No Room at Dragon’s Landing (Love Sync Mates, Season Two)

Chapter One

Cyrus

A shrill squeal made everyone in my otherwise-quiet B&B stop what they were doing. Gertrude, sitting at her desk, knitting instead of working on the accounting, dropped her needles and chenille yarn and slapped her hands over her ears.

“I can’t believe we’re here!” The human female twirled in a circle, almost hitting other patrons with her tornado of bags and suitcases.

“Checking in?” I asked, chuckling. This was our first time being open for Dragon Fest, but we were ready. I’d made sure of it. The rooms were booked solid. The cleaning staff had worked so hard making sure everything was spotless. They always did a good job, but they knew as well as I did that the reviews from those who stayed during the festival would solidify the business and make sure we were booked in the future.

“Yes! Wait, are you a dragon?” The female whipped out a sheet of paper from her pocket—her printed-out reservation. Not necessary, of course. We had an online booking system and after typing in her confirmation number, I realized who she was. This was Trixie Scales, the human dragon seeker. While not famous in our circles, she was an influencer. At least, that was what others called her. She’d even made a note to tell us about her social media fame in the note section of her booking.

Didn’t matter to me. We gave each and every person here the same treatment—every guest.

“I’m sure you’re going to meet a lot of dragons this week. We’re honored to have you staying with us. Here is your room key. Arnaud will take your things to your room and answer any questions you have.”

The female cocked one eyebrow. “But you didn’t answer me.”

There was a time in history, not so long ago, that humans would’ve been put off by our kind, frightened beyond reason of dragons and shifters in general. Now they were fascinated and eager to learn. “We may not tell you directly, but there will be signs, human.” I allowed my eyes to flick between my human ones and my golden dragon ones with the slim, vertical pupil—the eyes every dragon had.

She gasped and bounced up and down, squealing again.

“Is this how it’s going to be all week?” Gertrude grumped, watching for the elevator doors to close on the guest before she complained.

“Yes. Be nice.”

“Cyrus Talon, I am always nice. And by ‘nice,’ I mean, I’m quiet.”

I snorted and shook my head. Gertrude was my aunt and a damned fine accountant, but she tended to be on the tail end of the spectrum on human and shifter relations. In her day, dragons stayed in the mountains with their hoards and their mates, happy to hide away, only flying when the conditions were absolutely safe and sound.

Now, every day was safe and sound, thanks to the new shifter regulations. No hunting animals in certain areas. No trapping or snaring dragons.

No hunting us down for our treasures or, worse, to cut off one of our scales.

“Good. You do that. I have that new sauna coming in today, right?”

She clicked the mouse after retrieving her needles and yarn from where she’d dropped them. “Yes. Delivery is today. And I hired someone to put it together. They’re waiting for our call about the delivery.”

“Huh?” I paused to answer a phone call and then turned to her. “Why are we paying someone to do what I am perfectly capable of doing?”

“Because you insist on manning the front desk even though you are the owner of this establishment and handling everything else including the management. You don’t have time. In fact, you don’t have time to fuss about it either. Say thank you.”

She was the only one allowed or dared to talk to me that way.

Also, she wasn’t wrong.

I was burning the candle at both ends and had been since we opened six months ago. New businesses grew with hard work and tireless efforts. I wanted to be the example to the other workers, not just some stiff in a suit, sitting behind closed doors in a plush chair, doling out orders.

Real managers work as hard, if not harder, than every other employee.

“Thank you. I’m going to go check on the menus for the week. Derrick said he wanted me to taste some things.”

Gertrude laughed. “Oh, what a hard job you have.”

I made my way through the lobby and checked on the coffee bar. I wasn’t surprised to find the coffee was fresh and the cookies still warm in the case. Arnaud took care of all things lobby, including the freshly baked cookies. He also carried suitcases to rooms because he claimed there wasn’t enough to keep him busy and, above all, that man loved to stay busy.

“Derrick?” I called out loudly. We only served brunch, which included some breakfast items but our chef never failed to surprise me.

“Here.” He walked over and slid a menu in front of me. “What do you think?”

I scanned the paper. We had to make a new menu for the festival week. Not only was it a special time, but every part of our guests’ stay at the Dragon’s Landing B&B had to be memorable —down to the scale-shaped pancakes and the hidden-treasure baked breakfast pockets. “This looks incredible. You’ve done a great job. What about the drinks?”

Our guests expected some kind of spirits with their brunch. We hadn’t had a liquor license at first, but once I realized they wanted some bubbly or maybe a bloody Mary with their eggs Benedict, we got that done.

“Annie is working on the list. She’s got some great ideas but I asked her to pare it down to three specials. We don’t want to overwhelm the staff with too many options.”

“Sounds great. Thanks for all your hard work.”

I strolled the halls, checking some things for myself, for a while. Everything had to be perfect. Sure, we had built up something great, but one negative review, one social media bad experience, and all of that could end up in the toilet.

An hour later, I’d gotten myself worked up about the what-ifs and decided to go to the one place where not a lot of thinking was required.

The laundry area.

“Hey, boss,” Sandra called out over the overpowering hum and buzz of the machines working overtime.

I gave her a smile and a nod of approval. She never grumbled. Worked hard. Arrived early and clocked out when the job was done. Everyone on staff would receive a bonus once the festival was over, success or not. They’d worked their asses off.

Sandra and I fell into a wordless monotony of folding flat sheets and pillowcases together. Meeting at the corners. Hands slapping against the cool metal table.

I didn’t fold fitted sheets. Fitted sheets and their bunched, rounded edges could kiss my whole dragon ass—whole dragon tail.

While we worked, I thought. Sure, there was the ever-present thoughts about my business, but lately my dragon had been restless about another issue—an issue we’d mostly ignored for the last few years.

We craved a mate.

More than our next meal.

More than any treasure or gold.

Almost more than our next breath.

There had to be an omega out there for me and, if I was honest, the reason I’d settled in Dragon’s Landing was because I thought a place full of dragons might hold more than business opportunity—it might be where my mate was.

I believed in Fate and soul mates and would wait for him for however long it took, but I had to admit, my dragon wasn’t as patient. He and I longed for a partner—someone to share a life with, one that went beyond this business.

I wanted what everyone around me seemed to have. A loving mate. An omega to dote on and care for. A family. Hatchlings flittering around, getting into trouble, and making us smile.

All of it.

“Cyrus,” Sandra called out, and I realized the dryers had stopped.

“Yeah?” I asked, putting away the last folded pillowcase.

“Help me get everything out? Or are you done introspecting for the day?” A smile played on her lips. She didn’t judge.

“I’ll help.”

“That’s the spirit. Work makes the day go by faster.” Words of wisdom.