Dragon's Darling (Fablestone Clan Book 3) Read online

  “Yeah,” Bernie sits down. She holds her glass up. “Let’s drink to that jerk.”

  “You know,” Julie sets her cup down. “I appreciate the drink, but I think I’ve had enough. I’m not feeling too hot, so I’m going to head back and hit the hay, if you know what I mean.”

  Hit the hay?

  Who speaks like that?

  “Don’t go just yet,” Nicole insists.

  “See you guys later,” Julie turns and starts to leave. Good girl. She doesn’t seem intimidated by them, but unfortunately, the girls don’t take “no” for an answer. Nicole stands up and grabs her shoulder.

  “Wait,” she says.

  It doesn’t look like she’s hurting her, but Julie doesn’t appreciate being touched.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Julie says.

  “Listen here, you little bitch,” Bernie turns to Julie now, glaring at her. Nicole’s mouth drops open. “If you had just drank your fucking drink like a normal person, we wouldn’t be dealing with this.”

  “What, so you could fucking kidnap me? Did you put something in it? Is that why you’re being weird? Is this some sort of B-horror movie, or is this real life? Fuck you,” Julie says, turning away again.

  That’s my girl.

  My inner-dragon likes Julie. I like her, too. She’s determined and strong. She’s feisty, and it’s been a long time since I met a girl who was feisty.

  “Not so fast,” Bernie says, but Julie is gone, traipsing away into the darkness. Good. She needs to get back to her camp, pack her shit up, and move for the night. It won’t be safe to stay this close to these bitches.

  “What the fuck?” Nicole turns back to her friend. “What is wrong with you? What do you mean? Did you put something in her drink?”

  “Just fucking let it go,” Bernie rolls her eyes and sits down.

  “No, I won’t let it go. Do you know how serious this could be? We were just having a drink. You were going to hurt her?” My ears perk up. I thought they were just being bitches, but maybe there’s more to these girls than meets the eye.

  “She’s not going to tell anyone. She’s alone.”

  “She might realize who we are.”

  “Yeah, because a lot of Lucky employees spend time traipsing through the ‘forbidden forest,’” Bernie uses air quotes when she speaks.

  My heart drops.

  Lucky employees.

  These girls are dragon hunters and there’s only one reason they could possibly have for coming into the forest. They’re trying to find Fablestone. It wouldn’t be the first time and it certainly won’t be the last time, but my team has been through hell and back again when it comes to these damn scientists and their accompanying predatory team. We don’t need more trouble.

  Recently, a bunch of Fablestone dragons were able to overtake a Lucky facility. We rescued a bunch of shifters, only to find they introduced a strange illness to our community. Natalie, one of the humans who lives with us, traveled to find the one man who could help us: a doctor. Now we have a man who knows the cure for the dragon’s illness that Lucky sent us, but we still don’t know where their main headquarters is.

  We still don’t know how they’re going to attack us next.

  “Just let it go,” Bernie repeats. “We don’t need to worry about her.”

  “Wrong,” Nicole says, pulling out a weapon. I leap forward, but it’s too late. She shoots before I can reach them and Bernie slumps to the ground. Nicole sends a nasty glare in my direction before taking off after Julie. “Fuck you, whoever you are,” she yells, and starts running through the woods.

  I growl. The painful howl erupts from my throat before I can stop it. I have to get to Julie before Nicole does. I have to get to her before it’s too late.

  Chapter Three

  Julie

  Within minutes of reaching my campsite, I’ve packed my things and am running deeper into the forest. So I found the stone tower. Cool. I did it. Good for me. Now I can cross that item off my bucket list and…what? Move on to something else? Yes, that’s it. I’ll move on to something else.

  First I have to escape from the crazy lady who’s going to try to murder me.

  I’m not dumb.

  I knew they were plying me with drinks. It was weird and awkward, and now I think one of them is dead. I heard yelling, but I don’t have any intention of going back to see what they’re doing. Maybe it was a warning shot. Maybe it wasn’t.

  All I know is that coming into the forest was a terrible choice that I’m starting to really regret.

  “So much for a fun adventure,” I mumble, scurrying into the underbrush. I run, hoping I’m going somewhere far away from Bitchface. Who knows? I could be running right back into trouble, but I don’t have a weapon and I don’t have a plan. I’m not a lucky person. I don’t think I could take whoever is left in a fight. Something tells me it’s Nicole that’s left. She shot Bernie, I think. I’m almost certain of it.

  How do I get myself into these situations?

  I run, thinking I’m fleeing from one situation, only to get sucked into something else. My breakup with Andrew was nasty. Painful. Losing Samantha hurt more than losing him, though. There’s something terrible about having a friend ripped away, especially a best friend. I thought I could trust her. I thought we’d be buddies forever.

  I was wrong.

  My heart hurts now, and it’s not just from running or the fact that it’s out of shape. It’s that this week was supposed to be my chance to heal and move forward from everything I’ve been through this year, but it’s turning out to just be another nightmare.

  “I know you’re out there,” I hear her voice calling for me, but I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from. It is Nicole. Definitely Nicole.

