Ruthless Knight Read online

  “North of here. The country of Canada, formerly the colonies of Canada and Acadia. Charles’s spell lost its strength somewhere in that area.”

  “Formerly the colonies...” Tamryn’s voice trailed off. Then she focused on Illary. “What year is it? How much time has passed since you placed me in the spell?”

  “It’s 2020.” Illary’s voice was gentle. “It has been a little over two centuries. Your kingdom is gone, destroyed by the skin-hunters.”

  Tamryn wanted to pull the blankets over her head and pretend none of this was happening. She was even more out of her world than she had guessed. So many years gone. Her kingdom gone. She had missed so much.

  “How are you still alive?” she asked Illary, her voice miserable. “Did you put yourself in a spell, too?”

  Illary shook her head. “No. But I am more than a witch.”

  “What are you?”

  “My kind does not have a name. Witch will do, but it is not entirely accurate.”

  That made some sense. Tamryn remembered her father’s excitement when Illary had come to the castle. He’d seemed much more enthusiastic than he would have been for meeting a regular witch; those could be found anywhere, even powerful witches, even shifter witches.

  But now wasn’t the time to think on these matters. There was work to be done.

  Tamryn would have to be strong as her mother had told her to be.

  “Is it a long journey? Will we be taking a carriage?”

  “Oh, Your Majesty, so much has changed,” Illary said. “We’ll be taking a machine known as an airplane. It carries people through the air, much faster than a carriage can travel.”

  Tamryn blinked several times. A machine to carry people. She’d flown on her father’s and mother’s backs when she was young. But a machine? So many things were different. She would have to grow accustomed to surprises. “When do we leave?” she asked.

  “Within the hour. I’ve already created the necessary documents that we’ll need to travel.”

  Although she still had no appetite, Tamryn forced herself to finish the plate of food in front of her. The sausage and eggs tasted good, but she barely noticed; she was too concerned with completing this task. Illary watched her eat, and Tamryn bristled at the thought that she needed a supervisor for her meal.

  “I’m only trying to help,” Illary said, likely sensing Tamryn’s mood. “I can wait outside if you prefer, Your Majesty.”

  “Please,” Tamryn said, shaking her head. “I’m no longer a royal, am I? My parents are gone. My kingdom, destroyed.”

  “Your parents are still with you in your heart and in your blood,” Illary argued. “You remain a queen to me. Now let’s go.”

  “I have no gowns,” Tamryn said.

  “Some of the shifters here have donated clothing for you to wear.” She gestured at a stack of clothing. “Gowns are no longer necessary.”

  Despite the dark feelings surrounding her heart, Tamryn brightened slightly at the idea that she wouldn’t have to wear gowns anymore. She’d never liked them.

  Illary explained a contraption called a “bra,” and if Tamryn hadn’t been so distraught over the revelations of the past twelve hours, she would have giggled. Once Illary had helped her put it on, Tamryn muttered, “I both adore and despise this invention.”

  As soon as she was dressed, she followed Illary out of the tiny cottage to where several shifters stood around the fire pit. The scent of cooking meat, much like what she’d just finished eating, filled the air. As she stepped off the little porch after Illary, all of the shifters turned to look at her. She noticed one face in particular—the large blond man who’d spoken to her in the darkness last night. Nolan Marks. Her heart sped up in her chest and she vaguely wondered if he was dangerous. She didn’t sense danger, only attraction.

  However, he wasn’t looking at her despite her obviously staring at him. He’d been friendly at night, charming, even. Now, he ignored her. It was a conundrum.

  Jameson, the alpha, approached her and Illary. “Margot has packed a bag for you, Tamryn.”

  “Thank you,” Tamryn said. “Your hospitality is very kind.”

  “Of course,” he said.

  A woman with wavy brown hair came up beside Jameson, holding an infant. She extended her free hand and smiled. “Hi, I’m Nina. This is Lucas.”

  “I’m Tamryn.” She shook Nina’s hand.

  Illary cleared her throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Tamryn and Nina both stared at her.

