20. Chloe

TWENTY

That was incredible. But why does it have to end?

They had flown back to the castle and spent a full day enraptured in sex, tangled up in each other's bodies. Chloe had experienced no greater pleasure than being with Adrian.

Still, she was finding it difficult to wrap her mind around the fact that not only was Adrian a dragon shifter, but he was the king of all dragon shifters. Her life had changed beyond her comprehension, and she desperately hoped she would never wake up from this fantasy.

But then Chloe was faced with the sobering realization that she needed to return to work and that they were still living two very distinct lives. She had enjoyed a full weekend with Adrian, but now reality was beckoning her.

"I'll see you when you get off work," Adrian insisted as she left the castle that morning. As a figurehead, Adrian needed to stay there with his people as he had matters to tend to. He had wanted to take her back to her apartment, but she assured him she could handle it herself.

She smiled back at him, savoring the view one last time.

"You'd better," she told him, still tempted to simply stay at the castle and ditch work. Instead, she resolved to act like a responsible adult. With one last deep kiss, she began the lonely drive back to her apartment, a part of her still wishing she could stay with Adrian all day.

"Well, here goes nothing, I guess," she said when she arrived, taking the stairs to her apartment. It was exactly as she had left it.

She threw on a nice outfit, still feeling groggy. She wasn't sure how she was going to adjust to her new life, having experienced the perks of royalty with a being almost ripped from one of her novels.

I hope we don't have to do this back and forth all the time, she thought.

Mere days ago, she was convinced she was dead to Adrian. She still remembered running out of the library in tears. So much has happened since then.

Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it, recognizing a text from Adrian.

Have a great day, gorgeous.

She sighed, feeling a bittersweet sense of satisfaction. She was going to miss him all day. But it was at least tangible proof that the previous days, which felt like a blur, hadn't been a dream.

Chloe imagined Adrian's face on the bus ride to the library, which she took to avoid dealing with difficult downtown parking. The bright morning glow permeated through the windows, accompanied by the chill of the city. As long as she kept his face fresh in her mind, he wouldn't fade away.

Her stomach gurgled.

"I guess I've got time," she said, noting that she was still thirty minutes early.

It was a restrained, quiet Monday, even for this early in the morning. Bike riders ambled carelessly through the street, and small business owners all quietly hustled to prepare for the week.

Stopping by the cafe across the street, she texted Adrian, asking him about his morning and enjoying the sweet nothings that appeared on her phone screen. The bagel sandwich she bit into was both cold and stale, and she found herself missing breakfasts in the castle.

She expected a quiet day at work like any other. But that expectation was shattered when she stepped inside.

"Well, you've got some pep in your step," Kelcy said, standing next to Wes at the checkout counter. "What"s going on? Where have you been?"

Chloe waved them off and kept moving toward the back room, where she stored her purse and belongings. But they followed, hungry for juicy gossip.

"Come on, you never call into work," Kelcy said.

"She is right, you know," Wes said. "I checked. The last time you didn't show up was when that nasty flu was going around. Was that two years back?"

Chloe chuckled as she put her purse into her cubby. Her cheeks were prickly with blush.

Kelcy pointed at her dramatically and wide-eyed. "It's a man! I knew it!"

"Hush!" Chloe said, shielding a smile. "Okay, fine. You caught me. I met this guy at this party my friends and I went to … and it's been amazing. Like, really, really amazing."

Kelcy's eyes gleamed, begging for more. Even Wes neglected his work to listen. Chloe had no choice but to appease them.

"He's sexier than any celebrity. He also has a lot of money. The man flew me out in a helicopter last night to this rooftop restaurant. It was so damn romantic."

"Jesus," Wes said, grimacing. "Well, try to stay focused. This place has been falling apart without you."

Kelcy snickered as Wes returned to the daily grind, though he seemed perfectly content to eavesdrop.

She told Kelcy a bit more about how they met and how spectacular the sex had been. Kelcy seemed content to chalk it up to inexperience, but Chloe left no detail unrevealed, quick to correct her misconceptions.

