Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
brIANNA
I leave Declan to take his bath, finding a fluffy terry cloth robe that is entirely too big for me in the closet before I head downstairs to see if there’s anything worth eating in the kitchen.
I know I should trust him, but I can’t help but feel like Declan’s missing a huge part of the fact that I’m pregnant.
I’m not a dragon. I’m not even a claimed human.
I’m just a human, carrying a potential dragon baby. Will I lay an egg or give birth to a baby in dragon form or human form? Oh my, I’ve got to write down all my questions.
The front door to the townhouse opens, and I grab the first thing I can find that even remotely resembles a weapon—a meat mallet.
“Declan? Are you decent?” A woman’s voice calls into the house, and I tentatively sneak toward the front door.
I hold the mallet in front of me and try to conjure up the meanest expression I’ve got. I imagine I look like a kitten batting a toy mouse. “Who are you?” At least my voice comes out in a deeper, stern tone than my usual girly voice.
The woman’s head jerks around and she smiles. She closes and locks the door before turning back toward me. “You must be his mate. Malcolm said you were pretty.” The woman standing in the entryway is dressed in an A-line dress that looks like it would fit in more in the 1940’s than now, and she’s even got her hair done in curls and victory rolls. “I’m Syrena.”
“How do I know you’re not lying to me?” I grip the mallet a little tighter, even though I’m pretty sure that any supernatural creature could stop me before I could get a good swing in.
“Call your mate down here. Or ask him to send you an image of me.”
Declan? Someone claiming to be Syrena is here. Can you come down?
Rather than responding, I hear the thud of heavy footfalls on the stairs, and I swallow hard as he appears, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans slung low on his waist, his long hair hanging down his back in wet ropes. Seeing him in a normal setting, cleaned up, his wounds healed, and clean shaven has me all antsy to get him alone again.
“Syrena!” He runs to her and wraps her in a bear hug.
Immediately making me want to claw the woman’s eyes out.
Whoa. Where did that come from?
Declan glances back at me. “Did you just growl?”
I’m still focused on the woman touching Declan.
Declan keeps his eyes on mine. “This is my mate, Brianna.” He releases her and pulls me into his embrace, wrapping his arms around me from behind and resting his chin on the top of my head. “We have a wolf upstairs, who could use some help. But we need to talk to you too.”
“Malcolm gave me a quick rundown, but I need more. Where the hell have you been? I’m glad to see you’re not looking too worse for the wear.”
“That night in Vegas I was captured by fae rogues who knew exactly what they were doing. We’ve got another problem we’ve got to solve while we’re taking down Grey. They’re running underground fight clubs with shifters. I guess roosters and dogs were not enough anymore.”
Syrena slowly nods. “We’ve gotten some data about that. Athena and Kash have been working with a couple of the Carmines trying to get more information. They’re locked down tight though. It’s going take a lot, especially if rogue fae are helping them. Those bastards don’t give a shit about how much magic they use to get something done. It’ll be the rest of us picking up the pieces. How did you even manage to get out?”
“Brianna’s friend, Ellie, broke the spells. She’s a fae, pixie to be exact. She’s strong and luckily my mate knows how to make good friends.” He lets go of me, and steps closer to Syrena again, turning so that she can see his back. “We could use more fae like her on our side. There’s not even a mark.” He extends his wrist as if to show her something, but there’s nothing. Not anymore.
I swallow hard, trying to remember that he’s mine, and no matter how much he seems to want to show off his bare skin, or how she touches him, he’s still mine. “She took one of the other prisoners away to help him heal, and we brought Ewan with us.”
Syrena nods again, her eyes drifting to the stairs. “I’ll want to see him, but I have a feeling you’re the more important person to talk to right now. Declan, why don’t you go up and finish getting dressed, so that your mate stops looking at me like she wants to put an end to your clan witch, and we can all talk.”
Great. Now I feel like an ass.
I blush and drop my eyes to the ground.
But it would be nice if he’d stop parading around half naked in front of anyone who’s not me.
Declan’s hand brushes over the curve of my ass. “It’s nice to have you be possessive, mate.” He heads back upstairs.
Once he’s gone, I sneak a glance at Syrena again. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. This is all new to me.”
She gives me a kind smile and gestures for me to follow her. “Let’s see if this safe house is stocked with any good teas, shall we? Or are you more of a coffee or a cocoa fan?”
“Tea would be great.” I bite my lip, still feeling kind of sheepish. I’ve never been a jealous woman, and I’m certainly not enjoying this new side of me.
