Claimed by the Barbarian Dragon (Crystals Curves and Castles Book 1) Read online

  Claimed by the Barbarian Dragon

  Terry Bolryder

  Copyright © 2022 by Terry Bolryder

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover art by Clarissa Yeo at www.yocladesigns.com

  Disclaimer:

  This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Sample of The Demon’s Pet

  Alternate cover for Claimed by the Barbarian Dragon

  Also by Terry Bolryder

  1

  Mara Nelson stared out the window of her crystal shop, pondering how much things had changed since shifters had come out into the world.

  At her door, her beautiful wind chimes with their hanging, sparkling crystals were catching the evening light and throwing it in beautiful rainbows around the shop.

  And out on the street, two men were arguing in a way that made her distinctly nervous.

  Mara had read shifter novels all her life, so it had been different for her when shifters were revealed to the world.

  Every time she saw an extra-tall, extra-built man, she had to wonder if they truly were one of the magical beings who could take the form of both creature and man.

  And the ones she’d thought she’d pegged as shifters tended to slide their eyes over her in silent, burning admiration, despite her attempts to hustle down the sidewalk past them.

  A few of the people in her shop also paused to watch the argument, but luckily, after a few chest pokes and shouted arguments, the two men turned in different directions and left, making Mara let out a sigh.

  A woman with red hair, wary green eyes, and a tired expression brought a small girl who was presumably her daughter to the front to check out, bringing with her a few rose quartz tumbled stones and a mystery grab bag.

  Mara took them from her with a smile to ring up the order and looked down to see that the little girl, who couldn’t have been more than five, was holding a small crystal crown that wound in and clipped crystals at the side of the face.

  The little girl stood on tiptoes to put it on the counter and smiled up at Mara. “This too, please.”

  Mara smiled back at the girl’s sweet politeness but heard the mother sigh and look down apologetically.

  “We can’t get that,” she said. “But look, we have pretty crystals here, like you like.”

  The girl’s eyes went sad for a moment, but then she nodded, and the mom picked up the little crown to put it back.

  Before she could, Mara snatched it lightly out of her hand and put it with the others to ring up.

  She smiled at the little girl, whose eyes were now wide. “We’re running a special. Free gift with purchase.”

  The girl’s face brightened as if she’d been gifted the moon, and Mara felt warm energy beam through her at having given another person happiness.

  Other customers in the store looked over with a smile, also happy with the transaction.

  Who could ever say no to such a cute little kid?

  As the mother rummaged in her purse for payment, thanking Mara eagerly, Mara moved over to the crystals and took each in her hand, silently infusing them with all the good thoughts and energy she could muster.

  Ever since she’d first started selling crystals from a small online store at home and making crystal jewelry, she’d heard from friends and customers that there was a special calming feeling to them.

  She hoped that was true. The world could always use more healing.

  When Mara had rung up the order, she went around the side of the counter to get on her knees to gently place the crown on the little girl’s head. “There you go. You look beautiful. Like a princess.” She smiled.

  The girl threw herself into Mara’s arms, thanking her, and then her grateful mother took her hand and led her out of the shop, promising to be back next payday.

  Mara was just glad she’d been able to help.

  “You have to stop being so softhearted,” another customer said, stepping up, this time one of her regulars.

  Becky was a pretty woman in her fifties with fluffy, soft blond hair to the top of her shoulders and a curvy figure like Mara’s.

  They’d become good friends over the years since Becky came in often to check out new goods, and she really liked the other woman.

  “I can’t,” Mara said. “Did you see her little face?”

  Becky put a hand to her cheek. “Crystals are not a necessity.”

  Another regular customer, Willow, a curvy woman in her thirties like Mara, with gorgeous deep skin, eyes like obsidian flecked with tiger’s eye, and a fashion sense anyone would envy, looked over to join the conversation. “I’m with Becky. You have to make a living.”

  “I do,” Mara said, smiling. “I’m so lucky to do so. How can I not give back?”

  “Crystals aren’t a necessity, you know,” Becky repeated.

  “Yes,” Mara said. “But I don’t know anywhere that crown will be happier than on that little girl’s head.” She shrugged. “You never know what a moment of kindness will mean to a person. I believe in acts of kindness wherever possible.”

  “It’s admirable,” Willow said, shaking her short curls. “It really is. But one day I worry you’re going to be taken advantage of, you’re so kindhearted.”

  “Kind but not stupid,” Mara said. “Did you find anything you like by the way?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Just to piss you off, I’m thinking about doing a fifty percent off sale right now in the store.”

