To Wed A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 2) (10 page)

Julia blinked at her. With
each blink, her eyes filled until finally the tears spilled
unstoppably down her face.

“Oh Nora!” Julia
broke down completely. She clung to Nora and cried bitterly into her
shoulder. “I never got to tell my parents how much I love
them...I wanted to tell them at my wedding, but now...”

Nora simply held her and wept
quietly with her. There were no words. Tears spoke louder and more
truthfully than words.

Mario stood beside them,
silently holding out a box of tissues. Finally, the two women dried
each other's tears and blew their noses noisily.

“God, I needed that,”
Julia said, dabbing at her eyes. She stared at Nora's blouse and let
out a strangled laugh. “I think I left tears and snot on your
sleeve. Sorry...”

“Nothing to be sorry
for,” Nora said firmly.

Mario steered them to the
table and began to pull out cups and spoons. He made three cups of
instant coffee and pushed the hot, steaming mugs in front of them.

“Have a muffin?”
he offered, but there was a note of pleading in his voice.

“I think I will, thank
you,” Nora said immediately. She always had her partner's
back.

When she grabbed a muffin
from the pile, Mario said, “Take two, or three!”

Nora obliged and snagged
another one.

“We've been having
muffins for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Mario muttered. “But
they're the best muffins ever,” he added hurriedly.

Nora nodded and ate in
silence. She could see that Julia needed to talk, but she would talk
when she was ready.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

Julia sipped her coffee and
took a long, steadying breath. Her voice was calm and monotonous
when she said, “The police said that there's been a spate of
violent home invasions in the neighborhood. My parents were just
unlucky. Those robbers...”

Nora shook her head angrily.
“They're not robbers.”

They are bloody murder
er
s!

Nora wasn't sure if she said
the last sentence out loud. She was watching Julia. And Julia's
reaction told her the whole truth.

In the space of just a few
seconds, the blinkers dropped from Nora's eyes. And the coffee cup
very nearly dropped from her hands as well.

Nora saw Julia jerk and turn
towards Mario. And she caught the shock and accusation in Julia's
eyes.

Mario didn't speak but his
lips formed the words:
I didn't tell her.

Nora stared at the couple
sitting opposite her for a long moment.

Something Edriq said to her
surfaced in her mind:
Many Dracans have found human mates and
settled into simple, peaceful, productive lives. Some of the people
you work with may be Dracans, or descendants of Dracans.

“Your parents...were
killed by Slayors,” Nora said slowly.

Both Julia and Mario froze in
their seats.

Finally, Mario swallowed and
asked, “Are you...a...a...”

“No. I'm not a Dracan.
But—my mate is.”

“Your...what?”
Mario spluttered.

Nora smiled. “Edriq.”

“Edriq Haeken?”
Mario reached over and punched her arm. Hard. “You
have
been holding out on me!”

“Ouch!” Nora
rubbed her arm and punched him back. “So have you! I've been
working with a dragon the whole time and...”

“I'm not a dragon,”
Mario protested. “My mom's a Dracan, but my dad's human. Even
Grandma said she's forgotten how to shift.”

Julia held up a hand. “Wait,
wait, wait. Did you just say that Edriq...the same Edriq...the
warrior who saved us?” She pointed two fingers at Nora and
gaped. “He...you...mates! Oh my God! Edriq is your mate!”

Nora could feel herself
blushing as she nodded.

“When did this happen?”
Even though her eyes were still red and swollen, Julia burst into
happy laughter. “Oh, gosh, Nora! Why didn't you tell us?”

“It took me by
surprise,” Nora held up both hands as Mario and Julia planted
their hands on their hips and mock glared at her. “I never
expected...”

“When we went to the
FabFit gym to attend to that guy who fell off the treadmill, was that
before or after you and Edriq...” Mario narrowed his eyes at
her.

Nora choked on her coffee.
“I only just met him the night before.”

“That doesn't answer my
question.”

“Mario!” Julia
elbowed him. She faced Nora and said softly, “So you know
about...us.”

“Yes.” Nora's
eyes darted between Mario and Julia. “Did you know...”
she began tentatively.

Julia shook her head. “I
didn't tell him. And he didn't tell me.”

Mario took his fiancee's
hands in his. “I guess my mom was like Julia's dad. She told
me only half the story. Our parents never told us the truth,
but—their intentions were good. They wanted us to start a new
life and live our own lives, unburdened by our violent past and
history. My mom did caution me not to tell anyone what I was. She
said people wouldn't understand and humans were afraid of what they
didn't understand. And when people were afraid, they hurt you.”

Julia nodded and closed her
eyes. When she opened them again, they were shining with fresh
tears. “I guess tragedy sometimes brings people closer,”
she whispered. “My parents' murder forced the truth out of us.
I couldn't keep this from Mario. His life could be in danger. I
just told Mario everything and asked if he still wanted to marry me.
I thought he was going to freak out and start packing right away when
I told him about the snakes and the Slayors. But...he said he knew
what I was talking about. Because he's like me.”

Mario and Julia shared a
tender, lingering kiss and Nora glanced away to let them have their
moment of privacy. She sometimes teased them about their public
displays of affection, but affection was what was needed at a time
like this.

“How are your sisters
doing?” she asked Julia quietly.

“They're usually in
their room. We have a spare bedroom so that's their room now. Once
everything is over, I'll be selling my parents' house. I don't think
I can bear...” Julia's voice faltered before she pulled
herself together by sheer force of will. She was determined to stay
strong for her sisters. She wanted them to know that although they
had lost their parents, they still had her. She would be their rock.
And Mario would be hers.

