Daddy Dragon Guardians: The Complete Series Boxset, page 19
“There she is!” An older man with wisps of gray hair across his balding head pointed at Autumn. He bore a sign that said Purity and Pride. “There’s one of the witches right now!”
The others turned to face her, and Autumn had never felt so put on the spot in her entire life. She had already been angry, and this only increased her vexation. “What do you want?”
“For you to get out of town!” said a young woman with a thick braid of black hair. “You’re a bad influence on our children, and we’re tired of it!”
“I haven’t done anything to your children,” Autumn objected. In fact, people brought their kids into the store with them all the time, and that was why she was constantly cleaning grubby handprints off the front of the counter and finding inventory all over the store where it didn’t belong.
“Then tell us why all of our children are pretending they’re doing spells and dressing in long black robes? We don’t want them to be under your evil influence any longer!” This cry came up from a young man near the street who held the biggest sign.
Autumn rolled her eyes. “Did you ever think about the fact that it’s Halloween? Or that witches and wizards are really in right now? You can’t blame me for popular culture!” She wanted to start throwing things all over again, but she knew it wouldn’t help if people actually got to witness what she was capable of. No doubt, they were convinced she danced naked under the moonlight with Satan. No matter how modern the times got, there were always some who didn’t update their beliefs about others. But if they actually saw her move things with her mind or could actually feel the weight of her spells when she cast them, they would be burning her at the stake in the town square before sundown.
“I don’t care what time of year it is. We’re going to shut this business down and run you out of our community!” This was the older gentleman again. As he raised his fist in the air, a rallying cry rose from the rest of the crowd.
“Well, good luck!” Autumn challenged. “There are only a few of you nutjobs out there; that’s nothing compared to the number of our regular customers!” Her voice was nearly lost on the crowd as the fanatics waved their signs and continued to shout.
A piercing whistle broke the sound. Autumn looked off to her right to find the source of the noise, as did the rest of the crowd. A squad car pulled over to the curb and a police officer got out, a bored look on his face. She recognized him as Officer Carey. “Alright, alright. Move it along.”
“We don’t have to!” the older man said, his face turning red as he faced the cop. “We’re American citizens, and we have the right to protest.”
The officer nodded, his mouth a hard line. “That’s right, Mr. Stone, but you don’t have the right to block the sidewalk or the entrance to a building. I suggest you call it a day.” He waved his arms gently through the air, shooing them out of the way.
Autumn stood there in the doorway and watched them go. Some got into their pickups and drove off with their tires squealing. Others made their way down alleys and side streets to their homes or vehicles, and a few went back to their businesses right there on the downtown strip. She curled her fist at her side, irritated that even her fellow shop owners could be so intolerant. “I appreciate that.”
Officer Carey had stayed to supervise them as they left as well. He sighed and tucked his thumb into his belt, just accessible under his paunch of a stomach. “Don’t thank me, Ms. Keller. I’m just doing my job. But keep in mind that they weren’t wrong. They do have the right to protest, and if I know these types, they’ll be back.”
“Have they been staging other protests around town?” Autumn peered down the street one way and then the other, half-expecting some of them to come running back through to wave their signs one more time. “I have to admit they caught me off-guard.”
The officer’s lips pressed together even harder than usual. “Can’t say that I’ve seen anything.”
“Okay. Well, thanks anyway.” Autumn retreated back into The Enchanted Elm, bumping into Summer. “Can you believe that? It’s like the seventeenth century out there!”
Summer folded her arms. “I don’t think there’s much for me to disbelieve, since you wouldn’t even let me out the door.”
“It could have been dangerous.” In fact, Autumn was considering locking the front door and closing up shop for the day, but then the zealots would only see it as them getting their way. “It’s much safer inside.”
“You do realize that I’m only younger than you by a few minutes, right?” Summer narrowed an eye.
“Don’t start on me. I’ve got enough on my mind. This protest was the absolute last thing I needed. We already draw plenty of negative attention around town. That’s part of the reason I wanted to get the online store up and running in the first place, but I’d hate to think we might eventually be running this place solely through the mail. Hey, where are you going?” Summer had disappeared into the back room even while she was talking to her.
“Hang on!” The blonde twin reemerged a moment later, carrying two steaming teacups in her hands. “I thought we could both use a little herbal remedy for stress. After all, Halloween is supposed to be a special time for us. We can’t let those people ruin it.”
Autumn bit her lip, casting a glance to the computer on the counter and wondering if sales had gone up for the month of October as they usually did. “That’s true. I haven’t quite decided if we should run a special on Ouija boards or authentic broomsticks.”
“No, not like that.” Summer shoved a hot teacup into her hands and slouched against the front counter. “I mean spiritually. With the veil between the worlds so thin, we’re supposed to be focusing on renewing our own spiritual energy for the coming winter. Remember how much we used to love Samhain when we were kids? We looked forward to it all year. Now we’re lucky if we remember to do anything about it.”
