Legend of the Touched (39 page)

Matt sat quietly and looked down at his lap, clearly
thinking over Darien's words carefully. "It's much kinder than I
deserve."

"Yes," Darien said coldly. He was glad Matt
understood that much. "Do you accept these terms?"

"Yes."

Jason sighed with relief. "Thank you Lord Oceina for
your kindness. His bride and daughter will be so grateful."

"They're the reason I'm doing this," Darien said, his
tone still dark. He made eye contact with Matt, making sure his
intentions were clear. "This has nothing to do with you. I'm tired
of seeing families torn apart from your selfishness and stupidity.
You'll be given two days to prepare your family for the move. After
that I don't want to see or hear from you again."

Epilogue

Six Months Later

The Oceina

Tai's hair was curled and piled onto her head in an
elaborate flower-shaped bun. She sat, trying to be patient while
Navi did her makeup. Knots were in Tai's stomach and she didn't
understand why she was so nervous. She and Darien were already
married. A re-dedication of their vows via a ceremony shouldn't
have been a big deal, yet it was. Everyone was there, even Kat and
her baby Danielle. Now hatched, her mother, along with Tai's son,
was holding the first female dragon. She was a beautiful baby who
had broken out of her egg on the same day Ethan had. Just as Tai
and Darien were settling in to hold their son for the first time,
they had received a phone call from Jason with the good news.

"Okay Ethan, say bye-bye to mommy for naptime," Kat
said with a smile. She held both of the babes in her arms, and Tai
couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Dani was almost twice the
size of Ethan. Since he didn't carry to full term, he didn't grow
to average size. His heart was also a little weaker than normal,
but outside of those complications he was healthy.

Taking a moment to get up, Tai went to give him a
kiss on his soft forehead before he left to go sleep. She loved
holding him, watching him move. He was just over three months old
and his personality was starting to show more and more every day.
Ethan was a lot like his dad.

Tai gave Kat a small wave, glad to see the woman.
Despite everything that had happened between their husbands, Tai
had come to enjoy getting to know her over the past few months.
They had a good long distance relationship going on between them,
something they both needed. Kat didn't have any friends on the
island of Shanrea. The friends she did have from Inero City had
abandoned her, either fleeing or ignoring her. Technology allowed
for the two women to communicate face to face. It helped the
situation a lot. Gwen and Jason moved to the island as well, along
with Chris and Navi. For whatever reason, Kat apparently couldn't
connect well with them. Now that Navi was pregnant and expecting a
child of her own, maybe the two would have something to bond
over.

"Come back or you're going to be late," Navi
said.

Tai sat back down. They would be having their
ceremony outside at Sanctuary. As much as he wanted to return to
the big city and resume their life there, Darien had decided it
best to keep living in the secluded castle until the rebuilding was
complete. Tai wished her friends from school could be there to
share the moment with her, but they wouldn't understand. Allegra
was there, but she was still having a hard time adapting to living
with the dragons secret. She didn't take the news as well as her
brother had.

With a few more strokes, Navi finished putting on the
final touches of Tai's makeup. Perfect timing because that was when
Gwen came to fetch her.

"Are you ready?" she asked from the door. "At the
very least are you decent? Alex wants to come in and collect
you."

"Yes, I'm decent," Tai said.

Kat pushed past Gwen to come in and gather up some
more things for the babies, grabbing bottles and diaper bags. She
nudged Gwen teasingly. "When are you going to join the mommy
club?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Hopefully not for another five
to ten years."

With a weak smile, Kat shrugged and left. Tai shook
her head as she watched the two. Hopefully someday Gwen would see
how hard Kat tried to be her friend.

Tai stood, collecting the train to her white gown
carefully so she didn't step on it as she made her way across the
room. "You can tell Alex I'm ready." Funny how he would be the one
to walk her down the aisle to Darien. Over the past few months he'd
grown to being like a big brother to her and to Darien. She didn't
have any family of her own there, and it was more than fitting that
he do it instead of going alone or having one of Darien's other
brothers walk with her.

Pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, Alex helped her
with her dress. "You look amazing."

"Thank you."

"You don't need to be nervous you know."

"I know," she whispered. "I'm just ready for
this."

"Then we should go." He laughed and led her down the
stairs and to the doors to outside. He opened it slowly. She
squinted into the sunlight and the beautiful blue eyes of her
Dragon Lord, her love.

About the Author

J.F. Jenkins
lives in Minneapolis
Minnesota with her husband, son, and two cats. She graduated from
Bethel University in 2006 with a degree in Media Communication with
minors in both writing and film. When she is not busy writing, she
spends her free time playing games, reading, and spending time with
her family.

Also by J.F. Jenkins:

Chapter One

If she had to do it again, she still would've let him
bite her. She couldn't help it. He drew her to him. Denver Collins
had that effect on women. Cheyenne Loveless was no exception to
this law of nature, and she hated herself for it. Something about
the way he walked, how he confidently strutted through the hallways
of the high school without glancing at anyone or anything as he
went. Or maybe it was those piercing green eyes that could make
blood run cold with fear and then melt it and send it boiling with
desire. He didn't care about anything, and yet she still retained a
deep fascination for him. A bite was definitely not a typical
display of affection, but Cheyenne didn't have the best luck with
guys, so she would take what she could get. Sixteen years old and
still hadn't had a boyfriend. The Steelville High School population
no doubt thought she was a loser. If not, they had a funny way of
showing it. More often than not, she was treated as if she had the
plague.

