A Dragon's Heart (10 page)

As the adrenaline started to wear off and she listened to Kel banter about his brothers and his mate and how much she would like them, she realized what a kindness it had been for Tor and Perry not to tell her about the dragon-hearted thing.

There was nothing she could do about it, and she would have tortured herself over it.

She might not like Monica, but Monica was worthy of a dragon power, whereas Lexie never would be.

She stood. “I think I’m ready to go back in.”

“You sure?” Kel asked. “You okay?”

She nodded.

“All right,” Kel said. “Don’t let those dragons get you down, okay? And, Lexie?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t let anyone else tell you who you are. Only you know that.”

She grinned at him. “Thanks, Kel. But I do know myself best. And I know I would never be brave like that. That the first thing in that situation for me would be fear. I would have been someone outside the fire. Not the one going in.”

Kel looked at her for moment. “It takes a strong person to admit that.”

She shrugged and followed him to the front door. “Oh, I can be strong. I have a lot of good qualities. Both Tor and Perry have made that clear. It’s just hard when the one quality that matters is the one I don’t and can never have.”

Kel flinched, almost as if he were imagining the situation and feeling the pain of it. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Nothing you can do. Thank you for telling me.” They reached the door, and Kel pulled it open, allowing Lexie in first. “And, Kel?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t worry about Sofia being mad. You can tell her you didn’t screw anything up.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?” Kel asked.

“Because we were already screwed.” Then Lexie gave him a bitter grin, said her good-byes, and walked up to her room.

She needed to be alone.

L
exie spent
the rest of the night in her room.

She had dinner brought up and ate it slowly and without much relish. Nothing tasted the same now that the dragons had found a mate. She knew it would hurt, just not this bad.

She’d gotten too attached.

But who wouldn’t, with Tor’s strength and playful smile and Perry’s gentle but intense beauty?

She was just sorry it couldn’t last forever.

But she wasn’t going to sit around and mope. She went to her dresser and started taking things out and folding them. She wasn’t going to stick around once they told her they were accepting Monica. She didn’t have to take that, because she could go with Kel.

Perry had thought of everything, as usual. If they had just listened to him at the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened. But listening to him while being drawn to them both was like trying to swim against a riptide.

She noticed how much more she had now that she was leaving them. She’d been able to use the past few months salary to buy new clothing, new jewelry. She had plenty in the bank, as dragons were rich beyond belief and paid way above her grade. She hoped to take a few spa days, in case her body could somehow feel the loss of her dragons even when her brain forgot. She had folded and organized everything in her drawers (so it would be easy to put it in a suitcase), when she heard a gentle knock on her door.

Her ears perked. It wasn’t Tor. He would have just barged in, no matter how many times she’d told him not to. It wasn’t Perry. His knock would have been assertive and short.

That left only one option, since Kel had already left for the night. She’d heard him go, understanding Monica had probably agreed to stay.

What woman wouldn’t, after seeing this house and the gorgeous men in it?

Lexie sighed and went to the door. Monica was standing there, pushing a few strands of her silky hair behind one ear. Lexie tried to keep the frown off her face as she addressed the other woman.

“Hi. Did you need something?”

Monica pushed gently past Lexie into her room and looked around. “Wow, this is amazing. Is this where I’ll stay when you’re gone?”

Lexie blinked, suddenly feeling the urge to bodily throw this woman out.

Monica seemed to sense her discomfort.

“Oh, no,” she said, taking a step backward into the room. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m fine if you stay. It’s just that Perry said you’d be leaving.”

Of course he did.
Lexie gritted her teeth into a semblance of a welcoming smile. “We’ll see.”

Monica shrugged and went to sit on the bed. Lexie decided that she wasn’t trying to be rude; she was just a bold person. She went for what she wanted openly and expected others to stop her if they weren’t comfortable. But Lexie had never been very good at standing up for herself. Or anyone else for that matter.

“So how do you like it here?” Monica asked. “They’ve just spent the past few hours telling me everything. I can’t even believe it. When I ran into that building, I never expected this to happen.”

“Yeah,” Lexie said, sitting in a plush chair by the window where she could face Monica, but not be too close to her. “Seems like it would be overwhelming.”

“Did you know about that dragon-hearted thing?” Monica asked. “Gosh, if everyone knew, they’d be running into burning buildings all the time.”

It smarted that the dragons had so quickly told Monica about the dragon-hearted thing when they hadn’t told Lexie at all. But she supposed it made sense because Monica was a dragon-heart.

“Yeah, it’s complicated. What do you think about the men, though?” Lexie asked.

