Dragon Mine (A Hidden Novella) (2 page)

E
lle Becker hated being here in the abandoned factory, but this was her only real lead to her father Huff's whereabouts.

“Daddy, where are you?” she called out to the darkness. “It’s me, Elle.”

His Range Rover was parked in the garage around the back, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight. This was too much like the days after her mother had gone missing, the searching and questions, scared that she’d never see her again.

“And I didn’t.” The words poured out on a wave of grief.

Her mother would never have abandoned her daughter, as the authorities had speculated when they found no evidence, not even her car, to substantiate their initial suspicions of foul play.

Elle focused on the dark building and thoughts of her father. Something about the place felt eerie and…wrong. She rubbed her arms, trying to dispel the way the sensation clung to her.

Could it be Elementals? Some of them were nasty, but she’d seen no trace of them. Disturbingly, that left the possibility of a demon.

“Show yourself,” she commanded.

Not that demons were obedient, but they usually were happy to show their ugly faces. Nothing stirred.

A white orb hovered inches above her palm, sending light where she needed it. Off to the side, she spotted a book on the floor. The cover of a journal, she discovered, though the pages were torn out. Her heart jumped. With the pink background and yellow flowers, this had to be her mother’s. Elle held the cover to her chest and closed her eyes, using her magick to pull any images or emotions associated with the book. All she got was some residual anger.

She continued searching the vast space. In the far corner the light revealed something that stole her breath away: a large charcoal circle drawn on the concrete floor, a pile of ashes in the center. The circle and symbols inside it had been drawn with the ash. She dipped her fingers into the dark, soft residue and closed her eyes, summoning images of how it had come to be there. Just like the last time she’d tried to read ashes, she got
nada
.

She held her sooty fingers to her nose but still couldn’t get a handle on the odd tang beneath the burnt wood scent. The symbols and circle…she was afraid her father had been Conjuring. But for what purpose?

His mindset the last few weeks was every bit as hard to decipher. In the six months since her mother’s disappearance, he had moved through life in a fugue state. But lately he’d been acting like a man on a mission, determination lending a dark gleam to his eyes. What that determination meant scared her. She’d followed him last week, surprised to end up here. It had taken tremendous self-control not to confront him, knowing he’d be angry and shut her out.

She had to take some of this ash to Nana Roz. Elle went to her truck, parked beside her father’s car, and looked for a container. The empty Oreo cookie package would work. She grabbed her cell phone and returned to the circle, where she took some pictures. As she scooped the ash into the bag, something buried in it caught her eye.

She studied the triangular piece of paper. Ah, the corner of a burned photograph. Clearly it had something to do with this circle. Magick crackled through her as she used her ability to “see” what had been there. But her magick hit a wall. Why couldn’t she read anything here? She stared at the fragment, using logic to figure out whose picture her father would burn. Had he been trying to reach her mother on the other side? That kind of Conjuring was dangerous, unpredictable, and a bad idea.

A sound sent her heart leaping, and she jammed the bag into her pocket. If that was her father, she wanted to see what he was up to before revealing her presence. Elle ran up the metal stairs that led to the administration area and doused the orb as she entered the first office. She walked to the two-way glass as the back door wrenched open. A man stepped inside and pulled it closed. In that flash of sunlight, he looked like…

No. It couldn’t be Kirin.

The man walked through a patch of shadow and stepped into a square of sunlight. Her body tightened all the way down to her toes. She knew that man, his confident gait, the strong set of his shoulders, and…what was he doing? Stripping, that’s what. Kirin tore off his shirt and shucked out of his pants as though they were on fire. The sunlight cast the contours of a magnificent physique in shadow and limned his dark blond hair in a golden aura.

He threw his head back and morphed, stretching, growing as he became Dragon. Also magnificent—the beast was larger than a horse, with blood-red and white shimmering scales.

The moment the metamorphosis was complete, he took off with the muscular grace of a mountain lion. More feline than lizard-like despite the scales, he leaped from one assembly table to another with his tail whipping behind him. She watched him race into and out of shafts of late afternoon light, rolling and bounding to his feet again.

