Cameron
I stare at the phone number in my hand before giving it to Lee.
“What is it?” It’s not even dawn yet, and I guarantee he hasn’t had his coffee yet. He stares at the sheet of paper and wrinkles his nose in confusion. “Why are you giving me this? Is it a business card?” He looks up at me suspiciously. “Are you trying to get me to join one of those multi-level marketing gigs? Because I read all about MLM’s and I’m not interested, man. Those are all pyramid schemes, anyway.”
“They aren’t pyramid schemes,” I tell him. “And I’m not trying to sell you shit. Look at it.”
“It’s a phone number.”
“Peggy found it in her jeans. She’d forgotten about it.”
“Okay?”
“Remember when she brought us Daisy?”
“I remember, Cameron. Get to the point.”
A few weeks ago, when my sister, Ellie, tried to save her husband from Lucky, she managed to get their daughter, Daisy, and escape. She gave the baby to Peggy and made her promise to deliver Daisy to me at Fablestone. Peggy came through. Somehow, my human mate managed to risk her life and travel through the darkness of the forest to bring Daisy to me.
“Before Peggy left to bring Daisy here, some people came to visit her.”
“People?”
“Scientists. They gave her this card and told her that if she had any information, she needed to call the number.”
He lets out a long, low whistle.
“I don’t want to complain, but it would have been helpful to have this information sooner.”
“With everything going on, she had shoved the card in her jeans and forgotten about it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he sets the card down, turns back to his computer, and starts typing. I know when I’m being dismissed, so I turn and leave.
I know he’s frustrated I didn’t get this information to him sooner, and to be honest, I should have gone over Peggy’s story with her several times to help her remember the card. Shit happens, though, and sometimes when you’re dealing with things that are really stressful or terrible or dangerous, you forget about important details.
This is one of those details.
I’m not upset with my mate, but I do feel bad for her. Peggy has a heart of gold and I know she’s worried that if she had turned in the card sooner, it would have made a difference when it comes to saving David, my brother-in-law. I don’t think it would have, though. I think sometimes, you do everything you can do, and it’s still not enough.
Sometimes, you fight with all you’ve got, and you still lose.
I leave the building where Lee works as one of the clan’s top IT guys. He’s our main tech guy, but he has a couple of people who work with him. We might have the shittiest cell service in the world out here, but Lee is doing everything in his power to get the clan where we need to be when it comes to technology.
Right now, I don’t have time to worry about that, though.
Right now, I have to go get Natalie.
I don’t know if she managed to find him, but I checked in with my mother about half an hour ago, and it doesn’t look good. Her dad is hanging on, but barely, and my mother told me to get Natalie back here as soon as possible.
I know she wanted to get Donald. I know she wanted to try to save her father and I can’t blame her. I never would have thought of trying to hunt down Fablestone’s long-lost doctor. I was old enough when he left to remember the pain and sadness surrounding Trey’s death and Donald’s decision to leave.
Natalie’s parents had tried for years to have a child and weren’t able to. When they got the chance to adopt a human girl, they jumped at the opportunity. They were so happy to finally have a little one of their own. Everyone in the clan was thrilled for them. It was obvious that Natalie was the light of their lives. She lit up their entire world, and then, just when they couldn’t get any happier, Alicia Wolfe found out she was pregnant.
The entire clan celebrated.
That little boy was so loved.
Not only did Trey Wolfe have two parents who adored him, but he had Natalie, too. She loved being a big sister and even though she wasn’t a shifter, she used to talk about the day she’d get to be the one to teach her brother how to fly. Most shifters don’t actually learn how to change into their true form until after puberty, but Natalie didn’t care about how long she’d have to wait to see Trey shift into an incredible dragon. She read every book she could on shifters and how to shift and how to fly.
But then Trey got sick, seemingly overnight, and everything went to hell.
Cursing at the memory and wishing I could forget, I head home to give Peggy a kiss before I leave to pick up Natalie. Peggy is in the kitchen brewing coffee when I arrive, and I give her a hug before pouring myself a steaming cup.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
“Morning,” she says, but I know she’s feeling upset and tense still. Last night, she cried in my arms for a very long time. I cried, too, but it wasn’t just for the clan. It wasn’t just because we’re losing people. It was because my mate is in pain, and worried, and that made my heart hurt even worse.
“I talked to Lee,” I tell her. There’s no point in beating around the bush. Peggy instantly starts wringing her hands.
“What did he say? Is it going to help?”
“We don’t know anything yet, and we won’t for awhile. Peggy, you didn’t do anything wrong. You did the right thing, in fact. As soon as you realized you had the number, you turned it in to me. You could have tossed it and pretended you didn’t have it. You could have hidden it or called it or done any number of things, but you didn’t. You trusted me, and now I’m trusting Lee to do the right thing.”
“I just…I can’t stop thinking, Cameron. What if I had told you that first day? At the stone tower? What if we’d called it and we’d gotten information and we’d somehow been able to get David out of there safely?”
“They didn’t kill David because we rescued him, love. They killed him because he jumped in front of me when they tried to kill me. Knowing what’s at the end of this phone number might help, but it won’t bring him back, and it wouldn’t have saved him. I need you to forgive yourself, baby.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking me,” she whispers.
“I do know. I know because every day I live with guilt, too, princess. I live with the knowledge that my brother-in-law is dead and that’s why I’m alive. I live with the knowledge that my sister is without a mate and that my niece is growing up without a father.”
