Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) (29 page)

“Drago, you better cough up my eights.” She threatened. He looked her up and down, his gaze stopping at several locations on her body, before coming to rest on her face.

“You didn’t play fair. So, the other 2 eights are back in the draw pile. I had 1 eight and now you have 1 eight.” He said with that heart stopping grin.

“I see. But, you said the suit is hearts and I don’t have any and you know it.” She griped.

“Not my problem. You said I got to pick and I picked. Now, you can use your last eight or you can draw. It’s your choice.” He said with no sympathy.

Al sat for a few heartbeats. She wanted to laugh, but she wouldn’t let him know it. He had totally gotten her and no one would side with her if anyone had been here to take sides. She knew it and he knew it. She either played or quit and he would win by default.

“Fine, I’ll draw.” She pulled the top card and it was a five of clubs.
Dang it.
She could either keep drawing or use the eight. She drew again, six of diamonds. The next draw gave her a four of spades, and the next a seven of clubs. She looked at the grinning man across from her. He had stacked the deck! She knew it.

“What’s wrong, lass, can’t find a card to play?” He asked slyly.

“No problem, I’m just going to play my eight here and make the suit clubs.” She replied.

Kai reached over to the draw pile and pulled a card up, looked at it and put it down on the discard pile.

“Hearts.” He said as an eight of hearts looked up at her.

Damn the man. If she had pulled one more card, she would have gotten one of the eights back.
Ugh. How did he know I wouldn’t draw that card?

“Now who’s cheating?” She growled at him.

“How am I cheating? You drew cards, you chose to stop, and now I pulled the eight.” Kai sat waiting for her to answer.

“I’m so going to beat your ass.” She said as she grabbed up her remaining cards and started drawing until she finally pulled a heart. She had to have twenty cards in her hand.

“Come on, lass, it’s just a game.” He soothingly said to her as he laid down his next card.

“Easy for you to say, now that you’re winning.” Al tried to stay mad at him, but he gave her a really pathetic angelic look, batting his eyes and plumping out his lower lip. “Please.” As the sad little please came from his lips, she burst out laughing. She rolled on the couch until she couldn’t breathe.

They continued to play the game until Kai won, then played two more hands, both of which Al won. During the games they chatted about her job and the things she liked to do. She confessed to her obsession with Norse mythology and Thor, which led to her love of thunderstorms. A discussion of her favorite books, led to her telling him a bit more about the Book Worms. How each woman in the group had a different personality, which was one of the reasons Al loved them so much. If she needed advice about what she should do, they all would help, but Nat was the mom of the group. Ariana usually provided the man candy. Rogue and Amelia provided a lot of laughs. Chelsea was a fellow lover of words. Debra, Anna, and Kat provided their own perspectives on books and life. Mia was a single mom and a nurse, so she provided the joys of children and any advice on health concerns, which always ended in “go see your doctor.” Bianca, Gretchen, and Jasmine were always busy, but stopped by when they could. Everyone shared funny images and book giveaways. It just seemed like each of them filled a spot in her world. A couple of other women were in the group, but they hardly ever posted, so she didn’t know them as well. In return Kai told her about his love of art and how he loved doing tattoos because he got to keep an eye out for possible mates while doing something creative. He talked about Scotland and how he missed it. Since becoming one of the Thirteen he was always busy with one thing or another in the United States. They stayed away from things that strayed too much into the Dásreach and the position they found themselves in, a silent agreement to gloss over the scary or paranormal sides of their current situation. Kai was determined to keep them in
normal
zone and had often started to say something regarding mates or the Dásreach and would turn the conversation to something else.

She was having so much fun she didn’t realize how much time had passed until her mouth cracked into a large yawn. Without her phone she had no idea of what time it was, but figured they should get some sleep. She stood and stretched.

“Lass, you look tired, why don’t you head upstairs and sleep in the bed. I’ll sleep here on the sofa.” Kai offered.

“Yeah, sleep would be good, but I can take the couch. I’m smaller than you and already spent a few hours on it.” She countered.

“No lass, I would prefer it if I’m on the ground floor in case someone busts in while we’re sleeping. I’m a light sleeper and will wake quickly and can protect you while you come fully awake.” Kai said.

She started to argue, but stopped herself before she said anything. He was right. With his abilities, he could fight off someone much easier than she could.

“Okay. I’ll sleep upstairs, but I’m taking the blanket. It’s the only one and you have the fire.” She grabbed the blanket and started to head up the stairs, before stopping and coming back to where Kai still sat. She kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for the lovely evening, Kai. I had a really nice time.” She said and then raced to the loft.

“Me too, Alvena.” She heard him call from the first floor. “Good night, lass. I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll talk about what we should do next then.”

“Good night, Kai. Until tomorrow.” She yelled back to him as she curled up on the bed.

She punched the remaining pillow and wrapped up in the blanket. Before she could worry about anything, Al fell asleep remembering the smiling dragon as he had won that first game.

Chapter 20

Kai woke the next morning with a hard object poking into his side. When he tried to move off of it, he immediately found himself lying on the floor in front of the sofa. Alvena would have definitely fit better on the old, hard, and lumpy piece of furniture. He wasn’t sure how she had slept on it the previous afternoon. But, there was no way that he could have let her sleep in the more vulnerable position. It was his job to protect her and that was what he was going to do, even if that meant he was uncomfortable and stiff from sleeping on a way too small and too old sofa.

As he rose from the floor and stretched, joints popping and his muscles protesting after the night on the torture device camouflaged as a piece of furniture, Kai thought back to the night before. He had a great time with Alvena and it seemed that she had a great time too. It appeared that she really enjoyed the flowers and chocolate he had given her, her eyes had softened and he had almost reached for her. He had held back and been rewarded. Their camaraderie throughout the evening as they ate and played cards warmed his heart and gave him hope.

