Seduced (Sea Dragons of Amber Bay Book 3) Read online

  Seduced

  Sea Dragons of Amber Bay #3

  Zoe Ashwood

  Copyright © 2020 by Zoe Ashwood

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may 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.

  Cover by Natasha Snow.

  Edited by Emmy Ellis of Studioenp.

  Proofread by Lori Parks.

  Created with Vellum.

  For my husband, always.

  Hi, dear reader!

  Thank you so much for starting Seduced. This is the conclusion of my Sea Dragons of Amber Bay trilogy, and you’ll enjoy it the most if you have read the first two book as well.

  Here is the reading order for the series:

  Tempted

  Ensnared

  Seduced

  I hope you’ll love the conclusion of Skye’s story!

  Happy reading!

  xo, Zoe

  One

  Skye

  You’d think witch hunts would have become less scary in the twenty-first century. People are enlightened, science has advanced to incredible heights, and superstitions have slowly faded into oblivion.

  But right now, with a village full of sea dragons gathering to demand an explanation about me, nervous sweat trickles down my spine. Dragons despise witches, and I’ve been hiding among them for too long. The secret’s out.

  I thought I could find happiness here in Amber Bay. I was wrong.

  A clamoring starts outside, people shouting or arguing, but I can’t make out the words. Their tone is angry, though—this isn’t a peaceful gathering.

  “Get away from the window,” Jack orders, his voice a deep growl.

  My thoughts are sluggish with worry, so I just stare at him, bemused. What good will it do for me to stay away from the windows when the dragons could easily break in here? I’ve seen the evidence of their strength, and this beautiful wooden house won’t present a problem to them at all if they decide to enter.

  He doesn’t wait for me to follow his command. He takes my hand and hauls me back toward Aiden’s desk. The office is large, but it suddenly seems small and claustrophobic with the angry mob outside the Lodge’s front door.

  Aiden, the clan leader and the man who confuses me even more now that I’ve gotten to know him better, doesn’t show any emotions at all. His face is a stony mask. Minutes earlier, he’d accused me of deliberately leading my witch coven to the village by using a GPS tracker we’d found in one of the boxes my sister sent me from California. He smashed the device, and the broken pieces of plastic and wire now litter the office floor.

  I track the bits with my gaze. Some have fallen on the thick carpet in front of the desk. I can’t seem to focus on anything but those shards, and somewhere in the back of my mind I know I’m in shock. My brain is trying hard to cope with this new threat on my life.

  “We’ll protect you,” Jack says, backing me into the corner. “Skye. Look at me.”

  I drag my gaze up. His beautiful gray eyes are wide and fierce, and I know he’d do anything to protect me. The thought tears me up inside: it has finally come to this.

  Because of me, Jack—and others—will have to choose between their own people and a witch. And a useless one at that.

  Just as Aiden claimed earlier, I haven’t made any progress on the protection spell I’m supposed to place around the village to prevent outsiders from coming in. And now I’ve put all the sea dragons in mortal danger because my old coven, my family who have cast me out, are after me.

  No wonder they want me gone.

  “Skye.”

  Jack’s voice brings me back to the room. His forehead creases in worry, and I touch it with my thumb to smooth away the lines.

  “It’s okay,” I tell him. “I knew this was coming.”

  He opens his mouth to protest, but I slip out of his arms and stand beside Aiden. He doesn’t look at me but glances down at the crumpled piece of paper with my photo and the word ‘WITCH’ emblazoned on it. It’s what riled up the villagers—dozens of these were put into mailboxes and strewn around the village, as Jack’s sister, Maya, has informed us.

  She’s peeking through the office door. “I think the coast is clear. We should get her out by the back door before they surround us.”

  “No,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Jack touches my arm gently. “Baby, you have to. We’ll figure this out, but if the folks are angry, it might not be safe for you here. Witches aren’t—”

  “I know,” I interrupt. “But where would we go?” I meet his eyes and I hate the worry and dismay reflected there. “We can’t run forever. They’d find us, or we’d have to leave Amber Bay for good.”

