A Dragon's Tale: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Read online

  A DRAGON'S

  TALE

  A PARANORMAL SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE

  BONNIE BURROWS

  Copyright ©2016 by Bonnie Burrows

  All rights reserved.

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  About This Book

  Nina Henry always knew that she could become a dragon. But having grown up as an orphan away from her dragon people it was not something she had ever embraced.

  However, when the gorgeous Eli Nelson walked into her life with shocking news she soon realized that everything was about to change.

  He was there to tell Nina that she was fated to become the most powerful dragon of a generation and that she alone was set to change the face of dragonkind forever.

  Nina was not sure if she could believe this handsome stranger and she was not sure if he was dangerous or crazy or both.

  But she knew there was only one way to find out.....

  This is a Paranormal Dragon Shifter romance full of mystery, intrigue and supernatural occurrences. Start reading this one right away, you will not believe how it ends!

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  The air in the room was buzzing with a mixture of panic and exhilaration. More than half of the faces were shiny, a thin sheen of sweat draped over their electrified features like a set of dewy curtains; less than half of the faces were stony, impassive, and dry. Nina wondered if she looked nervous at all—her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her rib cage, but her hands were as steady as anyone else’s.

  “We had four birthdays last week,” Joey said. His gaze ran around the circle of chairs as he spoke, stopping on each person as he said their name. “Anders Weber, Will Sanchez, Georgia Greer, and Nina Henry are all turning twenty-three.”

  Two dozen people murmured their congratulations to Anders and Georgia, and a couple of people slapped Will on the back. A few eyes flashed to Nina, but no one did anything but smile and nod.

  “Congratulations, and good luck! You’re about to become fully-fledged dragons. Your ceremonies are all coming up soon, and this will likely be the last time we see you in here.” The smile lines around Joey’s mouth deepened, and his dark eyes were shimmering with pride. “One more time around the quartz, okay?”

  The group was quiet as they all gathered around the pale pink, softball-sized stone on the marble stand in the center of the room. There was a flurry of movement as they all joined hands; Nina couldn’t help but notice that both of the palms she gripped were sweaty, and it was hard not to cringe.

  “Connect, feel your power,” Joey murmured. “Let it unfold inside you.”

  A sphere of boiling energy made itself known in the center of Nina’s body, above her navel and below her breastbone. It was about the size of a marble; as she concentrated, it stretched itself out until it warmed every part of her torso, tendrils of heat snaking down her legs, through the sockets of her arms and up the graceful curve of her neck. Distantly, she could feel others doing the same. A few moments later, she felt a cooler energy graze hers, and another joined it not long after. Her hesitant spirit lifted, buoyant with happiness, as she absorbed the rush of bonding with her fellow dragons. The chunk of rose quartz glowed softly as the dragon shifters accessed the essence of their power and sent them out to mingle with the others’. She was cognizant, at the front of her mind, of part of her energy staying in the root of her body; as usual, another portion of her energy soared around the circle, brushing against the other dragons’ essence in turn as it moved.

  Nina’s energy never came back empty after reaching out. Flashes of events and emotions seeped through her awareness, and before long she was building rough sketches of their minds and moods.

  Carrie fought with Doug again; their baby is almost six months old. They weren’t ready for this.

  Georgia feels bad about lying to Willow about having second thoughts.

  Anders was staring at my tits again, and wonders if I’m free tonight, or if I’m busy being a stuck up bitch. (A stab of anger surfaced briefly before being tugged below the mosaic of thoughts and images.)

  Soon, everything blurred together, and it began to fade away just as quickly. People began dropping their hands, and a few people let out the breaths they’d been holding as they made an effort to keep their energy from snapping back into themselves. Almost everyone was sweaty now, except Nina and Georgia. She didn’t want to look at Anders, but he had probably kept himself composed, as well. Fucking creep.

  “Wonderful,” said Joey, his voice brimming with pride. “Awesome. Remember that if you’re having trouble projecting yourself, carry some serpentine on you, or even some ruby or fire agate. Serpentine is the best, but any one of those stones should help you connect with the root of your power and be able to boost your energy. They can also help protect you against unwanted energy attacks, and help even the weakest beings break hold of non-lethal energy holds.” He smiled. “But we’ll focus on the energy boost part.”

  He nodded to everyone, and the group began to gather their things as they dissolved into chatter.

  “Nina, will you hang back?”

  She looked at Joey as she shrugged into her hoodie. “Sure.”

  The group shot her curious looks as they filtered out of the church basement, though Anders’ lingering glance was more lewd than inquisitive. He walked very slowly and tried to maintain eye contact, but Nina turned her back to him.

  Joey waited until the last person had closed the door before speaking. “So,” he said, eyes probing hers. “Are you nervous?”