Glancing down at the fireplace which contained cold ashes, he was reminded of her reaction to his ability to breathe fire. He had expected her to be afraid or freaked out when he had to partial shift, but not his mate. She had accepted it with the same determination and grace as everything else that had happened to her. When she had touched his face and his fangs, Kai had about died from pleasure. His dragon guardian had gone crazy. He wanted Alvena as much as Kai did. If he hadn’t been raised Dásreach, that would have bothered Kai, but since he had been raised knowing the ways of the guardians, he was able to accept the idea that his guardian would care for Alvena as much as he did. He would not share her with another man, any man that touched her would die, but he would share her with his guardian. His guardian was a part of his soul, just like he was realizing Alvena was.

His mind drifted and he soon found himself thinking once again about the night before. He chuckled as he remembered how Alvena had tried to cheat that first game of Crazy Eights. His mate was a trickster and very devious. She had tried to pretend that she had forgotten and then he caught her with 3 of the 4 eights in her hand. When she had run to the bathroom, he wasn’t sure what to expect when she returned, but he had taken 2 of the 3 eights from her hand and stacked the deck in his favor. Her stance when she returned had almost sent him to the floor in laughter. She had stood there so confident of herself, her hands on her hips and her stance wide. Very much the warrior he knew her to be, like the Valkyrie’s from the Norse mythology she had said she enjoyed. His Valkyrie.

His Valkyrie stood much like his mum used to do when he and Charlie would get caught in yet another situation where they were standing up for some wrong they perceived. Aye, both his mum and Alvena were like the Valkyries in the stories his mum used to tell him as a child. His mum had always come after the two boys like an avenging warrior when they were in scuffles with bullies as lads.

Sigh.
Kai hoped that Charlie was alright. It bothered him that they hadn’t heard from either, Charlie or Malkum. As he walked to the window and pulled back the curtain, to see the bright sun nearing the midday mark in the sky, he figured that it was past time to contact Dar again. He had slept later than he had planned, but they had been playing cards in to the wee hours of the morning. The time had flown by as he enjoyed Alvena’s company; he hadn’t even realized how late it was until she had yawned. He didn’t hear any noises from above, so he could only assume that she was still asleep. With one more stretch Kai headed to the bathroom and then the office where the radio waited for him to contact Dar.

*

“Kai it’s about time you called me back.” Dar yelled across the radio waves.

“What’s wrong, man?” Kai asked his friend and Enforcer.

“We heard from Charlie. He called in early this morning.” A beep sounded from Dar’s side of the conversation.

“How is he? How is Nat?” He demanded, impatient to have news of his best friend and his mate.

“Hold on, Kai. I’m getting a call. Let me get rid of them.” Kai heard Dar moving around and some banging as he kept his hand on the radio button while he searched for his phone. “Shit. It’s the council on your phone. They’ve been calling non-stop since they haven’t been able to reach you or Charlie.”

“Ignore it, Dar. Tell me about Charlie.” Kai instructed.

“Okay, okay, I will. Just give me a minute to shut this thing off.” Once the beeping stopped Dar came back. “The men that were following Charlie and Nat caught up with them late last night in a little town in Florida. His plan had originally been to get to Jacksonville and fly to Tiranam Dásig.”

“So he had the same idea we did, to fly and get his mate to Tiranam Dásig?” Kai mumbled. Thinking to himself more than talking to Dar. Kai was trying to figure out what was going through his friends mind. Why in the world would he have kept driving that far away from his friends that could help him?

“Yes. He said that was the plan, but there were some issues. And, before you ask, he refused to go into details. He wouldn’t explain anything to me. Said he didn’t have time, he just wanted to let me know what he found out so that I could get the information to you.”

“I don’t like this; it doesn’t sound like Charlie, Dar.” Kai voiced his concern.

“I agree, but when I pressed, he told me it was none of my damn business what he did with his mate and reminded me that he was Beta. So, I backed off and let him tell me what he wanted to tell me.”

“How did he contact you?” Kai asked hoping that he would have a way to reach his friend once he had a way to communicate.

“He called from a pay phone, called collect too.” Dar responded, and then continued. “As I said, the men caught up to him and Nat. Charlie had no choice but to fight them. He said they were in a deserted area, so no one saw anything, but he shifted and took all but one of the men out. As he was talking to me, there was a scuffle and then he came back on the phone and informed me that he had not done it on his own, but with the help of his mate. I heard another scuffle and he changed it to help from Natalie. I hope you are having better luck with your mate than what it sounds like Charlie is, Kai.” Dar chuckled.

“Shite, Dar, focus. What happened?” Kai was losing patience.

“Sorry Kai, but I mean it. This is not instilling confidence in the rest of us.” Dar laughed again and then hurried on. “Like I said they took out all but one, the one they interrogated. From what the man said he has someone on the inside feeding him information. They knew where to find us, because someone told them where to go. He wouldn’t tell them much more than that, but Charlie said that he finally got the man to break under his
persuasion.
The man blurted out that it didn’t matter if they killed him, because his friends knew where to find the tallest one and his woman and would get revenge for him. Charlie kept working on him and before the man died he finally gave them a few more details. They know you’re near Baton Rouge, Kai. You need to get out of there. It’s only a matter of time before they find you.”

Kai could hear Dar switching to full Enforcer mode. Complete seriousness. How was it possible for them to know where Kai was? He had no electronics on him for them to track and no one knew of this place but him and Charlie. Well, until he had told Dar. So, everyone at the house would probably know and the Council when Dar had reported to them. But, he couldn’t think of anyone else… unless there were others around the Council that would have overheard something. This was becoming more and more complicated as they discovered more of the situation.