A Triple Trouble Prequel
Fire and Ice
Lina thought surviving her Yellowstone vacation was hairy. She doesn't even have time to enjoy her newly discovered powers with her two hunky dragons before they and Brodey Lyall's wolf pack must band together again to find out who's responsible for grisly dragon murders.
As Lina finds out how deeply their tragic past is entwined with the present, new allies join their quest to hunt down the killer before he can strike again. But the more Lina learns about the past, the more questions she has.
In their transcontinental journey for justice against the vengeful and psychopathic cockatrice, Lina and her ever-expanding adopted clan have to rely not just on her random and unreliable incendiary powers, but on the skills and memory of a sadomasochistic immortal. The future happiness of the Lyall brothers depends on it, as do all their lives.
And she doesn't even have a Goddess 101 handbook.
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Note: This book ends on a cliffhanger and the story continues in the Triple Trouble series.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 77,065 words
FIRE AND ICE
A Triple Trouble Prequel
Tymber Dalton
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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FIRE AND ICE
Copyright © 2012 by Tymber Dalton
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-537-0
First E-book Publication: March 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
This one’s all for Sir. He knows why. Thank You.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This book is a prequel in the Triple Trouble series about the wolf shifter Lyall triplets, Ain, Brodey, and Cail, and how the dragons came to be part of their timeline. Dragon shifter twins Jan and Rick Alexandr, along with their mate, Lina, her Watcher, Zack, and Zack’s mate, Kael, make their first appearance in the story Boiling Point, available in the Tasty Treats Vol. 3 anthology. They make their second appearance in Steam. Both of those are also prequels to the Triple Trouble series.
This book takes place immediately where the events of Steam leave off, after Lina and her group’s return from Yellowstone, where Bertholde, the dragons’ Seer, was murdered. It is also the prequel to Trouble Comes in Threes (Triple Trouble 1). All available from Siren-BookStrand.
FIRE AND ICE
A Triple Trouble Prequel
TYMBER DALTON
Copyright © 2012
PART I
Chapter One
Now
Lina looked out the window at the night as they rode home from Tampa International.
Some fucking vacation.
Definitely not her idea of fun. Starting with a ton of boring meetings, then being abducted by a psychopathic cockatrice, fortunately rescued by wolf shifter Brodey Lyall, except then they were running for their lives from a forest fire and had to survive cold Yellowstone nights, having her binding Ceremony with her two dragon shifter men, then caught up in a criminal investigation when Bertholde, the dragon shifters’ Seer, was murdered…
It made her head hurt to think about it all. In a way, it made her heart hurt, too.
She could still smell Brodey Lyall’s scent on her from when they’d hugged good-bye.
Not that it wasn’t permanently embedded in her soul from their time spent together at Yellowstone.
As she tipped her head onto Rick’s shoulder, she closed her eyes and felt her mind slip.
The scene changed. She stood on a cold, chilly moor, watching two groups of kilt-clad Highlanders gathered around a raging fire and discussing a woman standing to the side.
Ysimel. Lina didn’t know how she knew the woman’s name, but she was certain of it.
When the image ended, Lina’s eyes popped open. Oh, fucking fantastic. This was like having funky cable that blipped in and out without a channel guide.
She stared out the window and watched I-75 slip past in the darkness. She hoped Brodey could hold on to his newly found peace until he and his brothers met their One. Lina would see them again in a couple of days, when she and their whole posse drove down to Arcadia, to the Lyalls’ ranch, for a confab.
Let’s add crazy visions to the discussion syllabus. Just what she didn’t need, more freaky powers. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the energy to think about it. She felt exhausted, and the gentle rhythm of the van proved too much. When she closed her eyes again, she let her mind drift and realized that even though Brodey was heading in the opposite direction with his brother and cousin, she could still clearly sense his presence. As if he were now a part of her, in a similar but different way as her mates, Jan and Rick, were part of her.
The way Zack was part of her.
She loved Brodey, without a doubt. Not the same way she loved Jan and Rick, and definitely not the same way she loved Zack, but what Bertholde told them rang through her memory.
