by Riley Storm
“Welcome to the Teres Clan home,” he said grandly, having practiced reciting that line, hoping to impress her, and also make her feel welcome.
“The what?” she asked, interrupting his train of thought. “The who?
Vlad didn’t answer. He wasn’t able to explain it just yet anyway. Not in a way she would understand.
The truck slowed at the gate that blocked their way, until Vlad stared at a specific rock on the side of the entryway. “It’s me. Vlad. I’m uh, I, uh, I guess I’m back.”
There was a pause, and then the black metal gate began to retract.
“Welcome home,” a voice said from the hidden speaker.
Home. Vlad wasn’t so sure of that.
“We’re here I guess,” he said.
“Right. Tell me again, where here is?” Ellyn asked, looking around at the two story square edged building.
There were actually four stories, but only two were above ground. The other two were burrowed into the mountain, with only the one side visible, looking directly out onto the mountain itself, with a sheer drop below its many large, reinforced balconies.
Perfect takeoff spots for dragons.
“Here is…uh, it’s a safe place. I used to live here.”
He could see Ellyn giving him a sidelong look. “Right. So uh, who lives here now?”
Vlad chewed on his lip. “Um. I guess technically still family?”
Ellyn’s look became a frown, her mouth flattening into a thin line, light brown eyebrows coming together like thunderclouds. “There is a lot more to that statement than you’re telling me.”
It wasn’t a question.
Vlad just shrugged. He wasn’t about to tell her everything. Not yet. Maybe eventually.
He pulled into the courtyard and parked the truck in one of the trio of visitor spaces, unsure of how long he would be allowed to stay. It might be a very short stop. But at least here they would be safe.
Not to mention there was nowhere for Ellyn to go. She couldn’t run away here.
Tossing the keys on the dash, Vlad stepped out of the truck, stretching mightily. Reaching for the sky he let his body relax, feeling muscles and tendons pop and pull after having spent so long in a sitting position. Blood flowed freely and he took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air.
“I’d forgotten how clean the air is up here,” he said under his breath, speaking the thought aloud.
He looked around at the familiar setting. A stab of pain hit him in the ribs. Everything was just as he remembered it. This had been his home, a place where Vlad had spent most of his life. Almost all of it, in fact.
It’s not home, not anymore. So don’t get comfortable. Temporary only.
“What do we do now?” Ellyn asked from her side of the truck, where she too was out, and going through a series of stretches that did wonderful things to the suit, pulling it tight in many ways that had him eyeing the gentle lines of her body and all the curves that came with it.
“Now,” he said, coughing into his elbow to cover the hitch of his voice as he tried to speak just as she bent over. “Now we get inside, get you settled in a visitor’s room and then pass the hell out for some proper sleep. Also some real food. After that, we’ll talk and discuss next steps and what to do with you.”
Ellyn glared at him. “So I’m not free to go then? Just to clarify that?”
“No,” he said, deciding not to bother sugarcoating anything. “Not until you are able and willing to talk openly about what you saw.”
Vlad might be having his own internal doubts on whether she’d seen anything, but he wasn’t about to voice them out loud. Not yet.
It was daytime now, so Vlad knew he didn’t have to worry about anyone accidentally revealing their true heritage to Ellyn while she was here. Even so, he intended to make sure word was spread that they had a human among them that might not be fully aware of what they were, and so to behave accordingly.
He hoped the others would still listen to him on that front, though he couldn’t actually be certain. For all Vlad knew, they might toss him out as soon as they discovered he was back. He had the odds at fifty-fifty on that front.
“I didn’t see anything!” Ellyn snapped. “For the last time, all I saw were some of you dudes walking around, providing far more security than I was ever warned about. That’s it. I saw nothing el—”
Vlad was about to continue when her eyes went wide. “See,” he said, noting the shocked look on her face. “I knew you did. It was only a matter of time until you thought it over and your brain accepted the reality of it.”
Ellyn lifted a shaking hand and pointed over his shoulder.
Vlad sighed, then glanced behind him.
So much for none of that.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s what you saw. The same thing.”
Behind them an orange-scaled dragon settled in softly on the rooftop. Vlad turned to watch, trying to identify who it was, enjoying watching the smooth grace of it all. Such beauty in his kin, all of them. That couldn’t be denied, even if they were willing to deny him.
“Now, are you ready to discuss what you saw, so that we can come to the reality of it all?”
Behind him a vehicle door closed.
“Oh crap,” he muttered as the truck rumbled to life and Ellyn threw it into reverse. “I guess she didn’t see anything after all.”
Chapter Twelve
Ellyn
The truck engine roared as she floored the reverse. The gate, which had only just begun to close, started to open. Whoever was in charge was quick off the mark. There was a screech of metal on metal and the driver’s side mirror disappeared in a shower of sparks and broken plastic, but then she was through.
Slamming on the brakes she spun the wheel, orienting the truck down the mountain and gunned it again.
“Get away. Have to get away,” she whispered, rocking back and forth, urging the truck to go faster. “Gotta go.”
It couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t. It wasn’t possible. Somehow it had to be fake.
