Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Rose

I startled awake to a truly frightening noise. It was so loud it shook the walls of my normally sturdy cottage. The entire structure seemed to tremble as if an unseen force had gripped it.

"What the hell?" I muttered, rubbing at my eyes and jumping from the bed, stumbling on uneasy legs. My heart pounded as I tried to make sense of the situation, but I was too disoriented to think straight.

I tried surveying my room to figure out what had happened, but my eyes were gritty and burning. How long had I been asleep? I rubbed at my face again as my walls and windows shook harder. I crouched to the ground, expecting the glass to explode or the roof to rip away over my head.

As if on cue, a crack formed in the plaster wall, and small pieces broke free and crashed to the ground next to me. My stomach jumped, and a startled scream tore from my lips.

My heart raced as my brain quickly came to life under whatever was happening. The roar of whatever was outside my door sounded again and I covered my ears under the onslaught.

Whatever this was I couldn't remain here and hope for the best. I had to figure out what it was and find a way to keep it from tearing my cottage to the ground.

A glance across the bed and its shredded sheets brought everything from the night before flooding back in an instant. Magnus! Oh God. We were together...

I wasn't one for regrets, but he wasn't— In the cold light of day I couldn't get my mind to admit it. But?—

My eyes shot around the still dim room. Where the hell was he?

"Magnus?" I shouted, fear spiking through me. "Are you okay?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself. As much as I wanted to crawl under this bed and hide until whatever this was passed, I had a responsibility to the man I'd brought here against his will. He could be injured, and I had to do what I could.

When the latest roar ended, the walls stopped shaking and everything quieted. I had no idea how long this peace would last, but this was my chance. I darted for the door and ran as fast as I could towards the kitchen.

Mid way there a new pounding started at my front door. This had to be some sort of joke. A glance at the window showed barely a sliver of light off into the distance. The sun hadn't even made it above the horizon yet. I changed direction and headed towards the front, but before I could get there another loud sound that suspiciously seemed like an animal roar erupted from every direction, sending my nerves into overdrive. My pulse pounded harder, blood rumbled in my ears, and the banging at the door grew ferocious.

"Magnus! What the fuck is going on?" A male voice boomed from the other side of the wooden door, and before I could think better of it, I yanked it open. A man and a woman I didn't recognize stood on the other side, their mouths immediately dropping open when they caught sight of me.

"What in the world is happening?" My yelled question probably came out crazy considering I had no idea who these two people were or what they wanted. What time was it anyways? I'd left my phone—somewhere and had no idea.

"It's five in the morning," the woman said as the couple pushed through the doorway.

"How did you—" Unless I was going crazy, I had not voiced my question about the time out loud.

"I have a sense about things." She shrugged. "Plus, you looked down at your hand for your phone, and then looked around. The logical question besides who we are was what time is it."

"Okay, I'll bite. Who are you, and what are you doing at my home at this hour? And why does it sound like the world is coming crashing down around us?"

Before she could answer, another commotion erupted, as loud as the others, but this time accompanied by breaking glass.

"Where is Magnus?" the man asked, shaking his head. "Never mind. I can find him." He disappeared into the back of my house before I could respond, leaving the woman standing next to me.

"Uhm. I better go help, or you might not have a home much longer. Maybe I could answer your questions after I get a couple of dragons under control?”

I nodded and she swept past me, disappearing in the direction her partner had.

Wait.

"What did you?—"

Had she said… My eyes widened.

A couple of dragons?

Panic seized my chest as I tried to decide what to do next. The door was still open. I could grab John's keys and make a run for it. Whatever this was, it wasn't worth my life. I took two steps towards the door and realized two things. One, I was barely dressed. I had nothing but a ratty t-shirt and panties on. Although, considering what had transpired earlier, I guess I was lucky to have that much.

Two, I had curiosity worse than a cat. Hell, ten cats. I couldn't leave without knowing what was going on in my own freaking house. If there was a problem, I had to face it head on. I did not RUN from my problems.

