Call of the Dragon (Return to Avalore Book 1) (30 page)

“Yes, please.” Anything to be away from his intense scrutiny was a welcome break. “I think I owe them an apology, too.”

Katie came in first, her smile tentative, followed by Chantelle who carried several garment bags. Her heart raced when she saw them. They wanted to look at dresses. Now?

“Feeling better?” Katie braved the question, while Chantelle put the dresses down on the sofa.

“Yeah, I’m better. I’m sorry if I worried you both. It was just too much for me, you know?” She blinked back her tears as a lump formed in her throat again. Before she knew it, she was at the center of their three-person hug, being flooded with warm feminine energy.

Arms still wrapped around her and Chantelle, Katie turned her head and cleared her throat. “Evan, do you think perhaps we could have some girl time—alone? I think it would do us all some good.”

Turning to Rhia, he pierced her with his gaze, the muscles in his jaw ticking as he ground his teeth. “You won’t lock yourself in your room again?”

“I won’t, and we’ll stay in the suite the whole time you’re gone.” She strained to keep from rolling her eyes at him. “You could join Drake out there looking for the gryphon woman.” She knew he was itching to join his men, and didn’t have any qualms using it in her favor.

His gaze held hers for a moment, and then sighing, he capitulated. “I’ll have Sebastian posted just outside. If there are any problems at all, yell for him.” He nodded to the two other women before he left. He was probably giving both Katie and Chantelle instructions not to let her out of their sight, but she didn’t care. She was just happy to be getting a bit of testosterone-free time with the girls.

Once he was gone, Katie’s mischievous grin had her taking a step back with her hands up in front of her. Shaking her head, she laughed. “I can’t leave.” They were going to get her into trouble if she wasn’t careful, and she was already in deep enough as it was. “I just promised I wouldn’t.”

“We wouldn’t dream of taking you from your suite and facing the wrath of Evan or Drake. But we did smuggle a little something in to you.” Katie clapped her hands as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“We
know
why you’ve been so sad. We see the way you look at Drake, and the way he looks at you. Everyone can see it.” Chantelle started rifling through the garment bags as she spoke.

Rhia swallowed hard. She thought she’d kept her feelings pretty well hidden.
Guess not.

“We want to help you. This won’t fix things, but it might relieve the emotions dragging your colors down, if only for a little while.” Katie pulled an iPod from her front jeans pocket and plugged it into a small speaker Chantelle handed her.

“Where on earth did you get an iPod?” She hadn’t heard any familiar music since she’d left New York. She liked the music here. She just didn’t know any of the songs.

“Drake brought it from the lands of men and gave it to me as a gift when he returned from his last mission. Isn’t it wonderful? I’ve listened to the same songs countless times, but I love it.” Katie took three glasses from the tray on the table and came to sit on one of the chairs.

Chantelle pulled a small bottle filled with bright green liquid from one of the garment bags, smiling as though she’d just found a treasure.

“What’s that?” It looked like the antifreeze she’d had to use to fill radiators at a service station where she’d worked a few years back.

Pouring a small amount into each glass and handing her one, Chantelle raised her glass. “This is wister juice.” She smiled as she sniffed its contents. “It’s a mixture of fruit juices found on Olau Mountain. The juice from the wister fruit is bitter, but mixed with the other juices, it’s very tasty.”

“Wister juice, huh? It looks interesting.”

“It’s divine.” Katie grinned. “Just take a tiny sip though. It’ll help you relax and make you less… sad.”

Raising her glass a little higher, Chantelle spoke up. “Here’s to you, Rhia. May you find true happiness in whatever fate has in store for you.”

Pushing her sadness aside, she brought her glass up to clink with her friends’ before swirling the liquid, and bringing it to her lips. Fruity sweetness, smooth as velvet slid over her tongue in a burst of flavor. It was unlike anything she’d ever had before, but Katie was right, it was delicious. It was sweet enough to make it easy to swallow but tart enough to make her crave another taste. “Mmm, it really is good, I have to admit, I’m a little surprised.”

