Dragon Heartstring Read online

  “Thank you, Aunt Sorcha.” Julian took the long, rainbow-wrapped box from her and proceeded to rip off the wrapping. He flipped open the top lid to reveal a long, gold-handled sword.

  “Woohoo!” he yelled, lifting the sword by the hilt and waving it around.

  “Whoa, there,” said Lucius, taking it from him.

  “What the hell, Sorcha?” said Jessen. “He’s only three.”

  “He’s a warrior. Aren’t you, my Julian?” She tickled him in the ribs. He giggled.

  “There is no way I’m—” Jessen started.

  “It’s plastic,” said Lucius, slapping the flat of the blade against his palm.

  “What? You thought I’d give him a real sword, Jessen?” Sorcha scoffed and feigned shock. “He’s only three. Jeez.”

  Snickers drifted through the crowd. Jessen rolled her eyes and passed Julian another gift, a similar shape to Sorcha’s box.

  “Not another sword, I hope, brother,” said Jessen, reading the tag.

  A few eyes swiveled to him. He shook his head, a corner of his mouth quirking up one side, the bare hint of a dimple showing. I’d never seen a full smile on this man, but I bet he’d wear it well along with his expensive suit, broad shoulders, and tousled black hair.

  Exasperated with my wandering eye, I shifted my focus to Julian.

  He tore into the package and stood the box up to examine the picture on the side. “Whoa! It’s a dragon?”

  Demetrius stepped forward cautiously. “Yes. Well, it’s a kite. But not just any kite.” He pointed to the picture. “It has multiple moving parts, so the dragon looks alive when you fly him through the sky.”

  “That is so cool! Did you see that, Dad?”

  “I did,” said Lucius in his ever-calm demeanor.

  I caught the fleeting exchange between the two men. There had been animosity between them when Jessen had been injured by that bastard she was betrothed to marry. Jessen had told me that Lucius had long forgiven Demetrius, but it seemed they were still none too friendly.

  Jessen often confided in me about her family. Since Sorcha had little patience for familial issues and Jessen feared raising Lucius’s temper over the matter, she’d tell me of her father, the days of her childhood when he was kinder, and how she longed to mend their relationship. She’d talk of her brother who’d been the mirror image of their work-driven father all their lives, who’d been walking in their father’s footsteps to be every bit the tyrant he was until that fateful day Aron Grayson, who was then Demetrius’s friend, nearly killed her. And some days, she would tell me how Demetrius had changed over the past few years. He had become more attentive to her and Julian and seemed to be trying to bridge the painful gap that had formed between Jessen and her family. He’d even brought their younger sister, Moira, on their park visits when their father had expressly forbidden Jessen from seeing her sister again. This is what perplexed me as I studied him now, closed off with a stern and cold demeanor. I wondered if Jessen was fooled, and his kindness only extended to her and to Julian.

  “We’ll fly it next time we go to the park,” said Demetrius.

  “Oh, yes. Please, Momma! Let’s go tomorrow. Please!”

  Jessen laughed. “We’ll see. Now open your other presents.”

  The party-goers talked amongst themselves as Julian tore through his other gifts. Two boutique girls, one human and one Morgon, who worked in one of the Nightwing shops, stood in front of me, huddled close together and whispering back and forth.

  “That’s her brother?” asked the curvy blonde.

  “Where has she been hiding him? Heavens, that suit fits him so good,” said the brunette Morgon, ruffling her dark green wings.

  The blonde tittered. “I’d like to see him without the suit.”

  “He smells divine. What cologne is that?”

  “Money, honey. He’s got loads of it. He’s Pritchard Cade’s son.”

  Irritated, I moved away from them, which brought me closer to Demetrius. Yes, the man was gorgeous to be sure, but he was also a headstrong, haughty businessman with no feelings for anything but what might put more power in his pocket. The kinder brother Jessen doted on wasn’t the same man the rest of Gladium knew. Why, even last week, I saw a photo of him in the society column of The Gladium Post standing with a glass of champagne in his hand next to three other gentlemen who were laughing with two beautiful women. But not him. He seemed to be snubbing them. And beneath the column, the caption read, Demetrius Cade, Director of Cade Technologies, is the most eligible and the most disinterested bachelor in all the province.

