To Hell and Back by L.B. Gilbert

Chapter Six

The smell of tomato soup and freshly baked bread woke Valeria. Struggling to focus, she rolled, making the soft ground around her crinkle.

What the…? Testing the silver-colored surface underneath her with a hand, she frowned when it gave and crinkled again.

“You’re awake.”

Startled, Valeria blinked owlishly at the large blur standing a few feet away. The smeared vision slowly coalesced, the image sharpening until the blob became a hugely pregnant woman holding a tray that smelled amazing.

“Should you be holding something so heavy?” Valeria asked, her voice scratchy. Damn, her throat ached.

The woman laughed, inclining her head and setting the tray down on an odd-looking table. Valeria had never seen a bedside table made entirely of marble before.

“You sound remarkable like my mate,” the woman informed her, putting a hand to her lower back. “But you would be more convincing at expressing concern if you’d put your hands down.”

Belatedly, Valeria realized she had her arms up, fingers bunched in a classic channeling pose.

“Oh.” She put her hands down, squinting at her surroundings. “Where am I?”

“In my home. My name is Sanaa.”

“And I’m Tom,” a voice called through the door. “Don’t hurt my wife or I will eat you.”

“Thomas,” Sanaa said, her sweet voice sharpening a fraction. “You promised you would let me handle this.”

There was a grumbled response Valeria didn’t catch.

“He apologizes,” Sanaa said with an impish grin. She patted her belly. “He’s a little on edge since my last false alarm.”

A grunt that was definite disagreement filtered through the door, but the pregnant woman ignored it with a placid expression.

The woman rubbed her swollen stomach before gesturing to the tray. “Please go ahead. It’s tomato soup, and Tom made the bread. He learned to bake when Veda, our healer, told us I was with child.”

“Um, congratulations,” Valeria said, eyeing the soup and bread with distrust.

Sanaa tilted her head to the side. “I can assure you that we would never adulterate your food. Harming a guest would bring the greatest shame to my family and my clan.”

“Uh-huh.” Sanaa appeared sincere, but Valeria had been through too much to take anyone at their word, even an innocent-looking pregnant woman.

Except…she was starving. Bread is difficult to poison, right?

Reaching out, she took the small loaf. Her body damn near melted when she found it was still warm. Valeria clamped her jaw shut to keep from shoving the whole thing into her mouth.

Sanaa poked her head out the door, murmuring something to the growly man outside. She returned a moment later with a sealed bottle of water and juice in each hand.

“Here you go,” she said, replacing a cup on the tray with the bottles. “And I completely understand your mistrust. I have been in a similar position—waking up in a stranger’s home, unsure if the person is a threat.”

Valeria raised a brow. “You’ve been kidnapped before?”

Sanaa sat on a stool. “You haven’t been kidnapped. And neither was I, although I had a moment or two of disquiet when I woke up after my accident to find Thomas looming over me. But that’s a story for another time.”

Trying not to appear as ravenous as she was, Valeria tore off a small piece of bread, nodding as if she was going to be around long enough to hear it.

Dear Lord, the bread tasted even better than it smelled. Giving up all semblance of decorum, she tore it apart, chewing it in big mouthfuls and washing it down with the juice when she began to choke on it in her eagerness.

There was no telltale dizziness or stomachache after the bread, so she decided to chance the soup.

“As interesting as that sounds, I’d rather hear more about this whole not-being-kidnapped thing,” she said between bites.

Sanaa nodded obligingly. “As I said, you are a guest of our clan leader. He took you to our healer Veda. But after you woke up the first few times swinging, metaphorically speaking, it was decided we would move you here until your convalescence is over.”

“Which it is now,” the man behind the door called out.

Valeria’s head was spinning. “That door is solid oak. How can he hear us? And why am I …here?” she asked, turning to frown at the oddly appointed room.

She was resting on a bare mattress resting in a steel frame, but the cover of the mattress was that weird shiny silver material. In addition to the marble table, there was a granite-topped chest of drawers made of wrought iron.

