“Yes. Amber and Jade has their symbiots and Symba. We won’t be gones long,” Phoenix promised.
“Okay, but I hopes we can eats before we comes back,” Spring complained.
“We wills. I promise,” Phoenix murmured.
*.*.*
Jarak scowled and glanced behind him. The four boys were wrestling and squealing in the backseat. It didn’t help that his symbiot was leaning in through the back window of the truck and licking them. He twisted back to the front and gripped the armrest.
“I’m assuming the other two golden creatures are still back there as well,” Mason replied dryly.
“Yes. How far is it to this human female’s dwelling?” Jarak asked.
“Not far,” Mason chuckled. “So, tell me again what you remember about how you got here?”
“I told you, I was transporting down to prepare for a meeting with Lord Trelon when there was a malfunction. I woke in the building behind your home with a beast in my face. My symbiot should not have been there. I left it back on the V’ager,” Jarak replied in a gruff tone.
“That must have been one hell of a transporter malfunction,” Mason replied with a low whistle.
“One that surely must be impossible,” Jarak grunted in response. Instead, he focused on how in the dragon’s balls he was going to get back home. He was trying to remember when the next warship was supposed to be dispatched here, but his mind was drawing a blank. He rubbed at his temple to try to ease the pounding.
“It’s a good thing this is a fairly deserted stretch of road, otherwise I’d have a hell of a time trying to explain what I’ve got in the back of my truck,” Mason muttered.
Jarak glanced over the seat again. His lips twitched with an unfamiliar wave of humor. His symbiot was in a strange shape. Large, floppy ears hung down and it had a long tongue hanging out the side of its mouth. The young princes were running their hands over its head.
A glance in the mirror showed him another symbiot with its head hanging over the side and its lips flapping in the wind. Perhaps with the combined energy of the three symbiots, he could make the journey home. Jarak mentally crossed that idea off the list. Even if that was a possibility, he couldn’t leave the young royals alone and unprotected on this world, and being trapped with nine younglings for more than a few minutes would drive him to eject himself into space. A sigh of frustration escaped him.
“You ready to tell me how you really got to this world?” Jarak asked, twisting in his seat.
“We told you how we really gots here! Phoenix opened her mirror and we jumped through it,” Zohar said.
“Her feathers turned really pretty colors,” Jabir replied with a grin.
Roam nodded. “And you could sees the stars in her eyes,” he added.
Jarak shook his head. Younglings! They had very vivid imaginations.
“Here we go,” Mason said, turning onto a long gravel driveway.
Jarak stiffened when he felt his dragon stir inside him. His other half was fully alert, scanning their surroundings urgently. Raising his arm, he ordered his symbiot to connect with him. A stream of gold flowed from the creature to his arm, creating a thick band around it.
His symbiot was on edge, too. Jarak’s gaze narrowed on the man sitting beside him. The human male didn’t appear to be a threat, yet his symbiot and his dragon were both reacting as if there was one close by.
His first duty was to protect the princes. Their symbiots would react to any threat and spirit them to safety, but he might need to fight to give them time to escape.
Be ready, he ordered both his dragon and his symbiot.
I sense something, his dragon growled.
What? Jarak asked, glancing out the window at the thick woods they were passing through.
Not know. Different, strange, his dragon replied.
Jarak mentally cursed when he felt scales ripple across his skin. Before coming to Earth, he had never lost control of his dragon. In fact, many of the warriors suspected that he kept it caged. They knew better than to challenge him to let it out. It had only taken a few times in the training room with the other warriors for his strategies, speed, and viciousness to earn him a reputation. It was one of the reasons he was Chief Security Officer.
Up ahead, a clearing became visible through the trees. The road curved upward and a small, yellow house with white shutters came into view. From his position, Jarak couldn’t see any threats, but there was very little visibility past the tree line, and of course there could be hostiles within the house. He wanted to snap at his dragon to calm down and focus on helping him strategize for the imminent attack, but a sense of impending doom washed through him.