“I don’t take it personally. I’ve known all the Wystans for so long, they’re like my brothers. His shirtlessness doesn’t have nearly the same effect on me as it does you, trust me. Plus, nudity isn’t as big of a deal in the shifter world. You’ll see more tits, dicks, and ass than you’ll care to remember.” She pulls an electric kettle out and a box full of assorted teas. “I would like to hear more about this fae friend of yours. And the other tidbit Malcolm passed on, but we’ll wait for Declan to come back before we get into that.”
My brow furrows as I settle at the kitchen table, trying to make sure my robe stays well secured. The last thing I need is to flash a stranger no matter how comfortable with nudity she is. “Ellie is a classmate, a friend from school. I didn’t even know she was fae until recently. And I still don’t know how she got Declan and the others free from their cuffs, from their cells.” Watching Syrena practically dance around the kitchen, looking so much more glamorous than me in my robe, just makes me feel even more embarrassed. “I’m hugely appreciative of it though.”
“We all are.” She hands me a mug, and then holds out the teas for me to choose one. “Do you know anything about Krystana, where she’s being held?”
“Krystana?” I shake my head. “There were only three prisoners where Declan was. No women.” I choose my words carefully, not wanting to admit until absolutely necessary that my father was his captor.
“I didn’t figure it would be that easy, that the two of them might be together. No matter. One Wystan saved at a time is still excellent.” She pours the steaming water into my mug before following suit with her own.
Declan walks into the kitchen then, more appropriately dressed, but still looking so much better than he has in the past weeks. I should’ve fought harder, should’ve found some way to set them free sooner.
Rather than choosing his own chair, or leaning against a counter like Syrena is, he scoops me up out of mine and takes my place before settling me on his lap.
“Should we be expecting anyone else?”
“Not right away. I told Ash to let me come first, to assess the situation.” She looks at me and says with a smirk, “Obviously step one is going to need to be getting you fresh clothing.”
I nod. “I didn’t exactly have time to pack a go-bag. We just left.” As I was stripping down for my bath I was alarmed at the blood and grime on my clothes and body just from helping with Ewan. I really hope he’s okay.
“No worries. I’ve got plenty of connections. Just let me know what sort of fashion is to your taste.” She takes a seat at the table across from us. “Or I can send over an assortment, and you can try things on to your heart’s content. Finley’s sister is a fashion model, she’s always giving us designer clothes.”
“I think there are more important things going on than clothes, Syrena.”
She rolls her eyes in a move that looks like she’s well-practiced where the Wystans are concerned. “Don’t listen to him. I’m an expert at multitasking.” She winks at me before looking back at my mate. “I’m assuming you want me to focus on the fact that your unclaimed mate is expecting?”
I feel like I’m just barely getting used to the idea, and it seems like the entire world is learning about it at the same time as I am. “I would like to know the baby is safe.” I say and then let out a breath before continuing. “How did this happen? Declan said humans couldn’t get pregnant by dragons, unless they were claimed.”
Declan’s arms tighten around me. “Is it because I’ve been trapped as a human for so long?”
Syrena shakes her head. “It’s more likely that this is a product of the changes to the world. To magic itself, with the dark powers that Grey’s tapping into. He’s playing with ancient magic and not just one source either. We’ve been uncovering stuff the Elders have been trying to keep hidden. Turns out Athena can hack into security systems too. She’s been having a field day getting into safes and vaults of the Elders. It’s like a game for her.” She takes a sip of her tea before saying, “Once we have some appropriate clothing, I can take you to see Pru, and we can find out about how far along you are, and if there’s anything that looks different from what would be expected. But we’ve seen more than one former human give birth now, and I would imagine your situation isn’t that much different.”
“Can I claim her without hurting her and the baby?” Declan asks.
Syrena studies us both and takes another sip of her tea. “We’ll discuss it with Pru. It’s not like there’s a handbook on this. I can’t foresee any issues, but if you’d told me a few years ago, I’d be battling a vampire for the world…I would’ve laughed in your face.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, hoping that everything she’s saying is true.
“Declan, have you tried to reach your dragon since the spells were broken?”
“I haven’t tried to shift, if that’s what you’re really asking. I can feel him, and I ripped into my hands when the runes on my back were fading, but otherwise, I was preoccupied with getting Brianna and Ewan down here.”
I squeeze his hand, trying to reassure him that we’ll get to pull his dragon forward soon enough. That I want to see him shift, to meet his dragon.
“There’s no reason to get snippy with me, just because you would rather be spending time with your mate than talking with me.” Syrena smirks at him and takes another sip of tea. “It would help me understand what sort of spells were used, if I know the exact effects they had on you and the others.”
