing under a pseudonym, he would have taken her laptop from her. He would have cut her off from the world. And, if he knew she was with child, he would have forced her to end it.
The thought physically pained her.
“Tommy can never know,” she said, her voice low.
“You have our vow,” Evangeline said.
“That bastard will never know,” Nellie finished.
Tears gathered in Isabella’s eyes. They were the only reason Isabella had survived the past five years. They’d supported her and listened to her without making judgements or demands.
The door opened, and a man built like a lumberjack on the cover of one of her books wandered in. Casey sidled up behind Evangeline and bent to press a kiss to her cheek. He tenderly tugged the tip of her lavender hair before silently disappearing into the next room.
As grateful as Isabella was, she wished she could have more. In nine months, she would know a mother’s love, but she wished she could have someone look at her the way Casey looked at Evangeline.
“You can’t stay in a motel…like that.” Nellie said. “You’re going to have to find a place of your own sooner rather than later.”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 14