  Julian ran off with a gaggle of children toward the cake where Sorcha was cutting and serving up slices. Jessen came and stood between me and Demetrius, who checked his watch.

  “You got a meeting or something?” she asked.

  “Yes. But it can wait.”

  “Jessen, I should be going,” I said. “I want to run by the clinic before I head home.”

  “Of course. Thank you for coming.” She pulled me into a tight hug before saying low, “And I want to meet soon to talk more about the hearing.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Demetrius, cutting in. “But what hearing are you talking about?”

  Jessen stared at him but didn’t respond.

  I decided to tell him. “The hearing before the Gladium Parliament on the banning of Volt guns.”

  Jessen turned her head away nervously.

  Demetrius’s frown deepened. He slipped both hands in his pockets, a relaxed pose, but the strain in his shoulders said he was anything but. “When is this hearing?”

  “In three weeks,” I answered.

  “Why didn’t I hear any of this from the Chamber of Commerce?” asked Demetrius, obviously concerned. “I’m on the board.”

  “Yes, well, we’ve been keeping it as tight-lipped as possible because of the controversy it will cause.”

  Demetrius edged closer, and I was suddenly the focus of those intense brown eyes. “Who is bringing this proposal before parliament?”

  “I am. That is, my father and my aunt are on behalf of the Icewing clan. But I’ll be presenting the proposal along with them.”

  He stared, and I was entirely unsure what he could be thinking. My pulse raced faster as he measured me while Jessen glanced between us. I didn’t appreciate his scrutiny.

  “Don’t get your hot temper going, Demetrius,” said Jessen. “I know this might cause a rift in your business dealings, but you must know whose side I’m on in this matter.”

  He swiveled to face her directly, shoulders squared and tense. “I thought you’d know whose side I’m on.”

  “Actually, I’m not exactly sure,” she added.

  He stood straighter, his brow creasing as if he’d been stung by her response. “Jessen, I don’t give a good goddamn about the rift in the business world. I’ve seen first-hand the damage Volt guns can do. I watched you nearly get killed by one of those damn things. And knowing there’s a weapon that could kill my nephew within a split second because he has Morgon DNA makes me more than amenable to your cause to ban them. And just so we’re very clear on the matter, we haven’t been a distributor for Grayson’s company since—” He waved at her shoulder, then swallowed whatever else he planned to say. His comm device buzzed in his pocket. After checking the screen, he said irritably, “I’ve got to go. Tell Julian goodbye for me.”

  “No, Demetrius. Don’t.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Please. I’m sorry. I should’ve known. I just thought that, well—”

  “Jessen. I know now there’s more to life than money and the family business.” He’d softened his tenor, but the pain resonated still.

  “Do you?” she teased, pulling on his collar. “Because you go to parties dressed for work. I’ll bet you sleep in your damn suits.”

  “Never.” He arched a dark brow. “They’d get too wrinkled.”

  She laughed. “All right. Well, you have an appointment with your nephew tomo
rrow in the park. Leave the suit.”

  Feeling as if I’d intruded on a private moment, I stepped away and brushed a hand on Jessen’s arm. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Wait, Shakara. Why don’t you come with us to the park tomorrow? I’ll bring lunch, and we can go over the hearing while Demetrius flies that enormous kite he bought for Julian.”

  My heart skittered ahead as I glanced at Demetrius. “That sounds great. Call me with the time.”

  With a quick wave, I walked through the living room toward the door, eager to step out of a sibling squabble. And eager to put some distance between myself and Demetrius Cade. The man unnerved me.

  “Thank you, Brant,” I said, as he held open the door into the foyer.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Icewing.”

  “Good afternoon.”

  I stepped into the elevator. As the doors were closing, I heard someone say, “Wait. Hold it, please.”