“That’s true,” Autumn said with a nod. “I’m not sure when we traded in the leaves and flowers for black cats and pumpkins, either.” She eyed the decorations that Summer had put up, realizing just how cheap and corny they looked. Only a witch with a green, warty face was needed to complete the set.
“We’re subject to the commercialization of holidays just like anyone else. But I did get these.” Summer leaned down into the box of decorations that hadn’t been put up yet. “Nora and I spent some time out in the woods gathering all the prettiest leaves and flowers we could find. I know she doesn’t really understand what it’s all about yet, but it’s so exciting to have her help me. I divvied them up between the house and the store.”
“I should have done the same for my house.” Autumn realized just how much the business had been taking over her life. For the past several years, she had been so focused on Halloween sales and the fact that people were aware of witches and ghosts all of a sudden that her own rituals had been quick affairs before she went to bed. There hadn’t been time for meditation or even the baking of ritual cakes. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I need to get away from the store for a bit. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“That’s okay.” Summer touched her sister gently on the arm. “You were probably getting stressed about this time of year without even thinking about it. This isn’t the first time we’ve had people shouting at our storefront. Halloween comes around, and it reminds them that there just might be something out there other than their basic normal lives. They can’t handle it.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She was, but it didn’t do anything to placate Autumn. There wasn’t enough time in the day to get everything she wanted done with the store, and now the town had turned against them. And this protest hadn’t been like the others. She had sensed far more anger and determination in those people than she had in previous years when they had a small handful of churchgoers watching the sky for broomsticks.
2
“Yep!” Julian threw down his pen and sat back with a satisfied look on his face. “That confirms it. According to my calculations, Zimryr should be taking place right around the Earth holiday of Halloween.”
Beau Clark ran a hand through his golden hair, wondering if the festival of awakening would still be the same there on Earth. Back on Charok, the home planet that he and the other dragons had come from, they had glorious parties that lasted well into the night and often into the next day. He had enjoyed the holiday greatly back home, and he would miss the orange light of the festival fires against the craggy mountains. “So, what do we do?”
Holden picked up his son and looked into his blue eyes. “Well, we celebrate! We want to pass the tradition down to our children, don’t we?”
Looking down at his own son, Elliot, who had crawled into his lap and refused to get down, even though the other children were all there at Holden’s house as well. During the War of Storms, when the ogres and the wizards had teamed up to overrun the dragons’ land, there had been little choice but to rescue the last eggs of their queen and run for it. A sympathetic wizard had provided the spell that landed them on Earth, but Beau had often questioned whether or not this had been a good idea. It wouldn’t have been a good life for the little ones to constantly be on the run as the last of their kind had they remained on Charok, but it wasn’t much easier to raise them on Earth. The fact that they spent most of their time in human form only helped to a certain degree. “I suppose so. But it won’t be the same.”
Xander looked up from his book. He was always reading, even when he was supposed to be holding a conversation. “No, but we can do our best. We can still prepare a big feast, get together, and celebrate life. From what I’ve read, this doesn’t seem too dissimilar from what humans do on their holidays. It might be a nice way of blending dragon and human culture. That’s what our kids will need to do anyway.”
“True enough. I guess I just feel a little reminiscent of the old ways. That happens a lot, though. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and for a moment, I don’t understand why I’m in a bedroom instead of a cave.” Beau pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. It happened all the time, really, and he often wondered if Elliot had any idea that he no longer lived on the world he originated from.
“I’m home!” called a voice from the other end of the house. A moment later, a gorgeous woman with dark, curly hair appeared in the study. It was Leah, Holden’s mate. She walked in, but staggered back into the doorway. “Wow, there’s a lot of energy in here. What’s going on?”
Holden rose from the leather sofa and crossed the room to plant a kiss on her lips. “I don’t think you needed to use your psychic powers to figure that out.”
Finn had been balancing himself against a play table, but he immediately dropped to his hands and knees to get across the room faster to see his adoptive mother. As soon as he reached her, he braced himself against her legs until he was upright again, reaching to get into her arms.
She instantly obliged, scooping him up and snuggling him close. For a moment, Beau felt a pang of jealousy at the tableau in the doorway: Holden with his arm around the woman he knew he was destined to be with, and she with their son in her arms. It was beautiful, and there were times he thought he might want the same thing for himself. But there were an awful lot of human women in the world to sift through, and Beau wasn’t convinced he would ever find the one who made his scales tingle.
“We’re trying to decide what to do for Zimryr,” Holden explained. “Julian’s just figured out that it falls right around Halloween.”
Leah’s face lit up, and she waved her free hand excitedly. “The festival of awakening that you told me about? How exciting! What kinds of things should we do?”
Holden shrugged. “Eating, spending time with friends and family. There’s usually a lot of time outside under the stars with big bonfires burning, but that’s not going to be very easy around here.”
