Page 35 of Owen

A tail with spikes, spikes which ran in a ridge up its back.

Scales, shiny and greenish-gold.

Wings outstretched, reminding me of a jet plane. They were that wide across, if not wider. Thin webbing, so thin I could almost see the moon through them.

Bright, green eyes over a narrow snout.

Eyes that stared at me.

I might have screamed. Or maybe the scream was in my head.

The last thing I saw was Owen catching up to me just before I fainted.

13

“Damn it!” I held her up, her head lolling on my shoulder, her body now dead weight. She was out cold.

I looked up at Fence, who sketched a shrug as best he could while in his dragon form.

“Not your fault,” I said. “In fact, I might owe you one. She never would’ve believed if she hadn’t seen you. I thought I might have to shift once I was out here, but you spared me that.”

Looking down at her again, I could only shake my head. “Stubborn lass. You aren’t going to like it when you wake up where you came from.” But she was fast. I had to give her credit for that. “Perhaps I ought to do more running.”

Hecate and Callie met me as I walked back to the bedchamber, carrying the still-unconscious Molly across my arms.

“She ran away.” Callie groaned.

“You’re quite observant.” But there was no rancor in my tone, nor in my heart. I had expected this.

She wasn’t the type to quietly accept that which she’d always believed to be patently untrue. She had a sharp mind and tended to question everything. She was bound to question me.

It just so happened that she was also bound to believe that I was out of my mind. I had frightened her.

“I could have been better about breaking the news,” I admitted as I laid her across the bed.

“I’ll get some water,” Hecate decided, hurrying out toward the kitchen.

Callie placed a hand on Molly’s forehead. It was she who truly had a gift when it came to going into the minds of others, much more so than her sister. She closed her eyes, frowning a bit. “She’s in shock.”

“I don’t doubt it. She saw Fence out there.”

“That would do it, I suppose.” When she opened Callie eyes, they were full of sympathy.

I normally would have resented her sympathy, as I did not take well to the notion of others feeling sorry for me. Now? I was a man for whom pride meant little.

The woman I had come to love had run away from me. I had nothing left to lose. “Do you think she’s going to be able to accept me? Is there anything else you can see in her thoughts?”

“I’m sorry. I’m afraid there isn’t.”

“You went into Emelie’s head when she was unconscious, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but that was different. She was injured. Remember? She’d struck her head.” When I frowned at this, she touched my arm. “Keep in mind that she came around. She was just as frightened, just as panicked, but she and Alan are quite happy together now. She only had to adjust to the notion of a dragon.”

“Only,” I snorted. “That sounds a good deal like only asking a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”

Her laughter was gentle. “Give her a chance. If this is truly your fated mate, she will come to understand and accept what for us has always been a part of life. You must remember that this is all so new to her. She did not reject you when she ran. She rejected what she couldn’t understand. The mind is a strange and powerful thing, and when it doesn’t wish to accept something, it comes up with a myriad of reasons why it shouldn’t.”

She was a good soul. Gentle, quiet in her power. But anyone who underestimated her would be making a big mistake.

---