  “Hey, I just want to talk to you!” She calls again.

  I pause, not moving, trying to figure out where she is. My heart beats so loudly I’m sure she can hear me.

  What does she want with me?

  Why is she in the woods?

  Fuck.

  This is my last time taking a spontaneous vacation. Yep. Never going to try this bullshit again. Nope. Future me is going to be all about planning and following the appropriate order of society. I don’t need to be a free thinker or a free spirit or anything but boring.

  Not after this.

  I keep running.

  My feet sound loud, even to me, and suddenly, I hear a laugh.

  It’s almost a cackle.

  Instantly, I stop moving and come to a perfect standstill. She’s close. I can feel her. Why Nicole is after me, I have no idea. She could be a serial killer. Maybe she’s just crazy. Maybe I really did drink too much and I’m just hallucinating. None of these thoughts are reassuring to me, though, as I stand perfectly still in the forest.

  Which way do I go?

  I have my shit, but I’m in the middle of the fucking forest. I left my tent behind because fuck trying to put that bitch back together, so even if I do manage to lose Nicole, I’m going to have to find shelter and then somehow figure out which direction I move in to get back to society.

  I can’t believe how much I’ve messed up this “adventure.”

  All because I just had to fucking say hi.

  “Well, hi,” a sickly sweet voice sounds, and this time, it’s right behind me.

  She found me.

  I stopped running and she found me.

  Perfect.

  “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? It’s rude to ignore a greeting.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize murderers were capable of feeling scorned by something as minute as not receiving a ‘hey, nice to see ya.’”

  “Murderer?”

  I take a chance and turn. If she’s going to kill me, she’s going to kill me. At this point, it doesn’t matter what I do. I already ran. I already proved I’m not interested in dying tonight. What more does she want from me? All I want right now is to feel whole. Complete. I don’t want to feel this achin
g loneliness that’s been eating me up and I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m about to fucking die in the woods.

  There are so many things I wish I could have done.

  Is this what people mean when they said their life flashed before their very eyes?

  When I finish turning around, I see that it is, in fact, Nicole. She looks menacing in the darkness. Scary. I shouldn’t be intimidated by her. After all, she’s just a person.

  And then I remember.

  She’s just a person.

  I can escape from her.

  If I’m very clever, and I’m very brave, I can escape from her.

  What’s to stop me?

  She doesn’t have a visible weapon and even though she’s a little bit bigger than me, there’s only one of her.

  “Yeah,” I say, pretending I’m not shaking in my boots. “I heard the scuffle.”

  “Scuffle? What are you talking about?”

  “You and your friend.”

  “You heard a scuffle? Are you sure there wasn’t just a bear?”

  She’s not holding a gun, but I know she has a weapon of some sort. I can see the outline of something in her pocket. I don’t know what it is, but I know that I happen to be basically completely unarmed. I don’t know if I can fight her.

  “Was there?”

  “Well, no,” she rolls her eyes. “But we both know Bernie needed to be…calmed.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Nicole shrugs.

  “She can be a little intense. Apparently, she tried to slip something into your drink. I didn’t know about that.”

  Her fake sympathy isn’t going to work on me. “Aren’t you worried her friends will come looking for her? Don’t you think people will suspect you?”

  Nicole laughs now, and the sound terrifies me.

  “Oh, honey,” she shakes her head. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?”

  If I can keep her talking, then maybe I can get her to launch into a lengthy monologue that will give me a chance to run away. If she keeps chattering, she’s going to let her guard down eventually. She has to. There’s no way to keep talking and talking and not let your guard down.

  No one can screech incessantly forever.

  Not even her.

  “What do you mean? You were camping. Girl’s week. Something like that. Maybe you guys were having boyfriend troubles. I don’t know.” I shrug, acting like I don’t really care. This seems to bother Nicole because she tenses. The gun wavers slightly, but she keeps her grip on it.

  “We’re important,” she says. “I am important.”

  “Okay.”

  “We work for a special organization,” she says smugly. She sneers at me, but doesn’t say anything else. Is she waiting for me to ask her what company she works for? Is this really the time for that?

  Teaching kids has taught me a lot of things and one of the things I learned early on is that the loudest kids, the ones who need you to be most impressed with them, are often the most neglected. They have these empty voids in their lives at home, so they need other people to think they’re great. Nicole is acting like one of those children. She looks like she’s spiraling out of control, like she’ll do anything to just feel like someone likes her and appreciates her.

  Maybe that’s the secret to getting out of here, but I don’t think so.

  Someone like Nicole is used to getting her way. She’s made it this far because people are intimidated by her, but I’m not. I’m not going to let some clown be the reason I don’t make it home. She’s insecure, and she’s upset, and she’s used to people worshipping her when she tells them to.

  “Cool.”

  It’s all I say.

  Just one word.

  It seems to infuriate her, though.

  Good, she’s losing control. This means she’s going to be closer to making a mistake, closer to letting me go. She won’t see it that way, but I do. I’ll make a harrowing escape. I have to. I’m clever, I remind myself. I can outsmart her if I just stay calm. If I just stay cool. I can do this. I can beat her.

