The Island Of Dragons: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (9 page)

The alarm sirens had stopped, and soon all the kids’ moms came to pick them up, thanking me for getting all the kids to safety. Melissa and I had a late lunch with Melody, and then I went back to my guest castle to work on the following day’s dance class lesson plans.

Despite the fact that Warren and I were very much in love, I hadn’t moved into his massive chief’s castle, though not because he hadn’t asked me to. I supposed I was just a bit funny and old-fashioned about moving in with a man before marriage, even though I knew that was kind of odd of me since clearly I’d had no reservations about sharing a bed with a man before marriage. But I felt how I did anyway. I just didn’t want to move in together yet. Warren jokingly said that he expected no less from a woman who’d insisted on being called by her full, formal name for over a week after meeting the man she was to fall in love with.

I missed him terribly. He’d been gone dealing with the golem and other lake-related problems for a full twenty-four hours. When he showed up at my front door to escort me to the council meeting that evening, I just about devoured him with my eyes. Even sleep-deprived, unshaven, and wearing jeans and a white t-shirt streaked with mud, he was still almost indescribably handsome. The dark stubble on his face didn’t detract from the angle of his strong jaw, and even though they were a bit bloodshot, his coal-gray eyes still held a steely glint that made my heart do a flip. And muddy or no, his white t-shirt still set off his golden tan and highlighted every muscle in his chest well enough that all I could think about was throwing myself into his arms.

But it seemed I was going to have to wait to do that.

After giving me a very brief kiss, Warren looked at me with a serious, tense expression. “I need to talk to you right away, before the meeting. This golem has got to be stopped immediately, obviously. And I think you’re the only one who can do it.”

*

I stared at Warren, uncomprehending. “What? How can
I
stop the golem? What could you possibly—”

“Here. Let’s sit for just a quick minute.”

He led me through the foyer to the living room and sat us both down on the couch. Outside, beyond the open windows, the sun was just beginning to set, filling the living room with warm, golden-orange light. The day had been especially breezy, which meant that my stone-walled castle was filled with the tangy, clean scent of sea salt. It crossed my mind that it would be a nice evening to relax in Warren’s arms and begin a marathon lovemaking session, which I was sorely in need of. Being that he’d had to be away quite often, it had been a little while since we’d been able to make love. When I’d told Melissa earlier that day that I was frustrated, I hadn’t only been talking about the golem situation.

However, Warren’s serious expression, added to the fact that the council meeting was soon to begin, told me that any physical intimacy was going to have to wait for another evening. Not to mention that I was intensely curious, to say the least, to find out how Warren thought
I
could stop the golem.

Sitting next to me, holding my hands, he got right into it. “I accused you of being a spy when you first came to this island, and now I need you to really be one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need you to be a secret agent of sorts in regards to Dalton. I need you to befriend him, and find out anything you can about the golem, and about this island itself. Because even though he’s been tight-lipped, or maybe
because
he’s been so tight-lipped, I just get the feeling that Dalton knows way more about this island and the golem than he’s letting on. Way more. I still feel that because he knew about the existence of this island, knew precisely how to get here, he must be some sort of a spy or agent for the scientists that created this place. But he’s not going to talk to me. He might you, though. And if he does, if he tells you about the golem, about any specific weak spots maybe, that might give us what we need to take him out. So, in this way,
you
can stop the golem. All we need is information, but we can’t wait very long for it. It’s become clear that this golem needs to be taken out soon. Every single day we play defense, he gets bolder and bolder, and comes nearer and nearer the village. So, will you do this, Ellie? Will you agree to become a spy and try to get some information out of Dalton? I can’t have my men torture information out of him, as some have suggested. I’m not that kind of a leader.”

I didn’t even need to think about it.

“Of course I’ll become a spy. This island—this
village
—has become my home now, Warren, and I’ll do anything I can to help protect it.”

