Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
L ogan had her type her password into the phone to unlock it. “I am going to contact your uncle. I will say I am your fiancé and plan to pay your debt to his family. I will tell him who I am. Most powerful families know not to cross Rule Industries, whether they are involved in criminal activities or not.”
She grabbed Logan’s hand. “Don’t tell him who you are. If he knows you are rich, he will extort money from you. Trust me, he will find a way, and he will use me to do it.”
Logan took her hand and kissed her knuckles. The gesture was wickedly sweet and seductive, but it only made her heart ache more. “Trust me, Emily. If he is smart, he will take the money and walk away. If he does not, he will regret it more than you can imagine.”
Emily snatched her hand from Logan’s grasp and turned to Legion. “Please listen to reason.”
Legion sighed. “In this circumstance, I am afraid Logan is right. I can’t allow your family to hold something as meaningless as money over you.”
She grunted, knowing he meant every word. They hadn’t even batted an eye at two million. She hadn’t looked into Rule Industries, which shook her as odd. Why hadn’t her uncle ever stolen from them? He couldn’t have known they were dragons. Doubt crept in as she wondered if she was trading one master for another.
“I don’t want to owe anybody. Not you or my uncle.”
Legion arched an eyebrow. “Your terms are acceptable. This is your family, Emily. We share our resources. This is not a loan. Everything of Logan’s is yours by right. What is his is yours.”
“We aren’t married,” she said stubbornly because she had no real response to his statement.
Legion glanced at Logan. “The bond between mates is more binding than a human marriage, but I hope you will consider holding a wedding. The women love planning them, and dragons enjoy the eclectic array of food offered at the event.”
She glanced down at her hands. Nobody had ever offered her anything without wanting something in return. Logan and his family were offering millions of dollars for nothing. “I can’t accept. It’s too much.”
Legion sighed. “Consider it a finder’s fee. You have discovered the truth about Logan’s brother and the existence of his mother’s pearl. That is worth more to us than you can imagine. We would have paid any price for that information.”
“But the pearl is gone,” she said.
Logan shook his head. “It cannot be destroyed by human hands. Lothos had been keeping it safe, so it still exists. We will find it again now that we know to look for it.”
“I don’t know what to say. Why would you do this?”
Legion and Mara both frowned. They seemed as hurt as Logan that she was stunned by their generosity.
Legion touched his mate’s shoulder. “The dragons are bound to the druids. Without you, we have no future. We will die before we allow your race to be enslaved by the darks and used like cattle. Any druid we find, whether she has a mate or not, is to be protected, even if she chooses a human life. Money has nothing to do with our pledge.”
“But it is two million dollars. Not ice cream money.”
Legion grunted. “Money means nothing to us. We amass great wealth easily. We have lived for thousands of years, and the majority of my brethren have slept through the years. Our wealth grew, but until recently, we did not enjoy any of it. Now we can at least enjoy the things we can procure for our mates.”
Emily shook her head. “This is a lot to take in.”
Mara sighed. “You get used to it, eventually. My store was one bad week from going under when I met Legion. Natalie was working for free so we could keep the loft above our store. Money bags over here just waltzed in and paid off all my debt and then bought the building next to the store so I could expand. I hadn’t bought anything that wasn’t from a thrift shop in years when I met Legion.”
Emily nibbled her lip. “I had the best of everything. My uncle liked to keep up appearances, but I had no friends and no family that would admit I was related to them. I would have taken the run-down loft and worked for free, too, if my life was my own. At least you knew Natalie stayed with you because she loved you.” She hadn’t meant to sound envious, but her last true friend stopped coming around after her mother died. Her parents were uncomfortable with Emily’s new environment, and she couldn’t blame them.
Mara reached her hand out and squeezed Emily’s. “I know I was lucky. Natalie was always there for me, even when my mother died, and my sister couldn’t be. I am truly sorry you were so alone, but you never will be again. Let us help you, Emily. We only want your safety and your trust.”
She knew she was going to let them. How could she say no? “ It’s just so much money. I will want to help at the store, or something else to help out if I agree.”
Mara’s eyes brightened. “Sam would love some more help at the store. She isn’t as comfortable with the men yet. She is the store manager. But don’t worry about the money. The men can literally make gold from thin air, or we could always harvest the gems in the caves if needed.”
“What?” Emily asked.
Mara shrugged. “Legion says they are naturally occurring, but I think the dragons produce them. There are diamonds, rubies, and an array of other gems embedded in the rocks. The caves are literally full of treasure if you know where to look.”
“I want to look,” Emily said without thinking, but Logan chuckled as Legion smiled.
“We could show you now. Are you ready to meet Adara?”
As Emily’s heart raced with anticipation, a wave of nervousness washed over her at the thought of meeting Adara, the source of the druids’ power. This was no ordinary encounter. This meeting would change the course of her life forever.
She couldn’t help but feel a mixture of curiosity, fear, and eagerness swirling within her, each emotion vying for dominance. Meeting Adara meant facing the truth of her own identity as a druid, a realization that filled her with both excitement and nervousness.
If Adara claimed her as one of her own, there would be no turning back. She would be forever bound to the ancient lineage of the druids, her fate irrevocably intertwined with theirs.
Amidst the excitement of embarking on a new life filled with untold possibilities, Emily couldn’t shake the feeling that she was exchanging one prison sentence for another. The weight of expectation and responsibility pressed down upon her, threatening to suffocate her possibility of freedom .
But despite her apprehensions, Emily knew that she couldn’t ignore the call of destiny. With courage and determination, she squared her shoulders and prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead, knowing that the path to her true purpose was in the hands of Adara, the powerful being who held the key to unlocking her destiny.
