Dragon's Heart (4 page)

Running his hands through his hair, Lester admitted, “Yes, it’s been happening more often lately, too. It’s like the older I get, the stronger my powers are growing.”

“Trent can teach you how to use them,” Duncan assured him.

“And what if I don’t want them?” Lester returned angrily. “It’s because of being half a sorcerer that my life was pure hell. I hate that part of me. I just wish it would go away.”

“You can’t deny who you are, Lester. No matter how much you want to.” Brian said calmly.

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not having to deal with it,” Lester shot back.

Brian stood and for the first time he looked angry. “I have the entire sorcerer community gunning for my brother, who I happen to love very much, so I am having to deal with it. Right now I’m trying to do everything I can to figure out how best to protect you, while at the same time protect the rest of the dragon community. Do you have any idea how hard that is?”

Lester paused, realising just what a brat he was being. After putting his face in his hands for a brief moment, he looked back up at Brian. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry. I’m just shook up by all this shit.”

Brian sat back down. “You have every right to be. I know I would be if I was in your position.”

“Yeah, but you were only trying to help me and I reacted by being a shit.”

“Okay, you’re both sorry, we get it,” Nicholas interrupted. “Can we move on now and be a real family for once?”

Lester nodded. “Yeah.”

“The first thing we’re going to do is move Lester down to the family wing. His bedroom is no longer going to be with the servants,” Brian said.

For some reason that made Lester feel way better than it should have. Just that simple gesture made him feel like he was really a part of the family. Which was stupid, since it was just a bedroom for frick’s sake. But, nonetheless, it made him feel ten feet tall.

“Thank you,” he said.

“We’ll give Mick a room close by since he’s your Guardian. He’s going to be showing you the way of the dragons,” Brian said. “You should have had a Guardian all along, but father forbade it. Who knows? Maybe with the proper training, you’ll even be able to shift one day.”

“Somebody who can shift
and
wield magic?” Duncan cocked an eyebrow. “Has there been anybody who could do both?”

“Not that I’ve been able to find in the history books,” Brian admitted.

“So what makes you think I could do it?” Lester asked, more confused than ever.

“Our father may have been an asshole, but he did come from a strong bloodline, maybe that will give you an extra boost.” Brian shrugged. “I figure it can’t hurt to try. If not, then we’re not worse off than before.”

“And if it works?” Lester asked.

Brian gave him a hard glare. “Then we’ll have one of the most powerful weapons in this war.”

“And what weapon is that?” Lester asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Brian smirked.

“No.”

“You. A dragon that can wield magic? Nothing could stop it.”

Chapter Four

Lester wasn’t sure what training in magic and dragon history would be like, but it sure as hell wasn’t what he got the next day.

Trent had him in the morning. He woke Lester up early and barely gave him time to eat breakfast before taking him to the library and sitting a huge set of books in front of him.

“What’s this?” Lester asked, sneezing from the dust.

Some of those books looked to be over a hundred years old. Others appeared to be hanging on by just the threads of their bindings, while a few looked to be brand new. Lester gazed at the spines, noting that some of them weren’t even written in English, but Elvish and other abstract languages that Lester didn’t even come close to speaking.

“These are the few books that I was able to round up on the subject of magic. I wish I could get more, but since I’m a fugitive, my resources are a bit limited.” Trent gave a tight smile.

Lester could see how Duncan could be attracted to the sorcerer. With dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, he was alluring enough.
But he isn’t cute and impish like Mick.
Lester sighed. No, nobody came close to his dragon and he didn’t think they ever would.

Lester ran his hand over the huge pile of books. “If this is limited, then I would hate to see if you had complete access.”

Trent laughed. “Then you’d be in real trouble.”

“So what are we going to be doing the first day?”

“
We
aren’t going to be doing anything.
You
are going to be reading.”

Lester was a bit confused. He had expected to jump right into the middle of things and start learning spells and magic right away. After all, they were the ones who acted like there was a damn rush.