  Ty appears at the door. “Then we’ll leave.”

  He must have heard the tail end of our conversation. Two steps, and he’s beside me, joining Jack in glowering.

  A muscle twitches in Aiden’s cheek at his words. “No one is leaving.”

  “I’m glad we agree for once,” I murmur.

  Ty faces Aiden with a deep frown. “You can’t be serious. How are you going to make sure she’s safe?”

  “Nobody will harm her here.”

  The complete conviction that rings out in Aiden’s voice is somewhat reassuring, but I’d be much calmer if he actually cared about what happened with me. His accusations earlier and his general attitude toward me in the past two months—specifically that he primarily wants me for my power and what I can do for him, not for me—don’t give me much hope that he’d put his life on the line.

  Not that it will come to that. I still believe we can resolve this peacefully. Whatever it is the villagers want, I’m sure we can find a reasonable solution.

  “Bring out the witch!” someone bellows from outside.

  Or maybe not.

  I don’t want to go out there and be fucking stoned to death. Or burned at the stake. Now more than ever, I wish my magic wasn’t so damn specific. Where my sister could conjure up a fireball to launch at her opponents or blast them away with a gust of gale-force wind, I’m left virtually defenseless with my tech magic. I could grab Jack’s or Ty’s hand and channel their power, but that would be a gross misuse of magic, not to mention that they’d have to give the power voluntarily. I’d also never formed a fireball in my life, so it’s much more likely that I’d torch the entire house than scare away any attackers.

  In short, I’m fucked because the Goddess saw fit to grant me with the most modern strain of magic out there. Yay.

  Maya leaves the room, muttering an apology, and I understand. She doesn’t want to be caught in the crossfire. Her family—Jack’s family—is likely out there, protesting my very existence. What if they disown Jack for shacking up with a witch? I bet they weren’t happy even when they thought I was a human. There aren’t any other humans in the village, and I get that. There aren’t many sea dragons left, and they probably want to keep their bloodlines clean. Now, they’ll want him to break up with me immediately.

  Witches and dragons don’t date. Never have. Our differences and distrust run too deeply. I don’t know why I thought we’d be the first exception to the rule.

  “I’m going to go out and talk to them, and you two are going to make sure Skye doesn’t leave this room,” Aiden commands. “Are we clear on that?”

  “Hey—” I protest and start forward, but the office door slams in front of me.

  He’s gone to face the angry mob all on his own, and we’re supposed to be stuck inside?

  Oh hell, no.

  I take the doorknob to open the door, only to be yanked back, gently but decisively, by Jack. I glare at him until he releases my arm. By the time I turn back to the door, Ty’s leaning on it, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Are you two serious?” I demand. “You’re going to let him go out there on his own?”

  “He’ll be fine,” Jack says.

  Ty dips his chin. “Yeah, he’s a big boy. Don’t worry about him.”

  Shouts ring out from the front porch, and we all twitch at the sound.

  “Oh sure,” I drawl. “He’s doing great.”

  I step right up to Ty and give his shoulder a push. “Move, dammit.”

  It’s like trying to shift a boulder. I pinch his side, and he purses his lips in annoyance, but he doesn’t budge.

  From outside, there’s more yelling, then a massive, echoing roar.

  Two

  Skye

  “Oh shit,” Jack breathes. “He shifted.”

  They rush out of the office, and I follow on their heels. The front door of the Lodge is thrown open, the entrance blocked by a massive flank covered in night-black scales. Aiden, in dragon form.

  He roars again, and the glass rattles in the windows. One pane shatters with a melodic tinkle, so Jack, Ty, and I race to the broken frame to see what’s going on.

