Seed of the Dragon: A Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (15 page)

“My clothes,” Shawn requested.

I took off my oxygen mask and opened the backpack to pass Shawn his t-shirt, jeans, underwear, and socks. “Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” I replied.

Once he was dressed, we both faced the door that led inside the building. “I’ve been here many times before, but I’m not sure what to expect this time,” said Shawn.

“We can do this,” I encouraged him.

“You’re right…” he said but his shoulders still held some tension.             

“Shawn,” I began, “many little coincidences led us here
together
, and we can do this
together
. I’m here with you no matter what happens.”

Shawn smiled. “Thanks for being with me,” he said.

“Thanks for having me,” I replied.

Shawn held out his hand and looked towards me. I took it in my own and held the puppet Michael in my other arm. Shawn squeezed my hand in reassurance. “
We
can do this,” he said.

“We can do this,” I repeated.

We nodded at each other and opened the door. We walked down the stairwell until Shawn signaled that it was the right floor. There we exited into what would have been a lobby with a secretary, but Missy was nowhere there. We walked past the empty desk and came upon a large door at the end of a hallway.

Shawn put up his first to knock but hesitated. I squeezed his hand. He knocked the door three times, loud and clear.

“Come in,” a voice called from inside.

Shawn opened the door and revealed a beautiful office with mismatched furnishings. On the other side of the room were two people, a man and a woman. The woman wore a pencil skirt and a white blouse. She had her hair up in a bun and distinctive glasses perched upon her nose. The man beside the woman held the revolver against the woman. He was tall and old with a full head of grey hair. He wore a suit bearing a square handkerchief and golden cufflinks.

“The child,” the old man demanded.

I squeezed Shawn’s hand before I let go. I held the puppet Michael close and began to walk slowly towards the man.

“Let me see the child’s face,” the man demanded as I was only halfway across the office.

I thanked my model training that I did not look spooked. I pretended to look at the puppet as if I was looking at the real Michael.

“Michael, I need you to look at that man over there for me,” I whispered.

“His name is Michael?” the old man cried out. “A boy… perfect. It’d be much harder with a girl.”

I glared at the old man. “For what?” I asked.

“Create more dragons of course!” the old man said with a smile.

I felt a huge wave of disgust overcome me. This man wanted to make my kid impregnate women in order to create more shifter children with the possibility of them becoming a dragon?!

“I could never have done it with Shawn since he was much too old and smart for that, but a
child
? That would make it perfectly easy!” the old man laughed.

Missy was groaning so loudly I could hear it from here. She looked so uncomfortable with that revolver pointing at her.

“Hand over Missy,” Shawn demanded.

“Fine, fine,” the old man said as he pushed the woman forward.

Missy walked slowly until she got to me in the middle of the room. She looked at me in worry, most likely because she didn’t know that we had a plan. But what  was the plan?  The man had a gun so how were we to get away without getting shot at? I fought the urge to gaze back at Shawn, he wouldn’t abandon me would he? No, he would never.

Suddenly Missy tackled me to the ground and then a great heat came upon us. Fire was raging on above us, plumes of the bright, hot, stuff exploding out of Shawn’s throat. As soon as the fire stopped both me and Missy got up and ran towards Shawn who was now in his dragon form. I left the puppet Michael behind and sprinted as fast as I could.

“Bastard!” the old man yelled in pain.

He slammed his hand on his desk, which sounded an alarm. Shawn returned to his human form and ran with us naked up the stairwell, all of us being so close to harm’s way that we didn’t care. Once we were on the roof Shawn began to change but some of the old man’s people had followed us up before we could escape.

There were three shifters and two gunmen who had made it to the roof with us: a boar, a lion, a panther, and two regular humans. The distance was too close for Shawn to use fire without risking hurting us so instead he blew a few small plumes of smoke to deter our followers.  Missy and I climbed onto Shawn’s front claws without bothering to put on the oxygen masks.

“Go, go, go!” I yelled once we both had grabbed on tightly.

Just as Shawn lifted off the ground I heard a large crack in the air and felt a massive pain in my thigh. I cried out but refused to let go of Shawn’s claw. Once we were back up above the clouds and Shawn evened us out I relaxed. Red hot shocks of pain hit me and I grabbed at my thigh.

“Oh my god, you were shot,” said Missy. She grabbed at my hands and pulled them away. “I know first aid, let me help you,” she said.

I nodded.

“Is she alright?” Shawn asked since he couldn’t help from his position.

