Dating A Dragon (The Mating Game Book 2) (8 page)

Cadence paused on her way out the castle’s enormous front door. She was going to the fairgrounds to meet with the festival planning committee. She wanted to find Orion first, though, to drink in his gorgeousness and possibly enjoy a few minutes of deep, passionate kissing. For some reason, she couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Hey, Orion!” she yelled, and her voice echoed back at her in the cavernous entryway.

Phoebe and her older brother Remus hurried up to her.

“Hey, Cadence, we’re supposed to distract you,” Phoebe said. “Want to go outside and see me do fireballs?”

“You’re not supposed to tell her you’re distracting her, dummy,” Remus said, and stuck his tongue out at her. “Now he won’t give us the chocolate, and it’s your fault.”

“Who are you calling dummy?” she demanded indignantly, and singed his eyebrows with a blast of fire.

“Hey! No fire inside the castle!” Cadence quickly stepped between them. “What are you distracting me from?” she asked Rebus sternly.

He shrugged. “Don’t know.”

Very suspicious. “Where is Orion?”

“Haven’t seen him.” Phoebe stared up at the ceiling and put her hands behind her back. Cadence leaned over to see what she was doing.

“Phoebe, are you crossing your fingers?”

“And my toes,” Phoebe bragged.

“Does that mean you’re lying?”

“Yep,” Phoebe said cheerfully. “But I can’t get in trouble because I’m crossing my fingers.”

“That’s not how it works,” Remus sneered, and crossed his eyes at her, then dodged back behind Cadence so Phoebe couldn’t flame him again.

“So where is he really?”

“Talking to Uncle Nikolai,” Phoebe said, jerking her head towards a doorway. “But he’s keeping something secret.”

Cadence stalked off to find Orion.

He was standing in the drawing room, talking to Nikolai in low tones.

“Should we tell her?” Nikolai asked him.

“No, she doesn’t need any additional stress, especially if she is with dragonling. There’s no need to worry her,” Orion said. “We’ll deal with it if it comes up. What are the odds, anyway?”

“Fifty-fifty?” Nikolai suggested. “Who even knows? It’s been hundreds of years since this issue has even come up.”

“Well, mum’s the word. Anybody who tells her has to deal with me.” Orion’s voice went deep and threatening.

Okay, she was getting sick of this.

She kicked the door wide open, and they both jumped, with guilty expressions on their faces. She demanded indignantly, “Tell me what?”

“I’m outta here,” Nikolai said, hurrying off.

“Coward!” Orion yelled after him. “Abandoning your post!”

“Not abandoning! It’s a strategic retreat!” Nikolai called back.

Cadence stalked up to Orion and repeated, in tones of icy rage, “Tell. Me. What?”

He let out a long, exasperated breath. “All right, I talked to the Elders today, because of a claim that Humphrey is making. Here’s the problem. If you are carrying dragonlings, we don’t know if they would be fire or ice, at this point.”

“And?”

“The last time we know of a fire and ice couple having dragonlings, it was five hundred years ago. In that case, the man was an ice dragon and the woman was a fire dragon. But she gave birth to ice dragons, so the ice dragon clan tried to take them from her, while banning her from their clan because she was a fire dragon. Told her husband he could take the babies from her and marry someone in his clan. Instead, she and her husband fled with their dragonlings and managed to escape. Both sides went to war, and burned down entire towns and forests. It turned humans against dragons for a very long time.”

“Thank you for the history lesson. Glad the husband wasn’t a dingleberry. What does this have to do with us now?”

“Well, because of the fire and ice war, the law now says that if you give birth to ice dragons, even if I am the father, any ice dragon male who is willing to take you as his mate can claim them, and if I were to try to interfere – pardon me, when I definitely did interfere – then my clan’s lands, mines, and all of my clan’s possessions would be forfeit to him. Wouldn’t matter if I challenged him and won – his clan would still have the right to your dragonlings and my clan’s possessions.”

“No. Orion, that’s crazy.” She went pale. He could lose everything because of her. “You didn’t know this before?”

“Unfortunately, no. It’s a very obscure point of dragon law. The scrolls that cover this are five hundred years old. But still enforceable. I am calling for a meeting of the Dragon Elders and formally requesting a change of the law, but it would be next year before that happens. Too late for us.” He’d said “us”. But he’d tried to exclude her from this news, and from any plans that he’d make to deal with a situation that affected her entire future.

