Fire & Ice (19 page)

It was while trying on clothes that Evangelina noticed something odd on Angel. “What is on your shoulder?” Angel turned and grinned at her, as she lightly touched the area Evangelina was referring to.

“It’s called a mating mark. When your mate, or mates in your case, actually mate with you, they release part of their dragon and bite down on you, usually your shoulder. It burned at first, but the next day I got up and a small replica of Zen’s dragon appeared.”

“Oh wow! That’s so cool!” Evangelina tried hard to keep the jealousy out of her voice, but she couldn’t help being disappointed. Why had her men not marked her? Were all their words in vain? They had told her she was their mate. What possible reason would they have in not marking her as theirs?

Deciding if she spent any longer thinking about it, her stomach would be in knots, she quickly changed the subject and headed over to the shop that sold the beautiful gems. If she couldn’t wear their mark, at least she would find something pretty to wear.

That night Evangelina tossed and turned all night long. Horrible nightmares claimed her of her men coming home and throwing her out of their lives, not wanting her any more. She dreamed Angel was staying on the beautiful land of Dragonose, while she was banished to Earth, all alone, with no one.

She woke sitting straight up in bed in a cold sweat.
This is ridiculous,
she scolded herself.
The men have only been gone one day
and you can’t deal with things
. Her heart was pounding in her chest so strongly it was making it hard to breath.

There was suddenly a sharp knock on the bedroom door. Oh crap, were they coming in the middle of the night to tell her she was banished? King Thoran’s voice on the other side of the door did nothing to calm her fears.

“Evangelina, I need to speak to you.”
Or maybe something happened to one of her men?
That thought had her hurtling over the side of the bed and over to the door in a heartbeat, wrenching it open to reveal the king himself along with a female housemaid.

“Child, what is causing you such distress?” he asked kindly, as she clung to the door for support. Her legs felt like jello and she was sure if she had let go of the door she would just collapse in an unladylike heap.

She knew he had read her mind when he gave her a gentle smile and ushered her back over to her bed. “The men are fine and will likely be home late tomorrow. Now, the rest is just your imagination running away from you,” he told her as he lifted up the bed sheets and tucked her back into the bed. He placed the palm of his hand on her forehead and muttered a few words, then Evangelina felt immediate sleep descend upon her. Every muscle in her body suddenly relaxed, and she could no longer keep her eyes open.

Right before she drifted off, she heard the king instruct the maid to sit with her through the night, and to come get him if she woke upset.

When Evangelina woke again, she was surprised to realize how late it was. Quickly bathing and dressing, she made her way downstairs. She didn’t want to sit in her room by herself. Maybe she could find something to do in the castle to help and pass the time.

As she walked by the sitting room, she noticed a little boy sitting on the couch, doing what looked to be schoolwork. She stopped and walked in, smiling down kindly at him when he glanced her way.

“Hi, I’m Evangelina. Do you live here?” She hadn’t seen any other children, but the castle was huge, and she knew many of the castle’s employees lived either at the castle or on the grounds.

He won her heart over as he nodded enthusiastically and grinned, showing both of his upper teeth missing.

“Sit?” he asked her as he began to gather his school papers that had been lying all about. He patted the spot on the couch next to him and waited patiently for her response.

She smiled over at the child. “Sure. What are you studying?” she asked as she eyed the book in his lap.

“History,
ugh
,” the boy replied dramatically.

“Oh, now history can be fun. Can I see your book?”

The child enthusiastically plopped the open book down in Evangelina’s lap. “Read?” he requested.

She looked down at the page, and knew she would gladly read to the child, because it was a way of her learning a bit more about this foreign land herself.

“Sure,” she replied, and the young boy wasted no time in snuggling up to her as she began reading the history textbook.

Chapter Twleve

History of the Dragonose People…

"Many, many years ago, man lived and feared the beasts around them on Earth. Some of these beasts were very large. Not only could they fly, but their jaws could snap a man in half in the blink of an eye. Some had scales, some had none, and often the different beasts did not get along. As they battled it out for a show of dominance, the ground would tremble, until finally the fight would end with a death. Only then would the other beast walk or fly away as the victor.

"Man tried to stay as far away from the beasts as he could, all the while wanting to co-exist with the beasts. Man lived in caves, often forced out of their homes when the beasts decided to invade. Man was also forced to go out and find food for himself and his family, putting himself in grave danger of these beasts.

"Far, far away, on the other side of the galaxy, was the realm of Dragonose. Man had no knowledge of this realm. It was and still is a magical realm that was created for a special time that was fast approaching.

"There have been many speculations and scientific, or educated, beliefs as to what happened to both the beasts known as dinosaurs and what set off the beginning of mankind on Earth. To date, humans have yet to discover Dragonose. He has been kept in the dark all these years as to what really happened long, long ago. And the dinosaurs? They were big creatures but with a very tiny brain. They were deemed more trouble than they were worth.

