by L M Lacee
Fin smiled. “Her Sire, my brother was a scientist a very talented one. Maybe she inherited that from him?”
Edith’s face softened as she said. “I bet she did. Keeper I will take Commander Fin to your place so he can clean up and change clothes. Oh do you have a change of clothes?”
Fin nodded. “I do. For court, no!”
“Do not worry, I will ask June to organize something for you.” Keeper told him. “If you would please go with Edee she will take care of you and explain who June is and a few of the other people in Ella’s life.”
With a nod to Keeper from Fin and a smile from Edith, they left him to go and tell his shadow. Keeper looked around him, and said to his dragon who had listened closely to what had been said. So two impossible things in one week, amazing!
Our shadow will be pleased.
I hope so. Her uncle is brave and honorable.
Well he better be both. Our Shadow is well loved, let us hope he stays around long enough for Ella to get to know him!
His dragon snorted as he said. Male wants a home.
Well don’t we all? Keeper asked him.
CHAPTER TEN:
O linda pushed her plate away, she had eaten more in this one meal than she could remember eating in several days, if not weeks. “That was nice, thank you.”
Charlie smiled, the female had eaten less than what Kelsey would have for a meal. She passed her a cup of coffee which she had denied her until Olinda had finished eating, as Sharm ordered.
“Prudence cooked for you. Sharm the healer I told you about has said you are to eat every two or three hours or when you are hungry. It will restart your metabolism and stretch your stomach muscles.”
“Okay that makes sense.” Olinda sipped her coffee and closed her eyes. Now this was coffee! It tasted like ambrosia. While she had been eating Charlie had filled her in on where she was, the castle and the members of the royal family also the town named Dragon’s Gap.
Charlie told Olinda who it was that made up the inhabitants of the Gap which was the local name for the town.
Olinda had asked her to explain shifters and the many types of species there were. Charlie had listed the ones she knew and their attributes.
There apparently was a Faerie Grove which she found fascinating to learn about. Now as she sat sipping her coffee, pleasantly full, she sighed. “Such a lot to understand, to learn.”
Charlie agreed. “Although you seem like you would be up for that?”
Olinda gave her a small smile. “Well yeah I like learning or I did.” She asked. “Who was the other male with Ash when I came in?”
“Oh that was my shadow Storm.”
“Okay a shadow is what exactly?”
“Shadow in the dragon language is the title for mate or husband and wife it is a unisex term. It stands for soul shadow as we shadow each other’s souls.”
“Wow that is just so...So lovely. How long have you been together?”
“Not long and it is called bonded instead of married. Now I have a question for you?”
Olinda smiled. “Really just one, go ahead ask?”
Charlie liked Olinda. She was just snarky enough not to be rude or unpleasant. Charlie was fairly positive it was a defense she used to protect herself. Underneath all that bravado she was fairly sure Olinda was just holding together.
“Have you always had soft feet?”
At Olinda’s puzzled look she smiled realizing Olinda had no idea what she was referring too. “Walking softly! It is an unusual trait unless you have been trained.”
“Oh that?” Olinda sighed. “As long as I have been alive I could do that. It seems to go along with the voice in my head.”
“Huh! Now that is interesting.”
“What! The voice?”
Olinda looked at her from the side of her eyes, expecting her to call her a liar or scoff at her for admitting she had voice in her head.
“Yeah, look you are not alone in having a voice in your head. Think about where I told you we are and who the inhabitants are!”
Olinda did and her eyes opened wide.
Charlie nodded as she said. “Exactly, but that does not explain you. We know you are not a dragon or shifter or even faerie so what are you Olinda Keaton?”
Olinda frowned and stated. “Well until recently I assumed I was human. So your guess is as good as mine?”
“What does your voice say?”
“She will not answer, she ignores my questions and believe me I have asked plenty of times. Also we had a slight disagreement, so she is not here again.”
Charlie looked into her coffee cup rather than look at Olinda in an effort to suppress her laugh at her indignant tone. “So what did you disagree about?”
“We disagreed because I say I have the right to be pissed off and she has no right to tell me I cannot be. If she is unwilling to answer questions or something along those lines.”
“Well that would do it!”
Olinda grimaced. “Of course now she is probably sulking somewhere. So do you have kids?”
“Young, we call them young, and hatchlings if they are under a year old. I have three, two daughters one a five year old, a two year old and a hatchling.”
“Are they all...? You know dragon?”
Charlie shook her head. “No, only the baby, the eldest girl is a cougar or what is known as a bob cat. My second daughter is…Well like you. We have no idea.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Sure, then we can tell what will happen as she develops and grows. In case you were wondering, we adopted or claimed as they call it here, all three.”
Olinda brushed her hands through her hair, “This feels weird. I have spoken and been in someone’s company more since I woke, than I have in three months.”
Charlie asked. “You starting to feel closed in some?”
“Yep sort of.”
“So maybe it is time you told me about what caused you to run in the first place?”
