14. Emrie

The Valentine Fair was bursting with color and excitement. The day was crisp, cool and beautifully clear, I had my mate who was walking beside me, holding my hand...oh, and I had my Clan hovering around us like I was the sun and they were orbiting me.

I stopped at the gates and turned to them, giving them all my best glare. The one that said I meant business, or my bear would bite them. "I am on a date. So please, for the love of honey, relax a bit, and give us some space!" I said in exasperation. When Mathan looked a little hurt, I hugged him with one arm. "I love that you guys are all here too." Mathan's face cleared. "Although," I narrowed my eyes, "why did no one bring a date?"

Alpha shrugged. "Not going to date when my mate is out there somewhere."

A pretty standard answer for a shifter. "And the rest of you?"

"I don't date," Mateo said, scanning the area around us.

"Neither do I," Alistair said.

Drew and Taco shrugged. "We wanted to have fun with our Clan this time," Taco said. "I've been with a date before, and it's okay but it's going to be epic this year!" He turned to the rest of the Clan. "Am I right?" He held his hand up for hi-fives, and everyone gave him one.

"Taco?"

"Yes, my beautiful Clanmate?"

"You're a dork."

He bowed. "Thank you my beautiful Clanmate."

Mateo flicked him hard on the back of his head, and we all went in the gates, but stood to the side while everyone grabbed a map.

"Thanks for paying for everyone, Roarke," Alpha Riggs said.

Roarke shrugged. "You guys are Emrie's brothers."

Taco nodded and bumped chests with Drew. "That's right we are!"

"Oh my honey you guys are embarrassing," I said, hunching into Roarke's towering frame, and hiding from the people that were passing by, looking over at us in curiosity.

Roarke kissed the top of my head, and hummed a little until I went boneless. Well, obviously not completely boneless, because I was still standing, but all of the stress left my body, and I took a deep breath in and then out through my nose. I looked up at him. "You're so handy to have around," I teased.

His lips tipped up at the corners. "I have my uses." He looked at me as though I was his entire world. I knew it wasn't true. Even for mates that was a little toxic. But it was a good feeling nonetheless. I kissed him because I could, and I could hear Taco making noises behind me.

"Alpha, do we have to watch our sister kiss her mate all day?"

Roarke pulled away from me and gave Taco a look, and Taco chose to zip his lips. Good choice, Taco. Good choice. Man, I loved my Clan. I laughed and we circled up and decided what we were going to go on first.

"My only request is that we do last ride at 7:50 on the Ferris wheel," Roarke said, rubbing my back.

I nodded. "We can do that. What about you guys?"

"Bumper hearts," Mathan said. He smiled at Mateo. "I owe someone some payback."

"Alpha?" He looked like he had something he wanted to do, but was hesitant to mention it in front of everyone.

He shrugged, like it was no big deal. "I want to visit one of the cupids."

Mateo nodded. "I do too."

"Okay, we can add that. What show does everyone want to see?"

"What are the options?" Mateo scooted closer to Roarke and me so he could see my map and the list of event activities.

I pointed at the shows. "There's a light show after dark over by the water, before everyone leaves to get ready for the ball. There's a concert on Stage One at 2 p.m., and there's a magic show at 6 p.m. on Stage Two.

Everyone winced at the concert idea. Yeah, loud music and shifters didn't really go together. "It looks like we can do both the light show and the magic show," Alpha Riggs said, folding his map, and sticking it in his back jeans pocket. "Does that sound good?"

Everyone nodded enthusiastically. The magic and light shows were both amazing, and they were a once-a-year thing, so if you missed them, you had to wait another year. "As for the rest," Roarke said, doing the same with his map, "let's play it by ear. We have a basic plan; let's try to go with the flow with the rest."

