Dragon 6 Chapter 6 (Patreon)

I moved on to the next person on my list, Helena. While I planned on taking her, I knew it would be a harder conversation to have.

“Helena, hold up.” I called out as she seemed to speed up at my approach.

She might be a brash woman who struggled with love and didn’t let herself care too deeply, but something told me I’d at least wiggled my way into her world enough that she slowed down after I called out.

“What do you need?” She glared at me, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

I didn’t like the posture, and a part of me wanted to fight her for dominance, but she wasn’t a dragon. I needed to take another approach with Helena. “Who said I needed something?”

Softness wouldn’t work either, so I dished back to the same degree she gave.

I looked down, my eyes zeroing in on her mark. That was enough for me to know she was mine, but it had been done when we were both completely out of it. Now we had to deal with the fallout as we tried to figure out how to move forward.

I was just glad it had stopped at the marking until we got there, but the beast disagreed. He wanted to pin her against the wall constantly and remind her who was the dragon in the relationship.

Letting out a breath, I pushed the beast down. “Okay. I do need something. Maeve has asked for help finding her mother. Apparently, because I tricked her into apologizing thrice, I have a connection to her and that can be used like a compass.”

Helena snorted. “Is this why you brought me on this trip?”

“No, you came to escape work. If I recall, you wanted this.” I shot back.

“You heavily implied that my partner and I had to come.” Helena shot back. Her brows pressed down, and I could tell she was getting ready to work herself up.

She was a spitfire, but I could handle that.

“You misunderstood.” I replied. While I hadn’t forced them to, I knew that her and Agent Till were under constant fire from the FBI and other agencies. And they could only do so much to keep the paranormal off radars. It was best if they got some space and time away for the dust to settle.

The only way to give them some actual peace was to bring them to faerie. And I stood by that decision.

The nephilim straightened her back and stared at me with her sharp eyes. The move would have been a little more intimidating if she rose above my chest.

But my dragon wouldn’t bite somebody who it didn’t see as worthy of it. I knew in that little package was a terrifyingly sturdy warrior. As a nephilim, she could draw on the mana of the physical plane, something that made her arguably stronger than archangels. But she was far younger and certainly not the spell caster that the archangels could be.

I’d noticed that even in faerie, she had the ability to draw on the mana, making her strong, but maybe not as strong as she was back in Philly.

Helena snorted at my statement, tossing her white hair. She looked away, ending the stare down. “Fine. I’ll come with you on this adventure. It’s better than sitting around and watching these women banter about the petty details of the wedding.”

“Watch it.” I growled, feeling possessive of my mates.

“Hah, you’re one to talk. Mr ‘I’m hiding from wedding planning’ is going to call me out for being done with the wedding planning?” Helena pushed a finger into my chest, and I realized I had invaded her personal space when I’d gotten mad.

My face twitched. “I’m not hiding.”

“Sure seems like it, big boy.” She pushed me back with the finger, and I let her. “Yesterday, I seem to recall you hiding back in here while they all gushed over Summer’s preparations and started talking through details with her.”

I shrugged.

I was happy to leave it up to them. Besides wanting lots of gold and for each of them to be happy, the rest of the details mattered little to me. They were already mine in the ways that mattered most to me.

Summer had the ability to make all the changes needed. The women were just figuring out how to make it easier on her as she did a full costume change for each different ceremony.

“I was talking with Maeve about this journey. It sounds like you are on board, so I wanted to give you a heads up Maeve wants to leave today.” I waited to see how Helena would react.

She was just so damn frustrating.

A fae walked past with a bin of trash. But then they tripped as they strode, spilling the whole thing over and onto the nephilim.

Helena’s attention disappeared from me as she spun towards the fae. Her wings shot out as she whirled, smacking me with one of them.

I knocked it out of my face.

“So sorry.” The fae quickly grabbed the items and hurried off.

“That’s the third time they’ve spilt shit on me.” She folded her wing around so she could see it. “Sticky wings again!” She let out an exasperated groan.

I paused, confused. The fae were supernaturally graceful. I couldn’t think of a time I’d seen them falter.

For them to spill junk on her three times meant this was more than just an accident.

“Stop.” I grabbed the servant’s arm, turning him around to look at me. “I’d suggest you stop harassing my mate immediately and tell the others the same.”

