Loved by the Dragon Collection Page 24

  Teo drew himself up, shoulders stiff. “It is an honorific of respect.” His eyes narrowed and he studied her in silence. The look churned her anger further. “Saul did not speak of your temper. Or your strength.” He took her by the wrist and lowered her hand, gentle fingers warm against her skin.

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry… I just… I don’t know what comes over me sometimes. I get so angry.” And then she wept. Her fleeting outbursts of uncontrollable fury left exhaustion in their wake and a strange sensation of disconnection as if she were floating. She wanted to return to bed.

  “You are worried for your cub and thus in an understandable position.”

  Teo guided her to a chair with an awkwardness he hadn’t exhibited since his arrival. He patted her on the head and glanced back to the door with a worried expression. “I will fetch Saul for you.”

  “N-No. I’m fine. I’m just…” Chloe sniffed and swiped her cheeks. “I’m fine. Sorry. I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have poked you like that.”

  “You caused no lasting harm.”

  Saul returned seconds after Chloe pulled herself together. She ignored the blanket-robe hanging over his arm to focus on her husband’s wooden expression instead. “What’s wrong?”

  “Forgive my delay, Chloe. A visitor arrived.”

  “Who the hell shows up in the middle of the night?” Chloe groused, shooting a sour glance at the grandfather clock in the corner. “Rude.”

  “We are dragons,” Teo reminded her.

  “Right. Nocturnal. So who was it then?”

  “That was Brigid’s retainer to bring news of the Conclave’s decision. They voted in her favor. We are to expect her arrival three days hence.”

  “What the hell for?” Chloe bolted to her feet.

  Saul crumpled the letter in his fist. “She will be moving in to initiate our mating.”

  “Over my dead body!”

  “Brigid moves fast. Always has.” Teo shook his head and sighed. “Saul, I would like to offer my aid since it seems your mind is set. If you allow it, I shall remain here a time to maintain the peace. Brigid has no quarrel with me and may listen if I intervene.”

  Saul looked up in surprise. “What changed your mind?”

  “Your mate.” Teo turned his green eyes in Chloe’s direction. “She has dragon’s blood. It is as the legends claim, Saul. Your Chloe is not as mortal as you think. Not anymore.”

  A turbulent storm of conflicting emotions assailed Chloe’s senses, spilling fresh tears down her cheeks. “Not mortal… does that mean…?” She twisted to look up at Saul.

  “It means that if we are able to appease Brigid, you and Saul may have a long life ahead of you,” Teo replied.

  Together… a long, immortal life together with Saul. In all the time that Chloe had coveted Brigid’s draconic existence, wishing their places were exchanged, Saul had inadvertently blessed her with a gift unique to her alone. Once Chloe failed to stall her sniffles, she leaned into his palm, savoring every second his warm skin caressed her face.

  “We were meant to be together, my Chloe.” Saul stroked her cheek and stared deep into her eyes, his features heavier than she had ever seen them.

  “What do we do?” she asked in a whisper.

  Saul bowed his head, touching their brows together. “I will have Mahasti return to Watatsumi, tonight, and request his presence here immediately. There is no time to waste.”

  ***

  Golden streams of sunlight slanted through the library windows into Chloe’s face. The warmth against her cheek stirred her awake, then it took a moment to gain her bearings.

  That’s right. I dozed off on the couch while Saul and Teo were planning. The two dragons had poured through ledgers recording Saul’s hoard in the hope of finding something to trade for the sword.

  With neither dragon in sight, Chloe made her way to her room and cleaned up for the day. A peek into Marcy’s room revealed her friend was still dozing. And snoring. Chloe giggled, closed the door, and retreated back to the library.

  “Good morning, Chloe,” Teo greeted her. The shirtless look appeared to be a draconic trait. Teo wore only his white linen pants, no less immaculate in the daylight than the previous evening. She stared.

  Where’s Saul?” And where’s the se ñorita at this time? she wondered.

  “He went below to gather treasures to offer as a trade to his guest. Come. Eat. Since his djinn is occupied with her task I took the liberty of preparing you a meal.”

  Chloe dropped a dubious gaze to the desk where a plate of dry eggs and hard toast awaited her. “Thanks. Really. It looks great, Teo.” It was the effort that counted, or so she told herself as she stared at the mess on her plate. Saul and Teo must have graduated from the same chef academy. His culinary repertoire began with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ended with tuna fish on crackers. She didn’t trust anything else from him unless it was an animal seared by his dragon’s breath.

  Despite the torturous amount of salt, Chloe smiled through every bite and guzzled two glasses of water to stave off choking. Something told her that Teo didn’t know the Heimlich maneuver and she didn’t want to give Brigid the satisfaction of arriving to find out that her opponent had died by toast asphyxiation.

  “The time comes to excuse myself for a hunt. Your guest has arrived.”

  “Thanks for the breakfast, Teo.”

  She waited until he was out of sight before she scraped the remainder of her plate into the trash. A quickly muttered wish under her breath resulted in the prompt removal of both the trash and her dishes. Thanks, Mahasti.