  “This is Tamryn Firebringer, Queen of Estrayla, Kingdom of Dragons,” Illary said.

  “Oh,” Nina said, dropping Tamryn’s hand. Her cheeks looked flushed. “I’m sorry if I was...forward or something. I don’t even know what to call you. Your Highness?”

  “None of that, please,” Tamryn said, shooting a glare at Illary. “My kingdom is gone. We don’t need formality.”

  Still, Nina took a step back. Tamryn wanted to follow her and explain further, but someone else spoke up. Kayla, if Tamryn was remembering her name correctly. She had very short hair. Her t-shirt depicted a crude drawing of a bear and the words I’m sorry for what I said when I was hangry.

  “Wait just a sec,” Kayla said. “Kingdom of dragons?”

  “Yes,” Tamryn said. “Why? Is there another kingdom of dragons?”

  “Noooo,” Kayla said slowly. “It’s the dragons part I’m curious about.”

  Illary spoke up. “Tamryn is a dragon shifter.”

  Kayla burst out laughing. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Then she realized no one else was laughing, and stopped. “That...that wasn’t a joke.”

  Tamryn smiled at the affronted look on Illary’s face, and the shocked look on Kayla’s. Then she realized what Kayla meant. “You’re surprised...because you’ve never met a dragon?”

  At Kayla’s puzzled expression, Tamryn turned to Illary. “What has happened to my people?”

  “Hidden and scattered like you and Charles,” Illary said quietly. “Or murdered.”

  Tamryn’s knees felt weak and she wobbled on her feet. Dragons had been hunted to the point of...extinction? She wanted to cry, to rage. But she was a princess. No, she was a queen.

  She couldn’t dodge the royal title. She had to reconstruct her kingdom and revive dragonkind.

  That meant she had to do whatever it took to find and protect anyone who was left of her kingdom. “Starting with Charles,” she said in a voice that sounded much steadier than she felt, “I’ll gather the dragons together again. We’ll rise, stronger than ever.”

  “We’ll help you in any way we can,” Nina said, her voice fierce as she took Jameson’s hand.

  Jameson nodded.

  Illary said, “Then we need some space so I can work with Tamryn before we leave.”

  Tamryn glanced around at the Rock Creek Clan shifters, who had started to disperse, likely to provide the space Illary was asking for.

  “We’re not sending them out of their own home,” she said, frowning at Illary. To the rest as a group, she said, “I just need a quiet place to speak with Illary.”

  “Out of doors, preferably,” Illary said.

  “There’s the cairn, where we found you,” Jameson said, nodding at Tamryn. “It’s out of the way, and we’ll give you privacy.”

  “Thank you,” Tamryn said.

  The other shifters watched her walk away with Illary, but Tamryn was most conscious of Nolan’s attention. He seemed to regard her with something like betrayal in his eyes. She couldn’t sense his emotions as there were too many others around, but the hurt in his eyes was clear. She wondered what had caused it. Maybe he was upset that Tamryn was a dragon? Or a queen? She should have spoken more to him last night.

  “Come,” Illary said. “We don’t have much time. I’ll help you calm your mind and ready yourself for taking your dragon form.”

  Tamryn wrinkled her nose, but led Illary to the pile of rocks in a clearing surrounded by a circle of pine trees.

  “I was in
there,” Tamryn said, pointing to a low grouping of rocks. Next to it was a large pile. “They had to disassemble their cairn to find me.”

  “This is a sacred place,” Illary said. “And a safe one. The spell’s magic chose it well.”

  Tamryn pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure she agreed; they’d just completely disrupted this entire clan of shifters. Luckily for the Rock Creek Clan, Tamryn and Illary would soon be leaving.

  “Come, Your Majesty,” Illary said. “Let us sit and breathe.”

  Tamryn sat facing Illary on the pine needle-strewn ground. The earth was cold beneath her legs and she shivered in her borrowed clothing. How would they ever pay back these generous people who had sheltered her?

  “You’re thinking too much with words,” Illary said. “Focus on your breath.”

