Valentine (The Dragon Kings Book 3) (3 page)

He shook his head. He couldn’t think about her. He had less than six months to find a mate, and she obviously wasn’t going to work.

Instead, he thought of the news that had really rocked his world. Last night, while they were eating dinner, Theo asked him if he’d ever head of Damien.

“That was the name of my father. He’s dead.” Val took a bite of his cheeseburger. He wasn’t sure he could ever go back to eating as a dragon again. Human food was incredible.

“He’s not dead.”

Val spewed bits of burger and cheese. “Excuse me?”

“He lives with the royal dragons, and he can’t wait to meet you.”

Val’s appetite disappeared. “Why did no one tell me?”

Theo had shrugged. “I don’t know his story. I know he’s not allowed to leave Yellowstone though.”

Val knew he should be more focused on how to become a real king, not just a dragon that looked like one. But he couldn’t stop thinking about his father. Did that mean his mother was alive too?

A man plopped himself down in the seat where Hazel should be. Val met his eyes. It was the man who had been arguing about Hazel’s seat.

“Excuse me, sir, I think you have the wrong seat.” Val wanted Hazel sitting there even if she didn’t like dragons.

“Nope, don’t think I do.” The man had a receding hairline, wore glasses, and had a blazer over a blue button down. He reached into his inside pocket and started pulling something out.

Hazel appeared, eyes blazing. “You’re in my seat.” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

The man withdrew his empty hand. “No, sweetie, this is my seat. You can go back and sit in 27E. Nice middle seat in coach. Go on.” He waved toward the back.

The flight attendant hurried to them. “Sir, you are disturbing the passengers. You must go back to your seat. If you don’t leave, the police will arrest you when we arrive in San Francisco.”

The man glared at all of them as he got up and moved out of the first class section.

“I’m sorry about him. If he bothers you again, make sure you alert us right away. Can I get you two anything?”

Hazel settled back in her seat. “I’m fine, thanks though.”

“Are you sure? We just warmed up some cookies. We were waiting for them to cool, but I can bring them to you now if you want.”

“Chocolate chip?” Hazel asked. Val wondered what chocolate chip tasted like. He couldn’t wait to find out.

The flight attendant smiled. “Of course.”

“Not going to turn that down.” Hazel had a grin on her face, and once again Val regretted the fact that she didn’t like dragons.

“I’ll be right back,” the flight attendant said and disappeared into the galley.

“Geesh, he doesn’t know how to take a hint, does he?” Hazel asked.

Val gave her a small smile and looked out the window again, even though there wasn’t much to see other than clouds. He wanted to fly to Montana as a dragon, but Theo told him he had to get used to the way humans did things, and planes were part of the equation. Theo was supposed to be sitting in the seat next to him, but had sent him a message a few minutes before boarding that he’d meet Val on the mainland.

“I’m sorry,” Hazel said, her voice gentle.

Val turned to face her, and her beauty struck him. He’d watched a lot of humans over the years, and for some reason she was more attractive to him than most. It was the combination of her wide green eyes and jet black hair. Her sun-kissed skin seemed to sparkle. She continued to speak but kept her gaze lowered.

“I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t like dragons. Can we forget about that and talk about something else? It’s what my sister and I do. We usually just avoid the subject of dragons.”

He supposed talking couldn’t hurt. Maybe then he could meet her sister who liked dragons. Theo seemed to think that finding a queen was the most important job Val had as a king.

“Sure.” He settled back and stretched his arms up. The flight attendant came back with the cookies and handed them each one. Hazel took a bite of hers and moaned.

“That good?” Val asked.

“Yes. And if you don’t eat that, I’m going to finish it for you.”

Val tried his and was surprised by the sweetness. They were good, though Hazel seemed to enjoy hers more than he did his.

After Hazel finished her cookie, she eyed him carefully. “How come you never learned how to swim?” Her eyes danced with curiosity.

