“I will. Thanks.” Hannah ate but she only vaguely acknowledged how good the food was. Her brain was too preoccupied with going over Betsy’s words. They weren’t just the words of a nosy diner owner, they were the words of a woman who wanted Hannah to be aware of a subtle connection between two people.
Maybe she was simply a romantic. Maybe this story about shifters knowing their true love was like a fairy tale. The kind where true love’s kiss conquers all.
Yet, deep down, Hannah had a sneaking suspicion it was more than that. A lot more.
Was there such a connection between Hannah and O’Malley?
She shook her head as she ate her pancakes. She could not allow her life to get any more complicated. She was going to pursue her brother, not some fantasy about true mates.
Chapter Five – O’Malley
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Kelos was in his back yard fixing a wooden bench. “I thought you were all busy with the bar.”
“I am.” O’Malley stopped in front of Kelos and placed his feet hip-width apart. Taking a big breath, he let it out slowly.
Kelos placed the hammer he’d been holding on the ground and straightened up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” O’Malley answered truthfully. “Well… We’ll get to the what is wrong part in a second.”
A smile twitched at the corners of Kelos’s mouth. “So what is right?”
“I met my mate.” O’Malley shrugged and held out his hands. “She walked into my bar. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers. Damn, he was jittery. Like a cat on a hot tin roof.
His cougar snarled at the thought and licked his paws.
Kelos simply stared at him for a full minute before he grabbed him and hugged him. In a completely manly, bone-crushing way, of course. “Wow. We’ve been hoping that would happen for you.” He let O’Malley go. “She just walked into the bar?”
“Sort of.” O’Malley took another breath. “She needs my help.”
“Oh. Okay. What for?” Kelos couldn’t hide his curiosity or suspicion.
“Do you have a beer? I think I need a beer.” O’Malley ran his hand through his hair. A hand that shook just a little.
“Sure.” Kelos beckoned to O’Malley. “Let’s go inside. Amber is visiting her brother, so we have the place to ourselves for an hour or so.”
“Thanks.”
Kelos gave him a sideways look filled with concern as he led the way into the kitchen where he produced two beers from the fridge. Handing one to O’Malley, he said, “Whatever it is, we can fix it.”
“I’m not sure we can,” O’Malley confessed.
“That bad?”
“Possibly.” He took a slug of beer and paced the kitchen, trying to calm the rising dread in his chest. It weighed heavily on him, as if someone had pinned him to the ground and sat on him, refusing to get off. He knew the dread only too well.
Digging deep, he sought out the man he used to be, the man who was capable of putting those feelings that would threaten his ability to act under pressure in a box. A box he could slam the lid shut and lock with a key.
“Even dragon shifters can’t read minds.” Kelos stared at O’Malley in the way only a dragon shifter could. It was as if he could see under a person’s skin and know what they were thinking.
“And there was me thinking you really did have superpowers,” O’Malley said lightly.
“Feelings and emotions, yes. Thoughts, no.” Kelos took a drink. “Your thoughts and emotions are raw, it’s as if you suddenly found a new layer you never knew existed.”
“You’re right.” O’Malley would find it much easier to help Hannah if he could remain detached from the outcome. If it were just a job he had to do. Going to find a man who got lost in the mountains was well within his skill set. Going to find the brother of his mate left him scared of failure.
“Talk.” Kelos pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table where he and O’Malley had spent hours talking, playing cards, and getting to know each other over the last few months. “Whatever it is, I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need help with.”
“You really are a wise old dragon, aren’t you?”
“A gift I have nurtured for centuries.” Kelos raised his bottle to O’Malley. “Begin.”
“Hannah’s brother has been missing in the Himalayas for six weeks. She has the coordinates of the village where he was last seen and despite a search, his whereabouts remain unknown.”
“And she came to ask you if you would help her?” Kelos studied O’Malley closely. “Why you?”
“Why me?” O’Malley took a long drink before he answered. “I served with her brother, but we were not friends, we didn’t exactly see things the same way.”
“So why you?” Kelos repeated his question.
“Because Karl told her that if ever he was in trouble, I would be the one he knew he could count on to get him out of it.” O’Malley shrugged. “I just thought the guy was an idiot. The feelings were not reciprocated, I can think of at least ten other people I would call on to help me before I resorted to asking Karl.”
“Ouch,”
“Harsh but true.” O’Malley placed the bottle on the table and looked up at Kelos. “You don’t have to say yes…”
“Whenever anyone prefaces a question with that little phrase, it usually means they are going to ask me to do something dangerous.” Kelos inclined his head. “Ask.”
“Will you fly us to the village?” O’Malley pressed his kips together and sighed.
“Sure. We can leave as soon as it’s dark enough for me to fly over the mountains.” Kelos arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“You don’t want to talk to Amber first?”
“She’ll tell me to go.” Kelos grinned. “I know my wife.”
O’Malley let out a long sigh. “Thank you.”
“No problem. We both know that you would do the same for us if we needed you.” Kelos leaned forward and put his hand on O’Malley’s shoulder. “Hannah’s brother must have seen the same qualities in you, even if you couldn’t see them in him.”
“Yeah, not sure how he’s going to feel about me marrying his sister, though.” O’Malley grinned, the weight on his chest shifting a little. “Wow, two hours ago I was thinking I would never meet my mate and now I’m talking marriage.”
“This means I’ll have to go and find another suitable engagement ring. My hoard is getting depleted by all you guys finding your mates.” Kelos laughed. “I’m joking. It makes me happy. Really happy.”
O’Malley picked up his beer, tipped his head back, and drained the bottle. “I should get going. I have a lot to arrange.”
“The bar?” Kelos asked. “Do you need help with that?”
“I have a great barman. I hired him a week ago. I’ll hand it over to him. And hope I made the right decision.” He ran his hand through his hair. “If you could check in on him every day or so.”