Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

***ARCHIE***

T he truth hit Archie like a punch in the stomach. He'd let Susan and her dad turn him into a whimpering mess. She'd berated, belittled him, and broken him down until there was nothing left of his pride. He could have stopped what happened, could have put an end to their tyranny over him, but they'd robbed him of his self-worth, beaten him down until he'd started believing their poisoned words.

"I have to break the cycle," he said, more to himself than Felicity. "And I know exactly how to do that."

"Then you're half way there," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "Have you seen enough?"

He looked down at her and nodded his head, "Let's get out of here," he said. "I think I understand now."

But when they turned to find the door, it wasn't there. Instead, the room grew dark, then light as if the sun had set and risen again in only seconds. Turning around with Felicity still in his arms, they watched the sun rise and set over and over, and then it suddenly stopped. He gasped when he saw a much older version of himself sitting at the almost empty desk, the office stripped of most of his personal belongings.

There was a knock on the office door, then a young woman poked her head into the room. "I'm glad you're still here, Dr. Robinson," she said, stepping all the way into the office with a brightly decorated cake. "Happy birthday!"

"Oh, Sarah, you didn't have to do that," the older Archie said. "But it's very pretty, thank you."

The young woman set the cake down on the nearly empty desk. "Everyone needs a cake on their birthday, and since this is your last day at the clinic, I thought you deserved one even more," she said. "I bet you're looking forward to retirement. You must have lots of exciting plans."

"Oh, I'm a bit too old for excitement," the other Archie said. "No, I'm just going to putter around in my little garden and hang out with the cats."

Felicity looked over at him, but he was staring at an older version of himself, his eyes full of shock and horror. "Cats," he said, out loud, shaking his head. "I hate cats."

"It's just a dream, Archie," she said, taking his hand again. "Come on, let's try to get out again, I don't think you need to see any more of this."

He shook his head, trying to clear the depressing sight before him out of his mind and let her turn him away from the desk, but when she reached for the handle, the big wooden door blew open on its own, sending them stumbling back a couple of steps. The room was filled with a thick mist, and for a second, he couldn't see anything. Then, a cold wind blew through the door, clearing the air and making him shiver.

This time they were standing in a mausoleum, surrounded by stone crypts, hundreds of them all lined up along one wall like post office boxes, and a cold feeling began to spread through him. He instantly recognized the young woman from his office standing at the end of the room with a man dressed in a suit, and found himself walking toward them. Trembling by the time he reached them, sure he already knew why they were there, and wishing he could turn around and run, he stopped to listen.

"It's such a shame that he had to die like that, and just days after he retired," Sarah said. "All alone except for all those cats. He was always such a private man, I just assumed he had someone in his life."

"It was very kind of you to take care of the arrangements," the man said. "When would you like to have the memorial service?"

"Oh, I don't think that we'll have one," Sarah said. "I don't think anyone would come, and that would be even sadder."

"I understand," the man said, shaking his head. "Leave everything to me. I'll take care of Dr. Robinson, with cremation and a private interment. It's common practice in these cases."

"I'm so glad you understand," Sarah said. "I really must be going, I had to use my lunch break to come here. They wouldn't even give me time off to handle this. After forty years at that practice, you would have thought someone would care."

"Very sad," the man said, nodding his head. "It was nice to meet you. I'll let you know when it's done."

Archie's head was spinning, his stomach was full of knots, and he knew that he was beginning to tremble, but then Felicity pushed her way into his arms and wrapped him up in a big hug. "Sweetheart, it's just a dream, this doesn't have to be your future," she said. "Come on, look at me. You have a choice, remember?"

He finally tore his eyes away from the scene in front of him and looked down into the depths of Felicity's blue eyes, seeing compassion, but also love, and he sucked in a ragged breath. "That is not the future I want," he said, getting angry. "I want out of here now. I know what I have to do. Let's go."

Behind them, the wooden door banged open, revealing the black swirling mass again. He grabbed Felicity's hand and rushed back through it, relieved when the red brick of the chamber finally swam into view. He crushed Felicity to him, the scenes they'd just witnessed still swimming though his head, and took deep breaths, fighting off waves of panic. When he could finally breathe normally, he relaxed his hold on her and looked down at the face he'd come to love.

"Are you okay?" she asked, reaching up to wipe away a tear that had rolled down his cheek. "That was brutal, I'm sorry, Archie."

He nodded. "But I think I needed to see it," he said, letting out a long sigh. "I don't want to die alone, Felicity, I don't want to spend my life with a bunch of cats, I want to be with you. I want to share my life with you, I want to grow old with you, I want……"

Felicity stretched up on her toes and kissed him, cutting off his words, and he sank into the kiss, relishing the feel of her in his arms. When her lips left his, they were back at the waterfall, lying on the ground in each other's arms, and he crushed her to him again, the tears flowing freely, so thankful that it wasn't too late to fix things.

