Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Rose

As the beauty and scent of my plants welcomed me home, their vibrant hues and earthy aromas enveloping my senses, I momentarily forgot about the man behind me. The familiar comfort of my sanctuary pulled me in, inviting me to come closer and let all of my problems fall to the wayside.

Until a sharp intake of breath and some very choice words, colorful enough to make a sailor blush, dragged me back to reality with jarring abruptness.

What in the ever-loving hell had I been thinking bringing him here? This was my private sanctuary that I shared with no one. The gravity of my impulsive decision hit me hard, leaving me dizzy with consequences.

I had to be out of my mind. There was no other way to put it.

But a dragon? No.

I blew out a puff of air before plastering a smirk on my face and turning to face him once again.

I don't know what I'd expected to see, but the abject fear burning in his eyes was absolutely not it. "What's wrong?" I asked, hoping that his answer wouldn't freak me out.

"Faeshade," he said hoarsely. "That's what you fed me."

It wasn't a name I recognized. However, I followed his gaze to the corner where my valerian collection resided.

When it came to anxiety, most people focused on ashwagandha, or chamomile. But I'd discovered that using valerian produced far better results.

"I don't know what faeshade is." I crossed the room and touched one of the glossy green leaves. The deep color was enough for me to know it still thrived, but judging by touch, I'd say the moisture in the room was a little off. Thanks to the most recent cold front, I'd need to make adjustments to the humidity controls.

"Don't touch that," he hissed, his eyes widening with sudden panic.

I sucked in a shocked breath, my hand freezing mid-air. "Why not?" I asked, my curiosity warring with the fear his reaction had sparked.

"That plant is extremely toxic," he explained, his voice low and serious. "It can easily kill you or at least make you very sick. Even a small amount on the skin can cause severe reactions." He stepped closer, gently but firmly pulling my hand away from the leaves. "Especially the ones with those flowers."

I cocked my head and smirked. "No, it isn't. This plant is completely harmless. Its healing properties are well documented and have been used for hundreds of years. I've been using it in my products for as long as I've been doing this."

He walked closer, bending to sniff at one of the flowers, with his hands held stiffly behind his back. "No," he said, looking up at me, his eyes narrowed. "Definitely toxic. And let me guess. This is what you fed me."

I blanched at his assessment. How could he tell anything from the scent? Those flowers gave off virtually no smell. Something I always thought was such a shame considering its beauty. "I assure you that plant is harmless. You must be confusing it with something else."

"I'm no herbologist, but I trust my sense of smell. It keeps me safe. And where I'm from, every fae must have a certain level of knowledge about the foliage and fauna that reside in our lands. While most are not toxic, there are some that are. Is that not the case here? You don't have dangerous plants?"

"Of course we do. Many that can be quite deadly. But I am very familiar with that one. Valerian is well known for its calming properties and in the right applications it can treat anxiety, depression as well as dementia."

"Ahh. So you're a healer then?"

"I do have my doctorate degree, but I am not a medical doctor, if that's what you mean. I take a more holistic approach in helping people."

"I don't know what that means, but it sounds like you don't know what you're doing. So, is this the plant you used to make your stew or not?"

I ground my teeth together in frustration. Whatever this barrier between us was, it seemed to be growing and making it more difficult to make my point. Pushing his delusions aside and focusing on the facts, I nodded. "As I said, it's meant to help people. In the small doses I use in food products, it will often give the consumer a calming effect. I hope to give the clients of the shelter a respite from their destitution. A few hours of peace if you will."

"So you poison them?"

"Oh my God. Enough. I would never do anything to hurt them and there isn't one research study that has shown that valerian can harm anyone. It's no different than the oregano I use in my spaghetti. It flavors the stew with a rich earthiness that tastes great and makes them happy. That's it. Nothing more. It would take much more than I'm willing to use to do anything further."

He shook his head and backed away from the plants. "You need to burn these immediately."

My mouth dropped open. "I will do no such thing."

He stomped in my direction, and I automatically took a few steps back. "You could kill some fae with what you have here."

"Fae? Like—like you?" I stammered, it finally hitting me that he'd referred to himself as fae previously as well. "I thought you were a dragon?" I asked the question even though I still didn't believe it. But I was curious as to how far this man was going to take his wild explanations. Never mind the niggle at the back of my mind that told me there was more to this than I believed. The image of that dragon standing at his shoulder had seemed so real…

"Dragon shifters are born of fae, and fae encompass many types of creatures."

"Like vampires," I blurted, still not really taking him seriously.

"It would take days to name them all and I'd probably forget half of them. And you would likely not know them, anyways. And you are getting me off point again. Is that your grand plan here? To keep distracting me from your cruel misdeeds?"

I snickered. Nothing about this situation should have been funny, but I couldn't hold back my laughter. He sounded so old fashioned. And delusional. I couldn't let myself forget that part.

"I can prove to you that my plants are not toxic." I stomped to the rear corner of the room where the older ones I harvested from were kept and yanked a leaf from a stem.

"Put that down!" he roared, shaking the walls, and making me look up at him in alarm again. How did he manage to make that sound so... "I will not have you die on my watch."

Again I laughed. "Your watch. What? This is my house. I brought you here, remember?"

His frown deepened along with his scowl. "Oh, I definitely have not forgotten. I just haven't decided what I intend to do about it. That's going to depend on how serious the repercussions are from you feeding me that plant and whether you can reverse it."

