Page 20 of So I Dared a Dragon (The Mating Game #6)

twenty

. . .

Calista

The silver cones fit Aarix’s talons perfectly. None of this was a shock, but seeing them on his fingers was still a surprise. When I found the cones, I immediately thought of his talons. But I worried they’d be too dainty for such a giant man. Instead, they molded to him, looking fierce and even more ornate at the same time.

I wasn’t normally an antique shop girlie. Not only had I spent the last few years living out of my increasingly tattered duffel bag, I didn’t have the patience for all the hunting and pecking. Which was a bit of a plot twist, since I normally loved the thrill of the chase. But this afternoon, I was drawn to the window display outside the shop. I was only downtown looking for a distraction, something to help me digest everything that happened in the last few days.

Aarix held his hand up, letting the filigree and stones catch in the light.

“I swear I can see the energy radiating from your fingers,” I said softly. All this magic was overwhelming. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. And to you. This all might be normal for you—"

He took me by the shoulders and turned me to him. The energy flowed into me, different now than it had been before he gave me my scales, and that was before he planted the kiss on my forehead, which supercharged everything. He grasped me tighter, like he felt it too.

“None of this is normal,” he said. His voice was gravelly—a little purr, all growl. “The scales weren’t supposed to be permanent. I’m not upset that they’re still there, but it wasn’t my intention. That’s why I asked if you were something else in addition to being a wolf.”

“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I’ve never had superpowers.” I’d always considered myself a pretty basic bitch. Even before Bibi was Bibi, she always managed to shine. My role was the bestie fuckup, and I played it to perfection.

“You’ve always had superpowers, sunshine.” He considered his present, waving his fingers again. “Tell me about where you got these.”

“It was a secondhand store, a place where people go to sell things they don’t want anymore, and in theory, people can buy what they need at lower prices than buying new. But thrifting became trendy and some items can be outrageously expensive. These included, but we have a shopping budget from the show. The store mostly carries furniture and art, and I almost left empty handed, but then I saw a little glass case at the register. I knew I wanted to bring you something as a way to smuggle the notebook onto set without anyone noticing. The rest of it was gaudy costume stuff, but then I saw these, and they didn’t seem to belong there. They reminded me of the rings you wear on your horns and the rest of your jewelry. The woman who sold them to me had no idea what they were for, which is probably for the best.” I dared to run my finger over one of his talons. The sparks that flew in my wake were more satisfying than scary. “I wanted to give you something that couldn’t be taken away, because I didn’t know if I’d open that notebook and everything would disappear.”

“No one’s done anything that nice for me in a long time.” He closed his eyes for a long blink. “It means a lot. These would’ve been used any time there was a transfer of power, which you refer to as magic. It was an everyday part of our lives, but powerful dragons had more of it.”

Fascinating. “What are your powers?”

“I had the power of protection. It was one of the reasons I gave you that necklace, so I could always guard you, even if I couldn’t be with you.”

This dragon knew exactly how to make me swoon.

He frowned. “But it didn’t stop the threats from coming.”

“There haven’t been any more notes.” I looked down at my arm. “Do you think it’s because of the scales?”

I didn’t expect Aarix to have all the answers for what had happened to me since our last date.

“Could be. Did they find out who sent those gifts?”

“The name given to the delivery company was bogus. They used a gift card for payment.”

“We need to find who’s threatening you and make sure they never do it again.” He growled.

“I’m tired of hitting dead ends and getting more questions.” I sighed.

“We’re getting closer. The note and the talon dressings are excellent clues. I’d really like to spend time with you alone. So we can explore your new powers without any interruptions.”

He stepped closer, and his suggestion made the scales throb.

“The second date is perfect timing for us to be alone.” Now everything inside me was throbbing. I craved this dragon’s touch. “Bibi will think it’s for a different reason, but she won’t say no.”

“We can do that too.” He grinned. “I could tell you all the things I’ve dreamed of doing to this beautiful body since you were last in my bed.”

