Page 24 of Lahaina Noon (Modern Legends of Dragons & Shadows #1)

Chapter 24

B ridget came to slowly, her head pounding, her vision fuzzy. She groaned and stirred, feeling like she’d been hit by a truck. She heard someone shift on the chair next to the bed and turned to look. “Ugh,” she groaned again. Why did that hurt so much?

“Welcome back,” came a female voice.

She tried to focus and found that if she squinted, she could make out Siobhan leaning over her. “What hit me?” Bridget croaked.

Siobhan snorted, “From what I hear, a couple of thousand kilowatts of electricity.”

Bridget was pretty sure that wasn’t a thing, and it hurt to think about it, so she ignored it. “My head,” she managed.

“Yeah, that happens when you overload on magic like that. You should take it slowly when you first start out. Sending a shockwave like that is totally badass, don’t get me wrong, but not good for a first-timer.” She used a cool rag that was heaven on Bridget’s forehead, wiping away the sweat collecting there .

Bridget vaguely recalled some of what Siobhan was talking about. “Gabe? Vaughn?” she whispered. Whispering was good. It didn’t hurt as much.

Siobhan smiled, “They’re fine, thanks to you. To hear Gabe tell it, you looked like Storm from the X-Men. His mom is a bona-fide superhero.”

Bridget smiled weakly at that. “So hot,” she whispered. Her surprise at finding Siobhan there had worn off; now, she was more aware of her misery.

Siobhan nodded, “Well, that’s to be expected. I can help, though.” She closed her eyes, holding her hands out, palms down, and suddenly Bridget’s body was wrapped in ice. It was heaven.

“Ooh,” Bridget sighed. She blinked; her vision had finally cleared. She tried to sit up, but her head throbbed. “Got anything for the nails being driven into my skull?” She didn’t have to try hard to sound pathetic. Siobhan put her fingers on Bridget’s temples, and suddenly her head was whole again. She was human once more.

Bridget sat up slowly and looked at Siobhan with wonder. “Wow,” she said in a normal voice. “You’re pretty handy to have around during a migraine.”

Siobhan rolled her eyes and stood. “Yeah.”

Bridget grabbed her arm. “I don’t mean to belittle you. I just make stupid jokes when I’m on edge,” she admitted. “Thank you. Truly, thank you for helping me. I’m impressed with your abilities. Maybe you can teach me how to not fry my brain in the future? I don’t know what I did or how I did it. I remember I was staring at a bullet hanging outside the car window, and then I was angry at those shadow bastards for trying to kill my son. After that, I remember crackling and boom, I woke up here in Vaughn’s bed. Again. I’m making a habit of this,” she muttered the last part.

Siobhan smiled, patting Bridget on the shoulder. “You’re welcome.” She walked out of the room.

A giant dog barreled in and jumped on the bed. No, not a dog, she realized. It was Gabe. He was bouncing around, ecstatic to see she was okay. He was talking so fast she could barely make out what he was saying, but she caught enough to know he was glad she was alright. She was now a badass superhero, he was fine, and Vaughn was going to show him how to grill a steak.

She laughed and put her hands on his face. “Love you, bug.”

He stopped bouncing. “Love you, too, Mom.”

They smiled at each other for a minute, then she said, “Well I guess we need to talk about what happened. But we can’t wait until after dinner. So Vaughn’s going to grill steaks, huh? I didn’t see a grill anywhere. Do you mean he’s doing them on the stove?” She was trying to buy time to figure out how to explain this to him. He oddly didn’t seem fazed by what had happened.

Gabe grinned at her, “Of course not, Mom, he’s going to use his fire breath.”

Vaughn was in the kitchen, putting salt and pepper on the steaks and wrapping some potatoes in foil. He had wanted to run to Bridget’s side when she came to, but knew she’d need some time to reassure herself that Gabe was okay. He needed some time himself to really come to terms with what had happened today. For her to tap into his thoughts and then channel his magic meant one thing. He had avoided this complication for the majority of his life for a reason. If he didn’t admit it, maybe he could ignore it a little while longer? No, that was foolish thinking. He just needed more time to figure it out before the Council became aware. Once they were, he would no doubt be summoned before them to discuss it. That was something he was most decidedly not looking forward to. He sighed. Who was he kidding?

He knew it deep in his heart. Bridget was—

“Vaughn. Cormac. Drake.”

He whirled around and saw Bridget standing in the doorway. Arms crossed, foot tapping, fire in her eyes. He saw Gabriel peeking around her, frantically waving and wide-eyed.

Pissed. Bridget was pissed.

Bridget stormed across the bedroom throwing him furious glances while he sat on the bed, ankles crossed, hands folded demurely. She wasn’t falling for the innocent schoolboy look, and he knew it, but he dared not do anything else until the dam was ready to break.

She whipped around and hissed at him. It was impressive. “You told him. You knew that I, no, just.” She stared. “How dare you!” she said in a deadly quiet tone. She stood in front of him. Hands on her hips this time, daring him to speak.