Olinda nodded. “Only seems fair.”
One more cup of coffee later she finally came to the end or her tale. Charlie had taken notes of the town she had lived in with her mother and the names of Thea and her family. She had explained they had Hunters who looked into towns and people who did what Thea and her brother did.
Olinda had been pleased, she thought hard to recall as many details as she could of the names of the towns they had almost caught her in, and what the people and towns looked like.
Olinda mumbled, not so much to Charlie but more at herself. “I think the worst of it all, is I lost all my photos of my life, of my mom. I have my memories but not having them hurts and makes all this, funnily enough, even worse.”
Charlie understood that, she had one photo of Harper and her mom which she had carried around since she was young. Scarlett had given her a few more of her mother when young but having none of the mother she knew or her adored sister was sad. “Yeah I get that. I can have someone go look for you at that address if you write it down for me, and a list of what you want them to find. If they can?”
Eagerly Olinda quickly grabbed the paper and started writing. “I hope they can, there are photo albums and my laptop which I would love to have back. Seriously that would be great.”
She passed the list to Charlie who was surprised to see so little on it. “So no clothes or sentimental pieces?”
“No apart from my photos there is nothing of that old life I want. I doubt any of my clothes would fit me anyway. Truthfully I wore mostly what I have on now. Unless I was working. No leave them, I will have to go shopping, although what I will use for money... Yeah I will have to get a job.”
Charlie shook her head. “No Ash will pay for them.”
“The hell he will! I am no man’s toy.” retorted an outraged Olinda. Charlie laughed out loud at her fiery announcement. “Shit Olinda, no one who has been through what you have, would even dare suggest that! Calm your pistols female.”
Olinda settled and shook
her head a smile playing around her mouth. How quickly she had turned down help. Was she that prideful or was it the name Ash that set her off. She could not tell. “So why would he pay for my stuff?”
“Olinda you know why, he is your shadow.”
“Why? Why is hell bent on me, surely there is a nice dragon lady somewhere out there panting just for him?”
Charlie shrugged while she tried to get that image out of her mind. “Probably!”
She was amused to see Olinda frown at that. “You may as well ask, why is the grass green or the sky blue?”
Olinda smirked a little as she said. “I actually have answers for those questions.”
A smiling Charlie mock growled. “Shut the hell up female, it is what it is!”
Olinda shook her head. “But paying. I don’t know Charlie?”
“Dragons cannot find shadows amongst dragons, very few females have been born over the last few hundred years. In fact until we came into their lives, they were on the brink of extinction.”
“Oh well that sort of…” Olinda thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. “Nah! Doesn’t help!”
She ran her hands through her hair again. It had grown she mused. Another indication she was feeling normal. She was worried about the length of her hair.
Charlie nodded. “Think of it this way, there is one person in the whole world who will forever have your back. Never will he cheat on you. Abuse you or your young, never divorce you and will love you forever. It is written in their DNA.”
Olinda swallowed hard and whispered. “You sort of cannot argue with that!”
Charlie agreed. “So…”
“Well looks like I am shopping.”
Charlie laid a phone on the table. “For you. There are names and numbers programmed in. I am two, June is three and cabs are four.”
“Who is first?” asked Olinda, already knowing the answer.
“Ash.”
“Of course he is. Did he buy this phone?” Olinda looked at it like it was a snake.
“Yes, it won’t bite.” Charlie said with a smile.
“If I take it, it means I am accepting everything Charlie.” Olinda whispered, her eyes were still haunted but not as hard as when she’d first sat down. “Everything Charlie!”
Charlie sympathized with her as she stated. “The time for not accepting your new reality has passed my new friend.”
Olinda sighed in agreement. “I don’t have a very good track record with friends.”
Charlie grinned. “Got that! Although you have never had a friend like me before.”
Olinda looked into the eyes that she had thought were cold and hard and saw laughter, acceptance and understanding in their depths.”
“Well that is true, what can it hurt. I know how to run now, so okay.”
Charlie grinned. “This is true.”
She did not bring up the dragons who could and would find her. No matter where she ran too.
“One more thing Olinda, males and females not men or women. The shifters and dragons find the terms man and woman annoying for some obscure, ridiculous reason!” Charlie told her with a tone of annoyance in her voice.
Olinda nodded hearing the tone. “Huh had that argument already, I see!”
“Many friggin times.” Charlie replied. She looked at Olinda and asked. “So what of the hatchlings?”
Olinda rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know, can I leave it for a few days? I mean they are being looked after right and there is so much I need to...” She waved her hand around and stood quickly grabbing the phone. “I need to shop. So how do I get there?”
Charlie said. “There is a cab waiting for you.”
“Oh okay soo?”
“Turn left and take the lift to the main floor, she will be there.”
“Okay thanks for this!” Olinda held the phone up and waved her other hand around indicating the food and information.
Charlie started to say, you are welcome but she was talking to an empty room. She sighed instead. Poor Ace, poor hatchlings and poor Olinda.