“Anyway, you shouldn’t even have to be concerned with this. It’s on me. And it’s far too early for us to worry about that yet.”

She sucked in a deep, frustrated breath, and when she let it out, a cloud of icy air enveloped them both. Small icicles dripped from his hair and frost coated his face.

He shuddered and rubbed his hands on his arms. “Well, that news got an icy reception.”

She glared at him. “You know, normally, I’m all for dark humor, but this involves your entire clan’s future, and the babies that might be growing in my stomach. You had absolutely no right to keep that information from me. When were you planning on telling me? When I’d delivered a clutch of ice dragons and someone tried to rip them away from me? They’d die trying, by the way.”

“Cadence, I would never—”

“We’re done talking about this,” she said furiously, stalking off.

She knew what would happen if she gave birth to ice dragons. She’d take them, flee, and find a place to hide out with them until they were grown up. She’d live deep in the woods if necessary, and hunt for their food. Nobody was taking her babies from her, and she wasn’t going to cause Orion’s family to be homeless – well, castle-less – and poverty-stricken because of her.

* * * * *

Cadence wandered across the field with the planners and volunteers, enjoying the spring sunshine as they paced out the grounds, planning where the various booths would go. They were making marks with paint rollers and flags – white for ice, red for fire.

“Your arm looks like a pincushion,” Gretel, a human accountant who worked for Orion’s family, observed to Cadence.

“Worth it,” Cadence said. “I’m working with that Pine Heights clinic to bank my blood in case I do turn out to be with dragonling. It’s part of the treatment.”

“Oh, that’s exciting. When do you find out?”

“I go in next week.”

“Here’s hoping you have a boy and a girl!” Gretel said excitedly as they paced between the painted-off squares that represented possible booth locations.

Here’s hoping nobody tries to take my babies from me, and I don’t cause an all-out war.

“Yes, here’s hoping!” Cadence said brightly.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ve heard nothing but good things about that clinic,” Aurelia reassured her, mistaking the reason for Cadence’s pained, too-wide smile. “We’re all very excited about it. Just think, you’re a pioneer for dragon families everywhere!” Then she glanced over at Darlene, who had stopped and was glaring at a painted square with her hands on her hips.

“We need to switch. The ice dragons need that shady area so their ice sculptures don’t melt,” Darlene said.

“We had it first,” Laetitia said smugly.

“See, that’s the problem with fire dragons,” Darlene retorted. “Stupid, stubborn—”

“Ladies!” Cadence said with exasperation.

“Yes?” Darlene said. “I’m sure you weren’t speaking to her,” she added smugly, nodding her head at them.

“Oh my, this field is so uneven!” Laetitia pretended to stumble and then let out a blast of flame that singed the flags marking off the four corners of a proposed ice dragon booth.

“Okay, I’ve had it with you two,” Cadence grumbled. “I can take it from Orion’s niece and nephew, because they’re ten and twelve. But you two are being ridiculous.” She turned and walked off.

Maude followed at her heels. She and Aurelia had volunteered to help, since they were going to be in town for a while anyway, helping Cadence with her training.

“I swear, just when you think they’re getting along, they start up with this ridiculousness again,” Cadence grumbled.

“You know, I honestly think those two kind of enjoy all the bickering,” Maude said. “Look around you. Ice and fire dragons actually having civil conversations, for the most part. Since you’ve been volunteering, animosity has simmered way down.”

“Really?” Cadence paused to ponder that. She hadn’t been around this area for a long time like Maude and her family, but now that she thought about it, she had seen a lot more friendly interaction and a lot less flaming and icing.

“Heads up,” Gretel interrupted, speaking to Cadence. “Humphrey’s on his way over here.”

Cadence felt a stab of fear. What now?

Humphrey was crossing the field in long, angry strides, with at least twenty of his men trailing behind him.

He was wearing a white silk suit with a blue silk shirt and tie, and white shoes that were already getting muddy from walking across the damp field. He’d probably throw them away when he left.

All of the dragons, both fire and ice, began hurrying towards Cadence, putting themselves between Humphrey and her.

Humphrey and his men aggressively shouldered their way through the crowd, elbowing aside men and women alike. Snarls and smoke and steam swirled in the air.