  The clean-up came just in time. Voices drifted down the hall to announce the impending arrival. Chloe expected to meet an ancient, wrinkled old man able to give Confucius a run for his money, but a dignified figure strode through the double doors alongside her husband.

  “Chloe, I would like you to meet a good friend of my father, Watatsumi. Watatsumi, meet Chloe, my beloved bride,” Saul introduced them. His voice brimmed with pride.

  “It is my profound pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Lady Drakenstone.”

  Pitch black hair streaked with fine lines of silver was pulled back from the Asian man’s unlined face into an elaborate topknot. His dark blue and gold kimono resembled a wardrobe piece from a historical movie or art museum, exquisite down to the last silk thread. Chloe had never seen something so beautiful on a man before.

  Twin servants followed the regal dragon, each woman garbed in similarly extravagant, identical kimonos. Against their fair skin, the mercurial silver and deep blue brought out the rosy undertones in their cheeks. Chloe envied them immediately for their slender frames, effortless grace, and immaculate appearances. She felt like a pig by comparison, even if Saul and the others claimed she hadn’t yet begun to truly show.

  “Gifts for the newly bonded,” Watatsumi announced.

  “Gifts?” Chloe echoed, stunned. Were the gifts a nonverbal form of approval?

  “It is customary for a dragon visiting another’s domicile to come bearing gifts,” Saul explained.

  “Mariko, if you will.”

  “Hai.”

  Mariko, the girl on the right, stepped forward with a garment box in her arms. A respectful bow brought her lower to the floor as she presented the gift to Chloe. The exterior wrapping had to be as gorgeous as the gift bound to be inside.

  “What is it…?” Chloe asked.

  “Open it and you shall see,” Watatsumi said.

  Chloe untied the ribbon and carefully peeled the decorative paper, afraid of ripping it. She lifted away the top to reveal a gorgeous amber and gold work of art. With a trembling hand, she caressed the cool silk and felt the vibr
ant cord. The kimono reminded her of Saul.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. Tears stung her eyes that she quickly wiped away with the back of her wrist. “Thank you.”

  “Of course, there is more, but we shall get to that in time. Let us get to the heart of the matter and our reason for this meeting.”

  Watatsumi drew a sheathed sword from thin air, parting reality as if there were an invisible curtain unseen to Chloe’s eyes. Awestruck, she stared in silence as he drew the weapon from the black scabbard. The blade glimmered in the sunlight streaming through the high windows.

  “You’ve taken excellent care of it,” Saul commented.

  “Of course I have. I remember the day you offered this treasure to me in trade, desperate to provide Brigid with the one gift that would earn her affection.” Watatsumi chuckled and restored the blade to its sheath. “Now you wish to have it back to earn another woman’s favor. What price will you pay?”

  Saul sighed. “I searched high and low for an adequate offer, but we both know that you have come with something in mind, Watatsumi. What do you desire?”

  “To speak with your mate alone.”

  Saul crossed his arms. “Absolutely not.”

  “Do you no longer trust in me or the validity of our friendship, Saul? I would sooner swallow lava from your father’s volcano than harm this woman and damage my honor.” Watatsumi scoffed. His twin servants shrank back a step.

  Chloe laid her hand on her husband’s arm. “Go ahead, Saul. I’m not afraid of him.”

  Her husband balked, but once she convinced him to leave the library, she shut the door. A niggling feeling told her they’d need privacy.

  “Excellent choice, Chloe. I am pleased you are willing to hear out my offer.”

  “Let’s hope it was a good idea. What did you need to say to me that you couldn’t say with my mate here?”

  The dragon chuckled. “I have known Saul since he was an impetuous cub, quick to respond with emotion. I wished to know your thoughts alone. After all, the child grows within your womb.”

  Chloe’s hands went automatically to her small baby bump. “My thoughts about what?”

  “An offer I have in mind,” Watatsumi continued serenely.

  “And what offer might that be?”

  “The baby. I will grant you the sword in exchange for your infant.”

  “My baby? ”

  “Yes. Such a rare creature has not come into birth in centuries.” The dragon’s lips spread into a wide grin, revealing each of his sharp teeth. His human guise melted like a wax figure revealing hints of the true form beneath. According to Saul, his father’s old friend was an ancient being among the eldest of their kind.

  And none of that mattered to her. “Get the hell out.” Indignance quivered Chloe from head to toe. She snapped her arm out, finger pointing at the door. “We’ll make do without your sword.”

  “Are you not a young and fertile female? Saul is a virile male. Young. You can make another in time.”

  “You think you can come in here waving your offer around in exchange for my baby? Well to hell with you. I’ll find another way because this baby is mine and I’m not going to just trade her off like a piece of meat at the market.”

  “Will you not consider it? Sleep on it, as you mortals say.”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely not,” Chloe spat. “Get out. Get out now.”

  Watatsumi bowed his head in respect. “Saul has chosen his mate well. You are a courageous woman, Chloe.”

  “Get the — what?”

