He frowned, confused. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” My gaze drifted to the stormy weather. “I’m just drawn to it somehow...just like I was to the tapestries. I suppose it speaks to my inner beast? I’m not sure.”
“’Twould make sense as dragons tend to be drawn to such.” He considered me before nodding once and holding out his elbow to me again. “As long as you remain in my company and under my protection, I will honor your condition.”
“Then I’d be delighted to dine with you, Broderick.” I slipped my arm into his, once again overly aware of his warmth and strength. The sheer size of him.
“So tell me what just happened, including how you got through a locked door to begin with,” he said, locking the door behind us with a chant before leading me down yet another unfamiliar corridor. “And I will tell you what led me to you.”
Whatledhim to me? How curious. I could only imagine in this unusual castle.
“The door wasn’t locked,” I replied. “In fact, it was open, and that worried me because kids had been playing in the hallway.”
“It wasopen?” he said gruffly, clearly not liking the sound of that.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “While the kids were likely shifters, I still felt at their age, the weather had to be too dangerous to fly in.”
“’Twouldhave been,” he agreed, frowning. “What happened then?”
“I saw the dragon.” I shivered at the memory of how real it had looked. How ferocious.
Howmagnificent.
“Whether an illusion or not, it seemed incredibly real and definitely not friendly.” I shook my head. “That’s where things get a little hazy. Not that I’m a coward, but I nearly ran to let someone know the castle was under attack because what do I know aboutfighting off a dragon? Especially such a big one. But then, something changed inside me, and I saw red. It’s a bit of a blur after that. All I recall is getting enraged at it for thinking it could snag up the kids who had wandered too close, and that was it.”
“What was it?”
“I...or whatever was surfacing in me, wasn’t going to stand for it, so I’m fairly certain I raced right at it, determined to stop it from hurting anyone.” I shrugged again. “Like I said, it was all a bit of a blur until you pulled me back.”
He stopped and looked at me incredulously. “You thought tostopit from attacking? Truly?”
I nodded, confused by his reaction. “I take it that’s not normal?”
“’Tis an illusion created by one of my dragon ancestors and powerful indeed,” he revealed, looking at me in a whole new way. “’Twould have been incredibly brave for a fully grown male dragon to face off with that illusion if it didn’t know better, never mind a twenty-first-century female who had never embraced her inner beast. It speaks to a verra courageous and protective nature.”
I blushed under his praise because even though I tried to be both of those things as a rule, he made it sound like I was a rarity. Special, somehow.
“Because you are,” he said softly, surprising me when he clearly caught my thoughts. Something I learned dragons could do the closer they got to other dragons or even those without dragon blood who possessed magic.
“And I would say my ancestral magic wanted me to know how special you are,” he went on. “Allof us to know. Most especially your inner beast so she might make her way to the surface and do what comes naturally to her.”
“Protect?”
“At the verra least, as ‘twas a spell of protection,” he said as we resumed walking.
“So what if you hadn’t come along?” I wondered. “Seems like I wouldn’t have lived to pass the test.”
“I tend to think your inner witch saw to that side of things.” We went down hall after hall, and he told me how my ghost had led him to me. “You wore a red dress, just as you did in a vision I had before your arrival.”
I stopped short. “Seriously?”
“Aye.” He cocked his head. “I take it that means something to you?”
“My father requested I wear a red dress to his funeral.” I eyed my tattoo and tried to make sense of all the odd coincidences. “And now it’s the same color as the gem and these dragon wings.” I looked at him again. “Do you think it’s all connected somehow?”
“I would say so.” We continued walking before he led me up a set of stairs. “And I dinnae doubt we will soon learn how.” His gaze grew serious. “I’m sorry for the loss of your father, lass. That could not have been easy.”
“Easier than you might imagine,” I muttered, flinching when I realized how callous that sounded. “My father left when I was young, so we’ve never been close.”
