April’s Fools Read online

  “But it isn’t exactly luck either, is it? You have a gift. Can’t you just explain? Tell them you’re sorry? That you don’t know your own strength or something? I don’t know.” I sighed as he shook his head. He looked defeated.

  “It’s stronger than it used to be, honey. Just like yours is. I think it was only a matter of time before I got caught.”

  “Then let them come. Stay, and we can face them together. Maybe we can reason with them. I see them all around us. Dragons and ursa mostly, but the other kind too. They don’t scare me. I’m not afraid to talk to them.”

  His mouth turned down in a grim frown, and he shook his head. “I don’t think these men are anything like the others. I don’t know what they are, but they aren’t any of the four higher races. They’re…something else. All I know is that I need to get as far from here as I can, honey, for your sake. And it’s better if you don’t know where I went. Then they can’t hurt you.”

  I wanted to object again, to try to talk some sense into him, but it had always been impossible to talk my dad out of a scheme. I clenched my eyes shut and forced my breathing into an even flow, then looked at him again. “At least tell me what to look for if they come.”

  His attention turned inward, and he blanched as if visualizing some horror. He shook his head. “I think you’ll know them well enough if they show up. With any luck, they’ll keep chasing me and leave you alone. But if they come, you should run. Go back to Bear Island to the house where we lived when you were little; you’ll be safe there. I’ll try to check in, just to make sure you’re okay, but I’d better go.”

  He stood up, his hat clutched in one hand, and hovered over me. With a soft smile, he plucked at one of the stray ringlets that had escaped my haphazard braid. My chest clenched with sadness, and I lurched out of my seat, flinging my arms around him.

  “Please be careful, okay?” I wasn’t sure what else to say, or do, and only released him when he gently but forcefully peeled my arms away from his body.

  “Good luck with your show. I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular.” He kissed me on the forehead then turned to go.

  Somewhere in the kitchen, the crash of breaking glass echoed, just as he walked out the door.

  2

  Gray

  The afternoon sunlight gleamed through the skylight above, warming my bare shoulders. I enjoyed the fatigue in my muscles from the long weeks of work and the time spent getting reacquainted with a craft I’d set aside for far too long. With sure swipes of the polishing cloth and a little dragon fire, I put the finishing touches on the hand-carved stone details of the tile wall I’d been working on.

  It was perfection, and with the last puff of magic breath, I finally stood back to bask in the glow of a job well done.

  I was surrounded by four walls of polished stone that enclosed the recently completed shower in the Chimera’s Malibu home. The colorful granite tiles were shot through with veins of dragon stone that could only be appreciated by the current residents, as well as the intricate, hand-carved design that stretched in a narrow band around the walls at eye level. Somewhere beyond the walls came the dissonant plucking of a guitar being tuned and a PA system being set up for the party that was about to happen.

  “Wow, you’ve outdone yourself,” a deep voice said from behind me. I glanced over at Tate, whose bearded face peeked through the glass door. The big ursa stepped inside and stood close, thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans. His warm, woody scent filled the cozy space, inciting a pang of bittersweet longing.

  “Do you think it’s fit for a goddess?”

  “I don’t think Deva would have minded had you called it done without the extra touches. You know how much she’s itching to move in.”

  He crossed his arms and gave me a searching look. I could only shrug because he knew me too well. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well… I guess I’m not quite ready for this project to be done.”

  His expression grew tender, and maybe even a little sad. Clearing his throat, he glanced away, but not before I caught the shine in his eyes. “It’s time for us to head home. It’s been a good run, but an ursa pilgrimage isn’t meant to last forever, and the best place for me and the other two to find a mate is in the Sanctuary.”

  Tightness gripped my chest, and I turned back to the wall, rubbing my polishing cloth over the already gleaming surface. If I polished it anymore, the detail I’d carved into it would get worn flat again. “There are other options, you know.”

