Chapter 8
Cade didn’t head down to the hotel’s main floor; instead, he took the path to the roof. The heavy metal door offered no resistance as he pulled hard and the lock gave way. Already, the dragon had begun to take over. Outside, he let it happen, not that he would have been able to hold it off much longer anyway. He stretched his wings and took off, straight up in the sky, hoping to avoid attention from bystanders on the street below.
He was above the clouds in seconds, and he allowed the wind to guide him for a brief moment. He couldn’t go far. It wasn’t safe to leave her alone, not until Victor was no longer a threat, but he’d needed to escape. The melding of beast and man was too strong and too unfamiliar to him.
Always before, he’d been one or the other, and usually by his own will. Never had his body had the overwhelming desire to shift right there. He’d struggled to control it when he’d taken her against the wall above the reception hall, but it had only grown worse this time. He couldn’t gauge how hard he gripped her when it happened or how deep or violently he thrust inside her. And if he lost control entirely, God only knew what would happen if he shifted right there, sheathed within her walls. The thought sickened him.
He glided around, swerving back the way he’d come. Only seconds had passed since he’d taken flight, but already, he felt too much distance between them, particularly when he didn’t know just how long it would take Victor to find her. Victor had found her scent nearly as intoxicating as he had, which meant it wouldn’t be difficult for him to track her down. He was going to have to find a solution, though in his heart he knew there was only one.
Victor had been with him for a very long time, and he wished it wasn’t so, but he knew what it would come to in the end. He would have to choose: Victor’s life or Hope’s. If he left Victor alive, the man wouldn’t stop until she was dead. His bitter hatred wouldn’t allow it.
But could he kill Victor?
The answer came to him much quicker than he would have expected. Yes, he could. He should have ended Victor’s life centuries ago when his hatred for humankind had turned into a bloodlust, thirsting for any human who might hold any sway over a dragon. The woman had certainly cut Victor deep, handing him over to her village after he’d given her his heart. But if several hundred years hadn’t been enough to satiate his thirst, nothing would ever be enough.
Victor was smart though, more cunning than any other of the dragons he’d met. He’d have to lure him into a carefully constructed trap. Unfortunately, there was only one enticement that would ensure he got caught in it—Hope. Not that he had a choice. Victor would pursue her regardless, no matter how cleverly he tried to hide her from him.
He’d have to take her far away from there, to a place he knew better than any other, to a place he could shift at will as soon as the need arose, the moment Victor flew into his trap. That also meant he’d be with her all the time, day and night. How the hell was he supposed to keep a handle on himself, and keep an eye out for Victor? And when had he become so vested in Hope that, without hesitation, he’d set a trap for his old friend and kill him just to protect her? He had no answer because what came to mind made no sense—the moment he saw her, the first time he touched her, and ultimately, from the moment he first drew breath.
His wings had carried him back to the building below, and he shifted back to his human form the moment he touched down on the roof. He passed quickly through the metal door he’d broken and was at the entrance to his suite a moment later. How he was going to convince her to fly away with him, he didn’t know, but he knew she felt it, too; this inexplicable pull to one another. It’s why she hadn’t resisted when he’d come up behind her on the street, and why she’d relented quickly when he’d insisted on tending to her wound. It’s the reason her eyes had been full of desire just moments ago, even though she’d felt completely rejected by him not long before.
He slipped in silently, not wanting to wake the child who slept in the other room. Hope wasn’t in the suite’s common area, so he crept through it, down the hall to the bedroom he’d left only moments before. The door was open just like he’d left it and there she was, still in the room, sitting at the edge of the bed with her breasts still bare.
“Why is it so difficult—being with me?” she asked without looking up. She couldn’t see him yet, but she’d known he was there.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, stepping into the room and doing his damnedest to keep his eyes off her gorgeous figure. “How did you know I was here?” he asked, trying to keep his mind on anything but her soft and sensual body.
“I don’t know. I just knew, and that’s not all. There’s something else. Like right now, you’ve begun to feel a sigh of relief for some reason, but not fully. And you’re scared, but not for yourself.”