I no think it a threat…, his dragon stated uncertainly with a shiver of anticipation.
Then what is it? Jarak huffed in frustration, not sure that he agreed with his dragon. The truck wasn’t getting there fast enough.
His dragon didn’t answer, just watched the little house with an unwavering intensity.
Mason pulled the truck around the front curved driveway and pulled to a stop. All three symbiots bounded out of the back before he even turned the truck off. The boys in the backseat squealed and fumbled to release the straps Mason had placed around them so they could crawl out. Jarak quickly exited the vehicle. His lips parted to warn the young princes to stay behind him when they hurried by, but no sound escaped. Instead, his gaze was fastened on the female who stepped out of the house.
She wasn’t very tall. Her light brown hair hung loose down her back. She was wearing a pair of dark blue pants like the male’s, a white top, and a yellow sweater the same color as the house. A strangled groan escaped him when he felt his dragon surge forward, shattering his fragile control over it in the blink of an eye.
Mine! his dragon roared.
His symbiot burst past him as he shifted. In the background, he could hear the men yelling and the squeals of the younglings. His vision narrowed until all he could see was the female. She was his and no one would separate them.
Stand down, Jarak demanded, trying to rein his dragon in.
My mate, his dragon snarled, pawing at the ground.
Stand down. You cannot take her. She is a human! Jarak ordered.
She mine.
Jarak saw the younglings surrounding the female. Fear that he would harm those he was sworn to protect threatened to choke him. His symbiot paced back and forth in front of them, separated from the woman by the symbiots belonging to the Dragon Lords. They were larger and more powerful than his own, and outnumbered him.
He could feel a desperate need resonate through the thick gold band around his dragon’s front leg. His symbiot feared the female would reject it. Every time it tried to send a band to wrap around her, the other symbiots blocked it.
Jarak’s dragon stalked forward in slow, measured steps, eyeing the other symbiots. His tail flicked through the air, snapping faster than the speed of sound and sending an ear-piercing crack that shook the ground. A menacing snarl escaped him and his claws dug into the thick bed of gravel on the drive.
“What the hell is the matter with him?” Mason demanded, backing up toward the house.
Jarak turned and snapped in the direction of the man standing in front of the woman – his woman – his… true mate. The knowledge hit him hard, sending him reeling backwards. For a brief moment, he thought it might give him a chance to regain control of his dragon.
Stand down, Jarak growled. Stand down.
The slender thread of control he was slowly gaining dissolved when the woman stepped forward and placed her hand on the male’s shoulder in front of her. A haze of red swept over him and Jarak could feel his primitive side seize control.
The next events were a blur to Jarak. He felt his dragon leap forward at the same time that his symbiot did. The symbiots belonging to the Dragon Lords countered. Lord Mandra’s symbiot expanded, wrapping around his symbiot and locking it in its powerful embrace while Lord Zoran’s and Lord Kelan’s symbiots rushed t
oward him. Jarak’s dragon slammed against the gold bars that formed around him. His claws raked to dig under, but the cage surrounded him on all sides. Grabbing the bars with his powerful jaws, he bit down. A pulse of energy struck him, knocking him backwards.
His gaze swept over to the front of the house. Lord Trelon’s symbiot stood in front of the stunned group, snarling a warning as it protected both humans and royals alike. A shield of gold formed when Jarak released a thin stream of dragon fire at the human male the woman had touched.
It was at that moment that Jarak knew he had passed the point of no return. He had completely lost control of his dragon, something no warrior could afford to do. Warning tales of the horrors were told to the warriors from a young age of what could happen when a dragon warrior lost control. Even with that knowledge, his dragon refused to calm.
As his dragon threw himself at the bars again, Jarak was thankful when the symbiots sent a shock through him strong enough to make his heart stutter. By the fifth pulse, his legs collapsed under him. It took almost a dozen more shocks before he was too weak to fight any longer.
Chapter Fifteen
“Come ons. We gots to find Daddy,” Phoenix said, running across the garden toward the palace.
