Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Not wanting to go home to an empty home—Grace understood Trahern needed space, but she wanted to be around other people right now as a distraction—she headed for Dawn’s house.
After arriving, she knocked, and Blake opened the door, frowning.
“Sorry, Grace, but it might not be the best time right now.”
“What’s wrong? Can I help?”
He opened his mouth to reply when Daisy appeared at his side. “Oh, Grace. Mum is crying, and I don’t know why. She won’t let me into the spare room, and I’m worried. I can watch the twins with my dad if you go check on her. Will you? Please?”
Grace moved her gaze to Blake, saw his flashing pupils and the grim set of his jaw, and knew something was very, very wrong. And after everything Dawn had done for her, Grace wanted to do something for her friend. “Let me help if I can, Blake. Please.”
After a few seconds, he nodded curtly and motioned inside. “I’ll take the boys into the living room and watch them for you. Dawn is in the spare room upstairs.”
Daisy took her hand and squeezed. “Thank you, Grace. My mum sometimes thinks she can handle everything herself, but it’s not always true.”
The girl’s cracking voice shot straight to her heart. “I’ll try my best, Daisy, I promise. You and your mum are my friends, after all, and friends help each other.”
Something she wouldn’t have believed even a month ago.
However, as Blake herded Daisy and the pram into the living room, Grace pushed all other thoughts aside as she ascended the stairs. She heard murmured voices behind the door and hesitated before knocking. “Dawn? It’s Grace.”
The door opened a crack, and Dawn peered through, looking on the verge of tears. “Grace? Why are you here?”
“Daisy said you could use some help, and something is obviously wrong.” As Dawn hesitated, Grace added, “Whatever it is, I can keep a secret.”
The other woman bit her bottom lip and wrung her hands before nodding. “Okay. Although if you have a weak stomach, you should turn around now and go back downstairs. She’s been beaten quite badly.”
“Who?”
“My friend, Marianna. She’s human and shouldn’t be here, but I refuse to let her ex hurt her any worse. He might kill her.”
A Scottish male voice she didn’t recognize said, “He won’t ever touch her again.”
Dawn stood back, let Grace in, and closed the door.
A tall, ginger-haired man stood beside the bed, his arms crossed over his chest, and his pupils flashing. A dragonman.
Dawn rushed back to her friend’s side, and Grace forced her gaze to the figure on the bed and barely contained a gasp.
The woman had black hair and light tan skin, but her face was swollen and covered in bruises, her arm was in a cast, and so was one of her legs. There were also numerous cuts on her chest and even more bruises. She looked to be unconscious.
“What happened?”
The Scottish dragonman replied, “Her ex-husband beat her, left her for dead, and kidnapped her children.”
Dawn sat in a chair next to the bed and reached out to brush some hair off the woman’s forehead. “Oh, Marianna. Why didn’t you reach out to me? I would’ve helped you.”
The dragonman grunted. “We can’t change the past, aye? But I’m staying on Stonefire until she’s well enough to be moved or we catch her bastard ex. The fewer who know she’s here, the better.”
Grace finally tore her gaze from Marianna and met the dragonman’s. “Who are you?”
“Brodie MacNeil, from Clan Lochguard.”
“Well, Brodie, I won’t tell anyone, except for my mate. Trahern’s a doctor and can help her.”
Dawn spoke up again. “Dr. Sid has seen her, and actually has people looking for Trahern right now. She thinks one of Trahern’s serums might work on her.
And she desperately needs it since she had a bad reaction to dragon’s blood.
Apparently, Marianna is one of the few who can’t have it at full strength or it might kill her. ”
Brodie grunted. “Aye, that’s why it took us so long to get here. We had to hide for a wee while, until she was stable enough to move her.”
Grace, like everyone, knew dragon’s blood had healing properties. However, she’d never known some humans had a negative reaction to it. Poor woman, she thought.
Dawn’s voice garnered her attention again. “Do you know where Trahern is?”
“No, but I can call him. He should pick up.”
She hoped.
Dawn’s eyes turned pleading. “Please. Her daughter and mine are good friends, and I just want Marianna to get better so we can help her.”
Grace nodded, went into the hall, and dialed Trahern.
He answered on the second ring. “Grace? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But…” she explained what had happened, and how Dawn’s friend needed his help.