  Tate let out a long sigh. “I’m not the only one in the mix. Chayton and Eddie are on the same page as me. We love you three scaled bastards, but we need more. We need a female willing to take on three unruly ursa males, and that isn’t something we’ll find out here. Human women are…more restrained.”

  I let out a soft snort. I’d met a few human women who weren’t all that restrained, but even if there was one willing to take three ursa, Murdoc, Stuart, and I would still be left out in the cold. We were dragons, who typically didn’t share, unlike Tate and his two partners, who needed to remain a unit in order to attract a worthy female ursa.

  If we wanted mates, the best bet for us dragons was to split up and go solo, no matter how much it hurt to let each other go.

  “You could come to the Sanctuary with us and request entry to the Haven,” Tate ventured. “There are plenty of nymphs who would jump at the chance to mate three dragons.”

  “Maybe if we were any other color but white. Guardians like us aren’t exactly at the top of the list for any of the higher races’ females. After what happened with the Lamia, nymphs tend to steer clear of white dragons.”

  He knew as well as I did that our ancient immortal leader, the white dragon Aodh, was instrumental in creating our oldest enemy. She inflicted us with centuries of fear of being captured and tortured in her labs until we finally fought a war against her and her minions and killed her. That war had only been three years ago, and the nymphaea had long memories.

  “Then ask Deva for help. You know she’d jump at the chance to match up more of her precious Bloodline with members of the higher races.”

  I shook my head. “Bloodline women with enough dragon blood to reliably match one dragon are rare enough. Three of us would be too many. And before you tell me Aella managed just fine, we all know her blood was concentrated enough to attract the very Winds themselves. Most female members of the Bloodline don’t possess that quality. We can find mates just fine solo. Besides, I wouldn’t want to bother Deva unless she could guarantee all six of us could stay together, and I’m not about to ask her to make that kind of promise.”

  Tate tutted. “I never knew you were such a sentimental fool. This all-or-nothing shit is new.”

  “You know it doesn’t have to be an issue.” I shot him an irritated look. “The six of us are good together. Why change what works?”

  “Because it isn’t enough,” he said with a helpless shrug. “I know we all feel it. As good as what we have is, it’s missing something. When we worked for Aella, we had a synergy that isn’t there when it’s just us. Even though all we did was watch over her, she was the center of our universe. It’s natural for ursa to want that with a woman, and it sure as hell felt like it was natural for the three of you too. We were a well-oiled machine until…”

  “Until she got mated to three demigods?” I spat with a level of bitterness I didn’t realize I had in me. I wasn’t jealous—well, maybe just a little jealous. We’d been on the pop star’s bodyguard detail since she started her residency at the Pandemonium Casino a few years back. It had been before the Bloodline’s magic woke up and allowed them to see the higher races for who we were. Of course, the Winds didn’t waste a second getting to her, staking their claim, and providing her with three mates who could literally call down lightning to protect the woman they loved. Our team was no competition. We all understood that she no longer needed us. I think I was more irritated to be out of a job and at loose ends as a result.

  Tate’s eyeb
rows lifted, and he gave me a wary look. “Yeah. Until that.”

  “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I’m happy for her, of course, but I wish it didn’t mean she didn’t still need us as her bodyguards. We aren’t useless, even though her mates are immortals, and her boss is as powerful as a god.”

  Tate grimaced, his body shaking with a shiver of revulsion. “Better we’re away from that place anyway. Gaia might be influenced by Chaos, but answering to him directly as our employer was not something I saw myself doing for the rest of my life. Leave the crazy bastard in Vegas with his tentacly lover and his casino. Let the Winds answer to him for a change.”

  “Chaos was unpredictable, sure, but that just kept things interesting. And you know that ‘tentacly lover’ is the higher races’ oracle. I’d be less inclined to speak ill of the Diviner than Chaos, so watch your tongue.”

