In a Dragon’s Dream by Riley Storm Page 0,49

that…is me coming here that special?” she asked. Laura had thought it was just for trusted people, friends of the dragons according to her grandfather’s journals. But the way Rak was speaking, he made it seem like much more.

“Yes,” he said softly. “It’s very special.”

“Oh. I…I didn’t know.”

Rakell smiled gently. “I know, and I don’t blame you for it.”

Laura took a shaky breath. “I think I need some time to think. About everything. Is there somewhere I can be alone with my thoughts for a bit? Somewhere warmer than out here?” she added, not wanting to be stuck in the cool night.

“Yeah,” Rakell said somewhat dejectedly. “I’ll show you to a room.”

Laura followed him inside, not saying much more. At this point, what more was there to say? She needed to sort out some thoughts, and some feelings.

To figure out where she truly stood, and how she really felt about Rakell, dragons, and everything in between.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Laura

She paced the length of the floor to ceiling windows, staring out at the vast panoramic landscape below. It truly was a remarkable view, so high up, with the valley floor spreading out below them all the way down to Five Peaks. From here, she could see the town bracketed on three sides by the quintet of mountains, as its name suggested.

“Beautiful,” she whispered, the sound filling the empty common room that Rakell had shown her to.

It was late, and at this hour most of the house was asleep, so it was the perfect place for her to brood about everything. Was brooding too strong a word? Maybe, maybe not. Laura wasn’t sure.

That was exactly the problem. She wasn’t sure. About Rakell. About Dragons. Mount Teres. All of it. She wasn’t sure how she felt, and that was what bothered her.

Despite everything that had been written in her grandfather’s journals. Despite all of the detail he’d put into painting the picture of the dragons and what they were like, it didn’t do justice to the reality.

Or maybe it’s because Grandpa didn’t sleep with one of them. And walk around, holding their hand. I have. Things are different.

Different, she knew, didn’t always mean bad, but after twenty years of fantasizing about seeing a dragon and what it would be like, Laura was struggling to come to terms with the fact that she had seen one. In fact, she’d flown on one.

Never in her wildest dreams had she expected that to become a reality!

No, different could be good. Two attempted kidnappings, however, were another story. Was that to be her life from there on out? Forever looking over her shoulder, wondering if the bad guys were coming for her this time? That wasn’t the sort of life she wanted to lead.

But could I give up Rakell to get away from it?

“Why does everything have to be so difficult?” she raged, punching a fist into her open palm.

“Because life wouldn’t be worth living if it were easy,” someone said from behind her. “Who are you?”

Laura turned to see a woman of middling height with strong muscle tone standing at the opening to the common room. She had bright pink hair pulled back in a ponytail, a nose piercing, and an overall attitude of ‘don’t mess with me’.

All she was missing was the leather jacket covered in metal spikes and thick eye makeup and she would be the epitome of a punk rocker chick from the late ‘90s or early ‘00s in Laura’s eyes.

“Um, I’m Laura,” she said, tempering the spike of defiance she felt at the other woman’s blunt questioning, as if she didn’t belong up there.

You don’t belong.

“Who are you?” Laura asked back, burying her own internal voice, not listening to it. She belonged where she wanted to belong!

“I’m Lara,” the woman said. “I live here.”

The last part was said in challenge, as if Laura was supposed to answer with her own reason for being there, so that this woman could see if it was valid or not.

Narrowing her eyes, Laura couldn’t help but wonder if this woman was mocking her by using a name so close to her own, or if it was sheer coincidence.

“Rakell brought me here,” she said, saying it as if that was all the answer the pink-haired woman needed.

Almost immediately the other woman—was she a dragon shifter too? One of those elusive female versions?—softened her expression. The change was too abrupt to be covered up. They both knew it as well.

“You’re joking, right?” Lara asked, leaning against the doorframe, adopting a