***

Two weeks earlier, to Warren’s elation, I’d come to the conclusion that I wanted to stay on the island indefinitely. Probably forever. Shortly after that, to my horror, I realized that my friends from back home were probably thinking I was dead, being that I hadn’t had any way to contact anyone after I’d fallen from the cruise ship. Cell phones on the island only worked to call and text other people on the island. And honestly, not only had I not had any way to contact anyone, but I had to admit with more than a touch of guilt and shame that my friends hadn’t even crossed my mind since I’d arrived on the island.

Once I’d realized that they were probably worried sick, Warren had taken me through his portal to Central Park in New York City, and I’d called Brianna, one of my closest friends, who’d let out some sort of a strangled half-yell when she heard my voice. She and everyone else had thought I’d been kidnapped at one of the ports or something, or maybe even while on the ship. She and a few of my friends even thought it was possible I might have fallen the night the ship tilted, though they thought I’d probably been asleep in my cabin at that time. After a day, when they’d realized I was missing, they’d notified the authorities, who’d done an exhaustive search of the ship. I could not have possibly felt any worse. My only consolation was that because of the funny passage of time on the island, to my friends, I’d only been missing for five days, not a whole month. Not that that was much of a consolation, though. I was going to feel guilty for the rest of my life, and rightly so, I was sure.

Hating to lie, but knowing that I had to, as the truth was literally unbelievable, I told Brianna that I was so very sorry but I’d had some sort of nervous breakdown and had decided to start a new life at one of the ports in Hawaii. I’d recovered from my breakdown quickly, had found a job, and was doing great. Brianna seemed dubious, but by the end of the call, I had her convinced. She promised she’d tell my two cousins, who were my only surviving family members, that I was fine, and I promised to call every so often with updates, which I really was going to do. After the call, Warren whisked me back through his portal to the island, where I promptly passed out and slept for twelve hours. Apparently, portal-traveling took some sort of major physical toll on non-shifters, though it was only temporary.

Brianna hadn’t mentioned that anyone had noticed Dalton missing from the ship, and I knew exactly why. During one of his first days on the island, he’d told Hugh that he’d stowed away and hadn’t even paid for a cruise ticket. He hadn’t wanted to cheat the cruise line, he’d said, but the cruise had been sold out and he’d needed to make this particular cruise in order to get to the exact location where he needed to open the wormhole to get to the island. He’d politely declined to tell Hugh anything else. When vigorously questioned by Warren later, he’d also politely declined to say any more. He just maintained that he was a scientist who’d heard tales of the island and wanted to see it for himself; that was it.

Back in the present, bathed in the golden-orange light in the living room of my castle, Warren looked incredibly relieved that I’d agreed to be a “secret agent” and try to get more info out of Dalton. I wished that he’d asked me earlier, weeks earlier even, although I knew he hadn’t really wanted me to get too close to Dalton before, though not because he thought Dalton would sweep me off my feet or anything, but just because he didn’t know what his motives were.

Warren thanked me with a kiss that left me wanting more, much more, then took me by the hand and pulled me up from the couch, and we went off to the council meeting together. On the way, Warren held one of my fairly small hands in one of his large, strong hands, and the mere feel of his touch made me wonder if it was at all possible that we might have some alone time together after the meeting, even though I knew this was selfish. Warren had been working hard, and he was tired. He needed a shower and a few hours of sleep first thing after the meeting, I was sure. But nonetheless, it was becoming clear to me just how used to our lovemaking I’d gotten and just how badly I needed more of it, and soon.

The council lodge was a low, circular stone building in the “town” part of the village, behind the long row of castles adjacent to the ocean. The entrance of the lodge faced the towering back of Warren’s massive three-story castle, and the rear of the lodge ran up against the dense jungle land that bordered the village. Inside was one good-sized, stone-walled circular room with a few windows and at least a dozen jewel-colored velvet tapestries decorating the walls. They gave the interior of the lodge a medieval feel, which was somewhat of an unusual feel, given that we were on a tropical island. Though somehow, that medieval feel kind of just fit anyway. After all, it brought to mind royalty, and Warren was the “king” of the village for all practical purposes.