  He held up his hands. “Fine. But there’s nothing stopping you from finding another ward to watch over once you get to Seattle. As for me, Eddie, and Chayton, we’re ready to move on. We’re leaving in the morning, taking Route 66 to see some sights on our way to the Sanctuary portal in Taos. I’ll say it again: you all can come. Ursa girls are no strangers to mixing things up.”

  He gave me a wry grin that faded in response to my defeated look. “I’m sorry, man. It would feel like asking for a handout if we went in hoping for a mate when the competition is high as it is.”

  Tate sighed. “I figured you’d say that, but I had to try.”

  “I don’t speak for Murdoc or Stu. Maybe they have different plans.”

  He shook his head. “Stuart’s coming with us as far as Santa Fe, so I’m hoping to wear him down on the way. Murdoc’s staying in LA. You’re usually the voice of reason, so I figured if I could convince you not to head north, you’d make them change their minds. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

  The hitch in the big ursa’s voice did me in, and I hauled him in for a hug. The six of us had been a unit ever since the war in the Haven three years ago, where we bonded simply by having each other’s backs against the Ultiori army. We’d been inseparable ever since, but times had changed. The higher races were at peace and thriving, so all that was left for us to do was settle down and live our lives however we wished.

  Tate’s beard brushed my ear, and he let out a heavy sigh, the tension in his big body easing as he squeezed me back. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to the others. As we released each other, live music started to play outside, and Ozzie West’s honey-smooth voice carried up to us over the PA.

  “Welcome to our humble home, folks. Before we get started with the fun, I just wanted to say thanks to the crew who were instrumental in giving our girl the home of her dreams…”

  From the buzz of noise in the background, I guessed the party had gotten going without us. Tate released me and glanced toward the door. “I think we’re up. Ready to show your face?”

  I was nowhere near ready, but I nodded anyway and followed him out to the master bedroom. Instead of heading down the stairs, Tate slipped out one of the french doors that led to a balcony and disappeared up the ladder to the widow’s walk atop the roof.

  Following him up, I peeked past the top rung where all five of my best friends stood waiting, waving down at the crowd. At my approach, Murdoc and Stu parted to make room for me between them.

  Below us, Deva Rainsong took the mic and launched into song, her mates backing her up as naturally as if they shared a brain. Though I guess they did share a soul, which probably worked even better. The song was a farewell ballad that brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t forever, but we’d been part of something bigger long enough that it definitely felt like the end of a story. I wasn’t sure I knew how to be alone anymore.

  I sniffed and wiped at my eyes. Murdoc rested a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s a beginning, brother, not an end. You’ve got this.”

  “I’m going to miss your knack for getting into my head,” I said, pulling him into a hug. We were all Guardians, but Murdoc was closer to blue than white, his magic able to suss out someone’s thoughts and feelings even if they weren’t projecting.

  The song ended, and another one began, this time with the gravelly depth of Keagan Sundance at the mic. The air shifted behind me, and I pulled away from Murdoc’s embrace, only to be wrapped again in a pair of smaller arms.

  “You guys can stay as long as you want, you know,” Deva said, her voice muffled against my chest. She pulled back and looked up at me, then around at the others. “If you wait, I can have the hounds find you mates. My house is your house, especially now that we have all this extra space with the addition.”

  “And have Fate’s cranky ass blame us for you not doing your job?” Chayton said, leaning back and crossing his arms. “No thank you. You have your orders.”

  “And I have discretion to use the hounds for whatever I need to. Fate doesn’t have the final word anymore, guys. This little tiff with Chaos is going to be resolved soon, and I’ll be able to get back to proper matchmaking for the Bloodline again.”

  Chayton snorted. “They’re gods, Deva. This is more than a tiff. The fact that you’re even entertaining their rivalry should be a red flag. If you give those two an inch, they’ll take a mile. And then some.”

  She sighed and crossed her arms. “I know, but as long as there’s the possibility another member of the Bloodline is caught in the middle, I can’t just sit by and wait. Not when I have the means to intervene. Your old boss will be looking for another lost soul to commandeer just to make Fate look incompetent, and I wouldn’t put it past Fate to kill the person to prevent Chaos from having any control. Humanity are just toys to them.”

