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CHAPTER TEN
I’m sure this was only a large manor house when I saw it last . Zoey spoke to Hunter through their mental link as the huge silver dragon circled and then began to descend toward where a castle backed directly on a huge mountain.
The same mountain Belle had become lost on at New Year’s? Zoey wasn’t sure, but she believed so.
Don’t tell me , she huffed. You and your brothers have the ability to put up a shield to stop the local humans from seeing you actually live in a gigantic castle!
Zoey was wrapped up warm in her thick coat, a beanie, and gloves, but Hunter’s dragon gave off such a tremendous amount of heat that she hadn’t felt the cold at all, despite being thousands of feet up in the air.
Okay, I won’t tell you that. The sound of Hunter’s laughter echoed through their link. Even if it’s true.
Zoey knew it was almost nine hundred miles from Cornwall to the top of Scotland, and yet they had arrived here within an hour of leaving Tregarthen House.
At first, she had been afraid to lift her head from the safety of nestling against the heat of Hunter’s chest, but eventually, curiosity had won out over caution, and she had looked over one of Hunter’s huge dragon front legs.
Instead of seeing the ground beneath them, there was a blanket of fluffy white clouds. They appeared so thick and substantial, it looked as if they could be walked on. Except Zoey knew that if she attempted to do that, she would plummet to her death.
A graphic reminder of what had happened to Ben.
That realization made Zoey feel so sick that she couldn’t help but think that anyone who did that to another human being deserved to meet the same fate. That Edgar deserved to meet the same fate.
He might have been her guardian for twelve years, but he hadn’t been a loving or kind one.
Consequentially, it was hard for Zoey to feel affection for someone who she knew deliberately kept his distance from her, physically and emotionally.
From the start, there had been no hugs or words of comfort to help ease her pain after her parents died so suddenly.
Once again, Zoey wondered why Edgar had ever agreed to become her guardian. It certainly hadn’t been because he felt any affection for her.
What are you thinking about? Hunter prompted.
Can’t you read my mind? she teased.
I could , he confirmed. But I would rather not unless you have given me permission to do so.
Oh. Okay. So, I was wondering why Edgar even bothered to accept guardianship of me when he obviously didn’t, and doesn’t, care for me at all.
I’ve been wondering the same thing myself, and for the same reason.
Please don’t sugarcoat it. Just say it like it is! Zoey was laughing as Hunter-as-dragon landed softly in the thick snow behind but within the walled grounds of his castle home.
He immediately shifted back to his human form, still cradling her in his arms and once again dressed in his black clothing and boots. “I apologize for being too blunt. And I love the sound of your laughter.”
A blush warmed her cheeks. “You’re forgiven. And I love seeing you smile.”
They continued to stare at each other for several long minutes, dark eyes gazing into green ones, before the sound of a throat clearing nearby caused them both to startle and turn in that direction.
Zoey instantly recognized Ranulf Drake from when she had seen him before she left Scotland at New Year.
She knew his eyes were even greener than her own, his dark hair chin-length, his full beard even darker than his hair.
He was dressed very much like Hunter, in a black leather jacket over a black T-shirt, black jeans, and black biker boots.
Unsuitable clothes for the coldness of the climate, but, like Hunter, Ranulf didn’t seem affected by how icy cold it was here.
He didn’t speak as he continued to look at the two of them, merely raised one questioning eyebrow.
Which was when Zoey realized Hunter was still holding her in his arms. “You need to put me down,” she hissed under her breath, only to immediately feel stupid at the realization Ranulf’s enhanced hearing meant he would be able to hear her no matter how softly she spoke.
“I like holding you in my arms,” Hunter objected.
And Zoey liked being there, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t feel more comfortable, for now, if she were standing on her own two feet. “Please,” she encouraged softly.
Hunter reluctantly put Zoey down, but kept his arm securely about the slenderness of her waist. Because what he really wanted to do was hold Zoey in his arms for the rest of their forever. For centuries. Millennia.