As soon as the word ‘mate’ came out of my mouth, I knew I was about to have another battle with Helena, but I ignored that for the moment to make sure I’d driven the message home with the fae still in my grip.

The servant looked terrified and very guilty.

“What did you call me?!” Helena came at me from behind, jumping onto my back like some kind of banshee. She was so small as she smacked my shoulders in frustration with her legs crossed around my torso.

Sighing, I let go of the servant and watched as he scampered away as I pulled the angry Nephilim off my back and in front of me.

“I called you my mate. See that mark on your shoulder? That’s my mark.” I decided not to back down.

“Say that again. I dare you” Her silver spear appeared in her hands as she spun it around to point it at me. “Call me your mate again and I swear…”

She didn’t need to finish the threat. The threat was pretty clear as she waved her spear in my face. But it would not deter me.

“Mate.” I taunted her, leaning forward and saying it with a giant smile on my face.

Her spear actually thrust forward, but I dodged it, grabbing it and pinning it to the wall so I could get my words out.

“You are my mate. I marked you. Wherever you go, they will see the mark and know you are the dragon king’s mate.” I met her eyes, daring her to challenge it again.

She let out a frustrated scream as she struggled and failed to get the spear out of my grasp. “The fucking demon had me possessed, you stupid horny dragon!”

“Yep. And I’d do it differently if I could. But it happened.” I tried to be reasonable. “I’ve given you time to adjust, but Helena, you and I are bound. This isn’t going away.”

“Find a way to undo it!” Helena dropped her hold on her spear and threw her hands up in the air. “Cut it out or something. How do dragons divorce?”

“We eat the offending spouse.” I stated, keeping a straight face.

That didn’t seem to help. She just glared at me. “You can’t be serious.”

“Yup. Dragon divorces are nasty. Though I understand they rarely happen because once the mark is given, a commitment has been made.” I tried.

“That means you are committed to me? Fine, then quit your harem, and I’ll spread my legs for you like a skank.” Helena was shouting in the hall now.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “That’s not how this works.”

“Then this…” she pointed between the two of us. “Is not how things work, either.”

I paused, not sure how to direct the conversation. She was currently boiling over and clearly stressed.

And all her words and bluster didn’t quite match her actions. While she claimed I’d forced her to come with my family and she avoided actually seeing me, I really hadn’t needed to try very hard to get her to join.

I knew from my time inside her head that she had been used and abused by her mother, the archangel of love. The woman had used her ability to force Helena to love her, using it as punishment more than anything remotely nurturing.

I had seen it all in her soul when I had been forced to enter it in order to beat the demon that had possessed her, the prince of gluttony.

I didn’t egg her on, waiting and giving her a moment to breathe.

“You two are just too cute.” Summer was leaning out a door watching us. “Like a married couple bickering.” She let out a dreamy sigh.

“You— fuc— ugh!” Helena threw her arms in the air before crossing them across her chest. Her face became redder and redder before she turned and stormed away.

I stood in the hallway feeling a little like a fool. “Thanks for the help, I guess. Sorry, I didn’t realize you were in there.”

“No problem.” Summer grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room. “I wasn’t doing anything, and I heard you two yelling. I decided to snoop.”

“A servant walked by and spilled trash on Helena. And apparently, that’s not the first time. I believe they’re doing it on purpose. I may have terrified him a bit.” I assumed Summer might be able to take care of the problem.

Sure enough, she waved away my words and pulled me down onto a couch. “Forget about it. Consider it solved.”

As she pulled me down, she pulled me onto the couch and laid my head in her lap before I realized what was happening.

I lay awkwardly. Summer was a tall, busty woman, and the position made me feel small.

“What are you—“

“Shhhh.” She shushed me and made me lean back against her as she stroked my hair. “You deal with so much. Just let me help you relax a minute. I had really hoped you’d spend a month here relaxing.”

I paused for a moment before deciding to just relax and go with it.

She was an ancient being, and even if I was the dragon king, the motherly attention was nice.

And I had to admit that a small part of me liked it. It had been a while since I had someone treat me like their kid.

“That’s it.” She felt me relax. “Now, you are struggling with Helena, yes?”

I grumbled. “Yeah. She was possessed and then whammied me with her love manipulation. I marked her.”

“She’s not in a place to love.” Summer observed.

