Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
brIANNA
M y stomach has been in knots off and on all day and finding out that Declan’s being sent off again tonight pushes it over the edge. I barely make it into the bathroom stall before retching up the little bit I’d managed to eat at lunch.
How could they be taking him away again? If they could just wait a couple days, I’m sure Ellie and I can find something to help him. If not a way to get him out, at least a way to help protect him, give him an edge to come back to me unharmed.
“Brianna? You in here?” Ellie’s voice calls into the bathroom, like she’s leaning into the doorway, not fully inside with me yet.
“Yeah.” I groan it out, leaning against the stall wall, wiping my mouth with toilet paper. “I think I’m the only one in here.”
I hear the click of a deadbolt sliding into place, and then Ellie appears, holding up a delicate hand-carved wooden chair with a velvet-covered seat. The details carved into the wood almost glow golden in the dim light.
“Come on, sit down. You’re not going to do yourself any favors leaning on anything in here.” She gestures for me to sit in the chair that looks so out of place. “You ran past me so fast. I wasn’t entirely sure it was you. Are you okay?”
I shake my head. “They’re prepping Declan to go out tonight. He said something’s different, but he didn’t say much more. I should’ve stayed with him. I should tell my father what’s going on. Maybe I can convince him that shifters, supernaturals in general, aren’t our enemies. Maybe if he realizes that they’re all around us, he’ll come to his senses.”
The look Ellie gives me is sympathetic, but I see the knowing spark in her eyes. “After what happened in Vegas, I don’t think anyone doubts that we’re here. And if he’s holding three shifters captive, he’s not going to change his mind just because his only daughter is in love with one of them. In fact, I think it would make him put Declan in a fight he knows he wouldn’t return from.” She tilts her head at me. “You are in love with him, aren’t you?”
“Are you kidding? He’s more than I could’ve possibly asked for, and he says I’m his mate. How could I not love him?” I lean my head back against the chair and close my eyes as another wave of nausea threatens to make me run for the toilet again. “If we can’t reason with my father, then all my faith is in you. You realize that, right?”
“Yeah, about that… Don’t get mad.”
“Mad? Why would I get mad?” I peek at her through my eyelashes, not willing to move yet. If she can’t help me, if we can’t get Declan, Ewan, and Kayden out of that basement, they’re going to end up dead. I know it in my gut.
“I’m not entirely sure I’m going to have the magic to do this alone. I might need reinforcements, and I put out a call to my brother. It sounds like the tourmaline king has been looking for your dragon.”
“We have to get them out of that basement, Ellie. I don’t care how we do it.” I pull out my water bottle and take a swig, trying to swallow the taste of fear and bile. “You don’t happen to have a way to move invisibly through my house, do you?”
She chuckles. “There are a few spells that could accomplish that. But I’m hoping you can get me in without spells. The less magic I expend before we get to the shifters, the better chances I’ll have of saving your mate.”
I give her a soft smile, glad to have at least one person in my life who seems to get it, who I don’t have to hide anything from. “I wish I knew how to find his heartstone. From everything he’s told me, it’s pretty important to him, to his people for the mating process.”
“One thing at a time. We need to figure out how to get him out, and then we need to hide the two of you from your family, and whoever your father’s working with. Then…we can worry about happily ever after.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a clear bottle filled with a fizzy, golden colored liquid. “But for now, drink this. It’ll help with your stomach issues.”
I take it, looking at it curiously. “Is it some kind of fae potion? Should I be concerned?” I give her a smirk, trying to let her know I’m kidding. Mostly.
“Not fae, I’m afraid. It’s actually a mortal potion. You might know it as ginger ale.” She winks at me. “I like the bubbles, but it looks like you could use it more than I can today.”
I take a sip, letting the fizz dance over my tongue before I swallow. Slowly, my stomach settles a little, and I sit up, feeling more myself.
“Are you feeling okay, or is this something that’s more chronic?” She looks at me curiously, like she can see more than just what’s on the surface. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you react like this, even with the stress we’re usually under.”
I shrug, taking another sip of the ginger ale. “I’d say this is a little more life-and-death than our usual stress, Elle.” I sigh. “And yeah, this is an unusual reaction for me. But I feel fine most of the time, so unless I caught a bug from somewhere, I have to assume it’s the stress.”
“Or you’re pregnant.” Her eyes seem to almost glow at the prospect, and I remind myself —and her—that that’s not possible until he claims me.
“I can’t be. I’m not claimed.” I bite my lip, wondering what it would be like to be a mother, to carry Declan’s baby.
To try and raise a dragon shifter baby.
“Declan tell you it’s impossible?” Ellie looks at me even closer, until I start to feel like a specimen under a microscope. “Like dragons mating with humans was supposed to be impossible?”
“He would know, wouldn’t he? I mean, he’s got brothers who have found human mates. And none of them got pregnant before the claiming.”
“And what is it that Jeff Goldblum says in those dinosaur movies? Life finds a way. Dragonkind has been struggling for so long, I doubt most of the dragons even understand their full history, or where they came from. The Elders are a shady bunch. Their kind was on a path toward extinction, because female dragons weren’t being conceived. The balance of nature has been askew for so long, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the Fates to right the ship.”
