Page 25 of Tanglewood Legacy (The Three Sisters 3)
He kept moving until he reached the door, and she realized too late he was closing it, locking it, placing his body between her and freedom. “What brings you here,witch?”
She should have known it would be impossible to hide what she was from him. “I should ask you the same,dragon.”
“Who are you?” he asked.
When she had left Ouros with her sisters, Paragon had initiated a smear campaign against witches. Time was a funny thing. Time in Ouros and time on Earth ran at two different speeds, sometimes rushing forward like a raging river and other times as meandering as a shallow stream. Without knowing when the dragon left Paragon for this realm, she couldn’t be sure if she was safe sharing the truth about their circumstances. Medea had been queen of Darnuith. Eleanor and Brynhoff thought she was dead. Although Isis and Circe did not suffer the defamation that their sister did, people knew who they were at the time of their leaving, and most dragons either feared or hated them. She was in no hurry to find out if this dragon was one of them.
“Someone who means you no harm,” she said finally, raising her chin. “My family and I came here to live a peaceful existence away from the strife and turmoil we experienced in Darnuith.”
“Then you are from Paragon,” he said, and she tried not to wince. The realm they were from was once called Ouros. Paragon, the kingdom of dragons, was just one of the five kingdoms that made up the continent. The kingdom of the witches, Darnuith, where she was from, was another. But Eleanor had always spoken of uniting the kingdoms under Paragonian rule. This dragon’s words suggested she’d succeeded.
Isis lowered her chin. “Yes. I assume you came here for the same reason… to escape the politics of the region. A dragon such as yourself wouldn’t have left Paragon without cause.”
“No.” Invisible walls went up between them. She’d touched a raw nerve. Interesting. He brushed the perfectly tailored sleeve of his jacket with his hand, although there wasn’t a speck of dust or wrinkle to smooth. His eyes narrowed. Knees slightly bent, Gabriel’s hulking body seemed coiled tight, ready to spring. “My reasons for leaving are my own. As for how I ended up here, specifically… Well, that is a long story for another time. I must confess, this is the last place I thought I’d ever find a witch from Darnuith.”
“Likewise. Although I’m beginning to believe there are more supernatural creatures in this small parish than I bargained for.”
His eyebrows lifted. “There is magic here,” he said in a low voice, gritty as if coated with cinders. “Magic that is not of our realm. Different… unexpected magic.”
Isis frowned. “You suspect a vampire as well?”
“Among other things.” His gaze drifted toward the front window.
“I know our kind has not always aligned easily with each other, but perhaps, under these circumstances, we could be friends.”
He stroked his chin, his eyes burning darkly. “I think only time will tell if we will be friends, but I am willing to be allies. Although I must warn you, the people here may be surrounded by the supernatural, but they are not receptive to it. One whiff of it and they will kill what they do not understand. What we are must remain hidden at all costs.”
She nodded, thinking of Pierre, the trust she’d placed in him taking on new weight at Gabriel’s words. “Agreed. Your confidence is secure with me and my family.”
“Your family?”
“There are four of us here.”
He ran a hand down his face. “Goddess help us.”
“May I go?” she pointed at the door.
He held out one massive hand. “Gabriel.”
She shook it. “Isis.”
He bowed at the waist, then opened the door and ushered her into the muggy afternoon heat.
* * *
She was still thinkingabout the dragon and his place in dragon society when she was guided through the gate of Pierre’s home by a dark-skinned woman named Allyette who rushed off to find Pierre. Why had Gabriel come to this world? Why here? She pushed aside those thoughts when Pierre swept through the front door, a puckish grin she was becoming enamored with spreading his lips. “Isis Tanglewood, in the light of day. What a pleasure.”
Goddess, the way he moved filled her with fire. She remembered the feeling of being wrapped in those well-corded arms and drew a deep breath to center herself. “I had business in town. I hope you don’t mind my arriving early.” She winked.
“Not at all,” he said in a low, sultry whisper, darkening eyes staring at her through his lashes. “You can come anytime. Why, come now, come later, stay the night if you wish and be here first thing in the morning, ready to come again.”
A blush climbed her cheeks. “You have a filthy mouth, Monsieur Baron. Shall we go inside so I might show you what to do with it?”
His eyes turned stormy, and he placed a hand in the center of her back. “As much as I’d enjoy that particular lesson, there is something I have to do first, and it fulfills a promise I made to you earlier.”
“Lead the way. I have something to share with you as well.”
He moved toward a large shed on the edge of his courtyard while she told him about her visit to Delphine’s. She left out the part about Blakemore’s. She’d promised the dragon to keep his true identity a secret, and she would.