She was right. The moment he’d decided on a plan to deal with Victor, some of the tension he’d felt had been alleviated, but not fully—just like she’d had sensed.
“Tell me more about yourself,” she asked, still not covering up.
He crossed the room to where she sat. “What do you want to know?”
She stood. “Is it…is it painful, you know, when it happens?”
“Well, no. Not really. It’s more like tension and heat in every fiber of my body, and then in a split second, it’s over.”
“That’s good.” Her brow furrowed as he ran his fingers lightly along her arms. “How long have you been this way? I mean, were you born like this?”
“I honestly don’t remember how long ago it happened. I was very young,” he told her as he leaned in to trail along her neck with his lips. “I remember feeling confused and frightened by it, and I remember her face and a voice, but nothing more.”
“Whose face?”
Her fingers had begun to move idly across his body, grazing along his arms, swirling in small circles across his shoulders, tracing along his skin just beneath his shirt’s collar, but it was quickly driving him to distraction.
“The witch,” he said finally. “I don’t remember anything about her but her face and the sound of her voice when she cursed me.”
“That’s terrible. It must be awful to remember so little. But…were you a dragon or a human first? Which one was the curse?”
She surprised him more than anything ever had in his long life. Any human he’d ever known would have assumed the curse had been to be the dragon, not the other way around. In truth, even he had adopted the assumption over the centuries. He traced the outline of her face in awe. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Have you tried to find her? Maybe I could help…or…would you even want that?”
He wouldn’t have guessed she could surprise him more, but she just did. “At first, I wanted her to undo what she’d done. I’ve spent centuries looking for her, but now, I just don’t know.”
“Centuries?” Her fingers stopped their idle movements, though he was beginning to suspect they hadn’t been so idle. The way she’d been moving, it was as if she was mapping out his body, becoming familiar with his planes and ridges, but his answer had stunned her. “How many centuries?”
“At least nine.”
“Oh my God. That means you’re almost a thousand years old!”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “You have to admit I look pretty good for my age.”
A slight noise outside the window caught his attention. It was just the wind and he dismissed it quickly; nevertheless, it had brought him crashing back down to reality. As much as he wanted this moment to continue on endlessly, it couldn’t. He needed to get her out of there and to a place he could protect her.
“Hope, I need you to come away with me.”
“I can’t…Lexi…”
“Who is Lexi? Why was she staying in your apartment?” Of course, the question had crossed his mind earlier, but he’d been more concerned with getting her somewhere he could protect her better.
When she seemed hesitant, every possibility he could imagine flashed through his mind. Hope was obviously too young for the girl to be her daughter, and the two of them looked nothing alike, so it was unlikely that she was her sister.
“She’s a runaway,” Hope blurted out, and then covered her mouth like she hadn’t meant to tell him.
“You’re harboring an underage runaway? You didn’t strike me as the law-breaking type.”
“It’s complicated, Cade. Please, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Just like that?”
“Crazy, isn’t it? I don’t understand it either, but I know you. I don’t know all the little details of your life, but somehow I know the kind of woman you are, and if you’re hiding that girl in your apartment, I’m sure you have good reason.”
“I can’t leave her here.”
He hadn’t anticipated another guest where they were going, and he didn’t want anyone else he’d have to keep safe. He wanted all of his attention focused on keeping her from harm. She’d have to keep low-key, but Victor had no idea about Lexi so he wouldn’t be looking for her. “Then I will make sure she’s safe, too. I’ll have Steven bring her to a place where no one will ever find her.”
“But she won’t be with me?”
“You have to trust me, Hope. Victor won’t be looking for her, so the best way to keep her out of harm’s way is to keep her away from us. We have to leave soon. I deterred Victor for the evening, but he’ll be back.”
“But you’re bigger than he is. A lot bigger. You just threw him through the air like he didn’t weigh any more than I do.”
“Size has never meant much to Victor. He feels righteous in his cause and he’s very smart. He’s been around for a long time, almost as long as I have. And he believes you are a threat because of my feelings for you. Nothing is going to stop him from trying.”
“…from trying to kill me?”
“Yes. But I won’t let him succeed, Hope.”
