For a second, she debated releasing the spell to save the last bit of her magic. She didn’t know which thought was more selfish, that she wanted to stay hidden or that she wanted to protect her magic. On the one hand, she would stay safe from the prowling dragons. On the other hand, she might not be able to enjoy her powers ever again.
When a dragon finally caught her, would they understand that she might have turned herself human? Would they spare her or accuse her of lying? There was no point in wondering until she knew if this magic drain would be permanent or not.
She put another foot forward, and the world tilted. Nellie threw her body in the other direction to keep from falling. Her shoulder scraped the brick wall, but she didn’t drop. With a groan in the back of her throat, she kept the spell up and pushed herself back onto her own two feet.
The world still swayed. A familiar shape walked toward her. Though she couldn’t see his face, she would know him anywhere.
Gavin.
Nellie held her breath and prayed that the spell wouldn’t break. Not now, of all times. Gavin clutched a brown paper bag under one arm. Though she couldn’t see his face, she imagined his russet hair hung boyishly over his flat brow. He probably wore a grimace, like always.
She should have asked herself how she knew all these things about Gavin, but it was hard to hold onto a thought as her head grew lighter and lighter. A small laugh escaped her lips. Gavin came closer and closer. The spell grew taut, like a rope about to snap.
Holding her breath, Nellie tried to step forward and pass him.
The spell snapped. It reverberated through her body, leaving her breathless. She stood still, stunned. She brought her gaze up and met Gavin’s eyes an instant before the world went black.
* * *
Panicked, Gavin lurched forward. Nellie slumped into his arms, utterly unconscious. He stared down at her limp form. Confusion and disbelief warred within him. Of all the ways to finally get face to face with Nellie, this wasn’t what he expected.
One moment, the street had been empty other than him. He’d been lost in his thoughts when her scent hit the air. His beast had risen to the surface like a bubble of air trapped in the depths of the ocean. Then, unbelievably, Nellie appeared right in front of him.
And collapsed in the same heartbeat.
“N-Nellie?” He’d never stuttered before in his life, but his heart pounded far too fast and his tongue twisted itself as he stared down at her.
Gavin glanced around. There was no one else on the street in this dusk hour. He readjusted the bag on his other arm before hoisting her over his shoulder. The fireman carry seemed strange, almost like he was abducting a woman. He didn’t think anyone would approach him, of all people, but Gavin wondered why no one had stopped Erik when he’d carried Bree out of the bar.
Fumbling his groceries, he managed to get his keys out of his pocket without jostling Nellie. He didn’t know where she lived, and his beast wasn’t about to let her out of his sight when she was obviously vulnerable. That left one option.
Logic told him to call Evangeline. She would know everything, but Gavin couldn’t give Nellie up. The beast’s roar filled his chest, its need so deep that he could find no way to get around it.
He pushed her hair away from her face after gently setting her down in the passenger seat. A streak of white stood out against her dark bob. He didn’t recall it from the night of the fire. She’d walked into the chaos that night, looking like a goddess from the dawn of man.
Why her? Gavin asked his beast.
Nellie was beautiful and strong, that much was obvious. Gavin didn’t understand why his beast had set its sights on such a stubborn and resilient woman, though. His type had always been soft, the kind of girls who needed the company of a man when they went out. He was a protector.
She didn’t need him…well, except for right now. He wondered what could have caused her collapse. A sneaking suspicion darkened his thoughts. What if he was the cause of her current condition? He wasn’t sure how that would happen, but he didn’t think it was impossible either.
He got into the driver’s seat and cast a wary glance at Nellie. His gut churned. “Are you going to kill me when you wake up?”
Of course, she gave no answer. Only the sound of her shallow breathing filled the air. His nerves never quite faded, but neither did his beast’s obsessive roar.
“Even if you do hate me,” he said as he started his Jeep, “at least I’ll know you’re safe.”
67
Nellie groaned. Her head throbbed. She tried to crack open her eyes, but the light only made things worse. She covered her face with her hands and rolled over. Slowly, she walked through the last things she remembered.
She’d been walking home after closing the shop for the day. She hadn’t felt well…the spell…
A pang shot through her heart as she realized the spell had broken. She furrowed her brow and turned inward, searching for that well of magic that she’d relied on since the day it’d first appeared within her. When she reached it, her stomach sank.
She had no more magic left.
Nellie rolled onto her back and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes to fight back the rise of hot tears. She’d never hit rock bottom like this. Her life had been filled with bad decisions, from too many double shots of cinnamon whiskey to a half-finished bachelor’s degree, but this felt so much worse.
Everything that made her who she was had been ripped away. Just so she could escape one needy man? For the first time, Nellie wondered if she’d overreacted. She could have just stayed home or walked away from him whenever he showed up. She didn’t have to hurt herself like this.
“I see you’re awake.”
Nellie froze. Unfortunately, she knew that voice anywhere. Slowly, she peeled her hands away from her eyes. The light still hurt, like the worst hangover, but Gavin’s silhouette started taking shape. As did the rest of the room.
She bolted upright. “Where am I?”
