Chapter Ten
Rocky’s tone alarmed Aiden more than his words. This was it. This was the call he’d feared ever since he’d landed on Earth, had to be.
He put Rocky on hold and contacted Gillian to let her know he might take a little longer than expected to return to command central. He heard the smile in her voice as she told him not to worry, along with a familiar note of curiosity. She’d be dying to know what had happened, would probably want to celebrate this new milestone with him and then stay up all night trying to work out the mechanism and how to improve it.
Curse the Fates! He’d finally found a measure of happiness, a measure of hope, but his peace had only been a respite from the inevitable.
Aiden paced over the rocky floor of the canyon and said, “Where was the wizard last seen?”
Rocky sighed. “Kokopelli Brewpub. Came in asking a lot of questions. Flo thought he might be another refugee from Tarakona at first, and the guy played it up. You’d just come out to the town, so to speak, so she thought you’d decided to invite a few friends to seek shelter in Magic. But she got suspicious when he started asking questions about who controlled the dragons in this dimension and how wizards got their magic. Said he’d seen a ‘witch wielding a silver.’”
Aiden slammed his fist against the adobe wall. The pain was nothing compared to the vise squeezing his chest. He’d been spotted—by exactly the wrong person. The wizard must have followed him through the portal shortly after he’d landed in Gillian’s trap.
Gillian. The wizard would be looking for her, too. She had powerful magic but didn’t have the control of a seasoned practitioner from his world. He had to protect her.
“It gets worse,” Rocky said. “He came in with two ladies. Flo said they had markings like yours, only theirs were red.”
Rocky didn’t know the half of it. The fucking bastard had brought dragons with him, battle dragons—dragons that were no doubt under his control with thrall crystals.
“Does Topper know?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, I called her. Put the sheriff and other folks on alert. Don’t worry. Still don’t know why the barrier didn’t stop him. But it doesn’t matter. We’ll protect you.”
“Not if he’s brought other dragons in his indenture. And if he’s told others about the portal, or about me, we’ll be fighting even more of them. They’ll all be able to get through Magic’s protective barrier since they don’t want to harm or kill me. They want to capture me alive and use me as their slave.”
“Son,” Rocky said. “Calm down, take a deep breath, and for God’s sake don’t panic. I’ll put guards on the portal, and we’re scouring the town for him. We’ll get him.”
“You don’t know that, and I can’t take the risk.”
“What are you planning to do?” Rocky asked, his voice hard. Aiden appreciated the concern. Rocky loved him like a son and would do anything to save him, but it was high time he stopped hiding and started fighting to protect Rocky, Magic, and Gillian. He’d brought danger to Earth the moment he’d stepped through that portal, and he’d doubled the risk every time he’d gone back to try and free Nadia.
And he was the only one who could save the town.
“I’m going to tap into my magic, my gift of prophecy,” Aiden said. “Gillian may have found a way to make it happen. If I can see into the future, I can find out where the wizard will be and how to stop him.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Rocky barked. “Even if you can use your own magic, you can’t fight a wizard.”
“I’m not some mewling milksop,” Aiden said, irritably, lapsing into his native speech. “I’m a dragon. I shall fight as one.”
“With no armor?” Rocky said.
“Gillian has that covered. I’ll be tricked out like a stealth jet by the time I’m ready to go. The woman’s a wonder.”
Silence greeted him from the other end of the line. That was good. Rocky was considering his argument. He’d still worry, of course, but the logic was sound. At last, he said, “Who’ll you be taking with you?”
“It depends on what my prescience shows me. Thank you for everything you’ve done and everything you’re doing. We’ve prepared for this day for a long time. We’re ready. You just keep the townsfolk safe. I’ll take care of the wizard and then Gillian will find a way to lock down the portal. We’ve got this.”
“Fine,” Rocky said, resigned. “I’m only going to say this once. You aren’t like a son to me. You are a son to me. Don’t do anything stupid, and remember—you aren’t alone in this.”
