Chapter 16

16

Belle left,and Dracin worried she wouldn’t return. Not because of the vampires they hunted. Belle could handle those. It was the head witch, Marjorie, that concerned him. He just knew she’d be getting in Belle’s ear, nattering about how they shouldn’t be together. Bad-mouthing his kind.

Maybe she spoke the truth. After all, the only other dragon he ever encountered tried to kill him. Yet, until the vampires, Dracin had never killed anything other than wild animals. Sure, he’d been in fights, the kind that used fists and where all parties walked away with bruised bodies and egos. He could hold his own if shoved, but he wasn’t a killer, and really, did vampires even count?

Even if he were, he would never harm Belle.

But would that matter? The coven leader seemed bound and determined to separate them. Who was to say she wouldn’t use magic to convince Belle?

Mate come back. His dragon seemed rather clear on that point, but he couldn’t stem the nagging feeling something was amiss.

Late afternoon, the sky turned dark. Storm clouds moved in, bringing deep shadows to the land. He found himself going around the house, looking out windows, checking the locks, checking his guns. Despite the current laws, he kept them loaded. He didn’t have kids to worry about playing with them, just himself and a fear that one day his secret would be exposed. He’d rather go out in a blaze of bullets than waste away as a prisoner to science.

On his second outside circuit around his house, he heard the rumble of an engine. A familiar rumble that turned into his truck, kicking up dust and stone as it came to a sliding halt in his driveway.

Long strides brought him close enough to greet, only to scowl as Marjorie, not Belle, exited the vehicle. “You.”

“Lovely to see you again,” she replied just as sarcastically.

“Where’s Belle?”

“She’s not here?” The witch frowned.

“Is she supposed to be?” he snapped rather than letting his panic unleash.

“She went chasing after a feral that escaped our net.”

“Alone?” he bellowed.

“It was just one. She should be fine.”

“Fine and yet you don’t know where she is,” he pointed out with a glower.

“Calm your ass down, reptile. You’d know if she was dead.”

“How do you figure?” He ignored the fact that Marjorie somehow figured out he wasn’t a furry shifter.

Her lips turned down. “Because a true mate bond always knows.”

Alive,his dragon confirmed.

“Why are you here if you’re so convinced she’s fine? She was supposed to be the one bringing back my truck.”

The older witch chewed her lower lip. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“About?” He crossed his arms.

“Clarabelle is very important to me. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Says the woman who left her alone to hunt a rabid vampire.”

“Fighting monsters is easy. She’s always been one of our best. But when it comes to men, you specifically, I’m afraid she’s not as experienced. She doesn’t seem to grasp the difficulties a mating with a non-witch will bring.”

He arched a brow. “Such as?”

“She’ll lose her position.”

“Ah yes, because who she’s fucking really affects her job performance,” he drawled.

“Your attitude isn’t helping,” the witch snapped.

“My attitude? Listen, lady, you’re the one who came here spouting how I’m some kind of murdering monster. Insulting me in my own home. Telling me I’m not good enough for Belle. And maybe I’m not. I’m certainly not rich. I’m a blue-collar kind of guy. But I’m also hard-working and loyal.”

“The man part of you is. What of the dragon?”

“The dragon says you’re annoying.”

“It speaks to you?” she queried.

“That surprises you?”

“I guess I’ve not fully realized the complex nature of the bond between man and beast. I’d always assumed shifting was just about changing shape.”

“It’s a part of me,” Dracin corrected. “I know what it thinks and feels. And it goes both ways.”

“Fine, but if either side of you harms Clarabelle, I’ll kill you,” she threatened, daring to shake her finger at him in his own driveway.

“One, I never would, and if by some fluke I did, you wouldn’t have to act because I’d make sure I never could again.” With that, he was done talking. He needed to find Belle. He shifted, not caring if his clothes tore, not giving a fuck that the witch gaped as he went from man to dragon.

With a mighty shove of his legs, he pushed himself into the sky, as high as he dared to go with the clouds and their angry rumble of thunder. Not that he worried about lightning. He’d always had an affinity for storms. This high overhead, he could see for miles around, his vision sharper than an eagle’s. Every tiny movement on the ground a thing to laser-focus on and identify.

The squirrel leaping from branch to branch.

The pair of blue jays squawking as they found cover before the storm.

On the other side of the forest hiding his place from sight, a car parked on the shoulder of the road, its trunk open. A few flaps of his wings gave him a better angle to see through the driver’s side window and the body slumped over the wheel.

Heart attack? But what of the open cargo?

“Die, foul creature.” The cry came from Marjorie, and he spun midair to see her on the ground by his truck, confronting a partially burned husk.

Theodore lived!

No for long. As he headed back for his place, he noticed the vampire glowed as if his entire body were wrapped in magic.

A magical shield as it turned out, given how it bounced Marjorie’s attack. The ricocheting ball of fire she tossed came zooming back, and the witch only narrowly dodged it.

The half-baked vampire uttered a breathy chuckle, his voice a harsh rasp. “Fool me once, shame on me. You can’t harm me with your magic. I’ve protected myself since the attack. Where is the dragon and his witch?”

“Not here.” Marjorie lifted her chin.

“Tell me where?”

“I don’t think so.” She flung out her hand, aiming for the ground under his feet, which rumbled and heaved, but the vampire floated above it.

“Your magic can’t harm me. Not while the blood of the pack runs through my veins. I knew their immunity to witch magic would come in handy one day. Pity they taste so bad.”

“It won’t make you immune forever,” Marjorie retorted.

“Long enough for you to die.” Theodore lunged, and she wasn’t quick enough to escape the clawed and burnt fingers that gripped her by the throat.

Fluttering overhead and watching, Dracin could have let Marjorie die. After all, she wanted Belle to leave him. Wanted to take his mate. Keep them apart.

If Marjorie were gone, he’d have no one to worry about.

Only, he knew Belle wouldn’t approve, and what she thought of him meant more than anything.

Without any bugle of warning, he swooped down from the sky, arrowing in on the vampire intent on making the witch his victim. Theodore’s burnt body oozed from its injuries, his fangs extending in preparation for his next meal. The witch.

Only at the last moment did Theodore think to look up. His bloodshot eyes widened as he saw the gaping jaw coming for him.

Crunch.

While usually a fan of barbecued meat, Dracin spat out the head. Burnt rotted meat. Blech. He spat a few times to get the foul taste out.

Marjorie stood there blinking at him before pinching her lips and saying a reluctant, “Thank you.”

She should thank him, because his dragon wanted to eat her something fierce but Dracin firmly told it no.

It helped that he sensed a presence nearby.

Belle had returned.