“But where are we going to go? I imagine anywhere you could…fly, he could, too.”
“Yes, and he will. It’s the only option I have.”
“You mean you know he’s going to find us there and…” Understanding dawned in her blue eyes, “Oh.”
“We need to leave, Hope,” he whispered, though he couldn’t help but to run his fingers over the upper swells of her breasts once more, and he moved lower for just a moment, cupping the weight of them in his hands. Damn it, if he didn’t stop, he was going to find himself battling a war inside himself once again, and they didn’t have time for that. “Please, get dressed,” he whispered.
She nodded, recognizing the plea in his tone, and darted toward her suitcase on the bed, pulling the first T-shirt she could find over her head. It did little more than create a semi-opaque layer over the top of her, which only served to make him want to rip the shirt right off, but it would have to do.
“Let’s go,” she told him, wheeling the luggage to the bedroom door. She left the suitcase in the hallway and knocked on the next door over. “Lexi, it’s time,” she called quietly.
He heard movement in the room within seconds and the girl opened her door a moment later, her own rolling suitcase in hand. He already had his cell phone out and Steven on the other end of the line, or else he’d be tempted to ask why the ladies kept themselves ready to flee at a moment’s notice. Instead, he relayed his instructions to Steven while Lexi eyed him warily.
“It’s okay, Lexi. I promise,” Hope told the girl and her expression relaxed.
He hung up the phone and motioned that it was time to go. Once they got downstairs, Steven would be waiting in front of the building. To be safe, he stepped outside first. It would be better if he could shift; his senses were so much keener in dragon form, but this would have to do. There was no sign of Victor, so the three of them hurried to the car. He dropped their luggage in the trunk alongside his own while they slipped into the back seat. He jumped into the front passenger seat a split second before Steven began to drive away.
“I need you to bring the girl to the place we spoke about and stay with her until you hear from me,” he told Steven.
“Yes, Sir.”
Not another word was spoken the entire trip to the airport, but as he stepped out of the car, grabbed their luggage and opened the door for Hope, he began to worry. If she didn’t like helicopters, chances were she wasn’t much fonder of airplanes. But she hugged Lexi tightly and then climbed out without hesitation. Throwing him even more for a loop, she started toward the plane with a determined step. She climbed aboard just as easily and her complexion didn’t grow pallid the entire flight. He would have asked her about it, but he wasn’t going to risk reigniting her fear mid-flight.
They touched down on the landing strip of the private island he’d purchased a few decades back. It was only a short walk to the villa and the first phase of his plan was complete. It was dark, still hours before the sun would rise, but Hope seemed restless, too full of nervous energy to sit or lie still inside the villa.
Not a moment after they’d walked out the villa’s front door, she turned to him, “Cade, I was wondering something,” she began hesitantly. “Would you change for me? I want to see you.”
“Are you sure?” He didn’t mind the idea of shifting to dragon form. He trusted his senses far more that way, confident he’d sense Victor coming from miles away.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
It was strange. He’d never shifted in front of a human being before, and yet he nodded his head and the change came as easily as breathing. The familiar tension and heat rippled through his body, preparing itself for the inevitable shift from human to beast. Then it happened, but he fought the ever-present urge to stretch out his wings and fly. He didn’t want to scare her, and so he kept himself as small as he could, keeping his head bowed low and his wings drawn tightly against his massive body.
He looked at her, expecting to see terror, or at least fear in her eyes, but there was none of it. Her eyes looked the same as the night she’d stared out at the ocean, maybe even more replete with wonder now than they’d been then. Without hesitating, she moved toward him, reaching her hand up as she came close. She touched his snout, gliding along the marble-smooth scales. Her hand tremored against him, but she showed no signs of fear.
“You’re so warm. Your body is like armor; I would have guessed it would be cool to the touch,” she observed idly as she continued to run her hand higher.
He lowered his head more, giving her access to the granite-like spikes atop his skull. Her hands roamed everywhere she could reach, and in dragon form, her touch was even more potent than it had been when she’d touched his human skin. But he couldn’t touch her like this. The risk of hurting her was too great.
