For the Memory of Dragons (2 page)

“Oh shit!” She pushed the wheelbarrow out of
the way and went to see if he was hurt. “I’m so glad you’re
unconscious right now, buddy.”

Pulling him over, Terra grimaced at the
huge, red spot forming on his forehead.
Ouch!
He was
definitely going to feel that one later. She touched it gently,
feeling the nice goose egg that had already formed.

“Sorry,” she whispered as she pulled him
straight again.

Taking the blanket, she shook the dirt from
it and laid the clean bedding down next to him. Grabbing a broom,
she dusted the soil off the man. Once he was clean, she rolled him
onto the blanket, flipped the end over him again, and tossed his
bag on top of the pile. Glancing over her handiwork, she smiled.
Good.
It wouldn’t have been very pleasant if she had left
him tucked in the blanket with all that dirt.

Terra grabbed the end of the blanket and
dragged him inside. His head only bounced a little as she
manhandled him over the threshold.

“Come on.” She gritted her teeth as she
pulled his heavy bulk inside.

Stopping for a breather, Terra stretched the
muscles in her back. She was going to need a long soak in a hot
bath after this workout. Getting back to dragging him inside, she
ignored the strained muscles in her back and concentrated on all
the calories she was burning instead.

A fire crackled in the fireplace as Terra
shoved the rug out of the way and dropped her burden in front of
the hearth. A freak storm had passed through the area yesterday and
dropped several trees, downing power and phone lines. The utility
companies were hard at work fixing the issues, but the power was
still out. Thankfully, she had a working fireplace to cut the chill
in the air. Terra dropped a new log on the fire before turning to
her unconscious guest.

Picking up the leather bag, she tossed it
onto the couch, out of the way. She’d get to that later. Right now,
she had something more interesting to investigate. Flipping the
blanket back, Terra checked the dragon man for injuries.

“Man, you’re
fine
,” she said as
studied him.

In addition to having well-toned muscles,
his skin was a beautiful bronze that came from either sunbathing or
working outdoors naked.
How the hell didn’t he have tan
lines?

Lifting his arm, she checked to make sure
each joint bent how it was supposed to, and that the bones didn’t
bend at all. She also looked for suspicious bruising. There wasn’t
any. There was, however, a very interesting tattoo of a figure
eight on the back of his shoulder. Terra traced it and tried to
figure out why someone would draw a line down the middle of an
eight.
Weird.
Giving up, she laid him back down and pulled
the blanket back around him.

Running her fingers through his messy, blond
hair, she pushed it back, looking for other wounds. The only thing
she found was the lump where his forehead had met with her porch.
Pretty sure he would survive, Terra sat back and studied her
guest.

“Now what?” she asked out loud, but he
didn’t answer
.

Of course he wouldn’t answer
—
the
man was dead to the world.
Letting out a long sigh, she stood
up. She probably should get something for the lump on his head
before he woke up.

“Hang on, I’ll be right back,” she said and
went into the kitchen to see what she could round up.

Terra thought about calling the police, but
the authorities were busy with cleanup from the storm that had
passed through the area. The last thing they needed was to have to
make a trip way out here. She decided against calling for help.
Since the man wasn’t broken or bleeding, he probably didn’t need an
emergency crew, and that’s what the police would send. Maybe he
wouldn’t be out very long. And if he were, she could always call
for help later.

Grabbing a mostly frozen bag of peas and
cubed carrots from the freezer, Terra smacked it on the counter to
break it up. With the power out, she didn’t want to use what little
ice she had. It was probably the only thing keeping her fridge
cold. Plus, she could use the veggies in dinner later. Grabbing a
dishtowel, she wrapped the bag up and went back to the living
room.

The man hadn’t moved, so she rested the cold
pack on the lump. Spying one of the throw pillows on the couch,
Terra snagged it and slipped it under the man’s head. He didn’t
need a crick in his neck to go with the headache she was sure he
was going to have.