  “No,” she said immediately. “I’ve felt secure about my Reading for a while now.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Joey put some papers into a glossy briefcase without bothering to organize the haphazard stack before closing it. “You’re definitely the most advanced at controlling your energy.”

  Nina felt doubt stir inside her. He’s just saying that.

  He looked up at her again. “But are you sure you don’t have any questions? Or concerns? Sometimes young dragons have odd dreams before their ceremonies, or bursts of weird power. It can be a problem.”

  Nina’s forehead creased. “I don’t... think so.” She silently willed herself to stay calm.

  Joe leaned over the desk. She saw, for the first time, that the whites of his eyes were colored a blushing pink. His breath was stale, and there was a faint smell of something sour underneath something sweet, as if he hadn’t bathed in a couple of days but put on deodorant anyw
ay.

  His tone was uncomfortably urgent as he spoke again. “No gaps in time? No unexplained bursts of emotion? Nothing?”

  She resisted the urge to step away from him. It was nearly impossible. “Nothing, Joey. Why? Is something supposed to happen?” She knew that people who led their own hordes had access to the prophecies of the dragons they oversaw, and some of them even had the ability to look up older ones in the system. Joey’s behavior made her wonder if there was something horrible written in hers.

  “Not necessarily,” Joey said, straightening. His voice returned to normal. “I’m sorry, Nina, I don’t mean to freak you out, I just want to make sure I’ve done my job.”

  She relaxed and shoved her hands into the hoodie’s front pocket. “Oh. You’ve done your job very well, Joey. There’s nothing weird going on with me. I have a handle on all my powers. I can even project without any rose quartz.”

  He widened his eyes. “Nice! Most people can’t do that until a year or so after their ceremony. They need that extra boost that getting connected to the horde adds.”

  She shrugged. “It was a thing I developed under your tutelage, so, thanks.”

  Joey beamed, all the tension draining from his stance. “No problem, Nina. Okay, you put my mind at ease. You can go now.”

  As she left, the door nearly hit Anders in the face. His expression was a mixture of surprise and interest.

  “Hey, Nina—”

  “Why were you hovering outside the door?” she asked, struggling to hide her disgust.

  The dragon energy in her reached for Anders—his was so powerful she couldn’t help but be drawn to it—but unlike the other dragons, he made her uneasy for reasons she couldn’t explain.

  “Were you spying? Trying to get another look at my chest? Or were you trying to figure out if I was in trouble so you’d have something to take back to your buddies?”

  His green eyes narrowed. Nina felt the air around them warm slightly; she’d stirred up his emotions, and his dragon energy was waking up, too.

  Poor little boy. Can’t keep a lid on his hissy fit. Despite her anger, she was nervous, but she didn’t let him see it. She straightened her back as she continued.

  “Tell Carrie she can just make shit up about me, I don’t care. Or pull from her own life, she has enough problems.” Nina’s own energy was swirling inside her, agitated. “I’m an adult. You guys are acting like high school students. Keep me out of it.”

  Strangely, that seemed to pacify Anders. He was silent for a moment, and then a smile slowly took over his pointed face.

  “Come on, Nina. I just wanted to see what you were doing tonight.”

  “I’m busy,” she answered.

  Nina didn’t wait for him to respond. Her shoulder banged against his as she walked past him, and she got a clearer taste of his emotions as his essence whipped out to graze hers—amused, and, infuriatingly, even more interested than he seemed before.

  That’s probably the last time I’ll have to be that close to him. Thank God he lives in Costa Verde. As angry as she was, there was a very real sense of fear just underneath. Anders was strong, maybe stronger than her. Once your energy touched someone else’s, it didn’t stay just yours, and that could mean anything from picking up on their emotions to being consumed by them and having them drive your actions. Dragons could be incredibly subtle in their manipulation, and she didn’t want to find out what he might try with her when they were alone.

  The sky was steely and spotted with dark, pepper-colored clouds as she drove home. She was a mile down the street when she realized her wipers had been on the whole time, turning her windshield into a glass canvas of abstract art, painted with globs of dirt and the iridescent guts of various flying insects. Her body was on autopilot while her mind was rooted in worry, and the sea of cars around her had slowed to a stop, giving her more time to become mired in doubt.

  If he just wanted to check that he was doing his job, why didn’t he keep anyone else back?

  Maybe you’re doing worse than you think. Maybe you’re weaker than you think.

  Her mind summoned a memory of Carrie Breyer from a year before, when they were only a few weeks into their Emergence Ceremony Prep class.

  “Wow. You didn’t go to school with other dragons?” Her brown eyes were painted with innocence, but her upturned mouth ruined the picture. “Oh. This is going to be so... challenging for you.”

  Nina felt like she’d been stabbed with an ice pick. Almost everyone else had struggled to suppress a laugh. Georgia turned around and shot her a look she couldn't decipher, her curly black hair bouncing as she turned her head to face front again.