“You’re beautiful,” she told him as he watched desire flood her eyes and her hands began to move differently against him. She was no longer exploring, she was caressing. She was no longer intrigued. She was on fire.
Damn it, he couldn’t let her continue. “Stop,” he told her as he shifted back to human form.
“What happened? Did I do something wrong?”
“I need to keep my mind focused, Hope, and your hand was driving me wild.”
“It’s the same? I mean, to be touched is still arousing when you’re like that?”
“Even more,” he shuddered through a heavy sigh, trying to keep his wits about him. “Why don’t we get you some sleep. You must be beat.” Maybe there’d be some chance he could keep his hands to himself and his mind on the task at hand if she were fast asleep. She started to object, but stopped herself quickly and nodded.
She really must have been exhausted, because not a full minute after they’d laid down, she fell fast asleep. It was fortunate for him, because if he had to lay there for a moment longer with her wrapped in his arms, her soft curves fitted against his hard body, he would have lost the battle.
Even after he slipped out of bed though, he stood there watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful despite the tumultuous past several hours. He didn’t share in her serene disposition at the moment. He was on edge, knowing every minute that passed brought him closer to the moment Victor would finally appear there on the island. He would use his cunning wit to try to get close to Hope, and Cade would be forced to kill a dragon that he’d known for centuries.
He felt restless; he should be out there looking for him, cutting him down before he got anywhere close to Hope. But if he left her, there was no way to guarantee he’d find Victor before Victor found Hope. In truth, he’d expected to get not much more than a few miles ahead of Victor before he was forced to face him in a final fight.
Closing his eyes, he searched for him, seeking out the familiar sound of the man’s heartbeat or the scent of sulfur that would signal he was near. He’d trust his senses so much more in dragon form. Glancing down at Hope one last time, he crept out of the room, through the rest of the villa to the front door. Just one swoop around the island, just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. He’d still be within close enough proximity that he’d know if Victor came anywhere near.
He shifted once he stepped outside and took to the skies, soaring high above the treetops, circling the perimeter of the island. He saw nothing, and his senses told him that Victor wasn’t there—at least, not yet. Still, a prickle of apprehension raced down his spine. It was probably just heightened nerves, waiting for the inevitable confrontation to come. He returned to the ground quickly and shifted back before he walked back into the villa. As he stepped through the door, the same apprehension pricked him.
“I wasn’t certain you were going to come back,” a man’s voice spoke from next to the bed as he walked into the bedroom. “I thought maybe you’d finally come to your senses.”
How had he missed him? Victor must have been there already, waiting for him to slip out. And now he stood not more than two feet from the woman who had become his life. “Get away from her, Victor.”
“I bet you’re feeling pretty confused at the moment, wondering how I was able to slip in beneath your radar?”
Cade was silent, though that was precisely the question that was pounding in his head.
“It’s funny, really. All this time, you killed all those evil witches, but you never took anything from them. But I did. Spells, potions, curses—all the things you hated so much. You have no idea how much power they can bring. I can make it so neither you, nor any other dragon, can ever find me. I can creep up on you at any time because you’ll never sense me coming. You could have had it, too, Cade, but you’ve been so caught up, living among the humans. You even missed your big prize, the one you’ve been seeking out for so long.”
“Get out, Victor. Just leave. If you hurt her, you know I’ll have to kill you.”
“I knew you’d gone soft, but when I saw you with this woman, a spitting image of the one I’d killed not so many years ago, I knew it was far worse than that. The witch was right there under your nose and you were completely oblivious. So, you must understand why I have to save you, Cade. I need to make you strong again. I once looked up to you.”
“I won’t let you hurt her, Victor.”
“It’s too late, Cade. You don’t think she’s been sleeping through our little meeting, do you? Don’t feel too bad about it. You really did go to great lengths to try to keep her safe.”
“What did you do, Victor?” His heart lurched in his chest as he looked down at the peaceful form sleeping in his bed. She hadn’t moved once since he’d walked in, but she wasn’t sleeping. Her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes were wide open. No, he couldn’t be too late. Her breathing…it was shallow, but he could still see the slow rise and fall of her chest. Oh God, what had Victor done? He’d failed. He’d soared over the island for no more than a minute, and in that brief time, he’d lost everything.
