Chapter Two
Aaron
My early morning visit from the third in command of the eagles, and then subsequent telephone conversations with Sophia’s father, had me somewhere between hopeful and worried, but mostly worried.
Sophia had never flown, nor had she ever been off her father’s property, and now she was somewhere out there, likely alone and scared. The state of her human skin, left behind, had Raul convinced she’d cut it away herself, and I cringed at what had made Sophia take such drastic action.
If things were so bad, then I wasn’t certain Raul dragging her back home was the best course of action.
If she’d planned well then it was possible she was better off on her own, but I wished she’d been able to get a message to me.
I was beyond worried, but wouldn’t know where to begin looking for her.
I hadn’t seen her since her father’s birthday party six months earlier, and we’d barely had a chance to speak. I was no longer brought in for review sessions four times a year — those had stopped on her seventeenth birthday.
Cyrano and Raul had an army of trained men looking for her, as well as hundreds of swans and eagles canvassing the area around her father’s compound.
But I’d taught her, and had made sure she’d learned to play chess and a few other games of strategy.
I hadn’t been able to teach her actual political and survival tactics, but she was smart and I knew she’d extrapolate as needed.
If Sophia had escaped, she had a plan and was likely far from the South Carolina coast by now.
However, I was still shocked when I stepped outside my office building, smelled the air to be sure there were no threats, and picked up the ever-so-faint smell of Sophia.
It wasn’t likely the wolves in my employ had noticed, and thank goodness Nathan, my second in command, was still inside.
He’s a lion shapeshifter and happens to be the alpha lion of the entire planet.
Yeah, that makes him the Lion King. He’s taken a lot of shit over the title in recent decades, thanks to the movie.
I zeroed in on the scent and found Sophia — still in swan form — in the wooded area across the street, high in a tree and several layers back. Being white in the woods in Tennessee made camouflage a bitch.
I was at once relieved and terrified. She was safe for the moment, and she’d somehow made it to me, remembering our conversation so many years ago. She’d come to me, trusted me, but now it fell to me to help keep her safe.
“Stay put,” I said, my voice aimed her direction but mostly under my breath, hoping she could hear. I got in my car, opened all the windows, and stopped near the tree she was in, my face still looking out the windshield as I asked, “Can you make it in the window or should I open the door?”
I hoped we could do this fast, get her in through the back window and onto the floorboard so I could get us somewhere safe.
If any of the wolves saw her they’d have to report to their Alpha, who’d be obligated to report to the Swan King.
To do otherwise would risk war between the wolves and the swans, which may not sound like much in their animal form, but the swans were formidable politically.
Plus, they were so closely allied with the eagles, a slight to one was a slight to both, and the eagles could be fucking scary en masse — even to me, one of the last three remaining dragons.
Sophia made it through the open window and onto the back seat. I rolled the windows up, drove away, and told her to get in the floor.
“You have to be exhausted, Soph,” I said as I navigated the streets and kept an eye out for vehicles following us, as well as birds watching us with too much intelligence. “I’ll stop and buy some clothes for you, and then we need to head out of town, but you can sleep while I drive.”
I heard noises from the backseat, felt a shift in air pressure, and smelled woman more than swan.
“You once told me you’d protect me. I know what I’m asking of you, but if you meant it, I need help.”
“We need to talk, so I know what your plans and wishes are, but if I’m satisfied you mean to make this escape permanent, and fully understand what that means, then I’ll do what I can to help, Princess.
For now, stay in the floorboard. I have a blanket in the trunk — I’ll get it for you when we stop, and I’ll go in and get you some things.
For now, I’ll get sweatpants and yoga pants, and some t-shirts, some basic toiletries and undergarments. Do you know what size shoe you wear?”
“Size three or four, but I can make do with a five narrow. My clothes are either size fourteen slim from the children’s department, or a size zero or one in ladies.”
