Jackson: House of Wilkshire ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance, page 6
“No. But few know that, or that red diamond dragons are rare.” Devon asked her grandma what else she knew about them.
“I mean, they’re richer than any other dragon in terms of magic. And they don’t cry diamonds or any one gem when they are happy or sad. They cry them all.”
The big tub was supplied to them by the brownies that wanted to help, and the scales were put in the pure water. After getting Jackson’s scales and adding them, the water turned to the most beautiful shade of rouge that Bryce had ever seen. And not only that, it dissolved all the other scales almost like they were sugar in hot water.
It was easy enough to get the tub of brew to the cave. What posed a problem that they’d not thought of was getting the tub through the opening. While it would fit into the opening, it was a brew that the magic didn’t recognize. Every time they tried to enter, it would be repelled.
“We’ll have to bring her out here.” Jackson joined them as Devon continued. Even Jackson thought that was a bad idea. Just looking around they could all see the other dragons, seemingly ready to pounce on Nicole. “I can pull all kinds of magic on you both to hide her once we get her out here. Other than that, I don’t know what to do.”
A small fire was built near where they set the tub. The brew was cooled now, but needed to stay warm. Getting her out of the cave was Jackson’s job, and he didn’t look as if he wanted to rid himself of his burden, even if only to put her into the tub.
“We know enough about this to make sure that she’s going to be all right. However, we don’t know enough about what effects this might have on her. It doesn’t mention red diamond dragon scales at all. Like, either he didn’t know they were around, or he figured that finding one would be nearly impossible.” Bryce asked Jackson if he was going to be all right with that. “We know she’ll live, but what will happen to her after, we don’t know.”
“I’m willing to take that chance.” He looked around at all of them. “I’m going to go in with her. Whatever becomes of this, I will be right by her side until we know for sure.”
“She’s your mate, Jackson. This will bind you in ways that you would never get with sex or a bite. You know that, don’t you?” Bryce watched Jackson’s face when Devon asked him what he wanted to do. “You both will need to rest. I’m assuming that you’re going to be as safe as you can with the two of you staying here. If you don’t mind, my friend, I’ll make sure that you have lodgings when you’re well. And the faeries will make sure that it’s safe.”
“I’d appreciate that. If you would have someone make us a wedded couple, I will be able to share my wealth with her too. Not that it matters in the eyes of the law, but the contract that I signed said that I’d not give my money away to anyone but family.” Devon asked him if he’d let him look that over. “Yes. It’s in my satchel in the room that I was using there. There are other items as well. Paperwork that I would like someone to go over for me.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Jackson stepped into the water. He was only naked where they could see him for a split second. After that, he was deep in the darkening water that came to his chin. Nicole was covered as well, but it was the first time that any of them had seen the wounds, now scars on her body. “Christ, it was worse than I thought.”
“It still is. And I swear to you, all of you, I want her to live and to be my mate more than I wanted not to share my life with anyone. She owns my heart, my blood, and anything else that she wants. And I will care for her with my life. You can count on that.”
As Jackson and Nicole went deeper into the water, Bryce covered them with magic. The faeries of the forest and of the trees said that they would strengthen it. No one knew how long the healing would take—it could take weeks or days. But whatever it did take, she wouldn’t be the same that she’d been before. Bryce had a feeling that neither of them would be.
Chapter 5
Nicole couldn’t figure out where she was. Warmth was surrounding her. It took her several moments of just enjoying the nice silky feelings before she realized that she was in water. It wrapped around her like a foam, getting into places that she’d not thought of and making her warm all over.
“Hello, love.” Nicole lifted her head and she looked at the man holding her. He changed; his face took on several different appearances before he seemed to settle on just the one. But still, she didn’t know him. It was the eyes, she thought. They were wrong in some way. “Why don’t you and I have us a little fun?”
“No.” Nicole didn’t bother trying to break free of his grip, somehow knowing that he would weaken her right now when she didn’t have a plan. “Where are we?”
“Here, together.” Not a good answer, and he seemed to know that it annoyed her that it wasn’t. When something touched her mind, Nicole knew that he was looking for information, anything to make things go his way. “Why don’t the two of us—? Ah, so you still have no trust for me, do you? Oh well, my lovely, we’ll get to that, won’t we?”
“Who are you?” He asked her who she thought he was. “That’s not the way that this is going to work. I don’t know you.”
“Of course you do. I’m your mate.” She waited in vain for an answer, a name to put with the statement. “Don’t you remember me? I certainly remember you.”
Nicole did remember him, but not from where or how. There was something touching at her, a tiny fragment of something telling her that she knew this...he wasn’t a person. Not a human anyway. And she was almost as positive as she could be that he wasn’t Jackson.
“May I kiss you?” Shaking her head, she looked around. “Aren’t you glad to be well? Don’t you like feeling better?”
“I’m not better.” She was, but she saw the moment of doubt in his face before she moved again. “Why am I able to breathe under the water like this? Also, I’d like to know why the water is warm and red.”
