Platinum (Date-A-Dragon Book 3) Read online

  Now he was angry, here to fight for his family, and Sever couldn’t be more proud. Even if angry or not, Taylor was no match for the clan’s alpha. Sever would have to do something.

  “Stupid lion doesn’t know its place,” John spat out, then swiped a huge paw at Taylor, sending him rolling to the side. Quickly Sever stepped between them, but before he could tell Taylor to make a run for it, the small lion quickly recovered onto its feet, and bolted for the thick shrubs from whence he came.

  “Go after him Jud. Teach him a lesson he’s never gonna forget,” John ordered, standing on his feet as Jud and several other cats made to chase after Taylor.

  That was it. These cats couldn’t be reasoned with. Sever needed to make sure he taught these bastards a lesson they weren’t going to forget.

  Instantly, the energy flowing inside Sever grew outwards, his body shifting into its dragon form, pure platinum everywhere, incorruptible and impenetrable.

  “Holy shit, a D…d…d…” John stuttered as he stared upward.

  “Dragon,” Sever growled.

  He turned to the side and breathed in front of Jud and his group just as they were about to chase after Taylor, and a long sheet of pure metal cascaded upward in front of them, thirty feet high and running for a hundred yards, stopping them completely in their path.

  “Going somewhere?” Sever asked. In anger, Jud whirled around just as Sever swiped one huge claw at the now-tiny cat, sending him flying backward like a toy into a nearby tree.

  Served him right.

  At John’s command a number of the cats leapt in attack trying desperately to gnaw on Sever’s thick metal scales. But it was like trying to cut a tree down with spoons. Useless.

  Effortlessly he tossed them away like so many playthings, and those that were sent packing cowered before him, John at the forefront.

  With a loud beating of his wings, Sever came back on his hind legs, then brought his front legs crashing down into the ground, making the hard earth around his claws fly upwards as the entire earth seemed to shake from the impact, like a miniature earthquake.

  The townspeople a couple miles away were certainly going to feel that.

  Beneath him the cats, despite their impeccable balance, struggled to stay on their feet as the earth rattled and rumbled. Thankfully, their ramshackle homes surrounding the clearing stood steady in spite of the force of it, as dust whirled around them from the disturbed earth.

  And as the dust slowly cleared, Sever stood above them, threatening any who would dare try to resist.

  “Now it’s my turn to make some rules around here,” Sever growled, his voice loud and through the dried trees and bushes, kicking dead leaves up as he spoke. “You’re going to leave Lori and Taylor alone, however long they decide to live here in your sad excuse for a town.”

  John stubbornly protested. “But that’s our land they’re…”

  Sever raised one claw above them, platinum talons razor-sharp and poised. “We can keep arguing about this, if you want.”

  With a few hisses, the cats fled into the bushes, including the clan alpha.

  Sever exhaled as he came back to his human form. Facing the metal wall he’d constructed, he raised a hand and brought it down, forcing it back into the earth.

  The cats would probably spread rumors about a dragon, but who would believe them? Besides, they were so insular, who would they tell?

  He still wanted to convince Lori and Taylor to move out of there.

  He looked around him as he walked back to the tree, watching for any sign of Taylor. Raising his nose to scent the air, he realized the boy was gone.

  Shit.

  Chapter 17

  Lori watched Sever jog over to her, braid swinging behind him, little scratches all over him.

  Her man was a dragon.

  He stopped in front of Lori, his hands on his knees. “Did you see where Taylor went? We’ve gotta find him.”

  “No,” she said. “He darted out into the bushes and just disappeared. What was that metal you shot up to protect him?”

  “Platinum,” he said quickly. “My kind of dragon, we’re all different metals. Mine is platinum. I can tell you more later, but right now we’ve got to find him.”

  “Right,” she said, heart pounding. “Of course. I didn’t know if I should run after him, if it would be safe—”

  “He would never hurt you,” Sever said. “Despite your poor first impression of shifters, most of them only want to protect what they own or love. Even the cats here, in their misguided way, were probably trying to protect themselves from the threat of a much larger, much more powerful species.”

  “So Taylor’s dad was one too?”

  Sever nodded. “I know a little about Pride Island. They are deeply destabilized. Matt probably wanted Taylor safely here while he fought alongside his family on the island.” Sever shook his head. “I misjudged the guy.”

  “Oh, Matt,” Lori said brokenly. “He was always so light-hearted, I could never have known.”

  “We can make it up to him now,” Sever said. “By finding and helping Taylor. By helping him grow into a lion and know more of his history. The oracle, who works with the dragons, has a close connection with the royal family.”

  “Royal?”

  “Lions,” Sever said. “Damn, it’s complicated. Honestly, I’m not the best one to tell you about all of this. I’m not even from the modern world.”

  She put a hand to her temples, rubbing hard as she fought back a frown. “Oh geez. I think it was simpler when I just thought you were a male escort.”

  “I think it’s best you just saw it all with your eyes. Otherwise, I’m not sure you’d believe it.”

  “Me neither,” she said. What she’d seen today had been beyond comprehension. Almost like the love she’d found in Sever’s arms.

