Storm Dragon (The Dragon Guard #53)

Chapter 1

“Is that the gorgeous gurgling of the coffee pot in the Grand Hall kitchen I hear?” “Yep.”

“So you’re already there?”

“No, I have a recording of that big, old, silver monstrosity that makes the best coffee in the world to keep me company when I can’t get up and walk the half a city block to hear the real thing.”

“At six-fifty-two in the morning?”

“If the hand at the end of Mickey’s short arm is pointing between the six and the seven and his other is between the ten and eleven, then yes, my friend, it’s six-fifty-two in the morning.”

“Damn, girl, you’re early.” Luke’s deep, Southern drawl rumbled from the earpiece of her cellphone, filling the room with a warm familiarity that just almost took the edge off the creepy feeling that had been bearing down on her for the past month or so.

It was as if someone was looking over her shoulder…

Or lurking in the shadows… Or had her in the crosshairs with their finger on the trigger.

It was frustrating and irritating and made worse by the fact that with all the Power, Magic, and Mysticism running through her veins, she still couldn’t figure out what the creepy feeling was, where it had come from, or why it wouldn’t go the hell away.

“Still havin’ trouble sleepin’?”

“No,” she snorted sarcastically, pulled back to reality by his question. “I just love watchin’ the sunrise and sittin’ here in the Grand Hall all by my lonesome.”

“Yeah, right. And I don’t shift into an eight-hundred-and-eighty-eight-pound Black Bear when the mood strikes, nor do I love tofu stir fry more than a rare twelve-ounce ribeye hot off the grill. See there? I can top your sarcasm, and I haven’t even had a whiff of coffee yet this morning.”

“Wooohoo, give that boy a cookie.”

Smiling as Luke ignored her snide comment and tried with all his might to finish, she kept quiet as he added, “You can try to push me away, but it won’t work. I’ve known you for…”

Although she was exhausted and her mind was pretty much mush, Tamsyn still knew what was coming next, and she honestly didn’t want to hear it-and that was when she ditched silence for more snark. “Yeah, well, things change.”

“Sure,” he snorted with laughter. “Things change, but you, Tamsyn Elizabeth Ryder, most assuredly do not.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you remind me on a daily basis.”

“It’s one of my many talents. Something I am especially…”

“Oh… There’s more?”

“That’s about enough outta you,” Luke teased. “You know that…”

“Yeah, I know you love me.”

“And I would…”

“And you would do anything for me.”

“Stop. Let me finish a sentence.”

Smiling despite how tired she was, Tamsyn chuckled under her breath when the big, old Black Bear huffed with exasperation before continuing, “Annnnnnd, no matter how long I know you, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you always knowing what I’m gonna say even though you’ve been doing it since we were kids.

” “Sorry.” She tried-and failed-not to snicker.

“No, you’re not,” Luke chuckled. “I can hear how hard you’re tryin’ not to laugh. You’re a brat, and that’s on a good day. But I wouldn’t want you any other way. I’ll even take your sassy attitude.”

“Thank the Great Goddess, I’m too old to change.”

“Hey! Hold up there, if you’re too…”

“Dude, face facts… We. Are. Old.”

“Speak for yourself,” he chuckled. “I’ve known you for…”

“Forever and three days,” she finished his sentence, trying hard not to growl. After all, she wasn’t upset with him. Hell, she could count on one hand without using her thumb how many times she’d been mad at Luke. He was her ride or die, her buddy, her big, black teddy bear, her rock.

No, it wasn’t Luke who had her knickers in a twist. Her bad mood and even worse attitude were a mystery not even she could solve. It was maddening. She really wasn’t upset with anybody, nor did she blame anyone else. She was just tired…

“Sick and tired,” the Bobcat Princess with whom she shared her soul chuckled. “Momma’s favorite thing to say was that tired always followed sick, and boy howdy was she right, especially in your case, my girl.”

Ignoring her alter ego for the sake of her sanity, Tamsyn returned to her conversation and deadpanned, “Yeah, this is not a news flash, Luke. Like I said, we are old, and I should know because our birthdays are ten days apart.”

Ignoring her insistence about their age, Luke kept right on going just like he always did. “Then you know that I know better than almost anyone that you hate, that’s capital H-A-T-E, mornings as much as you despise kale salads and ranch dressing made with fat-free mayonnaise and skim milk.”

“Whatever.”