Terra sat on the couch and watched him sleep
for a while. He looked so peaceful. She had never had a gorgeous
guy stretched out in front of her fire, all naked and vulnerable.
Oh, the possibilities.
She shook her head to drive that
thought out. Her mind had taken a turn for the creepy, and that
just wasn’t her.

Instead, she turned her attention to the bag
next to her. Maybe there was something in it that would tell her
who he was. The outside of the bag was pretty plain except for a
symbol worked into the flap. Terra ran her finger over the sideways
eight with a line running across it. It was the same as on the
man’s shoulder.

Laughing, she shook her head at her own
stupidity.
It wasn’t an eight. It was an infinity symbol! But
why would someone draw a line through it?
It kind of looked
familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen it before.
Shrugging, she flipped the flap open and looked inside. The
contents were disappointing.

The bag was nearly empty. It held a single
file with a stack of papers in it and a silver necklace. Reaching
in, Terra pulled out the necklace. It wasn’t exceptionally pretty,
but it did have some neat scrollwork to the round charm. It tingled
against her fingers, like it had a low current running through it.
Terra didn’t know much about magic, but this piece was definitely
magical. Dropping it back in the bag, she pulled out the file.
Things suddenly became a whole lot more interesting. There was a
big stamp across the front that read
Classified
.

Flipping the file open, Terra found a
picture of a beautiful woman pinned to the top of what looked like
one of those police identification pages they used for suspects.
Terra read over the page. The description of the girl was just as
fascinating as her picture. Terra gasped and glanced back up at the
picture when she reached the woman’s birth date. She didn’t look
more than thirty, but the listed age was over three hundred years
old!
Holy freaking cow!
A box further down the page labeled
the woman as a red dragon.

How freaking old do dragons get!
Terra glanced up at the man stretched out on her floor.
And if
he looks to be in his mid-twenties, how old is he?

Turning back to the file, she read on. At
the bottom of the page, there was a handwritten note. It was an
eyewitness account of the woman’s last sighting. Apparently, she
had gone missing within the last month and was presumed dead.

Terra turned to the next page. This one had
a picture of a smiling man—another dragon—and again, it listed him
as missing, presumed dead, with an account of his last sighting.
Terra flipped through the twenty or so pages. Each was a
description of a dragon that had gone missing. None of the pictures
matched the man on her floor. Folding the file back together, she
returned it to the pouch. Searching the rest of the bag revealed a
bunch of nothing: a few dollars, a book of matches, and some gum.
Boy, this guy wasn’t making life easy.

Dropping the bag back to the floor, she
shoved it under the couch and got up. Her stomach was telling her
it was time for food. Terra pulled the melted vegetables off the
dragon man’s face and checked on the lump. It was starting to look
pretty good. Still a little red, but the swelling had gone down.
Given a little more time, the mark would be gone, and she wouldn’t
have to explain how she had dropped him on his face.

She considered him for a minute. With that
file full of missing persons, he could be some kind of cop or a
private detective. But didn’t they have to keep a badge or
something? And what had made him crash in her cornfield? Tossing
the bag of vegetables in the air as she walked, she went into the
kitchen to start dinner. Maybe he would be awake by the time it was
ready, and she could ask him.

What the hell!
Terra cursed to
herself as she dropped her spoon in the pot and headed out of the
kitchen. She was going to beat whoever was banging on her front
door like that. She paused to check on her sleeping dragon. He was
still breathing.
Good.
Heading over to the door, she yanked
it open. The sight that met her stopped her before she could start
yelling.
Shit.

“Where the hell have you been, woman?”

Derrick, her ex-boyfriend, stood on the
porch with two bags in his arms.

“Open this goddamn door and let me in.”

“Derrick!” She gasped. “What are you doing
here?”

What in the hell could this asshole want
now?

Having left her three months ago, Terra had
never expected to see Derrick back at her door. He had dumped her
faster than a knife fight in a phone booth when the hot chick he’d
been chasing had finally given in. It had torn her up at first, but
a little reflecting on their relationship had changed her mind. In
retrospect, he hadn’t been the nice guy she had taken him for.

