Lion Conquers All by Krystal Shannan

26

CONNIE

“We should go help. Or call people to help excavate. Oh, God, my baby.” Sarah was wearing a trail in the hardwood floors in front of the big windows lining the back of Naomi and Col’s cabin.

“We can’t. You know we can’t. Col’s dragon is digging through boulders the size of your SUV. No one from town would be able to help. The other men there aren’t even able to help.” Connie patted the cushion next to her. “Sarah. Please.”

A groan came from the couch opposite Connie. The hunter was waking up. Liam moved from his place against the wall, toward the man. He’d not only said he knew him, but that the guy had just arrived to town and was his cousin.

“What the fuck? Where am I?” The guy sat up, then stood faster than he should’ve. He reached for the arm of the couch and steadied himself.

Liam never stopped moving. Connie watched like it was slow motion. She saw it coming, but the other guy never did. Liam moved with fluidity and purpose like the soldier he used to be. His arm came back. His fingers locked into a fist. That fist swung forward and knocked the guy back down onto the couch with a bone-jarring thud.

“Ye feck’n eejit!” Liam growled out between his gritted teeth.

“Dammit, Liam.” The other man rubbed his jaw and then shook his head like he could shake off the punch.

“Gobshite. Ye should’ve not even been on that mountain still. Everyone had been called down. And then ye go and shoot—”

“A lion! You hoor. There was a feck’n lion on the mountain.” The other man jumped up again. It was like neither of them remembered other people were standing in the room watching. He swung a fist at Liam, but the bar manager blocked the wild throw easily and punched the guy again. This time in the gut.

“Stupid eejit. They could’ve eaten ye instead of brought you back and no one woulda been the wiser.”

The other guy wheezed in a breath and then straightened. “Woulda taken more than a wee lion to finish me off, you fecker.”

Liam hauled back and prepared to hit the guy again, but stopped when the other man put up a hand in surrender.

“Stop. Liam. Enough.”

“You’ll not speak of this to anyone. Not a word. Not even a drunken word. Do ye hear me?”

“Or they’ll eat me, I suppose.”

“I’ve told Col he’s not allowed to consume people, but if it comes down to protecting my family, my children, then yes. That option will be put on the table.” Naomi strolled into the room from the kitchen where she’d been standing out of the way. She sipped on the coffee mug in her hand like Liam and whoever-he-was hadn’t had a bar brawl in her living room.

The stranger whirled to face her. “Who’s this lovely piece of—”

Here we go again.

Before she could take her next breath, Connie had Naomi’s mug in her hand and the tiny woman had the stranger bent at the waist and pinned to the wall with one hand wrapped around his neck. He didn’t try to hit her or fight. His face was turning red from the lack of oxygen, but his eyes were wide with shock like he couldn’t believe what’d happened.

Honestly, no one looking at Naomi would’ve expected that.

Liam stood to the side, arms crossed, satisfied smirk on his face. “Ye were saying? Eejit.”

“You are in my home. You attacked one of my family. You owe me your life. All of it. Every breath you take from here on out is mine. Are we clear?”

Who was Col? Nobody compared to a pissed-off-Naomi.

Connie swallowed as silently as possible. She’d never seen Naomi like this before and she never wanted to again. But it made sense. And Naomi was so much more than the stereotypical mother of dragons GoT t-shirts she wore all the time as an inside joke.

The man kept his mouth shut and nodded his head, agreeing to her terms.

Naomi released his neck with an annoyed huff and walked back across the room to Connie, retrieved her coffee mug and started drinking it again. “Liam would you care to introduce your acquaintance. Especially since he now owes me a life debt, I feel like I should know what to call him.”

“What the damn hell?” Sarah spoke from her spot on the edge of the room near the wall of windows. She’d been silent this whole time. “How did you do that?”

“Sarah.” Connie hissed out the woman’s name and shook her head to try and shush her. Now was not the time to ask more questions.

Naomi ignored Sarah and kept her gaze glued to the newcomer. She wasn’t letting him off the hook. Not for a second.

“This is my cousin, Sean. I’m sorry, I will take full responsibility, please—”

“He’s living in Mystery?” Naomi turned her gaze to Liam.

“Aye, he’s only been here a few days. Moved in with me. He grew up here though. I thought he’d come back after they called everyone down. He texted me that he was on his way back.”

“The storm started to let, so I stayed. There are kids missing. Or has everyone gone feck’n mad?” Sean rubbed his neck and straightened, but stayed against the wall.

