23. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Garrick

F orcing myself to go back to my office to wait for Tan was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do, and my dragon was pissed .

So I paced. And paced. And paced. And I knew I was driving Roman crazy, but he didn't say a word—lucky him because I'd probably bite his head off.

I'd sent some of my tower security to the scene to assist Tan, and the head security officer finally called me to tell me they were on their way here. I sighed in relief, but I didn't stop pacing.

I didn't stop pacing until Tan came into the room and walked straight into my arms. I wrapped him tightly against me, and I realized for the first time that I was trembling.

Tan felt like he was too.

Orangelica was in his arms, but she wriggled from his grasp and went over to Roman, demanding attention. The poor cat was covered in blood.

So was my viramore—I could smell it.

After holding him for at least a minute straight, I leaned back to get a good look at him. Before I even realized my intention, I was leaning in and closing my mouth over his. He sucked in a surprised breath, then hummed in satisfaction and gripped my shirt, holding me to him like he was afraid I'd pull away.

He had nothing to worry about because there was nowhere I'd rather be than with him in my arms with his lips on mine.

It was a gentle kiss, a sweet one, but it lingered for a long time. I wanted to deepen it, but I also knew he was hurt, and I didn't want to hurt him further or take advantage. So after a long, wonderful, amazing moment that had my heart racing and tingles dancing over every inch of skin, I pulled away.

I cupped his cheek, the one with no blood on it, and ran my thumb over his bottom lip, then couldn't help but press another soft kiss to it.

He blinked up at me when I pulled away and offered a small smile. "Garrick."

I smiled back as much as I could under the circumstances and tapped his lip. "We'll come back to this, I promise you, but first, are you alright?"

He had blood caked on his temple, down his cheek, and in his hair, as well as all over much of his clothing. Scales, how much blood had he lost?

I reached my hand up, tilting his chin to get a better look, and Tan murmured, "It's not as bad as it looks. The healing tonics helped a lot. I took a second one about an hour ago."

"Tan…"

He met my gaze. "It's over now, Gar."

"Are you and Orangelica truly okay?"

Tan nodded. "Yes. The healing tonics will continue to do their thing. We'll be fine in no time."

Roman pointed at the door over the top of Tan's head and nodded, carrying a bundle in his arms. I gave him a nod back, and he took Orangelica to the secret staircase. I could only assume he was going to get her cleaned up and her wounds seen to.

I asked Tan, "What happened?"

He held onto me even tighter and tucked his head under my chin, resting his cheek against me, speaking into my chest as he told me the whole story. By the time he was finished, I was practically crushing him to me.

He murmured, "It's alright. I'm fine."

"You're not fine."

He sighed. "I'm… not going to argue with you about this. I've already spent too much energy arguing with Remi and Ailin… and even Seb. It was a nice, big, multi-person phone chat in the car. Your poor security guard probably thinks I'm insane."

"You called them?"

"I promised Ailin I would, so I did, but not until we were on our way here." He shrugged. "There was too much going on at the scene, too many people to talk to, so I waited until I was sitting in the car you sent for me."

So he'd called me first. For some reason, that made me feel warm despite the situation.

After a long time, he pulled away and glanced up at me. "Have you gone down to see the dragon?"

It was a reasonable question. Tan had sent the dragon to the tower ahead of himself so he could help organize the clean-up and whatnot. He'd wanted to get the dragon into one of the dungeons as soon as possible to make sure they didn't escape—Tan had texted me to let me know the plan and keep me updated on his whereabouts. If he hadn't, I probably would've headed to him, no matter the risk, because he'd been gone for hours.

I shook my head. "No. I wanted—needed to see you first so I didn't lose my temper on him."

He nodded. "Do you want to go down now?"

I shook my head. "He can wait. Let's get you cleaned up first. You have dried blood all over you."

He grimaced. "Right. It's been there so long at this point I forgot it was there." He stepped back and glanced around the room, his brow furrowing. "Where'd Orangelica go?" He closed his eyes for only a second, then opened them before I could respond. "Oh, she and Roman are waiting for us in your condo."

"They decided to give us some privacy."

He nodded, picked up a bag he had on the floor, and headed toward the bookcase door, but I frowned at him for a moment more before following. The fact that he hadn't realized they'd left the room probably a half hour ago was worrisome. Maybe I should put him to bed and go see the dragon who'd done this myself.