“I want to hear every single one of them, but I have a feeling we’d never make it out of this trailer. I have an idea. Let’s play this up.” I raised a brow. It would take everything I had to concentrate on artifacts when this dragon had better ideas. “I can give you some modern flirting lessons. Which is actually hilarious, because I’ve always been terrible at dating.”

“I wish you wouldn’t talk about yourself like that.” Aarix frowned. “You’re good at so many things, like art and travel.”

Emotion pricked my eyes, but I couldn’t give into it. “I’ve spent a lot of time feeling like a failure. Trying to fit into places I didn’t belong.”

With a single talon, he tipped my chin up to meet his gaze. “You belong with me.”

Aarix was determined to make me cry.

“Would you like my advice?” I asked.

His lips curled into a smile dripping with sin. “Please give me step-by-step instructions on how to seduce you. Along with the moment that your knees go weak and”—there was fire in those eyes—“your arousal spikes.”

All he’d have to do was slip a talon between my legs and he’d know he’d already done it.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. It was far too tempting to skip to the good part of this date, but getting access to the museum early had been no small feat. “I need you to be more forward with your affection. Like the way you’ve been touching me in here, that’s exactly what you should do in front of the camera. Those little things you say that make me weak in the knees, as you say, don’t hold back.”

“That’s what Luca said too,” he said softly, almost to himself. “That holding back wasn’t doing you any favors.”

“Interesting. I didn’t think Luca liked me.”

“He doesn’t. But he understands how important you are. Not only to me, but for solving this riddle.” Aarix ran a finger over my hand. “He’ll be busy combing through the exhibits tonight, looking for anything familiar. And I’ll be busy seducing you. What else would you like me to do?”

Focus . There would be a sweet reward on the other side. “This was supposed to be the date you planned. I convinced Bibi to let me take it over because you’re busy with dragon stuff. And because I told her I was worried you didn’t want to kiss me.”

“So I should kiss you more.”

I nodded.

“It will be my pleasure to do all these things.” His voice had an edge to it. Heat rolled off him. “I followed your cues because I’m unsure of modern customs. But I’m more than happy to show you how a dragon claims his mate.”

Everything around us dropped away, and I ran my knuckle down the center of his bare chest. He closed his eyes and moaned. I’d been holding back because I’d been afraid things would be different between us this time. Like he might not want me anymore.

And here I was, pushing him away, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I wished I didn’t have to care about artifacts or mysterious messages. This dragon made me feel like the queen of his universe, and nothing else mattered. If only we could make it real. I wanted nothing more than to make good on the promise I’d made so many nights ago in that cavern and let this dragon claim me.

Just let him do it without fucking something up along the way.

It wasn’t all just need. Some of it was pure curiosity. Like, what would happen with my new scales if we were together again?

He closed his eyes and leaned into kiss me.

We both groaned at the knock at the door.

Marissa stuck her head in. “Showtime, if the two of you are ready.”

“We are,” I said.

“Are we?” Aarix said softly.

Marissa nodded, not hearing him, and started to shut the door.

“Wait,” I said quickly. “I have to show you something.”

Marissa furrowed her brow, but stepped into the trailer. “Is everything okay?”

My heart was still pounding from the interruption, and the nerves didn’t help. “Remember how you said you thought all the ancient phenomena that’s happened around the show is connected?” I swallowed hard and picked up the notebook. “We’ve got a couple more things to add to the list.”

“Sunshine, are you sure you want to show this to her?” Aarix asked.

My gaze met Marissa’s, and we shared something deeper than a contestant-producer relationship on a reality show. She knew what it was like to be on the outside, looking in.

“Marissa will help us,” I said as I handed her the notebook. “I wrote this after the visit to the library. This isn’t my handwriting. I didn’t know what some of these words meant. But Aarix did.”

“Whoa,” she said softly as she read over the passage. “I heard about the pages being wiped clean at the library. Wendy and Laura were concerned a curse could’ve been responsible. They don’t think you’re cursed,” she added quickly. “But something might be trying to block you or even be channeling through you. Magic isn’t their area of expertise.”

