Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
CONNOR
T wo hours of chopping wood in forty-degree weather and I still feel like I’m burning up. I’m miserable. If I don’t convince Fiona to be with me soon, I’m not sure I’ll make it through the month. I’ll be the youngest dragon to die of mating sickness.
My phone vibrates, and I set down the axe to answer it.
“Uncle Connor.” Mason’s deep voice comes down the line. He sounds excited.
“What’s happening, Mason? Aren’t you supposed to be training on Cardinal Island or making wedding plans with that girl of yours?” Mason mated Reagan last month. Reagan was raised human, and Mason intends to marry her in a human ceremony this summer.
“Actually, in an indirect way, that’s why I’m calling.”
“Huh?”
“We found the ring. ”
“Reagan’s engagement ring? I’ve already seen it?—”
“No. Not that ring. The ring. Her father’s ring from when he was initiated into the Saint’s Order!”
“No fucking way!” I lick my bottom lip. That ring is a major boon for the Zodiac Brotherhood. We’ve never gotten our hands on one before. The Order usually guards and retains them after a member’s death. Reagan’s father was an unusual exception.
Richard Bailey knew that Reagan’s mother was a dragon and that she was killed by the Order, yet he still allowed himself to be seduced by the power the society offered him. He traded his daughter for membership in the Order. Reagan was a dormant until the Order used magic to force her shift. Her dad had planned to buy her back at auction, but she chose the hunt. Mason and I barely got her out alive.
Just days after his initiation and Reagan’s escape, he committed suicide. He’d removed and hidden the Order’s ring prior to his death and no one had seen it since. Once the mansion transferred ownership to Reagan, we searched every inch of the property for it. I’d assumed the Order got to it first.
“Where did you find it? I thought you guys searched everywhere.”
“We thought we had too, but we decided to remodel her father’s office because it holds bad memories for Reagan. When we demoed the bookcases, we found a secret room behind them. It was no bigger than a closet, Connor, but he kept a bunch of her mother’s things in there. Reagan speculated that he also kept his wedding ring there because we found her mother’s. He left the Order ring next to it on the shelf.”
“Wow. This is big.” I rub my chin.
“The biggest. Only we have a problem. Neither one of us can touch it. Burns like a son of a bitch. Reagan’s friend Imani helped us move it to the safe. Obviously I can’t take it to Cardinal Island. Even if I could devise some kind of carrying case, who knows what effect it would have on the portal or even if the ancient magic protecting the island would let it in.”
“I agree. It’s too dangerous.”
“So what do you want me to do with it?”
Of course. That’s why he’s calling. For one more week, I’m in charge, which means he’s looking to me for next steps. “Keep it in the safe for now. We’ll need to find someone who can analyze the magic. I think Morwyn has an alchemical researcher on staff. Or we might be able to find a human witch to help us, although they’re hard to come by these days.” Witches are a secretive sort. I knew one in my early twenties in culinary school, but we’ve long since lost touch. “We’ve never had an opportunity like this. It might take some time to find the right person to analyze it.”
“Maybe you should come get it? I hate having this thing in the house. Reagan has enough on her plate having just buried her father and inherited his company and the mansion. Neither of us is sleeping well. If the Order knew we had this, I don’t even want to think about the danger Reagan could be in. They know she’s a dragon and she’s sitting on the board of his company. She’s too exposed. ”
I glance toward the house. Fiona is watching me through the window. Our eyes lock. My mouth falls open, and my hand holding my cell phone drops away from my ear as I drink in the look of longing on her face. Before I can truly revel in it, it’s gone. She retreats into the shadows.
“Connor? Connor?”
I bring the phone back to my ear. “Yeah.”
“Are you coming for the ring?”
“Can’t. I’m sorry. Brotherhood business. I can’t leave my current mission.”
“Is this about the bride?” Mason’s voice rises. It’s not like the Pisces to go from zero to sixty in the anger department, but any dragon that feels like his mate is threatened can get dangerous fast. “I think protecting your nephew’s mate is more important than personally babysitting a hostage that the Order doesn’t seem to give a shit about.”
“Hey, watch it. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And how is it you know about her anyway? It’s confidential.”
“I’m a week out from filling Solomon’s position. Seb told me as a matter of business.”
“Her name is Fiona, and she wasn’t involved with the Order in any way. She barely knew Roman.”
“Oookay. More of a reason to cut her loose and help me with this ring situation. It’s been weeks. Clearly she’s not the means to the end you wanted. Wipe her mind and send her on her way.”
My growl resonates loud enough to make my phone vibrate in my hand .
“Creator fucking hell!” Mason snaps. “Is your dragon targeting the human bride of Roman Cifarelli as your mate?”
“They were never actually married.”
His deep, rich laugh comes down the line, reminding me so much of his father it almost breaks my heart. “Oh hell, this is too good. Connor, Aries dragon of the Zodiac Brotherhood, is mating a human! I never thought I’d see the day.”
I frown. “You may not see the day.”
“She’s not going for it, huh?”
“Not yet.”
“Have you talked to the Oracle?”
