Touched by a Dragon Read online

  “I need time to think,” she said.

  “Okay, Cassi, but time is not something we have a lot of right now,” he replied, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m surprised that this isn’t something Aiden would have sorted out long ago. There are people in this village that have homes built here, loans with the bank. How does that happen when they don’t own the land?”

  Cassi shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked back down at her hands still clenched together in her lap. Thomas sat back and groaned as she spoke again, giving him only more bad news.

  “I own the bank. I’ve always approved loans to those who wanted to build on the land. It’s not really a secret.”

  “It is to me. I had no idea.”

  Thomas sat pondering everything she was telling him. It seemed that there was quite a bit about Cassi Baker that he didn’t know. A feeling of uneasiness settled over him as he considered the ramifications of even the little bit he had learned so far.

  “I’ve left quite a mess with just not thinking, haven’t I?” she said finally,

  “We’ll find a way. Is it okay if I come back tomorrow and talk with you a bit more? You know, after you’ve had some time to think things through.”

  She nodded quietly, getting up from the table as he did and facing him with a distraught look that painted her face a color of weariness that displayed her advanced age much more than usual.

  “That will be fine. Same time would be good,” she told him.

  “Great. How much do I owe you for the fantastic food?” he said, trying to sound much more cheerful than he felt.

  “It’s on the house.”

  “Oh, no. You don’t have to do that,” he replied.

  “With the headache I’d imagine I’ve caused you and will continue to cause you for a bit, I’d say I at least owe you a free meal.”

  A faint smile broke the surface of her face as she walked him toward the door. He started to follow, but quickly stopped and turned back toward the bar, where he now saw that Kara had popped up with a small kettle of tea and was pouring it into a cup. The steam rose in thin tendrils that caressed her face as she leaned in to smell its aroma.

  “Kara?” he said, approaching her as Cassi stood nearby, watching him and waiting for him to rejoin her at the exit, he supposed.

  “Yes?” she said. Her eyes lit up as she beamed happily at him. Once again, he was taken in by how attractive she was, but this was no time for losing his focus on anything other than the task at hand. Maybe when all of this was over, he might explore the chemistry that seemed to create a spontaneous combustion between the two of them.

  “I just wanted to leave you a tip. Cassi wouldn’t let me pay for my meal, but I didn’t want to forget you.”

  “That’s very nice of you.”

  The light blush that spread up her cheeks like wildfire wasn’t completely lost on him. One day, he would tell her that he had not missed it. One day when they looked back on the day they first saw each other, really saw each other.

  “No problem. Perhaps I will see you tomorrow.”

  “Perhaps you will.”

  She was still smiling as he walked away, joining Cassi by the front door. She had one eyebrow cocked upward as if to question his intent with her server as he left the diner and made his way to Aaron’s house, but it was a question that Thomas wasn’t sure he could answer even if she had asked.

  Chapter 3

  “So, what did you learn?” Aaron asked the moment Thomas walked into the door.

  Thomas looked around, but they appeared to be alone. It wasn’t as if it mattered. There seemed to be no secrets between Aaron and his wife, but it was protocol to speak in confidence.

  “They are taking a nap. Come on, follow me to my office,” Aaron told him, noting his hesitance. Thomas followed him to the massive doors that led from the living quarters of their home to the business side of the large estate. Thomas couldn’t help but note each time he entered this room how vastly it had changed since the days of Aiden’s rule over the village. Gone were the tacky golden statues and ornate busts. There were no more portraits of the former leader on the walls.

  “I don’t know, Aaron. Cassi says she has no living relatives, but something tells me she knows something we don’t,” he said, returning his focus to the task at hand.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I don’t know, just a gut feeling. She looked away when she answered my questions about it, seemed to be willing to fork over whatever money is needed to salvage things without going that route.”

  “Did you impress upon her the importance of the matter? Does she understand that we stand to lose the entire village unless we find a way to mask her ownership and bring it current?”

  “I did both of those things. I’m supposed to go back to see her tomorrow to discuss it further. I got the feeling that she just needed time to think, sort something out in her head.”

  “Alright then. We’ll give her a day to tell us something useful. If she can’t come up with a relative, we’ll have to find another way. I’ve been making some phone calls about this guy who is trying to buy the property. He’s a shark and isn’t going to be easily swayed or fooled.”

  “I suppose that’s all we can do for the moment. Though, I do have a meeting set up with the property assessor in the morning to inquire about how one would stake a claim, if one had one.”

  “Yes, definitely need to get on that. One way or another, even if it’s a false claim just to stall him, we will have to get some paperwork into action. We can try to come at it from the angle of having built homes here, but that is going to expose an awful lot of financial information that is purposely kept internal.”

  “Why do you think Aiden never did anything about this? Surely, he had to know. Why wouldn’t he have taken measures to secure the property?”