  Becky and Willow both rolled their eyes, but then, since they were both crystal hounds, quickly got moving to put crystals in their carts.

  Mara was happiest when people had her products. She made enough just from her online and wholesale sales to cover her living, and she donated what she could to charity when she had extra.

  But there was something about putting smiles on other people’s faces that she was addicted to, and she didn’t know how to stop.

  When Becky was checking out, holding a gorgeous sodalite sphere she handed over to Mara, she quickly grabbed Mara’s hand, setting down the sphere to do so.

  Her blue eyes widened. “Hon, what is that?”

  Normally, Becky’s eyes were either full of her characteristic frankness or gentle and kind, but right now, they were filled with horror.

  Willow came over imm
ediately to check as well as Mara looked down at her own wrist with a sense of dread, wondering how she hadn’t noticed.

  She supposed she had been distracted with the rush of customers that had left just before the near fight outside.

  There was a mark on her wrist. Dark brown with an odd symbol that looked like a misshaped sun or star. Like a tattoo.

  But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that she could swear it was moving.

  She stepped back from the counter, staring at it, shock ripping through her insides, disbelief making it hard to fathom that this could happen.

  “Hold on, honey, calm down. Let us see,” Willow said.

  “It’s moving!” Mara said, trying to stay calm through the waves of nausea and shock moving through her alternately.

  “Not to me,” Willow said, pulling her hand forward and studying it.

  When Mara looked again, she saw that Willow was right. It wasn’t moving.

  “Have you seen those fliers around?” Becky asked, looking down at the mark also. “Like, ‘See something paranormal or experience shifter trouble? Call the double dragons.’”

  Willow sighed, leaning her cheek on her hand on the counter and releasing Mara’s hand. “I want to use the number just to see a dragon, but a friend of mine tried that and it didn’t work. I don’t know how they decide whether to come or not.”

  Mara had seen the fliers. But she hadn’t ever thought she would need to call the number…

  She wasn’t even sure what would happen if she did.

  “I’ll grab you one,” Willow said, running outside and disappearing down the sidewalk for a moment. When she came back, she was holding a torn flier and shoved it over the counter to Mara. “There you go. It says you have to be alone to call and get picked up.”

  Mara narrowed her eyes. What she’d read about dragon shifters probably wouldn’t hold true in real life.

  Still, she knew they were some of the most powerful shifter enforcers in the world.

  She looked down at the mark again. It wasn’t moving, but it was definitely something unnatural. Fear moved through her, chilling her blood and making her damp-with-sweat skin feel clammy. “I guess I don’t really have a choice. It doesn’t feel like this is something that happens to humans normally.”

  Becky shook her head. “It looks like some kind of mark. You didn’t get a tattoo, right?”

  “No.”

  “Was anyone weird in here earlier?” Willow asked helpfully. “Someone who might have stamped you or something? Can it wash off?”

  Mara quickly dashed to the bathroom to check, but water and soap did nothing. Her heart was pounding.

  It had been a busy day. Had someone done something while she was working? Maybe it was some new kind of ink.

  But her heart, which was usually at peace, was roiling like a sea on a stormy morning.

  Something was definitely wrong.

  She walked back out into the shop, deciding on her course of action. “I’m calling the dragons. You two will need to leave because it won’t be safe.”

  “We’ll hide behind the counter so they don’t see us,” Willow said stubbornly.

  “Yeah,” Becky said. “You’re our friend and our favorite crystal enabler. There’s no way we’re letting you face this alone.”

  “I’ll just call and see if they know what it is,” Mara said as her friends went to hide behind the counter, and she walked out toward the door of her shop and looked up at the sky curiously.

  She dialed the number on the flier, and a light, feminine voice picked up, much to her surprise. “Double dragon hotline for Dallas. Please tell me your problem.”

  Mara’s eyebrows rose at the woman’s calm and helpfulness, considering she worked for actual fire-breathing, mythical creatures.

  “Your issue?” the voice asked, and this time Mara heard a bit of nervousness. “Sorry, I’m new here, and if you’re talking, I can’t hear you. Maybe this thing is silenced. One sec—”

  “No, I’m here,” Mara blurted out. Until that moment, she hadn’t been certain she should actually go through with this. But the sincerity in the other woman’s tone had won her over. “I… have a mark on my hand.”

  “A mark?” the woman asked. “My name is Serena by the way.”

