Hidden Dragons (37 page)

“All right,” she said. “We’ll just leave it a little while.”

He hummed a vague response, probably already planning how to hammer out the bend.

“I could get an iron bed for my place,” she mused. “Or maybe titanium.”

He reached over her, found the key for the cuffs, and unlocked them. He sat then, rubbing his slightly reddened wrist as he looked down at her with his brow furrowed.

“Have I alarmed you?” she asked.

“No,” he said, drawing the word out like he wasn’t sure. “I was . . . Are you suggesting we move in together?”

“Should I not suggest that?” She wasn’t afraid to ask. She had an inkling what he was working through. He was a proud man, and the Maycee money was an issue.

“Your place is larger,” he conceded.

“It is.”

“And we won’t want to be apart too much.”

“No,” she agreed, beginning to be amused. “We’d probably go crazy if we weren’t having sex regularly. Plus, the dragons would have that big rooftop to run around.”

“You’re laughing at me,” he accused.

She kissed the hairy thigh that was nearest her.

“Okay,” he said. “I accept your invitation, but you don’t get to ask me to marry you.”

Her heart gave a lovely swoop. He
could
jump ahead of her when he wanted to. “I don’t?” she asked.

He shook his head decisively. “I want to be sure you’re ready. It’s not just me you’ll have to adjust to. It’s my family and my pack and the whole shebang. Even if I’m careful, your life won’t be the nice civilized existence you’re used to.”

Cass wriggled up and hugged him. “Civilization is overrated.”

His arm came companionably around her. “We’ll see if you say that a month from now.”

As luck would have it, he didn’t sound worried.

CASS and Rick threw their engagement party on a clear night in January. Actually, their friends threw it, though the venue for the celebration was Cass’s roof.

Cass’s dad spun a wonderful warming spell for the terrace. The enchantment turned the winter cold to summer, allowing the kids—and a few of the adults—to run around in swimsuits. The air smelled like flowers that grew in heaven, except near the barbecue. That smelled heavenly in a different way, thanks to Rick’s brother-in-law Johnny and a mountain of charring meat. Nate’s wife Evina brought her all-male firefighting crew to help consume the feast. The universally imposing weretigers mixed drinks behind the bar . . . in between causing female hearts to flutter.

Rounding out the entertainment, Jin and Bridie hired a jazz quartet. Rick’s
really
nice parents were close-dancing with each other, looking more like newly minted sweethearts than folks who’d been married half a century. Every so often, Cass’s friend Rhona would look over at them and smile. Her adopted son Pip was doing a bouncy baby dance standing on her lap. Cass’s dad sat beside them with his legs stretched out and his ankles crossed. The attempt was valiant, but he wasn’t quite pulling off casualness. Now that he didn’t have to worry about embroiling Rhona and Pip in danger, he’d agreed to serve as the werefox boy’s faerie godfather. According to him, that was all the arrangement was: not romance or dating or the ultra-respectful courtship it coincidentally resembled.

Cass was pretty sure no one who’d seen them together believed a word of it.

“I so should have seen that coming,” Jin declared at Cass’s shoulder. “Rhona was always saying how nice your dad was, and how she couldn’t understand why your mom divorced him.”

“They’re adorable,” Bridie chimed from Cass’s other side. “And who cares about the thousand-year age difference? Your dad’s a pureblood. It’s not like he’s going to get wrinkly. Plus, hanging with him will keep her young. Faerie dust is rejuvenating.”

“That’s a practical attitude,” Cass observed, amused as ever by the cousins.

“Whenever possible, love should make sense,” Bridie said. She handed Cass one of the mango martinis she’d carried from the bar. “These are dee-licious, by the way.”

“So is that big weretiger,” Cass teased. “I saw you both batting your eyes at him.”

“Mm,” Jin agreed. She took a contemplative sip of her sunset-colored drink. “If I thought he was interested, I’d let him give Felipe some competition.”

“You’re always talking like that,” Bridie said. “And still Felipe’s your number one.”

“What can I say?” Jin tossed her glamorous short gold hair, striped with blue tonight to match her miniscule swimwear. “I’m faithful by default.”

Cass caught sight of Rick over by the pool, lifting one hand to get her attention. He looked completely scrumptious in his worn jeans and polo shirt.

