“You need to meet me at the resort’s garage right now,” she said when Camry picked up, not even giving her a chance to say hello. “We have to borrow the snowcat again and get up to the cave! Jack just left on his snowmobile in the direction of Bear Mountain, and he’s got a rifle with him. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
“You think he’s hunting the dragon?”
“Kenzie’s week is up. Where else would Jack be going with a rifle?”
“But we’ll never get there in time, Meg. And it’s not five o’clock yet, so the garage will be full of workers. I can’t just waltz in and take one of the groomers. Besides, you said Jack took his snowmobile. He’ll be there before we can even get the snowcat started.”
“His sled does okay on the wind-packed lake, but it isn’t designed for the powdered snow he’ll find in the woods. He’s going to have to snowshoe up the mountain, and then he still has to find the cave. Just steal the damn thing when no one is looking. We have to get up to the cave now!”
“Okay, okay. But meet me where Matt’s road hits the main road instead of at the garage. I’ll grab the snowcat, head straight through town, and we’ll approach the cave from the opposite direction. If we’re lucky, we’ll get there before him.” There was a sudden pause. “Um…then what?”
“Then I guess I introduce Jack to William.”
The trail Jack was following broke into a high meadow just as the sun set over the mountains on the west side of Pine Lake. The first thing he noticed was the construction going on at the top of the meadow, where a cliff jutted more than a hundred feet above the trees. He also heard gushing water on the other side and knew it was Bear Brook making its way down to the lake.
Jack also felt a bracing energy humming through the air, and realized he was looking at the future home of Megan’s sister and brother-in-law. He remembered now that Megan had said Winter and Matt were living in the cabin by the lake only until their house was finished. Which looked to be a couple of years away at least, judging by the size of the foundation tucked against the cliff, as if they were going to make the sheer granite wall part of their home.
If he were a dragon, he wouldn’t live anywhere near a construction site that was bustling with workers all day. So where, Jack wondered as he scanned the mountaintop, would he want his lair to be? It should be high enough to see anything approaching, preferably a cave, or at least an outcropping of ledge for shelter, probably with a southern exposure.
Jack scanned the meadow again in the waning twilight, aware of the absence of tracks large enough to belong to the creature he and Megan had seen on the lake. But then, Kenzie had said the dragon was sick, so maybe the beast was already dead.
Hoping he was that lucky, Jack started up the northern tree line of the meadow. A half hour and a couple of miles later, he came to a groomed snowmobile trail. He stopped and took out his water bottle for a long drink while deciding in which direction to go.
Not wanting to risk meeting any snowmobilers who might wonder what he was doing up here at night carrying a rifle, Jack continued straight across the trail and plunged back into the woods before turning south, aiming toward another sheer cliff he could see in the distance.
He was closing in on it about an hour later when he stopped and went perfectly still. There was just the slightest of breezes, but it was enough to carry the faint scent of the slime he’d found at the break-ins. Since he was heading into the breeze, Jack knew he was going in the right direction.
Despite it being totally dark out but for the moonlight filtering through the trees, he quickened his pace, bringing his rifle to his chest and working the bolt to slide a shell into the chamber. He kept his finger on the safety and his eyes semifocused to watch for movement.
The smell grew slightly stronger as he got closer to the cliff. But it was another twenty minutes before he found a well-trodden path, which he followed directly up to an opening in the cliff. Jack stopped just outside the entrance to the cave, quietly slipped out of his snowshoes, and listened for any sounds within.
Not hearing anything, he quietly stepped into the mouth of the mountain. There was a good chance Kenzie Gregor was inside, and an even better chance the man would do everything in his power to stop Jack from killing the dragon.
Using his rifle to lead the way, with one finger on the safety and another on the trigger, he silently inched deeper into the winding cave. He was just reaching in his pocket for a small penlight when he realized that instead of getting darker the farther he got from the entrance, it was actually getting lighter. The smell of kerosene and wood smoke mixed with the foul odor of slime.
Damn, the dragon wasn’t alone.
The winding corridor he’d been following suddenly opened into a cavernous room so tall he couldn’t see the ceiling, and large enough that he could just barely see the far end. Light from a small fire reflected off the dark walls, and several lamps were strategically placed on ledges. But it wasn’t the dragon curled up on a large nest of straw that nearly brought Jack to his knees.
No, it was seeing Megan sitting next to the beast.
Kenzie was nowhere in sight; Megan was completely alone with the creature, and utterly defenseless. Jack raised the butt of his rifle to his shoulder. “Slowly move away from it, Megan,” he said softly, walking to the center of the cavern. “Please, sweetheart, just stand up and back away.”
She turned at the sound of his voice but didn’t seem overly surprised to see him. She did stand up, but instead of backing away, she stepped directly between Jack and his target.
“His name is William Killkenny,” she said. “And he’s a nobleman from ninth-century Ireland.”
Jack lowered the barrel of his rifle but kept the butt at his shoulder.
“He’s here because he heard that Kenzie might be able to help him become a man again.” She glanced over her shoulder when the dragon groaned in his sleep. “A witch turned him into a dragon to teach him a lesson,” she said, lowering her voice and stepping closer, though she stayed between Jack and the beast. “It seems William burned her cottage in the forest because he thought she was disrupting his hunting. In retaliation she put a curse on him, claiming that until he learned how to treat defenseless old women, William Killkenny would roam the earth as a monster.”
“Know why a dragon?” Camry asked, walking around Jack, her arms full of straw. She set it down next to the sleeping beast, then stood beside her sister. “Because back in the ninth century, dragons were everyone’s worst nightmare. Even though they’re mythological, they were the big, bad boogeyman parents used to keep their children from straying into the woods. So instead of turning William into a frog or something, she turned him into a nightmare.”
“Which doesn’t make sense, when you think about it,” Kenzie Gregor said, walking past Jack. He was carrying two buckets of water, which he set down by the fire before going to stand beside Megan and Camry. “It’s impossible for a man to make amends when he’s a frightening creature, since no one will let him get close enough to give him the chance.”
Jack could only stare at the three of them in silence. Did they honestly expect him to believe the dragon was a ninth-century nobleman, much less that he’d traveled through time to get here?
“I know what we’re telling you is unbelievable,” Megan said, stepping closer, her large green eyes shining with…aww hell, she looked close to tears. “Which is why I’ve been so reluctant to say anything to you.” She stopped directly in front of him. “You see, my whole family is…well, we’re sort of…different. The magic is real, Jack. My father and Callum and Morgan, and Robbie’s father, Michael, are from twelfth-century Scotland. And Matt and Kenzie are from the tenth century.”
For the life of him, Jack still couldn’t say anything.