Guin said, “You know, maybe we’re jumping ahead of ourselves.”
“What do you mean?”
“Doesn’t this seem too easy? We must be setting world records here. Our target delivers herself directly to the cabin?”
“Oh, very good, Guin.” Orla said. “Trying to ruin the party again. Is it really so hard to imagine us finding favor with the gods?”
“Shush!” Fianna hushed. This was not a conversation she’d want overheard.
Guin shook her head. “I’ve got a feeling,” she whispered. “And you know what happens if we ignore my feelings.”
Fianna was about to respond, but the bathroom door opened a little and in a slightly more energetic, though hesitant voice, the woman asked, “Do you, um, have a robe or something I can borrow?”
Guin, who had guessed what was next, stood ready with sweat pants and a tee shirt. Orla tossed a pair of black thong panties onto the pile with a wink. Guin handed them through the door without a word.
A few minutes later, the woman emerged with clouds of steamy moisture billowing behind her. Her short, wet hair was plastered back and her eyes were red and puffy. She had a scratch on her left cheek that looked recent. The offered clothing hung on her tall, thin frame. She seemed to be maybe in her mid-twenties. There was an edginess to her, a don’t-mess-with-me brittleness that intrigued Fianna instantly. “I’m so sorry,” the stranger said. “I really hate my-self right now.” She sniffed. “My name is Abbie, by the way. I’ll be getting out of your hair, um, as soon as I know where I am and everything.”
a
Abbie eyed the women, sizing them up. How much trouble was she in? Her aches and pains seemed better. Oddly better. Her head, however, was another story. Maybe they’d have some ibuprofen. Thank God her stomach had settled down. Then, she remembered what she’d thrown up in the toilet and fought a gag.
The one with reddish hair was speaking to her. “You don’t know where you are?”
“No, I’m so sorry. Seriously. I got really lost up here.” Abbie’s vision cleared enough to focus on the tall redhead. Wow. Thick, wavy auburn hair fell to her shoulders from a side part. She had classic cheekbones, full lips, and her green eyes twinkled under delicate dark eyebrows. Gorgeous. “Sorry. What did you say?”
Most distracting was the way her eyes sort of…gleamed, like a secret message was being conveyed, except Abbie couldn’t understand the message. Or, was it a question? A tiny warning bell went off. She’d blanked for a second, overwhelmed.
“Why don’t we have some tea?” the redhead asked in a soothing voice, as if she sensed Abbie’s confusion. “Perhaps we can help you sort out how you ended up here. And maybe what happened to your clothes?”
Abbie flashed back to last night. Tent. Mushrooms. No wonder she felt off her head. She glanced at the group of women and braced for their anger at her intrusion. The impact of three sets of similar green eyes staring at her with the same, very interested intensity made her breath catch. Her brain went on tilt again and she had no idea what to say.
“My name is Fianna,” the redhead said. A round of introductions followed.
Guin and Orla grinned at her in a friendly way that triggered a twinge of paranoia. What was with all the smiling? She’d broken into their cabin and slept in their bed. Yet they’d handed her towels, let her take a shower, and given her clothes. Even so, her uneasiness increased.
She cleared her throat, unnerved. “Ah, yeah, um, thanks. Look, I’m okay, really, just a little fuzzy on the details right now.”
Making matters worse, her unruly brain further derailed at the surreal collection of hotness surrounding her. The sharp, hazel and green eyes, the matching sweep of elegant cheekbones, the arching dark eyebrows and the similar tall, buff, and toned look, all seemed to indicate a very “wow” family resemblance.
Guin’s inky black hair cascaded down her back, and fake jewel buttons lined the front of a clinging purple blouse. Tight, black pants gripped legs that went on forever, ending with sculpted thighs and an altogether stunning sultry look. Abbie had to yank her attention off the shiny button that gleamed in the middle over Guin’s curvy breasts.
Abbie swung her sights on Orla, nearly as tall as Guin and poured into faded blue jeans and a tight, tucked-in white tee shirt. Her ash blonde hair was shaved on one side, while on the other, it reached to the bottom of her chin in a perfectly sculptured edge. She exuded the same subtle, sultry look as Guin and Fianna. Orla’s hazel eyes locked onto Abbie’s. Piercing intelligence shone in them, along with great amusement that both confused and intrigued Abbie. It was like being under one hot, alluring, mysterious microscope. Abbie wasn’t sure whether to purr or run. A familiar paranoia tingled at the nape of her neck.