Nora reached out and placed
her hands over the couple's joined hands. “We're all going to
be all right. Edriq and his brothers will protect us, and they'll
fight the Slayors. We'll take care of each other and we will live.
Not in fear. Not in darkness. But in light and hope. Humans,
Dracans, we're in this together.”

Mario grinned at her. “Nora
Garcia, mate of a weredragon warrior.”

“Mario Lewis,”
she mimicked him. “Dracan paramedic.”

“Nope,” he
corrected her. “Human paramedic. I can't shift, I can't speak
Dracan, I don't know anything about Draca. I was born here, and I
went to school with human kids. There's no dragon in me, there's
really nothing Dracan about me at all. I might have Dracan ancestry,
but I'm human. I am, and I know it.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Nora left Mario and Julia's
place just after dinner. They insisted she stay for dinner, and
Julia's sisters helped her prepare a big tray of lasagne.

Cooking was good for the
soul. The three sisters spoke softly as they worked in the kitchen
but Nora could see that being busy and being together helped take
away the harsh edges of their grief.

Mario insisted that having a
guest for dinner helped too. It showed the girls that they were not
alone and life went on. They had been excused from school for a week
and Julia wouldn't let them miss school for longer than that. She
was a very responsible, loving big sister. Mario was close to the
girls too, and Nora knew he would be a great husband and
brother-in-law.

Nora stuffed her hands in her
pockets and walked on, thinking about Julia and her sisters. She'd
told Mario that she would call Edriq to fetch her home, but she
changed her mind.

She was near the main road
and she could easily grab a cab. She would be home in a jiffy.
There was no need for Edriq to be chauffeuring her around when he had
his hands full.

Lost in thought, she made a
wrong turn and didn't realize it until a good ten minutes later. The
buzz of her phone made her look up and frown at the unfamiliar
buildings. “Shit,” she muttered before answering her
phone. “Hi, Mario.”

“Hey, just wanted to
check you got home safe,” Mario said.

“Well, I...”

“You're not home?
Where are you?” Mario asked worriedly.

“I walked the wrong
way. Silly me.” Nora let out a nervous laugh. She heard
Julia's voice in the background. “Ask her where she is.”

“Where are you now,
Nora? Give me the street name,” Mario said.

“Er...Marshall Lane,”
Nora read off the nearest sign.

“What? How did you...”

“I think I took a wrong
turn...”

“That's several wrong
turns.” She could picture Mario shaking his head. “Didn't
you call Edriq? Where...”

“Relax. It's really
easy and much faster to just grab a cab. Tell Julia not to worry.
Okay, I think I see a cop coming down the street. I'm perfectly
safe. I'll get the nice policeman to walk me back to the main road,
okay?” She promised to call once she got home and clicked off
before Mario and Julia could nag at her.

The police officer came
nearer and when the light from the street lamp fell on his face, Nora
gave a start of recognition.

“Officer Smith!”
she gasped.

The policeman gave a curt nod
as he walked towards her. Nora wondered why the officer would need
to wear shades at night. Surely the street lamps weren't that
glaring.

“Good evening,
officer,” she said pleasantly. “I...”

“It's you, Miss Garcia.
You want to complain about snakes or rats in the alleys again?”
Officer Smith said tiredly.

“No, no,” Nora
attempted a laugh. “Of course not. I was...just stressed that
night. Sorry about that.”

“Hmm.”

“It's a bit quiet
around here, so...”

“So you're afraid
you'll run into snakes,” he deadpanned.

Nora waved a hand. “No,
that's just silly. There are no snakes. I was going to ask if
you'll wait with me until I get into a cab. Just so...”

“Just so the snakes
don't get you.”

Nora resisted the urge to
roll her eyes. Officer Smith just wasn't going to let it go, was he?

“Look, I'm sorry I
wasted your time that night,” Nora said, barely managing to
keep a lid on her temper.

“You are sorry?”
He stepped into the light and yanked off his shades. Nora stumbled
back a step.

“What happened to...to
your...”

“My eye,” Officer
Smith spat. “That's right. You can't bring yourself to look
me in the eye. Because there is no eye!”

CHAPTER
THIRTY

Nora shook her head in mute
horror. Officer Smith's left eye was nothing but...red. What was
supposed to be the white of his eye was blood red and there was no
iris, no pupil, nothing. Nothing but an angry, pulsing, blank mass
of red.

“This is what they did
to me,” Officer Smith snarled, stalking towards her.

“T-they?”

“The snakes.”

“I thought...you didn't
believe...” she stammered uncomprehendingly.

“Doesn't matter what I
believe,” Officer Smith sneered. “It's what they
believe.”

Nora gulped and instinctively
reached for the pepper spray in her bag. She hated to use it on a
police officer who had only one eye left, but—she would if she
had to.

“What do you mean?”
Nora said, glad that her voice sounded much calmer than she felt.

“That little old lady
got away, due to your meddling,” Officer Smith said. “I
deliberately took another route with my partner that night. So I
wouldn't be in their way. But you—you had to drag me there.”

Nora's frown deepened. “You
knew what was happening...”

“Of course I knew.
They paid me, in gold. Gold!” Officer Smith let out a
demented laugh. “Who would pay me in gold? Not the city, not
the people! I work my ass off to serve and protect the city, but
what do I get? A shitload of debt, that's what!” He smiled
humorlessly. “The Slayors though, they're good paymasters.
They pay upfront—in gold. Even before the job is done.”

Nora stared at the policeman
in disbelief. “Gold...”

“Yeah. They have bags
of it. Just picked it off the ground where they came from.”