Dragon of Her Dreams

Loralie, the North Witch, has a lot to answer for.

​A woman of mystery…and danger…

The hereditary Guardian of the Citadel, Loralie, has a lot to answer for. She has done terrible things with her power on behalf of evil men who kidnapped her daughter. Loralie’s powerful magic is being used against her will, and the protections she’s been bred to uphold are failing, one by one.

A man she once loved and thought lost forever…

Detlif is Captain of the Guard of the fair folk enclave that guards one of the Gates to the Citadel. He gave up on love when Loralie left suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. When she showed up nine months later and gave him his infant son, then disappeared again, he imagined all sorts of cruel things about her. But there’s a lot he didn’t know about his former lover. A lot that stands between them, including a twin daughter that he has only just learned about.

A meddling dragon…

When the red dragon offers a chance to break the magical chains binding the girl, Loralie sends her precious daughter to be with her twin…and their father. With her daughter safe, Loralie can focus on revenge and stopping the evil plot that threatens all the lands. But she doesn’t count on Detlif having a say in her activities.

Loralie believes only her death will make up for the misery she has caused. She’d thought she was reconciled to her fate, but seeing Det again makes her wish for more time. With him. With their children.

Det knows Lora has done awful things, but as he begins to understand why, he tries to find a way to create a happy ending for her…for their children…and for himself, as well. It’s going to be tricky, and very, very dangerous, but he must not fail. He wants Loralie for keeps this time, and nothing will stop him from achieving that goal.

She’d settled into the cave, surprised to find it had everything she could wish for. Plenty of clean ice and snow she could melt over her tiny fire. That was her water source. The depth of the crag and the narrowness of the passageway meant nobody could see her light at night, and the height of the crag meant that any smoke or food smells went up through nature’s chimney far, far above. Nobody would find her, and she could study Gebel and his intentions at her leisure.
She was eating dinner when the pacas grew a little restless. A storm was just starting outside their protected niche, and the animals didn’t like it. She didn’t blame them. Tonight, they would sleep together for warmth, as they had done ever since entering the mountains. The pair she called Salt and Pepper were trained to let her sleep between them, their warm bodies and soft fur helping to keep her warm.
They were good traveling companions and very clean once she’d shown them where they could relieve themselves. They were smart beasts, easily trained to a number of useful behaviors. Their fur was soft and silky, and surprisingly clean. They happily ate the grain she had packed along and whatever scrubby grass they found on their way up the mountains. Up this high, there was precious little for them to forage, but they did well enough on small portions of grain for now.
Loralie finished her meager meal and began cleaning up. The storm was really picking up outside, but she was well protected inside the cave. The narrowness of the opening didn’t allow any of the wind to really penetrate, though nothing could warm the place to really comfortable temperatures at night.
She was about to bank the small fire she’d cooked over when the pacas went on alert. Their furry ears swiveled and pointed toward the narrow passage leading to the outside. Loralie stood, gathering what weapons she had to hand. Her staff was leaning against the cave wall. Too far away. She grabbed a piece of firewood and faced what might be coming. If it was some kind of predator, she would use a tiny bit of her magic on it to make it go away. She dared not use too much of her power this close to Gebel’s new stronghold, lest he detect her presence, but she could probably do enough scare away a snow bear or mountain cat. She hoped.
But the predator who finally showed his face in the narrow opening into the larger section of cave was no ordinary beast. No. She knew this one. Knew him better than any other, and…she knew him not at all.
Her heart breaking, she lowered the stick in her hand and fought back the tears that wanted to come.
Detlif had found her.

Det couldn’t believe what he was seeing at first. She looked a bit older and weather-worn, but the luxurious, long blonde hair, the lovely face, the sparkling blue eyes… It was Loralie. His former lover. The mother of his children. The most powerful sorceress he’d ever heard of in modern times.
A dangerous woman.
An alluring woman.
A woman who looked to be on the verge of tears.
It didn’t make sense. Unless…
Unless everything little Penny had said was true. Or, at least, partly true. Penny was just a child, and she loved her mother. Det thought she’d probably put the best spin on whatever she’d known about Loralie, as children would do out of loyalty to a parent.
That’s what Det had assumed all along about Penny’s tales of Loralie’s situation. But seeing the evidence before his eyes, he had to adjust his thinking… Maybe.