  Another sea dragon stands on the lawn in front of the Lodge, its maw open wide. It roars, then lashes out at Aiden. One massive foreleg sails through the air to deliver a blow, but Aiden ducks and snaps his teeth at his attacker’s neck. A moment later, a plume of fire bursts from Aiden’s jaws, and holy fucking shit, if I ever doubted about their fire-breathing abilities, I’m convinced now. The flames glance off the other dragon’s scales, but a burning scent rises from the nearb
y fir trees.

  “Crap!” Jack vaults out the broken window and runs to Aiden’s side. “What the fuck is going on?”

  Aiden swings his big head toward him, and a board of the decking snaps under his enormous weight. He overcorrects his step and swishes his tail against the railing, breaking off a good-sized chunk.

  Ty hisses beside me. “You can’t get out there,” he says, even though I’m not moving. “You could get crushed.”

  “Help them,” I urge him. “I won’t go anywhere.”

  The people in the crowd murmur, and some idiot eggs the other dragon on with gleeful shouts. They’ve come for me—and there are so many gathered out there.

  “Jack,” Maya calls from the edge of the crowd, waving at her brother. “We’re here. Anything we can do to help?”

  Maya didn’t escape to get away from me, she only went to get her partners. She moves forward with Cora and Juniper trailing her. Surely they haven’t come to support the lynch mob. And if they’re here to support me, maybe others are, too.

  I just don’t know how to tell friend from foe.

  “Ward,” Ty warns the other dragon as he joins Jack and Aiden on the porch. “You don’t want to do this right now.”

  Oh, so the attacker is none other than Mr. Devlin Ward, the grumpy man who always scowls at me at the grocery store. Aiden told me he’d run against him in the election for clan leader.

  The older dragon now seems to be making a second attempt at beating Aiden. Or maybe he’s trying to get through Aiden to get to me. I’m a witch, yes, but I’m pretty sure I’m flammable. If a jet of flames hit me, I’d be roasted in seconds. Instinctively, I move back a step. But no matter how dangerous this situation turns, I can’t leave the men to fight my battles for me.

  Ward launches himself forward, and Aiden retaliates, defending the porch with vicious blows of his strong forelegs. His broad crimson wings flare wide to protect Jack and Ty from a stream of fire, then he slashes his talons over the older dragon’s neck. Droplets of dark blood fly through the air. Ward bellows, his large eyes open wide and manic in the light shining from the porch.

  With a leap, he grabs the porch railing with one huge clawed paw and tears off a chunk, sending splinters flying. Ty and Jack shout in alarm. The porch sags underneath them. The older dragon jumps back, his tail lashing out. A thud, and Maya flies through the air, her body colliding with the trunk of a fir tree at the edge of the clearing.

  Everyone freezes. The effect of that sound would be almost comical if it wasn’t so horrible.

  Ward swivels around, his wings flapping. His bulk shields whatever is happening from our view, but he visibly flinches back, then retreats several steps. Shudders rack his large body, and golden sparks race down his tail as he slowly shifts back to his human form. Within a minute, a naked man crouches on the grass in front of the demolished porch, and behind him…

  “Maya!” Jack’s shout pierces the silence that has fallen.

  He vaults over the broken railing and races to where his sister’s crumpled form lies on the ground. Cora sobs, on her knees beside her, and Juniper is calling someone on the phone, her voice urgent.

  Aiden shifts, his change rolling over him in seconds. He’s naked, too, the remains of his clothes strewn in tatters all over the porch.

  “How is she?” he demands.

  The gathered crowd is completely silent. No one moves as their clan leader strides down to where Cora is now checking over Maya’s prone body.

  “That fucker,” Jack shouts. He stands, facing Ward. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

  He launches himself at Ward, but Ty’s there to intercept him. “No, man. Think! This won’t help Maya. We need to help her.”

  Jack lets himself be dragged back, and both he and Ty shuck their sweaters to cover Maya.