“We will have to see,” Missy said. “Luckily I carry a mini first aid kit with me.”

“Yeah, oh fuck that hurts,” I replied.

Missy washed away at the blood to see how bad the damage was. “Looks like you were just grazed by the bullet, luckily, but the bleeding is really bad. I’m going to pour antiseptic on it first which will sting and then you’ll have to put a lot of pressure on it,” said Missy.

“Got it,” I replied.

Missy then grabbed a small box from the inside of her jacket which contained  small bottle. She opened it and then readied herself to pour. “Ready?” she asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” I replied.

She poured it directly on my open wound, which made me bite my bottom lip. It stung terribly and I felt my eyes well up in pain.

“Now put pressure on it while I get the bandage ready for you,” Missy instructed. I did just that. Luckily the sting from the antiseptic was beginning to wane. “Okay now move your hands, I’ll bandage you,” said Missy. She placed a large bunch of cloth onto my wound and then wound a bandage around my thigh.

“Thank you,” I said.

“It’s not a problem,” Missy replied, “what about the child?”

“That was made of straw,” I said.

“It was?!” she exclaimed, “Oh thank god.”

I began to laugh. Shawn joined in with me.

“Don’t laugh at me! I was really worried for a moment!” Missy said.

“I would never let my child go close to a man like that,” I said.

Missy smiled at me. “Keep it that way,” she said. “Boss has been doing some pretty suspicious things lately and I was wondering what he was up to. The moment he put that revolver to my head, I regretted ever coming to work for him.”

“Are you… an assassin?” I asked.

“Like Shawn? I was trained to be but I went on to be that man’s secretary,” she explained. “Speaking of Shawn, where are we going?” Missy shouted.

“Home,” Shawn replied.

“Home?” Missy asked.

“We are going back to Dublin,” he said.

“Dublin, my god I haven’t been since… since I was a child,” said Missy.

“It’s still like I remember it,” Shawn said.

Missy smiled. “So you’re Shawn’s lucky gal?” she asked.

“I guess…?” I answered.

“You are,” Shawn replied.

Missy laughed. “Where’s Michael then?” Missy asked.

“He’s back in Dublin,” I answered.

“That makes sense,” she said.

Missy and I looked at each other.

“These are some weird circumstances to meet by, but it’s still nice to meet you,” I said.

“Pretty
and
polite! I like you,” Missy replied.

CHAPTER 14

“Shawn”

I descended from the sky to right outside the entrance to Sub-Dublin. Once I had landed, I gently placed Missy and Rachel onto the ground. I shifted back into a human as quick as I possibly could and then grabbed the backpack from Rachel in order to get dressed in my spare clothes I'd brought along.

Rachel looked horribly pale and the wound on her leg was bleeding through Missy’s dressing.

“Are you going to be alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” Rachel assured but I could tell that she was lying.

It was a good thing I kept a close eye on her because a moment later after Bartley let us in, Rachel fainted. Luckily, I caught her in my arms before she fell to the ground.

“Rachel? Rachel!” I called out.

“Must be blood loss,” Missy said, “We need to get her help immediately.”

I put one arm around the back of Rachel’s neck and the other underneath her knees and picked her up. Missy adjusted Rachel’s head for me so that it was resting on my chest rather than uncomfortably leaning backwards over my bicep. Missy and I ran towards the clinic  the fastest we could. I had to be really careful as I carried Rachel so as to not jostle her too much. I could feel warmth on my stomach which was probably the blood seeping out of her wound and that extremely worried me.

“Doctor!” I shouted as we entered the clinic.

The woman at the desk took one look at us and ran into the back room to grab someone to help.

“She’s fainted from blood loss!” Missy explained as an older man cut open Rachel’s dressing and jeans to get at the wound.

“What is this from?” he asked patiently.

“A gun,” I said.

The doctor whistled. “I’m going to sterilize it and then close the wound. Nurse!” the doctor called.

“Yes?” the woman from the desk answered.

“We need to get this woman an IV and a blood transfusion stat,” the doctor demanded.

“On it!” the nurse answered and quickly did as asked.

The nurse and doctor worked fast. Soon they were both wiping their brows and congratulating each other on their quick work.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

“It’s a good thing we were open!” the nurse exclaimed.

“Had you not brought her to us, she might’ve died from blood loss,” the doctor said.

“Thank you so much again,” I said whole-heartedly.