Breathe.

Ah, that’s why her chest hurt. Even after several breaths, her heart still felt constricted. She didn’t even realize she’d pressed her hand against the glass, her breath fogging a circle. He wouldn’t see her up here, but his Dragon senses would eventually pick up her presence. She should go before that happened.

Wait a damned minute. Why should
she
sneak out? He was the trespasser. She would march down there and demand he leave.

When she could get her feet to move, or her eyes to shift away from him, that was.

Deuces didn’t see Dragons unless they were locked in battle with one. Kirin had Catalyzed for her after they’d been dating for four months. It was the first time she’d ever seen one, and he’d let her touch the spikes along his back and the leathery “feathers” that flared along his elegant head.

His heated breath had washed down the side of her neck, making her whole body tingle. Maybe there was a speck of Dragon DNA buried deep in her cells. After all, her mother was Dragon, even if Elle had taken after the Deuce side. Something had stirred inside her when running her hands across the muscled side of the creature who could tear open her throat. He’d chuffed like a tiger and nuzzled her neck, his scales a cool contrast to his breath. He’d been vibrating, and then she’d felt human hands sliding into her hair, thumbs bracing her jaw, human lips kissing her. He’d felt so good, his mouth moving against hers.

Now her body was alight with fire, heating that place between her legs that had felt dead for so long.

Get your head out of those memories!

She stalked down the stairs. Her soft soles didn’t make a sound, and he was making enough noise to cover it anyway. His glorious roars and growls shivered through her. Scary. Raw. Powerful. He’d made sounds like that when he came, throwing his head back and—

Stop!

Elle reached the bottom of the stairs, her pulse thrumming. He raced out of the shadows, launching himself over one of the tables in a graceful flip and came to a stop. He morphed to man with his back to her, and braced his hands on the table while he caught his breath. The gluteus maximus muscles of the finest ass she’d ever laid hands on were flexed and tight. His hair, in choppy lengths just like always, fell forward.

She opened her mouth, but before any words could come out, he spun to face her.

His expression went from fierce to surprised to shuttered in an instant. “I didn’t know you were here.”

She could barely see the Dragon tattoo that wrapped like a sash up to his shoulder. Dangerous and sexy and a little freaky in the way it moved over his skin.

She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her trembling hands. “Obviously.”

He made no move to grab up his clothes, but then again, he’d never been particularly modest. Besides, she knew that body, knew every line, every contour, every—

Damn, why did her mind keep going there?

At least the shadows fell discreetly across his waist.

He flicked his head back in a vain attempt to get his hair off his forehead. She remembered well those silken strands sliding between her fingers.

 “Ellie, what are you doing here?”

Her mouth dropped open. “You have the nerve to ask
me
what I’m doing here? Hullo, this is my family’s property. You’re the one trespassing.”

“I didn’t see your car. Some warning would have been nice.”

“I’m so sorry to startle you by being on my own property.”

“Well, at least you’re sorry.”

She pulled back her retort when she saw the devilish glimmer in his eyes. He’d always known how to get to her. “My father built a covered parking area around back for the office staff. I guess that was after you left.”

When her father had convinced her that breaking things off with Kirin was for the best. When the hardest thing she'd ever had to endure was saying goodbye to him. Hard? Breaking things off had shattered her. None of those handsome Deuces at college made her feel the way Kirin had. Their paths didn’t cross for four years. But when they did, all of that desire flared just as hot as before. They’d had eleven months, two weeks, and four days together, planning a future together. Then her mother had disappeared.

Now that Kirin was close, now that she could smell him, her body tingled to life.
Idiot
. He might have been her first, but he hadn’t been her last.

But he was the only one who made you feel…

She killed the thought. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“It was either that or go Dragon in the woods. I’d hate to have to eat some vagrant who happened to see me.”

Because a wanton disregard for Rule Number One could result in death. Taking the life of a Mundane was frowned upon, but the Concilium, the government that handled Crescent matters, would sanction that over executing one of their own for reckless behavior.