“Before all here, let it be known they are bound. The Goddess and her men, her Watcher and his love, an
d the protector and friend who returned her safely home. An unbreakable bond, a completed circle. The wolf and his Clan are, from here on, considered part of us and ours.”
If only she could get five uninterrupted minutes and a few straight answers out of that frickin’ Baba Yaga woman. It wasn’t as though anyone had given her a Goddess instruction manual when they dumped this gig on her.
You’d think the damn woman could at least take me out to Starbucks for a latte and tell me how not to randomly blow things up.
The sounds and feel of the van completely melted away around her. When Lina opened her eyes, she realized she sat in a living room, on a simple, but comfortably stuffed couch. The room appeared to be some older kind of cottage, with plaster walls and wood furniture. A cheery fire roared in a large stone fireplace.
Lina heard a noise behind her and turned to look. Standing in what looked like a very modern and well-appointed kitchen was Baba Yaga in her matronly form. “Coffee, Goddess?”
Lina fought the urge to roll her eyes, but she stood and walked over to the counter. “Yes, please.”
Apparently, Baba Yaga had all the modern conveniences. If the outside of this place still looked as dumpy as Lina remembered, it was a great disguise to discourage robbers. No one would ever suspect she had a top-of-the-line Capresso coffeemaker sitting on her counter.
Lina scanned the room. And what looked like a fifty-inch plasma TV hanging on the wall across from the fireplace.
“Wow. You really have all the conveniences…here. Where exactly is here, anyway? I never got that answer last time. I was too worried about getting Zack unkilled and all that.”
Baba Yaga smiled and slid a cup of coffee over to Lina. “Cream and sugar?”
“Yes, please. With a side of answers, thank you.”
The woman chuckled as she walked over to her fridge. Also stainless, like the coffeemaker, stove, and dishwasher. “Patience, Goddess. Let’s enjoy our brew. This is far better than Starbucks.”
“Is this some sort of time warp where the guys don’t even know I’m gone? Or am I still physically in the van, but I’m mentally here?”
“Either. Or both.”
“You really know how to confuse the hell out of me, do you know that? It’s starting to piss me the hell off.”
“Then do something.”
“Like what? Blow you up like I did psycho chicken?”
“Cockatrice. Send yourself back to the van if you don’t wish to stay and talk with me.” She shrugged. “You are the one who came here seeking answers.”
“You’re telling me I brought myself here?”
“Now you’re starting to catch on, Goddess.”
“Forgive me, but it’s been a craptastic week.”
She nodded toward Lina’s mug. “Drink your coffee.”
“Is this really coffee?”
Baba Yaga smiled. “Yes. It’s really good coffee.”
“I certainly hope so. Giving me crap coffee would just be adding insult to injury, ya know.” She added cream and sugar, stirred, then lifted it to her nose for a tentative sniff. It certainly smelled like really good coffee. A careful sip proved it was really good coffee. “Thank you.”
Baba Yaga smiled and slipped onto another barstool across the counter from Lina. “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out you could come talk with me.”
“Gee, thanks for the heads-up.”
Baba Yaga shrugged. “You must be able to do these things. I cannot interfere.”
“Not even little hints? And, oh, by the way, why the hell can’t you interfere? You brought Zack back to life after Edgar shot him.”
The other woman smiled. “Because I brought you and Zack together. It wouldn’t be fair of me not to keep you together when it is meant to be. Especially when I promised.”
“Because you…” Lina had a thought. “Waaaait a doggone minute. You would have saved Zack’s life regardless, wouldn’t you?”
Baba Yaga didn’t answer. She simply sipped her coffee.
Lina spotted the sly smile she tried to hide behind her mug.
“You won’t answer me, will you?” Lina asked.
“Answer what, Goddess? You have the answers you seek. To that question, at least.”
Lina tried to hold her simmering temper in check. “If you won’t give me the answers I do want and need, then what can you tell me?”
Baba Yaga set her mug down on the counter and cupped it between her hands. Lina felt something in the very air of the cabin shift. A sense of deep grief washed over her. Before her eyes, Baba Yaga transformed into her maiden form, appearing close to Lina’s own age.
This woman looked deeply saddened, world-weary, and worn. Without even thinking about it, Lina reached out and touched her hand. A nearly overwhelming wave of sadness threatened to swamp Lina.