A snicker slipped from my mouth. "Okay pot, kettle here calling your bluff," I mumbled to myself as I grabbed the throw blanket from my reading chair and wrapped it around my body. I'd already made a fool of myself answering the door like this, but that didn't mean I intended to make it worse.

Before I made it ten feet, the entire cottage shook again, bits of plaster breaking free and raining debris and dust all around me that I had to sidestep to evade. This time anger surged at the destruction happening in my home. Enough was e-freaking-nough. Dragon, no dragon, fantasy, crazy. I DID NOT care. This was my home, and I refused to let them destroy it.

I marched down the hall towards my greenhouse and came to a halt. My hand flew to my mouth as I gasped. An immediate burning sensation prickled at the back of my eyes, and my stomach lurched into my throat.

The back half of my greenhouse was gone.

The windows weren't broken. Nor were the walls cracked. They were simply gone . Pulverized. All my work. I glanced around. My plants—ruined.

It took several seconds, maybe more, but I finally found my voice as a wave of anger rolled through me. "What in the hell is going on here?" I was so upset about the state of my greenhouse, I'd failed to notice anything else. Until I took several steps forward and bumped into a...

My gaze traveled skyward as multiple hues of green and black filled my vision.

Uhh...were those actual—scales?

"Stay back," the male stranger warned as my gaze continued up. I vaguely heard his words, despite their volume, as patterns and swirls of colors and texture filled my vision. I'd known there was some truth to what he’d told me after what I'd seen behind him at the shelter.

But WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HELL.

This wasn't some caricature standing in my house or some kind of frigging pet he kept by his side. Or even an aperture. This was a fully-grown, full-size dragon busting its way through my tiny house.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I jumped. "You really should give him some space. He's not exactly reasonable when he's like this."

"Reasonable?!" I turned to face her. "Are you freaking kidding me right now? Reasonable," I wheezed, unable to take a full breath. "That arsehole has torn my house into pieces." I turned back towards the dragon, anger completely obliterating any fear I probably should have felt. "Look what you did to my work! You’ve ruined everything!"

The dragon blinked, staring at me blankly for a few heartbeats before his eyes narrowed and a rumbling growl filled the air around me.

I slapped my hands on my hips and glared back. "Don't you dare growl at me, you overgrown, overhyped lizard. Look at this place. It took me years to establish all of this, and it took you seconds to destroy all of it. What did I do to you to deserve this?" I wasn't sure if I was on the verge of a meltdown or a breakdown, but the destruction of my greenhouse was too much. All I could see was green and black, but it might as well have been the dark red of my rage.

Another growl, this one louder. But I was on a roll and the devastation surrounding me was all I could see. I didn't know what gave this arsehole the right to do— Then it hit me. This was some sort of retaliation? Mother fucker. "How many times do I have to tell you that what I did to you was an accident? Or that I'm sorry I hurt you? I wasn’t trying to kill you. I thought we were past this? You certainly weren't complaining or whining like a baby last night when you were inside me."

A gasp from the woman brought me up short. I'd momentarily forgotten that we had an audience.

The man, however, looked more concerned than shocked. He stepped between me and the dragon and held up his hands. "Magnus. Please. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but whatever you're thinking, don't do it. If you hurt her, you can't come back from that. Especially if she's your mate."

"Oh shit." My head swung around to see the shocked look on the woman's face as the stranger’s words began to sink in.

"Hurt me?" I whirled back around and stepped around the man. I did not need his help or interference. I'd had enough. "Is that your intention? Well fine, go ahead then. Take your best shot. You want me dead over this? Then do it. It can't be any worse than what you've already done. The work I've done here meant everything to me. Everything! And look at it," I waved my arms around the room like a lunatic. "You've ruined everything."

"Can you please stop talking?" the man hissed under his breath. "His dragon is not known for his reasonable thought processes or sound mind. You're going to get yourself or him killed."

I turned and narrowed my eyes. "And who are you? What business of yours is it what he does? Are you his keeper? Because if so, you are doing a terrible job."