“Bridget, my love, I had to.”

She snorted.

“It’s true,” he implored her. “Look, you were out cold, Gabe was freaking out, I called Siobhan over here while Gabe was begging me to call 911. What was I supposed to do? Explain to the cops, hey, my girlfriend fried her brain with magic and won’t wake up?”

She shrugged. “Not your place.”

“The fuck Bridget? He saw you wield a big ass EMP to take an entire section of roadway out.” He was getting angry now. He stood up and leveled his gaze with hers. “Your son was terrified. I was terrified. I thought I lost you. I had to reassure him somehow that it was all going to be okay. He’s a smart kid, Bridget. Give him some credit. He’d already figured out quite a bit of it on his own. Liam and I just filled in the gaps. He was totally cool with the whole dragon thing. Handled it better than you did. The kid thinks he’s living with legends. Seriously, he’s fine, chill.”

As soon as the last words left his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. At no point ever in the history of someone telling a woman to calm down, did she calm down. The dam broke.

“AAAAHHHH!” Bridget screamed wordlessly at him. She jabbed her finger in his chest. “You are not his father; you do not get to make decisions for him. That is my job. Mine !” she slammed her fist against her chest. “I was the one who had to be there to pick up the pieces when his father died. I’m the one who had to put aside my own pain, my own misery and keep him together. You had no right to tell him about any of this.” She was sobbing. Angry, miserable and scared.

He understood now. She wasn’t angry with him for telling Gabe; she was angry that he had to be told. That he had been exposed to any of this. Vaughn was just the target of her anger. “Bridget, my love,” he began quietly.

“Stop it!” she yelled. “Stop calling me that! ”

He looked at her, confused. “Bridget? But that’s your name.”

She turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. “The other part.” She spat the words over her shoulder. “I’m not your love.”

Vaughn’s eyes flamed up, and smoke poured from his nostrils. He marched over and spun her around, growling at her.

“Oh, quit with the scary dragon stuff, will you? You don’t get to say that to me.” She tried to pull away from him, but he held on.

“Yes, I do,” he growled.

She tried harder, broke away, and then walked to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled again.

Her shoulders dropped, and she looked back at him. “Home,” she whispered, reaching for the doorknob.

Bridget heard the flap of wings about a second before she was yanked off her feet and shoved against the wall, almost to the ceiling. Vaughn had pinned her there, his hands on her waist. His massive wings stretched out, fluttering gently to keep them off the ground. He held his hurt gaze level with hers. She could feel his breath, super-hot on her neck.

“You. Are. Not. Leaving,” he snarled at her.

She jerked her head back in fear, banging it on the wall. This overcame her shock at her situation and brought back her anger. “Ow! Damn it, Vaughn, this is childish. Put me down and talk to me like a human.”

Now his head snapped back, and the flames in his eyes flickered for a moment.

She saw they were replaced by fear. He was terrified of her leaving. She didn’t understand it. They’d only been together for a few days, and yes, they’d been magical, but what was this? Why was he in such a panic over the thought of her going to her own house to unwind and have some space? “What the hell, Vaughn, is this some sort of dragon territorial thing?” she demanded, doing her best to look angry while her feet dangled at least four feet off the floor.

His eyes flickered again with uncertainty and fear. “Yes, no, kind of, you can’t leave me!” he said.

“And why the hell not?” she shouted again, “Am I some sort of prisoner here? Why do you care?”

Vaughn let out a frustrated growl, “Because.”

She rolled her eyes, “Not good enough.”

He gritted his teeth, then shouted, “Because I fucking love you, Bridget!” Then whispered, “I love you.” He slowly lowered them both to the ground. He set her gently on her feet and backed away, his wings dragging on the floor. He held his arms listlessly at his sides, looking like his world was ending. “Please,” he begged her, “Don’t go. I love you. Don’t leave me.” He dropped to his knees then, and his wings crumpled around him.

Bridget stood there in shock, staring at him. It swirled through her head. Love? He loved her. This strong, virile man, who ran international mega companies, who was a fierce beast and fighter, made love like a man possessed, treated his staff like they were his family, and could speak to a crowd while having them eat out of his hand. This man was absolutely undone with the love of her. Everything he'd done had been to protect her and Gabriel.

Jesus, Bridget, she thought, you’re such a fucking idiot. She walked over and dropped to the floor in front of him. She lifted his head with her hands and saw the tears in his eyes. She could see it had cost him a lot to admit this to her. He was caring for her the best he could in extraordinary circumstances, and she had thrown it in his face. He seemed so vulnerable. Her heart ached, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

He rumbled in his chest quietly and turned his face to her palm. Breathing warmth into it.

“Vaughn,” she whispered, and he looked up at her, like he was frightened of what he might see. Overwhelmed with emotion and realization, the tears came to her eyes. “Vaughn,” she whispered again and leaned her forehead against his. “I’m so sorry. I’m not going anywhere. I wouldn’t admit it to myself, but I will to you. I love you. I absolutely love you, too.” She pressed her lips to his.