He walked over to where he’d dropped his clothes and bent to pick them up. After sliding into his black briefs, he snapped his pants out in front of him, sending a million dust motes swirling in a frenzy. “Funny, us meeting here like this.” He pulled on his pants and buttoned them while keeping his gaze on her.

“Actually, it’s not funny at all.” The anger was there, as potent as it had been six months ago. “It’s annoying and unpleasant, and if you don’t leave, I will call the Muds to escort you off the property.”

“The Mundane police? I don’t even warrant a Crescent cop.” Crescents had their own police force, the Guard, that handled their more delicate matters. He raised an eyebrow at her but made no move to leave. “Is that how it is?”

“Yes, that’s how it is. Look, you got your Dragon off. No need to linger.”

He flinched. “So cold.” He picked up his shirt and shook that out too, watching the motes for a second. Then those green eyes lifted to her again. “I still dream about you, Ellie. I wake up and pat the bed because you lying there felt so real.” Those mesmerizing embers in his eyes tantalized her, as deep red as his Dragon.

Crescents’ eyes had unique properties, visible only to other Crescents. It made hiding emotions tricky. Speaking of…she turned away, taking a breath to strengthen her resolve. He was playing with her. He didn’t dream about her. Just like she never dreamed about him.

Finally she met his gaze. “I dream that you go to the Guard and tell them your sister destroyed evidence connecting your father and my mom. And that you lied about not seeing it.”

The pain suffused her, her mother missing and then the revelation that she’d been seeing Kirin’s father on the sly. On top of that, Kirin’s betrayal. Her hand fisted, and the familiar heat flared in her palm. The orb was like a worry stone when it was this small, and mostly harmless.

He nodded, maybe resigned to her anger. “My father didn’t kill your mother.”

“You don’t know for sure, though, do you?”

“I’m very sure.” Kirin released a ragged breath.  “What was I supposed to do? You don’t have siblings, so you can’t understand how it feels, how you stand by them no matter what.”

“I thought I did understand about having someone to stand by me.” She gave him a pointed look, hardening her heart against his stricken expression. “I was wrong.”

Elle wasn’t sure what role Stein had played in her mother’s disappearance, but the fact that they’d had a friendship struck her as inappropriate at best. Sordid at worst. Kirin hadn’t been happy about it, either. Still, he’d spent the same twenty-two hours a day that she did searching for her mother after she’d gone missing.

Then she, Lyra, and Kirin had gone to their family’s bake shop where Lyra had found a note hidden beneath the blotter. Elle had recognized the custom pink and yellow notepaper. Before Elle could see more, Lyra crinkled it up and stuck it in the flame of the scented candle on the desk. Lyra always gave in to her Dragon’s impulsiveness, which had only been mildly annoying until that moment.

“It was a note my boyfriend left for me,” Lyra had said, a lie because she didn’t have a boyfriend. Besides, burning a love note was overkill.

Kirin said he hadn’t seen what was on the note, but he’d seen something. His face had flushed, his jaw tensing as he looked at his sister in some unspoken question. She had silently pleaded for him to not give her away; at least that’s how it had appeared to Elle.

There had not been enough of the note left for Elle to use her ability to “see” it. She needed something tangible, and the burnt paper disintegrated to ash in her fingers.

Stein and her father had lived under a shadow of suspicion, but without any evidence of foul play the case went cold.

Elle supposed she wasn’t much different from Lyra in that she’d believed in her father’s innocence one-hundred percent. What would she have done in Lyra’s place, a pesky voice asked. Would she have offered up evidence that might have implicated him?

“I’m sorry about everything, Ellie.” Sincerity strained Kirin’s voice.

“Elle. I’m not Ellie anymore. And ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it. Your father probably killed my mother, your sister destroyed evidence, and you lied.” She felt the orb in her palm, like a hot marble. “Everything that mattered was suddenly gone.”

His gaze drifted to her hand. “Going to incinerate me, Elle?”