Derrick tugged on the locked screen door. “A
tree fell on the shop. Now open the door.”

Clutching the inside door, Terra looked at
the horror revisiting her. At first, Derrick had been a great
guy—loving and sweet. But, man, once he’d moved in, he had turned
over a few new leaves. Suddenly, nothing she did was right, and oh,
the temper tantrums he threw! It took her a while to realize that
the problem wasn’t her. And thankfully, he’d left before things had
gotten physical. She would put up with a lot of things in the name
of love, but abuse was not one of them.

Terra pulled her shoulders straight and
glared at him. “What happened to your girlfriend?”

“That bitch didn’t deserve me. Open this
damn door.” He rattled the screen door again.

Apparently, this shithead doesn’t realize
he’s out of luck.

“No,” Terra answered and went to slam the
door in his face.

“Damn it, bitch!” Derrick jerked the screen
door hard enough to crack the frame. “If you shut that door, so
help me, I will kill you.” He tugged on the loosening door
again.

Terra was sure Derrick had meant every word
he’d said, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let some
abusive shit back into her life.

“Leave before I call the cops.”

She tried to shut the door, but it wouldn’t
move. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, drawing her back into a
very warm body.

“The lady told you to leave,” a deep voice
rumbled from behind her.

Whoa!
Terra glanced back to see the
dragon man holding her against him.
When the hell had he woken
up?

Derrick stopped tugging on the door and
glared at the man. “Who the hell are you, and what are you doing
with my woman?”

“I’m the one that’s going to beat the hell
out of you if you touch her, and I don’t think she’s your woman
anymore. Leave. Now.”

With that, the dragon man pulled the door
from Terra’s hand and slammed it in Derrick’s face.

Nice!

Derrick’s scream of outrage echoed through
the door, but he stomped his way down the steps and out of her life
again. Apparently, he felt at ease threatening a woman but wouldn’t
stand up to a man.

Good riddance!
Hopefully, he will
stay gone this time.
Now she just had to deal with the naked
man holding on to her.
This was going to be…
interesting.

***

Alex dropped his head to the young woman’s
shoulder as his world spun. He really shouldn’t have gotten up from
the floor, but listening to someone threatening the girl had pissed
him off.

“I didn’t mean to intrude on your personal
business,” he apologized.

“Much appreciated,” the young woman
answered. They stood there together for a long moment with him
leaning on her shoulder. “Umm… You can let me go now.”

“Ha!” Alex let out a mirthless laugh and
shook his head. “I would, but you’re the only thing keeping me on
my feet right now.” If he loosened his hold on her, he was going to
fall over.

She turned in his grip and wrapped her arms
around him, taking his weight. “God, I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” He leaned on her as she
led him across the room to the couch.

“I’m Terra, by the way,” she said,
introducing herself as they walked. “What’s your name?”

Alex opened his mouth to answer, but his
brain flatlined. He couldn’t recall his own name! In fact, he had
no idea where he was or why he was naked. He stopped, waiting for
the answer to come to him, but nothing did.

“At the moment, I have no idea,” Alex
admitted. His head was pounding. Maybe he’d hit it or
something.

Terra looked at him, concerned. “It will
come back to you,” she offered.

He let her pull him back into motion.

“You took a nasty fall.”

Well, that might explain why he felt like a
truck had hit him, backed up to see what they’d hit, and then run
over him again. God, he hurt. He looked down, expecting to see
bruises and blood everywhere, but there wasn’t any. Just him,
naked.

“What happened to my clothing?” Alex asked
as she helped him to the couch and handed him the afghan from the
back. He tucked it around his waist.

“You weren’t wearing any when I found you,”
Terra said. She picked up the blanket from the floor, folded it,
and laid it over his legs. It was bigger than the afghan and
covered him all the way to the floor. “In fact, you weren’t even
human when I found you,” she added casually.