The Dragon Shifter’s Desire by Harmony Raines

Chapter Thirteen – Larisa

“Take care of yourself.” Valerie hugged Ivan tight, she looked so small next to her son, but she had an inner strength that Larisa admired.

In the days ahead, Larisa would need to dig deep and find the same kind of strength. Whatever lay ahead was not going to be easy. She didn’t need a witch’s crystal ball to know that.

Grandma Hannah’s words haunted her. Something was stirring. What did that mean?

She looked around at Ivan’s family who were all gathered in front of the hotel, even though it was way too early in the morning. They should all be at home in bed. Not out here with ill-concealed worry evident on their faces.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Ivan hugged Valerie and kissed her cheek. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so.” Valerie let him go and took a step backward. For a moment she held his gaze before she nodded and turned to Larisa. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Larisa accepted Valerie’s hugs, she liked Ivan’s mom a lot. Down to earth and strong, she was a woman who had raised six boys alone while running a successful business. But the thing that impressed Larisa the most was the love her sons and their mates obviously had for her.

Raising six boys was one thing, raising them well was another.

“Look after him for me,” Valerie whispered in her ear.

“You can count on it.” Larisa inhaled deeply, fighting back tears as she held Valerie close.

“Here are the keys to my truck.” Aiden handed over the set of keys to Zara. When they arrived at the hotel, Aiden had been waiting for them with the offer of his truck. It was built for all-terrain and since none of them knew what was waiting for them in the fae realm or where they might need to travel, it seemed sensible to accept the offer.

“I’ll look after it, big brother.” She flung her arms around Aiden’s neck.

“Hurry back.” Aiden closed his arms around his sister and looked at Karros who nodded. “Take care of each other.”

“We’re going to the fae realm, not the moon,” Zara replied lightly but they all knew the risks involved.

Taking a dragon into the fae realm was bad. Even as an outsider, Larisa understood this as fact.

“I’ve spent my whole life telling you not to go there,” Valerie said. “I wish there was a way for you to avoid this.” Her forehead creased as she shook her head. “But I do believe this is your fate.”

Ivan nodded. “I believe it, too.”

“Take care.” Ivan’s brothers and their mates said goodbye one at a time as if they would never see him again. Larisa’s sense of unease deepened but Valerie was right, this was the way it was meant to be.

This was their fate.

After all the hugs and goodbyes, Karros, Elise, Ivan, and Larisa eventually began their trip to the fae realm.

“Have you taken the spell?” Karros asked.

“I’m going to do it now.” Ivan took the small vial out of his pocket and held it up to the light.

“It’s still swirling around and around like a galaxy out in space,” Larisa observed.

“It seems a shame to drink it.” However, Ivan popped the stopper from the bottle and swallowed the contents in one go.

Larisa held her breath, expecting him to clutch his throat and fight for his breath. But as he leaned back in his seat, he seemed perfectly normal. “How do you feel?”

“The same,” Ivan replied.

“It takes a little while to work,” Karros reminded them.

“And how will we know if it’s worked?” Larisa asked. What if Grandma Hannah was trying to lure Ivan into the fae realm so they could capture the dragon?

She ran a hand through her hair. Damn, why was she so paranoid?

Because of her father. He’d lived with the fear that one day he would be recognized as a suspected killer and arrested by the police.

“We’ll know,” Karros replied gently.

“When you say we, you mean you both will?” Larisa asked.

“We can sense Ivan as a dragon,” Zara explained. “My shifter senses what he is, I can identify most shifters these days. Dragons were a little tricky for me, but once you have met one and identified them, they are quite unique.”

“Only quite unique?” Ivan teased.

“You leave a metallic taste on my tongue,” Zara replied.

“And Karros. You’re not a shifter but you know that Ivan is a dragon.” Larisa could understand how Zara identified Ivan, but she didn’t fully understand how a fae could.

“There’s something about him. It’s like when you catch something out of the corner of your eye. A shimmering... I can’t explain it and it’s easy to miss. At first, I thought my brain was tricking me. But now I’m pretty good at seeing it.” Karros turned in his seat and looked over his shoulder at Ivan. “It’s still there.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Larisa’s anxiety was spiraling.

“Then we don’t go,” Zara answered simply.

“We’re going,” Ivan replied.

“It’s too risky,” Karros said firmly.

“No, if the spell doesn’t work, Zara is going to drive straight to Grandma Hannah’s house and she can do the spell directly. I heard it’s more potent that way.” Ivan’s tense jaw told Larisa he intended to go whether they went along with it or not.

“Let’s just give it more time before we start to make new plans,” Zara said. “There’s no point overreacting.”

“You’re right,” Ivan answered and leaned back in his seat.

“Why don’t you try relaxing?” Larisa placed her hand on his shoulder and massaged it. “If you’re tense, it might take longer to work.”

A small smile crept over his lips as he turned his head toward her. “How can I relax when you’re so close?”