A low growl emanated from my chest, and I grimaced. No. I couldn't let Tan out of my sight. Not only did I not want to, but I was afraid I'd go on a rampage if I did. My dragon needed its mate close. Waiting for Tan to show up here had been a special kind of torture, and I had no plans of repeating it anytime soon—or ever.

We walked into my condo and found Roman and Orangelica on the couch. Roman had her wrapped in a towel and was drying her off.

Before I could, Tan asked, "Did you give her a bath?"

Roman nodded. "Yes. She wanted one because she was covered in blood and dirt. I also put some cream on her wounds—the magic kind so it should help her heal faster. I know you gave her tonics already, but this cream is made with dragon magic, so I'm hoping it will boost her system even more." He looked at me. "You need to give your witch some too."

"His witch is standing right here, thank you very much," Tan said, and hearing him refer to himself as my witch made me smile and settled my dragon down a tad.

I stepped closer to Tan, who was leaning over the back of the couch to pet Orangelica and check up on her. I put my hand on his lower back and rubbed light circles there, and he leaned into me. After a few seconds, he leaned his hip against me and stood, forcing me to take some of his body weight.

He sighed. "Thank you for taking care of her, Roman."

He waved him away. "Of course. I liked getting some kitty time." He said that in a sort of baby voice and started scratching said kitty's chin.

It made me snort, and I reached over to give her head a few scratches and pat Roman on the shoulder before straightening and tugging Tan down the hall. "I'm going to take care of this one now, and then we're going to get some rest. We'll deal with the dragon after a nap."

"But—"

"No, Tan, as much as I want to go down there and rip that dragon apart, you need rest and probably a few more tonics."

He sighed but didn't argue further, which that alone, told me how badly he was feeling.

He started to head for the bathroom he'd been using whenever he spent the night here, but I tugged him farther into the condo and into my bedroom, gesturing to my en suite. "Use this one."

He stared at me for a beat, then gave a small shrug that made him wince.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just sore from the fight, but from the crash too. The seatbelt saved me, but damn did it hurt."

I nodded and grabbed his bag from him. "Here, let me take that." I set the bag aside, and for a moment, I thought I smelt a familiar scent. It hit me so suddenly that I froze and took a deeper breath.

I smelled it again, and my brow furrowed as I set Tan's bag on the floor. What in the world?

"Gar? Do you have a towel in there I can use?"

Tan's voice called to me, and I decided to investigate the smell later. Although, it was likely just some weird… phantom scent or something. No way was it what I thought it was.

Shaking myself out, I said, "Yes, there's a cabinet in there with towels. Help yourself to one and anything else you need in there."

"Thank you." He hesitated to say something. I could feel it in the bond we were slowly forming.

"What is it?"

He blew out a long breath. "Um… I'm not sure I can get my shirt off by myself. I, uh, had to block with my bracers a lot, and my shoulders are paying the price, especially after the crash."

I walked to the doorway to look at him. "Are you asking me to take off your shirt?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess I am." To my surprise, he blushed, and it made me grin.

I stepped closer and grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Not exactly how I imagined undressing you for the first time."

His eyebrows rose. "You imagined it?"

"Every night since I met you." That wasn't even a lie.

His eyes widened comically, and I sent him a grin before tugging his shirt up. I wish I could say I made it sexy, but his hiss of pain when I was trying to pull it over his head was about the least sexy thing I could think of. Finally, I got it off him, and I couldn't contain my gasp.

He was covered in bruises and even more dried blood. If this was what he looked like after two healing tonics, I wasn't sure I could've handled what he'd looked like before that.

"It's not as bad as it looks."

"Tan…"

"I'm fine, Gar-Bear. I really am. The tonics took care of the worst of it first. They're starting to work on the small scrapes, cuts, and bruises. It's only taking this long because I think I had a concussion from the crash so fixing my head took a lot of the magic, and I, uh, got stabbed in the leg pretty bad—but it's almost fully healed now."

My eyes went down to his legs, and I realized he had a ton of blood on his left one. I hadn't noticed it before because he'd been wearing black pants, but holy shit, that had been a bad one.

