Jackson: House of Wilkshire ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance, page 12
“No, no, my lady. They’re so beautiful. I just don’t think I can make myself— Look how tiny those cookies are. You must have been doing those all the time to have so many.” She grinned at Log. “I should like to have some tea in my cup with my lady wife tomorrow. I might even bring her a cookie or two as well.”
They picked up the plates and cups and sat around the kitchen with them. In couples and fours too, it was lovely to see so many of them enjoying themselves. Bloom and Log sat with her as she enjoyed her matching mug to their flowerier ones. It had surprised her, really, that the little tea cups could hold so much tea in them.
After they were finished, she actually had one left over, Bloom asked if she might take it to Queen Aurora. Wrapping it up in the tissue paper that had come with the sets, she told her to tell her if she wanted more, she could tell her where to get them. To Nicole, this was the most successful thing all night.
Jackson came back with the last load of dirty dishes. She’d not thought of what would happen to them having an endless supply. But the dishwashers simply stacked them on the racks and they would disappear. She supposed that was the best way to deal with them—endless only meant that you had them, not that they’d stick around.
“It was a good night, don’t you think?” Jackson said that the customers seemed to have a lot of nice things to say about it. “I was worried, I guess, about the steaks. I’ve never had to make so many of them at one time. I’m so glad that we weren’t telling anyone that their food was free until they got their checks.”
“Yes, that might have been a nightmare.” He pulled her into his arms. “We’re closed tomorrow morning, and I thought that we’d take a little trip. I have some things that I need to look into, and then there are the things that I have in storage that I’d like to have brought here.” Nicole thought that was a wonderful idea. “I had hoped you’d say that. By the way, I also have a trip set up for us to take on Saturday after we close. Since you’re not open for lunch, thankfully, and we are closed on Sunday and Monday, we could have a nice weekend of it, and not think about anything but us being naked.”
“That is all you think about.” Jackson laughed. “I’d love that. We’ve had so very little time lately with the dragons and this. Did you hear about the name? I didn’t think of it, but Kelly did. And I think that it’s going to be a good logo too when one is thought up.”
“Yes. I thought that naming it The Faerie Garden is perfect. They seemed to have enjoyed the cups and tea sets too, don’t you think?” She laughed and said that she’d counted just right. “I’d be ordering some more if I were you. The rest of them, all of them, are going to want to get a set from you as well. But, you do know that they’ll want to work for it.”
“Bloom told me that.” Nicole yawned again. “I’m so tired I could curl up on this stove and sleep for a week.”
Jackson picked her up in his arms and carried her out to the back patio. She’d not been out there to see it, and was romanticized by the stars in the sky overhead as well as the twinkling lights all around. After seating her at one of the still set up tables, the rest of the dragons brought out a meal of burgers and fries for her and Jackson, as well as soda, something that neither of them had often.
“This is perfect.” They laughed with them as their mates, if they had them, sat on their laps. “You guys should be joining us. This is perfect for the end of the day.”
“We’ve eaten already. Each time one of us came back for something, you would throw a plate of food at us. And I have to tell you, Nicole, everything couldn’t have been better.” Devon did snatch a French fry off her plate as he spoke more. “We were wondering, if we were to ask you nicely, if you’d please cook for us at the next holiday meal. I’d gladly clean up if you would.”
“You would? When I can’t even get you to put your shoes in the closet? I don’t think that’s very nice of you. Not to mention, you will—” Devon picked up Kelly before she could finish and took her away. A few minutes later, they saw the two of them fly by the moon. Now that, she thought, sounded like a good idea.
~*~
Potter woke up with a headache, but was more worried about the creature than anything. Before he could sit up and ask about his family, he was pushed back down by his assistant, a large troll that had been with him since he’d been a young lad.
“You will rest.” Potter asked Troll about his family. “Safe. They are in yard. You rest. I was told to tell you, beat you if you didn’t.”
“Who would tell you such a thing?” He told him. “Oh, well, the red queen might too. Am I to at least have a drink or go to the bathroom?”
Potter was so exhausted when he was returned to bed that he had to close his eyes. He must have slept for some time, because when he woke his room was dark and there was someone sleeping in the chair next to the bed. It took him struggling a little to figure out that it was his wife.
“Oh my darling, are you all right?” Sobbing with Mattie, he told her that he was. “I was so worried. You kept getting worse and worse every day.”
“I hit you. I know that I did. But I promise you, love, it wasn’t me.” She told him not to worry about it, that she understood what was going on now. “The red queen. She saved my life. And yours, I think.”
“She told me that you had a demon in you. I knew that it had to be something. When you smacked young Calvin, I knew that wasn’t you.” Potter held her hand as she cried with him. “She said that you were to rest, and that if you didn’t, I was to call her right here and she’d make sure you did. She even threatened to staple you to the bed by your peter. I had to ask about that. My goodness, she has a mind and a mouth, doesn’t she? But I do think she will do this realm a world of good. Her ideas on the dragons are perfectly what we need.”