“Oh, I suppose she’s not dead yet, but it’ll happen soon enough. You see, with the invention of modern medicine came these tiny little syringes,” he held one up in his hand. “It’s so much easier to inject someone with one than it ever was to force them to drink the damn potions. One tiny pinprick and all the work is done.”
“You bastard,” Cade roared.
“She has better senses than you, Cade; so much, that she was able to sense my presence despite the potion. And I bet you don’t even know why,” he scoffed. “The moment I slipped in through the window, she was wide awake, not that it did her any good. She may have keen senses, but her muscle is no better than a mere human’s. But don’t worry, I made sure I didn’t make that same mistake twice. The poison winding through her veins is enough to take down a small army.”
The roar that rose up from Cade’s chest began as a man’s, but in a flash, he became the black beast, his massive size tearing off the roof of the villa, violently collapsing the walls around him. His roar shook the ground as Victor shifted before his eyes, the red dragon taking his place. He lunged at the son of a bitch, teeth bared and talons extended.
He delivered the first blow, a mighty slash across the scarlet beast’s belly. Victor stumbled back several yards, but Cade’s attempt failed to send him careening to the ground. Instead, the dragon he’d known for hundreds of years began to spin, flinging his tail like a heavy, spike-encrusted whip. One spike made contact, tearing through the unguarded flesh of his ribcage. It was fitting. He now wore a near-identical wound to the one that still marred the soft flesh covering Hope’s torso.
An image of her near-lifeless form and terror-filled eyes flashed through his mind, and another roar ripped clear out of his chest. She’d been awake; she’d heard everything he and Victor had said, but she was powerless, her body overwhelmed by whatever potion worked its lethal magic in her veins.
The fire in his belly rose up and spewed forth, incinerating the shrubs that had outlined the path to the once-beautiful villa. It was no longer a haven. It was hell. It was the place he’d lost Hope.
The first flicker of doubt flashed through Victor’s golden eyes, as if he were only now contemplating the possibility that he might not win this fight. He took flight and Cade followed, meeting him in the sky. He knew precisely where to aim; not at the unarmored underbelly of the dragon, but in between the scales on his rough back.
He hit his mark with deft precision. His talons dug into the flesh beneath the scales and tore clear into the muscle that controlled his wings. The red beast roared in agony, and his flightless body crashed to the ground.
He swooped down, landing directly in front of the fallen dragon, but neither the wounds nor the crash had killed him. Victor must have found a bit of magic that strengthened his body, but it didn’t matter. No spell, potion or curse would thwart Cade’s vengeance.
He spun, flinging his own lethal whip, making contact with Victor’s snout as the beast tried to right himself and stand up. The blow had been enough to faze him, and Cade moved in one last time, slashing with lightning speed into the creature’s chest. Victor stumbled back as his eyes met Cade’s. The crimson dragon had seriously believed he would win this fight, but he knew now that he’d lost. Warm blood flowed down the beast’s body as he stumbled back one more step, falling to the ground.
Victor was dead, but it did nothing to save Hope.
He walked back toward the broken villa, shifting to his human form as he reached the debris that surrounded her. She was still breathing, but the movement of her chest had grown even shallower and a single tear slid down her cheek.
No. This couldn’t be it, damn it! There had to be something he could do.
The witch was right there under your nose.
Victor’s words came back to him. The witch had shown up when he’d been distracted with Hope? He must have meant at the charity dinner. Image after image flashed through his mind, remembering every person he’d seen there. A woman in the corner—her name—someone had said her name. Genevieve. He’d seen the name on the list—the list of guests from the dinner that were staying at the hotel—and he hadn’t recognized her name, though he knew every other guest there. It had to be her.
“Hold on, Hope. Please, just hold on,” he whispered to her, and then he flew like never before back to Vegas. He was there in no time and landed on the hotel’s roof, shifting as he hurried down to her suite, breaking down her door. She was there, sitting in a chair in the suite’s living room, next to the window. It was definitely her, the same face he remembered from centuries ago. And he hadn’t even noticed she’d been right there in the same banquet hall, staying in his hotel.