She’d seen it though, with her own two eyes. Heard the sound of it beating its wings against the air. Even though it had been distant, enough air had been stirred up for her to feel the slight breeze as it came in for a landing.
It. The dragon. Orange scales glittering in the sunlight, long, spiky head attached to a sinuous neck that bobbed with deadly grace, and the long tail that flicked through the air behind the creature.
A creature straight out of the movies!
Ellyn had seen some things in her time. Things she wished she hadn’t, but this, this was on a whole different level! Dragons weren’t real. They couldn’t be real!
“Let’s just put that in the rear-view mirror, get out of town, and never talk about it again,” she said, trying to sound far more confident than she felt.
On the bright side, she had the truck now, and a half-full tank of gas. She could get somewhere, sell the truck for some cash and move on. Nobody would be able to follow her now.
They were nearly on the other side of the continent as well. The mountains here were real mountains. Lex would never think to look for her over here, so far away. Ellyn could start fresh, start again. No more looking over her shoulder!
The truck rumbled down the mountain as fast as she dared take it through the weaving road. At one point she saw a town in the valley, but then the road curved around again, putting it out of sight.
She slowed as the road came to a hairpin turn ahead, cliff no more than five feet to her right, and an open drop on her left, across the other lane. This was not how she wanted to go out.
“HOLY SHIT!” she screamed, stomping on the brake pedal.
Rubber sloughed off onto the concrete as she worked frantically to stop the truck before it crashed into another dragon.
Ellyn knew this one was different, because its scales were scarlet red, far brighter than they should be.
Scales. Dragon.
It blocked the entire road ahead o
f her, sleek, elegant and, she was sure, filled with deadly flame that could roast her alive inside the truck. Gulping down her nerves she once again put the truck in reverse, intent on trying to escape.
Yet almost before she got moving, the dragon leapt forward, over the truck and landed its body behind her, while curving its head around so that one black catlike pupil was staring at her through the window.
It shook its head, and then to her complete and utter astonishment, it did something else she’d never expected. It spoke.
“You may as well come out and talk.”
The melodic voice rolled over the truck and down her spine, causing Ellyn to clutch the wheel harder with one hand. Using the other she lowered the window a crack.
“Shoo!” she said, gesturing with the same hand. “Shoo-shoo! Go away!”
The head tilted slightly. “I am not an unintelligent beast, Ellyn. You can’t just make me go away.”
“Shoo!” she shouted, bouncing slightly in her chair. “Please, just go away mister dragon!”
Her brain wasn’t really functioning properly, otherwise she would have known just how ridiculous that last line sounded. Imagine trying to shoo away a fifty-foot dragon.
Imagine seeing a fifty-foot dragon. In real life. That knows your name.
Ellyn sat up straighter. It knew her name. It knew her name!
“How do you know my name?” she called through the crack.
“You told me it. In the dungeon, the night I brought you food.”
Ellyn’s jaw cracked as it popped open so swiftly the rest of her face couldn’t keep up. “VLAD?” she shrieked, a distant corner of her brain noting that the voice did sound remarkably like her rescuer’s.
Deeper, with a more melodic, almost musical tone to it. But still like him.
“The one and the same.”
Ellyn looked at the dragon again, then stared out the front window. Then she passed out, her brain too overwhelmed with this new knowledge.
***
When she came to, she was cradled against something warm, and hard.
Skin. She was being held against someone. Two thick arms were wrapped under her body, and she was pressed to their bare chest.
Her eyes flickered open.
It was Vlad. Of course it was hot, sexy Vlad, now without a shirt, who was holding her in his arms. Why wouldn’t that happen? Now she knew she was dreaming, because it was only in her dreams that she’d thought of him like this.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.
She frowned up at him. “I’m fine, yeah. Just…well, I fainted. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Vlad twisted—she realized he was kneeling—giving her a view behind him.
The truck had reversed itself up onto the cliff face. The rear-end was partially crumpled and the back wheels were stuck in mid-air where she’d somehow managed to perch it on a rock.
“Oh,” she said, not quite sure what else she should say at this point.
The driver’s door was hanging open. Vlad must have come in and pulled her free of the truck after she crashed it.
“Sorry about your truck. How long was I out for?”
“Maybe a minute,” Vlad said.
When he spoke, she could feel the vibrations of his voice through his chest.
That’s not all she could feel. His heart was thundering deep within it as well, beating faster than normal. Along with that, waves of heat were practically boiling off from him, keeping her warm. Ellyn had to fight the urge to snuggle deeper into his grip, to siphon more heat from him.
It had been an unusually warm start to October so far, but this high up in the mountains, there was a chill to the air that she couldn’t deny. Being this close to Vlad was helping keep that at bay.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Vlad told her.
Ellyn’s stomach flipped at hearing him say that, and she forced herself to breathe slowly. His heart wasn’t the only one beating hard.
Nor could she put it all down to fear as she looked up into his face, noting the sereneness there. He wasn’t scared, wasn’t worried. At least, not that he was showing.
“How is this possible?” she asked. “What happened?”