Sanaa grinned at Valeria’s perplexed perusal. “Thomas has very keen hearing. He decorated this room himself—for the twins.”

She passed a hand over her swollen belly. “I keep telling him that it’s not necessary. Our kind doesn’t breathe fire right away, but since we don’t live in a traditional home, he insisted.”

“A traditional home?” Valeria echoed blankly. Sure, this place was weirdly furnished, but it had four walls.

“An aerie,” Sanaa said helpfully. “Thomas is afraid of heights. It was one of the more interesting aspects of our courtship.”

Belatedly, Valeria remembered the sound of wings. Oh, mierda… “Your clan isn’t a coven of pyrokinetics, is it?”

Sanaa was almost apologetic. “I’m afraid not. I’m sorry if that’s a disappointment. I can understand you’d be eager to meet others of your kind.”

“My kind? Oh, yeah…because I’m a pyro,” Valeria finished lamely.

It’s good that she thinks that. The fewer people knew how her magic worked, the better.

“It’s a rare talent among humans,” Sanaa said approvingly. “But needless to say, it made hosting you a complicated matter. You set fire to Veda’s spare room when you first roused. Fortunately for him, Thomas had this place ready to go. We just had to replace the cribs with an adult-sized mattress, but fashioning one was not a problem—we had plenty of leftover asbestos.”

“Not lucky,” the man behind the door chimed in loudly. “Not lucky at all.”

Sanaa laughed as if delighted. “Don’t mind him. Thomas is what your people call a grouchy Gus. More so than normal. I keep experiencing false labor, and it’s making him tense. Also, he’s concerned you’ll burn our house down. Do you remember waking the first few times and setting everything in sight on fire?”

“Err, no. Sorry,” Valeria said slowly.

There was a vague memory that involved a male voice, heat, and flames but none of the memories were clear. But this explained why she was here in Sanaa and Thomas’ future fireproof nursery.

“Thank you,” she added.

“No thanks are necessary. This is important to our leader and therefore to the entire clan.”

Struggling to her feet, Sanaa rose and gestured for Valeria to follow her to a window.

Valeria hesitated, but her instinct told her the pregnant woman wasn’t a threat. After so many years on the run, they were pretty finely honed.

At first, she saw nothing but a blue sky over a sea of pine trees visible because Sanaa’s house was on a small hill. Then there was a shadow streaking over the tops of the trees.

“Hijo de puta.” Valeria pressed herself against the glass as the huge form passed in a streak of dark purple and gold. “I’m not hallucinating, am I? That’s really a dragon?”

“Yes,” Sanaa said in a chirpy voice. “We are the Draconai Imperia. That is Rhys up there, our clan’s leader. He’s been circling the house since the healer brought you here.”

Valeria had run into shifters before. A few had been paid to hunt her. Wolves and large cats in particular were a big concern.

With their enhanced senses, they made excellent bounty hunters, and the price on her head was sizable. The only reason one hadn’t caught Valeria—because not all shifters were as careless as the one in Appalachia—was due to the fact shifters and witches considered each other mortal enemies.

However, there were exceptions to every rule, so Valeria made a point of avoiding all shifters whenever possible. But never in her life had she ever expected to run into a dragon shifter. Lions, tigers, bears…those were all within the realm of possibility. Valeria had even met a were-camel who waited tables in a kebab shop in Morocco once.

But a dragon? She’d heard the rumors, of course. She just hadn’t believed them. Who would?

She’d always believed dragons were just misinterpreted dinosaur bones. Or so she’d always assumed.

Not that any of this weirdness explains your presence here.

“Rhys won’t go away until you leave with him, so I hope you’re feeling better,” the man behind the door shouted.

‘Thomas. Stop speaking. It’s not helping,” Sanaa snapped, then gave Valeria a beatific smile. “He will be very pleased to know you were not permanently damaged by your ordeal.”

“Uh-huh.” This conversation was making her dizzy. “And is Rhys that tall, dark, and fabulously terrifying man from the alley?”

Sanaa nodded, her eyes dancing with innocent humor.