She was about to take another sip when Chantelle stopped her. “Not so fast.” She giggled. “This is potent. You drink it too fast and you’ll lose your senses.”

Already Rhia could feel herself begin to loosen up. “Is this going to give me a headache in the morning?” She’d never been much of a drinker, but she’d drunk an entire bottle of wine one night after Mariella had been killed and had been sick for two days after. She hadn’t touched the stuff since.

“Not that I’m aware of. I mean, I’ve never gone crazy drinking a whole lot of it at once, but I’ve never heard of it doing anything other than making you a little silly.” Katie grinned as she plopped down onto one of the chairs.

Smiling bright, Chantelle set her glass down on the table, standing as though to make an announcement. “Now, I know you haven’t been very receptive to looking at dresses yet, and I know you’ve been dreading The Elders’ return, but Katie and I found this dress.” She held her hand up, stopping Rhia’s protest before she could voice it. “It’s so perfect for you. We knew the moment we saw it we had to bring it to you.”

Their excitement oozed off them in waves. She’d known there was a dress in one of the garment bags and she didn’t have it in her heart to say no. Not thinking, Rhia took a big gulp of her fluorescent drink. Too late, she realized what she’d done and burst out laughing. “Oops, maybe you should keep this stuff away from me.”

Katie, whose eyes had grown wide when she’d seen what Rhia had done, laughed right along with her, leaving Chantelle looking confused.

“It’s okay, Chantie, get the dress.” Giggling, she started to lift the glass to her mouth again.

Chantelle burst out laughing. “Chantie? Okay, I like that.”

Lunging to keep Rhia from taking another sip, Katie nearly fell off her chair, making them all laugh even harder.

“Oh, my cheeks hurt.” Holding her sides, Rhia tried to catch her breath. “Go ahead and get the dress.” Another giggle bubbled out of her as she set the glass down away from her.

Grabbing her hands, Katie pulled her to her feet. “Close your eyes. I want to see your face when you see this gown. It’s just gorgeous.”

The rustling of the garment bag and its zipper coming down told her she’d soon be expected to look at a dress for what would no doubt be one of the most agonizing days of her life, but she couldn’t bring herself to be upset. Whatever the wister juice was supposed to do, it was working.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Taking a deep breath, she opened them. Both of her friends stood with huge smiles on their faces as they held the dress up for her to see. All the air rushed out of her lungs leaving her breathless and gasping. This was her dress. Heart pounding, she took a step closer before her eyes misted, making everything blurry. “Oh my God, it’s my dress.” Her whispered words were barely loud enough for her friends to hear.

“You mean it, you like this one?” Excitement along with relief sounded in Katie’s hopeful voice.

“You don’t understand, Katie. This is
my
dress.” Taking another step, she reached a trembling hand towards the delicate fabric. “I wore this exact dress while I was dancing with Drake in my dreams.”

Delicate flowers embroidered in the silky tulle matched her eyes. She knew how this dress would look on her, how it would feel. The elegant form-fitted, sleeveless bodice would hug her curves, while the flowing skirt would sway with her every movement. The gown was perfect.

“Are you sure?” Katie’s eyes widened. “You’ve dreamt of wearing this dress while dreaming of Drake?” When Rhia nodded, Katie squealed and ran to her, wrapping her in her arms and squeezing so hard Rhia had to struggle to breathe.

When Katie let her go, Chantelle took over, hugging her just as fiercely. Both had wide smiles and tears sliding down their cheeks.

Heart pounding, she finally grasped what they were so excited about. “It’s Drake. Oh my God, it is, isn’t it?”

Chapter 24

Rhia woke slowly, as though coming out of a fog. Sunlight flooded the room, warming her bare skin where she’d kicked her covers off. Stretching, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with clean fresh air. Had she left the window open?

The green stuff she’d drunk last night had tasted wonderful. She half expected a headache, or even a bit of queasiness this morning, but nothing. Energy vibrated through her as though she’d had the best sleep of her life, which she had. No dreams had disturbed her at all.

