Thea Harrison - Dragon Bound

“Well, none of us know that, cupcake. We can’t figure you out and you’re not inclined to talk about it.” Graydon drank some more.

“I have my reasons.” She shivered. “And I’m a half-breed. It’ll kill him if I can’t make a full change.”

“So you two talk about this and he walks out,” said Graydon. “Doesn’t sound quite right.”

“Well, no. He said I had to make up my mind about what I wanted fast, so he could try to let me go. Then he said he wasn’t sure he could. Then he left. Meanwhile there’s the Fae King to deal with, and this is all so strange.” She waved a hand in a gesture meant to include everything. “I barely know anybody here, and it seems like I’ve already stirred up hard feelings. Everything my mom taught me was to run and hide. This isn’t running and hiding. This is insanity.”

“Hey, don’t go all 90210 on me,” said Graydon. “Let’s pull back from the curlicues for a minute and untangle things. Urien has to be dealt with, and he’s a dangerous fact of life at the moment, but he’s not part of the real issue, is he?”

After a moment she shook her head.

“Okay. Now, who hates you? None of us do. You’re sure as hell a game changer, and I’ll admit it took us by surprise. We didn’t take kindly to the idea at first and some of the sentinels are still grumpy about it. But we’ll adjust. Changes happen. That’s not to say there won’t be others who’ll have issues if you mate with Dragos. He’s very powerful, financially, politically and magically, and I won’t lie to you. Court politics can get pretty spiky. You gotta know that’s part of the package.”

She narrowed her eyes on him, remembering the woman outside the gym. She described the woman to him. “That’s one of the sentinels, isn’t it? It looked like she’s got a real hate-on going for me.”

He tapped the tips of his blunt fingers against the bottle, frowning. “That’s Aryal, and yeah, she’s one of us. She doesn’t exactly hate you. Harpies just aren’t known for being real forgiving types. Give her time. She’ll come around.”

She nodded. “Tricks mentioned some hotheaded predators.”

He grinned. “Yeah, there’s a lean and hungry pride of Wyrlions in the corporate law division. They bring a comprehensive new meaning to the word ‘bitchy,’ but they have their place. If anybody gives you any trouble, all you gotta do is let me know and I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a wry look. She didn’t say it, but if she was going to make a go of living here, she would have to fight her own battles and carve out her own niche.

He said, “This might be hard, but it’s all simple at the same time. You know what it boils down to. Do you want Dragos or not? Do you want him bad enough to overcome what your mom taught you and let your guard down, to put up with all his shit, the Wyr Court, and deal whatever the future holds? Or do you want to run away and leave all this behind? That’s all you gotta figure out. The rest will work itself out over time.”

She tried to imagine running away and starting over. She could go south. She would be alone. She knew without ever discussing it that if she said good-bye to Dragos, there would be no second chance. She said, “It’s all happening so fast.”

“Often the Wyr mating bond does. I’ve known times when it has happened the moment two Wyr laid eyes on each other. Now, there were some bumpy roads.”

“Have you ever known of the mating bond to happen to one person and not the other?”

He blew out a breath. “That’s a tough one. It’s a lot trickier if a Wyr bonds with a non-Wyr like a human, since non-Wyrs don’t go through the same experience we do. As for Wyr mating, I remember once a couple hundred years ago it didn’t take right. At least I think. Were they going through the bonding process or were they just fucked-up? She killed herself when he wouldn’t have her.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “That’s awful.”

“Tell me about it.”

“What if I remain mortal?”

He shrugged. “Dragos doesn’t appear to be running away because of that. Will you deny yourself a mate and the chance of happiness just because you’re gonna die someday?”

“That’s different. I’m going to die one way or another if I can’t change. It just seems terrible to think that Dragos would die because of me.”

He hunched his shoulders and watched his hands as he turned the scotch bottle in circles. “There aren’t any guarantees in life. Just because some of us are exceptionally long-lived and call ourselves ‘immortal’ doesn’t mean we can’t be killed. I would jump at the chance to have a mate, mortal or otherwise. Most of us would, you know. We never expected it to happen to Dragos, but I bet you every last one of us is thinking what a lucky son of a bitch he is.”

They fell silent again. Then she slid her hand over to touch the back of his. “Thank you, Gray. You’re a good listener and a wise man.”

He took her hand and pressed a kiss against her fingers. “Shh,” he whispered over her hand, eyes crinkling. “Don’t tell anybody.”

She smiled at him. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

She was tempted to change into gym clothes and spend an hour on a treadmill, but then tiredness swept over her. It had been another long day and the gryphons had already given her quite a workout before Dragos stopped them.

Over Graydon’s protests, she put the necklace back in the box, cleaned off the dining table, put the leftovers in the large stainless steel refrigerator and rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. Then she decided to wait for Dragos’s return in the library. Rune came to join them as she browsed through the volumes.

She greeted him, picked an early history of the Wyr and curled up to read in a large leather armchair. The chair was the most battered piece of furniture in the room, the dark brown leather buttery-soft and bearing a faint but unmistakable familiar masculine scent. She could just imagine Dragos relaxing in this seat as he read his scientific journals. Rune and Graydon respected her unspoken desire for privacy and settled across the room to play chess.

After a while she let the book rest on her chest as she closed her eyes.

A gentle touch on her shoulder woke her. Rune squatted by her armchair, his eyes kind. She sagged back in the chair and yawned. “Time’s it?”

“After two,” he said. “You look beat. Why don’t you go to bed? Better yet, Dragos said he’d stay in telepathic range. You could call him back if you wanted.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to do that. He needed some space. He’s had a tough day. And I don’t want to go to bed without him.” Her eyes started to drift closed and she forced them open. “Unless you guys need to go to bed?”

He smiled. “We’re up until he gets back. Don’t worry about us; we’re fine.”

She nodded and felt soft warmth as he tucked a cashmere throw blanket around her. “Thank you.”

“Thank you , Pia.”

He walked back to the chess table and Graydon. She closed her eyes again. Soon she was walking in a very old forest, breathing in its fresh loam scent. A small, pearly, luminescent dragon lay draped around her shoulders like a stole. She stroked a graceful sinuous leg, and the dragon lifted up his head to look at her with beautiful, dark violet blue eyes. She was full of emotion as she looked into his wide-open innocent gaze.

I love you , said the little dragon.

She kissed his delicate snout. I love you too, peanut.

She came full awake with a start and sat up, looking around. For a moment she felt disoriented and abandoned as she put her hand to her empty throat and shoulders.