Denver treated her the same way up until the night he
bit her.

The day started just like any other. She survived her
classes and was set to enjoy her extra-long weekend. Cheyenne shut
her locker door with extra oomph, just as she always did. The
lockers were always sticky, and she practically body slammed
herself into hers to get it to close. As she left the small
brick-and-concrete building, she saw Denver clearly for the first
time.

He leaned against the side of the school coolly, the
wind blowing his nearly black hair in front of his beautiful green
eyes. Those eyes were the first things Cheyenne noticed about him.
When the light caught them at a certain angle, they glowed like
pure emeralds. Golf courses would envy his eyes.

Certainly the rest of him was handsome as well: his
broad shoulders, his well-toned body, and flawless tan skin. The
eyes had her hooked though. She continuously found herself stopping
to stare at him and catch another glimpse, almost as if to make
sure he was real. Gorgeous guys hardly ever graced her presence,
and such a beautiful creature couldn't possibly exist. Yet there he
was, in the flesh. She couldn't approach him. Being shy made that
impossible. Just thinking about it was giving her a small panic
attack. As soon as she was caught staring, her eyes averted to
anywhere but him.

"Sorry," she mumbled before hurrying down the
sidewalk. He wouldn't have heard her anyway, since she was nearly
forty feet away. At least he shouldn't have.

"I'm used to it," he called after her. This made her
walk even faster, her face now uncomfortable from all of the blood
rushing to her cheeks.

How did he hear her? She risked one last glance at
him before she ran the two blocks down the road to her house.

Cheyenne plowed through the front door as soon as she
got it unlocked and then shut it quickly behind her. She leaned up
against the door and let out a deep breath.

Her mother peered into the foyer from the kitchen.
"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just had a run-in with a
boy at school and made a fool out of myself as usual."

Her mother laughed. It always made her slightly
wrinkled face crinkle, but in an adorable way. Cheyenne could only
hope she herself would age so well. "I bet he thought it was
endearing and sweet. You'll see, he'll be asking for your number
any day now."

"You always say that," Cheyenne said quietly, setting
her book bag down onto the floor with a grunt. The bag was heavy.
Her whole life seemed to fit inside.

"You know I don't like it when you block the doorway
with your things, honey."

"I'll move it when I get done in the bathroom."
Cheyenne rushed upstairs to the nearest restroom and shut herself
inside before turning on the cold water. She splashed her face a
few times to try to cool off her skin and ease the tightening in
her chest. Her eyes closed and she focused on relaxing, taking in
deep, slow breaths before exhaling through her mouth. The tight
feeling climaxed before finally dissolving, and she felt as if she
could breathe normally again.

She jumped when there was a soft knocking on the
door.

"Are you okay? You've been in there for fifteen
minutes, sweetie."

Had it really been fifteen minutes? She glanced at
the clock and then at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was
still glowing red, and her hair was all over the place. Tears
pricked her eyes, but thankfully those were starting to fade away
without any signs of ever having been there to begin with.

"I'll be right out. I'm just having some trouble with
my contacts." Lying to her mother was the last thing she wanted to
do, but breaking her heart would have been worse. Cheyenne's
social-anxiety problem upset her mother a lot, and the look of
disappointment on her face every time there was a panic attack was
one of the hardest things to see. If there was one thing Cheyenne
didn't want to do, it was to be disappointing. All she had to do
was dry her face and touch it up with makeup in a few spots, and
nobody would know the difference.

"All right," she said, more to herself than anyone
else, and opened the door. "Sorry. I'm okay now. What's for
dinner?"

"I just made something light." The two walked down
the stairs. "I figured since you're going to Rachel's party
tonight, you'd probably be eating there."

"Oh, right, that makes sense since we're going to a
nightclub and all."

Cheyenne had forgotten about the party, but Rachel
had never been one of her close friends. The two were more like
acquaintances, and the invite to the big birthday bash had been out
of pure courtesy and obligation. Certainly the two got along fine,
but to call them friends would have been a stretch. However,
Cheyenne did say she would go despite it being held in the middle
of the week. It didn't make much of a difference. It was the week
of the fall teachers' conference, and there wouldn't be any school
until the following Monday.

She wanted to try to make a new friend. She needed
one, and this would be a great jumping-off point for her to do so.
Cheyenne had promised her mother she'd try to make more of an
effort to get out of the house and do different things. The goal
was to get her experiencing new things in the world, starting in
her own neighborhood.

Her mother leaned against the doorway and gave her a
soft smile. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I know." Cheyenne ran a hand through her dark hair,
taking a moment to straighten it out. "But I need to go. I promised
I would." She paused and glanced at her mother nervously. "Will you
help me find something to wear?"

She'd never been to a nightclub before. This
particular club wasn't a typical one. Made especially for teens, it
had a dry bar, which made Cheyenne feel a little more reassured.
Dressing hip and trendy wasn't her strong point, however. The style
that girls wore to those kinds of places was all about what was in
as well as revealing. Cute she could do, but not cool, and
definitely not revealing. After spending four hours trying to find
the perfect outfit to wear, she ended up with something that was
still only cute. Hopefully it could also pass for almost
fashionable as well. The main goal was to not appear to be an
idiot.