“Rich, hot. Seems fun,” Monica said. Her lips pulled into a sly grin. “Plus, there are two of them. Hard to believe, right? Seems too good to be true.” She crossed her slender legs and leaned back on her pale hands. “That’s why I came up to talk to you. Make sure they aren’t freaks or perverts or something like that.”

“Ah,” Lexie said faintly. She guessed that made sense. “No, they’re fine.”

Monica wrinkled her nose. “That’s not very reassuring. How long have you been here? You look positively ill just talking about it.”

“Oh, no,” Lexie said. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. I’ve been here a few months, and they are wonderful employers. The best. I’ve really enjoyed having them… as friends.”

Monica’s eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to correctly interpret Lexie’s comment, but she wasn’t going to say any more on the topic than that.

Monica glanced at Lexie’s window, where the shades were open, giving a view to the beautiful lands outside the mansion. “Do you ever get lonely?”

“No,” Lexie said. “I have my work, and then in the evenings, the dragons are home.”

“Dragons,” Monica said. “That’s crazy, right? They want me to stay here for a few weeks to see if this could work out. And if it doesn’t, they can erase my memory. It seems like science fiction or something. I would have thought it was one big joke if I hadn’t seen this place.” She gestured to the ornate, beautiful house around them. “I could be with them just for the house.”

“They’re worth more than the house,” Lexie blurted out tersely. Then she smiled politely, correcting herself. “I just mean they’re good men. The best.”

Monica cocked her head, making her dark hair slide silkily over her shoulder. “Are you in love with them?”

Lexie thought about lying and then nodded. “Of course. Who wouldn’t be?” She shrugged. “But I knew from the start I would be getting my memory erased and going back home. I’m not dragon-hearted.”

“That sucks,” Monica said, frowning. She looked genuine about it, and Lexie felt at least a little spark of friendship with the other woman.

“Yeah, it’s okay, though. I only came here so they could protect me while they finish a case.” She looked at Monica. “They work a lot, so you’d have to be okay with that.”

Monica studied her nails. “I think I can manage.” She looked up at Lexie. “Do you think I’ll be going with them?”

Lexie shrugged. “I have no idea. As I said, I’m no dragon-heart, so they haven’t discussed things like that with me. Obviously, as a human, I’d never be able to go with them.”

Monica nodded. Then she faced Lexie with a regretful expression. “I’m sorry if I’ve come and fucked things up.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lexie said. “You’re just what they need.” Now that she was starting to be resigned to the situation, and Monica didn’t seem to be a horrible person, she was trying to see the upside of all of this.

With a third dragon power, her friends would be safer. She felt better knowing that.

“I wonder what power I’ll get,” Monica said, pulling some papers out of her purse. “Perry gave me these articles he scanned from an old book. The whole thing is so fascinating.”

Lexie nodded. She’d miss all the intricacies of the shifter world. It would be hard going back to a normal place. At least she could transition to Kel’s for a while and maybe have fun getting to know his mate, Sofia. Maybe she could get over the dragons a little before she got her memory wiped. It all depended on the last men out there that could hurt her, and how fast they were caught.

“Well, I’m pooped,” Monica said, stretching. “I’m going to head to bed. You need anything? I’m going downstairs anyway.”

Lexie shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Hey, Lex?” Monica said, walking to the doorway.

“Yeah?”

“No hard feelings?”

“None,” Lexie said. And she meant it. She didn’t begrudge Monica for being the one to give her friends what they needed. She just begrudged herself for not being that person.

T
he next morning
, Lexie woke to the sound of Perry bursting into her room without knocking. She looked at him blearily, noting with vague alarm the disheveled state of his silver hair, the way his robe gapped and his pants seemed to be put on backward.

“Perry? What’s wrong?” she asked as the wary dragon paced anxiously in her room.

“Tor didn’t come back last night,” he said. “I’ve been up all night waiting. I need to go find him.” He looked at her with tortured eyes. “I know I have no right to ask this, but will you watch out for Monica? I didn’t expect to have to leave her here alone this soon.”

Lexie nodded, getting out of bed, pulling on a robe, and going to Perry to take him by the shoulders. “Of course. Perry, look at me.”

Perry’s wild silver eyes were flashing.

“Perry, you need to stay calm.”

“We’ve never been apart this long. He always comes back after a flight. What if something has happened?” Perry asked, putting his hands to his head.

“Can you hear him?”

“No,” Perry said. “Not since our fight. He hates this whole thing with Monica. I think he hates me right now.”

