Desired by a Dragon: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Exiled Dragons Book 3) Read online

  “I don’t know yet. I’m tempted to say prehistoric, but it’s not far enough down. Carbon dating will tell us more, but it won’t explain why it is in such shallow earth. I’m hoping the answers will reveal themselves as we recover more of it.”

  Barbara looked from him back to the dig site. She wondered if he could hear how loudly her heart was thumping against her chest wall. Surely it was loud enough that anyone in her proximity could hear the way it thudded so hard she felt it might just push its way through to the outside.

  “Barbara, are you okay?” he asked, looking at her with what appeared grave concern.

  “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. It’s just so amazing,” she said, trying to sound more fascinated that horrified.

  Barbara went through all the motions as she attended the dig site, taking notes and listening to Albert’s observations about the incredible fossil he had found. How long would it take him to realize what it was that he had found? Would he even realize it? As far as the scientific community was concerned, dragons didn’t exist, so how could he possibly come to that conclusion.

  “Because he has proof in front of him, Barb. He has a skeleton,” her inner voice replied.

  This was a nightmare. The last thing the dragon clan she had grown to accept as a part of her inner circle needed was exposure. If Albert decided to put his neck out there and present this thing as a dragon, others would come and they would come in droves. This would be the find of the century. She had no idea how long the skeleton had been there, how old it might be, but Albert was well equipped to put answers to every question it posed in order to prove his hypothesis if he was bold enough to make it and not write this off as some sort of dinosaur anomaly.

  “Listen, I just wanted you to see what we’re looking at and be on hand when we free it up for full examination. I hadn’t expected it to be so large and intact. I have workers building accommodations to lay it out properly once we have it clear, but that’s going to be a while. If you want to go back to where you are staying and lie down for a bit, then I will certainly understand. I can call you when we’ve got something for you to really sink your teeth into.”

  “Are you sure?” Barb asked. She didn’t want to miss anything here, but she needed to get away from here, where no one could overhear and talk to someone about this before it got worse.

  “Positive. I just wanted you to see what we’re working with for now. No reason for you to sit around in a field unit and wait when you could be doing other things. I’m sure that you will also need to do some research on the area and the people in order to address the find, as well. First, though, I think you might need a rest. Perhaps the flight has taken its toll a bit,” he said kindly.

  “You could be right. I just got in last night and am lagging just a bit. Perhaps a nap and some down time before I roll up my sleeves and dive into this is in order,” she told him.

  “That sounds good. Do what you need and I’ll give you a call when I have something for you. We are moving very slowly so as not to damage anything, so it could be a couple of days. That should give you time to get back up to par,” he smiled.

  “Thank you, Albert. I’ll go and let you tend your dig site for now. I’m very excited to see what this is you’ve discovered. It’s sure to be quite a find.”

  “No doubt about that,” he replied with a wink.

  Barb made her way back to Amy’s car, which she had borrowed for the trip. She was barely out of the makeshift parking area for the dig before she dialed Amy’s number to tell her what was happening.

  “Oh, God! How much does he know?” Amy asked.

  “Not as much as he will by the time he’s done digging that thing out of the dirt,” Barb told her.

  “Alright. Owen will be home in a bit. Come back here and we’ll talk it over with him. He’ll know what to do,” Amy said, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced.

  “On my way,” Barb told her, not convinced herself.

  Ten minutes later, she was pulling into their driveway. She was barely out of the car when Owen and his brother, Connor, arrived. Stopping, she turned to look at them.

  “Hey, Owen. Connor, it’s good to see you again,” she said, just as Amy opened the door.

  “Oh, good. You’re all here! I called them and told them you were on your way,” she said to Barb.

  “Good to see you too, Barb,” Connor replied. “It sounds like we might be in a bit of a pickle though.”

  “I’m afraid so,” Barb groaned, standing outside the door.

  “Well, everyone get in here. We’ve a lot to talk about. I made us some lunch,” Amy chastised them.

  “The boss has spoken,” Owen laughed, following her into the house with the other two in tow. The four of them sat down at the table where Amy had already laid out sandwiches and bottles of water for everyone. Looking around, Barb noted that Dawn didn’t seem to be there, or perhaps, she was just down for a nap.

  “Dawn went with her grandmother to be spoiled for a while,” Amy said, as if to answer the unasked question.

  “Was just wondering,” Barb replied. “Now, what do I need to do about this dig situation?”

  “What can you do?” Owen replied, shaking his head as if there wasn’t anything.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Right now, all I can do is watch and see what happens. He hasn’t come to the conclusion that it’s a dragon quite yet. I think he’s afraid to say those words aloud until he is certain.”

  “What exactly has he found?” Connor asked.

  “From what I could see, an entire wing span, still intact. Of course, that is just what has been unearthed so far. For all I know, it’s the entire dragon.”

  “I just don’t understand how that is possible,” Owen said, furrowing his brow as he bit into his sandwich.

  “I’m assuming that someone buried it there is all,” Barb replied.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Connor told her. “See, when a dragon dies, the body automatically returns to human form. It doesn’t make sense to have a dragon skeleton.”

