Nightfall (Nightmare Dragons Book 2) Read online

  “I told Benny you’re available,” he said softly.

  She had been drinking from a water bottle but, at his words, spit the water right out. She wiped her mouth as she stared at him. “What?”

  “I told him you’re free to date. He’s a good guy. I checked his past.”

  “Maybe I don’t want him. Look, Dare, you might not want me, but you don’t need to hand me to anyone else.”

  I want you so badly I can’t think straight. But I’m not the one you should want.

  She put the cap on her water bottle and tossed it back into her clutch. “You aren’t letting me help you to the finish line, so I release you from your end of the bargain. It’s fine.”

  She was hurting, and with every aching, hopeful, stupid part of his newly awakened soul, he wanted to comfort her, wanted to take her in his arms and tell her she was his and it would be okay.

  But that would be selfish, and Dare had been that way his whole life. Of course he would want her, to hold in the darkness.

  To read while she worked at the library. To protect her with every step she took. To laugh with her as she grew older, even if he couldn’t come along.

  But what would it be like for her?

  Living with a monster who ate her kind. Helping him keep secrets. Risking her life, because who knew what was really inside him? He couldn’t afford to take the same risk with her that Nathan was taking with Lillian.

  He had to let her go.

  “Sasha, I marked you a few times. Don’t make it more than that.”

  She gasped at that and put a hand over her chest, rubbing as though he’d literally hurt her heart. She stared at him blankly, letting his words settle in. “I really do have the worst taste in men, don’t I?”

  “You really do.”

  “I loved you,” she spat at him as if she were throwing a weapon.

  “You shouldn’t have,” he said quietly. I love you, too.

  “So that’s it, then?” she asked, straightening and pulling herself together. “That’s all you’re going to say?”

  “I guess so.” The part of him that had woken up just being with her was roaring in pain, feeling like it was going to die.

  Maybe it was better if it did.

  Sasha seemed incredibly tired as she looked over at him, then stood slowly and walked to the door, holding it open. “Then I guess there’s nothing more to say.”

  “I guess not,” Dare said, standing reluctantly. He had nothing more to tell her, but somehow, he still didn’t want to go.

  “Dare,” Sasha said. “Right now I just need you to go.”

  So he did, letting her close the door behind him as he stepped into the cold night. He knew she’d be crying up there alone in her apartment, but he knew everything would be better this way.

  She’d be safe and apart from whatever the oracle did to him and safe from the darkness he would share for the rest of his life, safe from the monster inside him.

  And he could go back to being empty.

  He’d known it was stupid to hope.

  Sasha wiped tears away as she wondered what she should do now.

  It wasn’t being alone. She was used to that. Sure, she liked hanging out with Lillian, but she’d chosen a job as a librarian because she liked silence and solace the most.

  She looked around her quiet bedroom, thinking how much smaller and warmer it had seemed with Dare in it.

  For just a few days, she had seemed to live in a fairy tale.

  It was the ending she hadn’t gotten.

  She supposed her life wouldn’t be so awful from here on out. She’d wake up tomorrow, make coffee, go to work.

  Everything would go back to normal.

  Except it wouldn’t, because normal used to be fine. Now it wasn’t anymore.

  She sighed as she flopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering what to do with the rest of her night.

  To her surprise, her phone buzzed. For a second, her heart sped in excitement as she thought it might be Dare, but seeing it was an unknown number, she ignored it.

  A voicemail was left, signaled by a small ding.

  She groaned as she rolled over to play it.

  “Sasha, it’s Benny. Call me back when you get this message.”

  Oh God, it was because Dare had tried to set them up.

  She called him back. Why not?

  He answered immediately.

  “Sasha, thanks for returning my call. Listen, about what Dare said…”

  She bit her lip. “I’m not into you, Benny. Sorry.”

  There was a pause on the other end for a moment. “You’re into Dare.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know he was trying to hook me up with you, but that’s not why I called.”

  “Why’d you call, then? I thought the two of you got everything set up. Dare doesn’t need me anymore, and more than that, he doesn’t want me there.”

  “I wouldn’t say that just yet,” Benny said. “Dare is… confusing. It’s hard for me to figure him out.”

  “I see.”

  “But I do know he’s miserable. You know, in all the time he’s been working, I’ve never seen him with anyone else? No girls. No friends. No nothing. You’re the first.”

  “Great.”

  “No, I mean it. I think there is something between you. He’s happier when you’re around.”

  “I thought so.”

  Another pause. “Don’t give up on him. Not yet.”

  Sasha sighed, sitting up on the bed reluctantly. “I don’t have a choice. I have to.”

  “This meeting with his creator is messing with him. I think he’s afraid to have you around. I think he’s afraid of a lot of things. Listen, you don’t have to come to the meeting, but why don’t you come to the club and hang out?”

  “He doesn’t want me there.”

  “He doesn’t own it,” Benny retorted.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I’ve heard that before.” There was a smile in his voice. “So how about it? Willing to give it another shot?”

  “What do you mean another shot? Like stalking him?”