  Tamryn inhaled and exhaled, trying to lose herself in the sounds of her breathing, but instead she heard the far-off sound of a river or stream, buzzing insects, and the calls of birds.

  “Your breath,” Illary reminded her.

  Right, her breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. She could remember the first inhale she’d had after coming out of the spell. She remembered the warm hand on her back, steady and reassuring.

  “Now think of your dragon,” Illary murmured. “Imagine cloaking yourself in scales and power.”

  She remembered cloaking herself in Nolan’s t-shirt. He smelled good.

  “You’re not working hard enough,” Illary said.

  Sighing, Tamryn went back to deep inhales and exhales. Quiet footfalls tore her attention from her fruitless task. She looked up to see Nolan, the handsome polar bear shifter. Serious and strong. Steadfast.

  “It’s time for us to go,” he said.

  Illary gracefully stood and stepped after him. Tamryn scrambled after them, stunned. Nolan had said it was time for us to go. He was going, too? Why?

  More puzzling still was the fact that his presence seemed to matter to her, one way or another.

  Chapter Five

  A dragon. She was a dragon.

  Nolan stood at the car rental desk, thinking about dragons, and about Tamryn. A queen, and a dragon.

  He’d thought of it the entire way to the airport, during the plane ride to Salmon Arm, British Columbia, and now while he waited for the frazzled clerk to find the info for the SUV he needed to rent.

  Dragons were a footnote in history, a cautionary tale for shifters who tried to wield too much power. Dragons were an impossibility. They’d been wiped out because of their strength; other shifters had sought to take it for themselves.

  Wiped out...no. Tamryn had survived. And others, apparently.

  While a part of him was curious to see her in her dragon form, a larger part of him ached that she’d lost everything so quickly and thoroughly. He’d had no idea she had been in that sphere for two centuries. Her wide, violet eyes took in everything around them in quiet observation. She occasionally jumped at loud, mechanical noises, startled. Her hands had gripped the armrests of the airplane seat and her lips had been pressed together, the burn scar as tight as her shoulders. Illary had murmured reassurances to her, and Tamryn had listened while also seeming far away. Reliving her nightmares?

  Nolan couldn’t pity her for her troubles. He admired her for her strength.

  Even now, she sat on a bench with Illary, waiting while he secured their rental car, and she looked around, observant as ever. If she was afraid or anxious for her betrothed, she didn’t show it. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was attached to him.

  But that wasn’t his business.

  Her cherry-red hair had earned her several admiring glances from men and women alike. A little girl had even wandered close to her and reached out a hand to touch Tamryn’s hair. The child’s mother had tried to draw her away, but Tamryn smiled and said it was okay.

  “What happened to your face?” the girl had asked.

  “A dragon breathed fire on me,” Tamryn said.

  The kid had looked understandably impressed. Nolan felt a smile grow on his face as he recalled it.

  “And, Mr. Marks, here’s your key. Sorry about the wait.” The woman at the counter slid a key across with a copy of the paperwork he’d signed and gave him a triumphant smile.

  “Glad you found it,” he said. “Thanks.”

  “Of course! I hope you enjoy your stay in Salmon Arm.”

  “I appreciate it.” He nodded and headed over to where Tamryn and Illary were waiting. They wouldn’t be staying in Salmon Arm; the vehicle was their fastest option for reaching the forest to the northeast of town.

  Illary and Tamryn followed him outside. Tamryn wouldn’t allow him to take her bag for her. She seemed intent on proving that she didn’t need his help. He got the feeling that the title of “queen” bothered her, and he wondered why. Illary, however, happily allowed Nolan to carry her hiking pack along with his own.

  He tossed their bags into the back of the SUV. Illary climbed into the back seat. Tamryn moved as if to join her, but Nolan shook his head. “You’re up front with me.”

  If she was startled or in any way bothered by his declaration, Tamryn didn’t show it. She climbed in and buckled up.

  It didn’t take long for them to reach the wilderness, although Nolan wasn’t surprised. He’d come through Canada on his way to the lower forty-eight from Alaska. It could’ve been that he’d mostly avoided larger cities, but it seemed to him like Canada was mostly wild. Half the time, he’d traveled in his bear form because there were no people to see him in the forests. If he hadn’t been hurting over the loss of Em, he might’ve enjoyed the trip.