Valeria rubbed her temples. “So let me get this straight. You are a dragon. Your husband is not, but he’s concerned your twins will take after you, so he’s made this asbestos-lined room. Your leader brought me here so I wouldn’t burn his place down.”

Sanaa rubbed her hands together. “Technically, you set the healer’s home on fire, but the basics are correct. Also, I volunteered to be your host.”

Valeria sat on the bed, rubbing her aching head. “You did?”

Her host nodded. “I told Rhys you’d be more open to speaking to another woman. And most people hesitate to attack the pregnant. That was a gamble on my part of course—”

“One I did not agree with,” Thomas called.

“I think she understands that, Thomas,” Sanaa said with a loud sigh. She reached out to pat Valeria’s arm. “I am very pleased to do this for my clan leader. Also, it’s nice to make new friends!”

She said the last with such genuine enthusiasm that Valeria took a step back, her eyes wide.

“That’s, um, real nice. Thanks,” she said, attempting a smile and failing miserably. “I don’t suppose you’d like to clue me in on what your clan leader’s reasons might be? Why I’m here?”

Sanaa gave her a sunny grin. “I’m afraid I don’t know the exact details. It was from before my time. But I’m sure Rhys would be happy to enlighten you. He’s been circling the house since dawn, waiting for you to wake.”

“Please leave so he’ll stop,” Thomas called from behind the door.

“Thomas,” Sanaa chided before her face transformed. “Oh dear, I have to urinate again. Excuse me.”

She opened the door and waddled out, revealing a tall and burly man glowering in the hallway.

A bear shifter. Of course Thomas would be a bear shifter.

He and Valeria stared at each other. Then he looked behind her at her empty tray and huffed. “Are you still hungry?”

The growl in his voice was so on brand, Valeria had to suppress a spontaneous grin. She cleared her throat. “Yes, please.”

Valeria followed him into the kitchen, checking out the house along the way. It was a very modern take on rustic, with exposed brick and heavy wooden beams that were in the same color family as the hardwood floors.

The kitchen and living were one expansive room, separated by a long marble-top bar. The living room area had two plush couches facing a large screen tv.

A small table with two chairs lay between them and the bar. Off to one side were a pair of unfinished wooden highchairs. A few pieces of used sandpaper rested on their trays.

“Did you make those?”

“Yes.” Thomas’ response was clipped. He moved behind the counter. A row of cooling loaves rested on little wire racks. He sliced some brie, spread some cranberry sauce from a little jar on it, and popped it into a toaster oven on the other side of the kitchen.

“Do you always cook like this or are you nesting?”

He shot her some premium grade-A side-eye before the toaster oven pinged.

“The baking is new, but I’ve always cooked for myself, long before I met Sanaa. She’s not much of a cook. The woman would live off berries and dandelions if I left her to her own devices.”

He took out the tray with a shiny fish-shaped potholder Valeria assumed Sanaa had purchased. Turning, Thomas pointed at her aggressively. “This is why I’m in charge of feeding the twins when they finally get here.”

Bemused, Valeria nodded. “Probably for the best.”

Mollified at her agreement, Thomas took a saran-wrapped plate of sliced turkey out of the fridge. He placed a generous amount over the melted brie before replacing the top of the loaf and pushing it to her. “Eat.”

Starving, she dived in eagerly, twisting her head to the right when a door opened deeper in the house only for it to promptly open and close again.

“Sometimes, Sanaa thinks she’s done, but then she has to turn right around and go back,” Thomas informed her with a shrug. “Twins.”

Valeria murmured noncommittally, still trying to inhale the decadent sandwich without choking. She gave it her best effort, but her days of too little food caught up with her and she stopped halfway through. Wrapping the sandwich in the paper towel that had accompanied it, she tucked it into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. Life had taught her early on never to waste food.

There was a whooshing sound from outside. Thomas tilted his head at the ceiling and glared.

“Is he still out there?” she asked, her forehead creasing in consternation.

“Yeah,” Thomas grunted, returning to his kitchen tasks.

“I don’t suppose you know what he wants?”

The bear set down a bowl with a thud. “I thought that was obvious—he wants you.”