I reached out like I was going to touch it but stopped before I made contact because I didn't want to hurt him. Tan grabbed my outstretched hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing my fingertips.

"I'm okay, Garrick, I promise."

I swallowed and met his gaze. "Tan, I… I was so scared."

He nodded and lifted one shoulder. "So was I."

That made me suck in a breath.

"I don't understand why he came after me. The dragon was trying to kill me. Not just hurt me or, I dunno, kidnap me or something. He was trying to kill me, and I don't understand why. Why go after me? I mean, yeah, get rid of the bodyguard and you'll have easier access, except that… you can just hire a new bodyguard, so what good did that do? If you were with me, yeah, that'd make sense because then I wouldn't be there to protect you in that immediate minute. But why the hell did they send a dragon—"

"Tan?"

His gaze met mine. "Sorry. Didn't mean to ramble."

"You can ramble all you want, little pretty." I sucked in a breath and finally said the thing I should've said weeks ago. Hell, months ago. "I know why you were targeted. I'm not sure how exactly they know, but, Tan… you're my viramore."

He stared at me, obviously not comprehending my meaning for a full thirty seconds. Then his eyebrows rose so high they practically flew off his forehead. "Wh-what?"

"You're my viramore."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking like a gaping fish—it was actually adorable, but I felt bad because he looked so shocked. Had he really not felt the pull this whole time? Even with all the… hugs and touching? Was he actually just like that with everyone?

No. That's stupid . I'd seen him with his friends and he didn't behave that way at all.

Finally, he murmured, "I can't have a viramore."

I jerked back as if he'd slapped me. "Excuse me, but what? Why not?"

"I'm a Helegolor. We're… we're trash."

Now it was me standing there, in shock and gaping like a fish. "Tanyl, that is the most fucked up thing I've ever heard you say."

His eyebrows rose again even though they'd barely come down from the last time. "You said fucked up."

"I do curse on occasion, you know. Especially when the situation warrants it, and this more than fucking warrants it."

He stared at me for a beat before he snorted, although he didn't really sound very happy. "Garrick, I don't know what to say. I'm a Helegolor. I know that doesn't mean much to you, but trust me, where I come from… it isn't good. Helegolors are horrible, disgusting, and cruel people. As much as I wish it was true, I can't be your viramore. I'm sorry, but it's not possible."

My heart sank. Not because I thought what he said made any kind of sense but because of how he looked at himself. With how confident he was in daily life, I never would've guessed he pictured himself that way.

I stepped closer and cupped his cheeks, being sure not to touch any sore spots. Then I leaned down until our foreheads gently touched. "My sweet little pretty. I know for a fact that you're my viramore."

He shook his head but didn't pull away. "I can't be, Gar—"

I cut him off with a quick peck. "You can. You are. I can feel you, right here." I tapped my chest before re-cupping his cheek. "I feel you in my soul." I gave him another peck, and he closed his eyes as if savoring it. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course I do." He sounded breathless.

"The curse, it made it so I can't switch my eyes back. I'm stuck with the slits, although I'm not sure why. No other part of me has been able to shift, not even partially, ever. Except the day—"

"The day we met."

I nodded. "My dragon reacted to you. My smoke, my magic, it all reacted to you. It's never done that before."

"But…" He was clearly shocked speechless.

I rubbed my thumb over his cheek. "And, baby, I hear you in my head."

His eyes flew open, shock filling them again. "What? You hear me? Like… my thoughts?"

"Sometimes, yes."

A look of horror came across his handsome and filthy face. "Holy shit. That's… but that's… no. You can't hear me. You're mistaken."

I closed my eyes and focused on the gold and silver strand of connection between us that had been growing stronger with every passing moment we spent together. I mentally tugged on it and thought, "You are the most beautiful person I've ever met, little pretty, inside and out. And I'm the luckiest man alive because I get to call you mine."

I opened my eyes to find him staring at me in shock again.

We stared at one another for a long moment before Tan suddenly burst into tears.

My eyes widened in surprise and horror as I gathered him in my arms and held him to me. "Shh. Shh, shh, shh. It's alright, little pretty. It's alright."

"G-Gar-rick. I-I… you… but I… I heard you."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

He nodded against me, and I blew out a relieved breath. For a moment there I was afraid he hated the idea of being my viramore. Scales, that'd scared me, nearly as badly as the dragon assassin attack had.