“I won’t be fit to run this area again. My mind— While he is gone, I still have some thoughts that aren’t my own.” Mattie told him of the long conversation that she’d had with Devon and the others. “They’re not going to make us leave, are they? You’d do such a wonderful job of running things for us.”
“I will have help with you here so long as you don’t overtax yourself. You know that you will if I don’t make you do what I say.” He promised her that he’d behave. That had frightened him to no end. “Me as well. Cook told me what you said to her before the queen got here. Oh, Potter, you were so hurt by that monster. And King Devon, he was so helpful with getting you help here too. It’s been nice, I tell you.”
“You will have to pay her homage.” Mattie said that she’d mentioned that, and was shut down. “No, that would be an insult to us here. People will think that we’re—”
“I don’t care what others might think, Potter. You hear me. You’re here with me, and that is all I’m concerned about.” Mattie settled down and smiled at him. “King Devon said that the only payment he wants from us is for you to be well again. I think you scared him a little too. He would like for us to think on helping with the dragons. I told him that I would speak with you, but I was glad for the second chance.”
“He gave us one. After what he said?” Mattie told him that at the time, he thought Potter was just being bull headed. He’d not known about his sire. “No, I guess he’d not. But I do have to wonder what else might have happened with that thing inside of me.”
“We’re not to ask.” That didn’t set well with him, and he said as much to his wife. “I know of one thing, Potter, and that was enough for me not to ask any more questions. He took you over, and that hurt a great many people. All we’re going to concern ourselves with now is that you’re getting better and that we’re going to help the dragons.”
“When can I get out of this bed? I had a thought that I’d watch you in the yard today, but when I got back from the privy, I could hardly stand up on my own.” Mattie said that was what Troll had told her. “I will rest and get better. For you. I don’t want to feel like that ever again. I will admit that I was so afraid for you and the others that I almost sent you away a few times. But having you here, it made me be able live a bit longer. I so wanted to end this for me that I was willing to do just about anything.”
“You just keep getting better.” She pulled a list toward her and looked at him. “I have a list of things that have been injured on you. They’re healed now because of the magic that the dragon queen brought you. But they were bad. You had several bones broken when they took him out of you; that is why you are so sore. You also....”
The list was long, and he listened to every one of them and noted how he was to care for himself with them. After she left him to get them both a cup of something brewed up to help him sleep, Potter reached out to the queen, forgetting about the time difference.
You had better have a fucking good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night, mother fucker. He was so shocked that he was quiet on his end, hoping, he supposed, for her to go back to sleep. Who the fuck is this? Answer me?
Potter of the underworld. He could feel her trying to think, and when she still didn’t answer him, he went on. I’m so sorry. I only just woke and spoke to my wife, and wanted to thank you. I hadn’t any idea of the time.
It’s fine. I’m sorry I cursed at you. How are you? So nice. Something that he’d noticed about her before getting too ill to care. I have staff ready to come to your aid. I’ve spoken to Mattie too, and she’s willing to help, if you will allow it, with the dragons.
She has decided that she can run things for us here. That is, if it is all right with you and the king of dragons. She told him it was great, and that she’d come talk to them soon. I’m very sorry about all this, my lady. I didn’t know. I just didn’t know.
I know that, Potter. I know that very well. He’s gone now, and everyone is happy about it. You just take care and keep resting. You had a great deal of trauma done to you, and it will take a while for you to get better. He thanked her again. Listen, I’d really like it if you and your wife would call me Nicole and my mate Jackson. I’ve been trying to get her to do that, but she had it in her head that she’s lower than me. No one is lower than me or you. We’re all people, just trying to get our shit together and limp along in this life for a while longer.
Potter laughed. Yes, you do have a way with words, don’t you? Yes, I will work on that with Mattie. We owe you a great deal. She said that he didn’t, and that she didn’t want to hear another thing about it. Well, I do, and I will forever be in your debt, Nicole. Thank you very much.
You’re very welcome, Potter. You rest now, and try to forget how grumpy I am when woken from a deep sleep.
He was laughing still when the connection was closed. Potter liked her. He might not have respected her much, not before this, but he now thought her one of the nicest, strongest people he’d met. Ever.
Chapter 10
Aisling woke with a sudden jolt to her system. When something hit the ground beside her, she turned to see that it was her faerie. Dak sat up and stretched, but he didn’t speak yet. Both of them looked around. The cave had been closed up around them for a very long time, it seemed.
“It is late, I think.” Aisling asked Dak if he’d been awake before this. “Yes, several times over the years. Over yonder, I have brought you different things to see what has changed with the times. You are well now?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember why I was here.” Dak told her that it would come to her. “It would come to me faster, I think, should you tell me.”
“I cannot do that, and you well know it.” Dak stood up and moved around the cave. “No one searches for us now. No one searches for any of us.”
“Are they all gone? The dragons, have they all been killed?” Dak told her that they had not, but there were no longer very many of them. “I came here for a reason, did I not, Dak? I wasn’t put here, was I?”