“You were wounded, don’t you remember?” She’d been bitten, but none of them had bled red blood. They’d seeped out yellow puss that made her sick. “You were in the kitchen and I hurt you. You were making us something to eat.”
“Who are you?”
His frustration for her was showing. When he pulled away from her, just enough to look down at her body, she had a feeling that whoever this monster was, he was going to try and rape her for a commitment of some kind.
The voice in her head told her to kill it, to kill the thing that it was. Wrapping her hand around his throat, whoever it was began to struggle. Along with that, his body, his face mostly, changed too, into so many different faces so fast that it was difficult for her to make out one from the other. The tighter she choked him, the less he struggled.
Kill him. She was trying, but there was a small bit of fear there, the feeling of not trusting her thoughts, doubts in herself. What if this thing, this monster, wanted her to see Jackson like this, and she was killing him? You cannot kill your own mate, Nicole Fitzpatrick William. Kill him and be done with it.
The monster began to morph into a dragon, the first one that had bitten her. Fear nearly had her letting him go, but the voice, again, told her to kill him. Just as the monster was struggling less and less, something touched her.
Warmth, heat really, seemed to touch her in her heart. Nicole wasn’t sure what it was, but it added strength to her hand and she was able to pull the creature from the being that it was. The man looking at her wasn’t anyone that she’d ever known. But the man with her, the one that she knew to be Jackson, knew just who he was.
It is Devon’s father. The man who created this thing to kill humans. You’re the only one that he could not kill. The only family that he could not bend to his will. Find the scale in the water and stab him with it. Stab him where his heart might have been.
Reaching into the blood red water, her hand touched something hard. Pulling it from the murky depths of the water, she stabbed the thing in the chest. The screams were horrific, but she held steady onto the scale. The monster took more shapes—women, men, also faeries and other creatures that she had no name for. When it went limp, she started to pull away but was told, by Jackson, to hold steady for a bit more.
As suddenly as it had made its appearance to her, it simply disappeared. There was nothing there, but the scale that she’d shoved into his chest was still in her hand. Not moving, not sure what to do now, she closed her eyes and held her breath. Before much longer, she was being dragged from the depths of the water and held in strong warm arms.
“I don’t ever want to do that again.” Jackson—his laughter was like a balm over her body and heart. Looking up at him, she could see the bruising around his neck, the scratches along his face. “Did I do that?”
“Nay, love, Nicole my heart, you did not. It was the creature as he tried his best to get away from our magic.” She told him that she had no magic. “You do now. A great deal of it, I would say. Just let me hold you for a moment longer, then I’ll tell you about what happened.”
“You’ll not wait, you’ll tell me now. Do you have any idea what—? Well, I guess you would. Just tell me one thing. Is that thing, Devon’s father, dead for good now?” He said he wasn’t sure, but he’d not fuck with them again. “Yes, well, as much as I’d like to believe that, I don’t. There was something decidedly wrong with that fucker.”
His laughter was loud, coming from his belly as he pulled her away from him. As he leaned down to kiss her, she put her hand over his mouth. Nicole could feel his grin just beneath her hand.
“Talk first. Where are we?” He told her where they’d hidden them away. “All right. Why was I able to breathe under the water? Or was that just a dream?”
“You are able to do a great many things that I haven’t any idea what to tell you about. I only know that you’re powerful. In a strange sort of way.” Smacking him on the chest, he laughed again. “I don’t believe in all my life I have enjoyed being beaten around as much as I am right now. Nicole, I have to let the others know that you’re all right. If you could just let me rest a few minutes, I’ll take us back to the house and tell you what I know. It would be helpful to all of them if you were to tell them what you saw too.”
“You didn’t see anything?” He said all he knew was her power. And when he’d touched her, to add to it, he could feel and see. But before that, he hadn’t any idea. “He was you. Or at least he tried to be. I was— I think I was able to block him from my mind somehow. Like I knew all along that I could do that.”
“We need to get back.” He seemed worried, and she asked him about it. “I am worried, but I can’t put my finger on what it is that worries me.”
She looked around the large cave when they entered. It occurred to her that the tub that she’d been in wasn’t nearly big enough for her to do all those things in it. Other things occurred to her as well, but there was something in the cave, something deep within it, that seemed to call to her.
“What is it?” She just shook her head. Something wanted her. After all she’d been through, whatever it was, she thought, was going to be shit out of luck. Today she was feeling pretty good, and she wasn’t going to allow anything else to intrude on that feeling.
“Do we have a car or something? I have a feeling that we’re pretty far away from any kind of housing.” Jackson just stared at her. “What is going through that mind of yours? If it’s sex, right now I’m so not in the mood to fight you enough to kill you.”
“You can’t. But no, that’s not it. What I would like to do is to take you home by my dragon. But I also don’t want to terrify you any more than you already are of me.” The thought of riding home with his dragon didn’t scare her. Yes, she was a little scared, but not like she had been before. “Are you going to be all right with that? Otherwise we’re going to have to walk, and it’s a good ten miles or so there, straight down this mountain.”
“Take me, but no shenanigans. I’m not afraid right now, but if you do some loop de loops I’m going to murder you.” She looked back at the cave. “Do you feel that?”