Once all the council members had arrived, he took a seat at the head of a long hardwood table; I sat on his left and Joshua, who was Melody’s husband and Warren’s right-hand man, sat on Warren’s right. Next to Josh sat Melody, and next to her sat Melissa and Dan. On the other side of the table sat two older couples I didn’t know very well. The men were Thomas and Mark, and their wives were Nadine and Cynthia.

I’d initially been surprised that Hugh and his wife Sadie weren’t council members, just being that Hugh seemed so completely trusted by Warren, and being that he seemed to do so much for him in terms of helping Warren organize the village guard patrols and things like that. But one day Hugh had told me that he was better suited to be a follower and a support rather than a leader. “And I don’t think there’s any shame in admitting that,” he’d said. “Some people are just better at following orders rather than giving them. You see, there can be a certain different strength to it, a strength on a level of being a leader, even. It’s the kind of strength I have, anyway. I’ve always known who I am, and I’ve never fought it.”

I’d grown to like Hugh more and more, and he’d really become like a father to me. He’d become like the gruff-yet-gentle-underneath-it-all father that I’d never had but had always wanted. My own father had always been distant, to the point that I barely even saw him growing up. He was always at work, though I’d never even been entirely certain what he did. Something with computers.

Warren called the council meeting to order, then got right to business, telling everyone about his plan to have me get information from Dalton, and that I’d agreed to it.

Melody immediately piped up, speaking rapidly in her soft, melodic voice. “But will Ellie be safe while she’s doing this? You’ve said yourself that you’re reasonably certain that Dalton is some sort of an enemy operative, so how do we know that he won’t try to harm Ellie in some way if and when the two of them are alone?”

Touched by her concern, I cleared my throat and spoke for the first time during the meeting. “Well, if he wanted to hurt me for some reason, he probably could have just dunked my head under the water when he first found me in the ocean after I’d fallen from the ship. He could have not even approached me, actually, and just let me drown while he went through the portal to the island on his own.”

Melody conceded that was true. “But who knows exactly why he did that or what his plans are now, though? I still think we need to take safeguards to ensure your safety.”

“And we will.” Dark brows furrowed, Warren continued with his gaze scanning the faces of everyone at the long, polished table. “I’ll have Dalton’s guards begin to fall back... I’ll have them tell him I’ve begun to trust him more...but I won’t have them fall back far. I’ll have them just far enough away so that Ellie can talk to Dalton in private and get information, but they’ll be close enough by at all times so that Ellie can shout if she needs help and help will come running, or flying in dragon form, immediately. Trust me on this, Melody, Ellie’s safety is my utmost concern.”

She nodded, seemingly satisfied. I myself fought an eye roll, grateful that she and Warren were both focused on my safety, but feeling as if they shouldn’t be where Dalton was concerned. I figured I had a much better chance of being injured by a massive stone monster rolling into the village than by a mild-mannered scientist who seemed obsessed with collecting island shells and rocks.

A while later, after a group discussion about the golem’s latest moves and activities, and the plan to continue to simply “babysit” him for the time being, until I could get some info from Dalton, Warren changed gears. He brought up the subject of the other shifter groups on the island possibly helping to take out the golem, saying that they were all still reluctant to get involved.

“Despite the fact that it seems as if the golem could become a problem to
all
of us here on the island at any time, if it ever decides to head to either of the other two villages on a whim. But as for right now, with it for some reason seeming hell-bent on heading to
our
village first, the leaders of the bears and the wolves just don’t seem to feel much urgency to help us with the problem. I think more than anything, Eric and Holden are worried for the safety of their shifters. And... well, being that bears and wolves are much smaller than dragons... I guess I get that.
I’m
concerned for the safety of my men even though we’re all enormous. And I guess I also get Eric and Holden thinking that we dragons are best suited to take out the golem anyway since we can at least attempt to bring him down from the air. So, as much as I wish things were different, we’re on our own in dealing with this thing.”