Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Ten

Natalie

I was desperately trying to figure out what had just happened back there, and I glanced at Cass as we walked. His face was placid, revealing nothing.

I’d felt what I’d felt, that I knew. There had been desire in his eyes.

Did I desire him? Well, I mean physically…how could I not? The man was sexuality incarnate. A god amongst men. Of course I’d noticed it. You’d have to be blind to not notice, and even a blind woman would probably feel the sensuality rolling off of him in waves. Every other woman we’d encountered noticed it, too.

But why me? Why would he look at me that way? I glanced around. There were at least twenty other women in the immediate area that looked like supermodels. He could have his pick, I was sure of it.

I did not consider myself sexy. I was okay as far as looks went—but sexy? No. I didn’t have time for love or relationships. Work took all of my time. Plus, everyone I’d ever loved had left me—one way or another. It was messy and unpredictable to love. I wasn’t interested.

I glanced at him again and the butterflies in my stomach stirred. This was bad. I hadn’t been this attracted to a man ever.

"This is it," he said.

I looked at the shop and smiled. Well, I could’ve guessed that. It was one of the mushroom structures, the top bright pink, of course, with pink trim and a pink door. The window decal read, Your Happily Ever After Is My Work Of Art, So Long As You Enter Pure Of Heart.

"Are you pure of heart?" I asked Cass with a dramatic flair.

He looked at the window decal and then back at me with a smirk, "Far from it."

The tone of his voice and look on his face lit a small fire in my belly and I laughed a squeaky giggle I was sure I'd never heard from myself before.

He opened the door for me and I peeked inside. I thought Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother must've vomited in here. Everything was pink, sparkly, fluffy, or any combination of the three.

"Well, she commits to her brand, I’ll give her that," I muttered as I walked inside. "Hello?"

"Yes, dear, come to the back," Nadaria’s sing-song voice answered.

Nadaria and River were in a back room. It smelled like incense and herbs, and hundreds of different colored potion bottles lined the walls. Intermixed were small bags that were each tied closed with little pink ribbons.

"Okay, have a seat and we’ll see if we can’t figure some things out," Nadaria said, indicating a pink sitting chair with a heart shaped back.

She placed her hands on my temples and closed her eyes.

"Yes, you’re right, River," she said. "Of course, no surprise, you are amazing," she added with a sly grin.

River tilted her head, arching her brow, but said nothing.

"Your true form is trying to emerge through the curse, spurred no doubt by your return to the realm. Something I never accounted for or expected when I cast the spell," Nadaria said to me. "Now I can try to remove it—"

"Her mother," Cass interjected. "Who was she?"

Nadaria, River, and I all turned to him in surprise.

"Well, she was another witch."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

Nadaria nodded and looked at me. I was studying Cass, who wouldn't look my way. Why was he so curious about my mother? I nodded for Nadaria to go ahead and tell the story.

"Well your mother, her name was Kiera, came to me late one night. She was crying, begging me to help. She had you, just a tiny baby only hours old. I had to help her. Oh, I just did River, don’t look at me like that."

River was regarding Nadaria like a teacher stares at a misbehaving pupil.

"She said that her husband, your father, had fallen ill during her pregnancy and she’d made a deal with a dark witch named Morga. She would save your father in exchange for, well, you."

"Well, that's nice," I muttered. I wasn’t a mother, but I liked to think I wouldn’t use my child as a bargaining chip, no matter the circumstances.

"Now we know that Morga pulled this trick on several other expecting young witches in love. She’d make their partner fall deathly ill, and then show up like some kind of savior and offer to cure them."

"In exchange for the baby," I said.

She nodded, her ever-prevalent smile cracking into a sad frown.

"Your mother must have sensed something was rotten in that witches' brew and decided she couldn’t give you up. So I suppressed your powers—essentially made you a nulla. I placed a glamor spell on you that covered your dark elf features and made you appear human. Oh, your poor sweet mother. She handed you to me and said her goodbyes. Goddess, it was so heartbreaking. I’m the one that took you to the human world and left you there. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know any other way to keep you out of Morga’s vile hands."

"What would’ve happened to me if she’d taken me?"

"Oh, dear, nothing good. She trains the girls she takes as her own children to help her carry out her evil deeds. It’s grueling, bordering on torturous, as she corrupts their minds and steals everything light from their souls. If they show compassion or weakness of any kind, they’re punished. If they fall below her expectations too many times, they’re killed."

A trickle of ice crawled up my spine. That could've been my life.

"Did Kiera mention how she ended up married to a dark elf?" River asked.

"So, yes, I did find that out. See your father was furious with her for sending you into hiding. He came here and was angry at me for it. She followed him and then we all talked and they ended up crying together. I had to ask, as we all know how dark elves are and I couldn't believe it either."

I stared at Nadaria.

"Oh, right. We don’t all know how dark elves are. They’re purists. They don’t…intermingle, if you know what I mean. They don’t have children with other species, and believe doing so is a betrayal to their Goddess and their bloodlines. It’s actually a crime in their society."

I nodded, understanding.

"Your mother was born a slave in the dark elf world. She fell in love with an elf from the high-ranking family she served, your father, and he loved her in return." She sighed, hugging herself. "It was actually all really romantic. They loved each other in secret for years and then, when you were accidentally conceived, he left it all behind to save your mother by sneaking out of the caves and into the upper world. How unfortunate for them to cross paths with Morga after all of that."

"Born a slave?" Cass said, his tone sharp. "Did she say anything about her mother?"

I looked back and realized he was seething. His hands were balled in fists at his sides and he glared at River.

"Well…no. I don’t know why that’s important…"

Her voice trailed off because Cass turned and left the room. We all heard the front door slam a second later.

Nadaria glanced at River, at a loss, and River looked at me as if I could offer some insight.

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

Cass

I pushed through the crowd until I had enough space to shift. I did, causing several people to scream, and then took off, flying high into the sky and then gliding over the clouds.

So that was it. The truth. The witches had taken Elizabeth and sold her into slavery to the dark elves. Natalie was either her granddaughter or great granddaughter. It was the only thing that made sense. Witches certainly would have no issues doing that to a nulla, especially all those years ago.

Elizabeth's bright smiling face flashed into my mind. Her laughter. Did she lose that? Her joy. Did she suffer? It was too much to bear, my heart cleaving. It was a good thing I left, or I might be trying to kill River. I hated them—witches. They locked me in a dungeon to be tortured and stole Elizabeth from the light.

I wish I’d never known. Then I could’ve lived forever with the lie I’d created in my head. That she’d gone on and lived a happy life. I could've chosen ignorance and I hadn't. I was such a fool.

There weren't happy endings. Not for me.