Then Laura closed her eyes, and Aurora could no longer feel the beating of her heart. The faeries caring for the others on the battlefield mourned the loss of one so brave and strong. Aurora cried for the loss herself, sobbing loudly for what she had done.

  “There wasn’t time, my dragon. I should have done more research on her.” As more of the life of the child came to her, the more Aurora regretted her decision. “She will be harder than him, I’m afraid. Her heart does not beat well, for she will be wounded beyond my capability of helping. Nicole Fitzpatrick will be more wounded than anything that will ever happen to our Jackson.”

  Sitting in the room that had been deemed a parlor, Aurora waited to talk to the king of all dragons. His mother had been a wonderful, loving woman. And even though she had died only days after her only living child was born, she had instilled in him the values and love that all mothers should in their children.

  As soon as he entered the room, Aurora dropped to the floor. “I have done a terrible thing, my lord.” She could feel his confusion, his humor as well. “The mate of Jackson is here, but she was the wrong choice for his lordship. I did something in haste, and have regretted it since then.”

  “Perhaps if you tell me what it is you’ve done we can figure out a way— Do you think you could please get up off the floor? If my wife or, Lord save us, one of the other women in this family see you there, they will blame it on me without so much as a single fact.” Aurora sat on the edge of the couch while Devon sat in the big chair that suited him as much as the jeans and T-shirt he had on. “Now, you say that Jackson has a mate. And that she is here? How is that possible? He was sure that she died on the field of battle.”

  “She did, my lord. Just as he was told.” Aurora explained to him what had transpired that day. The way that she’d called to her, begging for Jackson to be able to love. “Then as more of her story, Nicole’s story, came to me, I realized what a mistake I had made, and Nicole made it clear that she wanted no mate. They will not suit. They are two broken people, but she is more so than he is.”

  Devon wasn’t one to prattle on until he figured something out. He could and would sit quietly until he had whatever was on his mind worked out. And it would usually be the right decision when he came to it. When he asked her about Nicole, she could only tell him a few things.

  “She is beyond terrified of dragons. One bit her badly once.” Aurora didn’t mention that the wound was still open, that it seeped poison that was yet coursing through her body. It wasn’t her story to tell. It might help, Aurora thought, but then again, it might not. She had done enough damage to these two people. “Nicole will not be happy that I have told you this. I did tell her that I was going to, but she is so resigned to the fact that she will never love or be loved that I feel sorry for her.”

  “The dragon that bit her. Where is he now?” Aurora said that he had been killed. “Are you saying that he bit her and never sealed the wounds up? Now that he’s dead, who has done it?”

  “Nicole killed him. With her bare hands.” Devon looked as shocked as she had felt when she’d heard about it. “I don’t know everything about it. I do know the dragon’s family. I made sure, after a time, that they were dead. I did not do the killing myself, but it was finished before I had a hand in it. Nicole knows that they’re all dead now, but it doesn’t lessen her fear of nearly all creatures in this Earth. Especially dragons. And she hates me.”

  “Why you?” Aurora didn’t know, other than that she’d chosen her for a mate to a dragon. “But you said earlier that she didn’t know that until today. I would think it would be more than that.”

  Bryce joined them then, not saying much but she did listen intently.

  “She believes that I had a hand in having her bitten.” Devon asked her why. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I cannot touch her, nor will she allow anyone else to do so. Bryce was able to when she hired her, but I’m to understand that there were issues there as well.”

  “Christ, this is horrible.” He was right, but that wasn’t all of it. “I have a feeling that there is more to this than her just killing a dragon. What is it you’re not telling me or, worse yet, why are you afraid to tell me?”

  “Your sire, sir. He is the one that turned the dragon into what he was. A killing monster that had no qualms about just killing humans for the sport of it. The fact that this thing was killed by a lowly woman, in your sire’s eyes, would have had him rolling in his grave. Not to mention her being a human as well.” Devon laughed at that. The joy that he found in his father’s torment made her smile too. “What would you like for me to do now?”