Aiden wasn’t so sure about the last part, but Rocky’s words moved him beyond measure. He cleared his throat and said in a husky voice, “Thank you, Father. I promise I’ll keep you, Gillian, and everyone else safe.”
He only hoped he could keep that promise.
***
Something was wrong.
Sure, he’d been excited about his new ability to tap into his own magic with her tech. She’d been ecstatic, too. Not only could he see magic, he could use it himself. No need for a wizard “master” to drain it from him. While she regretted the loss of her drones, she could build more. The loss was a small price to pay for Aiden’s new abilities and confidence.
But after his initial euphoria, he’d been quiet, subdued, and withdrawn. Something was on his mind, but when she’d asked about it, he’d brushed her off and told her it was nothing. Her initial response was to get angry while calling him out for his failure to communicate.
That got her exactly nowhere and led to more uncomfortable silence while they both sulked on the drive back to his place.
When she pulled up to his workshop, he hopped out and started unloading their equipment without speaking, scowl still painted across his handsome face as his muscles strained against the weight of his burdens. Damn him, how did he manage to enchant her out of being angry? Was it his striking features and powerful body? Was it his carefully guarded heart? She was supposed to be mad at him. She was mad at him. And she still wanted him.
“What?” he growled. Uh oh. He’d caught her staring. He put the box holding her functional drones down and crossed his arms. His tracery gleamed prominently through his skin, as it always did when his emotions ran high.
“I could ask you the same,” she said, jutting out her chin and crossing her arms to mirror his pose.
His gaze dropped to her chest and one corner of his mouth rose into a crooked grin. She glanced down and made a note to wear the thin, white cotton tank she had on as often as she could. It framed her girls nicely and apparently inspired lustful appreciation in her dragon man.
Speaking of dragon men, back to the subject at hand. “You’ve been grumpy ever since you got that call from Rocky. What’s going on? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. I may have only known you for a little over a week, but I’m a quick study.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, muttering something about her being too smart for her own good. While she was pleased with his appreciation of her intelligence, his refusal to answer her questions left her irritated, confused, and a little hurt. Did he not trust her?
When he finally met her gaze again, his held grim resolve. “I need to try something, and I’m going to need your help.”
“Okay,” she said, wondering why he seemed so apprehensive. Of course she’d help him. That was what she’d been doing all week. Working on the enchanted gear also restored her confidence in herself and her work, both magical and practical, but ultimately it was for Aiden and his protection.
With a deep breath he said, “I need to tap into my powers.”
Now she was even more confused. “No problem. Isn’t that what we’ve been doing today? If you’re worried about controlling them, I’m sure it’ll get better with practice. I’m still learning, too.”
She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “We can learn together.”
He placed a hand over hers and said, “It’s not that. Not entirely. I need to do something a bit more difficult. I need to try and access my gift of prescience, the power that’s unique to silver dragons.”
Wow. So he wanted a glimpse into the future. It was both an irresistible and frightening prospect, since he had no way of knowing what he’d see or if he’d like it. What if he foresaw some horrible natural disaster, or the death of a loved one, or his own death? Yeah, prescience wasn’t a gift to be taken lightly.
“Why now?”
“That’s easy,” he said, a wry smile painted across his face. “I just found out I can actually use my magic—maybe. I still don’t know whether I’m just tapping into the magic you’ve placed in your equipment, but that doesn’t matter. It seems to work. So it never occurred to me to try and use my own special magic until today.”
“Makes sense.” She couldn’t fault his logic, but something about his stiff demeanor still made her uneasy. “What do you want to see?”
“I want to make sure no one else has come through the portal. Rocky mentioned some suspicious visitors in town. We think a wizard might have come here and brought battle dragons with him.”
Alarm shot up her spine. From what Aiden had told her about his dimension and what had happened a few weeks ago with his sister, no good could come of a wizard visiting Earth. “Does he know about you?”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure. That’s why I want to look.”