“We should find someone who knows magic,” I said.

“There are some enchantresses in Tennessee. They’re mated to our thunder,” Aarix suggested. “They would be happy to help.”

“I’d love their contact information. We’ll get them here as soon as possible.” Marissa smiled at him, looking tiny compared to my massive dragon. Then her expression turned more serious. “I don’t have any answers about the disappearing script or your writing. But as far as the jewels for the talons, the pattern seems to echo when we found the Hudaknocker. They were left in a common, unassuming place where anyone could’ve found them.”

Aarix nodded. “We can look for other similarities.”

“Tonight is the perfect night to do it. We were able to gather almost everyone who’s been working on the exhibits—the curators and the researchers. Lars is here too. He seems to be the only immortal creature from long ago that actually survived until today.”

Aarix stiffened.

“Besides the dragons in that mountain,” I added.

“Yes, of course. We should probably get out there.” She headed for the door.

I turned to follow her and looked over my shoulder at my dragon. Sweet moon, was he gorgeous. “Remember what I said about flirting.”

“There’s no way I could forget, sunshine.”

Only Marissa and Bjorn waited for us in the van. Everyone else had already gone to the museum. Aarix nodded at Bjorn, and something seemed very familiar between them. I couldn’t quite place the energy. I was definitely a novice at magic; I was far from fluent in reading vibration. But with Aarix in my life, it was a force I couldn’t ignore.

My thoughts raced on the short ride to the museum. Aarix laced his fingers between mine, holding my hand on my thigh.

Was Marissa right, and those relics had been placed in plain sight, or was it that we finally gained the ability to see them? And if the latter was true, what else had we been missing?

The Museum of Shifter History was an impressive building on the edge of The Mating Game campus. We could’ve walked there if it wasn’t for Bjorn’s equipment and the paparazzi who eagerly shouted questions at us as we walked the red carpet toward the entrance.

“Aarix!” one of the reporters called out. “Did we see dragons in the sky the other night?”

My mate stopped, and his impressive presence was enough to make the reporter shrink back. I was glad I didn’t have to do his laundry.

“Soon dragons will be a familiar sight in Sunset Springs,” Aarix said, putting his hand protectively on my back.

“Can you tell us why that is?” the reporter asked.

“Calista!” another one called out. “What’s that on your arm?”

“A tattoo,” I lied.

Aarix growled. “It’s a symbol that shows she belongs to me.”

A cacophony of questions erupted, but we escaped the safety of the building.

“Did we say too much?” I whispered.

“You told me not to hold back. Not to try to adapt to modern society. Which was excellent advice. Soon, the Rocky Mountain thunder will be free. And none of us will have to answer to anyone.”

Bibi approached. Tonight she was in a fire-engine-red latex catsuit and her platinum blonde ponytail wig. Hugo was a step behind her. His gaze landed on Aarix, and he ignored my existence. It stung, but it was definitely an improvement over him ignoring Bibi’s existence.

“How’s my favorite couple?” she asked. “Love the open shirt, Aarix. I wouldn’t have thought to style it that way, but it’s got a swashbuckler vibe. It’s totally fierce. The party’s already in full swing. Magnus and Luca arrived earlier, and they’ve been going through the collections, talking to the team.”

“No breakthroughs yet,” Hugo added. “But we remain optimistic tonight will give us the answers we’re looking for.”

“I made a breakthrough.” I picked up Aarix’s hand and showed Bibi his talons.

She gasped. “Oh, were these your present? They’re gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“Because they were used in ancient times by powerful dragons,” I said.

Her lips parted. “You need to show these to Wendy.”

“I’d like to take a look around the museum first,” Aarix said. “In case there’s anything else that comes to my attention. We can talk to her about all of it at once.”

“Of course,” Bibi said. “I’m hoping we find something tonight that gives us the answers we need.”

Aarix pressed a kiss against the side of my head, and Bibi’s lips curled into a smile. “I’ll be checking in with you later. Remember, this is a date, so please mix business with pleasure.”

With that, she hooked her arm into Hugo’s and went back to the party.