  There was definitely something calming in Serena’s voice, though it wasn’t her tone, which was still slightly nervous. No, it was more like her voice had a calming, soothing quality to it regardless.

  Almost a bit… magical.

  “Yes, Serena,” she said. “Nice to meet you. Well, call you.” She sighed. “I have this mark on my hand. I know this sounds weird, but it looks like a tattoo, and it moved and—”

  Mara heard rustling like the phone was changing hands and something was brushing against the mic.

  Then she heard a brusque voice on the other side. “What do you mean a tattoo?”

  “Hi, Mara,” Serena’s voice said, sounding far away now. “This is Troy. He can help you further. He’s one of the dragons.”

  “She knows who I am,” Troy muttered. “She called the number on the flier.” He grunted. “Get to the point about this tattoo. We have like five calls on the line about unruly bears and wolves at the moment.” More crackling and a ringing sound in the background. “Serena, can you get that? I can handle this alone.”

  Mara’s throat was tight, and she looked at the others who peeked over the counter to make gestures questioning if things were going okay.

  Mara nodded to reassure them.

  “What does this mark look like? Can you send a picture?”

  Mara gestured for Becky to come over, silenced her phone, and then asked Becky to take a picture and send it to the dragons’ number.

  “You’re not alone,” the dragon said as she heard a ding in the background that probably meant he’d received Becky’s picture. “I’ll show this mark to my specialist and be right back.”

  Odd, off-putting hold music that sounded like it was from the eighties pulsed in her ear while she waited.

  Another crackle and the “dragon” had returned.

  “We’re going to need to do a pickup,” he said. “Your situation might be serious, and we’ll need to take a closer look.”

  “P-pickup?” Mara stuttered. “Wait, I—”

  “You’ll need to be alone,” Troy said.

  “There’s no way I want to be alone,” Mara said. “Why can’t my friends come?”

  “Why should they?” he grunted harshly. “We don’t show ourselves to humans unless necessary. You need to be alone.”

  “I’m not going to be alone with a dragon. What do you mean pickup? Where will you take me? I have work and—”

  “I’m going to send you coordinates to a location, and you have to go there alone, or we won’t take you.”

  “Take me where?” she asked, exasperated and a little afraid. “At least tell me that.”

  “To our mansion to figure out what to do about our problem—”

  “But alone… You’re a dragon. I’m a tiny human—”

  “Lady, if you don’t want our help, don’t waste my time. I’m overloaded with requests as it is, even with two of us and extra help. Our specialist thinks you might be in serious trouble, and we’re the only ones who can help. But if you want to take your chances—”

  Something about his grumpy gruffness made her trust him. “What’s your name again?”

  “Troy,” he said harshly.

  “And you’re really a dragon?” she asked.

  “You’ll see soon,” he retorted. Then the line went dead.

  She hung up, and shortly after, a location she could plug into her map showed up.

  She turned to her friends. “He says I have to come alone.”

  “Like hell,” Willow said along with Becky as they both came out from around the counter.

  “Could you two watch the store for me?” She clutched her phone. “I promise I’ll be in contact. Look, if the dragons were bad, someone
would have said something after calling the number. But the fliers are still up.” She showed her wrist. “He said this was serious, and I can tell he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t want to deal with any more problems, so I doubt he’s making it up.” She straightened. “And hey, good excuse to see a dragon.”

  The others perked up slightly.

  “You’ll have to tell us if the rumors are true,” Becky said, smirking. “You know, about shifters loving curves—”

  “Yesss,” Willow said. “Tell them if they’re looking—”

  “Ha-ha, the last thing I need to do is tell them I’m dragon crazy and I read tons of books romanticizing them.” Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

  But deep down, she felt something rumbling inside her, an excitement overtaking the fear she had felt. Something about Troy’s voice had reassured her.

  And she had always been one to yearn for adventure. But her shop…

  “Give us the keys,” Becky said. “Look, you could hire either of us tomorrow, and you know you could trust us. We’re practically here as much as you.”

  “I know how to work a register,” Willow said. “But still, even if you have to be picked up alone, please call us when you get there safely.”

  “If it’s at all possible, I will,” Mara said. She looked up into the reflection in the glass door in front of her and saw that she was even paler than usual, her dark-red hair pasted around her sweaty face. She looked down at her mark again, then opened her map. “I’m going now, if that’s all right with you.” If there was any way to get this thing off before it moved again, she would really prefer that.

  She followed the map on her phone down to the end of the block where she crossed over to another block and walked down to an abandoned lot.