Dragonshift Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Author's Note

  Dragonshift

  Tuatha Series Book 2

  Copyright © 2019 by Linton Bowers

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book my be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Shiftless is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  If you would like to know when my next book is released, SIGN UP HERE.

  Chapter 1

  This couldn’t be happening. My father had disappeared when I was a kid with no explanation. For him to just pop up now, knowing I was a Tuatha, was wrong. Worse, I did not understand how I was supposed to feel about it.

  “Terry,” Miranda’s voice was full of concern. She slid up next to me and placed a hand on my arm. “Are you all right?”

  “I don’t know. This is too much.”

  “It’ll be OK, Terry,” Tabitha said. She took up the vacant position on my other side and laid her head on my shoulder. “No matter what, we are here with for you. We will help you get through this.”

  “I know you will, Tabitha. It’s just so strange that he pops up now knowing what I am.”

  “Maybe not,” Miranda said. “From what I have learned, being a Tuatha is passed down through the generations. Your father is probably also a Tuatha. I’m guessing he also awakened, and that was why he left.”

  “That doesn’t make it any better. I don’t know what would.”

  “Then let’s get ready to meet him when he gets here and take it from there. Let’s go about our business like nothing happened,” Miranda said.

  “Ok, that’s what we’ll do. What’s the plan for today?” I asked.

  “Well, we need to go shopping. You need training equipment. Liz needs medical and scientific equipment, Cassie needs clothes, and we all need a better variety of food,” Miranda said.

  “Great,” I replied. “We all going together?”

  “We can, or we can split up and get our errands done much faster. What did you have in mind?”

  “I kind of want to go exploring here. Any chance you guys could go without me?” I asked.

  “Leave it to the man to want his women to go out and do all the shopping while he stays home and watches the game,” Izzy said, adding to the conversation for the first time.

  “Ha ha. What are you going to do, Izzy?” I asked my wereturtle.

  “I have to go to work. I should already be there, but the chief has given me permission for a late start considering what we went through.” She looked at Liz. “I need you and Cassie to come in today, but I need some time to get something straightened out first. Can you two come by after lunch?”

  “I think that will work, assuming we can arrange for transportation,” Liz replied. Liz, the scientist, created the weredragon inside of Cassie and wasn’t one of my Tua. But she had promised to care for Cassie as the woman, my Tua, adjusted to her new life as the first weredragon in existence.

  “Good,” Izzy said. “I will see you then.” The latina wereturtle cop stepped up so close the tips of her breasts pressed against my chest. I smelled the sweet milk on her breath as she spoke. “You and I have unfinished business, Gringo. I expect to be resolving this… this thing between us soon.”

  “I’m here for you when you are ready, Izzy. Just say the word and we will do whatever you need,” I said.

  She harrumphed then turned away. Immediately I missed the feel of her breasts pressed against me. A wave of disgust hit me like a fist to the gut from my turtle, reminding me she felt what I felt and knew what I was thinking. The same was true for all my Tua which is why it came as no surprise when Tabitha, Miranda, and Cassie laughed from Izzy’s reaction.

  “Laugh it up,” I said. “I’m going to stay here. I would like to get a feel for this place we are calling home, and I don’t mean that as a way of saying I am going to be watching sports-ball. That isn’t really my thing.”

  “We know, Terry. Izzy was just saying that to get under your skin. We can handle the shopping while you stay here,” Tabitha said. “I hope you find yourself an adventure while we are gone. I think a little fun is just what you need right now to loosen up.”

  “Agreed,” Said Miranda. She tossed a sly look in Cassie’s direction. “Maybe you should have company while you’re at it?”

  I knew exactly what she was doing, and that was fine by me. As thoughts of my dragon mounting me in the shower drifted to the surface, I welcomed the thought of doing that again. Cassie’s face reddened, and I knew she caught my thoughts and desires. Sometimes our connection worked in my favor.

  “Would you like to go exploring with me, Cassie?”

  “I would like that very much,” she said as her face took on another shade of red.

  Miranda laughed. “It’s settled then. Tabitha, Liz, and I are going shopping. You two will stay here and keep each other entertained. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She flashed another sly grin at my dragon then took Tabitha by the arm and led her out for the kitchen.

  “Be careful while we are gone, Cassie,” Liz said. “We still have a lot of unanswered questions where you are concerned. I don’t want to see you overdo it and cause yourself some unintentional harm.”

  “I’m not a porcelain doll that will break if I’m dropped,” Cassie replied. “I’ll be fine, Doctor.”

  “I didn’t mean to make it sound like you are, dear. I’m just concerned for your health and safety.”

  “Yeah, I bet you are, Doctor Frankenstein. I’ll be fine,” Cassie snapped.