“Let’s take a look around. I’ve heard so much about these exhibits. I’m excited to see them for myself.” Even if we didn’t discover anything new, I was looking forward to learning about the local packs’ history. There was a giant replica of a creature that looked like Bigfoot in the middle of the lobby. He held a staff in his giant hand, and was surrounded by wolves, lions, and bears.

“Does that scene have any significance to you?” I asked, only loud enough for Aarix to hear me. We’d been mic’d up and there was a good chance we’d have to ask production to edit things out.

“There should be dragons there,” he said with a soft growl. “I remember these lands with all those creatures. Dragons were a part of the story.”

A docent handed me a map. I took a moment to consider it. The exhibits had been laid out chronologically. If we were going to find something, it would become apparent quickly. I didn’t have any hard data to back that up. Just intuition.

The first exhibit looked like an ancient house. There was a fire in the hearth, a chair, and a small bed. But the most interesting part of it was the indentations on the wall. I let go of Aarix’s hand, drawn to the display.

It was much more primitive that the words that had flowed from my pen. The symbols seemed to predate the Latin alphabet.

Aarix put his hand on the small of my back. “Can you read it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s frustrating because I feel like I should be able to. Can you?”

“Yes. It’s a calendar, or perhaps a diary would be a better description. It talks about hunting seasons and the things the shifter who lived here did with what he caught. It also talks about the local predators.”

“Look here.” I pointed at a spot with no writing. “It looks like it’s been sanded. It’s smoother than the other bare parts of the wall.”

“It does,” Aarix agreed. “At this time, there would have been dragons flying free in the area.”

The next exhibit space was painfully empty. I looked at the map and frowned. “It says this area is dedicated to ancient shifters of the Sunset Springs region.”

Aarix looked over my shoulder at the map. “Maybe it’s not ready yet.”

I pointed at the paper. “But the other exhibits have these little stickers saying coming soon.”

There were a few placards on the wall, but they offered explanations for empty hooks. The chill that went down my spine confirmed something was way off.

In the distance, there was a commotion. Aarix growled, and his grip on my back had purpose.

Marissa appeared, clutching her tablet, her eyes wide.

“I need the two of you to come with me,” she said, waving us toward the door.

“Why?” Aarix didn’t move.

Marissa pursed her lips. “Everyone’s freaking out because relics have been disappearing ever since you walked in. This whole exhibit just vanished. They’re afraid if I don’t get you out of here, everything will be lost.”

“They think I’m doing that?” There was no other option. I made words disappear, and now I was making objects fizzle into thin air.

“Possibly, or something is working to keep you from seeing things.” Marissa tipped her head toward the door. “Let’s get out of here. Things are about to get ugly. Let them figure it out.”

“We’ve barely started our date,” I protested. Bibi and Hugo were on their way toward us.

Everything on Bibi’s face was drawn down. I’d never seen her look so distraught before, and our old pack had put her in some fierce battles. This wolf had seen some shit. “Until we have an explanation for what’s happening, it’s best that we don’t have you near any more ancient artifacts.”

“Let’s go,” Aarix said, pulling me against his body. “We won’t find the answers we need here.”

“Of course we won’t if we let them force us out of here.” People were looking at us, and it probably wasn’t because my words were too loud. I was the one who made history disappear. “I’m not the one who needs to leave. Someone is making this happen.”

Bibi gave me that look only a best friend could give—a mix of sympathy and sobering realness.

“Let them have their museum. Their past. We don’t need it.” Aarix talked a good game, but his body was stiff. His vibration had changed.

Marissa attempted a tight-lipped smile. “I promise you’ll love the next part of the date.”

“You will.” Aarix’s smile was much more genuine. “We can do this without them.”

Reluctantly, I followed the entourage out the door, past the paparazzi—who could smell blood in the water—and into the van. I’d told myself I was done running, and this felt too much like tucking tail. Playing dead. I was furious no one was willing to fight for us. For me. But it was possible I caused this history to vanish, and I had no idea how to stop it.