“Well,” Vlad said wryly. “Apparently you were telling the truth, and you didn’t see anything at the house the other night.”
She snorted. “I told you I didn’t.”
“Well, I assumed you did, and you were just in denial of it. Hopefully you can understand why I might believe that.”
“Still am,” she pointed out. “Not sure I buy it. A dragon? That’s a little far-fetched. But, at least now, I can say I told you so. I wasn’t lying.”
“I know,” Vlad said, looking away. “If I’d believed you, I probably would have tried to bring this up a little more…gently. But, here we are.”
She sank into him slightly as he sighed in resignation at that last.
“Right,” she said, trying to ignore how that made her feel on the inside. “Here we are. With me, in your arms. Pressed to your chest.”
She’d expected some sort of suave response. Instead, Vlad grimaced awkwardly. “Yes. Um, well, there’s a reason for that.”
He didn’t continue.
Ellyn lifted her eyebrows up at him. “Just what is that reason Vlad?”
He sighed, head drooping before he opened one eye to look at her. “I don’t have any pants on.”
Ellyn took her time responding to that one. She came up with, and discarded a number of responses, before settling on one that seemed to make the most sense.
“Listen Vlad. I’m not that type of girl.”
His eyes flew open in a panic. “No, Ellyn, that’s not it. I mean, it’s not not it. I wouldn’t say no. I mean, I’d say yes. Like, I mean, I wouldn’t have a problem going to bed with you. I’d actually really like it. A lot. Uh, no, but, that’s not what I meant. I mean, it’s not because of that, I meant what I said.”
“Vlad,” she said, cutting off his rambling, trying very hard not to let her mind wander. “Why don’t you just tell me why you don’t have pants on? Where are they?”
“Back at the house.”
“I see.” That made things a little more difficult. “Why are they back there?”
“Well, changing into my dragon, the process tends to destroy clothes. So it’s easier to take them off.”
“Ah,” she said, getting it.
“I didn’t want to waste a good pair of pants,” he said with a shrug.
“Of course. Why didn’t I think of that earlier,” she said dryly. “Well, I guess we’re just going to have deal with that. Somehow. Can you set me down?”
He started to let her on the ground, but Ellyn started to panic as her mind filled in the blanks on where she would be, in terms of her eye level, versus him.
“On second thought,” she said, looking away frantically. “How about you just stand up and put me on my feet?”
Vlad got to his feet without issue, and set her down. She kept her head averted, giving him time to cover himself before she turned back to him.
He was just standing there, waiting for her, completely naked, hands at his sides.
She couldn’t help herself. Her eyes dropped below the waist.
“What the hell are you?” she gasped. Was there any part of him that wasn’t thick and well, thick?
“My name is Vlad Teres,” he said quietly. “And I’m a dragon shifter.”
Chapter Thirteen
Vlad
The entire encounter had been botched from the start, and it was all his fault.
Perhaps I should have believed her when she told me that she didn’t see anything.
That begged the question of why should he believe anything a self-admitted thief who was desperate to escape would say? It was only natural she would lie, and lie as much as possible to ensure she got her way.
As it turned out, Ellyn hadn’t been lying. Not about that. She hadn’t seen any dragons that night. Her first encounter was here, w
ith him. Vlad mentally cursed himself for being so nonchalant. Yes, it was rare for his kind to take flight during the day, but rare wasn’t the same as never.
Now it was clear that Ellyn was on the edge of snapping, getting ready to bolt again, to run. There was nowhere she could go of course, he would catch her quite easily. They were high up on the side of Mount Teres, one of the five mountains that surrounded the town of Five Peaks, and the one that belonged to his clan.
She was trapped, but that didn’t mean Ellyn couldn’t still end up hurting herself in a headlong flight. Vlad had an obligation to ensure her safety, regardless of his own personal desire to ensure that she was okay. He wanted to comfort her himself.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, taking a slow step away from Ellyn, giving her a bit more space. “I know this is hard, I know that it’s scary beyond belief.”
“Hard to understand,” she added. “No, impossible. This isn’t possible Vlad! What you just did, it’s…it isn’t real.”
“It is real,” he said forcefully. “Very real. It’s just not likely. Just remember that I was the one who broke you out of jail. I’m on your side, I risked myself to get you out of there as well.”
Ellyn’s face hardened, losing much of its emotion. “Jail, yes. Of course. Which, unless my brain has completely snapped, is a jail that other people like you put me in!”
Vlad snarled, the sound bouncing off the side of the mountain and rolling down its side. “I am not like them.”
Ellyn backed up a step, glancing around nervously, but she didn’t bolt.
“You were there,” she said. “Hanging out with them. You were the one who caught me. You were a part of them Vlad.”
“But not like them,” he growled. “They are worse. The blackest, darkest stain upon the race of dragons. I should never have allowed myself to step foot among them. It was a momentary weakness, a period of self-doubt that nearly swallowed me. But I am done with that now, and I will never go back.”
He almost amended that statement to include Sache in some way, but decided not to further muddy the waters. If he chose to go back to try and haul Sache out of there, that would not be the same as returning. Not at all.