  “I’m not certain. I fear that the answer to that is simply that he couldn’t find a way to do so, and that’s frightening to consider.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Aaron’s face was twisted into a mask of concern and perhaps even a hint of fear. Having been driven from his home once, there was little doubt that he was extremely concerned about the idea of having to leave again. This time, though, it wouldn’t just be him. He would be taking everyone with him, and where could people like them go safely? There were so many issues with such a prospect that it was completely unfathomable.

  “Okay, Thomas. Thanks for seeing to this for me today. I’m going to settle in for the evening and try to rest up. I suggest you do the same. We’ve a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

  “Sounds good to me. I will let you know what I find out tomorrow once I’ve talked to Cassi again.”

  “Great. See you tomorrow.”

  Thomas couldn’t help but note the resignation in his voice. This was obviously weighing heavily on him. He followed him toward the door, both of them silent as they made their way to the front door and nodded at one another as they parted ways. During times like these, Thomas couldn’t help but wonder what went through Aaron’s mind. His father had been the former dragon leader’s right hand. It was his eventual betrayal of Aiden that had resulted in Aaron’s family having to flee the village in the middle of the night.

  He was bound to wonder what his father had known, what he had kept privy to himself alone. Though he had revealed the fact that Aiden had killed the father of the McCord brothers and at least one other, it had recently been revealed that he had also killed two more. Had Aaron’s father known about that, too, and kept it under wraps?

  Thomas knew that it was possible that he had not. His own brother, Josh, had been conned into helping to unwittingly bury the bodies under the guise of helping out a nearby community by filling in a hole to prevent children from falling in. It was yet another incident that had nearly brought the village to its knees.

  Arriving back at home, Thomas quickly found himself overtaken by an exhaustion that was not common for him. He could on
ly contribute it to the emotional distress that seemed to have enveloped him over the course of the day. How much of it was the stress of riding point on this situation for Aaron, and how much was of it was his recent realizations of just how lonely he felt?

  Everyone around him seemed to be finding love, but not him. He was hardly the most charming man on Earth. He knew that. Normally, he was very reserved and analytical. The waitress at Cassi’s place had brought him out of his shell a bit with her natural effervescence. That alone had drawn him toward her. He was painfully aware of how much he lived in his own skin and failed to embrace the things outside himself.

  Glancing in the mirror, he grimaced at the man who peered back at him. Black, unkempt hair spilled down to his shoulders in shocks of curls that many women would envy. It was rare that he wore it down, usually keeping it pulled into a single strand at the nape of his neck, but he had broken the band earlier in the day and been forced to let it fall free. His eyes were equally as dark, not much lighter in color than the obsidian locks that framed his face. In contrast, his skin was pale, almost translucent in a certain light.

  Women had always been attracted to his unusual looks – not quite what you would call handsome, but not unattractive. His high cheekbones and thin lips gave him an aristocratic appearance, no surprise considering that his family originated from just such a background. Josh sometimes quipped that he was in the wrong line of work and should consider becoming an actor who specialized in portraying a vampire. Then, Thomas would assure him that the world was not ready for vampire dragons just yet.

  “What are you going to do, Thomas?” he asked his reflection in the mirror, waiting a moment as if he expected an answer before walking away and settling in on the sofa. It was the last thing he remembered, falling asleep and not waking up until well after bedtime. Still feeling tired, he wandered to his bedroom and climbed into bed, quickly falling asleep again.

  Dreams filtered through his mind as the hours passed, the last of which woke him up with a start. He felt disoriented for a moment, realizing he was alone and not with the lovely Kara who had played prominently in the dream. Glancing at the clock on his nightstand, he groaned. It was only 3 a.m. Once again, a sadness swept over him, and he tried to get back to sleep, but two hours later, he was still awake.

  He climbed out of bed to shower. Perhaps the steamy water would shake off whatever melancholy seemed to be settling over him.

  Chapter 4

  “I’m sorry. What property is it that you want to see?” the man at the records office asked.

  Thomas gave him Cassi’s name. He had been thinking all the way here that if they hadn’t known about the situation with the property, they might not even be clear on what she owned and what she didn’t. There might be a possibility that other parts of the property were likewise compromised, which opened up a whole new set of issues to be addressed.

  “Yes, here it is. Cassi Baker. It says the property was deeded to her in… Oh wow, that can’t be right. Surely there was an owner since then,” the man began to say.

  Not wanting his curiosity to go too far before they could nip this whole disaster in the bud, Thomas cut him off. “Yes, I believe there is. We’re trying to sort that out on the family’s behalf,” Thomas interjected.

  “Well, you better get on with it. It says there is a hearing at the end of next week to declare the property abandoned. Once that is done, they’ll begin accepting bids on it.”

  “When exactly is the hearing?”

  “Friday at 10 a.m.”

  Thomas nodded his headed in acknowledgment, his brow furrowed. Today was Monday. That gave them less than two weeks to get this sorted out or they would have to fight for it at an auction. From what he understood, that would be hard going as the land baron who was seeking out the property was extremely wealthy and determined to possess it.

  “Thanks for the information,” he told the man.

  “Sure thing, buddy.”