Both girls shifted into their dragon forms so they could run faster. Harvey sensed their urgency and scooped them up. Their delighted squeals drew the attention of several guards who chuckled.
Within minutes, they were sweeping through the balcony doors into the living room. They both slid off Harvey when he laid down on the rug. Phoenix grabbed Spring’s hand and pulled her down the hallway to their parents bedroom.
Pushing open the door, they quietly ran across to the massive bed. Little Bit and Stardust reached it before them and formed small steps. Both girls climbed up the steps, and pounced. Phoenix gasped when her dad’s strong hands suddenly wrapped around her and he held her in the air above him.
“Got you,” Creon chuckled with a teasing smile.
“Daddy!” Spring cried out, crawling up under where he was holding Phoenix so she could lay on his chest. “I’m hungry.”
“Ugh, what time is it?” Carmen whispered, rolling over onto her side.
“The sun is ups,” Spring stated.
Carmen reached over and helped Creon lower Phoenix down onto the bed with them. She wrapped her arm around Phoenix and pressed a kiss against her brow. She frowned when she saw that both girls were dressed.
“How long have you two been awake?” Carmen asked, pushing up so she could get a better look at them. “Have you been outside?”
“Uh-huh, Harvey was with us,” Spring said. “I starving! The others were eating, but Phoenix said we had to goes.”
“The others?” Creon asked, a frown creasing his brow.
“You girls go into the living room. Let Daddy and me get dressed, and you can tell us what you’ve been doing while I make some breakfast,” Carmen instructed.
“Pancakes? Sandy was makings pancakes,” Spring asked with a hopeful smile.
“Sandy…. Yes, I’ll make some pancakes,” Carmen agreed, sharing a questioning glance with Creon.
“Stay in the living room with Harvey,” Creon instructed.
“Okay,” Spring replied.
Phoenix watched her sister crawl off their dad and scoot toward the bottom of the bed. She glanced up at her mom and raised a hand to touch her cheek. A soft, sad smile touched her lips.
“What is it, honey?” Carmen asked, brushing Phoenix’s hair back from her face.
“I love you, Mommy,” Phoenix said, sitting up to wrap her arms around her mom’s neck. “I’m glad you didn’t hurts yourself, otherwise Spring and I’s wouldn’t be here and Daddy would be sad.”
“What?” Carmen whispered, pulling back to gaze down into Phoenix’s eyes. “What do you mean, sweetheart? I didn’t….”
“You was crying and it was lightning and the lamps was broken all over the floor in the little yellow house, but you stopped when you saw me. I’s glad you saw me,” Phoenix said. “I wanted to tell you that I loves you to the moons and back for always. So does Spring and Daddy.”
Phoenix reached up and traced a small finger along Carmen’s cheek, catching the tear that escaped. Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss against her mom’s pale cheek before slipping out of her arms and scooting down the bed. That was why she had needed to come back – to make sure her mommy knew how much she was loved.
“I wants four pancakes,” Phoenix announced, feeling better.
“I wants five,” Spring laughed. “And eggs! I wants eggs!”
*.*.*
“What’s wrong?” Creon asked in concern, pulling Carmen into his arms when a shudder ran through her body.
“She was real,” Carmen whispered, staring at their bedroom door where Phoenix and Spring had just disappeared through. “I… Oh, God, Creon… She was real!”
Creon’s arms tightened around her. Carmen turned her face into his neck and released a smothered, pain-filled cry. The warm feel of his hands rubbing against her bare back soothed her. It took her several long minutes to finally get control over her emotions.
“Tell me,” Creon murmured, threading his fingers through her hair.
Carmen shook her head. She couldn’t tell him of that horrible night after Scott’s murder and the loss of their child, the night she had come close to ending her life by her own hand. Afterwards, she had focused on finding Cuello, the man responsible.
Sliding her hand up to the gold band wrapped around his forearm, she connected with it. She couldn’t speak of that time, but she would show him. He deserved to know how close she had come to denying them the happiness they now shared.