“Love calls,” Bridie said, spying him as well. She kissed one of Cass’s cheeks while Jin bussed the other. “Congratulations, sweetie. This is a great party.”

It was a great party—a different crowd from one of her gran’s but similarly convivial. Cass crossed the grass toward her inamorata, neatly sidestepping squealing kids and almost as ebullient adults. She didn’t know everyone, but the general vibe of the gathering was easy to be around. She felt like she belonged, maybe a funny thing to say since this was her house. Funny or not, she enjoyed the sensation. All around her, people smiled and wished her well. They knew who she was, and all of them liked and respected Rick. That was nice to witness. Her fiancé had a humble streak, but he definitely deserved to be esteemed.

She kissed his cheek when she reached him, noting Poly the cat was draped over his shoulder. Poly wasn’t asleep, just watching the exciting activity from the safest perch she knew. Rick’s protector sword was back to a cuff that gleamed on his strong forearm. To their relief, it hadn’t magically chained him to her side since they’d killed Ceallach and the queen. Humorously enough, Nate’s son Rafi had helped Rick develop the mental discipline he needed to put the mystical object through its various phases on demand. The six-year-old’s encyclopedic knowledge of every episode of
Mini-Dragons to the Rescue
had proved invaluable.

“What’s up?” Cass asked, enjoying the glow that lit Rick’s eyes as he regarded her in her bikini and sheer cover-up.

Her swimsuit wasn’t as small as Jin’s, but apparently it was small enough. Rick lifted one brow and smiled wolfishly.

“Grant the gargoyle wants to know if he can take the dragons on a short flight a little later. He thinks they’ll be less wound up if they stretch their wings.”

Wound up
was putting it kindly. Good-natured though they were, the brood was completely hyper from the attention they were getting—not only tonight but also as a result of making their existence known. Cass had reluctantly brought them on Jin and Bridie’s show, the ratings for which had been stratospheric. School trips had followed, a ribbon cutting for a new park, and a special invitation to meet the mayor. Considering her babies had grown as big as Saint Bernards in the last few months, anything that expended their excess energy was welcome.

Cass squinted across the roof at Verdi. As if all four of his legs had springs, the green dragon hopped around to the music provided by the band. Always the flirt, Scarlet posed like a sphinx at the bassist’s feet, bobbing her head in time. Cass looked around for gold wings, spotting them a short ways off from the other siblings. The final dragon’s situation was a wee bit concerning.

She nudged Rick’s elbow with her own. “Is that your nephew trying to ride Auric like a horse?”

“Hm,” he said. “It certainly looks like him.”

“Ethan!” Rick’s sister Maria cried, dashing toward the boy and his would-be steed. “I told you not to do that!”

“Ethan makes raising dragons look relaxing,” Rick commented.

Cass turned to smile at him. The world went away as their gazes locked. God, she was a lucky woman. “I’m so glad you asked me to marry you. Think how boring my life would be without all this.”

Rick’s grin broadened. “Shall I tell Grant
yes
then?”

“
Yes
and
thank you
. I always feel safe when the brood is with him.”

Rick kissed her on the mouth, slipping her his tongue for a few wet, steamy seconds before he pulled away. He stroked the side of her face tenderly. Then he handed her Poly.

“Think of me while I’m gone,” he said.

He knew she would. Living together hadn’t been without hurdles, but they’d grown surer of each other. Their love would last. Cass felt it in her bones.

Poly perked up suddenly on her shoulder, letting out an interested
meow
. Rick’s brother Tony had just climbed dripping up the pool’s ladder.

“Hey, cat,” he said, giving a Poly a damp scratch between her uplifted ears. Ever since he’d rescued her from the cave, Poly had been fond of him. Not satisfied with a scratch, she jumped down to nose at his ankles.

“Hey, Tony,” Cass said, affection and pleasure spreading out from her breast. Tony made getting used to Rick’s family easy. Rick loved her, so Tony did as well. It was as simple and as miraculous as that. “You having a good time tonight?”

Tony’s grin was very like his brother’s. “Better than usual.”

“Ooh.
Better
than usual. You know that piques my curiosity.”