  He saw the young man taking the book back over to the old cabinet in which they were housed without any lingering questions, it seemed. Thomas hoped that everyone could be so easily appeased when asking questions. It would make getting this sorted out all the easier for them. He was on his way back to headquarters in the village when his phone rang. Not recognizing the number on the display, he started to ignore it, but then changed his mind and pulled over to answer the call.

  “Hello?” he said.

  “Thomas?” came a familiar voice.

  “Yes,” he replied, a light smile playing on his lips already.

  “It’s Kara,” she said, then adding, “from Cassi’s Diner.”

  “Of course. What can I do for you, Kara?” he replied, immediately grimacing as he realized how formal he must have come across.

  “Cassi asked me to call you. She wanted to see if you can come by a bit earlier than planned and meet with her in private before the lunch rush kicks in,” Kara said.

  Thomas considered this. There was no reason that he couldn’t, but he had to wonder what was on her mind. What was it that she was so keen to get off her chest, and would it be good or bad news?

  “Okay, is now a good time?”

  “Yes. That would be fine,” Kara told him. “I have to get back and finish up my table. I’ll see you soon!”

  Thomas couldn’t help but note, what seemed to be, a hint of enthusiasm in her voice at the idea of seeing him again. At least, he thought that was what he was hearing. Perhaps it was just his imagination and wishful thinking. He said his goodbyes and laid the phone down on the seat of the car before pulling back onto the road and making his way back to the village center to Cassi’s diner.

  The first thing he noted when he pulled up to the entrance less than twenty minutes later was the sign on the door that said they were closed until 4 p.m. He glanced at this watch. It was barely two now, so she must have cleared out the last of her lunch rush and closed shop for a bit. It was unusual and only made him wonder more about what it was she might be about to tell him. Climbing from the vehicle, he walked to the door only to find it being opened for him before he could even knock.

  Kara stood there, smiling brightly at him. Even in the jeans and work shirt she was wearing, she looked angelic, but with a hint of mischief in her dark, sultry eyes. He felt a tug at his libido and quickly shut down the thought processes that that sort of open desire would lead to.

  “You’re here! Good! Cassi has been on pins and needles all morning!” she said, pulling him inside and locking the door.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, hoping for a hint.

  “I have no idea, but I’ve never seen her like this. She’s been acting very odd since your last visit. Whatever is on her mind is serious.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll get down to business with her then. Where is she?”

  “I’m right here,” Cassi replied, appearing through the open doors from the kitchen area.

  “I’ll go do some work in the back and give you some privacy,” Kara said, already making her way hastily out of sight.

  “No, I want you to stay, Kara. I think you might be of some assistance to Thomas when we’re done here.”

  Kara stopped in her tracks and turned back toward the two of them, looking questioningly at Thomas who merely shrugged to indicate that he had no clue either. She walked back toward them, both she and Thomas following Cassi to a nearby table. He took a seat across from her, while Kara pulled up a chair at the end of the table.

  “I thought this would go to my grave with me. I’m not proud of it,” Cassi said solemnly, looking down at her hands.

  “It’s okay, Cassi. Whatever it is, I’m sure you had your reasons,” Kara told her softly.

  “When I was a young woman… I guess that was a very long time ago,” she sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Anyway, when I was about twenty or so, I met a young man from another place. It was love at first sight,” she said, staring out the window into the bright blue sky with a hint of a p
ained smile before looking back toward Thomas. Her eyes were full of an old wound as she hesitated for a moment to gather her thoughts.

  “What happened to him?”

  “I don’t know. We were together for almost a year. My parents didn’t approve, and we had to sneak around to be together. I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn’t give him up. Then, the worst happened. I got pregnant.”

  Her words were little more than a whisper as she continued with her tale, seeming to struggle with each word she spoke. Kara reached for her hands, comforting her as the story continued. Thomas waited, wondering where she was going with this.

  “We were going to run away together, just have the child and never look back. In fact, we did. I went with him down to the south coast to a remote village down there where a shifter wouldn’t be noticeable to others if we were very careful with his training.”

  “Why did your father not approve?” Thomas asked.

  “He wasn’t a dragon shifter,” she replied.

  “He was human,” Thomas said, more a statement than a question.

  “No. He was a shifter, just not a dragon shifter. His name was Khalil, and he was from India. He was a tiger shifter.”

  “Oh, wow,” Thomas said, contemplating just how much of a scandal that would have been in the days when Cassi was a young shifter in a tiny village.

  “Yes, wow. I knew it would be a horrible fight, and as tough as he was, he was no match for a dragon. He wanted to stay and fight, but I begged him to go. So, he did, and we managed the best we could as our hybrid child grew in my belly. I gave birth to our child on a Saturday. I remember it well. It was a beautiful spring day, and there was a local mid-wife that Khalil had traded some home repairs to so that I would have someone there to help us. Neither of us knew what to expect from such a child, and we were excited, but terrified.”

  “I can imagine so,” Thomas said quietly. “And what happened?”

  “I gave birth just like any normal woman – or any normal shifter – would to a gorgeous baby boy. No abnormalities that we could discern. He seemed like any other child.”