  “I haven’t any idea. I can only wait, I suppose, for them to come together. Jackson is a wounded man too, but his is in his heart. His father murdered newborns when they were not males to suit his life.” Aurora said that she had been keeping the places of their demise cleaned and well cared for. “I thank you for that. I guess I should talk to Jackson, but I fear that he’ll run. He’s a good man, but feels that he isn’t any more loveable than Nicole thinks that she is.”

  After talking to Bryce about what she’d seen in the woman’s head, they were no closer to figuring out what to do than before. All Bryce had been able to get from her was her hatred of dragons, as well the fact that she was an amazing chef. Devon asked if he might be able to talk to her.

  “So long as you warn her before showing up. I mean, like you must set up a time to meet with her. Her tolerance is running low on things that are going on around here. I do know that she is very happy with the kitchen and the staff that she has. But after that, I don’t know.” Devon thanked Bryce. “You might want to tell her you’d like to have a taste testing of her dishes. For no other reason that it will be fun for you to have something to brag about to your other friends. She won’t like that, but you can give it your best shot. Also, if I were you, I’d just go by myself this first time. Nicole isn’t going to stick around should we treat her badly.”

  As Devon picked up the phone to call Nicole, Aurora looked at Bryce. For one so young to have such a title as grand witch was quite the accomplishment. When she turned and looked at her with a cocked brow, Aurora thought that she’d been caught at something bad.

  “You said that she was bitten.” Aurora nodded at the witch. “How much pain do you think she’s in? Like all the time? A little? A lot?”

  “I would say a great deal. Unless you know the scent, then you’ll not know what you’re smelling. It will smell like flowers to some. Other dragons, ones that are young and with not as much intelligence as most, will think her to be in heat. Then there are some that smell the scent that she gives off and think her evil. Like black magic. Why did you ask?” Bryce told her. “So you could smell something different. Do you know what it might have been?”

  “Fear.” Aurora said that she had a great deal of that as well. “Yes, I think she would. I’m going to do some searching on this. It’s amazing how many books we’ve found in that cave from Noah’s parents that have information about all kinds of creatures of the earth. Not to mention, a spell book that had a great many ways to recreate creatures that were thought to be gone. I’ll look to see what I can find. In the meantime, keep me posted, if you don’t mind. I’m sure you have some of your faeries watching over her.”

  “I do. Bloom has taken quite a liking to the woman.” It was more than that, but that was between her and Bloom. “I’ll make sure that she calls to you too if there is a problem.”

  After heading back to her own castle, Aurora looked in on Nicole. She was in a great deal of pain, and Aurora had a feeling that before too much longer, she’d be down with it again. The poison was making its way throughout her body. Poor child.

  ~*~

  Jackson watched as truck after truck pulled into the newly remodeled restaurant. He was glad to see that whoever the cook was, they were using locally sourced foods and food stuff. He even noticed that the local flower shop had someone going in and out with fresh blooms, as well as greens to brighten the place up. Taking another sip of his drink, he leaned further back in his seat and enjoyed the nice breeze coming through the open patio.

  “A penny for your thoughts.” He grinned at Devon, who had made it a habit of coming to find him when he had something on his mind. “I thought that you’d like to know that Connor showed up today. I wasn’t expecting him until the weekend, so we’ll be out all hours of the night again. So long as I’m home and in bed by nine.”

  “Yes, I’ve noticed that about you. You have no trouble whatsoever just dozing off early in the evening. Is married life taking so much out of you?” Devon only laughed. Jackson, for some reason, was embarrassed at what he’d said. “I talked to Matthew earlier. He’s been house hunting. And he still has his title, but he doesn’t use it. He told me that it’s sort of worthless anymore, but it’s nice to know that it’s there to impress the women.”

  Devon looked over at the restaurant and then back at him. “I have a problem. And the more I think about how to solve it, the worse it gets in my head. I honestly don’t know what to do about it.”