  I stepped between them before Cassie said something else that might hurt Liz more than she already appeared to be. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure she doesn’t overdo it.”

  “Thank you, Terry. I’ll be going now.”

  Once we were alone Cassie stepped up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “What do you have in mind, Terry?”

  “Are you up for exploring a scary place?” I asked.

  Cassie tensed before answering. “You mean like a haunted house?” Confusion was clear in her tone. I placed my hand over hers and gave it a light squeeze. Having my dragon hold me in her warm embrace felt superb.

  “No, there’s a place here in this compound that scares the shit out of me. I don’t know why. I felt it when we walked by on our way to the house where the SUV was stored. I want to know what was
there that made me feel uneasy.”

  “And you think exploring a place that made you feel scared is a good plan?”

  “Probably not, but what the hell. We only live once, and I won’t be alone. How could I be afraid with a bad ass weredragon by my side?”

  “I’m not so sure about all of that. I can’t control it, so I probably won’t be any help if something goes wrong.”

  “That’s all right, Cassie. Just having you there with me will be all the help I’ll need.”

  Cassie smiled a wide grin at me, causing my heart to skip a beat. “When do we leave?”

  “I’m ready now,” I said. “You?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  I led my dragon to the T intersection Tabitha had led Miranda and I past to get to the house with the SUV stashed in it. Glancing down the hall, I felt the same unease as I had then. The darkness seemed to reach out for me with malicious intent. I felt like I might have gone crazy for what I was about to do, but it had to be done. If you asked me, though, I couldn’t tell you why.

  “So, this is it, huh?” Cassie asked. She swallowed a lump in her throat making me think she felt like I did, or she was picking up on my fear. The latter seemed to be more likely considering the dark passage hadn’t affected Tabitha and Miranda.

  “It’s okay, Cassie. I’m here with you. Nothing will happen to you. Not while I’m here.”

  “I know, Terry.”

  I bolstered my confidence with the desire to keep her safe, letting that slide to her through our link. “Nothing will hurt you as long as I draw breath,” I thought to her.

  “Before we go, I need to check on something,” I told my dragon.

  “Where too, then?”

  “Nowhere. It’s a power granted by this,” I said as I held up my arm and pointed to the plain gold bracelet on my wrist. “It lets me learn and use abilities based on the type of Lycan my Tua are. I haven’t picked any skills for having you in my pack. Doing so now will make me stronger and better able to protect you.”

  With a thought, I willed the interface to life. Hovering before me was a screen with my Tua’s avatars and one for myself. I chose myself and saw that there was now another sphere, making four total. One for my wolf, Miranda, one for my serpent, Tabitha, one for my turtle, Izzy, and the latest for my Dragon, Cassie. I selected the dragon sphere and it opened like a flower.

  Four petals greeted me, each containing nothing. Each petal was grey and had no text. Not a skill description or an explanation for the lack of. I went to the tab that represented Cassie and it was grey. The information was fuzzy and unreadable. As with my own abilities, I couldn’t see any skills for her. I kept that to myself since she had enough to worry about.

  “All done. You ready to get this party started?” I asked.

  “Ready as I’m going to be,” Cassie replied.

  I took my dragon by the hand and lead her into the dark hallway.

  Chapter 2

  The darkness pressed in on us as our footsteps echoed through the stone hallway. Cassie’s warm hand in mine was a beacon of comfort keeping me from giving into the fear and bolting back outside.

  “Why do we have to do this?” Cassie asked, with fear thick in her voice and drowning out her natural scent.

  “I don’t really know. It’s a feeling I have. Like something telling me I have to do this,” I replied.

  “Oh.” Her tone suggested that I disappointed her.

  Offering her the chance to turn back crossed my mind, but then I would have to do this alone. While I’m sure I could, I didn’t want to, or have to. Instead, I would take this opportunity to get closer to my dragon.

  “You know, Cassie. I don’t really know anything about you. Where did you grow up?”

  “I’m from here, mostly. My mother was a soldier for a while, so we spent time in Germany. You?”

  “Also, from here. Never been anywhere else. Wish I could say I lived someplace cool like Germany. How was it?” I asked.

  “I was a little kid, so I don’t really remember too much. I remember that everyone was really nice to me and my mom. One of our neighbors used to give me candy every day. She would even give our dog treats when she saw us.”

  “That’s awesome. There is so much I want to know, but I don’t know where to start.”

  “How about I tell you my story? Then you will know the basics and you can ask questions after that. Does that work?” Cassie asked.

  “That’s a great idea. I think I want to ask Miranda, Tabitha and Izzy to do the same,” I said.

  “Then you have to tell us your story, Terry. It’s only fair.”

  “True, but you can’t see it from our connection?” I asked.