The back door opens, and Fiona is standing there in her coat and boots. Our eyes meet and hold. “I’ve got to go, Mason. I’ll ask Seb if he can take the ring.”
“Thanks, man. Good luck with, uh…”
“Fiona,” I say, as much to her as to him.
“Yeah. Good luck with Fiona. I hope it works out.”
“Me too,” I mumble. The call disconnects, and I drop the phone into my pocket.
She approaches, never taking her eyes off mine, and stops inches from me, her hands in her pockets. “You missed our walk this morning.”
“Wasn’t feeling well,” I mumble.
“Yeah, I noticed you haven’t been feeling well a lot lately.”
Bones runs up to us, tail wagging. I look at him and just feel tired. “He has an endless supply of energy.”
Her voice is soft as she says, “Will you walk with me now? ”
I busy myself putting on my flannel. “Of course.” I could be missing one leg and bleeding from the eyes and couldn’t deny her if she asked.
Her hand lands on my arm, and her expression turns soft. “I never told you, the day you shifted for me, that your dragon is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything more fiercely stunning.”
I preen, loving the way she keeps hold of my arm. We’ve grown closer these past weeks, but we haven’t touched much since she told me she needed time. “I could let him back out if you want a better look.”
She raises her chin. “Not tonight. It’s easier to talk to you like this.”
I can’t help the smile that overtakes me. “In that case…” I reposition her hand around my elbow and lead her toward the back trail. There’s a full moon and just enough light to guide our way. “How’s the writing going?”
“You always ask me that, and it’s the one question you already know the answer to.” She smirks. “I’m almost done. If I stay here much longer, I’ll have to start another book.”
“Why not five books more?” I slant her a hopeful smile. “You can write from anywhere, right?”
She snorts. “I can now.”
“I finished your series.” I’ve been waiting to tell her that, and I love the way she swells when she hears it. “I loved it, but I have a question.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Does Alex ever get together with Henrik Angel? Not just for sex but for good? ”
The glow of her smile rivals the moon. “An author never tells.”
She releases my arm and shoves her hands into her pockets. “I think this is the longest we’ve gone without arguing about something.”
“Fire on fire,” I say. “It could be good under the right circumstances.”
She flashes a witchy smile. “More fucking and less fighting?”
My dragon rumbles in my chest at the thought, and I know Fiona can feel it on the inside. Feel it down our bond. “I would be the most attentive mate to you, Fiona. You know I would be. I’ve cared for you for weeks. But more importantly, I know you. No one can ever love you like me because no one knows you like me. You need a challenge to feel alive. Every book you’ve ever written has made that clear, and yes, I read them all. The characters you create don’t shy away from trouble, and neither do you. I inspire you, not because our relationship is easy but because the fire in me calls to the fire in you. Other men, they might appreciate your beauty, and creator, I do too. You’re stunning. But you are no hothouse flower. Even when you were sick and it would have been so easy to assume you were fragile, all you gave me was fire. No one will ever appreciate how brightly you burn as an artist or how far you’ve come on pure grit.” I hate the raw need I hear in my voice. I’ve lost all sense of my Aries self, all my fight gone. All that’s left is this bottomless pit of need for her. I need her like I need air. Like I need nourishment. “I’ve seen inside your head, and this bond between us means I feel your strongest emotions. We were made for each other.” I rub my chest where it’s started to ache. “You fill in all my empty spaces. And I’ll tell you one thing for certain—I don’t regret stealing you off that altar for a second. I’ll never feel remorse for it. Say yes and you will never want for anything. Say you’re mine and I will show you what it feels like when stars collide.”
She stumbles and I stop talking to catch her, hauling her upright. It was too much. I think I’ve overwhelmed her.
She rights herself, lashes fluttering. “I have some questions,” she says breathlessly.
“Shoot.” This is good. She has questions. I have answers.
“Your kind, do you mate with humans often?”
An easy one. “It happens, but not as often as with each other or hybrids of our kind. For our safety, we have to make sure a person isn’t associated with the Order before we reveal what we are. Once they know, they target us. That limits how many humans we can get close enough to for a mating bond to form.”
She looks off into the trees, contemplative. “You mentioned before that you’re suffering from mating sickness...”
“Yeah.”
“Zaire told me that you had someone who, um, helped you with that before.”
I lift a brow. How exactly does she think this works? “If you’re asking me about sex, yes, I’ve taken lovers before to help me with the sickness. The fever is uncomfortable without it. But that was before I met you. Before I had a mate. Mating is more than sex. Dragons choose only one mate, and when we mate, it’s for life.”
“For life?” She swallows, her voice rising in pitch. “You want to claim me as your mate for life?”
My dragon rears inside me, my blood heating instantly. When I speak, my voice is ash and cinder. “Would you rather I only wanted to use you? Are you looking for a human fling? A one-night stand with someone whose name you might forget?”
“No, I?—”
“Let me be clear,” I growl. “I will take whatever you offer me. I am starving for you, Fiona, and I will eat sawdust if that is all you feed me, but that’s not what I want. I want all of you. I want forever.”