She smiled. “I was wondering when I’d be seeing you again.”
He didn’t have time to cajole her, and there was no guarantee a threat would work. It was risky, but he could do it. Her eyes widened as Cade dashed through the room without a word and grabbed the screaming woman up in his arms. He jumped through the window and the moment the glass shattered around him, he made it happen, shifting right there. He had to go straight up, without a second to spare, or else there was an even greater risk of being seen. He kept the witch wrapped in his arms as he flew back to the island, all the while wondering if he was too late. Had he wasted his last precious moments with Hope in vain?
“You heal her, and I let you live,” he growled at her once he’d touched down and shifted back. “Do you understand me?”
“Heal her? And just how do you expect me to do that?”
“I know exactly who and what you are. If you can’t undo whatever the potion has done, then my body’s stronger than hers. If she were like me, she could heal, she’d survive.”
“Oh? So, being like you isn’t as bad as you thought all this time?”
“Enough!”
“I can’t make her like you, Cade. She isn’t like you. She’s like me.”
What?
“What do you mean, she’s like you?” The witch was trying to deceive him. Hope didn’t have time for this.
“You knew it. You already knew there was something different about her. Those eyes, they never lie, and if you’d tasted her blood, you would have known it wasn’t human blood. I bet since being around you, she’s been noticing things about herself, things that never broke through the surface before.”
“She can’t be like you. She isn’t a god damned witch,” he bellowed. “If she were like you, she would have known it, which means I would have known it, too.”
“It isn’t like being a shifter—something that’s a little hard to go unnoticed. Being a witch, as you call us, it’s something deep within. If you don’t know the power you possess, you never think to use it.”
“And once she knows…she’ll become like you? Like all the evil, vile creatures I’ve destroyed over the centuries?”
The witch seemed to ignore his question, and turned her attention to Hope, though she continued to speak to him. “This was no doubt Victor’s work. I knew he was up to no good at that banquet of yours, but Victor miscalculated despite knowing what she was. You see, spells and potions aren’t as effective on us, especially one like her, but they’re not completely without effect. Otherwise, she would have sensed Victor’s anger a mile away.”
“What do you mean ‘one like her’?”
“She is far stronger than I am, Cade, and I have only ever met one other that was stronger than myself. Hope’s mother.”
“You knew her mother?” He brushed back the wisps of hair from Hope’s forehead, remembering the sadness in her eyes when she’d spoken of her mother.
The witch ignored him. “I can feel the potion coursing through her veins, and it is strong. Not many of us could survive it. Victor knew what he was doing. I believe it’s strong enough that it would have even bested me. But while most bloodlines weaken over time, hers has only strengthened. I can only imagine how magnificent your offspring will be; the two mightiest creatures I have ever known.”
“She’s going to survive?” The tiniest bit of relief tingled through his veins, but perhaps she was lying, just trying to buy herself time to figure a way out.
“Come on Hope. I know you can hear us. Sense it there in your body and fight it. Banish it from your veins. Don’t keep us waiting.”
Her breathing returned to normal after a moment and color returned to her cheeks, but she still didn’t move a muscle. She didn’t even blink.
“Don’t worry, sometimes it takes a few minutes. She’s new at all of this.”
He waited with baited breath, stroking her hand, caressing her cheek, staring into her eyes. There was a determination in them that hadn’t been there moments ago. And his heart, which had been growing cold with despair, began to fill with warmth once again.
“Cade,” Hope’s soft voice whispered after another moment had passed.
“Oh God, Hope, you’re…okay,” he forced the words past the lump in his throat.
“Yes, but I don’t understand. I could feel it. It was death. It felt like fire spreading throughout my whole body, first where he pricked me, and then all over.” She ran her hand over her arm where Victor had stabbed her with the syringe, but there was no mark, not even a tiny pinprick.
“It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you’re alive. I’m so sorry I let him in. I couldn’t sense him, Hope.”