She remembered a lot of laughing last night. Too bad everything got fuzzy after she’d taken the shot of green yumminess. Stretching again, she wondered if Katie and Chantelle had made it back home safe and sound. Giggling, she remembered how Chantelle had walked to the door without saying a word and opened it. When Sebastian turned to look at her, she’d grabbed his shirt and kissed him long and hard before turning back to the women and saying, “I’ve fantasized about that for months.” Sebastian just grinned before rubbing his jaw, shaking his head, and closing the door again.

It wasn’t until she walked past her open closet door heading for the shower when she spotted the white garment bag hanging there that the memories came rushing back. The dress,
her
dress was hanging in her closet, just waiting for word from The Elders. Her heart raced as she pulled the zipper down to look at the beautiful gown. How could she not have figured it out sooner? She had to talk to Drake.

She’d slept so well, she half expected it to be almost lunch by now, but the clock on the table showed eight o’clock. Drake was coming by later this afternoon, and she couldn’t wait. Heat stole up her cheeks. Drake had been by last night. She'd kissed him, right there in front of both Katie and Chantelle, who’d hooted and hollered. She’d tried to tell him he was to be her mate, and it was okay, but he’d just grinned and told her they’d talk later.

After sending Katie and Chantelle on their way, he’d helped her undress, and like a true gentleman, had done nothing more than stolen a few kisses then tucked her into bed before leaving himself.

Smiling from ear to ear, she practically skipped to the bathroom. Last night, just the idea of The Elders’ return filled her with dread, now she could barely sit still while waiting for them to come. She wanted to hold the joining ceremony as soon as possible, tomorrow even, if they’d let her.

Though she’d hoped to talk to Drake before meeting with The Elders, when she was summoned to the library late that afternoon, he had yet to return to the castle. No matter, they could celebrate his naming together later, in private.

When she got to the library, all four of her brothers had gathered, along with her father. She couldn’t help but smile at their worried expressions. For all they knew, she was still a basket case dreading this meeting, when it couldn’t be further from the truth. She couldn’t wait to get this done so she and Drake could be joined. Reaching out, she took her father’s hand as The Elders entered in single file. Dark circles hung below each of their eyes. Even their robes, immaculate on their previous visit, were wrinkled. Their glacial blue eyes bore into her as they had at their first meeting, making her want to bolt out the door.

Had she not seen the dress last night, or figured out why she’d been dreaming of Drake, she might have, but knowing what she did, she just smiled as she waited for them to name him as her mate.

“Queen Rhiannon, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” The elder woman’s features gave nothing away.

“I’m happy to see you again. Thanks for coming.” She didn’t know the proper etiquette for receiving The Elders. “Would you like to sit?”

Her father cast her a sidelong glance as though he thought she’d finally lost her marbles, but then smiled when she grinned and squeezed his hand.

“Thank you, but no. We have deliberated on this for some time now as you well know, and we are now ready to reveal to you the name of your mate.” The woman’s gaze didn’t stray from hers as she spoke each word succinctly.

Rhia nodded, still smiling. She already knew what the purpose of the visit was. She just wanted to get through the official naming so she could start making preparations. “That’s wonderful. I appreciate all you’ve done. I’d like for the joining ceremony to take place as soon as possible.” She’d already spent far too long apart from Drake as it was. The sooner it ended, the better.

“As you wish. We’ll hold the ceremony tomorrow if it is to your liking. We would have to confer with your mate to ensure it is possible but I can see no reason to delay it.”

The hair at the back of her neck rose as she waited for the woman to continue. Something wasn’t right.

“Our meditation took a long time, days in fact. The answer was not clear or easy to decipher. What once had been obvious had muddled somehow.” The woman’s haughty attitude set her teeth on edge.

“I’m sorry?” She wasn’t about to tell this woman or any of the others anything about her relationship with Drake. It just wasn’t any of their business. Period.