"A large meteor hit Earth one day, and changed the lives of all who lived on Earth. The dinosaurs were deemed disposable. Only a few survived, and because of the fallout from the meteor, the populations were greatly reduced in size. They roam Earth today, but are much smaller in size and are known to humans as reptiles. Some of these reptiles are alligators, bearded dragons, Chinese water dragons, geckos, and other forms of lizards.

"The gods looked down on both man and dragons as they roamed the Earth. The dragons were extremely intelligent creatures, but with little grace. Man was not so intelligent, but had learned to adapt to his surroundings and was much more graceful than the dragons. So what would happen if the two became one?

"The gods controlled the meteor that hit the Earth that fateful day long, long ago. Although it killed many, they deemed certain men and dragons worthy enough that when the second meteor hit, they were magically transported to Dragonose.

"Since then, man and beast have shared one body. Dragonose people have become powerful over the years since they have learned to live with their beasts.

"The Dragonose people have the ability to shift from human to dragon and back to human whenever the need arises. Centuries have passed, and with time these creatures have learned to get along with one another. Dragonose has evolved and is now civilized and cultured; a world to be revered. Unfortunately, others exist who don’t think Dragonose should be in existence. The worst of our enemies are the Raptorians. These creatures come from the world Raptor and also have the ability to shift from man to beasts. In their beasts form, they take on the looks of a T-Rex, but are shorter, have longer snouts, and vicious razor-sharp teeth. Most stand approximately nine to twelve feet tall in their shifted form, and hold the belief they should rule the world.

"The Dragonose people have fought in many skirmishes with the Raptorians. To this day, we know there will be more to come. Thankfully, the Raptorians have not discovered the portals the Dragonose people hold in tight secret. These portals allow us easy access from our world on Dragonose to Earth, and back again.

"The only problem Dragonose has is its shortage of females. No one knows why the male birth rate has been 5-1 to that of females. This has sent many of the Dragonose males to Earth to find a mate. Some have happily resettled on Earth and the only time they return to their homeland is when King Thoran summons them. Others go to Earth with no real intention of staying any length of time. Our people were surprised to find out they were not the only different species on Earth. They soon discovered many distinctive species, shape shifters, vampires, elves, etc., all living and sharing the same air and land. And all sharing the same secret, because humans are just not evolved enough to understand they are not the only life forms out there in the universe.

"The portals? They are highly guarded and protected by the Dragons, with very few knowing of their existence. Not even the high council, which governs all “others” while on Earth, knows of their existence.

"Our biggest fear is that sooner or later, the Raptorians will discover a portal that will allow them to reach Earth, making it a very bad day indeed. Because today’s human race could not even begin to win against an army of Raptorians."

Adrian and Aiden listened to their mate’s sweet voice reading from outside the doorway. Opening their silent line of communication, Aiden smiled over to his brother. '
She’s going to be a great mother to our younglings.'

'
Yes she is, brother. I can’t wait to fully mate her and mark her as ours
.'

They watched her silently from the doorway as she continued reading to the little boy. '
I believe that is one of the maid’s youngling,'
Aiden informed his brother.

'Yes, I believe her name is Marie, and her son looks to be about eight years.'
Adrian replied.

Just then Fadri picked his head up and sniffed the air.
'Oh, boys, I have a little surprise for you!'
the dragon cackled in glee.

'What, that the little boy’s mother is bringing snacks?'
Aiden teased.

'
Not hardly!'
Fadri harrumphed. '
Now, are you two going to get serious and hear what I have to say, or do I just let you stumble around in the dark some more with our mate and tell her the good news?'
he inquired as he narrowed his eyes at both brothers from deep inside them.

'
Okay, Fadri, I did not mean to make you mad.
What is your good news
?' After being gone for two days, Aiden was looking forward to spending time with his mate, not fighting with his dragon.

'Our mate is carrying our younglings,'
Fadri blurted out enthusiastically.

Both men froze, neither moving a muscle, as Fadri’s news seeped into their brain. They were going to be fathers! Aiden immediately opened up the link to his brother. '
Damn, and we haven’t even mated her yet?'

'
I know, and be prepared to hear from father on this one. I was already planning on it, but I guess this steps up the timeline for mating with her
,' Adrian responded with stumbled out words, as if his brain was still trying to wrap around the information Fadri had laid on them.

They could not stand to be away from their mate another second. Walking into the room, Adrian reached Evangelina first as he plucked her up from her seat and kissed her soundly. Aiden gave his brother a moment alone with their mate, and knelt down to talk with the little boy.

“Hey, sport, is Miss Evangelina reading to you?”

“Yeah, we were learning
history
,” the little boy groaned.

A female’s voice coming from the doorway interrupted them as all eyes turned to her. “Micquel, you do not disturb the royal family!” she scolded her child.

“But the lady wanted to read to me.” Bright eyes looked up at his mother, as Evangelina stepped out of Adrian’s arms and walked over to both mother and son.

“It’s true, he was sitting here behaving himself and doing his schoolwork. I came in and interrupted him and asked if I could read his history book out loud to him,” she explained to the mother.