Charlie could not tell Olinda that the hatchlings were pining for their mother. She could only hope Olinda would want them soon, before it was too late.
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
O linda almost ran from the apartment, Charlie had been right, the walls were closing in on her. It was like there was a stone weight sitting on her chest. She felt like she could not breathe and kept running until she made the lift.
Once inside she stood with her head down, her throat closing up with the sadness that leaving the apartment and her babies was causing.
She had lied to Charlie when she said she could leave them for a few days. It would be impossible to do so. She just needed a little time that was all, to sort out her position. To realize where she was and who she was meant to be now.
As soon as the lift doors open she stumbled along the short hall, seeing nothing of the beautiful architecture or paintings and tapestries that lined the castle walls.
She did not see Sage who watched the forlorn female when she stopped on the steps leading down from the castle and breathe deeply of the crisp air. Sage felt sorry for the female her life was going to be so very different and she would be asked to come to terms with it quickly.
Hatchlings and shadows needed her but as she looked at the frail female she wondered if they were asking too much.
Olinda took in several breaths hoping the pain in her heart would lessen. She closed her eyes and stood there for a moment. Just breathing letting her heart rate settle.
She knew the babies were safe she could feel their gentle pull on her heart, she could feel the sorrowful dragon as he sang for her. She wanted them to stop. She pleaded for it all to just go away, it was all too much. Too much sadness, too much wanting.
Her heart ached as her arms did for the feel of her sons. Sobs lodged in her chest adding to the stone that was already there.
Then it was like a curtain had dropped between them and her, she knew they were there but the pull from both babies and dragon was gone.
Olinda sighed in relief she had no idea who or what had given her the peace she sought but she was grateful. For a little while, just a little while thank you! She thought. She felt a feeling of contriteness and of understanding fill her mind. Olinda sent thanks to the voice who had made this possible. She opened her eyes and saw a teenage girl standing by a car.
Charlie heard the door open and close, the only indication Olinda had left the apartment. So soft footed, how was that possible? She wondered. As good as she herself was, she was not that quiet.
Charlie would have bet no one was, shifter or human and as she sniffed the air she could scent soap, shampoo and the conditioner Olinda had used but no actual scent of the female herself.
She let her mind run back over the scents in the bedroom and realized there had been no scent there either. That was why she had believed something was not right. People always left a trace of themselves behind, unless a spell was used. To have no scent naturally was an aberration that left Charlie mystified. She knew of no creature who could do that.
She walked slowly towards the smaller lounge knowing Storm and Ash had been there the whole time listening to their conversation and she bet Olinda had known as well.
Storm came to her and kissed her. “You are sad?”
“I am, she has not had it easy. They hunted her mercilessly. It would seem they obviously know something we do not about her.”
Ash said. “I have called for my brothers they will lead the hunt for these people!” He almost spat the word, people out.
Charlie said. “When they are finished with them. I have a list here of things for your brothers to get for her. If her apartment is still there or her stuff is.”
“They will see to it. The hatchlings?” He asked. She shook her head. “No. She will not deal with that yet, it is not that she does not care. I think she is just so overwhelmed. Try to remember Ash she has been on her own for over three
months. Hiding, running, living in fear. I get the impression she never lived like that before. She is a quick study though, very intelligent. Fast to grasp a situation and make it work of her. This….This has confused. Now she is thrown back into the world again and it is not her world or the world she knew. Then on top of all that we are asking her to trust all of us. She needs to find her balance, to come to terms with herself. You, the hatchlings, where she is… We are asking a lot from her.”
Storm said. “So trust is an issue?”
“Among other things but she is willing to try. At least that is something.”
She said directly to Ash. “I basically had to beg her to spend your money.” He smiled a little, Charlie nodded. “It was pitiful!”
His smile grew at her tone. He was relieved when she told him. “I did get her to take the phone but I would not expect her to keep it on.”
“Thank you Charlie for everything.”
“Well I hope I helped? I like her a lot, she is my kind of people.”
He nodded. “Claire said you were the only one who could help her. Who could understand her?”
Just then Sage walked in and asked. “How did it go?”
Charlie replied. “Okay for the most part, she is accepting of Ash although she is ambivalent about it. Trust issues and you should know she has a voice she hears in her mind that guides her. Always has, apparently.”
“But Edee said she was not shifter, dragon or faerie. Right?” asked Sage.
“She did.” Ash answered.
“What is she?” Sage demanded of the three.
They all shrugged as none of them had any answers for her. Charlie sighed as she explained. “She does not know. Until recently she assumed she was human.”
Sage frowned as she asked. “And what of the hatchlings?”
“No not yet, she barely dealt with everything I threw at her.”
“Well she will have to get over herself, they need her. We will not allow them to die.”
They all looked at her, this was not the normal sweet Sage they were all use too. Something had happened, they could feel it. Ash asked. “What has happened Sage, to make you so on edge?”