“Of course she isn’t. Her mother manipulated her with love. Helena hates the very idea of it.” I sighed. “I hate that she’s not able to enjoy it.”

Summer giggled. “You even sympathize with her when she’s so rude to you. But I do notice that she sticks around. She could run away or refuse to interact with you entirely. I think on some level she wants it.”

“Could have fooled me.” I sighed as Summer ran her finger through my hair and I realized I had sunk comfortably into her lap.

She smiled warmly down at me. “Then why don’t you meet her where she is at?”

“Where’s that?”

“Anger. Fight with her. Let her get it out of her system. Then you can try to talk some sense into her. Maybe even make an arrangement that might not be exactly what you want, but will work for both of you for the time being.” Summer continued to hold me against her soft thighs, and I was feeling boneless as I lay there.

The relaxation was nice as I felt myself nearly melting into the couch.

But that made me pause. Did I feel too relaxed?

“Are you doing something to me?” I tried to sit up, but she held me down easily with one hand.

Only then did I realize just how terrifyingly strong she was at the moment. Even with my dragon strength, I was unable to move against that gentle hand.

“Relax. I am not glamoring you, nor your wives. There is a particular dragon here who is worked up over too many issues that I genuinely wish to see relax. But I thought about it, I won’t lie.”

There was a little twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “I could glamor you into relaxing. You’d lay here for a month and I could comfort you. Honestly, it may be what you need. But I will not. Just to make you more comfortable, I swear I have not glamored you, nor will I glamor you.” She repeated it the third time and a bond snapped between the two of us.

After a moment, I relaxed and laid back down in her lap.

She gave me a brilliant smile. “That’s it. Just relax. Let me comfort you.”

“So, I should fight the grumpy nephilim. Will that really work?” I thought back to my most recent bout with Polydora, picturing something similar.

The beast preened inside my chest, excited about it.

Summer chuckled. “Such lewd thoughts.”

“Can you read minds?”

“No, but you have a particularly easy face to read.” She smiled, and it made her eyes pinch.

“She’s just so frustrating.” I sighed.

“Then frustrate her back. Like I said, meet her where she’s at. Speak her language and then work it out from there.” Summer sighed and shook her head. “She really is a silly girl.”

“She’s not a girl.”

“Oh, to me they all are.” Summer smiled with a secret that I knew I wasn’t going to pry out of her.

I had no concept of how old she was, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know.

“We could talk about Maeve too, if you wish. I do hope to see you unite with some fae while you are here after your trip. We are such wonderful lovers.” Summer suggested.

“I only lay with my mates.” I grumbled back.

She clicked her tongue. “Such a silly rule. I have an entire grove of nymphs waiting to pull you amongst them and show you the wonders of a fae woman. Are we not attractive?” She ran a hand down her curves.

“Summer.” I rolled my eyes.

She only laughed, enjoying teasing me. “You know, if I were Helena, I’d just let you fuck the grump out of me. Works most of the time.”

Suddenly, laying on her lap felt a little uncomfortable. “Maybe I should go and talk to Maeve about the trip.”

Summer pouted. “You don’t want to relax a little with me?”

I shook my head, feeling like it was time to get some separation from the powerful fae. “The talk was wonderful, but I need to find Maeve. She probably wants to get things rolling for the trip. Getting her mother back is important.”

I tried to remember not to thank Summer, suddenly worried that if she managed to get three out of me, I might end up in said grove full of nymphs.

After experiencing Evelyn several times, I wasn’t sure that a few dozen would be within my ability to resist.

Summer lifted her hands off me. “Fine. I won’t stop you. But if you need an ear or a lap to lie on, feel free to come find me anytime. And stop worrying. I am just teasing about the nymphs; there is no grove of them waiting.”

Chuckling awkwardly, I moved to leave. “Will do.” I blurted as I darted into the hallway.

As I got out of the room, the door disappeared and I shook my head, trying to remember if it was there when I started my argument with Helena.

Summer’s advice wasn’t awful. If Helena wanted to fight, then I was happy to work things through that way. Maybe that would get us to a new understanding.

Wandering down the hall, I tried to think through where I might find Maeve. The place could be a little like a maze, but I’d figured out most of it. I made my way around a courtyard as Trina came rushing down the hall in my direction.

“There you are!” She grabbed me and pulled me quickly into a nearby room. “We need to talk.”

Dao 4 is out! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLTF3WRH