  “Cool?” She growls, spitting the word out. “That’s all you have to say?”

  “I mean, I guess I don’t know that much about special organizations. You like your job?”

  Her jaw drops.

  “Of course.”

  “That’s nice. So many people don’t, you know.”

  “My job is very important.”

  “Yeah, mine too. I guess we all feel that way, though. No matter what we’re doing, we can change the world around us one day at a time. That’s so important, isn’t it? You know.” I nod.

  This just makes Nicole more agitated.

  Good.

  Fuck her.

  I didn’t ask to have her bother me during my camping trip.

  I didn’t ask for any of this.

  Maybe she’ll get bored with me and just walk away. Then we’ll never have to see each other again and we can forget this little encounter ever happened.

  “I work for a corporation called Lucky,” she says, and pauses again.

  Yeah, I don’t know all the companies in the world and I certainly haven’t heard of this one. I raise an eyebrow, but say nothing. My supplies are starting to get heavy and I wonder if I should just set them down. I didn’t exactly pack my backpack evenly when I took off from my campsite.

  “We’re scientists,” she says again. “And we’re going to change the entire world.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Is she going to capture me and shove me in a lab? Is that what this is all about?

  “Because my partner has gone off her rocker and I need someone new.”

  “I’m not a scientist, if you’re offering me a job.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to spit out that I’m a teacher, but that would be stupid. The more information I reveal about myself, the more she can use against me. I’m not interested in having my life’s profession used against me.

  “Scientist? Who said anything about that? You’re going to be my bait.”

  At that, my mouth goes dry.

  My little plan to keep her talking was stupid.

  I’m not interested in being bait for her, nor am I interested in finding out what, exactly she needs bait for. Nicole is evil, through-and-through, and I’m out of here. Any second now, I’ll have a chance to take off, and when I do, I’m leaving. No holding back. No turning back. Just going. I can do it.

  “Bait for what?” She says. “I’m sure you’re wondering.”

  “I’m not.”

  “I’m sure you’re wondering,” she repeats. “Well, there are rumors that there are dragons in these woods,” she says. “And you’re going to help me catch one.”

  “There’s no such thing as dragons,” I whisper.

  Then I hear a growl and I turn to see a dragon dropping from the sky and landing behind Nicole. It roars, and she seems unfazed. Turning, she says, “Welcome to the party, shifter. I wondered when you’d turn up.”

  Chapter Four

  Lee

  Lucky knows too much about us. I don’t like everything they’ve done to my clan, and I really don’t like that they were apparently waiting for my phone call. It’s not okay that they knew I was going to reach out. It’s not okay that they’re still going strong.

  We’ve destroyed several of their buildings in Westbridge Forest. How many more are there? How many more people from their organization are hunting us?

  More importantly, are we ever going to catch a break?

  I stare at the wall in my little cabin. I should fly back to Fablestone. I should return to my clan. It’s been more than long enough. I’ve been gone too long. I left so I could call the number on Peggy’s business card. When Lucky approached her about finding a dragon baby, Daisy, she took the card they offered and shoved it in her pocket. Cameron and Peggy turned it over to me with the hope that I, being the resident tech genius, would be able to do something with it.

  After not knowing what the hell to do,
after not being able to track it, I fucking called it.

  And she was waiting.

  She knew I would be calling.

  I didn’t get anything out of the woman except that she knows Fablestone exists and she’s looking forward to seeing us soon. She ended the call before I could do anything – track it, pinpoint her location. I couldn’t do anything.

  But she scared the shit out of me.

  Fablestone is my home.

  I don’t like knowing that the dragons are being systematically hunted. There’s another clan in the forest who is facing the wrath of Lucky, as well. What about the wolves? Are the wolves being targeted? I don’t know, but I think it’s possible.

  There are a few shifters living in the clan now who aren’t dragons. Rescued from a Lucky facility recently, they’re starting to heal from the nightmare illness Lucky sent down on us. Still, most of them aren’t talking much. I don’t know if Lucky managed to fuck with their memories or if they’re still just in shock, but it doesn’t matter.

  The only thing that matters now is saving my clan.

  The only thing that matters is keeping them safe from these monsters.

  But I can’t do that hiding in a cabin in the woods.

  I have to go back.

  I have to take care of my people.

  And I have to do it now.

  Chapter Five

  Julie

  The dragon is big.

  Magnificent.

  Huge.

  I’ve never seen anything like it before. Hell, I’ve never even imagined anything like it before, but I know what it is. It looks like a fairytale creature from years ago. It looks incredible.

  And it’s pissed off beyond belief at Nicole.

  Good.

  It should be.

  She’s a terrible person.

  It growls. Loudly. Nicole tries to seem cool with the huge dragon in her face, but she takes a step back involuntarily. I’m glad she’s not unaffected by this creature’s size or face. He looks angry. Mad.

  “We were just talking about you,” Nicole says. She reaches into her pocket. The dragon starts to move. He looks like he’s going to leap toward her, to hurt her, but Nicole pulls something from her pocket.