  I hazarded a glance at the guys, who all had identical looks of understanding. We were all there when Aella was attacked by the hound Fate sent after her. It ripped her throat out and would have killed her if Stu, Murdoc, and I hadn’t been right there to heal her wounds. Even then, she didn’t regain her voice until the Winds finally sorted out their differences and agreed to share her between them.

  And thanks to the fact that Chaos signed our paychecks for the last few years, we weren’t strangers to his off-kilter whims. When we found out he and his new bride had schemed to put one over on Fate at Christmastime, it came as no surprise. The three satyrs who’d been at the center of that particular drama had just spent the last month helping us build this addition, so we’d heard the whole story and managed to compare notes.

  “I admit I’m not sorry to be done with either of them,” Eddie said in his soft-spoken way. “Gaia save me, I’m looking forward to going home, and goddess willing, Fate will keep its nose out of our business.”

  Tate and Chayton both grunted in agreement, and Tate rested a big hand on Deva’s shoulder. “I’d accept your help if you could give it, Deva, but I’m with Eddie. I’d rather take our chances in the Sanctuary than rely on Fate to find us mates. After what Theo shared, I don’t trust that crazy bastard not to have an ulterior motive.”

  “Guys, you don’t have to convince me. I’ll be the last to defend Fate or Chaos. But all this melancholy is impossible to ignore. Rohan’s been depressed for weeks. I want to help, so will you at least make me a promise? When the hounds return, and this crap between Fate and Chaos is done, if you’re still single, let me try. Let me use my not inconsiderable influence to find you guys a woman you can all be happy with.”

  Her prismatic eyes flitted from one man to the next, her aura flaring with determination. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how much she’d evolved in the year since we first met, in the midst of our tour with Aella.

  “I don’t think we can argue with that offer,” I said. “I imagine you’ll be able to check up on us one way or the other, won’t you?”

  She grinned. “And don’t think I won’t, the second the hounds are home again.”

  The worry in her tone wasn’t lost on me. “Is your hunch right? Do you think Chaos is after a member of the Bloodline?”

&
nbsp; “It isn’t a straightforward problem, to be honest,” she said. “The hounds respond best to clear directives, so the vague question of whether Chaos has it out for any of the Bloodline is difficult for them to pin down. But they’ve caught a…scent…” She paused to find the words. “They’re on someone’s trail now. A member of the Bloodline who they’ve linked to Chaos and followed out of Las Vegas. Until I’m sure that person is safe, and any others close to them, I’m not going to relax my focus.”

  “Then, by all means, let us worry about our own lives. We’ll survive if we have to go it alone for a time,” Stuart said. “Perhaps a little solitude will help give us all some perspective. Allow us to appreciate the bonds of brotherhood even more.”

  As much as I appreciated Stuart’s sentiment, I couldn’t help but feel our bonds stretching thin already, and the thought of losing them broke my heart.

  3

  April

  The thing I loved most about fire was how it had a life of its own. Just like other living creatures, it sprang from a seed—a spark—and required nurturing and sustenance to grow. The same way a plant might have provided food to the hungry, fire returned that nurturing in the form of warmth and protection from the cold and dark that surrounded us.

  I was one with the fire tonight as I faced the furnace, dipping the end of the blowpipe into the crucible and twisting it. Gathering the molten glass was only the first of many steps that would culminate in another exquisite sculpture that merged two living elements that were at odds with each other: earth and fire together.

  At least, that was the hope.

  It had taken two more days to shake the sense of imbalance after Dad’s departure. I endured countless frustrating hours of work only to have the pieces crack at the last second. I hadn’t left the studio since returning from my visit with Dad, had spent my nights sleeping on the ratty old thrift store sofa in the makeshift lounge we had in one corner when I ran out of steam and my morale was too low to keep going each night. I’d gotten so irritable my poor assistants were starting to complain.