For now, he would settle for doing as she asked while still maintaining physical contact with his arm about her.
It was curious that Zoey hadn’t been fooled by the impression of a manse house, which was what most human’s saw, and instead, she could clearly see his castle home for exactly what it was. Belle had been able to see the same castle when she came here a week earlier, and she was now Lachlan’s mate.
Another confirmation, for Hunter, that Zoey was his own one true mate.
Not that he had a single doubt that she was the mate he now desperately wanted to claim and protect.
Much as it irked him, for now, he would have to settle for merely protecting Zoey. They all needed to deal with the problem that was Edgar Wallis before doing anything else.
“Any sign of him?” Hunter prompted his brother.
“None,” Ranulf dismissed, his voice gruff from lack of use, before he turned to Zoey. “I’m Ranulf Drake.” He didn’t attempt to put out his hand to shake hers.
His brother knew, from the discernible rumbling in Hunter’s chest, that his dragon was too near the surface to accept another dragon touching his mate.
Zoey nodded. “We met briefly last week. I’m Zoey Ashworth.” She didn’t offer her hand to shake either. No doubt because she was aware of the tension and growl emanating from Hunter.
Ranulf turned his gaze toward him. “When I said there had been no sighting of Wallis, that’s exactly what I meant. He didn’t log in a flight plan with the authorities, nor has there been a single sighting of him since he took off in his helicopter from Tregarthen House late this morning.”
“What does that mean?” Zoey frowned. “Did he crash?”
“There has been no report of any helicopter crashing or making an emergency landing anywhere either,” Ranulf dismissed. “The latter probably because it’s possible to land a helicopter almost anywhere.”
“So we have no idea where Edgar is right now?”
Hunter wasn’t sure if the shiver Zoey gave after asking that question was from the cold or because they were talking about her missing guardian. A man she now had every reason to fear was responsible for the murder of one of her friends.
“Let’s all go inside where it's warmer,” Hunter suggested briskly, aware that his mate was becoming colder by the second now that he was no longer protecting her with his warmth.
Zoey couldn’t stop looking around at her surroundings after they entered the castle through a door that then went directly through the huge stone kitchen and then into a grand hall with a cavernous roof stretched up to the rafters above.
There were several suits of armor attached to the stone walls.
There was also a log fire burning in a fireplace large enough for a man, several men, to stand up in.
The aesthetic was like something from the medieval or Viking times.
Probably because that was the time when the three Drake brothers had been born.
Or more accurately, Zoey reminded herself, hatched from their dragon eggs.
Which… No, she was still trying to absorb that information.
Best to concentrate on her surroundings for the moment.
There were no paintings on the stone walls, but Zoey’s attention was immediately caught and held by the huge carved panels, one the length of each of the four walls. They were easily six feet tall by fifteen feet wide, with intricate carvings of different battles depicted in each of them.
It was the style of the carving, one that Zoey recognized, that held her attention as she slowly moved from wall to wall studying each of the panels.
“Oh. My. God.” She finally stood back from the last panel before slowly turning. “You’re Ranulf,” she breathed in absolute awe.
He looked uncomfortable. “I already told you that is my name.”
Zoey slowly shook her head, her gaze moving instinctively back toward the carved panels.
“I’m talking about the Ranulf whose identity everyone in the art world has been speculating about for years now.
Decades. Centuries, probably,” she pondered, now that she was aware of the longevity of the Drake brothers’ lives.
“Your carvings are amazing. I studied them in books and the real deal in galleries and museums during my first year at university.”
Ranulf looked alarmed. “They have a book of my carvings?”
“Books,” she corrected. “Many, many books. All of them fascinating.” She gave a dazed shake of her head. “I can’t believe I’m now standing in the same room with you and looking at these incredible carvings the rest of the world has never had, nor will ever have, the privilege of seeing.”
“Thank you,” Ranulf accepted gruffly, obviously uncomfortable with her effusive praise.