Fianna brought her back. “Come sit at the table, Abbie. You look a little pale. Are you hungry?”
Thoughts of food made her realize she hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before. Maybe she should take her hosts up on the offer, even if she was unsettled with their vibes. Any strangeness could simply be mushroom hangover, right?
Abbie shuffled to the table in a daze, wincing with the slight jostle to her head. She sat on the chair Guin offered. “Um. You don’t happen to have any ibuprofen, do you?” she asked.
Fianna’s face crinkled. “Ibu—what?”
“Ibuprofen? Anyway, I’ve got a pretty bad headache. Any pain relievers handy?
“No.” Fianna’s lips pursed, as if she wasn’t quite sure of the answer. Her long fingertips drummed on the counter-top. Abbie’s attention sprang to the silver ring on Fianna’s left index finger. A pure blue sapphire stone crowned the band. The jewel shone in a circle of diamonds set into a vintage design. Tap, tap, went Fianna’s finger, as if enticing her to look. With difficulty, Abbie pulled her avid gaze away.
“We don’t have anything like that in pill form,” Fianna said. “But this tea I’m making has medicinal healing properties. I think it will help.” Fianna put a kettle of water on the stovetop and set mugs on the counter. Orla took care of the woodstove and soon, a welcome warmth filled the room. She joined Guin at the table opposite Abbie and together they beamed at her, as if she’d done something great, which made Abbie twitchy. No one seemed concerned about a complete stranger invading their cabin. It was starting to creep her out.
Fianna put a plate of hot, buttered toast on the table. “Help yourself,” she said. “I’m starting some soup. Should be ready soon.”
“Oh, fantastic,” Abbie murmured, eyeing the delicious smelling toast. Then, she winced, remembering the bathroom incident and felt queasy. Hesitant, she took a bite and a sip of sweet, tangy tea. The pain in her head instantly lessened. She groaned in relief and drank the cup down. “Wow,” she said. “You weren’t kidding about the tea.”
Fianna took the chair on Abbie’s left. “Feeling better, yes?”
Abbie nodded. Was Fianna glowing? There was a gold, kind of shimmery thing going on with her and the others, surrounding them in a warm haze. Maybe it was a by-product of ’shroom recovery. She realized her lower parts felt kind of…throbby.
She cast around for a distraction. “What happened over there?” Abbie gestured toward the sofa. “Something break?” Funny how she hadn’t noticed the broken stuff all over the floor until now. Plus, that gorgeous gemstone. How had she not noticed such a big, shiny thing? She’d never seen anything like it.
Fianna choked on a sip of tea. “Actually, we were going to ask you that.”
“What do you mean?” Was she going to be blamed for breakages? Was that their angle?
“You didn’t see it happen?”
“See what?” Abbie’s voice rose.
“Or hear anything?” Guin asked, as she left the table to grab a broom and started briskly sweeping. She eyed Abbie with a quizzical look over the broom handle.
“You mean hear anything breaking? I didn’t even notice the mess until just now!”
Fianna raised her eyebrows. “When we left, everything was fine. Wh
en we returned, you were in our bed, and the room was in its current state.”
Abbie’s face heated. She crossed her arms in a defensive posture. “Hey, I have no idea what happened here. I was lost and exhausted and this was the only place around. So, well, I’m sorry, but no one was home to ask permission and your door was wide open.”
That got an eerie reaction. Smiles vanished, and their expressions cooled. The uncanny, unblinking attention didn’t feel quite so friendly. Abbie sat up straighter, alarmed.
“You mean the door was actually open?” asked Fianna. “The door was shut but unlocked.”
This seemed to perplex her hosts. A long silence fell. They kept giving each other sidelong glances, and Abbie could have sworn some sort of communication was going on, but no one was talking.
She blurted, “I know this might sound crazy, but when I first knocked, I got a little electric shock. But then it went away, so…I didn’t think much about it. Do you guys have an alarm system or something?”