  “I admire your tenacity. In all of my years, few humans have stood up to me. You defend that little one, and yet there are many dragon mothers who might consider my offer to vastly expand their hoard. You put our female kin to shame.”

  Chloe swallowed the hard lump in her throat. Pressure compressed her chest with each inhalation. “I don’t understand. What was this? Some sort of test? Why?”

  “Your mate intends to sacrifice himself to save you and the child. He will murder Brigid when they next meet, and by doing so, violate one of our oldest laws. He has called Teotihuacan here to bear witness that his act comes without provocation from you or any other resident of this home.”

  “That’s why we need the sword. So I stand a chance against her.”

  “Do you know the tale of Ascalon’s original owner?”

  “St. George? I know a little of the story from bible school as a kid,” Chloe admitted.

  “Quite different from the truth scribed in our history. He was born of a union not unlike the love between you and Saul, his mother a dragon and his father a Roman officer. Like many storm dragons of her temperament, she dabbled in human politics and mingled through their society.”

  “So, I don’t get it, if his mother was a dragon why isn’t it in any of the history books?”

  “My dear, we write history as we see fit. My kind have done this for centuries to protect our secrets. The modern world is not ready to discover the truth.”

  Chloe shivered. If the leaders of the world knew about shadowy draconic figures pulling their puppet strings, they did an excellent job of hiding it. “Did he really die as a martyr?”

  “That he did. It broke Theia’s heart to lose her human lover, but the murder of her son at human hands became an unbearable pain. Centuries have passed and yet she still slumbers. Such is what occurs when one of our kind loses a loved one. We sleep. We dream of better days and time spent with them.”

  “He was killed because he wouldn’t convert faiths, right?”

  “Ah, so you are not completely ignorant to the old stories. What else do you recall of your Roman history?”

  “To be honest, I think I know more about Greek than Roman. I, uh, binge-watch a couple of old TV shows when I can’t sleep.”

  Watatsumi chuckled and gestured Chloe to a seat. “The eldest of us once chose divine guises among the mortals and inspired the very tales that grace your textbooks and television shows.”

  “And movies,” Chloe mumbled. “But this doesn’t explain why Saul doesn’t believe in Ascalon and thinks this is all some kind of weird folktale for your people too. He told me he traded the sword because he doubted in its power.”

  “You are part of our world now, Chloe, and you must understand one important aspect of our natures. We do not tolerate change well. When Theia birthed her son, many elder dragons sought to make an example of her. She hid him among the humans as a normal child.”

  “But why?”

  “She had a mate. A tidal dragon like myself, chosen for her in the same manner as Brigid was chosen for Saul. Of course he was angered by Theia’s perceived betrayal, and swore vengeance against the mortal who spoiled her.”

  Chloe leaned forward on her seat. “This is as good as a soap opera.”

  “Her son grew up among the humans but she always kept watch over him. When he came of age, she forged him this sword with a piece of her soul and a mother’s love. A means to defend himself. He proved its worth when a dragon sought him out and he slayed it in one-on-one combat.”

  “The dragon from the legend?”

  “No. That was only his first.”

  Holy crap. Saul and Mahasti did say that he killed more than one. “So the one in the legend…?” she prompted when Watatsumi delayed to imbue dramatic suspense.

  “Theia’s mate,” Watatsumi told her. “The rest is as told in your stories. In his rage, he dried the city wells and claimed the only remaining spring as his lair. The people pleaded and begged but he was not swayed. He demanded tribute for use of his water.”

  Subtle changes differentiated the stories from what Chloe learned in school. “So that’s when George arrive
d?”

  “And slew him, yes.”

  Chloe eyed the sword in Watatsumi’s hands. It’s true. It’s all true… “Will you help us?”

  “Ascalon is yours.” The Asian dragon bowed at the waist and offered out the sword on his upraised palms. Chloe accepted it gingerly. In its sheath, Ascalon felt weightless and featherlight.

  “Just like that?”

  Watatsumi’s grin spread wider, losing the predatory gleam that once traced ice down Chloe’s spine. Mischief lurked in his expression, like a child eager to one-up his betters. His chuckle eased her heart until eventually, a nervous laugh escaped her.

  “Saul has offered me several tempting treasures in exchange.”

  “I don’t know the first thing about using a sword,” Chloe whispered.

  “Ascalon knows all that it must. Trust in it, and it will guide you, Chloe.”

  One effortless tug drew the weapon from the scabbard. Sunlight danced over the silver edge and inner luster gleamed through the metal as if moonlight were captive in the blade. Magic. A dragon’s magic given from the heart, turned against her kin and fellow wyrms. It felt right in her grip, as it if belonged.

  A mother’s gift to her son. And now, another mother was destined to use it to save her own child.

  “Watatsumi, will you arrange for the duel to take place tomorrow?” Chloe asked.

  “It shall be done.”

  ***

  “So now there’s three of them on the estate?” Marcy asked.

  “No, Watatsumi is away with Mahasti arranging for the duel to take place tomorrow. He has to pull some strings with their weird dragon council.”

  “So, it’s Saul and his friend. Is he hot? Do you think—”