He squeezed her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Don’t want to jinx it,” he said. “Interrogate me again later.”

He sambaed off toward the band, his body also like Rick’s but more graceful. Cass smiled at the extra wiggle he gave his butt. He looked awfully cute in his snug red swim shorts. Rick wasn’t enough of an exhibitionist for either of those things.

Rick had other charms of course—as the new iron bed in the new master suite could attest. Her girlhood room was history. She and Rick had chosen a new space to make their own. Cass’s lips curved smugly. They’d given their big bed quite the workout since it arrived from the furnishings department. Rick had proposed to her in it, which made it extra dear to her.

Her fingers strayed to the ring he’d given her. The design was vintage, the setting sparkly with sapphires and diamonds. He’d confessed his sister had helped him pick it out. Apparently, he’d been anxious that Cass like it and hadn’t trusted his own judgment. Cass had found his nervousness endearing, along with him buying it at Maycees—keeping it in the family, as he’d put it.

Her eyes welled up with emotion, realizing how much her gran would have enjoyed him.

This is good
, she thought through the poignancy. This was everything her grandmother would have wished for her and more.

The softest sound caught her attention, an inquiring dragon chirp cutting through the laughter and splashing and jazz music. When she turned, she discovered all three of her babies gazing at her.

I’m well
, she thought to them, hands crossed over her heart to send them love.
Just being sentimental. Go back to having fun
.

To her surprise, they didn’t. Verdi’s silver eyes narrowed, and he jerked his head meaningfully.
Look behind yo
u, his unusually serious expression seemed to say.

Cass looked.

A line of silent pureblood faeries, nine in all, stood like statues behind the French doors that led out of her penthouse. Some were men and some women, and all of them wore long robes. The different shades of silk gleamed with embroidery stitched in electrum thread. Cass had no doubt the patterns held powerful spells. She could feel the magic the group emanated as if the air around them were boiling.

Her breath lodged in her throat, a lump of instinctive fear she couldn’t quite swallow. What could she do if they caused trouble? What could anyone?

No
, she thought. That’s how purebloods like Joscela wanted her to view herself—a helpless halfling doomed to defeat. But she wasn’t doomed. Between Joscela and her and Ceallach, Cass was the one standing.

The music—indeed, the entire party—fell silent. Cass reminded herself she’d been expecting this. Once they let the dragons out of the bag, so to speak, some Old Country authority was bound to show up. She relaxed her shoulders and the rest of her body too. From the corner of her eye, she saw wolves and tigers cross their arms, universal body language for
what are you doing on our turf?

Cass’s father took up a similar pose, moving between the new arrivals and Rhona and her son.

Cass’s personal hero appeared at her side as swiftly as if he’d apparated there. Rick’s arms weren’t folded. They hung by his sides with his protector cuff beginning to hum softly. Though he seemed outwardly unruffled, he was ready for action. Cass hoped he’d signaled Nate to keep the weretigers under control. They were bigger hotheads than werewolves.

“Looks like we have party crashers,” her fiancé said calmly.

Cass was certain everyone, including the aforementioned crashers, heard him with their sharp ears.

She looked at Rick and smiled faintly. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Sure?” he said for her alone.

“If it were Gran’s party, she’d handle this herself.”

He cupped her cheek and let go, trusting her but ready to back her up if she needed it.

Reassured by his support, Cass walked the length of the poolside to the house. Halfway there, a quick flapping sound resolved into Scarlet landing nimbly on the pavers. That surprised her. Scarlet’s brothers were more attached to her. Not tonight, she guessed. The beautiful red dragon assumed a stately pace as Cass proceeded, her head held as proudly as a queen’s.

No one would have guessed she’d shredded six rolls of toilet paper just that morning.

One of the doors to the terrace opened and a male fae stepped out. His shining long hair was black, his eyes an interesting calico. Embroidered dragons decorated his silver robes. The chain that belted them at his narrow waist was forged from electrum. The clasp was a dragon’s head biting a dragon’s tail, and its eyes were rubies that shot small sparks. Cass interpreted the sartorial theme as signifying he came from the Dragon Guild.

This was a better option than the Founders Board; Guild members were by definition pro-Dragon. It was, however, far from a guarantee of good tidings.