Zoey’s gaze moved to the chessboard set up on a square wooden table beside the fireplace. Each piece had been individually crafted. As had the two huge chairs, purposefully placed either side of the table.
She didn’t need to ask to know that Ranulf had carved those too.
All the furniture in the room, four huge chairs in total, and obviously all purposefully designed to accommodate the size of the Drake brothers, along with the dining table and chairs at the other end of the room, were just as ornately carved, many of them with woodland creatures.
Ranulf’s talent, along with the mystery of who he was, meant that a single piece of this furniture could be sold for a seven-figure number. Each of the panels on the walls for double, possibly triple, that amount.
“I feel so privileged to be allowed to see these and to meet you,” Zoey told a still slightly blushing Ranulf. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He nodded awkwardly before his expression turned to one of humor when he looked at Hunter. “I think that’s probably as much admiration from you toward me that my brother can tolerate.”
Zoey looked at Hunter, easily able to see the heavy scowl on his brow and the tightness of his jaw. He wasn’t exactly growling right now, but there was definitely a displeased rumble going on in that huge chest. His eyes had that fire in their depths.
“Calm down,” Zoey teased. “I was just paying homage where homage is due. Ranulf is a legend in the art world.”
“As he should be,” Hunter agreed gruffly.
She turned fully to look at Hunter. “Does this mean I’ll still be able to carry on with my painting when we’re mated?
I’m not in Ranulf’s league, but it is something I enjoy doing.
” She eyed him curiously when she saw the fire flare in the depths of his dark eyes.
“I said when,” she realized, a blush warming her cheeks.
Hunter’s eyes glowed. “You did.”
“Are Belle and Lachlan here?” she prompted to divert attention from the sudden longing she felt—inappropriately, when they were talking to his brother!—to begin their mating right now. That feeling had been steadily increasing since they left Cornwall.
“They aren’t in the castle, but they are still somewhere close,” Ranulf answered her cautiously.
Zoey studied him for several moments before assuring him, “Hunter already told me the two of them are true mates.”
Ranulf nodded. “As are you and Hunter.”
She tilted her head to the side as she studied him further. “Why did you say that so forcefully?”
“Because—”
“Don’t,” Hunter cut his brother off. “ If Zoey decides to become my beloved true mate, then she will do so without any pressure from anyone else, including me.”
“But—”
“It will be Zoey’s choice, Ranulf,” Hunter cut in firmly.
Zoey’s eyes narrowed as she sensed there was something Hunter wasn’t telling her, something important and which Ranulf disapproved of him keeping from her.
“As I’m the tech expert in the family, I need to go to my suite and do a more in-depth search to see if I can discover where Wallis might have disappeared to,” Hunter stated briskly.
“Of course.” They all needed to know where Edgar had gone. “I’ll come with you, if that’s okay?” she added shyly.
“Of course.” Hunter nodded. “But first, we’ll go to the kitchen and get you something warm to drink and some snacks to take with us.”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll prepare something for our dinner,” Ranulf announced before striding away, that disapproving scowl still lowering his brow.
Zoey moved closer to Hunter. “What aren’t you telling me that is making Ranulf angry?”
Hunter huffed out a laugh. “The things that I have experienced in my lifetime, and that people born in the twenty-first century never will know, would fill many more journals than the ones Belle bought by accident.”
Zoey had lived with Edgar for years, and after all that time, she knew when someone was trying to distract her. And Hunter was clearly avoiding answering her question.
When they were mates, they would have all the time in the world for Hunter to answer all her questions.
When they were mates.
Because, yes, Zoey had already made up her mind about that. As man or dragon, Hunter was…amazing. He was protective and caring, toward his brothers as well as toward her. He was totally dedicated to what was right and eliminating what was wrong.
He was also the sexiest man she had ever met, Zoey inwardly admitted, her cheeks feeling warm at her own physical and emotional reaction to him.
Oh yes, she and this gorgeous man were going to be mates.