The Dragon Shifter’s Desire by Harmony Raines
Chapter Thirty-One – Larisa
“The world seems to be getting a little crazier by the minute.” Larisa caught up with Ivan as he strode after Silas. Who was a vampire. With the ability to walk in daylight for twenty-four hours.
What was not strange about that?
“Tell me about it.” Ivan pressed his lips together as he looked over his shoulder at her. “I really did have a quiet life before all of this happened.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached for his hand and tugged him back toward her, aware that Egan and Elise were following behind them.
“I’m not blaming you.” He turned and raised his hand to cup her cheek, but he didn’t stop walking. “This was all set in motion decades ago. We’re just caught up in it all.”
“I suppose the one good thing is that Silas must think we can figure this all out in the next twenty-four hours,” she said lightly.
“Then he accomplished what the council has been trying to do for years,” Egan said.
“So Argothorn doesn’t have the council’s backing?” Larisa asked, although she had no real idea what the council was.
“A couple of the members on the council are supporters of Argothorn. Most of them are not but they work hard to keep everything running smoothly. If they speak up against him, they are likely to end up dead or at least banished. Then they would be no good to our people,” Egan said bitterly.
“At least that means we don’t have to take down the whole of the ruling system on the dragon isle,” Ivan said drily.
“Silas!” Valerie’s shocked voice carried out of the apartment and down the hallway.
Ivan walked faster and Larisa had to run to keep up with him as he hurried into his mom’s apartment to find Valerie leaning heavily against Caleb.
“Valerie. Is Fiona here?” Silas wasn’t in the mood for small talk as Valerie pointed into her living room.
“I don’t know you.” Fiona’s accusing tone held a steely edge.
“You do. You just don’t remember,” Silas told her confidently.
“Why don’t I remember?” Fiona asked. “I have lived for hundreds of years. I can remember things that happened in the Dark Ages. You don’t look like the sort of person I would easily forget, vampire.”
“No. Not easily.” Silas stopped five feet away from Fiona, his stance wary. “But willingly.”
“I don’t understand.” Fiona’s voice wavered.
“Forty-something years ago you came here to Wishing Moon Bay. You came to protect Ivan. And when you did what you had to do to keep him safe, I hid those memories where you wouldn’t find them.”
“I willingly allowed you to tamper with my memories?” Fiona didn’t sound convinced.
“You did. Because you trusted me.” He stepped forward. Silas was one of the most charismatic men Larisa had ever met. There was something about him that was mesmerizing, but Fiona was not about to be sucked in.
“And now you want me to trust you again?” Fiona snorted. “Nice try. But I haven’t lived this long by trusting anyone just because they tell me to.”
“Which is why you told me something. Something that no one else knows. You said if you ever needed me to convince you to trust me to ask you about Miriama.” Silas stared at Fiona as her nostrils flared.
“Miriama.” Fiona put her hand to her mouth for a moment before she inhaled deeply and let the breath out.
“Yes.” Silas smiled softly. “You can trust me.”
“What do you want?” Fiona asked.
“It’s time I showed you where those memories were hiding. Ivan needs your help one last time.” Silas glanced at Ivan. “He needs to learn the truth and he can’t do that without your help.”
“And you need to access my brain for that to happen?” Fiona asked stiffly.
“I do.” Silas didn’t close the distance between them.
Fiona shook her head but then she glanced at Ivan. “Do you trust him?”
Ivan shuffled on the spot and Silas twisted around to look at him. “You don’t trust me?” the vampire asked.
“You could have helped Helena without demanding they owed you anything,” Ivan told him.
“If I hadn’t then Fiona wouldn’t be standing here now, and neither would I because I’d be stuck inside.” Silas’s argument sounded totally plausible.
“We’d have done what you asked even without the promises.” Aiden stood in the doorway with his arms folded across his body. “If it was to help Ivan and Larisa, we would have done whatever it took. All you had to do was ask.”
“I appreciate that,” Silas replied. “But at the time I had no idea this would be why I used the promises.”
“This is wasting time,” Egan said sharply. “Promises or not, we are all here and I believe we’re all here for the same reason. So why not let Silas do whatever it is he needs to do?”
Fiona arched her eyebrow. “Says the dragon shifter who doesn’t need to allow a vampire to look inside his head.”
“I know where the memories are hidden,” Silas said soothingly. “I’ll be in and out in a couple of seconds.” He ventured a step forward. “Remember, you knew this day might come. That’s why you told me about Miriama.”
“How do I know you didn’t just extract that name from my head when you poked around in there last time?” Fiona retorted.
“If you think I’ve already poked around in your head once, why are you worried about me doing so again?” Silas asked.
“This is getting us nowhere and the spell on Silas only lasts for twenty-four hours.” Egan’s jaw tensed. “We need to move.”
“Why don’t I go with Egan now?” Larisa suggested. “You could fly me to Argothorn’s tower, right?”
Egan glanced toward Ivan before he answered, “I could. But I’m not sure that’s a wise move.”
“Why not?” Ivan asked.
“Because he won’t see you. He won’t speak to you. In fact, you’re more likely to end up arrested and in prison than getting an audience with Argothorn.”