Val wasn’t sure how to answer that. He knew a lot about humans because he’d spent so much time observing them. He’d even hid out in the forests behind people camping and listened to their conversations. He probably had a better grasp of humans than the royal dragons, but he had no idea what she expected him to say. He’d learned it was better to give an answer that was expected, otherwise they got suspicious.

He and Theo had spent a good deal of time inventing a human backstory for him, and it served his purposes now.

“I grew up believing both my mother and father were dead. My aunt and uncle told me they died in an accident on the water. I guess I was just scared. An irrational fear.” He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, and she leaned even closer to him. He wasn’t sure what she was up to, but he was thinking thoughts he shouldn’t, like what those lips would taste like and if the scent of jasmine coming from her hair would smell even stronger if he were to embrace her. The desire to touch her was almost overwhelming.

“Tell me more about your parents.”

He sucked in a breath. “Why are so you curious about my parents?”

“I don’t know. I like mysteries, and this is a mystery. You already told me your father is alive, so if they didn’t die on the water, what happened?”

He’d really hoped to learn about her, not tell her his life story. Most humans liked to talk about themselves more than listening to someone else. The flight attendant interrupted their conversation by coming around giving everyone their meals. She spoke with her coworker who was serving the row in front of them.

“I still haven’t heard from my sister in Alaska. I’m worried sick.”

“Did she live in the town that had the avalanche?”

“No, one town over from the fire. But I heard buildings all over Alaska are catching fire.”

“What happened in Alaska?” Val asked Hazel.

“Uh, Alaska? Where have you been? It’s been on the news all week. Unexplained avalanches everywhere. One small town was completely buried. Then a huge fog moved into another town on the coast, and when the fog disappeared, buildings all over were in flames. It started a few days ago. Then yesterday, a cruise ship literally capsized. Everyone died. No one can explain it,” Hazel replied.

“That sounds awful,” said Val.

“It is. Some people are speculating that it’s the dragons up north. It’s like they’ve declared war on us or something. But no one has reported seeing one.”

War. He wondered if she was right. Theo had told him that the war would begin soon and that it would be the arctic dragons against the rest of them. And he was supposed to stand beside Obsidian and the third king, and the three would lead everyone into battle.

Hazel tapped his knuckles. “Your parents. What happened?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. Glad to have the distraction.

“I don’t actually know what happened. It’s part of the reason I’m going to the mainland. To find out. I don’t know why my father had to go to Montana and why I couldn’t go with him. Also, I want to know how my mother died.”

That was absolutely the truth, and he planned on getting that answer out of his father before he did anything else, even though he had new responsibilities as a dragon king. He frowned. He was never supposed to be king. Hell, he wasn’t even slated for leadership among the fire dragons. How was he going to do this?

“You okay?” Hazel asked, studying him.

He squirmed. “I’m fine, why do you ask?”

“Because you look like you are about to throw up.”

“I’m just worried. What if I don’t like the answers I get when I meet my father for the first time?” He liked talking to her. He didn’t know why he felt the need to say so much. She was comfortable. A lot more than Theo had been. He rubbed his forehead.

“You probably won’t. But you’ll process through it and move on. We all do. If you want, after you talk to him, you can call me to process. I’m a good listener.”

“Why do you care?” This girl was constantly surprising him

She shrugged. “I told you. Mystery. I like answers. My family tells me I’m too nosy for my own good. I can’t stand not knowing the end to stories.”

“So you don’t care about my feelings, just satisfying your own curiosity?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

She laughed and put her hand on his. “Sorry. I get caught up in the answers and forget about the human side of things.”

He looked down at their hands, enjoying her touch.

“Fine. I’ll tell you, but not over the phone. You’ll have to come to dinner with me.”

“I told you I have a boyfriend.” She blushed.

“I’m calling bullshit. I’ve seen girls with boyfriends, and you don’t act like it at all.” Maybe she did have a boyfriend, but if so, she wasn’t in love with him. He used to watch couples on the island, and he got good at identifying those that were in love and those that were just messing around with each other. Her attitude told him all he needed to know.