“Okay, yeah, whatever,” Luke huffed. “You also loathe with a capital L when I’m right, but I’ll leave that argument for another day. I fear you’re about to get out the claws and start hissing.”

“Says the dude who just called attention to the very fact that he’s not going to argue about.” “I’m ignoring you,” the Black Bear teasingly singsonged.

“Nothing new there,” she mimicked.

“All I’m gonna say is, go on and keep your secrets. We both know I’ll figure it out one way or another. I may not have your extra special brainiac mind melding power, but I have my ways.”

“Lucas James Murphy, do not…”

“Bye, Tams.” The pitch of his voice got higher, and he just barely held back his laughter as he added, “See ya’ in a few. Love ya’ more than honey buns and butterfingers,” then hung up before she could think of a good comeback.

“One day, I’mma gonna…” Blowing out an exasperated breath, the Queen of the Ryder Bobcat Pounce and oldest daughter of Virgil and Virginia Ryder plopped her phone down on the tabletop, let her chin fall to her chest, and returned her gaze to the cold coffee in her favorite mug.

“You know damn good and well you’re not gonna do anything, Tamsyn Ryder,” she murmured to the empty room.

“Because A) You refuse to let him get your goat, and B) You love that goofy, old bear like the brother you never had.” With a slow shake of her head, she kept right on going, “Besides, gettin’ mad at Luke won’t do a damn bit of good, Tams, my girl, and you know it.

You’ll just grumble and growl, then forgive him the second he walks through the dang door with that silly grin and one of the worst jokes you’ve ever heard that makes you laugh, no matter how hard you try not to. ”

Sliding the cup a few inches forward, then back, she watched the ripples slowly fade to the edges as Luke’s words echoed in her brain… “Still havin’ trouble sleepin’?”

Another exhale, and she gave the coffee a stir, then stared into the center of the tiny whirlpool. It wasn’t a crystal ball or a deck of Tarot cards, but it was all she had at the moment, and as her momma used to say, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“But that’s not really true, is it?” Her voice trailed off to a whisper, and her inner monologue gained steam.

Tamsyn wasn’t precisely a beggar. She wasn’t without resources.

There were other avenues she could take to get the answers she thought she needed.

She could have talked to Grandma Emma, but then she would have to explain why she wanted to know if there was ‘anything out of the ordinary comin’ her way’.

One thing would lead to another, and her great-great-great-grandmother on her mother’s side would turn her special, Magical, Mystical Intuition on and point it right at Tamsyn’s aura.

No, it wouldn’t be painful…not physically, or in any other way, other than her ego.

It wasn’t that Grandma Emma would pry past any of the mental blocks she’d put into place.

Nor would she ask any uncomfortable questions.

Nope, that wasn’t the oldest living member of her Family’s way.

She was kind, considerate, and very giving with all her time and talents.

However, she always knew what was up first—a trait that had caused problems since the Bobcat Queen was five and planning a super-secret treehouse sleepover with her daddy.

That woman just seemed to ‘know without knowing’ everything, and the older Tams got, the more she hated relying on anyone, even her Family.

She’d always been hardheaded and secretive. Dad blamed it on them being Feline Shifters. Mom said it was because they were Royal Felines. Maybe it had something to do with the Bobcat Princess she shared her soul with, but Bridgette refused to comment and would always change the subject.

Nevertheless, on that night when she was five years old, it had only taken one look from her grandma, the Bobcat Seer with golden eyes, and everybody and their brother knew that Tamsyn was keeping a secret and more than likely planning something she knew she shouldn’t.

Thank the Heavens that over the years, the younger Bobcat Shifter had gotten better at shielding and keeping her thoughts to herself.

No, that didn’t mean that there weren’t a couple of centuries where Tamsyn spent more time in trouble than out of it.

Not to mention the three decades she spent in Texas with the Sampson Pack, who were not only Wolves but good friends of her parents and the Ryder Pounce.

If she was honest, and she always was, Bonnie and Maggie Mae were more than friends; they were Family.

They were sisters-of-the-heart, and she would forever be grateful for the time she’d spent with them.

But all that was in the past, and bygones were bygones and all that happy horseshit. In the last hundred years, the only time Grandma Emma Thunderpaw had been able to see Tamsyn’s future was when she allowed it or asked for it.

And Tamsyn wasn’t about to let all that hard work go to waste.