Was he lying, or was he just worried? No matter. They’d sort it out later. Right now she needed to help him. She ran over to the van and grabbed her prototype glasses. “We’ll start with these and see if I can direct the magic to help you see into the future.”
He smiled and relaxed his stance in apparent relief. “Good deal. Let’s go back to the house. I’ll need to do some set up. From what little I know about silver magic, it requires concentration and a soothing environment for the wizard and the dragon.”
They locked up the workshop and Gillian tapped into the electronics within the garage door and sensors to create what she hoped would be a magical alarm system. Good thing it wasn’t manual. She couldn’t cast wards. Her magic was limited to devices that ran on electricity or battery power. Maybe that’s why she’d been drawn to engineering rather than baking or gardening like her aunt and sister.
Speaking of her sister, she could really use some advice and guidance right about now. Gah, they’d spoken shortly after she’d signed Rocky’s contract. Though Amy assured her that all was forgiven, guilt still gnawed at Gillian’s gut whenever she thought of how she’d rejected her family’s calling, ridiculed it.
And now she needed to ask for help.
It would be tough, but this was for Aiden, her courageous dragon.
“Babe, could you give me a sec? I’m going to call Amy and see if she has any advice on how to tap into your gifts.”
Aiden didn’t respond, just stared at her, his expression filled with surprise and something else she couldn’t identify.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“You called me babe.”
Heat crept into her cheeks. Maybe he wasn’t fond of pet names, or maybe they didn’t do that sort of thing on Tarakona. “Yeah, um, sorry?”
“No one’s ever called me that before,” he said, his voice husky. He closed the gap between them and put his arms around her.
Wow. Returning his surprisingly fierce embrace, she said, “Is that okay with you?”
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and said, “More than okay. Now call your sister.”
She watched him walk off to his part of the workshop, enjoying the view. She especially loved the rear view. How could someone so sexy, so powerfully and adorably shy by turns, be hers?
She shook her head. If she wanted to keep him and keep him safe, she needed to quit stalling and call Amy.
“I need something,” Gillian said when her sister picked up the phone. Noting the alarm in her voice, Amy asked, “What? Are you okay? Is it Aiden?”
“I’m afraid so. We think someone from his dimension is visiting Magic and might be looking for him.”
“That can’t be good,” Amy said. “What are you going to do? You’ve got weapons, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Gillian said, some of her confidence returning. “I made him a suit of armor—enchanted and electrified—and he has the glasses. You should see him in action. He banks like a fighter jet and corners like he’s on rails. He may not be a warrior dragon by nature, but he can more than hold his own.”
Amy chuckled. “You’ve got it bad. Not that I blame you. So why are you worried?”
“He wants me to help him access his gift. Silver dragons have the gift of prophecy. He wants to look into the future to find out what the wizard is going to do and how to stop him.”
“Sounds like a good plan, if a little scary. What’s the problem?”
Gillian took a deep breath and said, “What if he sees something bad? Or what if he can’t see anything it all? Apparently it takes years of training for a wizard to use silver magic. It’s very complex.”
“As it should be,” Amy said. “Anything as powerful as prescience should be difficult to access. But if anyone can do it, you can. You need to shake off this crisis of confidence thing and use one of your gadgets to tap into your magic. And his.”
Some of the tightness eased in her chest. She could get used to these pep talks from her big sister.
And…Amy just had to go and open her mouth again. “Gil, you can do this because you’re a witch. We’re witches, sweetie, and you just need to put on your big girl panties and do it.”
“Thanks,” Gillian said sardonically. “I needed that.”
“I’m here for you,” Amy answered, not bothering to hide her chuckle, the shithead. “Now, if you’re done whining, go help that fine dragon man of yours.”
“Will do!” Gillian said.
And she would.
She had Aiden test her wards out. When he tried to enter the workshop from the outside, he was immediately hurled back from the door as a jolt of magical energy hit him in the gut. Good. It worked. After helping Aiden to his feet, and giving him a kiss to make him feel better, they walked back to his home and prepared to look into an uncertain future.