  “No,” Benny said. “But not playing by his rules this time. Showing up whether he wants you there or not.”

  She had to think about that.

  “Listen, I guess I know how he feels a bit. He’s not the first shifter to think he was too much for a human girl. But that doesn’t change how he feels about you. I’ve seen it in his eyes. That’s mate bond right there.”

  She wanted to believe that. That the thing that had been pulling them together ever since that day in the library really meant something after all.

  But after what Dare had said to her, she wasn’t sure she could put herself out there.

  “It doesn’t matter if it’s a mate bond if he doesn’t want to keep it,” Sasha said quietly.

  “I know,” Benny said. “But you are a part of this, so just come. Drink or hang out on the dance floor, but come.”

  She exhaled, not knowing what to say to him. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll have someone watch out for you. Lock maybe, since he doesn’t want to be in the meeting with the oracle.”

  “But… Dare said we were done.”

  “Dare thinks he’s done. But all of us can be stupid sometimes. And that’s when we need people to stand up for us, not cut and run.”

  She wasn’t cutting and running. She was just accepting things as Dare had laid them out. And damn if she wasn’t tired of it. Sitting back, being passive, letting everyone else decide how things went.

  “I’ll at least think about it, Benny. What time is the meeting?”

  Dare didn’t get to make decisions for her anymore.

  Chapter 21

  The next night, Dare met with the others in the backroom at the appropriate time.

  He looked at the clock on the wall nervously, wondering when their mysterious visitor would appear.

 
Lead was seated on one side of the table, along with two of his friends.

  One was an unfriendly, gray-haired dragon named Mercury. He had a constant scowl and his arm was curled possessively around Marina, the female dragon next to him who had long blond hair.

  Dare wondered how their forms looked compared to his, wondered how much of him was actually dragon.

  “When is she coming?” Mercury asked impatiently. “I don’t even know why we’re here.”

  “I’m here to keep up the lines of communication,” Marina said gently. “And to help with the portals if something goes wrong. You know the oracle is tired right now.”

  Mercury sat back with a huff. “Trying to do too many things. Dealing with this creep who doesn’t smell like us is one thing too much.” He narrowed his eyes on Dare. “You say you’re a dragon?”

  Dare just shrugged. He didn’t have to care what these people thought of him much longer.

  “I don’t know about that,” Mercury said darkly as Marina put her arm around him, clearly trying to calm him.

  “Hush, Mercury. It isn’t up to us,” Lead said steadily. “It’s up to the oracle.”

  Dare resisted the urge to scowl at just hearing her name. She was the one who’d made him like this. Made it so he couldn’t have a mate.

  If he’d been born a normal dragon, like these guys, maybe he could have had a mate and a happy life.

  Harley, the redheaded human who seemed to be carrying a torch for Benny, was sitting next to him and staring curiously at him right now.

  “What?” He looked at her tersely. “What are you looking at?”

  “You seem grumpy. Where’s your friend.”

  “You mean Sasha? She couldn’t be here right now.”

  Max leaned back in his chair, making it creak. “That’s odd. I just saw her out there in the club.”

  Dare sat up abruptly. What the hell was she doing here? He turned to Benny. “Did you know about this?”

  “Sasha is her own person,” Benny said calmly. “She has as much right to come in the club as anyone else. It’s not shifter-only right now.”

  Dare glared at the table as if it had offended him, resisting the urge to go out and see if Sasha really was there. So she was wanting to catch a shifter now, was she? Well, he’d be out to check in on her as soon as they were done here.

  Marina stood abruptly, touching a small chain around her neck. “Are we ready? I can open the portal.”

  “Sure,” Dare said, feeling like his ledger was burning a hole in his shirt pocket. “Bring it on.”

  Marina gave him a puzzled look and then waved a hand in front of her as she walked to the empty space at the head of the table.

  Dare watched in disbelief as a giant blue portal appeared, swirling with light, looking like something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

  And then there was a woman stepping through it.

  Dare steeled himself, ready to meet the woman who’d ruined him, and then froze when he saw who stepped out of the portal into the room.

  It wasn’t her. It wasn’t Irial.

  His eyes widened in confusion. If it was her, she was nothing like he remembered. For one thing, this woman had kind, misty eyes, unlike the cruel ones he remembered. This woman was also shorter and plump. Everything about her looked gentle, even as magic seemed to crackle the air around her.

  Just what the hell was going on?

  There was something familiar about her, but he couldn’t put a finger on what.

  “I can see you don’t recognize me,” the woman said, stepping forward. “But I know who you are.”

  She was old, but she was ageless, and curiosity twinkled in her misty purple eyes. Her hair was white, piled on top of her head, and she wore spectacles that rested on her nose, not really covering her gaze.

  “How?”

  Marina pulled out a chair and the “oracle,” whoever she was, sat down on it with a huff.

  “My sister’s journals. And notes. After Lead contacted me saying someone was mad at an oracle, it didn’t take long to figure out.”

  “Are there more than the two of you?” Dare asked carefully.