“I’m just going to be reading?” he asked.

“If you’re going to be using magic, you have to understand it first. This is the best place to start.” Trent patted the pile of books.

“Some of these books are written in languages I can’t even understand,” Lester pointed out.

Trent gave an indulgent smile. “Don’t worry. Once you get to them, the books will work with you.”

With those final frustrating words, he walked out, leaving Lester alone with his confusion. Lester threw his hands up in the air and wished, not for the first time, that he had never woken up the day before and that everything that was happening to him was just one big, fat dream.

But of course it wasn’t. It was his life. Try as he might to get away from it, it had come back and sucked him in. So now he had to deal with it—like it or not. Left with little choice, he picked up the first book and began to read.

He wasn’t surprised to find it dull and dry, but he’d made it through medical books, so that was nothing new to him. He studied all morning, getting up only a couple of times to get some coffee.

Before he knew it, Mick was walking in. “It’s time for lunch. Are you hungry?”

“Actually, I’m starved,” Lester admitted.

Although, as he eyed up the small dragon, Lester realised he was hungry for something other than food. Mick looked extra good that day. He wore all black leather, even going so far as to wear a heavy jacket that had several zippers on it. It gave Lester all kinds of fantasies about what he could do with those many zips.

Lester closed the book he was currently on. Luckily, he hadn’t reached the Elvish ones yet, so he hadn’t found the mystery of how the book would ‘work with’
him. Guess that would have to wait until the next day. After lunch he was slated to work with Mick on his dragon studies. Hopefully, that would involve a lot less reading.

“What’s for lunch?” Lester asked as he stood up and worked the kink out of his neck.

“Who cares, as long as it’s meat,” Mick said with that impish smile of his.

Damn, if Mick only knew what that grin did to Lester’s body. He’d probably run screaming from the room.

Lester twisted his body to the side, hoping that it hid his erection, and said, “Sounds good to me.”

They went into the kitchen and joined the rest of the group. In addition to his brothers, there were a couple of other dragons who had joined them—Maddox, a blond who was just a year older than Lester, and Ryker, a dark, brooding guy who never spoke much.

“So did you learn any spells on how to make your dick bigger?” Maddox asked.

Yeah, nothing had changed with Maddox. He still was a smartass.

“No, looks like you’re stuck with your tiny one,” Lester shot back. “Sorry that I can’t help you with that.”

Everybody save for Maddox and Trent burst out laughing.

Trent rolled his eyes. “Magic is a serious matter and Lester needs to treat it that way.”

“Sorry,” Lester said, immediately sobering.

“Did you learn anything from the books this morning?” Trent pressed.

Lester then spent the rest of the meal reciting all that he’d learnt from his reading that morning. One thing he’d learnt in nursing school was that he was great at retaining material, a trait that he showed off to Trent at that moment. Trent just sat there and nodded, but Lester could tell that he’d impressed the sorcerer.

“So you haven’t gotten to the Elvish books yet?” Trent asked with a knowing smile.

“No, but I’m working my way there,” Lester answered.

“I can’t wait to see your reaction when you do.”

That intrigued Lester all the more and he wanted to ask what Trent meant by that, but Mick grabbed him by the arm and said, “Come on, it’s my turn to train you.”

They left the kitchen and ran out of the house then made their way over the great expanse of land owned by the dragon clan.

Mick turned to Lester, that grin on his face. “I’ve been wanting to show you this forever, but they wouldn’t let me. The caves of our ancestors. Wait until you see it, Les. It’s amazing!”

Les.
Mick hadn’t called him that since they’d been kids. Lester took that little slip of the tongue and held it close to his chest. While Mick might not have realised it, he’d just given Lester something that he’d treasure forever.

They went deeper into the woods, where the branches poked out and roots tripped them up. Mick reached over and grabbed onto Lester’s hand. “Here, let me help you. It’s easy to fall if you’re not used to walking through here.”

