Chapter 5

5

S itting at the last stoplight before her favorite Chinese takeout joint, Nat thought over all she’d learned in the last six or so hours and wondered if she’d been dropped into an alternate universe between her visit with Nona and arriving at work. Dragon Shifters were a real thing. The lunatic killing girls was using Witchcraft and Alchemy, and tomorrow, she would meet the honest to God, King of the Big Cats.

“I can’t wait to hear what Nona’s got to say about that?”

Reminiscing about all the bedtime stories her grandmother used to tell, it finally clicked. “Every damn one of them was real.” Her voice echoed through her empty car. “She was telling me the truth. Using her amazing ability to wave a tale to tell me about the world she’d grown up in.”

Parking in front of Hot Dumpling Hut, she was out of the car, in the store, and back in the car in less than five minutes. Placing her bag on the passenger seat, she got out a fresh, hot crab rangoon before pulling into traffic. Blowing until it was cool enough to eat, she headed towards her grandmother’s for the second time in the same day.

Pulling into the driveway, in one way it felt like she’d never left and in another it felt like it’d been years since she was there. So much had happened, so many things she needed to sort out in her mind, but in that very moment all that mattered was finding out why she couldn’t stop thinking about that exasperating, frustrating, totally irresistible Special Agent Dragon Man.

Setting the bag on the table without looking up at her grandma, Nat got out the containers of food, the chopsticks and the sauce packets, basically fell into her seat, and blowing out a huge breath, let all the tension she was feeling float away. Feeling Nona’s stare, she looked up and deadpanned, “So, I’m sure you know this, but let me throw it out there anyway. The big, hunky Fed is also a Dragon and tomorrow I get to meet a guy who can not only turn into a Black Panther, but is also the King of the Big Cats.”

“Maximillian is coming to town?”

Flying forward in her seat, all pretense of nonchalance gone, Nat yelled, “You know the guy?”

“Well, of course, I do, Dear. What kind of Seer would I be if I didn’t know the Others of our Community?”

Her tone was normal, her expression serene, but the words coming out of her mouth were making Nat’s head spin.

“We have a name, like a title? There’s a Community? With a capital ‘C’? Like an organization?” Smacking her forehead with the tips of her fingers, she added, “When were you gonna tell me? Have I not passed the initiation or something?”

“Do not use that tone with me, Donatella Angelique. You are not so big that I can’t turn you over my knee.” Nona’s tone left no room for argument. Her dark brown, almost black, eyes glowed with an inner light Nat had never seen before and that quite frankly, scared the living bejesus out of her.

Speaking as if she were coaxing a kitten out of a tree, Nat cajoled, “Sorry, Nona, it’s just that I’m…”

“A brat, plain and simple,” her grandmother interrupted. “You have not been left out of anything. I simply wanted to see if you could live a life separate from the Supernatural and Paranormal.” With every word, her tone softened to the normal, calm Nona Nat knew and loved. “When you decided at such a young age to be in law enforcement, I decided it would be better if I helped you learn to use your Gift, the Sight you inherited from our ancestors, to help you with your job, and more importantly, to keep you safe.”

Trying not to look like she was hanging on her grandmother’s every word while in all actuality hanging on her every word, Nat nodded and sat very still. It took Nona a moment to begin again, but when she did, it rocked the younger woman’s world.

“Today you met a man who can shift into a Dragon. You saw his aura, witnessed the Dragon King with whom he shares his soul. Meeting him, being near him, learning that there are Others with special abilities you never imagine opened your mind more than you ever dreamt possible, yes?”

Thinking about her grandma’s words, hearing her Olde World accent growing more pronounced with every word, Nat quietly agreed, “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

Leaning forward, reaching for her hand, Nona smiled, the brilliance of her unconditional love shining so brightly it made the young detective smile. Feeling the warmth and affection in her touch, Nat held tight as her grandmother went on.

“The man you met, that Dragon who is driving you crazy in the best ways, is your mate. He was made especially for you by the Universe and the Goddess. He is meant to be your partner in all things, and just as importantly…” Nona paused, her head tilting to the side as Nat was holding her breath just about to pass out before adding, “You are the light of his soul. You, my sweet girl, have met the one person who will complete you in ways you never ever dreamt of.”

