The Dragon Shifter’s Desire by Harmony Raines

Chapter Nineteen – Larisa

They waited in the truck. The tension in the cab grew with each minute that passed.

“I should go look for him.” Zara put her hand on the door, but Ivan leaned forward and gripped her shoulder lightly, but firmly.

“We need to give Karros a chance. If we get out and go inside the palace gates, we might ruin whatever he might be trying to achieve.” Ivan tried to soothe Zara, who switched her hand from the door to the steering wheel, gripping it so tightly the whites of her knuckles showed.

“I know you’re right.” She slumped back in her seat. “But there’s something about this place. My shifter senses don’t seem to work as well.”

“Mine, too. And I know how hard it is for you to sit here and do nothing. But that’s exactly what we need to do. For now.” Ivan slid his hand off Zara’s shoulder.

“Does he have a cell phone? We could call him on that, couldn’t we?” Larisa didn’t dare let go of Ivan’s hand. Before she’d taken hold of it, he’d looked like a wild animal on the trail of his prey. The dragon treasure was having a terrible effect on him. Would that ever go away?

“Just relax.” Ivan seemed to be the calmest one in the truck right now. Their roles had switched, which came as some relief to Larisa. Was this the result of whatever had dampened Zara’s shifter senses? Yet as they drove here, Ivan had been able to sense his treasure, that part of him hadn’t been subdued.

She breathed out and nodded. This would all work out. They were right where they were supposed to be. She believed it, she believed in fate.

Staring out of the window, she caught her reflection in the window and brushed her hair back from her face. Her hair was almost white, when she was younger, she’d loved the way the sun reflected off the translucent strands. However, during her teenage years, she’d thought about dying it darker many times. It made her stand out at a time in her life when all she wanted to do was blend in.

“I can sense someone.” Zara frowned. “Damn, it’s like they have one of those gadgets that scrambles radio waves.”

“Can you still sense your treasure?” Larisa asked quietly.

Ivan nodded, the dark rings under his eyes more pronounced. “It comes and goes in waves.” He clutched her hand tighter and raised it. “This helps more than you could ever know.”

“What happens if I have to let go?”

“I’ll handle it,” he assured her.

“Karros is close, he’s coming toward us.” Zara jerked the truck door open and got out.

“Should we go, too?” Larisa asked.

“No, let’s stay put. I don’t know how visible I am.” He wiped his hand across his forehead. “Damn it.”

“There’s Karros.” Larisa switched her focus from Ivan and watched as the fae approached with an older man by his side. “Do you think that’s Gilliam?”

“Let’s find out.” Ivan inhaled deeply and opened the truck door. He paused and took another breath as if fighting off a wave of pain before he got out of the truck.

Larisa didn’t let go of his hand as she slid across the seat and stood next to him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.” Ivan nodded but didn’t look at her, his attention was fixed on Karros and the older man who approached the gates with a set of keys in his hand.

The fae was tall, well over six foot two, and slender, not a broad-shouldered shifter. Yet for his age, he walked upright and proud. Larisa shivered, there was something about the fae that made her skin prickle, and the hairs on her arms stand on end. Perhaps it was a natural reaction for someone who had been born and raised outside of the fae realm, or maybe it was a reaction from those who were from the world beyond. When they were alone, Larisa planned to ask Zara about it since she too had been born in the world beyond and had only recently met the fae.

If meeting the fae had the same effect on her, that would have been kind of awkward since her mate was fae. Or perhaps it didn’t work the same for shifters since they also had a natural magic of their own.

“Karros, are you all right?” Zara went to the gate and reached out for Karros as he approached. “I was worried.”

“I’m fine.” He nodded as he took hold of her hand. “This is Gilliam.”

“Hello.” Gilliam spoke quietly as he unlocked the gate, which sagged even more as the lock clicked open. “Could you help me with this? I can’t remember the last time this gate was opened. I don’t get visitors very often. Sometimes I wonder if anyone ever remembers I’m here at all.”

“I told Gilliam that Hannah sent us,” Karros explained. “I also told him you have a note from her. Which will hopefully explain why we’re here.”

“A fact you have avoided telling me,” Gilliam said lightly as they manhandled the left gate open. “If you want to drive in here, we will have to open this gate, too.” The fae placed his hand on his lower back. “I had forgotten how heavy they are.”

“Let me help.” Ivan stepped forward and broke his hold on Larisa’s hand. For a moment he stopped dead in his tracks but then he seemed to recover himself and went to the gate. Gripping it tightly, he heaved it backward on his own before Karros and Gilliam came to help him.

As they worked, Gilliam stared at Ivan with intrigue. “You look like your father.” Gilliam’s words brought the gate moving to a halt and they all stared at the fae, unsure of his reaction. But the older man smiled sadly. “I think your face explains why you are here more than any note ever could. Even a note from Hannah.”

“You know who I am?” Ivan’s low voice was edged with steel. As he straightened up, he was in complete control.

“I know who you are.” Gilliam nodded. “You have your father’s eyes and mouth.”