  She shook her head. “No. And I’m afraid all of this is my fault.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Irial, my sister, would have come back for you. I caught her and froze her years back. I’m afraid I can’t do anything about that. She’s too dangerous to bring back into the world.”

  Dare stared forward blankly, suddenly seeing nothing at all. He was not going to meet the woman who made him. He was not going to figure everything out.

  An odd sort of grief waved over him. How would he know what he was made of? How would he know what intention was made for their return? How would he know how he was supposed to live his life now that everything was different?

  Everything was lost.

  The oracle looked at him gently. “It’s not all lost.”

  “You read minds, then?” Dare asked.

  “Me and some dragons,” the oracle said. “Not all of them, though.”

  “How do you know it was your sister?”

  “Because Irial has always been one to have labs. Always pushing the boundaries, always doing things that show a complete lack of empathy.” The oracle narrowed her eyes. “I’m surprised she didn’t have you destroyed. She had to know if anyone found you, she would be in huge trouble.”

  Dare didn’t know what to make of that. “She took pains to make sure we hid.”

  “I read about that, too,” the oracle said. “Can I see the ledger?”

  Figuring there was no harm in it now, Dare handed it over, a vague sense of numbness covering his entire body.

  “I see,” the oracle said. “So much red.” She cocked her head. “How do you feel about how you’ve performed?”

  “I… I don’t know. I’ve done my best, I suppose. Does it matter?” Dare responded.

  “I would think so,” the oracle said. “I don’t know much about you and your brothers. Only what I’ve seen from her notes. And a few drawings.” She looked deep in thought for a moment. “I’m curious to see your true form.”

  Dare tensed at that, not wanting to be on display as a freak show.

  “I understand,” the oracle said. “Some other time.” Her eyes fell on Harley, and she smiled lightly. “I see you’ve found the loophole that Irial also suspected.”

  Dare looked at Harley in confusion, then back at the oracle. “What?”

  “That a mate can prevent a transformation. Her theory was that perhaps it would draw out the dragon and give more control over the other elements inside.”

  And now Dare would never know what those elements were. But wait…

  “What do you mean mate? Won’t it just work with any human woman?”

  The oracle shook her head firmly. “No, only a mate. It won’t work with just anyone.” She looked at Harley apologetically. “Sorry, dear, sometimes men can be so stupid.”

  Harley sat back, looking aghast, and put both hands up, shaking her head. “I’m not with him.”

  The oracle studied both Dare and Harley quizzically and then frowned as she looked at a nearby clock. “Oh dear. Then we had better talk quickly.”

  Dare felt sweat bead on his forehead as his heart started to pound. Ten minutes to midnight, and according to this woman, without Sasha, he was going to transform?

  The first woman he’d asked to test his theory with him had just happened to be his mate? What were the chances of that?

  Or was it simply that he’d been drawn to her from the moment he met her, and that was the reason he’d been willing to go to her in the first place?

  He tightened his fists. Things were confusing and painful and…

  Only one thought really remained.

  He hadn’t transformed around Sasha, so didn’t that make her his mate? And did that matter when he was only part dragon?

  “It’s not what we are. It’s what we do with it,” the oracle murmured, walki
ng over to put a hand on his shoulder. “I looked in on your brother. He is mated and seems to be happy. I still need to do a lot of research into who you are, but for now, I would say mostly dragon.”

  Dare looked at her blankly. “You haven’t seen my true form.” He looked around the room. “None of you have.”

  “I would like to,” the oracle said. “Is there room here?”

  He looked at the vaulted ceiling and large, sturdy joists. “Maybe.” Though no one would want to see it.

  The oracle turned him to look into her eyes. “I sense so much darkness in you.”

  Maybe because he’d been eating it.

  “So much pain.”

  Maybe because he’d been feeling it.

  “Don’t give up,” the oracle said. “I won’t allow it. I know what my sister did was wrong, but you exist now, and you have done some good things. Some awful but some good. Like all of us.”

  But most of them hadn’t eaten humans.

  “You did what you did to survive, and we can figure things out now. You have powers no one else understands, and they help you do what you do. We can still find a place for you in our world. If you are willing.”

  Lead stood, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sorry, but I don’t understand. Is he actually a dragon?”

  “Not quite,” the oracle said. “His blood has been mixed with… something.”

  “I’ve killed so many,” Dare said.

  “I know.” The oracle smiled at him. “But I just don’t get the feeling that you are bad, and I tend to think I’m good at reading this kind of thing.”

  Dare felt the eyes of the entire room on him. It was everything he feared. Exposure. Staring. Soon would come the disgust and the hate.

  “You’re a depressed one, aren’t you?” The oracle shook her head at him.

  “Not usually,” he said. Only when he’d just had to give up the one woman who might be his mate.

  “That makes sense,” the oracle said, clearly reading his mind again. “Giving up a mate would be agony, no matter what you are.”

  Benny stood abruptly. “That’s right. He did do that. She’s outside now.”

  Dare had a hard time not jolting at the reminder that Sasha was just outside. Perhaps he could make everything right. Perhaps he’d never know what he was, but with some help, maybe he could just move on now.