"I really heard you."

In my head, I said, "Because we're viramores."

He sucked in a shaky breath and nodded, holding onto me tightly. "I heard that too."

I kissed the top of his head. "Good."

"I'm sorry. I'm a mess, but I… holy crapola, I never thought… I didn't think…"

"I know, little pretty. I know."

He leaned back to look into my eyes. "You really think I'm your viramore?"

"Yes. And if you think about it and concentrate, I know you'll feel the connection too."

"I do feel it… I've felt it for a long time. I just… I didn't think… I… no Helegolor has ever found their viramore before, and I… I didn't think it was possible for us. I know I separated myself from them, but I… You're a king, and I'm… I come from… from trash."

"Oh, sweetheart, come here." I pulled him over to the bed and sat on the edge, urging him to sit beside me. I wanted to pull him into my lap, but he was still too hurt for that. I kept my arm wrapped around his back though.

"Little pretty, you aren't trash, not even close. The fact that you came out of a place like that at all proves just how strong you are. The fact that you came out of it stronger and more compassionate than anyone I know proves how amazing and what a good person you are. The fact that you're intelligent, help run a business, and are so good deep down in your core that you help your friends—and someone who didn't even qualify as a friend yet—proves what a beautiful soul you have. I've never met anyone like you before, Tan, and I've loved getting to know you these past few months. You're better than any man I could've dreamed up when I wished for so many years to meet my viramore. You're a million times better than what I imagined, and I consider myself lucky to get to spend even one day with you.

"I care about you so much already, and I… I really hope you'll give me a chance. I don't care where you come from—I mean, I do in the sense that I want to hear about your childhood, but you know what I mean. I adore you, every part of you."

He sat there in silence for a few seconds before he leaned into my side and rested his head on my shoulder. He didn't say anything for a long while, so I sat quietly, holding him close and letting him absorb my words.

Finally, he said, "Thank you, Gar-Bear. I… think I needed to hear that." And then he turned, cupped my cheek, and pressed his mouth to mine. He pressed forward and pried my mouth open with his, dipping his tongue inside. A groan came out of me at the taste of his kiss, and I turned to face him more fully, cupped his face, and deepened the kiss further.

He groaned this time, and I felt those chills race across my skin again.

I wanted so badly to push him back and cover his smaller body with my own, but I held back because he was hurt and still covered in dried blood. With that thought in mind, I slowed the kiss and broke it after a few minutes. He whimpered, and I wiped my thumb across his lips.

"When you're feeling better, I'm going to strip you naked and ravage every inch of you."

He groaned loudly and met my eyes. "Yes, please."

I let out a small growl and pressed a peck to his lips, then gestured to the bathroom. "Go get a shower so I can cuddle you in bed while you nap."

His eyes softened, and his mouth tilted up in the sweetest smile. "I can do that." He kissed my cheek, then headed into the en suite.

The second the door was shut, my dragon rose to the surface, and it felt like my skin was rippling. Like my dragon was going to burst free at any moment. If it wasn't for the fucking curse, I probably would've knocked the ceiling down on top of myself already.

I stood and started pacing, unhappy and feeling out of sorts with Tan out of my sight. The second the water was running, I walked over to the door, knocked, and said, "Tan? I need to come in."

There was a pause. "Just a minute!" I waited impatiently, and luckily, he only took a few seconds before yelling, "Okay!"

I opened the door and took a breath, scenting Tan in the room. Unfortunately, he still smelled like blood, so that made my dragon pissed off again, but the fact that I could see his outline through the curtain helped soothe my anxiety.

Fuck . Was I going to be like this forever? Unable to let my sweet mate out of my sight for fear of him being attacked.

Without thinking, I said, "Stay with me."

"What?"

"Stay with me. Here. In the tower. Move in."

He froze and didn't say anything for a full minute. "Garrick, I have my own house."

I frowned. "Does that mean you can't move?"

He huffed. "Hun, I've known for about two seconds that you're my viramore, and you already want me to move in?"

I grimaced at that. "Okay, well… stay here temporarily while we wait out these attacks."

He waited a beat. "That, I can do."

"Thank you."

He snorted. "What kind of thing is that to thank me for?"

"Well, you could've said no, so I'm definitely thankful you didn't."