He stated, “I’ll head to the clinic now to retrieve supplies and rush over.”
Before she could say anything else, he hung up. But relief flooded through her. Trahern had most likely saved her life during her difficult birth. If there was anyone who could help the bruised and battered woman in the other room, it was her mate.
Grace went back to comfort Dawn as they waited for Trahern, doing her best not to wither under Brodie’s intense stare.
Trahern finished administering the serum to Marianna Barlow, and then briefly glanced at the dragonman from Lochguard named Brodie.
He’d refused to leave the room and had stated he was staying and would sleep on the floor.
Having dealt with stubborn dragon-shifters before, Trahern wasn’t going to waste his time suggesting Brodie sleep elsewhere.
So he held out a bottle of pills and stated, “Ensure she takes these to help with the pain. I’ll administer another shot tomorrow and check on her.
If the serum works, she should have made significant progress by then. ”
Brodie grunted, took the pills and went back to standing with his arms crossed, looking fierce.
Why, Trahern didn’t understand. There were no enemies in the vicinity.
Rather than dwell on that, he left and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Grace comforting Dawn. She kept ordering the other female to drink her tea and eat a few biscuits.
Once the human female finally ate something, Grace noticed him. Her expression met his and softened. “All done?”
“Yes. I’ll be back to check on her tomorrow. And if Brodie upsets you too much, Dawn, I will ask Kai and Nikki to forcibly remove him.”
Dawn shook her head. “No. Brodie’s only doing his job. And…”
Grace frowned at Dawn. “And what?”
“Nothing. Thank you both for your help. I can hear your boys getting fussy, Grace. You and Trahern should go home.” Grace opened her mouth to protest, but Dawn beat her to it. “I insist. I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise. I have Blake and Daisy to lean on.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am.”
Grace gave Dawn’s shoulder a squeeze before standing. “If you need help, reach out to us, no matter what time it is.”
Trahern added, “Yes. Inform me if her condition worsens, and I’ll return quickly.”
After murmuring goodbyes to Dawn, and then Blake and Daisy, Trahern finally herded his mate and her twins out of the cottage and toward their own.
The sun had nearly set, painting the sky a mixture of orange, red, and blue. But he focused on Grace, who struggled to walk and leaned heavily on the pram. “What do you need, Grace? Tell me.”
She glanced at him for a second before sighing and looking straight ahead again. “Magic, so I can take away my friend’s pain, heal her friend, and stop being tired all the time?”
He frowned. “Magic doesn’t exist. What people deem magic is usually an optical illusion.”
Smiling, Grace glanced at him. “I was being fanciful, Trahern. Like if I asked what sort of superpower you wanted, what would it be?” He frowned deeper, and she added, “You know, like with all those superhero films? Surely you’ve at least heard of them?”
He adjusted his glasses. “Some of the patients talk about them. But superpowers aren’t real, or even feasible, in most cases. A spider bite will not give you spider-like abilities. If anything, that amount of radiation and toxic substance would’ve killed the spider outright.”
“Hmm, I suppose. Do you ever read fiction or watch movies just for fun and try not to dissect them?”
Trahern could brush aside the question. It would be easy enough.
And yet, he felt guilty for leaving Grace earlier, after she’d tried to surprise him with something he liked.
His dragon yawned and woke up to speak. Stop hesitating with Grace. She will not laugh at you or look at you with pity. She is kind.
He’d had his fair share of being ridiculed over the years. It’s not that easy.
Just try with her. Because to really help her, she needs to trust us. Only after she shares her recent past will she fully start to heal and truly be happy.
How do you know this? Happiness is subjective, not objective.
I’ve always understood emotions better. Won’t you trust me?
For most dragon-shifters, this would be a simple question. After the first few years of speaking, they rarely doubted one another.
However, Trahern and his beast had struggled. Especially when it came to females.
His dragon spoke again. I’m older and wiser now. I haven’t pushed you about sex since the incident, have I?
No.
All I ask is that you be honest and stop hesitating with Grace when it comes to talking. That’s all.
During the chat with his beast, he’d focused straight ahead.
But now, he looked back at Grace, who met his gaze again.
After a beat, he blurted, “Movies and fictional stories can be confusing for me, along with TV shows. So no, I don’t usually watch them unless it’s an instructional video or lecture. ”
“Why are they confusing to you, Trahern?”