I press my hand to my belly, wondering if she’s right. It’s not like we’ve even tried to be careful. Even if we thought it was a possibility, though, it’s not like I would’ve been able to just make a pit-stop somewhere to pick up condoms or try to get birth control. Not with how closely my father monitors everything I do. There is no doctor/patient confidentiality in my life. “If I am, we can’t tell anyone. Not even Declan. Not until he’s free.”
He’s got more than enough to worry about, without wondering if he’s going to have a kid in nine months.
Or is a dragon gestation period even the same as a human?
Sometimes, I really wish we could just fly away, find his family. Find safety. A home. Leave all this insanity and pain behind.
“I won’t tell him. But if you are carrying a baby dragon, he’ll smell it on you soon enough.”
Great. The only secret I could even possibly consider keeping from Declan to keep him safe, and it’s something I couldn’t keep secret even if I wanted to.
“Will you drive me home? I’ll text my father, tell him I’m not feeling well, so that he doesn’t send his goons after me, and maybe I can just get you into the basement sooner than later.”
“Even if you could get me down there today, I still need time to work out the runes, to find the counter spells or marks to break his shackles and free his dragon. I won’t be able to get him out of it, even if I had all the information tonight. He’s still going to have to face down whatever they’re planning.”
I curse under my breath. “It’d still be worth it to go home early. It might not fix anything yet, but I can’t stand being this far away from him. What if he doesn’t think I’m worried about him?”
“Honey, I don’t think you have anything to worry about there. From what I know about dragons and their mates, he’ll kill anyone who dares try to keep you from him, claimed or not.” She raises an eyebrow. “Pregnant, especially.”
“Okay, fine. I admit it. I just want to see him. I want to know he’s okay, before they haul him off to God only knows where, to do God only knows what.”
I can’t admit to her that one of my biggest fears in this is that someone out there is going to find a way to break the connection we have and take my dragon from me forever.
At least I know if he’s still fighting, if he’s still winning, my father’s not likely to let go of him any time soon and that gives me more time to figure out how to get him out of there.
My father’s waiting in the entryway when I get home.
Because of course he is. Of course he’s home, waiting for me, keeping me from getting to see Declan.Even though it’s probably not safe for me to go down there anyway.
“Hello, Papa.” I give him a slight bow and hoist my backpack higher on my shoulder. “Is it okay if Ellie stays for a bit to study?”
“If you are sick, you should be resting. I don’t pay for you to ditch classes, Brianna.”
“I know. And I promise, this won’t put any of my grades at risk. I think I just ate something in the cafeteria that disagreed with me, and I thought it would be better to be home, in case I get sicker.”
He purses his lips as he looks at Ellie, standing behind me. “Studying only. I’ll have the chef prepare tea for you.”
“Thank you, Papa. We’ll be in my room.”
“Very well.” He gestures at the stairs, dismissing us. “Just make sure to keep it down tonight. I have a business associate coming over, and I don’t need the prattling of girls interrupting our meeting. I can order delivery for you, if you’d like to eat in your room tonight.”
Delivery?
Okay, now I’m seriously questioning what’s going on tonight. I don’t know why my father was waiting for me, or why he’s so eager to let me break his rigid house rules tonight. A friend over, and eating in my room? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he’s been replaced with a pod person.
I’m not about to argue though, and I hurry up the stairs, pulling Ellie along with me.
As soon as I close my bedroom door, Ellie grins and pulls out a glowing orb.
“What’s that?”
“A little something that will allow us to speak without worry that someone will overhear. It creates a sound barrier within any enclosed space, and the glow will turn red if anyone gets within three feet of the door. Just a little precaution, so that we can talk plainly.”
I watch as she sets it on my bed, and then settles cross legged in front of it. I can’t help but think how much easier life would’ve been growing up, if I’d had one of these. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to magic being real, but I’ll certainly enjoy the perks while I can.
I sit across from her, and stare at the glowing yellow light. “We need to get them out of there, Ellie. I don’t know how much more any of them can take.” I let out a sigh, hoping that Declan can’t hear my thoughts right now. “I know I should be most worried about Declan, but he hasn’t given up yet. Kayden, I think, has. He’s got a wound that isn’t healing. I don’t know how long he’s going to keep fighting, if he can’t connect with his bear soon.”
A low rumbling chuckle echoes in my head. I have something to fight for. I won’t give up, as long as I have you to come back for. I’ll kill anyone and everyone they pair me against, to get back to you.
So much for him not being able to hear my thoughts.
“Do you think you could sneak me down there? If I could see the runes up close, test the magic running through the spell work, through the basement, I might be able to at least lessen them, allow him to heal.”
I frown. “Not without knowing where my brother and father are. They can’t know that I’ve been down there. They can’t know that I even know about the shifters in the basement.” Even as I say it, the bile starts to rise in my stomach again, making me want to run straight into my bathroom and throw up again.
“Okay, take a deep breath. You’re not going to do yourself or anyone else any good if you’re bent over the toilet all night. Don’t forget you have a real-life pixie in your midst, and I wouldn’t offer my services to help out if I didn’t think it could be done without raising any unnecessary suspicions.” She smirks. “Or do you not trust me to keep this rescue op secret as long as possible? I want that father of yours to not see your leaving coming at all.”
I let my eyes close, trying to get my stomach to calm down, trying to trust that Ellie really can help me, can help us, get the shifters free from my father, free from captivity at all.