“You shut it.” Liam’s words were growled at his cousin.

“We knew eventually we wouldn’t be able to hide from everyone.” Naomi turned back to Sean and took a step toward him.

To his credit, the man side-stepped, keeping the distance between them even. Finally the man was actually listening and paying attention.

“We would be having a very different conversation if that lion you shot had died. You’re very lucky. I wouldn’t have been able to stop them if Raj had been dead.”

“Ma’am, I don’t understand what’s really going on. You’re stronger than a man who’s downed a cup full of adrenaline and you’re calling a lion by a man’s name and telling me I’d be toast if he were dead.”

“That’s about right. I have to give Aarav props for not tearing you to bits right there on that mountain. That showed a lot of restraint. Instead he tranqed you and called for help for his brother.”

“He considers the lion his brother?” Sean’s forehead wrinkled.

“The lion is his brother, ya dumb fuck.” Liam ran his hands through his hair and growled, not like an animal, but impressive nonetheless.

“There was another lion on the mountain that I didn’t see? I saw a man for a brief second, but no other lion.”

The door to the house swung open. Kann and Raj walked inside. Raj was limping a little. Had a big bandage wrapped around his chest with a slight bloodstain on it.

He looked pretty good for having been taken down by a hunter’s rifle. Those magick-benders weren’t playing around with the healing abilities. Connie found herself more than a little jealous. There had been many times when she’d wished for the ability to help someone who was too far gone for medicine to be effective.

“Is Aarav okay?” Raj stepped away from Kann toward Connie, ignoring everyone else in the room. “Have you heard from him?”

Connie nodded her head slowly. “Yes. He texted. They are digging the kids out of a cave. Or Col is trying to.”

Raj shoulders visibly sank. Some of the tightness left his face. He put a hand on the back of the couch and took a deep breath. “I suppose this is who I have to thank for the hole in my chest.” He eyed Sean and cracked his neck.

“Now listen here, I didn’t shoot a man. I shot a lion.” Sean took a brave step forward. “I’ll not be accused of something I didn’t do.”

“Mahadhri?” Raj looked to Naomi and she gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Raj leaped over the back of the couch, shifting into his beast in the air and landed in front of Sean. Raj put a paw on the man’s chest and Sean’s back hit the log wall with a hard whack.

Connie winced. That’d hurt.

Raj roared. Loud. And snapped his teeth right in Sean’s face.

The human paled. His eyes were wide. “Please. God. Liam, I didn’t mean it. Tell them. Ma’am. Please. I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I won’t tell anyone. Never. I promise. Please don’t let it eat me.”

Naomi sat down in a rocker near where Sarah was standing.

Sarah was silent, mouth slightly open, hands clutching her at her sides, shaking like she was standing in freezing weather naked.

“It is Raj. And he’s not going to eat you, he’s just pissed that you shot him and he’s making sure you don’t forget it. Ever.” Naomi sipped her coffee and glanced over at Connie.

Connie swallowed silently. She didn’t know whether or not to be mad for Sean or glad that Raj was frightening the shit out of him and Sarah so that they’d never tell a single soul for as long as they lived.

None of the Reyleans had ever tried to scare her, not since Ava the first time they’d met, and Connie was grateful for that. She didn’t consider the Reyleans dangerous, not any more than a rifle in the hands of a hunter. They were people the same as anyone else…they merely came with a few extra modifications.

Where did it go from here though? They couldn’t hope to scare a whole town into silence.

Raj took his massive paw down from Sean’s chest, ripping the human’s shirt a little with his giant razor claws. Then shifted back into his human form.

“Apology accepted. Next time you see a predator minding it’s own business, kindly let it be.”

“He will. And I thank you for sparing my cousin. I know you didn’t have to, but you’re good people and I appreciate that about all of you.” Liam grabbed his cousin’s arm and shoved him toward the front entry. “Anything ye need, Naomi. All you have to do is ask.”

“Thank you, Liam. Goodbye, Sean.” She gave a dismissive wave and turned back to Connie. The two guys hurried out of the cabin, half-way slamming the door behind them. “So tell me.” Naomi’s demeanor changed at the drop of a hat. A mischievous smile curved her lips. “Was that a blush on your cheeks I saw earlier when Aarav texted?”

Dammit.

Connie slouched deeper into the couch cushions, wishing they could swallow her whole. How the hell did Naomi notice her reaction to his last text while everything else had been going on?