“Nothing. What is it you feel?” She told him that something was calling to her. “It’s calling you, or are you calling it?”
“Is there a difference?” He said that whatever it was might want her to call to it. “You mean it might not be able to call to me, but I can feel it needing me. That’s ridiculous. What in here, besides a shitload of riches, would know anything about me?”
“Don’t know, but it’s worth a try.” She shook her head. “Are you afraid of what it might be? You just took a demon from your body and mine. I would think that you’d be able to tackle anything.”
“Not yet.” When he turned into his dragon she stepped back. Jackson laid down on the ground and she stared at him. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but you’re not a big puppy, and laying down does not make you any cuter. You’re red.”
I am. I’m a very rare and very old red diamond dragon. There are no more of my kind left now that my parents are both gone. Nicole told him she was sorry. No need to be. It’s something that I knew might happen when the mate that was found for me died. Aurora found you for me, I guess. We’ll have to talk to her.
Looking at the cave, she decided that when she was alone, she’d try Jackson’s suggestion of figuring out what was in there. But alone. Whatever it was, she didn’t want it to harm anyone else or come back for her.
Jackson put out his large clawed hand for her to sit on. It was frightening for her to stand next to something big enough that his claws were bigger than she was. Getting into his palm, she ran her hand over the smooth surface of his skin, and was startled when she got a small shard of it under her skin.
Before she could remove it, even to pluck it from her skin, the small sliver of whatever it had been seemed to melt into her flesh. Nicole was worried for a second when her hand turned a dark red, the same color as Jackson’s dragon, but when that too disappeared, she let it go. With all the shit going on in her life right now, a small splinter that didn’t hurt any more was the least of her issues.
They were back at Devon’s home a few minutes later. They were all waiting there, all of them so happy to see them that Nicole wondered how long they’d been gone. That was answered a few seconds later when Lady Susanna told her that the month had been very hard on them all.
“A month? Seriously? The restaurant? What happened there?” Kelly laughed as she pulled her along to the house. “Is it still mine to run?”
“Oh yes. But since we had to have something to do to keep us from overly worrying, we decided to expand it a little more.” She grinned at her, and Nicole wasn’t sure that she wanted to know anything else. “We also have you a home of your own, yours and Jackson’s. And the faeries have been very busy with it while they waited as well.”
It was almost too much. A home. The restaurant was larger, and she’d been out of it for a month. Nicole wondered what they were going to say when she told them about Devon’s father. Well, she’d just let Jackson tell them that part.
Looking up at the mountain, she wondered again about the thing there. The more she thought about it, the more it came to her that it wasn’t something evil that she was to take. Of that she was sure now. She was to call for it, as it had to wait for her to do so. Going into the house, she was glad to see that there was a huge meal on the table. All of a sudden, Nicole was starving.
~*~
Devon didn’t say much. If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure what he could add to the conversation. Other than that he was profoundly sorry about who had sired him and what he’d done to countless others before Nicole came around.
His father was still out there, and had tried to kill Nicole. But for now, he supposed, he could be happy that he’d not killed her when given the chance. Devon thought of something, and before he could think he might be interrupting someone, he simply blurted it out.
“What would have happened had he had sex with Nicole?” His face reddened when everyone turned to look at him. “I’m sorry. A million and one thoughts are running around in my head, and that one, at that moment, seemed important.”
“It is. I haven’t any idea what he thought might have happened. Because as a demon—and that is precisely what he was—he has no sex organ. A demon isn’t to procreate, and the temptation is taken away by not letting him have a dick at all. I would imagine that as a female demon she’d have tits, but nothing to get her jollies off with.” Bryce grinned when her mother hushed her. “But I’m only answering his question, Mom.”
“Yes, so you were, and embarrassing the poor man while you’re at it. Leave him alone. Did you figure out if that thing used a witch to turn himself into whatever he was?” Bryce looked at him, then nodded at her mom. “None of us are going to like this, are we, Bryce?”
“No. But on a good note, he’s dead. It’s your father that is the one causing this shit to happen. Again. I’m assuming that at some point in his nasty life, he had someone turn his soul into a demon so that he could come back and hurt whomever he wanted. Do you suppose there will be a time when we’re not cleaning up his fucking messes?”
Tea was brought in then, and Benshaw handed Devon a note. Bryce continued to speak while he read over the missive.
“Benshaw and his family have worked for me and my family for a very long time. I’ve been able to trace back the ancestry of Nicole and her family, and she’s of royal blood. There isn’t much more to go on right now, but she is from one of the lesser houses that used to be around here.” Nicole asked him what that meant. “Until we find out what family you’re from, we have to assume that your family wasn’t that fond of mine, and my sire did something to one of your relatives long ago.”
“Well, that’s as clear as mud.” They all laughed, but it wasn’t very hearty. Devon knew it was up to him to help them, but all his mind could wrap around was the fact that his sire was involved in all this. When something hit him hard in the back of the head, he was sure it was his grandmother. But it was Nicole. Her stance behind him made his dragon curl up. “What did I do?”
