Chapter Three – Ruby

“Magnus.” Natalie looked at Ruby and then to the man at the door, concern on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” The man. And boy, was he a man. He might look dazed and confused, but that didn’t detract from his appearance. Strong, lean, he looked as if he could hold his own in a fight. Not that she intended to fight him. Oh no, there were many, many other more pleasurable activities she would like to experience with…what was his name?

Magnus, her dragon told her.

The man they’d come here to find. Ruby fought her way through the fog in her brain and calmed her rapid breathing, fighting to focus on the reason they were here. “You are Magnus Dumas?”

“I am,” he inclined his head slightly but didn’t take his eyes off her. So he’d felt it, too. Did his heart beat like thunder rolling down off the mountains on a summer’s day? Did…

He’s our mate, her dragon thrust that thought front and center in her mind, stopping the flow of flowery language in its tracks.

Are you sure? Ruby asked. When Sapphi found her mate, she’d fallen from the sky. Literally. This didn’t feel as strong. And he wasn’t swept away by her nearness. A wave of disappointment hit her.

There’s part of him hidden, her dragon told her. Part of him tied up in shadow.

“Do you know Magnus?” the woman who had arrived with him asked suspiciously.

“I don’t. No, sorry. But I know someone who thinks they might.” Ruby forced a soft smile on her face.

“You know someone who met Magnus before?” the sheriff asked.

“Not exactly.” Ruby fought through the longing in her heart. Her dragon was right, there was a connection between them.

“Listen, if you’re a timewaster, I’m going to ask you to leave,” Natalie said bluntly.

“A timewaster?” Ruby asked, then her eyes widened. “No. I should explain. My mom, my adopted mom, read the name in the paper and said she knew of a Magnus Dumas a long time ago.”

“When he was a child?” Natalie asked.

“No. Not as a child. But a long time ago.” Did she want to tell them her mom was a dragon shifter? Even amongst other shifters, they kept their presence secret.

The woman cackled. “I knew there was something different about this one.”

“What?” Magnus turned around and faced the old woman. “What do you mean, different? Because I am not like you, Fara?”

“No, not just that you can’t shift,” Fara replied. “Something else. Like how you don’t know what a coffee pot is.” She shrugged. “Who doesn’t know that?”

“Oh, you’re not a shifter?” Ruby couldn’t hide the disappointment from her voice. She’d always dreamed her mate would be a shifter. This news also meant he couldn’t be a dragon shifter. Which meant he could not be the same man Fiona remembered from the past. Unless the Ancient Slumber spell worked on humans, too.

Disappointment clouded Magnus’s face. “Then I am not the man you are looking for.” He sighed heavily. “We should go, Fara, and get into that mechanical beast of yours and leave these ladies to their business.”

“Does he really speak like that?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, huh,” Fara said. “Wherever he’s been, he’s been stuck in a time warp.”

Ruby’s face paled, it all added up. Except for him not being a shifter. “Are you sure you’re not a shifter?”

Magnus shrugged. “I’ve tried.”

“What about painting? Can you paint?” Ruby asked hopefully, clutching at anything that might link this man to the Magnus Dumas of the past.

“Where’s this going?” the sheriff asked.

“The Magnus my mom knew of was an artist,” Ruby explained. “A good one.”

The sheriff thought about it. “Well, I have heard of people not being able to shift because of trauma in their lives. Listen, why not go and visit Nadine? She’s good at this kind of thing. She helped her husband Kurt find his wolf when they…” She moved her hands together. “Well, they lost each other for a while and Nadine put them back together.”

“Reintegrated them?” Ruby asked.

“Yes.” Fara nodded. “I remember. Okey dokey, let’s get you over there, Magnus.”

Ruby watched as they got ready to leave. Her heart wrenched in her chest with every step he took away from her. Her dragon was right, they were mates. What was she supposed to do, let him walk away?

“Can I come, too?” Ruby asked quickly.

He turned to face her, his emerald green eyes luminous as he stared into her face. “I would like that.”

“Wait.” Natalie waved her hand between the two of them. “Are you two?”

Ruby shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Maybe what?” Magnus asked.

“Nothing.” Natalie gave Ruby a gentle look. “Let’s get your memories back and the rest will deal with itself.” The sheriff followed them to the door and watched them leave. “If you do remember anything, let me know.”

“Will do.” Fara waved at the sheriff and ushered Magnus outside.

“Where are we heading to?” Ruby asked as they stepped outside of the sheriff’s station.

“A house on the side of the mountain. You can hitch a lift with me if you want,” Fara offered.

“My car is right here, I can follow you.” Ruby unlocked her car and went around to the driver’s side.

“Can I ride with you?” Magnus asked, lifting her hopes. He did feel the same way about her and wanted to reveal his feelings to her privately.

“Sure.”

Fara laughed. “Too scared to ride with me, Magnus?”

Magnus eyed Fara suspiciously. “I have nothing to compare your driving to. If I ride with this young lady...”

“Ruby, my name is Ruby,” she told him.

“If I ride with Ruby, I can judge if it is your driving that is...”

“Scary,” Fara filled in for him.

“Lacking in control, or if it is these infernal motorized carriages themselves.” Magnus opened the car door and got in, quickly buckling the seatbelt.

“Is her driving that bad?” Ruby asked, amused by the worried expression on Magnus’s face. Not exactly the demeanor of a brave, fire-breathing dragon.

“She is a little erratic,” Magnus confessed. “But she did save my life.”