I was wearing a dusty-pink, cold-shoulder shirt tucked into a pair of jeans that hugged my curves but were also stretchy. It'd made Roarke's eyes burn red when he saw me this morning. I smiled at the memory, feeling warm. The rest of the guys, in honor of the Valentines Fair, were also wearing pink tee shirts or nice button-up shirts.

Taco stopped us all before we tried to join the stream of traffic heading in. "Can I just say? We make pink look good!"

I laughed. Yes, yes we did.

The day was filled with a million and one laughs. The bumper hearts had a magic bubble around them that allowed you to bump the other heart cars as many times as you wanted without feeling that huge, neck popping jolt. When we got in, Mateo and Mathan just immediately went for each other until Alpha had to call them away because they were scaring the little kids. Both of them looked sheepish after that.

The love boats were amazing. They led us on peaceful waters down a beautiful, jade lagoon. Soft music played, and the spray of the water cooled all of us shifters off, because even though the weather was in the low 60's, we were all super hot. It made our inner bears grumble. Just wait until summer, I told my bear.

Heat no good, she said miserably.

The magic show was spectacular. Drew volunteered to go up and help, and he was his usual sarcastic, teenager self. Which did not suit the wizard at all because on stage he made Drew sing soprano, and then sing bass, and then jump between the two extremes the whole song, screeching really high up, and then really low down, while the entire audience was laughing so hard they were holding on to each other for support.

Also, the mage had given Drew a secret word that even he didn't know, and he clucked like a chicken for the entire rest of the day whenever we said team, so we obviously had to add it to everything we said. Taco was practically rolling on the floor because he was laughing so hard, and the rest of our little Clan weren't far behind. The best part? He never knew that he was doing it! So, when we all started cracking up for the millionth time, he looked at us like we were one cuckoo short of a cuckoo's nest.

We were currently roaming through the many fair stalls, and stopping by the ones that piqued our interest. Mateo and Alpha Riggs had gone to the stall that a cupid had set up. She was giving out love advice to those who came seeking her. It made my heart hurt that none of those I was closest to had found their mates yet. They still had loads of time, because they were all still young, but I know they yearned for their mates, and it broke my heart that they hadn't found them yet.

I stopped at the Chocula's Chocolates stall. They had chocolate-covered strawberries, made special for Valentine's Day and the Valentine's Fair, which were my favorite. I loved anything that was fruit and chocolate together. Roarke stood next to me, munching on a sample that the vampire running the stall had handed each of us. I looked up at him when he made a humming noise. "Good, huh?"

He nodded and swallowed. "Really good." He looked at the cashier. "I'd like two dozen please." The vampire nodded and started boxing the order up while I sampled a few other items. Roarke whispered in my ear. "One of those is for you."

I leaned against the breadth of his massive chest and looked up at him. "You're really good to me, you know that?"

He kissed my forehead. "It goes both ways, mo chroì."

I smiled, then looked at the vampire who was waiting patiently. "Can I get a dozen of your fruit truffles?"

He nodded. "Of course. Let me get those for you."

My Clan also ordered some chocolates, mostly the dark chocolate sea salt honey truffles, because they were all amazingly predictable. We paid extra for cold storage shipping to our lodge, met back up with Mateo and Alpha, both of whom looked deep in thought, and we all started exploring the rest of the stalls.

One vampire was advertising love letters written in fancy calligraphy. His samples were beautiful, and I snuck one of his cards so I could contact him later, once I'd written my love letter to Roarke.

A vendor without a booth was selling balloons. Taco and Drew each bought one because the balloons were awesome-looking, and Roarke bought me a few. They were clear hearts, with soft rainbow colors flashing inside. They looked like rainbows inside bubbles, and were super pretty.

I caught Mateo looking at mine in envy for a minute, and I went to hand him one, but he shook his head. "I have to keep my hands free," he said with a soft smile of thanks.

Oh, right. The whole reason my Clan had crashed my date. Because some lunatic was trying to kill me.

