Love of the Dragon (Her Dragon's Bane 4) (2 page)

“Of course,” he said, retracing his steps back down the hallway.

“Another time, Zoah. I’d like to hear about you and Connor growing up.”

“Yes. Another time.” He walked away from her. She stood and stared at the empty hallway. What was wrong with her? Part of her wanted to stay and listen to his stories. Maybe that was his plan; he knew how much she enjoyed history. Hearing it first-hand from his memories was incredible. But she had plans. Although her excitement was beginning to ebb away. The image of him walking away stuck in her mind, so lonely and dejected. Of course. That was it; he was lonely. How stupid of her not to realise. Zoah had lived with Connor all of his long life, and now Connor had gone off to Spellholm with Serena. It made sense that he was lonely without his brother.

She needed to stop being so hard on him and spend some time with him. Tomorrow she would ask him to show her the hall that was full of the suits of armour. He could walk her through the different ages. Zoah and Connor had apparently been there to watch most of the battles. It would be incredible to hear his version of events and compare them to written history.

She had to admit she was a history geek, verging on being a nerd. It was stupid to pass up having access to these first-hand accounts.

And that was the only reason she wanted to spend time with Zoah. It had nothing to do with the fact that despite his old-fashioned ways and the vast age difference, he was somehow attractive to her.

“Yuck," she said, as she picked up her purse and safely put the money he had given her inside. “I have definitely been spending too long in this house. It is time to mix with people my own age.”

Yet even to her ears, those words didn’t ring true. However, she forced herself out of the door. Charlotte was sensible enough to know what a crush was. She also knew teenage crushes pass quickly enough. They didn’t last forever.

A gloomy night lay ahead of him. If he went out, he would be drawn to where Charlotte was hanging out with her friends. Staying in left him with nothing more than the tedium of roaming the hallways of the large, lonely mansion.

With only memories for company, he headed for the library. Surely a book there would entertain him for a few hours. However, he had read them all five times or more. He needed something new, something distracting. All these books were old, just as he was old next to Charlotte. He shouldn’t have thought of her, now he couldn’t stop.

Exercise. That would do it. He left the library and headed for the gym Connor had set up. The equipment had been delivered to the front gate. They had carried it inside and had their first introduction to self-assembly instructions. Zoah had nearly found a new way to use the exercise equipment. How far can you throw a rowing machine out of the window?

Recently, it had become his way of amusing himself. Or, if he was honest, distracting himself from the irresistible Charlotte.

He started warming up. Stretching his muscles, feeling the dormant power in his body. In his mind, he felt his dragon, itching to be freed, to go and claim his mate. What was she doing? Who was she with? Had she experienced her first kiss? Or more?

He switched to the treadmill immediately. Concentrating on the digits as they registered the miles he covered without leaving the room. Closing his eyes, he pictured a white beach with a blue sea. He was running through the shallows as the waves lapped at his ankles. It was something he had done so many times, before the human race decided to commercialise everything.

However, she invaded his mind once more. There she was waiting for him. With every step he took, he drew closer to her outstretched arms. Like some romantic movie, he was supposed to run up to her, embrace her and sweep her off her feet. Instead, he turned his vision to the sea. Dragging himself away from her arms, he pictured a huge tidal wave sweeping in to knock him off his feet. To knock some sense into him.

Sweat glistened on his body as he picked up the pace. If he ran, fast enough and hard enough, he would conquer this. His heart pounded, his breathing coming in short, sharp gasps as he pushed himself to the limit of his physical endurance. He was a mighty dragon, thousands of years old; there was no way he was going to be brought to his knees by a fifteen-year-old girl.

“Zoah.”

Her voice distracted him. It was so real, he tripped and fell. What hope did he have if even a vision of her could bring him to his knees? He wiped his forehead and sat for a moment with his face in his hands.

“Zoah. I’m sorry if I interrupted you.”

He looked up, feeling a complete fool. Her voice wasn’t in his head. She was here, in this room, looking at him crumpled up on the floor.