“I’m sorry,” she shakes her head. “I know. It must be so hard for you, and I didn’t even ask you if you’ve been doing okay.”
“We’re new mates, Peggy. Our relationship doesn’t have to be perfect, and it won’t be. It’s normal for us to struggle and misunderstand each other and mis-communicate.”
She wraps her arms around me and leans her head against my chest. For awhile, I just hold her, wishing I could take away her pain, wishing I could make everything right. For awhile, I wish that the clan was whole again. I wish for David. I wish for Trey. I wish for things to be the way they used to be: simple.
“I have to go,” I tell her. “I have to go get Natalie.”
She looks up at me. “Do you think she found him? The man she’s looking for, I mean. Do you think she was able to locate him?”
I should lie and say yes.
I should say Natalie definitely found him, convinced him to come back, and that everything is going to be okay.
I should tell her that everything’s going to be just fine and that she doesn’t need to worry.
I look into my mate’s eyes, though, and I realize that I can’t. I can’t lie to her. I can’t trick her. I can’t promise her that things are going to be fine when I don’t know if they are.
“Peggy,” I start, and she reaches for my face and kisses me before I can finish.
“Don’t answer me,” she says. “Just let me come with you.”
“You want to come along?”
“Let me come with you,” she says. “I know we can’t talk when you’re in your dragon form, but let me ride you. At least this way, you won’t have to be alone for a little while.”
Despite knowing it’s probably not the best idea, I find myself nodding slowly, agreeing to let her come with me. Together, we head outside and I wordlessly strip out of my clothes. I move to the center of the yard and close my eyes, shifting into my true form. I’m comfortable as a human, but when I’m a dragon, I feel free. It’s in this form that I’m strong and brave and whole, and nothing can take that away from me.
Peggy climbs onto my back and holds tightly. Once I’m certain she’s in a good position and that she isn’t going to fall, I begin to fly. I notice that as I fly, she hums quietly and rubs my scales. It’s a nice feeling. I’ve had girls ride on me before, but it’s never been quite like this before. Even the times Peggy has ridden on me in my dragon form, she hasn’t touched me so gently, and I like it.
It’s a long flight, but I find myself growing calmer as we near the pick-up point instead of more tense. Eventually, we reach the place where I left Natalie and where she’ll be waiting for us. She didn’t come home last night with Donald, so I’m guessing she didn’t find him.
A fresh blanket of snow covers the mountain pass, and I wonder if Natalie got caught in the storm. I take a deep breath before I can freak out, though. She might be human, but she’s basically a dragon in every way that matters. She was raised in the clan and she knows how to take care of herself. She knows how to be strong. She knows how to be brave and she knows how to find shelter when there’s a storm.
Storm Dawn isn’t too far, anyway, so she may have simply sought shelter there.
I don’t see Natalie right away, but I land just the same. Peggy slips off me and rubs her shoulders.
“It’s cold,” she says. “Are you okay?” She motions to my bare feet in the snow.
“Not really,” I tell her honestly. “But it’s just for a minute. She should be here. Natalie?”
“Natalie!” Peggy calls out. “Are you here?”
“Natalie isn’t here,” a voice says. We turn in unison to see a tall, gangly-looking teenager step out from behind some trees. He’s obviously human. He’s got long, shaggy brown hair and he’s wearing a coat that’s much too big for him. I’m not sure if he’s wearing it to make himself look bigger and scarier than he is.
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow. Peggy tenses, but I reach for her hand and give it a squeeze. This kid isn’t a threat. I’m not sure who he is or why he’s here, but he doesn’t exactly have “I’m an evil murderer” scratched on his forehead. Besides, Natalie can hold her own. Yes, even against someone like this. “Where is she?”
“Not here,” he shrugs. “But she and that guy gave me a message to give you.”
“What guy?” Peggy asks, and she can’t hide the hopefulness in her voice. I swallow hard because I, too, suddenly feel something churning in my heart: the stirrings of something strong, something that makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe, Natalie pulled through.
Maybe coming here wasn’t a terrible idea.
Maybe she was really onto something.
“His name is Donald,” the boy says. “They told me you’d know what that meant.”
“She found him,” Peggy whispers.
“She fucking did it,” I agree.
“Yeah, so…the thing is, they had to go somewhere,” the boy says.
“What? Where?”
“An island?”
“Which island?” I ask, trying to get more information, but the boy shrugs.
“They didn’t tell me that. They just wanted you to know that they’re going to an island to get something they need, and then they’ll be home.”
“Did they say when?”
“Nope,” the boy shakes his head. “Just as soon as possible.”
“Thank you for the message,” Peggy says. “You were waiting out here all alone in the cold? I don’t know how we can repay you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” the boy says. “Donald made it worth my while,” he chuckles. Then he looks at me, nodding toward my feet. “You should probably get going, though. Dragons can still get frostbite, you know.”
With that, the boy turns and leaves, heading up the path. Peggy looks at me.
“What did he mean when he said Donald made it worth his while?”
I chuckle. “Donald likes treasure,” I tell her.
“Isn’t that kind of a stereotype? That dragons love treasure?”
“Not with Donald. He’s a hoarder, love, and he hoards gold.”
“You think he gave him gold to wait for us?”
“I think he made sure we got the message. All right, love. Fablestone awaits. Are you ready?”
Peggy offers me a kiss and then smiles up at me, again filling my heart with contentment.
“Ready,” she says.
Then we’re off.