  “Then perhaps I’ve misinterpreted what I was seeing and it isn’t a dragon, after all,” Barb replied, feeling a sense of relief that maybe she just jumped the gun in assuming it was a dragon wing.

  “Do you think that is possible? I mean, you’ve seen it. We haven’t,” Connor replied.

  “I honestly don’t know, Connor. I mean, I’ve never seen a dragon skeleton,” she replied.

  “Only a few people have,” he replied.

  “What do you mean a few people have? If dragon shifters return to their human form when they die, how would anyone ever have seen one?” she told him.

  “I’ve heard stories of rare instances in which shifters retained their dragon if they die under unnatural circumstances,” he said.

  “Like what?” she replied.

  “Dying of unnatural causes,” he said, looking at his brother oddly.

  “You mean that the dragon may have been killed?” she replied.

  “Not just killed, but their system has been compromised somehow by defect, disease or perhaps poisoned,” he told her, a dark look crossing the faces of all three of her friends at once.

  “Am I missing something here?” she asked them.

  Barb looked at each of them, the scowls on their faces not yet passing. It was obvious that there was a story here that she didn’t yet know.

  “The wedding reception you attended - the one for Aaron and Kate Donnelly. Aaron replaced the previous dragon leader, Aiden. Aiden killed Owen and Connor’s father. He poisoned him and when that didn’t finish him, he attacked him while he was weak to finish the job. He was found on the beach, still in dragon form.”

  “Oh, God. Is it . . . ?” Barb began to say, afraid to finish the thought.

  “No. No. It couldn’t be our father. That is why few people have ever seen a dragon skeleton. If a dragon doesn’t shift, for whatever reasons, the body is retrieved by the Dragon Guard and cremated so that the ashes can be spread
over wherever they called home or maintained by the family. Our father is safely at home on Mom’s mantle,” Owen told her.

  “So, how did this happen?” Barb asked.

  “Obviously, someone was hiding it away in a little used field. You said it was property not currently in use. I’m guessing the remains are far enough down in the earth that routine farming would not have dug them up,” he replied.

  “No. Apparently, it was a golden retriever that did that.”

  “Damn dogs,” Connor groaned.

  “Alright, well we need to let Aaron know. This is bigger than us. He, and the council, will need to determine what we can do to minimize the damage.”

  “How do we reach him?”

  “We’ll call him and take you over there now if he’s available.

  Less than twenty minutes later, Barb found herself in the car with the McCords, on her way to see the dragon leader and his council.

  CHAPTER 3

  “Can’t even stay away on your days off, huh?” Aaron joked to the McCord brothers, two of his closest advisors next to Josh Donnelly and members of the council.

  “We try, but fate keeps dragging us back in, it seems,” Connor laughed.

  “Perhaps you remember, Barb? Amy’s best friend from the states?” Owen interjected.

  “Yes, of course. Nice to see you again, Barb,” he told her.

  “You, as well. Sorry for the rather odd circumstances though,” she told him forlornly.

  “Yes. It does seem like we might have a problem. Let’s sit down in my chambers and talk about it. I will wait to advise the council once we know what it is we are dealing with,” Aaron told her, waving his hand toward a nearby door.

  Barb followed him into a rather opulent room with marble floors and oversized desks. It seemed all a bit much, but she supposed he had to maintain a presence. Still, it just seemed excessive.

  “Don’t judge me based on the decor,” he said, seeming to sense her distaste. “It belonged to my predecessor and I saw no reason to cost the village more money by replacing it. There’s already a ridiculous amount of tacky statues and trinkets in the storage area that are symbols of his wasteful ways.”

  “Ah, I see,” she replied, deciding it was best left at that. This Aiden guy must have been a real piece of work.

  “No, you don’t, but how could you? Let’s just say that we’re all better off without him around anymore,” he replied.

  “Okay,” she replied, unsure of what to say to that.

  “At any rate, he is not the issue at hand here, though I already suspect he may have played a hand in it somehow. Tell me what we are looking at, or more importantly, what is the archaeologist at this dig of yours looking at?”

  “From what I can see, he’s looking at the skeletal remains of a dragon wing, so far. I’m not sure what is yet to be unearthed.”

  “How could he have found such a thing out in the middle of an abandoned farm?” Aaron wondered aloud.

  “A local couple that claimed the property as their own, since it was abandoned. Their daughter discovered her dog digging up a bone in the field. She just thought it was interesting and took it to school to show off, but one of the teachers there saw it and asked to look at it closer.”

  “What bone was it that would inspire such quick curiosity?” Aaron asked.

  “Well, as it turns out, it wasn’t a bone at all. It was a claw. One like the teacher hadn’t seen before, so he contacted an archaeologist friend to have a look at it and that started the ball rolling.”

  “And he knows that it is a dragon somehow?”

  “No, not yet, at least not conclusively.”

  “How could he possibly conclude that? As far as I know, one has never been discovered,” Aaron told her.

  “New things are discovered all the time. Assessments are made, determinations. There is a very big red flag that is only going to be bad news for the village as this dig progresses, no matter what the final conclusion.”