Ivan’s jaw tensed and he gripped the metal gate with his right hand and leaned on it for support. “I never met him. I’ve never seen a picture of him.”

Gilliam nodded. “I’m sorry you never got a chance to meet him. He was one of the best men I ever met.”

“Coming from a fae that means a lot,” Ivan replied.

Gilliam chuckled. “My people are not fond of dragons, that’s true.” He glanced at Karros. “Yet here you are with a fae.”

“Zara is my brothers’ sister.” He put his finger to his temple. “My adopted brothers.”

Gilliam smiled gently. “Adopted.” His eyes filled with sadness. “I’m sorry for the loss of your parents. No child deserves that. But I’m happy you had a family to raise you.”

“Thank you,” Ivan said. “Unfortunately, I don’t remember my parents at all.”

Gilliam’s face crumpled before he inhaled deeply, his back straight as he rolled his shoulders and went back to moving the gate. “Let’s get you inside. There’s much to talk about it seems.”

Zara hesitated, her eyes fixed on Karros for a moment before she turned around and went back to the truck. Hauling herself into the driver’s seat, she switched on the engine and put the truck in drive. As soon as there was enough room for the truck to squeeze through the gates, she drove inside.

“Let’s close it up.” Gilliam heaved on the gate and with their help, the gates were closed and locked once more.

With them on the inside.

If this went wrong, if this was a trap then they were caught like caged animals.

Larisa looked over her shoulder at the forest outside of the gate. There was no one out there, no witnesses to their arrival. Only Hannah knew where they were heading. Hannah, who Karros believed was in possible danger.

“You don’t trust me.” Gilliam stood in front of her, his eyes fixed on hers.

“I don’t know you and we’re trapped in here with you.” She pointed toward the gates. “Are they to keep people in or people out?”

Gilliam smiled at her, his eyes crinkled at the edges. “A little of both,” he admitted. “But I am the only one here.”

“You’re alone in this place?” Larisa’s surprise made his smile widen.

“Do you think I could expect anyone else to live in the ruins like this?” He inclined his head toward the truck. “Come, I’d like to get the truck and all of you out of sight. Most people will be fooled by the spell Hannah cast but some of us can still see the dragon beneath the surface.”

“You can?” Larisa’s concern rocketed.

“You’re his mate?” Gilliam was incredibly perceptive. Scarily so.

“She is.” Ivan was by her side, his arm around her shoulders. Did he think he needed to protect her from Gilliam?

“Good. Your father would be happy.” Gilliam looked from Larisa to Ivan before he nodded and walked toward the truck. “This way.” He waved to Zara, and she drove slowly after him as he led her under an archway that looked as if it might crumble to the ground at any moment.

“Do you trust him?” Larisa asked.

“He knew my father,” Ivan answered.

“That isn’t what I asked.” Larisa shuddered. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Because Gilliam is a fae?” Ivan walked after the truck, and she followed.

“Yeah. He gives me the chills. I don’t know why.” She looked up at the ruined building that must have been magnificent once.

“Maybe because you are descended from the people they went to war with.” Ivan was half-joking as he studied her features. “You do look like an elf. I never thought of it before, but you look just like the people in the storybooks Valerie used to read to us.”

“I don’t think elves are real,” Larisa replied.

“You didn’t think vampires were real either. But they are.” He shrugged. “Maybe elves were real once. Maybe the stories come from real-life events that happened long ago. If you are a descendant, it’s in your blood to distrust them. Just like it’s in Gilliam’s blood to mistrust me.”

“But you believe he helped your father and that he’ll help you.” She had to let go of her prejudice toward Gilliam or risk ruining their chance to find out the truth about what happened between Gilliam and Ivan’s father.

“I hope he helped my father and that he’ll help us.” Ivan smiled down at her, and she leaned on his shoulder. An instant look of relief swept across his face.

“How are you doing? Being this close to your treasure must be hard.”

“I don’t want Gilliam to see how hard,” Ivan admitted. “I don’t want him to sense my weakness.”

“So you don’t trust him?”

“I live in hope, Larisa. Hope that we can get answers. Hope that we can resolve all of this.” He stopped walking and turned to face her. As he cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips over hers, he murmured, “Hope that we can have a long life together. A life my father and mother were cheated out of.”

“Then let’s go find out exactly what Gilliam knows.” Larisa threaded her fingers through his and lifted his hand to her lips. She kissed the back of his hand, her eyes on his. “We will have a long life together, Ivan.”

He nodded but as he turned away from her, she wasn’t sure he believed that to be true.

But she would do whatever it took to make it happen. She might not be a shifter or have the gifts fae seemed to possess but that didn’t mean she was useless.

Her human senses would sniff out if Gilliam was a rat.

She looked over her shoulder at the locked gate. One way or another, they would get out of here, even if it was on the back of Ivan’s dragon with a fae army at their back.

Larisa put her fingers to her temple. Was that a premonition or a memory? No. It must have been a fantasy. One she hoped would not come true.