  When was she going to tell him about that, exactly?

  Not now, when their first priority was finding Taylor and making sure he was okay.

  “Okay,” Sever said, walking out into the road and looking both ways. “Let me focus and see if I can scent him.”

  “How did you not know he was a shifter sooner?” Lori asked.

  “It’s one of the cat powers,” Sever said. “They aren’t detectable by other shifters. I did sense something off about them, just not the right thing. But Taylor in his lion form has a distinct scent. Give me a minute.”

  She waited as he closed his eyes. Damn, he was gorgeous, standing there in the wind, looking for what was precious to her.

  He looked over at her thoughtfully. “I should tell you now that my ring is gone, it’ll be a lot harder for me to avoid reading your thoughts.”

  “You can read thoughts, too?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “As if you were speaking them, sometimes. I’ll try not to, but you should be warned.”

  “Try not to,” she said with a grin. “A woman needs some privacy.”

  He sighed, shrugging his massive shoulders. “I’ll do my best.” He sent her a look. “Stop thinking sexy thoughts about me.”

  She snorted. “Have you found Taylor yet?”

  “I think so,” he said. “Let’s drive back to the house. I think he went back there. It’s faint, though. I think he has changed back.”

  Lori nodded as Sever came around to help her into the truck. When he was in, they took off, bumping over the road as they focused on their mission.

  Soon, they would hopefully find Taylor, but what would they say when they did?

  Sever pulled up in front of the house and jumped down from the truck, scenting the air around him.

  Lori let herself down, wanting Sever to stay focused on what he was doing. She walked close to him just as he shook his head.

  “I don’t scent him. But I think I know where he is, just the same.” He pointed to a set of paw prints in the dirt, leading toward the back of the house, toward the pond. “Let’s go.”

  They jogged together past the house, and Lori noticed the back
door was open but didn’t stop to do anything about it. They ran through brush until they came to the grove of trees that led to the small pond, which was surrounded by large rocks.

  On one of them, Taylor was sitting, blond hair full of brush and sticks, knees tucked in against his check, arms wrapped around them. He looked like a little ball of pain and angst, and he was shaking.

  She wanted to run forward to him, but Sever put out a hand.

  “Give me a minute,” he said. “Just in case.”

  She didn’t know what Taylor was going through, but she wanted to comfort him. Was this his first shift? Had he known before? What was going on here?

  But Sever was part of this world, he could help Taylor understand it. Just another reason it was incredible that he had been sent to their aid.

  She folded her arms around her and tried not to hold her breath as Sever approached Taylor. The boy started as Sever got closer, eyes slitting, body rigid. He let out something like a hiss.

  Sever put out a hand. “Taylor, it’s me, Sever.”

  Taylor raised his head, and Lori saw that he’d put on some torn clothing. Maybe what he’d been wearing before the shift. It was hanging off his shoulder. “Am I a monster?” he choked out.

  Sever shook his head. “No. I’m the monster, didn’t you see that?”

  “What’s wrong with me?” Taylor asked, voice breaking. “I was so angry, and then the next moment, I felt everything changing. My body felt funny. I could smell things that were far away. I could see differently…” He trailed off. “Then I looked down, and my hands…What’s going on?”

  Sever gestured to a rock. “Can I sit by you?”

  Taylor nodded. “But what’s the point. Aren’t you leaving? How am I going to figure this out?”

  “I do want to leave,” Sever said, and Taylor lowered his head. “But I want to take you and Lori with me. I want us to be a family. Besides, who would be better to teach you?”

  “Teach me what?” Taylor asked glumly. “How to be a monster?”

  “You aren’t a monster,” Sever said.

  “But I’m a cat, like those guys.”

  “A lion,” Sever said. “That’s much different. And it’s not what you are, it’s what you do with it. You know those super hero movies you are always watching?”

  Taylor nodded.

  “Well guess what? Now you have a superpower. You can be a bad guy or a good guy, but you’re going to be better at it. Stronger.”

  “Will my lion get stronger?”

  “Oh yeah,” Sever said. “You’re going to be a hell of a beast.”

  “But not a dragon,” Taylor said.

  “No,” Sever said. “But there are benefits to both. And besides, you’ll have me around for any dragon-related duties.”

  Taylor sighed, then looked up at Sever. “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. But what about Lori? Is she afraid of me?”

  Sever looked over at Lori. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

  Lori stepped forward, unable to stop tears of emotion from welling in her eyes. “Of course I’m not afraid of you,” she said, putting out her arms. Taylor hesitated for a moment and then ran into them, and she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

  For that moment, everything was right with the world.

  “I’m sorry,” Taylor said. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t my father tell me?”

  “I don’t know,” Lori said. “Maybe he thought he could later. Maybe he thought there would be time.”

  Sever walked over to them. “We’ll find out more about what’s going on with Taylor’s family on Pride Island in good time. Right now it’s important that we all get to safety. We all deserve a good home.”

  “But this land,” Lori said. “Taylor loves it.”

  Taylor stuck out his tongue. “I like being with you. I just want a family. But I never liked it here. It always smelled funny.”