Gavin was silent for a moment. She caught the twist of regret on his face, not something she’d ever expected to witness.
Nellie tore her attention from him to scan the room. The deco was simple yet inviting. The neutral-tone blankets were soft to the touch and begged her to run her hands over them. In the far corner, away from the light of the massive floor to ceiling windows, was a pile of familiar items.
The giant, stuffed sloth stared at her accusingly. She’d hated returning it, but she couldn’t keep any of Gavin’s gifts because that would have implied a lot more than she was willing to deal with.
“This is your bedroom, isn’t it?” she asked. Then, she cocked her head. “Did I pass out?”
He nodded.
Enraged, she kicked off the plush blankets and threw her feet to the floor. A bit of relief washed over her when she saw that he hadn’t undressed her, like some wounded heroine in a romance novel.
“You could have taken me home!”
“I, ah,” He trailed off, the corner of his mouth tightening as he watched her.
“Is that it? Am I your prisoner now? A witch you can order around? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I’m tapped out, buddy. I don’t have an ounce of magic left in me.”
Gavin jerked back, as if slapped. Then concern softened his stalwart brows. Before she could read too far into it, the expression vanished. He stood and dusted off his pants.
“You’re free to leave whenever you wish,” he said after turning his back to her.
Her nose wrinkled. “Yeah, only because I’m useless to you now,” she muttered under her breath.
Gavin moved so fast, he blurred. One moment, he stood by the door. The next, he hovered over her. Rage and indignation etched every line in his face, making her heart race. Was this fear? Or excitement? Nellie wasn’t about to pick it apart to find out.
“I keep no one,” he snarled through clenched teeth.
She squirmed, managing to get out from under his wrath and onto her own two feet. She snatched up her purse
and made toward the door, eager to be the first one to leave. He never should have brought her here. This was the dragon’s den. Her hand shook as she grasped the doorknob.
Any moment now, he would grab her and pull her back. He would question her lack of magic and get to the bottom of it so he could have a witch for himself again. That was all Gavin wanted. When his father threatened everything Gavin had built, he would need her power.
She didn’t have what he needed anymore, though. She wouldn’t give hm a damn thing, anyway.
Nellie stormed down the stairs. Gavin’s words echoed in her head. She brushed them off as lies, but they came buzzing back.
Had he meant it?
Nellie came to a halt at the base of the stairs. A room full of eyes turned on her. She felt her cheeks start to sizzle. Step by booming step, Gavin followed until he lingered right behind her. No matter where she looked, she couldn’t escape the implication that hovered around her.
Evangeline wiggled her brows suggestively.
Nellie pointed a finger at her best friend. “If you say anything, I will hex you.”
“It’d be worth it,” Evangeline said, a challenge gleaming in her eyes.
Nellie bit back a sigh because she couldn’t hex Evangeline. She couldn’t do a damn thing against anyone. It seemed like every dragon in town had convened in Gavin’s living room at just the right time.
When Nellie’s gaze slid past the room full of expectant dragons, she noticed the sun’s position outside the giant windows. Her jaw dropped. She spun on Gavin and had to look up at him because he towered over her on the stairs.
“How long was I out for?”
He blinked, checked the windows behind her, then looked back to her. “Nearly a whole day, it seems. I made sure to tell Evangeline that you wouldn’t be able to make it to work when you hadn’t gotten up by ten.”
“Ten?” Her voice cracked.
“So, do we get to throw a welcome-to-the-clan party now?” Bree asked as she took a seat on Erik’s thigh.
Erik laughed. “We would have to throw one for every woman in the group, plus Ford, at that point.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t lump Ford in with the women,” Casey said with a shit-eating grin.
Ford thumped Casey on the head as he passed.
Nellie swallowed and shuffled across the room to sit between Evangeline and Isabella. The look she got from Evangeline when she sat down said that Evangeline wasn’t about to drive her home. Nellie narrowed her eyes at her best friend, but it did nothing. Her friends had ulterior motives, so unless Nellie wanted to walk home, she would have to ask for a ride from someone else.
Instead of playing into their games, Nellie pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to disappear into the couch. Without her magic, she felt like she’d walked in wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. The feeling prickled, always on her mind.
She couldn’t tell anyone that she’d tapped herself out. Not in front of all these dragons. One of them knew, and that was one more than she was comfortable with.
Nellie stole a glance across the room. Gavin hadn’t descended the stairs. He stood, partway up them, like he could never be a part of the fun in the living room. The urge to pull him into the room came over her, but she managed to punt it to the moon, so she would never have to deal with it ever again.
She would not befriend the dragon man. She wouldn’t even look at him again. Nope. Never.
His russet hair caught the light, revealing shades of copper and gold. A scar bisected his brow. It was kind of rugged and rough in a way she didn’t expect to like. When his hazel eyes found hers, her heart leapt into her throat. For a moment, the flecks of gold in them mesmerized her.
Then she realized what she’d been doing and quickly looked away again. How could she have betrayed herself like that? Gavin was off limits. Nellie shouldn’t have stayed. She should have walked out that door and marched herself home all on her own.