“Oh, yes, actually, we do.” Fianna sounded relieved and the edgy vibes coming from the others visibly eased.
“Not sure how you got past the alarm, though,” Guin said, putting away the broom and rejoining the group. Orla nudged her in the ribs. Abbie watched the interplay with building suspicion.
“Me, either, I guess,” Abbie said. “Glad I did, though. Thank you so much for the rescue, but maybe I should get a start back to my car.”
She had a sudden flash of memory from the night before. A hungry vibe, a hunter’s thrill, a strong sense of hunter and prey. It was too weird. Abbie thrust her chair back. A cascade of bizarre, frightening images scrolled through her head. She jumped to her feet.
“I think I’ll head out.” Her voice sounded odd, deeper than usual. Something new boiled inside of her; new and strangely familiar and not yet trustworthy. “Thanks for the clothes and tea and stuff. Just point me to the Hood trail and I’ll be on my way.” She started edging out of the kitchen, resisting the urge to run.
So bold. So badass. So full of shit.
Chapter Three
Dragon Found
“We’re really far from the main road,” Fianna said.
She, Orla, and Guin rose and milled around the kitchen. Confusion filled the room and silent Draca communication raced like mad between them.
“You should wait,” said Orla. “We can help you get back. Besides, don’t you want lunch?”
Abbie crossed her arms. “How far, exactly?” she asked. “People are going to be wondering where I am. I feel pretty recovered, better than last night, that’s for sure.” She stepped toward the door. “Can’t you draw me a map or something?”
“We are more than twenty miles from the road you mentioned,” Fianna said, her heart racing. She patted the top of the kitchen table. “Wouldn’t you like some lunch, fortify yourself before you go?” Anything to keep her from walking out the door. “Minestrone soup and French bread?”
A hungry look crossed Abbie’s face. “Vegetarian?” she asked, with a hopeful note.
Fianna went blank. “What do you mean?”
“Without meat,” Guin explained. “It’s a lifestyle.”
“You’ve never heard of being a vegetarian?” Abbie asked.
“Oh, right, of course.” Fianna paused, the meaning sinking in. “You never eat meat or fish?”
“Nope. Or dairy. I’m a vegan. So, the soup?”
No, it wasn’t vegan, but Fianna could easily change that. “Yes.” She caught Orla’s twinkling eyes. Guin nudged Fianna and ducked to hide a grin. A Draca who didn’t eat meat? What about when she shape-shifted?
Orla whispered in silent amusement, “Someone’s not going to be too happy.”
Fianna didn’t like the growing, unfamiliar feeling of confusion leaving her stomach in knots. A vegan dragon? Hybrid or no, that couldn’t be right.
Abbie stood with one hand on the front door knob. Her stance and energy communicated a “half in, half out” status to Fianna. Fianna needed to reel her all the way in and soothe her understandable anxiety. She certainly couldn’t explain everything now because careful protocols had to be followed, ones that protected the humans and the Draca both.
“What happened to Abbie last night?” she sent a telepathic inquiry to the collective sister-selves to no avail. The Draca women, and their dragon selves, shared special telepathic channels for communicating silently.
“Do you have a cell phone I can use?” Abbie jiggled the doorknob, her gaze darting from one to the other.
“No reception here,” Fianna said, stifling the urge to lunge for the door.
Abbie’s drawn, haunted look, complete with dark circles under her eyes, painted her as a creature in need of rescue. The dragons, known collectively as the sisters-Draca, chose that moment to jointly grasp the situation in the practical, no-nonsense manner of a predator, and agreed the clueless human-Draca needed their protection. She was family, and for the moment, that’s all they needed to know. Rapid-fire reactions pinged among six minds—Fianna, Orla, Guin, and their dragons. The group processed in furious silence while earnestly regarding Abbie, who appeared mired in a frantic desire to leave, and a burning curiosity to stay. She was a puzzle sent from the gods for them to solve in order to complete the mission.
She may not speak on all our wavelengths yet, Fianna thought. But she feels them. Abbie shared their silence, as if waiting for their internal conversation to finish. Fianna sensed that everyone felt Abbie’s fear, and if Fianna didn’t find a way to soothe the lot of them, things were going to get lively in a rather more dragonly way. Probably not a good idea.