“Nay, my lady, you were not locked here by anyone but yourself. You are a good person, as you have always been.” That was a relief to know. But she still didn’t know why. “There is a new king. I have heard that he is nothing like his sire. I have yet to meet him, but I know the things that I’ve heard about him are true.”
Getting up off the stone slab that had held her for so long was harder than she’d thought it might have been if it had only been a few decades. Not that she could ask Dak. Her mind, as with all dragons, was good, but they had to come to things on their own. Not that she knew why, but that was the rule. Aisling also realized that she was hungry.
“Is there a way for me to get food without harming anyone or stealing cattle as my dragon?” Dak told her about the new places that she could have anything in, and it was good things. “Like what? I mean, food was good when I came in—”
A thought entered her mind, one of her coming in here wounded from a war wound. Looking at her arm, she could see that it had healed and that the scar was just a thin line rather than the long gash it had been. She asked Dak if he had cured her.
“Nay. I too was hurt.” He moved around the cave, knocking down huge and dusty cobwebs. “I swear to you, my lady, these things could grow overnight and not think a thing about it. I shall have to get something to clean up with when we go out. Or should you like to have a home?”
“I’ve never had a home. What are they like now?” Dak went on to describe the homes now. “What do you mean, there are people living atop other people in houses? How is that possible?”
“I do not know, I’m sure, but I have seen it. So tall it is, like you would be able to land upon one and you’d only look like a speck from the ground.” It was dizzying to think of something so high. “And food too. You could, should you want, to go into a building and come out with all manner of foodstuff. Even spices, should you want. I will have to take you there when you have figured out what it is you wish to do about staying someplace.”
They left the cave with the intentions of returning until they found other arrangements. There were newspapers, Dak called them, in the cave, but she didn’t want to take the time to see them right now. But almost as soon as they left the deep dark cave, the pull of the dragon magic touched her.
“There are many new ones.” Dak said that he could feel it as well. “And they are all together, with the protector. I did not know we had a protector any longer.”
“We didn’t when I last was out.” Dak smelled the air, bringing it deeply into his lungs. The pull for her, the pull to go to the dragons, was like a puppy pulling on her skirt bottom, trying to get him something to eat. “The faeries are putting out a warning that all should be careful of the season. There are things called planes that could harm us. What do you suppose that would be?”
“I don’t know.” She moved along a well-worn path that had been made by the animals about. “I feel water nearby. I should like a bath and fresh clothing. Could you please go and see what they are wearing nowadays? I do not want to be out of place when we go to find lodgings.”
While she bathed the dust and dirt off her skin, Dak sent her visions of what the people were dressing in. It was all too confusing for her. Dak too, if his mood was any indication. They were dressed in all manner of clothing, it seemed. From women in pants to men in what she could only assume were pocket pants. They had so many on them that she wondered how they were to walk about with the extra weight.
That was another thing that she noticed, too. The weight of the people. Not all were large, but a great many of them were. Coin must be plentiful, Aisling thought, if they could afford to eat so well. Or, she thought, the grounds were much richer than she had ever seen them to be before.
When Dak returned he had all sorts of news for her. He had found them a home, as well as some money. Aisling had no idea what to think of the paper stuff he handed her, but she put it in her pocket. The pocket pants were most comfortable, she realized, as she moved back toward the town that Dak had been in.
Finding a place to eat was too difficult, because she had no idea what most of the things were. There were a great many places for them to choose from. When they noticed a line of people going into one such establishment, they got in line for that.
The words on the papers that she’d been handed meant nothing to her. She liked that it had pictures, yet she still had no idea what the long things were. Dak assured her, after having a long search of the dining room, that it was called noodles or pasta, and that apparently it was very good.
When the barmaid returned with a glass of water for her, Aisling was astonished at how clear it was. And the ice that floated in it was something that she’d only seen on lakes in the winter. Ordering what they were going to eat by the picture, she had several more decisions to make. Opting on having a salad, whatever that was, the two of them waited for their food.
“What are those?” The little machines on each table were being used by the patrons. As much as she wanted to get up and see for herself, Aisling knew better than to show her ignorance on such things. Instead, she watched them carefully and read their mind when they were apparently paying for their meals. “I do not have one of those little blue things to put in it.”
“You do not need one, my lady. I will make it so that when you are to wipe it up with one of them, that it thinks you have it. It is called a credit card. I’m not so sure that is a good thing. I did not see how it was to work, but we will give it a try when we are finished.”
The barmaid brought them the strangest basket she’d ever seen with bread in it. It was small, the bread was, and round. But at first bite, she knew that this was something that she could learn to love.
Dak didn’t care for it. He said that it was too spicy for him. But then he’d never been one to enjoy a bit of garlic as she had. At one time, Aisling could just eat the bulbs like sweets, she loved them so much.
The salad was huge, and she enjoyed it as well. Even Dak seemed to partake in it more than she’d thought he would. While he ate his dinner at the side of her own plate, she listened in on the conversations going on around her. Dak did so as well.