Without her magic, Nellie didn’t trust the world. She didn’t want to be alone. All her life, she’d depended on her spellcraft to protect herself. Now that it was gone, she had to rethink everything, from walking home to dealing with these dragons. She didn’t dare ask if her magic would come back. She wasn’t ready to face the answer.
Around her, the dragons jabbed at one another. Sometimes, their playful fighting was physical, other times they used their words to wound each other. Isabella went to the kitchen and, after a short while, came back with a restaurant sized bag of chips and a veritable bucket of salsa.
As food made its way around the room, the mood warmed even more. The group’s happiness tried to seep into Nellie. Though they bantered with one another, every barb was delivered with love. She’d never seen the inside of a dragon clan before. This was hardly what she would have expected.
Nellie’s mother had made it sound like all dragon clans functioned more or less like gladiatorial fighting clubs, where the strongest was bathed in blood and the rest in scars. She’d lived in terror of those stories, of what might happen if a dragon clan ever got their hands on her, like they did her mother.
She went missing when Nellie was in her early teens. Though Nellie reported her mother’s absence to the police, they’d written it off like her mother had met a man and decided to leave. There had been a man in town around that time that her mother had warned her to stay away from.
Helpless and alone, Nellie had moved in with Evangeline and her grandfather. To this day, Nellie knew in her heart that the dragon man had found her mother. How she’d managed to keep Nellie out of it, she would never know.
This…this clan made no sense to her. She shouldn’t have been surprised since Evangeline would not willingly join a family of monsters. Evangeline’s heart might have been made of steel, but it was giant. Bree, too, seemed like a really good person. Both of them loved dragons in this clan. Even soft and sweet Isabella had fallen for a dragon man.
Her temples ached. She was thinking too much, running her mind in circles over something she would never understand. These dragons didn’t match the stories her mother told before a dragon man killed her. Yet, here was a family of happy and kind dragon shifters. What was Nellie supposed to believe?
It felt like a ploy, somehow. She waited for the iron bars to fall over the windows, for everyone to laugh at her and tell her that she’d been trapped all along. Gavin had found her the moment her spell had fallen, like he’d been waiting.
She let her head fall back against the couch. The ceiling was rather unremarkable and gave her something to stare at while she tried to tame her mind. Her natural barriers had fallen. Though no one spoke to her, she couldn’t help but feel assaulted on all sides.
“Eat something,” Isabella whispered.
Nellie glanced down. Isabella held out a plate of chips with a hefty serving of guacamole on the side. Isabella said she’d been hiding the guacamole for Nellie and gave a quick wink.
The first bite tasted like heaven, reminding Nellie that she hadn’t had anything to eat since the coffee and fruit snacks at work the day before. Bite by bite, she devoured most of her chips and dip before remembering that she was eating in front of others.
Nellie hated how her thoughts intruded on her life. First, the mess of confusion with these dragons and now her fear of overeating in front of people. No one blinked when Evangeline downed a tub of cookie dough because her waist was thin and trim, but it was different when Nellie had three bites.
An electric charge crackled over her skin. Across the room, Gavin stared at her again. He seemed to look between her and the plate in her hands. The corners of her mouth fell into a scowl.
She stood and made her way into the kitchen. The fresh guacamole on her plate enticed her. Her stomach growled as she set the plate down on the counter. Her girlfriends wouldn’t harp on her for eating, but Nellie didn’t want the men staring at her and wondering why she couldn’t just put the plate down.
A nearby door led out onto a deck. Nellie s
lipped out without anyone seeing, or that’s what she hoped, at least. The fresh air filled her lungs and grounded her. Though she had no magic of her own, she had not lost the ability to feel the magic of the world around her. The brilliance of it all gave her a small sense of relief.
Perhaps there was a chance she could get her magic back, after all.
The door behind her creaked and the wood deck groaned as someone joined her. She didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. While it would have been nice to hang out with Evangeline or Isabella for a little while, Nellie ignored Gavin’s presence.
“You left your food inside,” he grumbled.
She startled. Gavin had brought her plate outside. Not only that, he’d also refilled it with more food. When she didn’t take it, he balanced it on the deck’s wide railing.
“I can hear your stomach growling,” he said, voice low and angry.
She licked her lips, trying to figure out how to approach this conversation. Why was he so upset? Had he made the food? Had she insulted him?
“I’ll eat more when I get home,” she said.
He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “If you don’t have your magic, you need to take care of yourself. Eat.”
“Is that because you want to have a witch on your side for this war?” she fired back.
He jerked, as if she’d slapped him. His lips tightened into a thin line. His nostrils flared, the air before him rippling with heat.
Her heart flipped. She stumbled back. Fear filled her veins, pumping ice to every part of her body. If she mouthed off much more, she would end up crispy.
Gavin didn’t strike, though. He focused his gaze on the landscape past her. She had the feeling that his mind spun just as much as hers had earlier. Why, though, she didn’t know. He was the big, strong leader of a dragon clan. He didn’t have to step carefully around anyone. Others had to be careful around him.
“Who taught you to fear us so much?” he asked.
She snorted before she could stop herself. Instead of clamping her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, she said, “Are you serious?”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 55