Lester relished the contact, spikes of electricity going from his fingers up his arm and straight to his cock. Dear Lord, if just holding hands did this to him, how would he react if Mick ever kissed him? Lester’s head would probably blow off or something.

The woods continued to get denser and darker. It even grew quiet, as if Mother Nature was holding her breath and waiting for something important to happen. Lester’s heart began to beat a bit harder, and this time it wasn’t because of Mick. He couldn’t help but feel that something life-changing was about to happen to him and there would be no turning back.

Mick turned the corner and they were at the opening of a cave. It looked simple enough. Just a dark opening. Yet at the same time, it called to Lester like nothing ever had before. It almost screamed for him to enter.

“Do you feel it?” Mick asked.

“Yes, it’s calling to me,” Lester answered.

Mick jumped up and down a few times. “I knew you had a dragon in you. That bitch was wrong all along.”

“I have to go in, don’t I?” Lester asked, more than a little afraid, although he didn’t know why.

“Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll be there with you every step of the way,” Mick assured him.

Lester turned and looked at him, still vividly aware that their hands were linked together. “Just like old times.”

Taking a step closer, Mick tilted his head up, just a bit. “Exactly.”

If asked later, Lester wouldn’t have been able to say what gave him the courage, but he dipped his head down and brushed his lips over Mick’s. It wasn’t much of a kiss. There wasn’t any tongue involved or anything, but as far as first kisses went, it wasn’t too bad.

Mick took a step back but didn’t let go of Lester’s hand. “If you only knew how long I’ve waited for you to do that.”

“I didn’t think you’d want a bastard,” Lester said bluntly.

Mick looked up, his eyes wide. “I never thought that! I just didn’t think I was good enough for you because you have royal blood in you and I’m just some dumb warrior.”

“You were always good enough for me.”

Mick tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. “I can’t believe what idiots we’ve been. Had we had this conversation ten years ago, I would have left with you.”

Lester felt shocked and humbled at the same time. “You would have actually done that for me? Left the dragon clan?”

“I would do anything for you, Les,” Mick said, his eyes darkening with desire.

“And I would for you, but first we have to go into the cave. Then we can go back to the house and check out my new bedroom together. How does that sound?”

Mick gave a wicked grin. “I love it. Now let’s get to the cave, so we can get the lesson over with.”

They walked into the cave. At first it appeared to be just that…a cave. But as they walked deeper inside, that was when things changed. The walls began to glow white, almost as if they were made from ice. All different sizes of jewels and stones stuck out at random places.

“What are they?” Lester asked as he ran a finger over what looked to be a ruby. He swore it hummed under his touch, almost as if it sang to him.

“They’re various tributes left behind by other dragons to the royal family. They used dragon fire to set them into the wall,” Mick explained.

“But there’s so many,” Lester breathed.

“Your family goes back a long time. It wasn’t always a farmhouse that sat there. It used to be a castle. They’ve had to adjust to fit to the times and blend in. Dragons have been around longer than man. We’ve just kept our existence as a well-guarded secret.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you but they have security cameras in the garage where you shifted at my hospital the other day,” Lester pointed out.

“Maddox already took care of that. We know how to cover our trail. You should know that by now.”

True. Lester should, but he’d been shoved to the back so often that he wasn’t privy to many of the dragons’ secrets or inner workings. Truth be told, thanks to his stepmother and father, he knew next to nothing about them, despite the fact that he’d grown up around them.

That made him very ashamed, too. “I know nothing about myself,” Lester said aloud. It felt good to finally admit it, not at all embarrassing like he’d thought it would be.

“It’s okay, Les. That’s what we’re here for. To teach you. To show you the things that you should have been learning all along.”

Mick stopped at one stone. It was simple, just an onyx, but to Lester it stood out amongst all the others. Lester reached out and touched it. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the humming seemed to be stronger from that one. It fairly made his entire body shake.

“That’s the one I put in,” Mick admitted. “We’re supposed to do it when we first transform into a dragon. I was thinking of you the entire time I breathed fire into it.”