Chapter Seven
Edmund could think of nothing more than her buttery smooth skin during his time in the forest. He scouted the area, letting his heart war with his raging emotions. His dragon camouflaged in the trees, he stayed close to the country house. At night, he watched Cassandra through the upstairs window. Her laptop on her lap or painting until the wee hours when even his dragon urged him to rest.
He stalked the forest, putting his jeans on, preferring the moss and earth against his bare feet. He found a place near a trail on the mountain where cell signal worked in his favor. He called Bogdan to give him an update on what he’d learned from Cassandra. Blake’s fiú, Amelia, screeched in the background.
Bogdan spoke to him in a sing-song voice, trying to both calm the infant in his arms and catch up with Edmund, while Blake took Emily for a much-needed break from the demanding infant. His thoughts went straight to Cassandra and her part of the egg dealings.
“If she’s your mate. Take my advice, claim her before it’s too late. Put yourself in her shoes. Consider what she’s protecting. If Margaret would put a hit on her own son, then what makes you think your girl is no different?”
Bogdan’s voice rang in his ears as he and Cassandra hit the highway on his motorcycle.
“And Margaret?” Edmund had asked. “What does Blake say to do about her?”
“I’ll talk to him. In the meanwhile, I say we give her a taste of her own medicine. I think it’s time someone put a stop to her little operation, don’t you?”
Edmund couldn’t have agreed more whole-heartedly. With Cassandra’s help, they would put a stop to Margaret’s dealings. Save anymore innocent fiú, and free Cassandra from whatever hold Margaret held over her.
Forty-five minutes later, Cassandra signaled for him to turn. They pulled into the parking lot of Bellingham Elder Estates. After she dismounted, he held her glasses, while she pulled off the helmet, shaking her long dark tresses over her shoulders. He exchanged the helmet for her glasses. “Come on. There is someone I want you to meet.”
Outside the door, she pushed the button on the intercom. “Cassandra Balkan visiting Nadine Balkan.”
A voice granted them access and Edmund opened the door for Cassandra. Down the hall, they came to a nurse’s station.
“Cass, I didn’t expect you.” A middle-aged woman with pale blond hair pulled back in a twist greeted Cassandra.
“Hey, Mary. We’re making an unrecorded visit, if that’s okay with you?” Edmund took Cassandra’s hand and squeezed it. He grinned at the woman and she returned his smile.
“Of course. You’ve come on a good day. Stay to the left of the hall.” She winked and went on about her business at the desk.
Cassandra lead him down a long hallway, staying to the left as Mary instructed. He noted the camera’s above their heads. A few doors down Cassandra paused. He felt her body stiffen. She peered around the doorway, then leaned back against him. Taking a deep breath, she gazed up at him. “Whatever you do, please don’t mention my Aunt Margaret or the reason you’re with me.”
“You’re my mate.” He frowned. “Margaret Moldvan is your aunt?”
Cassandra sighed, her expression fell. She peered around the doorway again then back at him. “Please. I’ll explain later. For now, well...just come meet my mother.”
Edmund gave her hand another squeeze. “I’d be honored.”
Inside the room, an older version of his mate sat staring out the window. Her fingers knitting with a ball of yarn spinning on her blanketed lap. Cassandra released his hand, entering first. “Hey, Mom. It’s Cassandra.”
Nadine Balkan glanced over, her brilliant blue eyes lit up at the sight of her daughter. A smile lifted the otherwise gloomy feel of the dark room. Cassandra flipped on a light near the chair and pulled the curtains further open. “Cass dear, why aren’t you at school?”
Edmund noted the confusion swirling in the older woman’s eyes and felt the disappointment in Cassandra’s heart. “No more school. I’m done now.”
Nadine’s hands paused from her knitting. “Did you tell your father? You know how hard he’s been working to help you.”
Cassandra sat on the corner of a bed. She placed her hand over her mother’s. “Dad knows.”
Nadine’s brow furrowed. “I do wish he’d return soon. It’s not like him to be gone this long.”
Cassandra’s gaze lifted and met Edmund’s. He read the plea in her eyes. He stood beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She lifted her hand to cover his, comforted by his presence. “I know, Mom. I miss him too.”
Nadine relaxed, resumed her knitting.
“I’ve brought someone to meet you.”
Edmund waited for the older woman’s eyes to rise and meet his. Her blue eyes grew large as saucers. Her hand slapped her chest, knitting needle still gripped between her fingers. “He’s one of them,” she hissed.
Before he spoke, Cassandra squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. Edmund’s my…” Cassandra thrust out her wrist, showing her mother the branded mark, like a tattoo lightly etched on her wrist.
Nadine grabbed Cassandra’s wrist. She looked first from her daughter to Edmund. He felt Cassandra lean back against him, holding her breath.
“Does your father know?”
Cassandra shook her head.
“With your husband out of town, we thought it best to come to you. I’d like permission to marry your daughter. I want to claim her as my mate.”
At first Cassandra’s mother didn’t say a word. She pondered his words. Her eyes staring at his mark on Cassandra, proof of the bond he made with her.
He let his hand venture down Cassandra’s back, rubbing it until he felt her breathe again.
Nadine looked past Cassandra to him. “That is very honorable. You are both young.” She looked directly at Cassandra. “Has your father ever told you why this type of bond and its mark is forbidden?”
“Because the human riders betrayed the dragons and now the families of those humans are forced to serve the dragons, to keep their secret, and protect them where we once failed.”
Nadine held Cassandra’s hand between hers. “You were always a good girl, Cassandra. A good listener.” Nadine gazed up at Edmund. “In the old days, a dragon would place a mark such as this on their human riders. More than a bond of trust, it bonded them together as one. They shared thoughts and feelings… and it is said… even death if the bond became strong enough.”
Edmund nodded. Cassandra’s mother knew more than most humans of the old dragon legends.
“It is also said, that the bond became so strong between the riders, that it was not uncommon for a dragon and its rider to mate. Over time, the dragons changed and took the form of their human lovers. But in the transition of time, some of the dragons didn’t take kindly to being chosen over a human, and because of this jealously the dragons were cursed.”
“So, it is said,” Edmund agreed. “There are not many of us left who feel the old laws still apply.”
Nadine’s smile returned. “Love is a funny thing, is it not? My Jeremiah would agree with you. Even now he works in our society, but petitions the laws, challenging for change.”
It had been that challenge which got him killed, Cassandra thought. Tears welled up in Nadine’s eyes. She turned and stared out the window. “My what a lovely day it is.”
Cassandra stood, placing the blanket back up on her mother’s lap. “Not as lovely as you, Mom.” She kissed the older woman’s cheek.
Nadine never looked back. She stared out the window. Cassandra turned, and Edmund followed her out.
Back outside, she wrapped her arms around him, tilted up her face and said, “Now you know. If it wasn’t for my mom...”
He placed a finger over her lips to silence her. His heart could not have swelled more for the love he had for this woman. “I meant what I said. I want you for my mate.”