  “What is that?” Aaron asked, a look of concern on his face.

  “Depth,” Barb said flatly.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The original claw that was found. The first thing done was carbon dating. It only showed to be a couple thousand years old, but the depth at which the remaining remains were found buried suggests it was placed there less than three years ago. You see where this is going?”

  “Yes. I’m afraid I do. There are only two logical conclusions to that. Either it was placed there for some reason after being found elsewhere, possibly at greater depths or it was alive prior to three years ago.”

  “Precisely. Testing and observations will reveal that the latter is the case in the coming days.”

  “We’re in for a witch hunt,” Aaron said, his voice trailing off.

  “A dragon hunt, to be more precise. This place is going to be crawling with people trying to locate where this dragon came from, how he managed to hide so well, and how he met his end. People will be fascinated and they’ll want answers to their endless questions.”

  “Which will lead them to people who have seen the dragons and kept quiet. How quiet will they keep with the right incentives? Money? Fame? I get it.”

  “Yes. That is exactly what is going to happen.”

  “Okay. Well, the first thing we need to do is beat them to some of the answers we don’t have. I need to find out who this missing dragon is and how it got there. That shouldn’t be a problem if he is of our clan, but it might be harder if he isn’t. I’ll have to see who is still on the missing list.”

  “Still?” Barb asked, an eyebrow raised in his direction.

  “While Aiden was in charge, a host of people came up missing from the village. Some may have left of their own accord, like my father and family he took with him. After word spread that Aiden was gone, many of the missing people returned. Some had been sent away by him. Others had left because they were afraid of him or didn’t like what was happening here. Then there are those that never came back. Some may have passed naturally, some may just like it better wherever they are, but I fear that some may have died by his hand. We know he killed at least three people. There could easily be more.”

  “Good grief,” Barb said in an exasperated tone. What sort of monster had the previous dragon leader been? The thought of Amy being here in a place where such a tyrant could exist bothered her, but that wasn’t anything she could change. Hopefully, things were now better.

  “Yes, that is putting it mildly,” Aaron told her. The McCord brothers sat listening quietly, content to let Aaron conduct the meeting without interference it seemed.

  “Okay. I’m going to get my people to work on that. I need to get someone on the dig to keep an eye on things.”

  “I thought I was already doing that,” Barb said a bit defensively.

  “Yes. I didn’t mean to imply anything at all by that. I’m sorry if you took it that way. What I need is a second set of eyes to look for things that might be overlooked by someone who isn’t as familiar with dragons. Things that might give us a clue as to who our departed dragon might be. I’ll also be looking for injunctions to stop the dig, though that is tricky. Putting the village up to bat for these remains will only increase our visibility and make people wonder why we are involved.”

  “Okay. I can possibly bring someone with me to get them in the door. I can say they are a local I’ve asked to help me with the anthropology study of the area.”

  “Very good. I’ll send someone around to the house later on to meet with you.”

  “That will work. I will need to have talked with them beforehand so that it doesn’t appear that I just hauled a stranger in on Albert’s dig. So, it will help to be able to sit down with him and get some actual background on the area to appear we’ve been working together on it.”

  “I will make sure that happens. Just give me a bit to find someone best suited for the job. I know Owen and Connor have their hands full with some other things I’ve had them worki
ng on, so I don’t want to pull one of them for it. I’ll let you know,” he told them, standing up as a silent indication that it was time to part ways.

  “Thank you so much, Aaron. Hopefully, we can work together and keep this from turning into a much larger problem.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we can,” he told her. “Thank you for having our best interests at heart. We are just lucky it was you that was called in on this. Otherwise, we may have never known until it was too late.”

  “Well, this place has begun to feel a bit like a second home to me. No way would I want to see anyone cause problems for your clan,” Barb replied, already on her feet and getting ready to head for the door.

  “We all appreciate that,” he said politely.

  Though Aaron seemed like a nice guy, there was something about him that Barb wasn’t quite sure about. Perhaps it was just that he was a politician of sorts. It wasn’t really something she could quite put her finger on. She dismissed it as she waited for Owen and Connor, who had lingered for a moment to speak with Aaron for a moment before leaving his chambers. After a few minutes, they stepped out and she followed them to their car to head back home.

  As promised, the doorbell rang right after they had finished dinner that night. She and Amy had already adjourned to the den to play with Dawn, who had been returned by her grandmother earlier in the afternoon. Her ears perked up a bit as she tried to listen to what Owen and Connor might be saying to their guest, who she presumed was whoever Aaron had sent to help her or perhaps, spy on her. Though she couldn’t make out their words, she recognized the voice somehow. Perhaps she had met her contact at one of the events she had attended on previous visits.

  It seemed to take forever before they finally made their way into the den to introduce the man that Aaron had sent to help her. She sat looking at him in disbelief. Though she had hoped she might run into him again at some point, she hadn’t expected him to be the one sent to assist her at the dig. It was definitely not something she would complain about. She might even thank Aaron for it later.

  “Hello, Barb,” he said with a broad smile, seeming happy enough to see her, as well.