“I really don’t want to relive it right now. I know it could help us get more information on Grey and his plans, but it’s been a really long time since I’ve just felt like I can be me.” He kisses my hair, making me snuggle back into him. “I promise, I’ll tell you all the horrors I suffered, but for at least twenty-four hours, let me be with my mate.”
“I can sketch out as many of the runes as I remember, too.” I slide my hand into Declan’s and tangle our fingers together. “We’ll make sure you get as much information as we can.”
“You want to know what we went through? I’ll tell you. I’ll give you all the details you want.” Ewan’s voice comes from the hallway, sounding exhausted, defeated, and hardly interested in helping at all.
Syrena looks over at him, gesturing for him to join us.
He looks at the table and lingers in the doorway instead.
It’s progress, at least.
Ewan crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Declan and me. “If you have another safe house I can spend some time in, I wouldn’t mind some space from these two.”
Syrena lets out a laugh. “I think we can work something out.”
I want to protest, but at the same time, this is the first chance I have at sleeping in my mate’s arms.
In a real bed.
Without any spells keeping us apart.
Declan’s hand squeezing mine says he’s having similar thoughts.
“Before the two of you get too wrapped up in each other, Ash is going to want to talk to you.” Syrena’s stare is entirely too pointed to be less than a command to keep clothes on for a bit longer.
I twist a little to press a kiss to Declan’s cheek before standing. “Could I talk to you alone for a minute?”
“Of course. Let’s go out to the backyard.” She stares down Declan, who’s already starting to get up, and he immediately sinks back down into the chair.
I follow her out to the small yard, but as soon as the door closes, I wonder if it’s worth it to even bring up. I don’t even know what questions to ask, really, other than feeling completely and utterly underprepared for this conversation.
For this baby.
“Whatever’s on your mind, I’m sure we can work through it.” Syrena smiles at me, and as she pulls a crystal similar to the one Ellie had out of her bag, I let out a slow sigh of relief.
“Okay, I know that you’ve probably seen plenty of dragon babies be born, and Declan keeps saying that dragon pregnancies are easier than human ones, but the thing is…”
“You’re not a dragon.” She finishes my thought easily. “I’m not going to lie to you and pretend that we’re not in uncharted territory with this one, but you’re in good hands now. Pru’s been tending to humans and dragons both for centuries, and I’ve got eons of witch knowledge to go through. We won’t let you suffer because of this baby.” She reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing it gently, reassuringly. “The tourmaline clan, the Wystans, are mine to protect, mine to tend to in all areas magical, and so I know I’m coming from a place of bias, but I swear to you, these dragons are going to defend you and your baby fiercely. We’re going to get you through this without any hiccups.”
“If Declan claims me now, would that affect the baby?” I’d be lying if I said I’m not worried about the claiming, but I also feel like a lot of my fears would go away knowing that I’m one of them, knowing that I’m a dragon as much as my mate and my baby will be.
“That, I don’t know. I think we should talk to Pru, and I can look into the old magics to see if they say anything, if anything like this has happened before, and then we can talk about your claiming. I know you and Declan both are anxious for it to happen, but I want to make sure you’re doing it safely, and that means just waiting a little longer.”
I’ve waited this long, what’s a few more days? Even a few more months?
As long as there’s not added risk with me still being human, I guess I can wait.
“Trust me, now that you’re back among Declan’s family, you’re going to get through this just fine.” Syrena squeezes my hand once more before glancing at the crystal. “Anything else you want to talk about confidentially, or should I let Declan out to see you? I swear, he might be the most possessive Wystan sibling I’ve seen so far, but that could just be because of everything you’ve been through together.”
“You know, don’t you?”
“Know what, exactly, dear?” Her eyes seem to be twinkling, which makes me think she knows what I’m asking, but she wants me to say it out loud. She wants me to admit it.
“My father was the one holding them captive.”
“Exactly. Your father. Not you. We’re not all the products of our parents, no matter how hard they’d wish us to be. You did the right thing, setting them free, and all three of them will be better off in the long run because of what you did. You’re not to blame for your father’s actions. Only your own.” She smiles at me and tucks the crystal away.
Almost immediately, Declan crashes through the back door, and he wraps his body around mine in a tight hug.
At least it’s nice to know that the jealousy I felt earlier matches Declan’s possessiveness. I’m not going to complain about his need to be near me, to be touching me. Not when I’m in uncharted territory with a baby that shouldn’t have been possible.