  Again, my stomach fluttered at the sound of his voice. Demetrius entered the elevator, and I let the door slide closed.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The air felt heavy in the confined space. My pulse pounded faster with every floor we fell toward the ground level. I was quite happy he wasn’t a Morgon. Otherwise, he’d hear my heartbeat pounding away. And he’d get the wrong idea. The only reason he made me nervous was because Jessen had often told me of her childhood, of a brother who had beat up the boy down the street when the bully had shoved her on the playground. Or the time when Demetrius had threatened every guy in high school who asked her on a date. He was protective to the core, that was certain. He’d thought he was keeping her safe when he’d come between her and Lucius. But he hadn’t understood the love they shared. Not then anyway. And all of those late-night conversations with Jessen when she’d shared intimacies about her family made me anxious standing next to the man. It was like I knew his secrets, yet he thought us mere strangers.

  “May I ask you a question?” His deep voice sounded too loud in the elevator.

  “Of course.” I tried to smile.

  “How come you’re taking the elevator?”

  “What?”

  “You’re a Morgon. I thought you all flew everywhere you went.”

  “Oh.” I laughed, a little too eagerly. “I like a good walk from time to time.”

  “I see.”

  Our easy conversation of before seemed to have vanished the moment we’d stepped into this steel box. The silence was uncomfortable and strained. I wanted to find something to say.

  “That was a lovely kite that you gave Julian.”

  That was a lovely kite?

  “Thank you. I know how he loves stories of the dragons of old. I thought he might enjoy it.”

  He cleared his throat. I stared at my toes in my strappy sandals. Finally, the elevator dinged open.

  “After you,” he said.

  I swept past him, but he caught up with a long, easy stride and walked me through the marble lobby and opened the glass door for me at the exit.

  “Well, Shakara,” he said, offering his hand. “It was nice meeting you. Again.”

  I shook his, trying to ignore the pleasurable feel of his broad, masculine hand around mine.

  “Yes. Perhaps you won’t forget me so easily this time,” I said, forcing myself to smile.

  His expression sobered, dark eyes captivating. “No. I most certainly won’t forget you this time.”

  Chapter 2

  City Park was nestled in the middle of Gladium. I landed softly in front of the siren fountain at the front gates, tightening my wings against my back. The fountain was made of white stone—three beautiful women stretching their alabaster arms toward the heavens as they rode atop a tidal wave, the water trickling down their nude forms into the basin. A lovely work of art, but I preferred other scenery from this vantage point.

  From here there was a magnificent view of towering skyscrapers built by and for Morgons. There was a distinct difference to them than the flat, perfectly symmetrical human-made buildings of glass and steel. We Morgons preferred stone and mountain-like peaks. Our dragons longed for a touch of the old world. And while more Morgons were conforming to human society and building flat-top towers for their homes and businesses, I preferred the cityscape of peaks and ridges, a harmony and beauty all its own.

  “Shakara!”

  I turned to see Jessen walking toward me, picnic basket in hand, Julian skipping ahead of her with his kite under his arm as he strayed onto the open green. Jessen motioned to the lawn. I nodded and met her halfway.

  “Do you need some help?” I offered as she hefted the picnic basket with one hand, a blanket tucked underneath her other arm.

  “No. I’ve got it. How about we settle right over there underneath that evergold?”

  “That’s a great spot. Let me take the blanket at least.”

  “Thanks.”

  I marched ahead of her, whipped open the blanket, and spread it close to the evergold. With the onset of fall, the fire-gold leaves had already begun changing to a burnished copper. But where the leaves of other trees would shake loose and leave their branches bare, an evergold kept theirs through winter, never losing the leaves until new ones budded in the spring and pushed the others out.

  “Perfect spot,” I said as I knelt on the blanket.

  Jessen settled and opened the basket while keeping an eye on Julian who had torn open the kite box and was pulling out the pieces.

  “The weather is so nice right now,” she said. “Not too hot.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “So, how are things at the clinic?”

  “Fine. No patients this afternoon, but I’ve got my comm on me in case there’s an emergency. Carra will call if she needs me.”