  “Nurse MacLeod’s on the way.” Juniper drops to her knees in the grass. “She says not to move her in case her spine’s injured.”

  Aiden swears and turns to Ward. “You fucking idiot. Is this what you wanted?” He hasn’t put on clothes, and his body vibrates with tension. “If you’re still in the village at sunrise, I’ll have you arrested for attempted murder. You’ll spend the rest of your miserable life rotting in some human prison.”

  Ward’s head snaps up in indignation. “I want another vote. You’re not fit to be our leader.”

  A low growl rumbles from Aiden’s throat. “Do I need to fucking repeat myself?”

  For a moment, I think Ward will argue with him. Then the older man’s shoulders hunch, and he slinks away into the darkness. Several villagers leave behind him, their forms melding with the shadows.

  Aiden faces them, his beautiful features harsh in the yellow light streaming from the porch. “And you. Don’t think I’ll forget that you came out here to lynch an innocent woman. Are you happy now?” He points at Maya’s near-lifeless body.

  More people leave, some muttering quietly among themselves. I’m frozen to the spot, too freaked out to move. It’s one thing to witness a man turn into a sea dragon when he’s friendly and wants to take you out for a swim, but what happened here was a stark reminder of their dangerous nature. These people are mythological monsters capable of doing serious harm.

  Then Jack casts a look in my direction. “Skye!”

  And I run to him as fast as I can, jumping over fallen debris and landing next to him with a slide. Maybe I’m mad—maybe I should run away from this place—but I can’t. This village has become my home in the past months, and it doesn’t matter that some of its inhabitants don’t want me here. These people do. They showed up for me. And I’ll do everything I can to help them.

  “What do you need me to do?” I ask. “Should we get a stretcher, maybe?”

  I don’t know sea dragon anatomy or their healing abilities, apart from the fact that they heal faster than humans. But surely some of the rules are the same for humans, dragons, and witches? Out here in the cold, Maya could suffer from exposure. We’ll need to get her inside soon.

  “Let me through,” a voice calls from behind me.

  I scramble back in time to see a middle-aged woman huffing up the path to the Lodge. A leather satchel swings madly at her hip, and she looks like a woman on a mission. This must be Nurse MacLeod.

  “Your parents are right behind me,” she informs Jack as she kneels beside Maya. “Now tell me, what happened?”

  Cora, who has pulled herself together enough that her voice wobbles only a little, explains the events of the past five minutes. “His tail came out of nowhere,” she concludes. “It hit her right across the ribs, and she flew back. She’s breathing funny, and I don’t know what to do.”

  Juniper grips her hand, and they stare at the nurse with hope in their eyes. But Nurse MacLeod’s face remains grim.

  “We can’t lift her yet,” she announces. “If she has a spine injury we could end up hurting her more. We have an hour, maybe, before her injuries start healing themselves. If they heal wrong, she might never walk again.”

  She leans over Maya’s side and gently palpates her ribs. Maya lets out a feeble whimper, her hand twitching at her side. Her eyelids flutter, and she blinks at the sky, her pale face tight with pain.

  “Hey, sis.” Jack crouches next to her to get in her field of vision. “Try not to move, okay? Can you tell us what hurts?”

  The nurse continues with her sweep of Maya’s body. “At least two ribs are cracked, if not broken. Can you take a deep breath?”

  Maya’s chest rises, but she groans, her eyes darting around in a panic. “Hurts.”

  Fuck.

  “Maya?” A woman’s panicked voice rings out over the clearing. “Baby, where are you?”

  Jack stands and turns in the direction of the village. “We’re here, Mom.”

  Two more figures rush closer. It’s Jack’s parents. I retreat farther away to give them space. At their terrified expressions, a wave of guilt swamps me: I’m the reason their daughter got hurt. Sure, I didn’t hurt Maya, but Ward came here for me, and she was only collateral damage.

  “Mom,” Maya croaks. “I can’t feel my legs.”