  “Nope, just what’s on your mind at the time and what you are feeling. But for me that comes and goes. I get the impression it is a constant thing for the others.”

  “I think it is. We will have to look into why it isn’t for you. Probably has to do with your duel nature.”

  “Yeah, that…”

  Thud.

  Something heavy hit the ground ahead of us. Cassie and I stopped, waiting for whatever would come next. A breeze came from the direction we were going, smelling of dust and mold. After a few seconds, the breeze was gone, but the smell lingered. We didn’t move, expecting something else to happen.

  “What was that?” Cassie whispered.

  “I don’t know,” I thought to her.

  “Did you hear me?” she whispered.

  “What? You didn’t hear my response?” I asked in a whisper.

  “No, you didn’t say anything… Oh wait. You thought it to me, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, you didn’t hear?”

  “No.”

  “Damn. Okay, I don’t know what that was, but we need to keep going.” As I said the words, I noticed a pull from up ahead. Something wanted me to come closer.

  The last time I had felt this sensation I found the bracelet that allowed me to access the game mechanics that represented our abilities. Along with the bracelet, we had an amulet that Miranda wore. It caused a couple of changes in how my Tua shifted into their animal forms. It made me wonder what I would find next.

  I led the way, with Cassie right behind me, so close, I felt the puffs of her exhalations on my neck. Our fingers remained interlocked, and we both suffered from sweaty palms.

  The long dark hallway opened up to a bigger room with a steel door at the far end. Like the rest of the facility I had seen so far, the walls were made of grey stone blocks. Stone bricks around the metal door had carvings etched into them that reminded me of Celtic knots, but differed from what I knew knots to be. These had more flourishes and curvatures than the straighter lines I remember Celtic knots being made of. One stone at the top and center had a design that looked like an Egyptian hieroglyph of a dog.

  “Should we go in?” Cassie asked.

  “Yeah. It’s coming from there.”

  “Huh?” Cassie pulled me to a stop and spun me around. “What’s coming from there, Terry?”

  “There is something in there that wants me to find it. I can feel it pulling at me.”

  “I don’t like how this sounds.”

  “It’s okay, Cassie. I felt this same thing when I found the bracelet. This will probably be a good thing,” I said, but I wasn’t convinced.

  “Then why does it feel so ominous?” Cassie asked, getting to the heart of my own concerns.

  “I don’t know. I think if we go in, we’ll find out.”

  “If you say so, Terry.”

  It was hard to reconcile the difference between Cassie as she was now. And the fearless winged dragon she turned into. If not for the fact that I wasn’t sure I could control the dragon I might have asked her to shift. Since the dragon was still an unknown quantity, I thought it best to get Cassie to push past her fear and continue.

  “It’ll be okay as long as we’re together, Cassie. When we are not alone, our pack is strong.” I pulled her in close enough for our lips to tou
ch then continued. “We are never alone now.” Then I kissed my dragon, hoping this show of fearlessness and confidence would bolster her resolve and my own.

  “Let’s do it,” Cassie said when we split apart. “I trust in you, Terry.”

  I nodded then headed for the door. It opened on well greased hinges with no fuss. Beyond, was a small room that contained one thing. A pedestal upon which a golden ring sat. We stepped in and approached. Someone thought this ring was important enough to put it in here on the pedestal. Yet the door was unlocked and there were no traps on it.

  Might the pedestal be booby trapped?

  “You think it might be a trap?” Cassie asked.

  “Maybe,” I replied while feeling a little annoyed at how unreliable my connection to Cassie was. “Any ideas on how to check for traps?”

  “I wish it was something I could help with, but no. If we were playing a tabletop game, I suppose I wouldn’t be the Thief or Trapsmith of this party.”

  I chuckled. “No, I guess not. Screw it.”

  I stood up straighter and took in a couple deep breaths. Then I marched up to the pedestal and snatched the ring off of it. The light in the room dimmed slightly, but no other events happened. We both stood in place unmoving and waiting for something to happen. Maybe a boulder crashing out of the ceiling or the walls closing in, but no. Not one death trap activated to end us.

  “That wasn’t very dramatic at all,” Cassie said. “I expected something, even if it wasn’t a spray of poisonous gas or deadly darts from the walls.”

  “I’ll take it,” I laughed again as some of the tension in my body melted away. “Let’s find out what this thing does.”

  As I went to slide the ring on my finger, Cassie stopped me with her hand on my arm. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “To be honest, Cassie, I have no idea. I never know what I’m doing. All of this is new and strange to me. I can only hope I make the right decisions, but I have to decide. It’s part of being Alpha, I think. That’s what my instincts tell me, anyway.”

  “Okay, Terry. I just wanted to be sure this is what we should be doing.”