  “Uncle Demetrius!” Julian shot across the lawn toward the man walking our way.

  As expected, my heartrate sped up immediately. I was beginning to loathe my poor heart for reacting nonsensically to the man’s presence. I didn’t like him. Not at all. And yet, I found myself studying him carefully as he approached. Still in suit pants and a white button-down, he’d lost his tie and jacket. He looked no less powerful and commanding. In fact, his semi-casual state had my mind wandering in a wayward direction I had to stop at once.

  As he lifted his nephew in his arms, he smiled and said something low that made Julian laugh. He squirmed out of his arms and ran back to where he’d dumped the kite onto the grass. Demetrius veered toward us, his dark eyes heavy on me as he approached.

  Jessen peered up at him and sighed. “Don’t you own a pair of jeans?”

  “Of course, I do. But I had to work this morning.”

  “You said—”

  “I took the entire afternoon off, so stop your nagging.”

  “I’m not nagging. Now go build that damn kite. It may take you all afternoon.”

  “Hello again, Shakara,” he said with a slanted smile, seemingly immune to his sister’s chastisement.

  I jumped when his attention moved to me. Damn my nerves. “Hello, Demetrius.”

  He held my gaze for a second longer before marching off to tend to Julian. I couldn’t help but watch the lovely way he moved, smooth and agile, till he finally crouched down next to his nephew.

  I snapped my attention back to Jessen who was observing me while she set out four plates. Heat crawled up my neck as I took a container from her and set it on the blanket.

  “He’s a good-looking man, isn’t he?” she asked with a small smile.

  “Um. Yes. He is.” I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t going to lie.

  She set out the napkins. “I wish he’d find a good woman and settle down. But that’s likely to never happen.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Demetrius is married to his work. There is nothing that gets him more excited than a deal going down or a new venture on the rise.”

  I smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with hard work.”

&nbs
p; “Not at all. But there is something wrong when you don’t know how to loosen up and enjoy the little pleasures in life.”

  “He seems to be doing that right now.”

  We both watched as Demetrius stretched out the elaborate kite while Julian held the strings.

  Jessen grunted. “You’re right. I suppose I’m too hard on him. I just want him to relax. I don’t want him to be so—”

  Julian whooped and shouted, “Hooray!”

  The kite was up and flying. Demetrius was back at his side, showing him how to let the reel out slowly as the wind carried the kite higher into the air, red streamers trailing out underneath the green dragon’s belly.

  “So…what?” I urged her to continue.

  “So like my father,” she said, expression somber.

  “Would your father be spending an entire workday afternoon in the park with your son?” I asked.

  “No.” She sighed. “I’m not sure my father even knows I have a son.”

  I couldn’t imagine my own father not being in my life. I had no words of comfort to that.

  “Uncle Demetrius!”

  We both looked over just as the kite caught in a high branch of a tree. Demetrius took the strings from Julian and worked to see if he could free it.

  “I’ll be right back.” I stood and walked over to the two. “You having a little trouble?”

  “I got it caught,” said Julian, his sad expression upward where the kite dangled in a branch.

  “I think I’ve almost got it,” said Demetrius.

  “You might tear it. Let me help.” Without waiting for a response, I opened my wings, flapped with a bend of my knees, and shot straight up to the top of the tree.

  Hovering with a steady beat of my wings, I pulled on the string, which had wound twice around the branch. The green dragon dangled upside down. I unwrapped the string from around the limb and carried the kite back to the ground.

  “Thank you, thank you!” said Julian hopping up and down, his small wings flapping excitedly as I handed over the kite.

  Finally, I met Demetrius’s gaze. I’d felt him watching me and wasn’t sure what I’d find in those dark depths. Curiosity or distaste, perhaps, for I’d just displayed the most obvious difference between our kind. His expression was one of admiration, a gentle smile and warmth to his eyes that made my knees buckle. A delightful shiver ran down my body. I needed to get away from this man. No matter how much my head said he was a dull executive with no attractive characteristics, my body said something entirely differently. And I knew what that meant. My dragon liked him, which was shocking to say the least.