Leah pressed her lips together in thought. “What if we just had a big party here? We’ve got plenty of room. We could do a bonfire in the back as long as we clear it with the fire department, and we could serve food and cocktails inside.” Her blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “I know it’s not an Earth holiday, but we could make sure we only invite our closest friends.”
“Who, exactly, did you have in mind?” Xander asked hesitantly. “I’m not sure many people would be tolerant of coming to a party for dragons.” Taking an almost scientific view of humans, Xander had been their resident expert—until Leah had come along—and by then, Xander was with a human woman as well. That gave them that much more knowledge about the world they now lived in.
“Well, all of us, of course. Summer and Autumn. David and Lisa Rochester from the print shop. They’ve never had a problem with the fact that I’m a psychic or that the twins are witches, and in fact they’re actually enthusiastic about it. I have a few clients that are interested in anything paranormal and who would be thrilled to take part.”
“I don’t want this to just be some kind of a freak show to them,” Julian countered. “It means a lot to us.”
Leah shook her head firmly. “I don’t want that, either, and it won’t be that way. I’ll only invite those that I completely trust.”
“She can handle it,” Holden affirmed.
“Great!” Leah set Finn down and clapped her hands. “I’ll get started on planning! Is there anything specific that you’d like on the menu?”
Xander rubbed his stomach. “Not unless you can come up with freshly charred fraxen. I think that’s what I miss the most about home.”
Leah pursed her lips. “I have a feeling they’ll be fresh out at the store. But we could always do some pork tenderloin on the smoker. I’ll get started, and you let me know if you think of anything else. I’ll be in my office!” She jetted off across the house.
“Well, you’ve got her excited,” Holden remarked, watching his mate head down the hallway. “We haven’t had a party here in a long time, and it’s always just been us. I think she likes the fact that our little circle is growing. Personally, I’m just glad that we’re not going to miss the festivities entirely. It won’t be the same, but it should be a lot of fun.”
“I’ll watch the kids,” Beau volunteered, running his fingers absentmindedly through Elliot’s light brown locks. “You guys can drop them all off at my house so they won’t be underfoot during the party.”
“But then you would miss all the fun!” Julian protested, his wide eyes a little wider than usual.
Beau shrugged. “That’s okay. They like me, and I like hanging out with them. It’ll be a nice break from working on the house.” While Julian’s argument hadn’t been completely wrong, Beau wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to come to the party in the first place. It would only make him more homesick.
Holden crossed the room to tower over his friend, brushing back a lock of his dark hair. “Beau, you’re always the one watching the kids.”
“So?” Beau looked down at the children, who were all content to play quietly while their fathers talked. “I really don’t mind.”
“No, you’re just avoiding the inevitable. When was the last time you went out on a date?”
Beau looked up at his friend to find Holden glaring sternly at him. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Holden sighed. “It’s a party. There will be people here you’ve never met before. You’d be crazy not to take this opportunity.”
Pulling in a deep breath, Beau remembered that he was in human form and couldn’t spit a spiteful ball of fire at his friend at the moment. “I’m not that worried about it. Besides, take a look at it from a mathematical viewpoint. You and Xander both found mates right here in this city. What are the chances that my destined partner is right here as well? It seems astronomical to me.” Not that he was interested in moving off to some other part of the world where he would be without his fellow dragons, but it was a good enough argument for the moment.
“You’re being ridiculous. You never go out on dates. You don’t try to meet new people. You always volunteer to watch the kids.” Holden’s fists clenched a little tighter with each statement, his frustration at his friend’s stubbornness growing. “You can’t keep holding out like this. It’s not good for you.”
“I’ll watch the children,” Julian volunteered.
Holden nodded his approval. “Sounds good.”
Beau set Elliot gently on the rug and shot to his feet. “How is that any different? He hasn’t found his mate yet, either!” He was really getting angry now, and he felt the underside of his skin begin to itch. If he shifted right there in the middle of Holden’s study and broke a vase or two, then Holden had no one to blame but himself.
“We’ll deal with him later. Besides, I happen to know that he went out on a date this past weekend. It might not have gone very well,” he cast a knowing glance across the room, “but it was still a date. You’re coming to the party.”
“I can even do it right here in Holden’s house, so that the children can at least take some part in the celebration,” Julian offered with a smirk, clearly happy to have gotten away with something.
“Fine.” Beau knew there was no point in continuing the argument. He enjoyed taking care of the little ones, and it gave him a certain sense of satisfaction to know that they were all clean and fed. Not that he felt the other dragons ever did a bad job, but he liked to see it for himself. Julian’s suggestion of keeping them right there at Holden’s house mooted Beau’s argument before he could voice it. “But don’t go thinking that just because it’s a holiday celebration that I’m going to trip over my wings and fall in love with someone.”
Holden sighed and shook his head. “I’m not asking any such thing. I’m just asking that you give the universe a chance. Xander and I both had some very intense experiences when we found our mates.”