Rachel could have died had we not got her here on time. Had the flight been any longer or had I gone slower she could have
died
. That reality sunk in deep and I felt relief wash over me that it had not happened.

“Let her spend the night here with an IV and she’ll be as right as rain come morning,” the doctor assured.

“I cannot thank you enough,” I said once again.

“Don’t sweat it lad, I do this every day,” the doctor laughed.

Missy and I exited the clinic together and we both breathed a sigh. I could feel sleep tugging at my eyelids from two flights over the ocean in one go. I felt sore in places that I didn’t even know one could feel sore.

“Now where to?” Missy asked.

“I want you to meet Kathleen and then I’ll come back to wait until Rachel wakes up,” I said.

*

“Rachel”

When I woke up all I saw was white. I felt terribly fuzzy and tired all over, my muscles were aching and my eyes and mouth were dry. I blinked a few times in order to make sure that I was seeing right. I  pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around me. I was in a white room, in a white bed, with white chairs. In one of those chairs was Shawn who had his arms crossed and eyes closed. I looked to my left where there was a window and saw that I was underground, and according to the lights it must be morning.

I tried to move my leg but felt a dull pain shoot up my spine. I grabbed at my thigh and took the sheets off. It looked like someone had cut off that portion of my jeans and had dressed my wound more professionally. Unlike before, the pain wasn’t sharp so whatever they had done must have helped. I looked at my left arm and saw I was connected to an IV. Once I pieced it all together I realized that I had fainted.

I had felt light headed towards the end of the trip but had assumed that it was a combination of smelling blood and being so high up in the air where the air pressure is different. Once we had gotten down to the ground and past Bartley and the entrance… I didn’t remember anything. I remembered beginning to walk towards the stair well and then… nothing. That must have been when I fainted.

I looked at Shawn; I probably worried him and Missy so much. I felt a wave of affection come over me. He was worried enough that he stayed with me the entire time. It was so sweet of him to do so.

I didn’t feel like resting anymore but I didn’t want to wake Shawn, so I began to try to stretch my muscles. I shifted in my bed until my legs hung over the side. I stretched my unwounded leg first and held it straight, parallel to the floor. I then tried to move my wounded leg but felt a pain making me unable to fully stretch.

“Rachel!” I heard Shawn’s voice call, “You’re awake!”

I looked behind me at Shawn and smiled. “Yeah, thank you for staying with me,” I said.

“Why didn’t you wake me right away?” Shawn asked.

“You looked like you needed rest,” I said.

Shawn stood and walked towards me on the other side of the bed. “Do you need help standing?” he asked.

“I might,” I admitted.

He took both my hands in his as I placed both my feet flat on the floor. I breathed in and out, and then stood. I felt a pain but then once I put weight onto my other leg it was fine.

“The doctor said you should be able to walk but shouldn’t run or do anything that might break your stitches,” Shawn said.

“Got it,” I replied, “I don’t plan on running anytime soon anyway.”I looked up at Shawn and gave him a smile. “Thanks,” I said.

“No need to thank me,” Shawn said. He helped me walk across the room over to the window and we looked outside. I opened it to feel the draft.

“It was nice being topside,” I said, “It was really refreshing.”

“Nothing beats topside air,” Shawn agreed.

I sighed and looked outside.

“Want to go see Michael?” Shawn asked.

“Yes, yes I do,” I replied.

Shawn helped me as I limped out of the clinic and towards Kathleen’s house. There we entered and I was greeted by a huge (and slightly) painful hug to my wounded leg.

“Hey Michael!” I greeted.

“Mommy!” Michael called, “You were gone forever!”

“It wasn’t forever, after all I’m here
now,
” I replied.

Kathleen and Missy laughed from the living room. “How cute,” they commented.

I smiled at the two women. It looked like they were having tea and sweets from the table. “Mind if I change first?” I asked since I was still in the clothes stained with my blood.

“Of course!” Kathleen replied, “Let me get you a change of clothes.”

I went to the washroom with the new set of clothes and got into them. They were a large pair of sweatpants, underwear, socks, a large t-shirt, and a sweater. It wasn’t particularly form fitting or attractive, but it was the comfiest thing I had worn in years.

“I feel like I’m in pajamas!” I joked as I re-entered the living room. I limped on over to an open couch and sat down. Michael came up to me and climbed on my lap, and I made sure he sat on my unwounded leg.

“You deserve to wear something comfy!” Kathleen replied.

I smiled at her as I situated Michael on my lap.

“So I heard you two are together now?” Kathleen asked.