“We have a plan,” Larisa said.
“And that is?” Egan tilted his head to one side. When she didn’t answer, he said, “If you want my help, you’re going to need to explain it to me.”
Larisa nodded and looked down at the floor as the other people in the room, including Silas, fixed their attention on her. “When we traveled to the fae realm, we met an elder fae who told us the myths about elves.” She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “Apparently I look similar to them.”
Silas turned away from Fiona and came closer. “You intend to go to Argothorn and pretend to be an elf?”
She swallowed hard and her jaw tightened as she nodded. “Is that a terrible idea?”
Silas’s eyes glinted and a mischievous smile crossed his perfect lips. The vampire would probably have been mesmerizing when he was alive. He was beautiful. She blinked and looked down at the same time she caught hold of the thread connecting her and Ivan together and held onto it tightly.
Vampires were dangerous in more ways than she could imagine.
“No. It’s a brilliant idea. From what I hear, Argothorn is crazy enough to believe an elf would appear before him. This is all going to work out. Especially when you connect it with my idea.” He seemed to forget she existed as he switched his attention to Egan. “Do you know where the fire pits are?”
“The fire pits of Tolarth?” His brows knitted together. “All dragons know where the pits are.”
“Could you persuade the council members to meet there?” Silas asked.
“The council.” Egan gave a low whistle. “All of them?”
Silas nodded. “It has to be all of them for this to work.”
“I can try.” Egan nodded.
“I need you to do more than try.” The air in the room cooled by several degrees as they stared at each other.
“I’ll figure something out.” Egan nodded.
“Then we have our plan.” Silas whirled around dramatically. “You should go. We’ll meet you at the pits.”
“When?” Egan asked.
“At dawn.” He glanced toward the window. “Larisa, you have to persuade Argothorn to come with you to meet the dawn. Tell him it’s magical, some elvish magic that binds the souls of dragons and elves together. Tell him he’s going to get his very own elven dragon rider.”
“And he’ll buy that?” Larisa asked.
“Yes,” Egan answered. “There are many stories of dragons and elves and the soul binding.”
“But elves don’t exist,” Larisa answered.
“Argothorn has a fractured grasp of reality,” Egan replied. “Myths and legends blur with reality. It’s what makes him so dangerous. He’ll believe it.”
“What happens then?” Ivan asked quietly.
“We get Argothorn to talk about his feelings.” Silas swung around to face them. “His bad feelings. Toward your father.” He waved his finger at Egan and Ivan. “The council hears the truth and even those who support him won’t be able to deny he’s a murderer and a thief.”
“He won’t talk,” Egan replied. “He might be crazy but he’s not stupid.”
“Leave that to me,” Silas replied.
“So this is the plan we’re going with?” Larisa asked Ivan, needing to be sure he was okay with it.
“It’s more than we had before, although I still don’t like you going in there alone,” Ivan confessed.
“She’ll be safe.” Egan moved to Larisa’s side.
“You’re going to protect me?” She arched an eyebrow as Ivan growled under his breath.
“No.” Egan chuckled as he shook his head. “I am not his favorite nephew.” He sucked in a breath. “But he is superstitious. Argothorn would not risk hurting an elf. That would be more bad luck than breaking a thousand mirrors.”
“I guess we do have our plan.” Larisa wrapped her arm around Ivan and hugged him before kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you at dawn.”
Ivan closed his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t like any of this.”
“It’s too late to walk away.” Larisa rested her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “I will be okay. We’ll get through this.”
Ivan nodded. “Take care of her, Egan.”
“You have my word,” Egan replied.
“And remember, Egan. We need all of the council members at the pits.” Silas’s eyes bored into the dragon shifter.
“I’ll get them there. One way or another,” Egan promised.
“So that just leaves you, Fiona.” Silas moved fast to stand before Fiona, but she didn’t flinch.
“If you poke around inside my head, I will make you wish you hadn’t,” Fiona threatened. “For eternity.”
“Wait until you get your memories back,” Silas smirked. “You’ll thank me.”
“Really?” Fiona arched an eyebrow.
“Oh, yeah. You were a badass.” He winked at Fiona who scowled but couldn’t disguise the small smile on her lips.
“Let’s go, Egan.” Larisa caught hold of the dragon shifter’s sleeve and pulled him out of the apartment.
“Take care of yourself, Larisa.” Valerie met her in the doorway. “You’re part of this family now. I want you to come back safely.”
“I will.” She kissed Fiona’s cheek and then hurried out of the apartment before she changed her mind.
“You have a good family.” Egan took the corridor leading out of the back of the hotel and Larisa followed.
“I don’t even know them,” she told him. “I was raised by my father in the world beyond. This is all new to me.”
“You’ve been thrown into the deep end.” He pushed open the door and stopped. After a quick look around he said, “This will do.”
Larisa had searched for dragons her whole life. As Egan shifted into a huge dragon with scales that shimmered like the blue ocean, she could hardly believe she’d met two of the magnificent beasts in the space of a few days.
And now she was about to fly to the dragon isle and try to persuade a murderous dragon to leave his tower and meet his doom.