Opening her mouth and shutting it so many times her grandmother chuckled under her breath, Nat finally got it all together and with a throat that was as dry as the Sahara and her heart in her throat, she squeaked, “Are you off your meds?”

Laughter filled the living room as Nona sat back in her chair, clapped her hands and then took out the embroidered hanky that was never out of her reach and wiped the tears from her eyes. “You never cease to amaze me, Donatella.” Sighing happily, she went on, “Now, you see why I had to be sure my visions were correct before telling you. I can’t imagine how you would’ve reacted if I’d told you when you were sixteen.”

“You’ve know all of this crap since I was a teenager?” Up on her feet, needing to pace off the excess energy pulsing through her body, Nat walked from one side of the huge room to the other as Nona explained, “Of course, I knew. I’ve known all my life. I’m not only your grandmother, but the strongest Seer of our lineage…well, until you.” Giving a perturbed tsk, she continued, “You were going through puberty, your interest in the opposite sex was voracious, and you were dating.”

“My what?” Nat threw her hands in the air, her voice racing towards raving with every syllable. “Voracious? That’s the word you just used? Voracious interest in the opposite sex? I think I might throw up.”

Mind spinning and her heart racing, she stopped right beside Nona’s chair and demanded, “Oh my Goddess, is he gonna knock me over the head and drag me to his cave where I have to take part in some blood-letting or freaky sex thing?”

Unable to speak as her shoulders bounced with captured laughter and she held her handkerchief over her mouth, Nona sputtered, “Sweet, sw-sweet, D-Donatella.” She took a breath, working to stop laughing and hiccupped, “Y-you are one of a kind. He isn’t a Caveman, he’s a kinda human man , who just happens to be able to turn into a Dragon.”

Back to pacing and freaking out, Nat started firing questions. “Does the moon have to be full? Does he breathe fire?” Spinning when she reached the opposite wall, she stopped mid-stride. “Will he set me on fire when we kiss? Can I even kiss him?” Pacing even quicker, her hands flying out to the sides, “Will he leave scales on the bathroom floor? In the laundry? Does he molt? Does he growl?”

Whipping around to face her grandmother, she whispered, “Is everything as it should be?” She waved her hand between her waist and her crotch. “Is he, you know, just like any other guy there ? Come on, don’t make me say it? You know what I mean.”

Once again laughing so hard that tears ran down her face, Nona slapped her knee as she rocked forward and backward. Wanting, needing answers to her questions, Nat couldn’t just stand still and was seriously over being laughed at, so, she grabbed her coat and her phone and headed for the door.

Her hand had just touched the knob when Nona called out, “Come back here right now, Young Lady.”

Knowing she could walk right out the door and her grandmother wouldn’t try to stop her, Nat let her head fall forward and huffed out a breath that made her bangs blow off her forehead. Dropping her hand to her side and slowly turning back the way she’d just come, she stopped at the threshold of the living room, and waited.

Sure enough, Nona looked right at her, her lips still curved in a smile while steely determination burned in the depths of her eyes. Motioning at the chair across from her, she assured, “I promise not to laugh so hard, if you promise not to ask such silly questions.”

Stomping towards her seat, knowing she was acting like a dejected child and really hating that she’d been less than an adult, Nat threw back her shoulders and raised her head. Sitting down, she nodded. “Alright, I’ll try, but I make no promises.”

“Then you can’t get mad at me for laughing.”

“Right, but I have to get a few things off my chest really quick then our truce is in effect, ‘kay?”

“By all means,” Nona snickered, already holding her handkerchief up to her chest.

“Is he gonna turn me into a giant lizard? Is this shit written in stone or is there a get-outta-mating- a-big-fiery-beast card? Do Dragons believe in divorce? What if we do this hocus-pocus-BS and he leaves the toilet seat up or throws his dirty underwear all over the place? Can you hide me until all this is over? Make it go away?” Taking a breath, she fell back in her chair and groaned as she asked her final question, “Can he fly? ‘Cause, ya’ know I’m scared shitless of heights?”

Gasping as she once again jumped to her feet, Nat yelped, “Oh shit, shit, shit! You can’t make it go away and neither can I. That’s what you think is so damn funny, isn’t it? I’m up Shit’s Creek without a paddle and you’re laughing your heinie off.” Falling back into her chair, she snapped, “Son of a bitch! Is it wrong to pray I get shot in the line of duty?”