She pushed her dark hair behind her ears. “No, I really do have a boyfriend, but we’re in an open relationship.”

“What does that mean?”

“That we can date other people. It’s pretty casual. I don’t really do commitment.”

“Why don’t you do commitment? That’s the best part of relationships.”

“Because that’s the easiest way to get your heart crushed. It happened to me, and I’m not really interested in recreating the experience.”

“You mean to tell me that you would give up all the good parts of your relationship just because of one bad experience?”

“Absolutely. If I could go back and erase that entire summer, I would. I’m sure my sister would too. We call that the summer of hell and don’t talk about it much. She finally moved on though. I never will because the heartache isn’t worth the rest of it.”

Hazel’s hand was still resting on his. It felt warm and nice, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t starting to develop feelings for this girl. He thought about flipping his hand over so he could hold hers but didn’t want to spook her. He leaned forward.

“I told you what I know about my father. I want to hear about this summer of hell.”

Hazel hesitated, and Val had the irresistible urge to kiss her. He’d never kissed anyone before, but he’d seen it a lot. It always seemed so intimate to him though. Something that was done in private, not in an airplane surrounded by people.

She sighed and turned in her seat so one knee was brought up. She tucked her foot under her other leg. “I guess I owe you one. My parents are park rangers. One summer they did a stint in California. In spite of growing up in the parks, I’m not all that crazy about mountains and trees. I like the water better. I liked living in the Everglades a helluva lot more than I liked Yellowstone, so when they went to Yosemite, I was ecstatic to be closer to the ocean. But it’s still a three to four-hour drive to a beach. My aunt lives in San Francisco, so she let me stay whenever I wanted. I had never surfed before, and I met this guy who offered to teach me.

“His name was Teddy, and he was a few years older. I never found out how much older because he was vague about his age. He taught me how to surf, and I fell hard. For two glorious months we were inseparable. I still remember how his lips felt on mine. No one could match his kisses.” Her eyes glazed over a little, and he finally understood what jealousy felt like. Val thought it was odd that she was so open about it. She seemed almost wistful.

“One weekend, I had to go to Yosemite to spend some time with my family, and when I got back to the beach, he was gone. Disappeared. He blocked my calls and texts. Someone told me he moved to L.A.”

The kind of behavior she was talking about seemed abhorrent to Val. Love was not something that was trifled with or made light of. Teddy needed his head examined.

“The worst part is I have no idea what happened. One minute we were happy, and the next he was just gone. Took my heart with him too.”

“Sounds like someone needs to give your heart back to you.”

“Or not. The rest of that summer was awful. My sister and I holed up and ate a lot of ice cream. I enjoy my life now. It’s more fun without commitment. No worries about doing the wrong thing or hurting someone. I’m upfront with anyone I get involved with.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder.

“Sounds lonely.”

“Not really. I never lack company.”

Of course she didn’t. With those bright knowing eyes and smile to die for, she was gorgeous. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward and traced a finger along her jaw. “That’s because you are beautiful and interesting. I imagine you’ve hurt more than your fair share of men.”

She batted her eyes. “I doubt that’s true. But thank you.”

She looked away from him, and he wondered what she was thinking. If he was a canyon dragon, he could tell, but he wasn’t. He was a fire dragon. His gift was a bit useless around humans. Fire dragons were the reason all the rest could breathe fire. They were also pretty charming, but he didn’t want to win Hazel over with his charm. He wanted her to genuinely like him. Why, he didn’t know. She would never agree to be a dragon queen. Which was too bad. He’d been talking to women all week, wondering who would be suitable. He hadn’t liked any of them. Now he’d be comparing everyone to her.

“What are you thinking about?” he finally asked when the silence stretched for too long.

She looked at him and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then pulled her bag out from under the seat in front of her.

She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “This plane ride has been very unexpected. I think I’ll watch a movie now. It’s been a nice conversation.” It all came out in a rush, like she wanted to stay the words before she forgot them.

Panic bloomed in his chest. She was going to shut him out.