Emily stood on the precipice of destiny, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that her entire life had been leading to this pivotal moment. Meeting Logan, with his enigmatic presence and undeniable connection to her, felt like more than just a chance encounter—it felt like fate itself had intervened to bring them together.
She knew that she was many things—some of them not necessarily good—but one thing she had never been was a coward. Despite the uncertainties and challenges that lay ahead, she was determined to face them head-on.
Logan touched her neck with a soft caress, and she felt a renewed sense of purpose and resolve.
“Yes, I would like to meet her.”
Logan slipped her phone into his pocket and held his hand out to her. She knew he had sent off a few texts but she found she didn’t care what they said. As long as that communication ended with her being released from her family debt, she was good with it. If you had told her a week ago, she would trust anyone like this, let alone a man she just met, she would have called bullshit. But here she was, about to head into a dragon cave to meet a druid temple.
She took his hand, and he led her from the cabin with Legion and Mara following hand in hand.
As Emily walked alongside Logan in the velvety cloak of night, the rural landscape stretched out before them. It was shrouded in darkness except for the ethereal glow of the moon, casting its silvery sheen upon the earth. Logan’s keen senses guided them effortlessly through the shadowed terrain, his presence a reassuring beacon in the night.
Together, they pressed forward until they reached the mouth of a cavern nestled within the heart of the mountains. With Logan’s steady hand leading the way, they ventured into the depths of the cavern, where the darkness seemed to envelop them like a thick veil.
But as Logan flicked his wrist with a deft motion, a small orb of light materialized in the air above them, casting its gentle illumination upon their path. With this newfound radiance to guide them, they navigated a labyrinth of twists and turns, each step bringing them closer to their destination.
Their journey led them to a vast cavern, where the darkness gave way to a breathtaking expanse bathed in the soft glow of magical light. Emily felt a sense of awe wash over her, as if she had stepped into a realm untouched by time itself.
The temple was nestled at the center, with greenery growing around it. She thought it was some kind of temple oasis, but Logan had explained the temple was newly returned to this world and was still anchoring itself in its new home.
As they neared the majestic temple, two wolves exited the mists that surrounded it. One was white, and the other dark.
Hello beautiful.
Emily’s eyes widened as her gaze moved to the darker and the larger of the two.
“They talk?” she said.
Logan smiled. “Only Ren. He is more than a wolf. My brother Thorn was forced to inhabit Ren’s body for a very long time and when they were finally separated, Ren could not reclaim his former wolf form. His time with Thorn changed him, and he is now a guardian of the temple. He is difficult to classify other than family. ”
“And the white one?” she asked as it sat at her feet and looked up at her lovingly.
“Daisy was Tempest’s protector before we rescued her from a dark dragon. She gave her life to save Tempest and now resides with the temple as a second guardian. She is confined to the temple, but it brings the ladies peace to be able to visit her here.”
The woman that emerged from the mist needed no introduction. She wore a simple white robe and exuded beauty and power.
“Greetings, Emily; it is a pleasure to meet you.”
Emily held out her hand as Adara smiled. “You, too.”
“I do not have a fully corporeal body yet. I look forward to the day when I can hug my children, but it will take me some time to cement my power.”
Emily dropped her hand. “Oh, sorry.”
“Do not be. I must admit, I am curious about you. When Mara told me of her vision, I was shocked. I cannot feel you at all, and even though you are standing before me and I can see you are one of my own, I still do not know what your power is.”
“Is that bad?” she asked.
Adara shook her head. “It is simply unusual this close to emergence.”
“Okay,” Emily said lamely.
Adara motioned to the temple. “Would you like a tour of the temple and your history?”
She nodded, unable to form words. But as she went to pull forward, Logan dropped her hand.
“I will visit the temple with you whenever you wish, but this time is for you and Adara. I will wait right here for you.”
She nodded, feeling his reluctance to let her go alone. He wanted to be with her, but he was abiding by a code of ethics he and his brothers had set in place so many years ago. He allowed her access to his mind, holding nothing back .
Emily followed Adara inside the temple and its smooth stone walls. The wall sconces all held wax candles, and they flickered in the wind Emily couldn’t feel. It was like passing into another realm, one stuck in history.
Adara pointed to several tapestries on the walls and began to explain druid history as well as the events that led to the destruction of the druids and dragons. Logan had told her the story, but Adara’s voice dripped with pain as she explained it, and Emily couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose all your children. It had been her head seer who had made the choice. The first Adara, who had rallied her sisters and the dragons to make the sacrifice that the temple could not.
As they spoke about the past and she walked the halls of the ancient temple, she felt like she had come home. Even the one she had as a child never felt like this.
She yawned as they reached the entrance of the temple once more.
“You are tired, Emily, and your mate is eager to attend to your wound. It is throbbing, and he wishes to remove your pain.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Logan loves you. It is for him.”
She left the temple and walked through the swirling mist to find Logan waiting. Legion and Mara were gone, but that didn’t surprise Emily.
“Hey,” she said
Logan kissed her cheek, and as his hand fell on her shoulder, a pulse of power infused her skin, removing the ache from her wound.
“I missed you,” he said.
“Was I gone long?”
“Only an hour, but I have waited a long time for you and find myself lonely when not in your presence. ”
His words were so simple and raw. She leaned up and gave him a kiss.
He held her there, suspended in gentle ecstasy, before he broke their lips apart.
“Let’s get you back to the cabin.”
They strolled through a different tunnel on the way back and she noticed several gems attached to the walls, but when they passed an alcove with a large blue-scaled body, she stopped to stare.
“That is a beautiful color. Not as pretty as purple, but still gorgeous.”
Logan chuckled. “That is my brother, Ergen. He went to sleep not long ago. I am told he is even better with those computer contraptions than Natalie.”
She moved closer to the large scales as Ergen’s stomach rose and fell softly. “Can I touch him?”