“He knows what has to happen,” Lexie said, touching Perry’s face. “You’re just doing what you have to.”

“I just don’t want people to die,” Perry said. “I don’t want a mission to happen where we could have saved thousands if we just had one more of us.” He touched one of her loose curls lightly. “If it weren’t for that, I’d agree with Tor. It’s been wonderful with you, Lexie. I wish we didn’t have to let you go.”

She felt herself blush and batted away his hand. She knew Perry was only being this effusive because he was sleep deprived and crazy worried over Tor. “It’s fine,” she said. “Go find him. He could be hurt.”

Perry nodded. “Hold down the fort?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Be careful,” Perry said.

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I always am, right?”

Perry nodded, his lips pressing into a line. “I like that about you. You’re smart. We never have to worry about you doing something stupid.”

That stung bitterly, because if she’d just been a little more stupid, maybe she’d have been a dragon-heart. Or maybe not.

“Okay,” Perry said. “I’m off.”

He went out the door, and she heard him clatter down the steps. She didn’t think it mattered if he changed his clothing, because he’d probably be turning into his dragon as soon as possible.

She sighed and went down into the empty foyer to prepare breakfast, just in case Monica was up soon.

She ate, with still no sign of her new friend, and then sat down to read for a couple hours, looking out the front window now and then to see if anyone was there. When Monica finally emerged from her downstairs room, she looked tired and a little cranky.

Lexie was pleased to see she didn’t look quite as perfect in the morning as she had last night. That would just be too unfair.

She was still beautiful, and as far as Lexie could see, a pretty nice person, and Lexie supposed she should just be grateful she wasn’t a total bitch.

Monica walked into the kitchen, and Lexie stood up from the table and walked to the fridge.

“I cooked breakfast,” Lexie said. “Pancakes, if you want them.” She pulled them out and placed them on the counter, along with syrup and butter.

Monica bit her lip. “Is there orange juice? I’m not feeling up to anything heavy.”

Lexie felt heat in her cheeks. She guessed she’d been eating pretty rich things since she’d been there, but that was mostly due to Perry and Tor being incorrigible feeders. They loved their women curvy, and they loved to eat good food, so it all worked out.

“The dragons like a little meat on their women,” Lexie said, pulling out orange juice for Monica.

Monica sighed. “Do they? I guess I should probably adjust to that.” But she didn’t take any of the pancakes. She just took her orange juice and sat at the front table.

Lexie sat at the table across from Monica and picked up her book again.

“So they both went out?” Monica asked. “I haven’t seen or heard them this morning.”

“Yes, Perry went out early. Something came up, or he wouldn’t have been so rude.”

“And the other one, the big one. What about him?”

Lexie didn’t know how much she should say. “He’s… temperamental. He likes to go on flights when things are stressful.”

Monica looked down at her juice. “Oh. And me being here is kind of stressful.”

“It’s something new.” Lexie agreed. “But they’ll adjust. And I think you’ll all be happy when all is said and done. It’s beautiful here, and you’re all good people.”

Monica looked at her as she said that. “You’re a good person, you know that? A lot of women would freak out.”

“Maybe I would have at one point, but I already feel like I’ve been really lucky. The dragons saved my life, and I’ve really changed since I’ve been here with them. I’ve become a stronger person. I think I’ll do better out in the world, even with my memory gone. So I don’t regret any of it.” She gave Monica a weak smile.

Then she heard a thump on the front door. Was someone knocking? Was Perry back and holding Tor and needed someone to open the door? She stood and peeked over at the front door on the other end of the lobby and then looked at Monica.

Monica’s eyes were slightly wide, like she was confused as well.

“Wait here,” Lexie said. “I’m going to take a closer look.” She walked to the side of the front door where there was a small tablet that showed via a security camera who was outside.

She was surprised to see several large trucks out in front of the mansion and men wearing black clothing and hoods on the front porch. She quickly checked the main security pad and saw the alarm was off.

How in the hell was the alarm off? Was Perry that upset that he’d forgotten to arm it? She didn’t think that was possible. There was an intense perimeter fence that would have kept anyone from even getting close to their house. Lexie had never felt even close to being in danger.

Her heart thudded in her chest, and time seemed to slow as she heard the men talking outside.

She made out the words “dragon-heart” and realized what must be going on.

They were here for Monica. Somehow, they must have known the dragons had gotten ahold of a dragon-heart and were about to get more powerful. That had to be it.

She ran to the kitchen and grabbed Monica by the hand. It was easy to drag her behind her toward her office, even as Monica protested.

“What are you doing?” Monica screeched. “What’s going on?”