In one swift movement, he stood and went towards her. “You’re back so soon. Is everything alright?” He allowed the concern to show in his voice. He allowed himself the privilege of touching her arm, checking her over.

“Yes, I’m absolutely fine,” she said, but her face was flushed with excitement.

For him?

“I just got a call from Serena. They’re coming home tomorrow. I thought you’d like to know. So I came straight home.”

He let his breath out. No. The excitement had been for someone else. Not him. Never him. “That's great news.” It meant he could do what he needed to do. It meant he could leave.

She didn’t tell him that she had been watching him for a few minutes before she spoke. It wasn’t often that she caught him unaware. He often had a sixth sense for knowing when she was close. This time though, he had been so preoccupied with his workout, he hadn’t sensed her presence.

Grabbing a towel, he came towards her, wiping his face. It wasn’t his face she was interested in; it was the rest of him. His naked chest, for one thing. For an ancient beast, his was in pretty good shape.

Who was she kidding? He might be thousands of years old but he must have stopped ageing in his twenties. He had the looks and physique of a rock god. She smiled to herself. If she told him that, he would probably think she meant a Stone Age deity.

He saw her smiling and frowned, before throwing the towel down and retrieving his shirt. “I’m sorry if you find the sight of me working out amusing.”

“Oh, no. It wasn’t that at all. Although I hope you didn’t injure yourself when you fell.”

That stung him. She had no idea why she felt compelled to press his buttons. But she did.

“I’m not that old and decrepit. Do you have any idea what time they’ll be back?”

Wow, he couldn’t wait to offload her onto Serena. That hurt, although it shouldn’t. What did it matter if he was fed up of looking after her? “She didn’t say. I guess they’re flying back tomorrow evening. So how long will it take Connor to fly here? An hour or two.”

“Something like that.”

A man of so few words, he stood in front of her now, making her feel uncomfortable in the silence. That was one thing she had learned about dragons, and Zoah in particular. When you have spent millennia talking, you don’t see the need for small talk. She figured at times, he and Connor must have spent weeks not speaking to each other. Whereas she felt obliged to fill in those silences. Often babbling like an idiot. No wonder he thought she was stupid and immature.

“Well. I don’t know what to do now,” she said, looking at her watch. “I suppose I could still go and meet my friends.”

“No,” he said quickly. “It’s late.”

“But not past my curfew.” Did he really want to have this fight again?

“I know. But by the time you go back out you will not have much time left.” He paused, and she could tell he was searching for a way to keep her here. Maybe he simply didn’t want anything to happen to her on the night before her sister returned.

“So what are we going to do instead?” she asked, figuring it was time she went easy on him.

“We?” he asked, stunned.

She might as well have asked when they were going out to disembowel some peasants. Wasn’t he capable of spending time with her? “I thought you could show me the armour and tell me about you and Connor.”

“Oh. Yes. I need a shower first.”

“You can always teach me how to fight with a sword and then you’ll just get sweaty again.”

“You want to learn to fight?”

Now she had his attention and she planned to keep it. Otherwise, he was just as likely to disappear on her. “Sure. Or have you never learned? I suppose when you can change into a dragon and kill people with your breath, there's no real need.”

“Oh no. Connor and I used to spend endless hours sparring. I just never expected you to be interested.”

“Why? Because I’m a girl?”

“Something like that,” he said, a hint of a smile on his face.

“Oh, so the mean, moody dragon has a sense of humour.”

“I am not mean and moody,” he insisted.

She raised her eyebrow at him, and then let it go. Not wanting to argue with him again. “Do I get to wear armour too?”

Now he actually laughed at her. “If you put armour on, you wouldn’t be able to move. As it is, I doubt you will be able to lift a sword.”

“A challenge. I like this new Zoah. Lead the way.”