  “If you want to bounce ideas off me, I’m willing to listen. However, if you think that it has anything to do with you thinking that my mate is around, I’d just as soon you kept your mouth shut. I told you, she died long ago.” Devon just stared at him. “No. Please tell me what you’re thinking, and not that I hit it on the nose.”

  “I’m sorry, but you have another. She’s been hurt.” Jackson stood up but sat back down when asked to do so. “I’d very much like it if you let me explain what I know. Her name is Nicole Fitzpatrick. My father, he’s the one that caused her to be hurt. Jackson, she killed a dragon.”

  “How?” Devon told him that she’d done so with just her hands. “Are you telling me that she killed one of her own? That’s...honestly, I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

  “She’s human.” Jackson did stand then, but didn’t sit when Devon told him to. As he was walking out the door, there was a noise from across the street of someone screaming. Before he could see what the hell was going on, Devon spoke again. “You go there, you’ll meet her. Not that you shouldn’t, but you will for sure if you go to the accident.”

  Jackson paused. His mate? That could be her screaming? Taking a deep breath, he ran across the street with Devon. By the time they arrived, the girl, no more than about thirty, he thought, was barking out orders for someone to call an ambulance, the police, as well as to get the medical kit that was in the kitchen.

  Blood was spilling out through the open wound on the leg of the older man. He was unconscious, thankfully, but he still cried out over the pain. When the kit was brought to the younger woman, she split it open and began what he could only assume was war dressing the wounds. She talked while she worked.

  “You were supposed to have been in the building, you moron. When I tell you that a truck is backing up, I mean for you to fucking get out of the way of it, not step into the way of it to see if you can stop it with your fucking leg.” Jackson nearly laughed at her, but bent at the knee and asked if he could help. “Unless you have a medical degree or know how to set a bone, then no, get the fuck out of my way. Can’t you see that I’m barely hanging on for him?”

  “I do see that, and I do know how to set a leg.” She moved back enough for him to get to the kit and the leg. Mr. Morris was out cold, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t still hurt someone when the pain was too much. “Can you let someone else help you hold him? I’m afraid he might lash out at you and hurt you.”

  “Fuck that shit. Get his leg set so I can get to the rest of his wounds. Just fucking do it, will you?” He did. Jackson grabbed both Mr. Morris’s thigh and then his ankle, and pushed the bone back into place. Just as he thought, Mr. Morris reached out and grabbed the woman and screamed. So did she.

  The ambulance arrived just as the woman was stitching up the long gash on Mr. Morris’s chest. It wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding badly. After he told the medics what she’d done by cleaning the wounds, making sure that there were no foreign objects in them. She’d begun putting in stitches to hold him together until someone could do better.

  “I doubt there is a doc on duty that could have done any better, Ms. Fitzpatrick. Thanks for that. You might well have saved his life.” She didn’t say anything. It was at that moment that Jackson remembered the name that Devon had mentioned. “I’ll load him up and take him in. If you’d not mind taking the mike, miss, then you can tell them what you’ve done for him. All right?”

  Mumbling to herself about men thinking women were too stupid to know to write things down, she took the mike to talk to dispatch at the hospital. Jackson hadn’t seen her writing anything down, but apparently she had. Ticking off each thing she’d done, and the time that it was done, she asked the person at the other end if there were questions. None, apparently, and she handed the mike back to the medic standing there.

  “I’m Jackson William. You must be Nicole Fitzpatrick.” She moved by him without saying a word, and into the kitchen again. He started to follow, but was stopped by Devon. “You just told me that you wanted me to meet her, didn’t you?”

  “She’s going to need a few moments. I don’t know if you can feel her yet, but all I can feel is that she is barely holding on.” Jackson asked if she was sick. “That too. I have a meeting with her soon, and if you should show up too, I won’t get to talk to her.”