“Back off,” Laetitia snapped at Humphrey, standing right in front of Cadence. “We’re busy planning a festival here. She is aligned with the Garrison Clan.”

“This is none of your concern. She’s not one of yours.” He stepped around her and fixed Cadence with a fierce glare. “I have consulted with the Elders Council. You are not officially married to him yet, and therefore, unless you can prove that you are carrying his dragonlings, I have the right to claim you,” Humphrey said haughtily. “Your claim alone is not sufficient proof. I can keep you in my castle until tests have been run on you.”

“It’s too soon!” Cadence clenched her fists and tried to quiet her quaking stomach. “The tests won’t be accurate until next week!”

Then he bared his teeth in a frightening smile and stepped in very close, towering over her. The scent of his sickly-sweet cologne clogged her nostrils, and she struggled not to gag. She’d woken up that morning very sensitive to smells.

Part of her new dragon metamorphosis? she wondered. She had never heard of dragons having a good sense of smell. Or was she getting a bit of her wolf back? She’d never heard of that happening before either. Once the more dominant shifter genes took over, the other genes were dormant forever.

She took a step back, but he moved closer to her again.

Her stomach roiled.

“Move back,” she warned him.

“Last chance to do this the easy way,” he said, his lips curling back in a snarl. Icy vapor blew from his nostrils. “Let’s say my men and I have to drag you back by force right now. Assuming you even have dragonlings in you, who knows what would happen to them if I’m forced to get rough? They’re so fragile these days. Whereas if you come with me right now, and agree to be a willing and enthusiastic partner in my bed, I will ensure that you receive the best medical care, and once you deliver the dragonlings, if they are fire dragons, we’ll even return them to the Garrison clan.”

Never.
“I mean it. Move back.” Cadence took a gulp of air.

“Hey, you heard her!” Darlene glared at him. “Lady with a baby. Leave her alone!”

“I’ve called Orion,” Gretel said, waving her cell phone at Humphrey. “He’s on his way, and he’s pissed.”

He ignored her. “If you are carrying ice dragons, we’ll keep them in my clan and you’ll be allowed to visit them. Of course, you’ll need to let me impregnate you again immediately, as soon as you’ve delivered.”

“I said get back!” Cadence yelled, and then it was too late. She leaned forward and emptied out her breakfast, vomiting all over his shoes. It splattered on his pants and suit.

“She said get back,” Gretel agreed as he leaped away from her, roaring with rage.

“You did that on purpose!” he shouted as the female dragons crowded around her protectively.

“No, you just genuinely made me puke.”

“See? It’s obvious she’s pregnant!” Laetitia snarled. “You’d better back off before I fry your face.”

“She’s an ice dragon!” he snapped at her, shaking with rage and disgust. “What do you care?”

Laetitia drew herself up to her full height. “She is carrying
dragonlings
. I will burn you to death if you attempt to take her with you.”

All the other dragons around her snarled their agreement.

The clinic was located on a mountaintop and built like a fortress. There were both fire and ice dragons guarding it, in equal numbers. When it came to protecting dragonlings, the dragons didn’t mess around. They couldn’t afford to. The future of dragonkind quite possibly lay within the clinic.

Cadence had spent the last five days lying low until she was far enough along to get an accurate test. She hadn’t left Orion’s castle the whole time.

She also hadn’t shared his bed. She’d told him that she was under too much stress to be with him until she at least knew whether she was expecting or not, but that wasn’t the truth. She was falling for him in a big way, craving him when she wasn’t with him – and she didn’t want to fall any harder. She might have to flee with her dragonlings and never see him again – and she wouldn’t even know for months.

She needed to distance herself now. If only she could. If only she didn’t crave Orion every minute that she was away from him.

She sighed and squirmed on the bed, and her paper gown rustled. Dr. Kowalski and the owner of the clinic, a research scientist named Dr. Andrew Hamill, were talking with each other in hushed tones as the ultrasound tech squirted jelly on her stomach, which definitely had a rounded swell to it now. Dr. Kowalski was short and had shiny black hair shot through with gray, pulled back in a bun. Dr. Hamill, a human, was tall and lean and had a goatee. Both wore white lab coats and gloves.

“The paper gown looks good on you,” Orion said solemnly. “I’ll have a dozen made for you when we get back to the castle.”

“You just like the easy access aspect of it.” Cadence managed a smile.

“No argument there.”