The woman behind me snorted, barely smothering her laugh. We both turned and glared at her.

"What? It was funny." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Isaac. You have to admit that you do go a little overboard when it comes to Magnus. Maybe if you gave him some space…."

The man called Isaac shook his head, taking a deep, slow breath that he exhaled hard. "I thought we were on the same side on this."

"We are. But why does there have to be sides? He's your brother, not an enemy combatant. One way or another, you both have to work through this."

"I don't have time for this." Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose as if it was he who was inconvenienced. "Please take her outside. Preferably as far from this house as you can get, until I get this under control."

"Don't you dare touch her." The gravelly voice startled all of us, forcing our attention back to the?—

Dragon.

Only he was gone now, and in his place stood the man I'd gotten to know on a carnal level the night before. And he was as naked as he'd been when I last saw him, albeit with a little greener, scalier skin than I remembered.

Isaac lifted his hands and took a step back. "Shit. I'm not going to touch her. Why do you think I asked Kitra to go with her?"

"Get away from her." The demand from Magnus was so guttural and angry it forced me to take a step back as well.

Some of the pieces were coming together but none of them were making sense. Isaac was obviously Magnus's brother, and the woman was Kitra. But what were they doing here? My thoughts were swirling faster than I could process them as they continued their conversation with me tuning out most of it because it was proving too much.

"Can you just take him and go? This has all been a huge mistake." I was angry now, but I knew well enough that it wouldn’t be long before I broke down in tears. It really was too much, and I didn’t need to embarrass myself any further.

All three of them turned and stared at me, but it was the unnerving way Magnus looked over me that made me want to crumble.

There'd been a flash of emotions, I didn't want to guess what they'd meant for fear of reading into something that didn't exist. Hunger, longing, maybe even disappointment. My brain couldn't help but think them despite my knowing better.

"I'm not going anywhere," Magnus declared.

My eyes widened, but it was his brother Isaac who really got my attention.

"If she's your mate, then we'll deal with it. But not until we find a way to get you and your dragon back into sync. This is only going to make things worse."

"Isaac, honey, take a breath. Maybe Magnus could find some clothes, and we could all sit down and talk about this like adults."

Isaac hooked his thumb towards his brother. “I think that ship has sailed.”

My head was going to explode. "What do you mean mate?" I'd spoken my question on a whisper, but apparently, they all heard me just fine because conversation ceased. Isaac and Kitra looked everywhere but at me or Magnus.

Magnus stared at me with a pained expression for several heart-stopping beats before an emotionless mask took over and he became impossible to read. There was no other way to describe what happened other than a complete lockdown of whatever he had going on in his head.

"She's not my mate."

Four simple words that should have brought immense relief, and yet…

"But—" Isaac started to say.

"It wouldn't matter if she was. She's as human as they come, and my dragon doesn't want her. All he wants is to go home and exact his revenge. Until then, nothing will change. Nothing will end."

"Are you sure about that?" Kitra asked quietly, her disbelief clear.

I didn't hear what she or any of them had to say as I processed Magnus's little bombshell. It was as if my entire body had flamed hot the second he said those words. The embarrassment alone…

Despite the burning at the backs of my eyes, I gritted my teeth and willed them not to fall. I will not cry.

The asshole I'd slept with last night had just declared me not good enough for him. He didn't deserve tears. Or sympathy. Or anything. It was fine. I didn't want him either.

A little voice in the back of my head protested, and I locked it down hard.

"He's right. This is all a mistake."

Magnus didn't even acknowledge me before he answered the other woman. "Of course I'm sure. Fate is a mean bitch, but even she wouldn't saddle a human with my pissed off dragon as a mate. That would be cruel."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she seethed. "But you're a fool if you think anyone is exempt from fate's cruel bite." She waved both Isaac and Magnus off before they could interrupt. "But that's not what I was talking about." She walked over to me and cupped my cheek, forcing me to meet her gaze and then turned my head side to side as if she were inspecting me. "Are you sure she's human?" she asked, peering closer. "Because I'm not."