I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that.

"If you've had some sort of reaction to that plant then I need to do some more research because I've never known it to be a source of any type of problem."

"So you keep saying. And yet, here I am in the middle of nowhere, with no memory of how I got here and no sign of my dragon. I'd say that's a pretty serious problem."

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth and chewed on it nervously. None of this could be true. It had to be a figment of his imagination. And yet, I saw that dragon...

"Okay, let’s say I believe you. For scientific purposes of course. How?—"

"Of course you believe me. Why wouldn't you?" He looked genuinely offended.

"Like I said. Let's say I believe you. How exactly does this plant affect you?"

He shrugged. "It made me sick once, a long time ago, and that was enough for me to realize it was a problem. And that was after one bite, not an entire plant's worth."

I rolled my eyes. "Then maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much. I've never had anyone go back for more than seconds. So you did ingest more than anyone has before." I bit my lips to hold back a smile even though I knew this was no laughing matter. I couldn't help it. Watching an angry giant like him fall on my food like it was something he'd never had before had been adorable. Not that I would say that out loud.

"That's beside the point. That plant is poison. I've seen fae die from it."

"Other dragons?" I asked curiously. If I was going to go down this rabbit hole with him, I might as well jump in with both feet and embrace what he said. Just in case. And for science. Whether he was delusional or not, he'd passed out after eating that stew and for hours, no one could rouse him. That was definitely not usual behavior.

I'd need to test these plants for any changes in their biochemistry. It didn't seem likely that any cross contamination had occurred, but I would check to make sure. In the meantime, I would lock up the rest of my cooking spices and only use items obtained from the grocer until this matter was resolved.

"I don't usually spend time with other dragons."

The suddenly somber look on his face made me curious. "Why not?"

He shrugged. "Because our king forbids others in his realm, and I'm rarely permitted outside of our boundaries."

"Permitted? If you're a dragon, and I'm not saying I buy into that yet, wouldn't you be the kind of predator who didn't take orders from others?"

"It's good you recognize me as a predator. Although you should have done so before hauling me out here. Your instincts seem to be problematic." He only paused for a second before he continued. "And the king is my uncle. He's a ruthless ruler with enough magic to hold his own against a dragon."

"He sounds like a peach," I mused, beginning to see a peek into his history that could explain so many things. Family issues were often at the root of a lot of problems among the homeless. Including dementia.

"I'm not sure I would compare him to fruit. He's neither pleasant nor sweet. Ruthless. Unforgiving. Manipulative...."

I could see him lost in his thoughts and memories, and I took that time to study him. Initially, all I'd noticed was his massive size and then his scars, once those were revealed. I was curious about what had created such horrific marks, but I was also afraid to ask. There was no way they were attached to good memories and triggering him further didn’t sound like a great idea.

I glanced at his ears, but nothing about them stood out as different. They looked pretty much like anyone else's, and I immediately wanted to kick myself for even looking. If the fae were actually real, I had a feeling they'd be nothing like the children's stories I'd read over and over.

And he was most certainly not fae.

But he was ridiculously good looking. Even with scars. They didn't seem to detract from that at all. They had taken me by surprise at first, but now when I looked at him, I only thought he looked ruggedly perfect.

I blinked. Perfect? Why had that word popped into my head? The man represented danger. He was scary as hell and probably a threat. To both my person and my sanity. Because he had me rethinking everything I knew to be true about valerian, a plant I'd used safely for years, and my mother for decades before that, and her mother for decades before that. His theory bordered on ridiculous and I did as well for entertaining it.

"You wouldn't be the first person I've met with assholes for relatives. Many of my friends have issues with their families and good reasons."

"What about you? What is your family like?"

"They're great," I hedged, not wanting to get into any more details about how I’d recently discovered my adoption and when I asked them about it they’d lied. I'd seen it on their faces, and I was pretty sure they both knew it. I just didn’t know why. "They only live about thirty minutes from here and I try to see them as often as I can."

"Are they scientists as well?"

I grinned. "No. My parents own a book and bath shop in town."

"Book and bath? They sell books to people who come for a bath?"

My smile turned to laughter as I pictured rows of bathtubs in my parent's bookstore. It was silly, but I couldn't help myself.

Since I couldn't take a breath yet, I simply shook my head.

He glowered. "I don't know why that's so amusing. You're the one who called it a book and bath shop. What else would you do there besides bathe and read?"

I clutched my stomach and nearly doubled over the more he said it and the picture grew in my mind. I was going to have to make a new business suggestion to my father the next time I saw him. It was ridiculous, but I knew it would draw a laugh out of him.

"You are truly a strange woman," he said, pacing away from me and over to the nearest window. That window would give him a great view of the sea, because nearly all the windows on this side of the house did. I had an affinity towards water, making me want to see and feel it as often as I could.

The salty air alone seemed to rejuvenate me.

After a few more giggles, I finally caught my breath. "A book and bath shop sells a combination of books and bath products." When he looked back at me with confusion, I explained further. "Like specialty soaps and scrubbing salts. I make those products for them right here. It's how I spend my winters cooped up in this cottage. Your assessment that we were in the middle of nowhere was spot on. And trust me, now that the cold has set in, you'll discover there's not much out here to do."

His eyes narrowed on me as his gaze roamed me from head to toe. That assessing look making my entire body heat.

"Oh trust me," he said. "I can find something for you to do that has nothing at all to do with making soap."