“It’s alright, Cade. You couldn’t have known. I heard you. I could hear everything, and I know it wasn’t your fault.” Her eyes grazed over him as if she were looking to confirm he was really there, but she must have caught sight of the gash across his ribs. Victor had cut deep, and perhaps a human might have succumbed to the injury, but not him.
“He hurt you,” she whispered as her hand grazed over the wound gently, but as she moved, the torn flesh mended beneath her fingers, disappearing completely as if it had never been there.
He looked up at her awestruck, but it seemed to have surprised her just as much.
“I told you she was strong,” the witch spoke from the edge of the bed.
Hope turned toward the witch, “You’re Genevieve. You were a friend of my mother’s, but after she died, I never saw you again.”
“I’m afraid that’s true, my dear. I had to leave. I had to draw him away from you.”
“Victor killed my mother? My father told me she’d died in a car accident.”
“He had to tell you that. Your mother should have lived a very long time, Hope. She was three hundred years old when I first met her, and she was born more than a century before that. Your father had only recently found out what your mother was, and though he didn’t understand it enough to do anything more than despise it, he knew he had to keep it from you.”
Her easy camaraderie with the witch made him worry. Hope hadn’t known what she was, but she did now. “She’s going to become like you?” He couldn’t reconcile the thought. He couldn’t fathom Hope being anything like the cold, vile things he had rid from the world.
“Not all witches are evil, my boy.”
“Oh, please. They’re all misunderstood saints?”
“Oh no, I didn’t say that. Just like with you dragons, there are those who use what they possess for good, and others who use it for their own selfish desires,” she motioned to the massive bloodied corpse.
“Then why did you curse me?” How could what she did possibly be counted as good?
“Curse? It wasn’t meant as a curse, but a saving grace. They were scouring the villages, searching out the fire-breathing monsters that terrified them. But you were young, the youngest dragon I had ever seen. In truth, I hadn’t considered where your kind came from back then, whether you were born or spawned, or brought forth from the depths of heaven or hell. But I simply couldn’t just hand you over. There was something gentle in your green eyes. So, I made you what you are, part human to hide you from the dragon-seekers. Unfortunately, I was captured not long after for my evil deeds. By the time I was able to return to you, you were long gone.”
“Then I was the dragon first, not the human?” He couldn’t believe it. He’d insist she was lying, but he could see the truth in her eyes.
“Since I changed you, I have learned you are an ancient species, perhaps one of the first. When the giant rock hit Earth and blackened the skies, you were the only species wise enough to protect yourselves, burrowing havens deep underground. All of those giant reptiles perished, but not the dragons.”
“You aren’t lying,” he told her, perhaps to try to make sense of it himself.
“I have been watching you for a very long time, Cade. Perhaps now, I won’t have to watch you from afar.”
Cade nodded. It was still so strange. All the animosity he’d carried for centuries had been misplaced. The witch had done what she did out of kindness, and if she hadn’t, he would never have known Hope.
“For now, though, I think I’ll leave the two of you alone to get acquainted. You have a lot to learn, about yourselves and about each other. I think it will be a wonderful journey for you both.”
“I’ll take you back,” he offered. It was the least he could do, though he was loath to leave Hope there alone. He’d have to bring them both back with him, he supposed.
“There’s no need,” she smiled mischievously, though he had absolutely no idea how she intended to get herself back. She came around the bed then and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve grown to be a fine, strong dragon, Cade.” She leaned down then and brushed a kiss across Hope’s forehead. “And your mother would be so proud of you, Hope.” She left then without a backward glance, though he stared after her for a moment, wondering how the woman planned to leave with no boat and no wings. But it didn’t seem to concern her. “By the way,” she called back to them, “I’ll have Steven bring Lexi out to you here. I’m sure my son is anxious to see for himself that you are both alright.”
He and Hope just looked at each other. His personal valet, and really, the man he counted on in any tough situation, was Genevieve’s son? And he hadn’t sensed anything from the man this whole time? It must have been the same potion or spell Victor had talked about, keeping him from sensing Steven’s true self. The day had certainly been full of surprises.