“Pardon?” Shawn said.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Is there going to be a wedding?” asked Kathleen.

Shawn and I looked at one another. “We haven’t… discussed it,” Shawn said.

There was an awkward silence covering the room.

Wedding bells were going off in my head. What if Shawn and I did get married? What if we had a beautiful wedding here with Kathleen, Bartley, and Missy? Auntie wouldn’t be able to come if it was underground though… and I’m not allowed topside except for emergencies like the past one with Missy. Could a wedding be considered an emergency, I wondered?

“That reminds me! Shawn, can we call my Auntie and say it’s okay to go home yet?” I asked.

“It’s probably fine,” Shawn said.

“Kathleen, is it okay if
I
call her instead of Shawn? It would be my last time speaking with her…” I said.

“It’s fine, just this once,” Kathleen said with a smile.

Shawn passed me his cell phone, which I quickly used to dial Auntie’s cell phone number.

“Hello?” the familiar voice answered.

“Hey Auntie,” I said.

“Rachel!” Auntie exclaimed, “What happened to you? I haven’t seen or heard from you in days!”

“I’m fine Auntie, I just wanted to let you know it is okay to go back to your house now,” I said.

“Thank you darling, but what about you?” Auntie pressed.

“I’m fine Auntie, I’m at a friend’s house right now and can’t talk for long,” I said.

Kathleen was motioning for me to end the call. “I have to go Auntie, I love you! Bye,” I hung up. I was going to  miss Auntie. I really wanted to see her now after hearing her familiar voice. I sighed.

“It’s alright, Rachel, you’ll love your life in this city,” Kathleen comforted.

“I know, I’ll just miss her…” I trailed off.

Shawn put his hand on my shoulder as I gave his cell phone back to him. “I’ll be with you,” he said in order to comfort me.

“Thank you,” I replied.

At the very least I knew I had people on my side who were willing to fight with me to protect something. And I liked that.

That night Shawn and I slept together. It was cold outside, and I could hear the howling of the wind against the window. Shawn was facing away from me on the edge of the bed so I moved closer in an effort to stay warm. I draped my arm over his chest and then before I slowly drifted to sleep, I felt his hand grasp my own.

I walked down the runway, the stage lights illuminated my face and flashes from the cameras blinded me. As I battled to maintain facial composure, I saw a glimpse of a familiar face that struck discomfort through me. I finished my walk and began to make my way backstage. I quickly changed into more comfortable clothing and tried to exit into the crowd. Unfortunately, the large, muscular, troll-like security guard stopped me and refused to let me through.

“Please, I need to go see someone!” I said.

“I’m sorry Ma’am but I can’t let you through,” he said.

“Please you don’t understand!” I pleaded.

The man just nodded no, and I knew I had to find another way into the crowd. I went out the back door and went through an alleyway to get to the front. It was dark and I knew people were following me since I was alone, but I knew I would make it to the front door before anything happened. I got to the front door and made my way inside. There was a massive crowd of people, so I had to wade my way through. I kept my eyes peeled for that one face I was looking for. It was familiar…

I thought I saw him out of the corner of my eye so I turned around. I grabbed a man’s shoulder but as he turned around I realized I was mistaken. I did this with numerous men, but each and every one of them was not the right face.

“Excuse me sir!” I said as I grabbed another man’s shoulder.

He turned around and I felt that shiver of discomfort run through me again. “Rachel!” he said.

It was Justin.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I wanted to see what kind of work you’re doing these days when you’re not whoring yourself out to every man that wants you,” Justin said with a laugh.

“What are you talking about?” I said incredulously.

“You know exactly what, darling,” Justin said in a terrible fashion.

“You’re not welcome here, not at my runway show!” I said.

“Your runway show?” Justin said, “You’ll never have a runway show, or anything for that matter.”

“Shut up!” I shouted.

“In fact, you’ll forever be stuck underground and never be anything more than a whoring mole!” Justin laughed.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”  I yelled.

“It’s true! And you know what else? Shawn will leave you because there are much better and more powerful shifter women than you. They can actually protect themselves and fight instead of just run cowardly and get shot stupidly!” Justin said.

“You don’t know anything!” I yelled.

Our conversation was starting to get the attention of the people around us and they began to circle around us and watch for their entertainment.

“I bet everyone here agrees right?” Justin shouted to the crowd. “Rachel is a lying, cheating, stealing, whore!”

“YEAH!” the crowd yelled.