Yet Abbie needed coaxing to tell her story, as a prelude to revealing her true nature. Fianna tried to draw her out.
“Come on, Abbie,” Fianna said in a soothing tone. She remembered the skittishness of young Draclings and gestured toward the kitchen. “You must still be so exhausted. Let’s have lunch and sort everything out, how does that sound?”
Abbie looked torn, and, with a tinge of resentment, said, “Fine. Soup would be great. Then, can you tell me how to get out of here?”
“Better. We’ll hike with you,” Fianna said. “Make sure you get to your car okay. Later, after lunch. Okay?”
“Okay.” She still looked reluctant.
Fianna wanted to howl. How disciplined and polite they were being. Like the proverbial saying, the one about the elephant in the room. In their case, it was the dragon in the room. Did Abbie know or even suspect what had, most likely, happened to her? They didn’t want to shock her. Fianna was not going to blow her big opportunity to protect this unlikely dracling, even though she itched with a familiar and dangerous impatience.
“Do you play poker? Fianna asked casually, while she washed vegetables for chopping. Lots and lots of vegetables—way more than meat-eating dragons ever consumed in one meal. She gave Abbie a sideways look to see her reaction to the poker question. She hadn’t missed Abbie’s interest in the jewelry…or her ring.
“Do I play poker?” A flash of delight crossed Abbie’s face, then quickly squelched. “Um, yeah, I play. Some.” Her features transformed into a watchful, crafty expression, shaded with avarice. Precisely like a dragon.
Oh, excellent my young dracling. Very good. I’ve already won the first round. Fianna turned back to her vegetables, hiding a smile.
a
If she wasn’t starving, Abbie told herself, she’d have been out of here by now. First, they offer soup, and now poker? Yet, somehow, the question served to deflate Abbie’s immediate need to run. Instead, she assessed her attractive, mysterious hosts and shoved aside her paranoid alarm. For now. How much fun would it be to beat their strange, beautiful asses at cards? Despite the fact she was attempting to flee a few minutes ago, she remembered all the shiny jewelry hanging on the walls and nodded. She did need to get home before her so-called friends contacted the sheriff. Well Sandy probably would. Abbie wasn’t too sure about Janet.
The group tried to e
xplain where they were on the mountain, but the details remained fuzzy. Abbie really hoped it didn’t involve hiking twenty miles. For the first time since she’d woken up face down in the dirt, she felt a slight lifting of her spirits. She pushed away scary images and refused to think about what had happened last night. Maybe she should just relax and enjoy what the universe was providing. Yeah, she thought dryly. That’s the ticket. That always worked.
The soup was ready in no time. Abbie dug in, and every mouthful of the rich soup and crusty bread was exquisite. It was hard to refrain from moaning as she filled her empty belly.
She regarded her potential card rivals with surreptitious glances, glad for the opportunity to scope out her playing partners beforehand. Orla seemed kind of the clown. Never underestimate the clown. Guin was the quiet one. Beware the quiet, crafty one, sneaking in the back door. And then there was Fianna. God. That woman—so hot.
Fianna’s beautiful lips tilted as if she knew a secret, and her unusual emerald green eyes glinted. She could win with smoking, sensual power alone. Abbie couldn’t shake the feeling that a shit-ton more was going on than anyone admitted. The promise of help didn’t drown out her persistent, unexplainable paranoia. The way they snuck looks at each other and then back at her pumped her anxiety. She wasn’t that relaxed, and her worry rose. One hour, tops, then out the door, she told herself.
“Let’s play!” Orla called out. She had cleared a space near the sofa and added a card table along with four folding chairs.
“Who wants to be the dealer?” Orla slapped a red box of playing cards on the table. “And what’s the game?”
“Let’s do simple,” Guin said, and took the seat across from Orla. “Five card draw.”
“Fine,” Fianna said.
Abbie joined the table. “Anyone have a jar of pennies, ha-ha?”
“Oh, no pennies. Something much better.” Fianna carried over an enamel tray and sat it down with care. “We like to play with these little beauties.”
Fianna the Gold Page 3