A second of hesitation before he brushed past her out into the hallway. She decided to ignore the bolt of electricity that shot through her where his body touched hers. It was simply the excitement of the moment. She had been desperate to use the swords. Up until now, she had simply run her fingers along them and imagined what it was like to hold them in her hands. Now she was going to get to use them. If Zoah was with her, there was no way she could get into trouble, either.

Zoah walked so fast she had to jog to catch up. Then she took long strides to match his. “So, did you ever fight in any battles?”

“As a man or a dragon?”

“You mean you’ve done both?”

“For a while Connor and I worked as mercenaries. We decided that if men were going to kill each other over land and gold, we might as well join in and let them pay us. Kings pay very handsomely for a fire-breathing dragon.”

“Why isn’t that in the history books?”

“Oh, that was before they started writing it down. Instead, the legends were born. The stories were passed on by story tellers who embellished the facts to such an extent none of them were taken as truth.”

“Like King Arthur? Did he actually exist? You meet him?” She thought she would burst with excitement.

“My father did.” Zoah's face filled with sadness, and she wished she hadn’t made the spectre of his father come to life. She knew how much he mourned his father’s passing.

The story was heartbreaking. When Zoah’s mother had grown old and died, he continued his search. He was determined to find the secret of a way to make a dragon's mate immortal. He wanted to pass it on to his sons, in the hope they would never have to experience the same loss. A witch had tricked him and he had lost his life. He would never know that his mission had been successful.

They had reached the great hall with the suits of armour standing like sentries along it. She imagined them coming to life and fighting each other. Loud, clanging swords and shattered shields. Banners flying as the armies marched to war.

“I don’t know why the thought of men slitting each other’s guts open appeals to you.”

“Because it’s not something a woman should be interested in?” she asked, going to a large, ornate sword. “Did they actually go into battle with something like this?”

“Yes. They named their swords, thinking it gave them power. Life. But all a sword does is end life.”

“So why keep them all if you think it’s all so stupid?”

“To remind me how corruptible men are.”

“And women?”

He shook his head. “You didn’t see women on the battlefield. And I don’t always believe it was because men thought they were weak. Women are the strength of the species.”

“And there was me thinking you were a male chauvinist.”

“If that’s the worst thing you think of me, then I guess I’m lucky.”

“I don’t know you, Zoah. So I reserve my judgement for when I do.”

“I thought most humans make decisions on first impressions.”

“Not me. Anyway. You’ve looked after me when you didn’t have to.”

“Of course I had to,” he said sharply.

“Why? Because of Connor? I suppose you have lived together for so long you must really love each other.”

His eyes fixed on her, making her stomach squirm in a strange, pleasant way. Then he nodded. “Yes. I would do anything for him.”

She ran her finger along the blunt edge of a sword. Her mind was going back to her earlier thoughts. “Zoah. Will you promise me something?”

“If I can.”

No hesitation this time, so she ploughed on. “I’m just worried. About Serena.”

“What about her? She has Connor. He will protect her with his life.”

“I know. But what if something happens to him?”

“Nothing is going to happen to him. And she has you.”

“For now,” she said, trying to contain her tears. “But I’ll grow old. While she will live forever.”

“Charlotte. Please don’t let this worry you. You will live for a long, long time.”

Her voice caught in her throat. “But not forever. So I want you to promise me, you'll always be there for her and my nephew. If anything ever happens to Connor.”

Her words sliced his heart in two. It showed him the reality of her slipping away from him. Old age would take her from him forever if he didn’t act. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to take her into his arms now and kiss her. Tell her what she was to him and that he would give her immortality so she never left this world.

Instead, he said, “I promise.”

“Thank you.” She wiped her tears away and then said, “OK. Which sword can I use?”

He watched her take a shuddering breath. For some reason he felt proud of her. She was stronger than he had given her credit for. Her past could have made her weak and afraid; instead, it had given her an inner strength.

Going along the line of armour he stopped before one made for a child. By his side, he heard her about to complain about not being a child. Before she had the chance, he grasped the sword and lifted it from its place effortlessly. Then he handed it to her.