  “You said she was wounded by the dragon. Is that what you’re talking with her about?” Devon said that was a part of it. “All right. I’ll just sit quietly, or better yet, have one of the faeries let me clean up while you talk to her. I have a bit of blood on me.”

  He was covered in it. Not as badly as Nicole had been, but he would do anything right now to make sure that she was indeed his mate, and not just a woman that people thought was his.

  “What the fuck do you want?” He thought that Nicole was speaking to him, but apparently Devon was seated in her area. “I don’t know if this might have missed your attention, but I don’t have time for a meeting of the minds with you today. I told you when you called to make this appointment that I was too busy to have you in the way.”

  “My name is Devon. King of the dragons.” Nicole made a sign with her hands indicating that she didn’t find him all that impressive. “I would like to talk to you about a couple of things. My wife and sister-in-law are the ones that hired you. I’d very much like for you to have a seat so that we can talk. Please.”

  “I’ve been locally sourcing like I was asked to do. I’ve tried out the things with the staff, who seem to have a pretty good grasp about foods from around the world. I don’t do take out, I don’t do special orders, and I’m not going to be singing happy birthday or any other smucky thing like that to every shithead that comes in here. I’m the chef, not a choir master.” Jackson did laugh then, and it scared her. When he stepped forward to—he didn’t know why—she backed up so quickly that she hit the wall hard behind her. “You weren’t invited.”

  “I was washing up.” She didn’t move but kept her eyes on both he and Devon. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just came in to clean up after helping you outside.”

  “You’re both dragons.” Jackson nodded. “How many are there of you guys? Hundreds? Thousands? How many more are going to be popping in and out of my life like a jack in the box?”

  “No one else will.” She glared at Devon when he spoke again. “I can smell him on you. Where are you bitten? I’d like to have a look at it if I may.”

  “No, you may not. I’m dealing with it until it becomes too much.” Devon asked her what that meant. “It means, King Ding Dong, that I’ll deal with it when I have to. Right now, you have an appointment. Get to whatever it is you wanted, then leave me alone. Or so help me, I’ll disappear again.”

  “How many have attacked you?” Nicole looked at Jackson, her face a study in absolute fear. “There are many, aren’t there? Many younger dragons finding you and hurting you more than they should. They think that you’re in heat, and when that scent hits them they’re off—”

  “I know well what they’re feeling, you fucktard. I’m right there when this—whatever the fuck it is—hits them. What are you going to do? Try and fuck me too? Or will you just be satisfied to bite me in places that there are no other marks?” She swayed, and he had a feeling that all this bravado that she was showing was taking its toll on her. “Get out of here. The both of you. I have a job that feeds me and puts a roof over my head for the first time in ages. Either leave now, or I’d gladly do so. I’m...you have no idea what I’ve been up against since I was hurt.”

  “I’d like to help you if you’d allow it.” Devon stood up and left the room as Jackson continued talking to her. “You smell of lavender to me, if you want to know the truth. Sunshine too. Bloom said that to her you smell of fresh air and fresh cut grass. Please, I’d like to sit here and talk to you.”

  “Sit, talk, I don’t care. But don’t expect me to talk back to you. As I have said, numerous times, I don’t have anything to say to you or anyone else. I just want to do my job and be left alone.” She started away, then turned back. “I don’t want you to be my mate, Mr. William. I have too much shit going on in my life to have another dragon making sport of me.”

  True to her word, she never spoke to him again. There were times when she would look in his direction, but she never spoke. As things were taken out of the oven, wonderful smelling foods that were beautifully displayed on the plate, his mouth watered to have some.

  “You wish to try it with us? Miss Nicole said so long as we do not try and bring you to the table where we are, you may have some treats as well.” Jackson told Bloom that he’d love to try them. “I will take your opinion, but she thinks that you being a dragon, if it is not meat or bloody you will hate it.”

  “She doesn’t have a good opinion of me, does she?” Bloom said it wasn’t just him. She didn’t like anyone. “But you, I guess.”

 

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