Baba Yaga closed her eyes. “There are many entwined threads in this tapestry, Goddess,” she softly said. “They start so very long ago in the past. How much have you willingly recalled in your memories?”
When Lina mated with Jan and Rick, memories of her past lives had flooded back into her brain. Memories Zack, as her Watcher, had consciously held throughout all their lives together. Lina still chose not to actively pursue those memories in her own brain.
Lina sniffled as her own eyes watered. “I remember a lot, but there’s a lot more I haven’t even tried to remember. It hurts too much.” She really didn’t want to think about her previous lives with Zack. While she knew there were lots of happy memories with him, it also meant recalling the sad. People she had known and loved.
Their children…
Baba Yaga sadly sighed. “Let us start at the beginning, then, child.” She gently squeezed Lina’s hand before disengaging herself. She stood and motioned to Lina with her coffee mug. “The sofa will be more comfortable. We’ll be here a while.”
Chapter Two
Then
Two as one, halves of a whole.
Two different minds, one mingled soul.
Love in every life, in every heart, forever,
Until finding of twin love does sever.
Death impermanent, after battle won
With love renewed under future sun.
The lovers three will sisters call
At Goddess’ lead at risk of all.
Etched in stone by sacred well
Her powers scribed in triad spell.
Dark Gods in vain bring forth the fight
Only to fall to Lovers’ might.
Pride and ego and power sought
By Dark Gods for evil purpose comes to naught.
The lovers three will vanquish all
Although two, then one, certainly fall.
Last to sleep, the Watcher lay,
To rejoin his love soon another day.
Life and life and life again,
The two as one always begin.
When two return and Dark Gods wake
With evil intent and lives to take
The two shall find her, in prophecy new
And Watcher again shall step from view.
Until then in every life
Watcher faithful shall claim his wife
After thirty-five years have come and gone
And together, two once more joined as one
Will have their joy, Goddess unaware
That Watcher alone their past keeps care.
—Ancient Slavic Prophecy
The woman held her baby close to her breast as her husband helped her climb the treacherous stone steps. Nine days’ journey on foot had brought them here.
To their destiny. To their son’s destiny.
To, hopefully, their people’s destiny. This was what their Seer had told them. They could not in good conscience refuse the journey.
Thick stands of fragrant pine trees shielded their view of what lay ahead. When they finally crested the valley wall, they found themselves in a clearing. The cottage, primitive, small, and dingy, sat in the middle as
they’d been told. Foul grey smoke billowed from the chimney. As they walked toward the white fence surrounding the yard, they realized with chilling fear that the pickets were human bones. Bleached human skulls lit from within by an eerie supernatural flame topped the fence every so often.
The cottage’s rough-hewn wooden door opened, and an old crone tottered out. She wore a black robe of coarse material. The smile on her face sent tendrils of fear through the wife’s heart.
“Ah, good. You arrived on time,” the crone said, smiling. Unfortunately, the gesture didn’t impart any joy or good humor to her features. “That is very good. Is this the little one?”
The wife nodded.
The crone met them at the gate and held out her arms. “Let me see him.”
When the woman hesitated, the crone cackled. “I swear to you I will not eat him. I wish to see if he is as special as I believe him to be.”
After her husband nodded to her, she carefully handed their son over.
The crone softly mumbled something in a strange language to the baby. The baby smiled and reached for one of her fingers.
“Very good. He is the one.” She looked at the couple. “You understand the destiny of your line?”
The couple nodded.
“Excellent. I need to borrow him for a few minutes. I promise you, he will not be harmed. Wait here.” The crone carried the baby inside her house and shut the door behind her. She closed her eyes and transformed into her matron form, appearing to be a beautiful middle-aged woman. Then she disappeared, reappearing inside a room in a castle.
A nursemaid sat dozing in a shaft of sunlight by the open window while dust motes danced on the beams. The woman smiled at the baby boy in her arms as she walked over to the ornately hand-carved cradle in the other corner of the room.
Inside the cradle lay a beautiful, chubby, red-haired baby girl. The girl smiled when she spotted the woman holding the baby boy.