At his words Taco and Drew comically looked at each other with panicked expressions on their faces, then handed their balloons to the first pretty girls we came across. The girls walked away, I kid you not, with stars in their eyes. What was it about my Clan that was so attractive to females? I mean, I got it, but also, I didn't get it. Was it the whole shifter thing? Because I'd never been treated that way as a shifter, and it seemed like an awful double standard.

Guy shifters equaled hot; girl shifters equaled not.

"I think you're hot," Roarke whispered sexily in my ear, and I shivered, once again reminded that my mate could hear some of my thoughts. Instead of feeling like I had a big glaring spotlight shining on my brain, I felt seen in a way I'd never experienced before. I turned to him and pulled him down to kiss him.

My Clan made grumbly noises behind me, but I laughed and kept kissing my very sweet mate. Finally, I pulled away. Roarke's eyes were red again, and I grinned up at him, then lightly pecked his lips one more time. "You know I love you, right?" I whispered.

He leaned down so our foreheads were touching. "I love you, too, mo chroì. So very much." Happy tears filled my eyes, even though they never spilled over. I looked over at my Clan, and they weren't much better. Most of their eyes had a watery sheen, and they were clearing their throats and looking everywhere but at me and Roarke. I laughed. "You guys are all saps and I love you for it."

After that we had to have a group hug, because we just had to. Roarke complained of bear musk smell on him, but our group stayed molded together for another long moment, and then we continued on looking through the booths.

"The last ride for the Ferris wheel is coming up, Roarke," Alpha Riggs said, perusing the map. "And it looks like we've hit everything we wanted to." He put the map back. "We'd better head over."

Roarke had already gotten our tickets, so as we made our way over to the line, the rest of the Clan went ahead of us, and more people joined the line after us, crowding in until the lane snaked around the corner. "Wow, last call for the Ferris wheel is a big deal," I said. I'd never gone on the Ferris wheel, so I'd never paid attention.

Roarke wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into his side. "The light show starts at the same time, round about, and the view from the Ferris wheel is the best."

"Makes sense."

He ran his warm hands over my arms, giving me goosebumps. "You still nervous?"

"How can I be nervous of a little Ferris wheel with a dragon shifter at my side?"

The ride manager at the front called out, "Last call for the Ferris wheel! Only those who have tickets already may ride! Last Call for the Ferris wheel!"

There was an almighty push as those in the line with tickets tried to maneuver around people to get to the front of the line. It looked like those without tickets, who more than likely wouldn't get to ride, didn't want to leave the line in case there was an extra seat or two left. My Clan alone took up three cars, including Roarke and I. They got on first, and the wheel raised up a little. Then the cars stopped so Roarke and I could get on. But before I could step out of the line, there was more pushing and shoving from behind me, making me stagger into Roarke. I almost went down, but Roarke caught me before I fell. It felt like someone had punched my side. Roarke growled menacingly at the crowd until they all scrambled away from us in terror, then he helped me carefully to the open car that was next, and we got on.

My side ached, pain blossoming and radiating down the entire length of my torso. I tried to smile as our car rose to the top, but I felt a little short of breath.

Roarke looked at me tenderly, cuddling me close as the light show started with its flashes of light, sparkles, and pops. Our car, once it'd reached the top, stopped. "Are you okay? Did one of those idiots hurt you?"

"I think I'm okay," I assured him. But I wasn't so sure. The pain felt like ice now, trickling into my veins. "It's just, someone hit my side. It really hurts."

He went still and growled, "Let me see."

I twisted my body around so he could see my side, and felt his hands tenderly touch the area where I'd been punched. He hissed suddenly and started cursing in Gaelic. I looked down at what he was cursing at and was completely shocked to see that his hands came away from my clothing painted dark red.

Roarke stripped his shirt off, and carefully pulled me onto his lap. "Tell Riggs, Emrie," he growled, his tone urgent.

I nodded, my head feeling like it weighed approximately eight tons. Alpha, I've been stabbed, I think. In the crowed before we boarded our car.