“You were not selfish, Carmen,” Creon gently said.
“I thought she was a dream,” Carmen choked out in a barely audible voice.
“She is. So is Spring,” Creon replied, tilting her chin so she would look at him. “And you are the mate I dreamed of, Carmen.”
Carmen wound her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could. She released a shuddering breath. She didn’t know how, or why Phoenix was the way she was, but she was thankful to have daughters like her and Spring.
“I love you, Creon,” Carmen whispered, pulling back and brushing a kiss across his lips.
“Mommy, we are starrrrvings!” Spring pitifully wailed from the living room.
Creon and Carmen pulled away at the same time with a laugh. She wiped a hand across her cheek, brushing away the tears, then reached for her robe, and pulled it on.
“You need to have a talk with Harvey,” she said at the same time as Creon said, “I need to have a talk with Harvey.”
They chuckled together.
“Mommmmmy!” Phoenix called.
“After breakfast,” they both said with a shake of their heads.
Chapter Sixteen
A short time later, they sat down for breakfast in the kitchen area. Phoenix rolled her pancake up and dipped it in the syrup on her plate before taking a big bite. She gazed across the table at her dad as she chewed and swallowed. If anyone could help them, he could.
“Will you help us find the dragon warrior today?” Phoenix asked.
“What dragon warrior?” Creon asked with a frown.
“The dragon warrior that don’t know how to love,” Spring said, biting her lip and gazing up at her dad with eyes full of hope.
“The dragon warrior who…,” Creon parroted, shooting a glance at Carmen as she smothered a chuckle.
“… we gots to find him so he can fix Sandy’s heart, and so Sandy can make his heart warm,” Phoenix said in a slightly desperate voice.
“And we can show him how to love so he can love her,” Spring said with a nod. “Us dragonlings are good at showing how to love each other.”
Phoenix and Spring anxiously gazed at their father. He was sitting with his fork suspended in midair, halfway to his mouth. His mouth was open, but he wasn’t saying anything. Their mom was staring at
him with wide eyes and a grin.
They both waited patiently until he placed his fork on his plate. Phoenix looked up at him with pleading eyes. She bit her lip before she glanced at her mom.
“Arilla and Arosa said you could helps us. We’s found the lonely lady this morning. Her name is Sandy. She’s really nice,” Phoenix said.
Spring nodded. “She was makings breakfast for the other girls. We’s were goings to eat too, but Phoenix said we had to comes home through the mirror. We can’t be gones long ‘cause the others are still there.”
“Please, Daddy. Arilla and Arosa said you’s could go with us,” Phoenix pleaded.
“Arilla and Arosa,” Carmen whispered, her hand rising to her throat.
“The mirror…. Where did you go this morning?” Creon asked in a terse tone, his eyes darkening with concern.
“Phoenix, what did… when did you talk to the Goddesses?” Carmen asked.
Phoenix looked back and forth between her parents. Her eyes darkened to a shade of pink, reflecting her mood. She watched her mom walk over to stand next to her dad.
“Last night,” Phoenix admitted. “After you and Daddy wents out. They listened to your story and they said that the lonely woman lives in the yellow house with the white shutters backs on Mommy’s world.”
“The yellow house with the white…,” Carmen breathed, her hands tightening on Creon’s shoulder. “But the story was about….”
“I know,” Creon murmured, placing his hand over hers. “Did…. Phoenix, did Arilla tell you the name of the dragon warrior?”
Phoenix shook her head. “No, justs that they would help find him. They said that you could helps us, too. Will you, Daddy? We don’t wants Sandy’s heart to break,” Phoenix pleaded.
Creon nodded his head. “Yes. Yes, I will help you,” he said.
Phoenix slid out of her chair and hurried around the table to give her dad a hug. “Yay! Oh, you are the bestest Daddy ever!” she laughed.
Spring nodded in agreement. “We lefts the others back on Mommy’s world. The boys wents to find food in the forest. Sandy was making us breakfast afters she talked to her brother,” she excitedly explained.