  Doug had leaned over to Nina then. “You mean you didn’t have dragon history or anything?”

  “I learned plenty of dragon history,” Nina said stiffly. “My adoptive parents taught me. They’re witches.”

  The snickers couldn’t be suppressed this time.

  Carrie smiled, but her tone was so vicious that it made her hostility clear. Her perfect teeth resembled two rows of tiny white razors.

  “I’m sure they were perfectly adequate, guys. Don’t laugh.”

  Nina had realized that Georgia had been trying to warn her with her furtive look. Georgia herself never rose to any of Carrie’s ill-disguised taunts.

  Once, she wondered why Georgia or anyone else didn’t say anything back. One week Willow Charles, Georgia’s girlfriend, snapped at Carrie. The next week she mysteriously transferred to another horde two towns over.

  Nina didn’t wonder anymore.

  Seeing a twenty-two-year-old bully people as though she were still a teenager gunning for head cheerleader turned her stomach, but she steered clear of Carrie and her ilk instead of voicing her concerns. Carrie likely caught wind of some of it while they were projecting their energies, but it didn’t seem to bother her.

  Don’t let her live in your head. Joey thinks you’re good at at least one thing, and that’s all that matters.

  Her car slid down a side street and pointed toward the parking lot of her apartment building. Doubt began to needle deeper under her skin.

  Maybe your social skills count in the Reading, though. We’re pack creatures. It’s probably going to come up. Why would they welcome me into the fold if I can’t even get along with my little horde here?

  Nina managed to make it all the way upstairs and into her living room without breaking out of her thoughts. A loud bang snapped her out of her reverie; she looked into the kitchen, startled to find her best friend Rachel holding a large mixing bowl and a sticky spoon.

  “Hey, hot shot,” she said cautiously. “Why do you look like you just got hit on the head?” She squinted behind the lenses of her glasses. “Did you get hit with something? I can never tell what’s going to happen in those meetings. Sometimes people come out looking so sick.”

  Nina collapsed on their worn leather sofa. “No, I’m fine. Just nervous, I guess.”

  “Pfft.” Rachel turned back to the bowl with a look of disbelief. “What do you have to be nervous about? Hasn’t Joey been heaping praise on you the last few months?”

  “He has,” Nina said dully. “Tonight he pulled me aside, though. Asked me if I had any questions, or if anything weird was happening.”

  Rachel turned to her so fast she hit herself in the face with her red ponytail. “And you told him about the dreams, right?”

  Nina felt Rachel’s sharp brown eyes on the back of her head, willing her to speak. She couldn’t.

  Bang. Rachel strode over to the couch sans mixing bowl, planting herself in front of Nina with her hands on her hips.

  “Nina Henry. You woke me up every night for a week to cry about these nightmares, so sure it was related to your Emergence Ceremony, and then you don’t even bring it up to the one full-grown dragon whose job it is to help you figure this shit out?”

  Nina glared back, defiant by default. “It’s not that simple, Rachel. I don’t know how to explain how detached I feel when it’s
clear I didn’t grow up the right way. The dragon way. I can’t make myself ask things as easily as other people.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Not about this stuff,” Nina clarified. She unraveled her black braid and ran her fingers through her wavy hair absentmindedly, the chasm of uncertainty in the pit of her stomach yawning wider every moment. “I know they say there are no stupid questions, but you should have seen their faces when I asked if we’d be able to read minds after the ceremony.”

  Rachel raised her eyebrows. “Well, will you?”

  “No.” Nina waved her hand impatiently. “That’s a lost power. We have something like it, but it’s not exactly mind-reading. But everyone else knew it, and even Joey seemed a little patronizing as he explained.”

  Rachel shrugged. “I don’t understand why.”

  You’re lucky. “Okay, imagine if you went to a magical instructor and asked if you needed to avoid water.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Rachel said immediately. “That’s a myth, a result of needing more ways to make non-magical people believe they could kill or repel us easily. Mom and Dad explained that to me when I was—”

  Nina watched the understanding dawn on Rachel’s face. Her adoptive sister turned around and sat on the couch with her, her gaze downcast.

  “Okay. I get it,” she said quietly. “Yeah, you must have felt like a real dumbass.”

  Nina burst out laughing. “For a while. But it made me stop asking questions. Instead I just work twice as hard at the practical stuff, and keep my nose in the history books. And go over anything Nat and Desmond can tell me.”

  Rachel looked thoughtful. “I never really thought about how much you would... miss... by not having dragon parents. I guess my parents wouldn’t be super knowledgeable, would they? Your parents were so strict about adhering to the rules, they wouldn’t have shared much with outsiders.”

  “They shared some,” Nina allowed. “They were best friends.”