“Do you want me to get out and walk?” She moved closer. “Why don’t you think of flying to the mountains and sitting on that favorite peak of yours?”

Ivan stared at her for a moment before he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I can’t picture it without you being there anymore.”

“Then picture me there. We’re staring out at the view below, the breeze coming down from the higher peaks is cool, it caresses our skin.” She watched his face, his eyelids dropped, and his mouth curved up in s smile.

“I like the breeze caressing your skin,” he murmured.

She slapped his arm lightly. “You’re not taking this seriously.”

“I’m taking it very seriously.” His eyes flew open as Zara swerved to the right.

“Sorry!” Zara sounded breathless as she righted the truck.

“What happened?” Larisa put her hand on the back of the passenger seat and pulled herself straight so she could look out of the front windshield.

“The spell worked.” Zara rubbed her hand over her cheek. “One minute, Ivan the dragon was there and the next he was gone.” She glanced sideways at Karros. “Has it worked for you, too?”

Ivan opened his eyes and stared at Karros while the fae looked at him, turning his head to one side and then the other. “Yes. There’s no shimmer.”

Larisa let out a long breath. “So that’s it, we can go.”

“We can go,” Zara confirmed and eased her foot down on the gas. The truck sped forward, and they left the town behind, the houses thinning out until there were hardly any signs of buildings. The fields gave way to trees and Zara turned off the road they had been following and drove along a narrow track that wound through the trees.

“Here we go.” Karros glanced at Ivan once more as if to make sure the spell was still working.

“This is the portal?” A shiver of apprehension passed through Larisa. If the spell stopped working, they would be in trouble, but they had reached the point of no return. Ahead of them, the air shimmered and it was hard to see what was beyond the distortion. This was the portal.

“Are you sure?” she asked Ivan.

“Yes.” He placed his hand over the pocket where she kept the pendant. “Are you?”

She nodded. “Where you go, I go.”

“Then we’re going to the fae realm.” He threaded his fingers through hers and they held hands as they passed through the portal between worlds.

“It doesn’t look any different,” Larisa observed as they drove through the portal and out the other side. There were houses and a couple of stores clustered together with cars and trucks parked outside.

“What did you expect it to look like?” Karros asked drily. “We don’t live in tiny fairy houses...”

“Karros, just because we’re in the fae realm, it doesn’t mean you get to use that attitude,” Zara warned him.

“Sorry,” Karros called out. “My fae-ness got the better of me.”

“I blame it on the change in air,” Zara said. “He always gets grumpy until he readjusts.”

“I didn’t mean to be rude.” Larisa shuffled forward in her seat and stared out of the window. “I just expected it to be different.”

“We’re on the border between the worlds. The people and buildings here have inherited traits from both worlds. The deeper you get into the fae realm, the more things seem different. There are palaces and some more ornate buildings. But those belong to the classes who think they are above the rest of us.” Karros sounded more like his normal self.

“Flora is the daughter of a fae lord,” Ivan told Larisa.

“Flora? Aiden’s Flora?” Larisa had no idea she’d been hugged by a fae lord’s daughter this morning.

“Yes.” Ivan glanced at Karros.

“We were engaged,” Karros turned in his seat. “She dumped me for a shifter.”

“Oh!” Larisa’s eyes widened. This was kind of awkward.

“And he couldn’t be happier.” Zara patted his thigh. “Isn’t that right?”

“Who would want palaces and jewels when they could have true love instead?” He placed his hand over Zara’s.

“You certainly have a colorful family.” Larisa leaned on Ivan’s shoulder, watching the world go by through the truck’s windows.

“And you haven’t met Grandma Sylvie yet,” Karros added.

“I thought we were going to see Grandma Hannah?” Larisa was getting confused by Ivan’s extended family.

“Karros has another grandma. Grandma Hannah is the wise woman of the wildwood. Grandma Sylvie is... How would you describe her?” Zara asked Karros.

“Politely.” Karros chuckled. “She just loves shifters.”

“Stop teasing,” Zara told him. “Grandma Sylvie is getting used to her beloved grandchildren having shifters as mates.”

“Yes, now that she’s gotten used to the fact that there is nothing she can do to force Flora and me back together.” Karros looked over his shoulder to Larisa. “When she found out that Flora was the mate of a bear shifter, she figured she’d arrange another marriage with another fae lord. She wanted our family to prosper.”

“So, you can imagine her delight when both Elise and Karros were claimed by shifters, too.” Zara rolled her eyes as Karros raised his eyebrow at her. “What?”

“Claimed? You make it sound as if you own me.” Karros turned around and sat back in his seat.

“I do own you.” Zara stroked his cheek lightly. “Your body and soul are mine.”

Karros kissed the palm of her hand. “I’m all yours, freely given.”

Larisa swallowed the lump of emotion that formed in her throat. She didn’t know if Ivan owned her body and soul yet. Not entirely. But he did hold a part of her that would never be free again.