***Felicity***

Felicity held Archie as he cried, her own tears streaming down her face, loving him even more, which she hadn't thought possible. "I don't ever want to see my own death again," he said. "Not until I'm experiencing it, and I hope that's a long time from now."

She rubbed his chest, listening to his heart rate slow, then sat up and gave him a kiss. "You're the bravest man I know," she said. "And if I have anything to do with it, that will not be your future."

"Oh, yeah, what did you have in mind?" he asked, grinning up at her. "I'm open to suggestions."

"I was kind of thinking that part about spending the rest of our lives together sounded pretty good," she said, grinning back at him. "Maybe we should talk about that a little more."

The smile faded from Archie's face, replaced by the look of uncertainty she'd come to recognize. "Archie, what's wrong?" she asked. "It's over now. We don't have to go back there again."

"It's not over, though," he said, sitting up. "There's still something I have to tell you, and I'm scared it's going to change everything between us."

"Archie, we've been through this before, nothing is going to change the way I feel about you," she said, taking his hands in hers. "I know that you're not perfect, I'm not perfect either. Whatever it is, we'll work it out together."

"It's not that simple," he said, pulling his hands from hers. "What I have to tell you is going to seem even crazier than what we've just been through, so promise me that you'll keep an open mind."

"Now you have me worried," she said, her stomach suddenly full of butterflies. "Just tell me, Archie, I'm imagining all kinds of terrible things."

He was silent for a second, then took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm just going to tell you straight out, then try to explain," he said. "I'm a shifter, Felicity, a dragon shifter, to be exact. When I want to, I can change my form and become a different creature. I don't know for sure how it happens, but it does."

Stunned, she could only stare at him. "Did you just say a dragon?" she asked. "Dragons aren't real, they're just in stories. "

"They were real once. A very, very, long time ago, a wizard mixed humans and dragons using magic, trying to come up with a superior race," Archie said, watching her very closely. "It didn't go so well, and we were persecuted for a long time, but now we live quietly with humans, and no one is any wiser."

She couldn't speak, didn't know what she would say if she did, and she looked over at Archie to make sure he wasn't joking, but his face was completely serious. "I know it's a lot to take in, I'll understand if you need some time to……" his words died away. "I'm not a monster, Felicity, I'm still me. I still think like me and feel the same things as I do when I'm in my human form."

She scrambled to her feet, then took a couple of steps away from him, and his face filled with disappointment. "I want to see you do it," she said. "If you're telling me the truth, then prove it."

He stared at her, his face filled with shock, "Felicity, I don't know if that's a good idea," he said, getting up from the ground. "I don't want to scare you. I don't want you to think I'm a monster."

A part of her couldn't believe this was happening, and if she hadn't just been through what she had with Archie, she might have run away screaming, sure that he was crazy. But she stood her ground and looked into his eyes, and seeing the fear and apprehension, she understood that he was telling the truth. As unbelievable as it was, the man she loved was more than she'd ever imagined, so much more, and a thrill shot through her, making her entire body warm with desire.

Slightly breathless, she closed the distance between them, then put her hands on his chest, making Archie groan. "I believe you, Archie," she said. "But I still want to see you shift, I want to see the other half of who you are, sweetheart. I won't be frightened, I won't run away from you, and I promise it's not going to change the way I feel about you. You're going to have to trust me."

He studied her for a second, then leaned down and kissed her deeply before walking away, leaving her standing under the tree, her body throbbing with need. "Should I close my eyes?" she asked, grinning at him. "It's not gross when it happens, is it?"

Archie gave her a dirty look. "Behave yourself, missy," he said. And no, it's not gross. It happens really fast; if you blink, you might miss it. Now, hush up."

She closed her mouth, not sure what to expect, but unprepared for the reality of what happened in the next few seconds. The air around Archie began to shimmer, and a surge of power filled the little clearing, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Then Archie suddenly disappeared, and only a second later, a huge dragon was standing in his place.

She stood staring at the creature, a small part of her brain not quite ready to accept what she was seeing, but then she looked into its eyes, and the brown eyes looking back at her were clearly Archie's. "Oh, Archie," she said, taking a tentative step toward him. "Is that really you?"

The creature nodded its head, making the shimmering brown feathers that covered his body ripple. She gasped, feeling her knees beginning to give way. Concern flashed in those beautiful brown eyes and she took a deep breath to steady herself, then took another step toward him. She studied the rippling muscles under the feathers as she crept closer, then let her gaze travel down to the huge talons gripping the ground and back up to his eyes, realizing that he was magnificent.

She reached out with a trembling hand and stroked the soft feathers on his chest, then put her arms around him and held on until suddenly the dragon was gone, and Archie was putting his very human arms around her. They stayed that way for several minutes, then she pulled back and looked up at him with a smile.

"Now see, that wasn't so hard," she said, then reached up and stroked his face. "I'm still going to need some time to get used to this. I was wrong though; it did change the way I feel about you. I want you even more now than I did before."