  “Cats are territorial,” Sever said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “So where would we go then?” Taylor asked.

  Lori looked at Sever for the answer. He seemed to be the one making decisions, and with how much more knowledge he had, she was willing to go along with it.

  Plus, she was just incredibly in love with this man.

  “I think we should go back to Seattle, stay with my friends, and figure things out from there. We can choose to build a home wherever we want, but at least we could make the decision surrounded by people who will love us. Not this harsh environment.”

  Lori nodded. It felt oddly good to give up. To just embrace a new future, and let go of the hopes and dreams she had tried to plant here.

  They didn’t belong here. Matt had probably thought that out here in the middle of nowhere, Taylor would be safe. Far from danger or anyone finding out he was a shifter.

  He had just been trying to protect his son, and from here on out, she and Sever would do the same.

  She put an arm around Taylor’s shoulders. “Let’s go home and pack, okay?”

  Taylor nodded. As they walked, she heard Sever’s voice in her mind.

  I can talk to you this way as well. One of my abilities.

  She stopped dead in her tracks, and when Taylor looked at her curiously, she tried to act normal, walking forward again. Oh my gosh, don’t do that without warning me.

  How was I supposed to warn you? Anyway, I won’t do it often, just when I have to say something in front of Taylor.

  Okay?

  I know we have to worry about moving, and getting out of here and starting a new life. But I promise, when we get to Seattle, you and I are going to have some alone time. There’s so much more I have to tell you. I promise to make everything right.

  She swallowed and nodded, putting out a hand for Sever to join her on her other side.

  She was nervous about the future, nervous about starting again, and nervous about being the only human in this new world that seemed so foreign.

  But with Sever and Taylor by her side, she would do her best to walk forward without fear.

  Chapter 18

  It turned out that Lori wasn’t the only human involved with Sever’s group of shifters.

  Ella, a kind, sweet woman who was married to Sever’s friend Dante, had been welcoming and helpful in the past few days as they had settled into Dante and Ella’s massive home.

  Sever had casually informed her that he had a great deal of wealth, along with the ability to generate pure platinum, and so they could go anywhere they chose. They had both decided to wait until the oracle, a kind old lady who seemed to be in charge of the dragons, got more details on Taylor’s family.

  Taylor had taken to following Dante around, who was more than happy to regale him with tales of epic dragon victory hundreds of years ago.

  Sever was the quieter type, not apt to brag, so he was happiest just sitting with Lori, watching the others talk, watching Taylor come to accept being part of this new world.

  Speaking of which, she looked over from her seat in the living room to see Sever leaning against the doorway, looking over at her, eyes intense and focused. The most beautiful eyes in the world.

  Careful, mate, or I’m going to be unable to resist claiming you.

  But I thought you already did, with the ring.

  That’s only half of it, Sever replied. The rest involves you, me and a bedroom.

  Dante, who’d been talking avidly to Taylor, stood up abruptly. “Gross, you two. Take it upstairs.” He gestured for Taylor and Ella to follow him as he made to leave the room. “Come on, let’s go outside and practice shifting again.” Dante and Ella had a huge amount of private acreage on which to do so, which worked out well. Just as they were about to go through the door frame, Dante leaned back in and gave Sever a wicked wink before disappearing.

  Sever just laughed and looked over at her, as she let out a little groan.

  “Your friends are really something,” she said, laughing. “Does Dante read my mind as well?”

  “
No,” Sever said. “But he reads mine, since that is how dragons communicate. Since I was being obnoxiously obvious he probably couldn’t help it.”

  “So embarrassing.”

  Sever walked over and reached a hand out for her, and her heart started pounding. She’d been staying with Taylor in a room with two beds, making sure he felt safe in a new home.

  But she had missed sleeping by Sever. He felt like her new home now.

  “Come on,” he said. “Taylor is fine. I trust Dante with my life. Let’s go spend some time together. I need you.”

  She needed him too.

  She walked hand in hand with him up the stairs, down the hallway, to a large bedroom at the very end of it.

  “I was hoping this would be our room together while we stay here. Taylor is old enough to have one of his own.”

  “I agree,” she said softly, looking around the room at the beautiful navy blue and gold furnishings. Elegant. Luxe. Like something in a hotel she could never afford to stay in. As she sat on the bed and looked at the window that looked out on the grounds, her body started to remember all of the delicious things Sever could do to her.

  Her heart started to skip like a stone thrown over water.

  Sever closed the curtains, leaving the room lit only by warm, overhead lights. He walked to the door and locked it as well. Then he came over to sit on the bed with her.

  He brushed her hair back. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  “I know,” she said with a giggle. “You’ve said so, remember?”

  “Well, I’ve been looking up some other words, since I don’t want to be redundant.”

  “Of course not,” she said playfully.

  “Beautiful,” he said, brushing her hair away from her ears so he could lean in and kiss the upper shell of it. “Incredible.” He kissed down her ear to the lobe, caressing it gently with his lips. “Sensual.” He kissed the little spot where her jaw met her neck, and she jumped slightly at the sensitivity of it. “Inimitable.”

  “That’s a good one,” she said, turning to him with an invite in her eyes.