“Fara, is she the one who found you?” Ruby asked, waiting for Fara to drive past so she could follow.

“Yes.” Magnus eyed her suspiciously.

“You can trust me.” Ruby pulled out into the street and followed Fara’s rusty old truck as she weaved in and out of the other vehicles. “I see what you mean about her driving.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” Magnus asked. “You would tell me I could whether or not it was true.”

Ruby considered his comment. “You don’t belong in this world, do you?”

Magnus fell silent, his eyes drifting to the mountain which loomed before them in the distance. “I don’t know where I belong. Which makes it difficult for me to trust.”

“What if I told you a secret?” Ruby’s eyes widened as Fara swung out into oncoming traffic to avoid a pothole. She was not happy about Magnus getting in Fara’s truck ever again.

“A secret?” Magnus relaxed a little.

“Yes, you know what a secret is?” Ruby glanced at him sideways.

“I have lost my memory, not my wits,” he replied lightly.

“Just checking.” Ruby hesitated, collecting her thoughts. “I’m a shifter.”

“That is hardly a secret.” He leaned toward her and sniffed the air. “I can smell you. Although you smell different than the wolves.”

Ruby blushed and turned her head to sniff her shirt. Damn, she should have showered before she came out. “I am different. I’m a rare shifter.”

Magnus inhaled deeply. “You smell metallic. It’s familiar somehow.”

“Magnus, I’m a dragon shifter.” She waited for his reaction, she barely got a raised eyebrow. “A dragon.” She reinforced the word with a nod.

“Are you trying to impress me?” he asked. If she was, she had failed.

“No.” Ruby frowned. “We’re rare, that’s all. Most people…most humans think we died out.”

He contemplated her words. “When I think of dragons, I think of family.”

“Do you remember other dragons?” she asked hopefully.

Magnus frowned, his forehead creasing as he strained to catch hold of stray thoughts. “It eludes me. I sense I know them, and yet it is as if the memories are shut away.”

“Pity. I’m sure it will come back.” Ruby accelerated as she tried to keep up with Fara’s truck.

“You said you were rare.” Magnus still wore a frown.

“Yes. I don’t know where, or when, you are from, but dragons are part of myth and legend for almost everyone these days.” A sadness filled her voice. “So, if you did know dragons, they were likely persecuted.”

“And killed.” His eyes took on a faraway look, and Ruby’s sadness was mirrored in his face.

“Perhaps.” Ruby smiled kindly. “Look, you need to talk to Nadine. See if she can help you.”

“And if she cannot, will you help me?” Magnus asked, his voice as soft as summer rain, awakening the woman in her. She’d tried to ignore the way he made her feel, but she couldn’t deny the attraction. But until he knew who he was, until he was himself once more, was it fair to heap anymore stress on him?

“I’ll try.” She returned his smile. “Look, here we are. All in one piece.” Ruby steered her car around a bend and then followed Fara’s truck as it weaved along a winding dirt road. A few minutes later, the road opened up and a large timber-framed house stood in a clearing, nestled in the forest surrounding it.

“What if I do not like the memories?” Magnus turned to Ruby. “What if I have shut them out for a reason?”

Ruby had considered this. Many times, people who had suffered traumatic experiences buried them, so they couldn’t hurt anymore. “We’ll deal with it.”

“Why would you help a complete stranger?” Magnus studied her with his soft eyes, behind which hid the man he used to be.

“Because that’s what people do. Like Fara, she helped you.”

“But you are different.” He leaned forward and sniffed her again, and her body thrilled at the closeness of her mate.

“I just want to help.” Ruby reached out and put her hand over Magnus’s. As their skin connected, her nerve endings sent pleasure signals through her body. An awareness of her mate was born that would never be broken. Her eyes flicked up to his, but in a moment of disappointment, she realized he hadn’t felt it. Not in the same way.

Sure, he looked at her with a confused expression. He’d felt something. But not that electrifying moment of connection.

Determined to help Magnus get his memories back, she got out of the car. Fara was waiting for them beside her truck. “You two lovebirds ready to go?”

“Lovebirds?” Magnus asked. “Where are the lovebirds?” He looked around.

Fara cackled her dry laugh and shook her head. “I like him.”

So do I, Ruby’s dragon said seductively.

“I’d like him a lot better if he knew who he was,” Ruby told them. “No offense, Magnus.”

“None taken. I would like me a whole lot more if I knew who I was, too.” He looked toward the house. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Fara struck off in front of them, striding toward the house. Before she stepped onto the front porch, the door opened, and a young woman greeted them with a smile. “Fara.”

“Hi there, Nadine. How’s that bun doin’?” Fara indicated Nadine’s swollen belly.

“Another couple of months to go, but it’s a lively one.” Nadine smoothed her hand over her belly.

“Well, we’ve come to ask for your help.” Fara pointed at Magnus. “This one’s lost his memories. We wondered if you might help him get them back.”

Nadine scanned Magnus briefly, and then stepped backward, leaving the door open. “You’d better come in.”

“Is that brownies I smell?” Fara asked, leaning forward and inhaling deeply.

“It is.” Nadine ushered them all into her warm kitchen. “Sit down, let’s have coffee and brownies and you can tell me what I can do to help.”

Ruby instantly warmed to Nadine. As they sat around the table, she was sure that if anyone could help Magnus, it was this woman who had welcomed strangers into her home.

But if not, Ruby would scour the planet seeking out anyone who could awaken the dragon she was certain lurked inside Magnus.