  Tamryn rubbed her chest, just over her heart. He glanced quickly at her face and saw her eyes held tears.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “You’re hurting,” she said. “I’m sorry for whatever happened.”

  He felt his mouth open in surprise. Shaking his head, he said, “I’m fine.”

  Her smile was one of gentle empathy. “Loss changes us.”

  “I’m fine,” he said again, and kept his eyes on the road. The highway was long behind them, and now they trundled along a dirt track, pitted with dips and holes left by time and the elements. Twice, Nolan had to get out of the car to hoist fallen trees from their path. He put them back once he’d driven past them, because they’d keep unwary hikers from driving in after them. Then again, this area didn’t look like it would’ve seen a hiker in a hundred years.

  The road ended without fanfare, stopping just short of a lake. Nolan stepped from the car and looked around. He was conscious of Tamryn and Illary doing the same.

  “It isn’t my mountains,” Tamryn said, “but it is beautiful.”

  “Tell me about your mountains,” Nolan said.

  She shook her head.

  He wondered if the thought of her old territory was too painful. Or maybe she simply didn’t like him. Or she was mad he hadn’t opened up to her about his loss. Well, he never talked about Emily, and he wasn’t about to start now.

  They grabbed their packs from the car. Nolan wanted to help Tamryn with hers, but she scowled at him when he approached. She fumbled with the straps for a brief moment before latching them around her waist.

  Other than her ethereal red hair, she looked like a modern outdoorswoman, just waiting for an REI photo shoot. Her clothes showed off her toned frame.

  Illary, too, looked ready for adventure, with her black hair up in a braided ponytail and her eyes surveying the lake before them.

  Nolan said, “Well, where to?”

  “That way.” Illary pointed across the lake.

  Too bad they didn’t have a canoe. The edges of the lake stretched far in each direction. Nolan was about to ask if she wanted to go left or right, but she began marching left along the shore, not looking back to see if he and Tamryn were following.

  Tamryn hurried after her, so Nolan brought up the rear. The view wasn’t half bad, with Tamryn right in front of him. And when the breeze caught her hair and tugged
it toward him, he caught brief whiffs of her airy scent.

  As they walked, she didn’t once turn to look back at him.

  And he knew this, because as they walked, he was only looking at her.

  ONCE IT BEGAN TO GET dark, Illary stopped and looked out at the lake. “I hear a sound.”

  A faint hum seemed to be growing louder as dusk fell.

  “Mosquitoes,” Nolan said. “Quick, let’s set up our tents.”

  They scrambled to unpack everything, but there was no way they could get three tents set up in the couple of minutes they had before the pests would arrive. This time of year, the mosquitoes came in swarms.

  “One tent,” Nolan said, yanking out his. It wouldn’t be big enough for all three of them, but he could shift into his bear and let the women stay in the tent.

  The insects were on them suddenly, biting into their skin.

  “Don’t you have some kind of spell you can do to keep them off us?” Nolan asked Illary.

  “I’m not that kind of witch,” she said, speaking into her hand to keep bugs from flying into her mouth.

  Tamryn and Illary put on long-sleeved shirts to cover more skin, but Nolan was focused on getting the tent set up. Finally, it popped into place and he ushered the women inside. Then he stripped out of his clothes, swatting at the mosquitoes while he did it, and crouched to let his polar bear take over. His thick fur didn’t dissuade all of the pests, but it definitely helped.

  He sat still, covering his face with his paws, and listened to the women inside the tent. Their conversation was low, but he heard Illary suggest meditation. Just as clearly, he heard Tamryn refuse.

  Once full dark was upon them, the swarm dissipated. Mosquitoes still lingered in the area, but there were fewer of them. Nolan shifted back into his human form, found his pants, and put them on. Then he got to work building a fire.

  “What are you doing?” Illary asked, peeking her head out of the tent.

  “Making a fire.”