I could feel his alarm and panic through the Clan bond as he shouted down to the ride manager to let us off, that there was an emergency. But it became very clear that the ride manager was nowhere to be found, and that even the rest of those hoping to get on the Ferris wheel for last ride had left as well.

The ride manager is gone, Emrie.

We were on our own here, and stuck on a ride with no way to reach the bottom, or to get to the hospital.

I whispered this to Roarke, who growled and cursed in frustration. My vision started wobbling, and with the motion from our rocking cars, I felt like I was going to throw up.

Mateo and Alpha Riggs climbed out of their car, and clinging to the Ferris wheel, they made their way over to our car where my mate was holding me and trying to stem the blood streaming from my side with his pink tee shirt. How on earth had I thought someone had punched me? Obviously, I'd been stabbed. My thoughts were fuzzy and muddled, and I couldn't work out how someone could stab me and yet it had felt like a punch.

"Lift her up to us, Roarke. We'll help her get to the top where you can go dragon and fly her to the hospital." Roarke nodded and handed me up to Mateo and Alpha Riggs, who steadied me between them.

My vision was still wobbly, but the ground looked really far away from us at the moment, and the distance wasn't doing great things for my stomach.

My hearing started going in and out, my thoughts going even more fuzzy until I started losing snatches of time. I blinked and I was up at the top, being handed off to Roarke, who—holy honey badgers—had gone full dragon. He was massive as an elder dragon, with swirling ocean blue scales, and a fifty-foot wingspan. I was sure the only reason we didn't tip the Ferris wheel over was because it had a stability spell put there by wizards.

I could hear the people in the other Ferris wheel cars shouting. Some were crying, and I felt bad for them. We were all paranormals, but it wasn't often that any of us saw a dragon. Especially in their dragon forms. There were just too few of them.

Roarke held me in his forearms while balancing on his hind legs, his back claws, huge as they were, clenched around the Ferris wheel for balance.

"We'll meet you at MCH!" Alpha Riggs shouted above the noise of the screams of the people on the Ferris wheel, and the shouts and screams from down below where the fairgoers were now noticing the huge dragon in their midst.

I didn't think King Draven or the rest of the Council were going to be especially happy about this.

Roarke used the massive muscles in his thighs to spring high enough into the air that his wings wouldn't hit the Ferris wheel, and then he banked and turned toward the direction of the hospital.

The light show, meanwhile, was still going on, and Roarke flew through a trail of pink and red hearts in the sky that exploded into dazzling birds that flew away. People below us ooohed and ahhed, but some screamed when they realized that Roarke wasn't actually part of the show.

It made me chuckle.

Roarke turned his massive head toward where he held me like I was precious cargo.

"What, in any of this, is funny?" His dragon voice was a deep rumble that sounded like stones grinding against each other.

You're part of the show.We could speak telepathically since the first part of our bond had been completed. It really came in handy sometimes.

He clutched me closer to his warm dragon body, which I was grateful for because I was starting to feel cold and shivery.

It's because of the blood loss. Hang on, mo chroì. Hang on, we're almost there.

When we got to the hospital there was instant pandemonium. King Draven and Consort Mia were already there, with a ring of doctors and nurses surrounding them. King Draven was ordering everyone into action and had to hold me briefly while Roarke shifted back to his human form. Mia handed Roarke a pair of sweatpants while she averted her eyes, and then I was handed back to Roarke. I nuzzled into his warm chest, trying to absorb all the warmth he could give me.

They placed me on a gurney and raced me to a room in soft blues and creams and light woods with a large window on the right side, took my vitals, and then rushed me into an operating room when my vitals made the machines beep like crazy.

The last thing I remembered was looking back at Roarke who was roaring to be let into the operating room with me, Draven, who was holding him back with every bit of strength he had, and Mia who was standing beside them with tears streaming down her face.