Chapter 9
For a moment there, Lyrian had thought that maybe, just maybe, there might be some way for her and Brad to work things out. A chance for them to have a real relationship, regardless of whether she found her clan or not.
She’d felt so tempted to mate with him, despite all the problems that would befall their mating. When she’d looked into his eyes, she’d been sure they could work them out.
Then she’d told him she’d slept with him because of the Mesmer bond, everything had changed. She’d watched, helpless, as the love in his eyes had withered up right in front of her. And the worst part was, she couldn’t even really blame him.
If she’d slept with another dragon as part of the Mesmer ritual, they would have known what it was from the beginning. It had never even occurred to her that she’d be around Brad for long enough for them to form a deeper attachment.
And now, she might have jeopardised that.
Brad shook his head. “I can’t do this, Lyrian. Not right now.” He stared at her, his face anguished. “I’ll stay and help you find your brothers, I promised that, but then I need to go for a while.”
Her heart cried out, wanting to reach out and pull him back, to fix the connection she’d inadvertently broken, the connection that she craved as much as she craved food and water.
But something held her back.
The memory of how hard it had been to let him leave the first time.
It had taken her weeks to get over him. And she was going to have to do it all over again, because in reality, nothing had changed. He still seemed determined to leave, whether they fixed this or not.
She was still a princess, and he was still a doctor in America.
It was better this way, even if it hurt.
“I… I understand. But…” her voice trailed off. Even though she knew this was for the best, she wanted to throw in all the objections she could think of.
It was really hard to make herself stop and take a deep breath instead. “Thank you.”
Brad nodded shortly. He turned away for a moment, and walked back towards the ute, his back to Lyrian and Anarian.
The sound of every footstep thudded in her heart like a death knell on their relationship. The pain in her heart grew, even though she knew it was for the best. For both of them.
When he turned back a few moments later, he was all business. “I don’t think we should go after your other brother yet. If he’s going to be weak when woken, he won’t be able to help us, and we can almost guarantee there will be a dragon waiting for us. We need help before we can do anything more.”
This was the Brad she knew. He had answers. Plans. Solutions for everything.
Lyrian couldn’t help being a little relieved that Brad was back to normal. That even if he’d banished any possibility of a relationship, he wasn’t going to refuse to even speak with her. Even though that was what she’d done to him.
Guilt twisted her heart. He was a better person than she was. When she’d faced this decision, she’d run from it. She hadn’t even tried to face up to it like he was.
Then again, Anarian hadn’t existed. Their baby daughter changed everything.
“How are we going to find help?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded as normal as his did.
“I need my phone. If I have it, everything gets easier. I can keep an eye on the news in case there’s anything more about Lisa or Verrian. And I can call my brother. He’ll help us.”
The thought of having someone to help them, even if it wasn’t a dragon, somehow made Lyrian feel a whole lot better.
Except for one thing. “Your phone is back at Henry’s.”
Brad nodded. “Yes, it is. I know it’s a risk, but I still think it’s the best course of action. We can’t go into town, we face both dragons and police there. At least we shouldn’t run into the police at Henry’s.”
“There’s every chance we’ll find a dragon though,” Lyrian pointed out.
Brad shrugged. “If we do, we run. We’ve already out run them twice now. I’m sure we can do it again. But more likely they’ll assume we won’t come back, and won’t be watching the place at all.”
Lyrian stared at him for a moment. It almost sounded like something she’d say.
She nodded slowly. “All right. We go back to Henry’s and get your phone. When?”
Brad considered. “Tonight I think. Just before it gets dark. That will give us time to check the area, and if it’s all clear, we can stay there the night. It will be more comfortable than here. And there’s food.”
Lyrian heard the words he wasn’t saying. At Henry’s, he’d have another bed to sleep in. He’d be able to get distance. To not make this any harder than it was already going to be.
She nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”
*****
Lyrian almost held her breath as they drove up the road towards Henry’s old house. She twisted around in her seat, checking the sky, then straightened up to check the bushland all around.
She was glad, now, that Henry had kept a distance between him and the bush. She hadn’t understood it when they’d first arrived, but now it made it much easier to see if there were any dragons around.
But so far, it looked like it was all clear.
Beside her, Brad was doing the same thing, and coming to the same conclusion she was.
“We’ll pull up in front of the house,” he said. “You stay here in the car with Anarian while I check through the house.”
“I should be the one checking the house, while you stay with Anarian. I can smell a dragon if one is there. And I stand a better chance of dealing with one if one appears out of nowhere.”
“I have a shotgun,” Brad reminded her. “You’ll be safer in the car.”
He was still worried about her. The bittersweet knowledge twisted her belly.
But it didn’t convince her to follow his plan. “If you’re in the car, you can have it started by the time I get here if there’s any trouble, meaning we can get away faster. It makes more sense, Brad.”
She knew it did. And from the tight set of Brad’s mouth, so did he. “All right,” he allowed. “But if you encounter any dragons, don’t be a hero and fight, get back to the car as quickly as you can.”
“That’s the plan.” As if she was stupid enough to take on a dragon herself. If she had fire or lightning, maybe, but with wind?
Despite her assurances, she could feel Brad’s eyes on her as she walked up the steps towards the door. Hopefully he wasn’t so focused on her he wasn’t also keeping an eye on the treeline and the sky. Any danger would come from one of those two places.
Still, Lyrian pushed the slightly ajar door open cautiously.
Her nose was telling here there was no dragon here now.
But there had been.
As she walked through the house, the other dragon’s scent was everywhere. Along with someone else’s.
Not a second dragon, as the first one had threatened, but a human. More than one.
That made her extra cautious. She checked every room twice.
But the house was empty.
She headed back outside, hoping that there had been no problems there either.
Brad was still staring at the door when she came out, his expression anxious. She gave him a smile, hoping to reassure him. “It’s empty,” she called out.
Brad immediately glanced around at her words, as though he thought they might summon a dragon from out of thin air. But nothing happened.
Lyrian came down the steps, and headed to Anarian’s side of the car. “Shall we get her out now?”
Brad switched off the engine and nodded.
Then suddenly, his face froze. “Luna. She’s not barking. Where is she?”
An intense guilt hit Lyrian.
In their rush to leave, she’d forgotten all about Henry’s old dog. “She should have been fine,” she protested. “A little hungry maybe, but she had plenty of water. And we’ve only been gone two days.”
“Stay here while I check,” Brad said firmly.
This time, Lyrian was happy to agree.
She had a soft spot for the old dog. Though Luna had been suspicious of her initially, she’d warmed up to Lyrian quickly. If that dragon had hurt her…
“She’s gone,” Brad called out.
Lyrian’s heart constricted. She was going to kill that dragon. Just as soon as she had some help.
Brad came back around the corner, his face confused. “Someone’s unclipped her lead and taken her. Why would anyone do that? Who?”
Lyrian frowned. “There have been human’s here as well as the dragon. At least two different ones. Maybe one of them took her?”
That would be a far better alternative than the dragon.
They didn’t eat dogs, the carnivore’s meat tasted strong and unpleasant, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill one. But they wouldn’t take it away to do that.
Brad was frowning. “Humans? Here? Who? Why?”
Lyrian shrugged. She didn’t have the answer to that any more than he did. “I don’t know. Henry knew the neighbours, but he didn’t speak to them much. Still, maybe one of them heard Luna barking and come to get her.”
Hopefully. Luna would be safe there.
Brad was still frowning. “Maybe,” he conceded. But he didn’t look convinced. He scanned the sky again, then turned to the treeline.
The area was still completely empty. “We’ll stay here tonight, then move on in the morning,” he said. He didn’t look at Lyrian, just turned and headed into the house.