Dr. Kowalski walked over, grabbed the ultrasound wand with her gloved hands, and began moving it over Cadence’s stomach.

“The moment of truth,” Cadence said, and fear filled her. Orion squeezed her hand.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.

She blinked and looked away. “I’ve missed you too.”

Then she looked at Dr. Kowalski anxiously. “Why are you staring like that? You look surprised. Good surprise? Bad surprise? Tell me!”

“You are one fertile myrtle,” Dr. Kowalski said, nodding at the screen.

“So…she has a dragonling?” Orion demanded eagerly.

“Four dragonlings,” Dr. Kowalski marveled. “All healthy and appropriately sized for this stage of development.”

Orion gripped Cadence’s hand tightly, and she blinked back hot tears of relief.

Then she hesitated. The equipment was very high tech; the screen was in color.

“Can you tell if they’re fire or ice yet?” she asked. Orion’s grip tightened. The answer meant everything.

Dr. Kowalski shook her head. “Odd thing. I see both red and blue scales on each of the eggs right now, and I have no idea what that means. I’ve never seen it before, but then all of my other couples are of the same type of dragon.”

“So…”

“We won’t know until they hatch,” she said. “You’re a very unusual lady.”

“Now, now,” Dr. Hamill quickly chided the doctor. “No need to be rude.”

“Sorry.” She looked chastened. “Anyway, we can safely remove them in about a month and place them in the incubator, which will greatly increase their chances of survival.”

Cadence and Orion exchanged nervous glances.

“And you are completely sure that they will be safe here,” Cadence said.

“We have an entire squadron of guards here, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We have state of the art video monitoring and security systems.”

“I would need my own men stationed here as well,” Orion said firmly. When Dr. Hamill started to protest, he said, “That’s not negotiable. We are paying you the equivalent of a gold mine for this, and you will do it my way. What’s more, once my hatchlings are safely delivered, I will be willing to contribute to your research – quite generously, in fact. I am willing to pay so that this technology becomes affordable to everyone.”

Dr. Hamill nodded eagerly. “I would be happy to discuss your investment,” he said.

“By the way, my own hatchlings are here waiting to mature,” Dr. Kowalski said. “Three of them.” She bit her lip. “I came here from Poland to help develop this technology. I lost four clutches of eggs, and I couldn’t bear to try again without knowing that they’d have a chance of survival.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Cadence said, putting her hand on the doctor’s. Dr. Kowalski pulled away quickly and avoided her gaze.

“At least we know it will never happen again,” she said.

She turned to go, then glanced back at them. “I will be sending my tech in to take some more blood from you,” she said to Cadence.

“She’s already donated so much,” Orion protested

“It’s completely safe, and it will help us to keep your dragonlings safe.” She turned and left the room abruptly.

“Weird bedside manner,” Cadence observed. “I’m nervous about this.”

“I am too, but I’m more nervous about the odds of our hatchlings’ survival without this. Phoebe is the last successful hatchling that my family has had; it’s been ten years. There’s nothing else like this clinic.”

“All right,” she said, worry twisting at her gut. The clinic’s success rates spoke for themselves, though, and the thought of losing her hatchlings was terrifying.

“Then he leaned over her to look right into her eyes. “Cadence, come back to my bed tonight. I know why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Do you?”

“I know what you’re planning.” He ran his thumb over her cheek. “You’ll run rather than let your children be taken from you. You’d fight to the death for them. So would I, and so would my family. If you give birth to a clutch of ice dragonlings, we will fight side by side to ensure that they stay with us. Dragonlings are sacred to us – you must know that.”

“But…you’d all be homeless. You’d lose everything.”

“I have all my lawyers working on this. I’m also an attorney. This is all months away anyway. And if it comes to that, what good is all my gold and my riches if I don’t have my children? And in the meantime, I need you with me, Cadence. In the short time that you’ve been with me, you have come to mean everything to me. I need you by my side. In my bed. In my arms. I’m stronger when you’re with me.”

Tears flooded her eyes, and the gnawing loneliness that had eaten at her for the past few days finally abated. “You? You’re the strongest dragon I’ve ever seen.”

He leaned down, holding her hand, and kissed her tears away. Then he kissed her lips, firmly yet tenderly. “That’s a different kind of strength,” he murmured.

She reached up and hugged him to her. “I’ve missed you too. So much,” she whispered in his ear.