He snorted again. "Ridiculous."

"Now I just have to convince you to sleep in my bed with me."

He froze, and I realized I'd said that out loud. Oh, Scales .

"That can be arranged."

I held in a groan as my cock twitched. I hadn't even meant it in a sexual way, although I'd obviously be on board for that. I'd only meant that I wanted to hold him and keep him safe all night.

"Holy shit," I murmured, and he laughed.

He didn't take long in the shower, but I settled myself on top of the counter as I waited and just… watched his shadow through the curtain. I was so tempted to pull the curtain back and take my fill of my little pretty, but I would never actually do that to him, no matter how badly I wanted to take a peek. I wasn't a creep. At least I hoped not.

When he turned off the water, I hopped down, grabbed a towel, and held it through the opening at the end of the curtain. And I did not look inside.

He grabbed it from me, saying, "Thank you, Gar-Bear."

"Anytime, little pretty."

He snorted. "That is the most ridiculous nickname. I can't believe you're still calling me that."

"Well… I love pretty things, and you're very pretty, and you're smaller than me, so…" I trailed off with a shrug, not that he could see it.

"Like I said a million times before, I like the pretty part, but I'm not so fond of the little . I'm not that short, asshat."

That made me smile because he was sounding more like himself rather than the shellshocked person he'd been after the attack and then even more so after I finally told him he was my viramore. In hindsight, that might not have been the best moment to do it. I should've told him sooner.

"You're a lot shorter than me," I finally said. Then added, "My pretty."

He laughed. "Oh, my Mother, now you sound like the Wicked Witch of the West."

I snorted out a laugh at that. "Well, I guess we're sticking with little pretty."

He groaned, but the sound was full of amusement, which made me smile wider.

When he got out, he said, "I have to get my clothes out of my bag." He gestured to the bedroom.

Oh. Right .

I couldn't stop staring at him with his wet hair and his chest on display again. Before, I'd been too horrified by the blood and bruises to take a proper look. But now… damn. He really was small, but he had muscles to him, so he wasn't super skinny. He was sturdy and looked like I could manhandle him without being afraid I'd break him—my perfect man.

I leaned in and kissed his lips, then whispered into his ear, "I can't wait to get you naked." I kissed his cheek. "But you need to rest, sweetheart. You're still healing."

I saw him shiver, not from the cold, from me, from my words, and I smiled to myself before giving him a tiny nudge toward the door. He blew out a breath and walked out.

As he shook himself off, he said, "I'm glad I had a bag packed already since I was planning on staying the night tonight."

"Me too." Kind of. I'd love to see him wearing my clothes. "Is the bag okay?" As in, are you sure it isn't full of glass from the crash?

"Yeah, it's fine."

He opened the bag, and I got a huge whiff of that scent from earlier, making me freeze. I took a deep breath, letting it get all the way into my lungs and smelling all the nuances of it, letting my memories be pulled forward the way they always were with smells.

Then I blew out a breath and stepped closer to Tan's bag. I bent down to smell it again.

"What are you doing?"

I reached into his bag.

"Wait! Be careful! I put the—"

I pulled out a sword.

A dragonscale sword.

A gold dragonscale sword.

"Where did you get this?" My voice had gone deep and growly. I sounded pissed off.

"Um, from the attacker. That's what he used. The police tried to take it from me, but I told them you ordered me to bring it here. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it's just that… I know it's a dragonscale sword, and I was afraid someone would steal it from evidence. And I figured you and Roman might be able to tell if it—what's wrong?" He stepped closer and put his hand on my forearm. "What's wrong, Garrick?"

I worked my jaw back and forth, then I managed to growl out, "It smells like him."

"Like who?"

It took me a few seconds to finally say the words I wasn't sure I wanted to voice. "My son."

He sucked in a gasp.

"Someone stole my son's scales."

"What do you mean?"

"Dragonscale is only made from adult dragon scales—children's are too soft—and most dragons don't start shedding strong enough scales until well into their twenties. It takes years to shed enough scales to forge them into a sword like this. Oakley is only twenty-five. There's no way he's shed enough scales, not naturally. Which means… someone cut his scales off."

From the horrified expression on Tan's face, I knew he understood just how wrong and painful that would be.

"Someone hurt my son."