The only thing she didn't reveal was the most fantastic part of it all. Not once did the words shifter, dragon, or king leave her lips.

It was quite a bizarre fact to relay at the back of a library, and Chloe wasn't entirely sure her coworkers would believe her, even if she didn't feel somehow sworn to secrecy. It was absurd enough to her, so she left it as it was.

Chloe returned to cataloging and shelving books while Kelcy ran the checkout station and helped customers. Traffic wasn't too intense on Mondays, but there were still the occasional students working on their college papers.

Chloe sang to herself as she moved to the back of the library to shelve a few books, a little nook she'd settled more than once in. Even when Wes and Kelcy took their lunch break, she remained in the library corner, keeping one ear open for any patrons who came in.

So when Gayle appeared out of thin air, Chloe was startled.

"Shit," she said, grabbing her chest with a smile. "I didn't hear you coming at all."

Gayle didn't seem like she was in a playful mood. In fact, she looked pretty pissed off. She stood there looming, her arms crossed, and her jaw strained.

"Why haven't you called me back?" Gayle asked impatiently.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chloe said, putting down the book she had been holding on the rolling rack. "I've been with Adrian a lot. My mind is spinning, to be honest."

Chloe tried to smile, but Gayle wore a consistent and unrelenting scowl. The towering woman stepped closer and craned her neck into the nape of Chloe's neck, sniffing deeply.

Chloe stood there, her blood running cold.

When Gayle stepped back, she snorted, dissatisfied.

"I can tell that Adrian hasn't marked you, has he?" she said, her tone clipped.

Chloe was suddenly getting a bad vibe from Gayle but tried to play it off.

"He hasn't, no," she said. "I think probably soon, I'm going to …"

"Well, now. That wasn't very smart of him at all, was it?" Gayle smiled, the expression not reaching her eyes which were cold and distant.

Chloe backed up away from her toward the back entrance of the library. This was more than a subtle warning in the back of her mind. She didn't understand what was happening, but she was in danger.

"I need to get back to work now," she said, turning away stiffly. "We can talk later if you want …"

With lightning speed, Gayle grabbed Chloe's wrist, her fist as tight as an iron claw. She spun Chloe around and pushed her against the bookshelves, causing them to shake roughly.

"Let me go!"

Gayle shook her head. Her eyes were narrow, her lip trembling with a feral snarl. Gayle pinned Chloe's arm over her head, lowering her eyes to meet Chloe's.

Gayle's eyes were black coals.

"You're so predictable," Gayle hissed. "I saw how Adrian swooned over you at the masquerade. I made a mistake letting you go to him. I thought he'd be sensible and reject you. But never again."

Gayle's free hand slithered up the valley of Chloe's chest. She rested her palm against her throat. Her fingers did not tighten, but Chloe knew that Gayle could take the life out of her. Like a firm noose, those fingers could easily crush her windpipe like it was made of rice paper.

She drummed her fingers against her throat as she spoke. Chloe's heart was ready to punch through her chest.

"Aww … Don't worry, little one," Gayle went on, her jaw sliding back and forth while musing. "The fact that he hasn't marked you yet will be a big service to our kind. He would have turned the elder dragons against everybody. Civil war."

She chuckled. "But he would have had the perfect tracking system if he'd just marked you." Gayle brought her face against Chloe's, looking at her intimately. "It's really too bad he's not going to find you."

Chloe's mind was a tangled mess. She tried to scream, but Gayle merely pressed her palm over her mouth, again with a threatening softness.

"Adrian knows what I want," Gayle growled. She looked over Chloe, releasing her hand. Chloe darted in the other direction and met with two large, imposing men.

"Oh, how rude of me," Gayle said. "These are my two lackeys. Jimi, Nathan, say hello."

They waved, wearing smiles inappropriate for the situation. She considered screaming but remembered at the last moment she was alone. Kelcy and Wes were still on their lunch break.

While she faced the men, a chemical, nauseating stench pressed against her face.

"Nighty night," Gayle said from behind her.

She became woozy, and her limbs faltered. Chloe's vision went black.