I needed to get everything in one stop, so I went to a huge discount big box store and bought jeans, yoga pants, a pack of underwear, a few sports bras since I wasn’t comfortable asking her bra size for a regular one, some athletic shoes and waterproof hiking boots, socks, a toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, hairbrush, blow dryer, and some ponytail holders.
I also grabbed a backpack so she could get it all into the cave, and a ton of junk food and bottled water so we could eat in the car without needing to stop.
As I neared the checkouts I remembered she felt the cold, so I went back and grabbed a lightweight jacket with a hood, and a heavy winter coat.
The hood reminded me we should probably hide her beautiful blonde hair, so I also grabbed a couple of dark colored hats.
I moved the sports bras, underwear, two t-shirts, a pair of yoga pants and a pair of jeans into one bag and settled it on the backseat as I got in. She was completely hidden under the blanket, but I smelled her and could hear her breathe, so I knew she was okay.
The rest of the bags landed in the passenger seat, and I said, “I’m going to drive around behind this building and pull into the skating rink parking lot, where hopefully you can change without too much risk of being seen.
Put the sports bra and shirt on first, then you can sit up and do the rest. How are you holding up? ”
The plastic bag made crinkling noises from the back seat. “I’ve never had a pair of jeans before. Cool!”
I shook my head and smiled, remembering the toddler she’d been before her formal training had begun at three.
Later, her smiles could only happen when I got her away from the house.
Princesses had responsibilities, and most of her governesses hadn’t approved of laughter, fun, or shenanigans of any sort.
I looked out the front window, watching for threats.
I wanted to look into the rear-view mirror to be sure nothing was behind us, but I scanned the two side mirrors instead.
Sophia was likely to be ultra-shy about her nude body because she didn’t have the experience of a normal shifter, accustomed to coming back to human without clothes around others.
She didn’t even have the experiences of a normal twenty-four year old.
I’d been invited to her wedding, nearly three weeks away.
So close to twenty-five, and still a virgin.
No matter how powerful I was, helping her hide from her father could very well be signing my death warrant. I’d have the swans and eagles against me for sure, and quite possibly every wolf aligned with the North American Alpha.
But there was no question I’d help her, and for two reasons.
I kept telling myself it was because of my grandmother’s last words, instructions she tried to give me with her dying breath.
“Aery, make alliances with the swans, keep them close, make them trust you. The princesses may be the dragons’ only hope.
” I’d had no idea what she meant, but over the centuries I’d researched every library known to man.
I even managed to get into the Vatican archives in the eleventh modern century, and found mention of an ancient Dragon King and Swan Princess married and ruling both species.
Sons and daughters were mentioned, so I had hope of eventually having children. Maybe.
But I had to admit to myself it wasn’t entirely because of my grandmother’s last words. Sophia was special. Her smile, her laughter, the intelligence behind her eyes. The fact I believed I might be the only person in the world she could be herself with.
Yes, I’d be helping her even if I didn’t think she might be the only hope for my species.
Thinking of my grandmother took my mind back to the grief I felt when the European Knights’ huge purge took out all but two male shapeshifter dragons who survived by sheer luck.
Within forty years, I’d closely aligned myself with the swans, hoping against hope my grandmother’s words meant there was a chance for our species.
My best friend and I survived by staying human almost all the time, only changing into our dragon form during terrible storms, when it was so dark no one was likely to see us, and when we wouldn’t block out the light of the stars or moon as we flew overhead.
With all the true dragons dead, and only the two of us left, there was no hope for babies.
We can’t breed with humans, and dragons can only be born, not turned.
We later found a third dragon shifter still alive — he’d been in on an island near Russia at the time of the purge, but unfortunately, he was also male.
By birthright, I was royalty. I’d been trained to one day take up the banner of King, and my two kin had no desire to fight me for the title, which didn’t mean much anyway when there were only three of us.
However, the crown gave me respect amongst the other species’ Kings, and since I was the oldest of all but a handful of vampires, my knowledge and counsel was often sought.