A Dragonlings' Haunted Halloween: Dragonlings of Valdier (7 page)

Arilla paused as she saw her own reflection
in one. Phoenix and Spring came to stand next to her. She was tall
and skinny while Phoenix was short and wide. Spring had a tiny head
and a huge body. Arilla scooted over until she was standing next to
Phoenix. Her shape changed as she did.

“This reminds me of the feathered birds from
your mother’s world,” Arilla chuckled as she flapped her wings and
bobbed her head. “I believe they are called chickens.”

Phoenix shifted until she was in her
two-legged form. “Chicken!” She repeated, flapping her arms up and
down. “Chicken!”

Arilla giggled as Spring moved to another
mirror that made her look like she was upside down. The small
dragon fell over and rolled onto her back as she tried to see
herself. This was fun and there was no way that Aikaterina could
get upset about her and Arosa being here. Shifting to her natural
form of flowing gold, she held her hand out to Spring, who was now
in her two-legged form as well.

“Show me more,” Arilla chuckled in
delight.

*.*.*

Creon paused as he wiped a combination of
damp cobwebs and sweat from his face. He glanced behind him. He had
toasted a few of the golden creatures with the glowing eyes before
he realized that they were mechanical. He grimaced at the faint
smell of burnt electrical wiring that clung to the air.

He’d lost sight of Kelan and Vox in the dark
forest. They had separated when they thought they heard
B
á
lint and Roam’s squeals coming from the
right. Creon was heading toward where he had last seen Phoenix and
Spring.

The only reason he wasn’t panicking was
because he knew that Harvey was with them. He had jogged over the
uneven ground, trying to keep his direction while avoiding the
trees when he rounded one and ran into one of the thick webs.

The more he tried to escape the more tangled
he had become. He had finally shifted into his dragon form, hoping
to slice through it with his claws. What he had not expected were
for the dozen small eight-legged creatures to come pouring out at
him. He had reacted instinctively, and before he knew it, had set
the whole damn thing on fire.

Pausing, he wiped his hand down along his
side when he saw Harvey lying contently outside the funny looking
house that was at least three stories high and half as wide.

“I thought you were with them,” he growled
as he stepped past the slumbering symbiot.

Harvey sent a strange image of what looked
like a golden Phoenix to him before lowering its head back to the
ground. Creon shook his head and stepped up onto the wiggling
bridge. Holding onto the mesh of woven chain, he crossed over it
and into the house.

*.*.*

Carmen shook her head as she watched Creon
let out a long, stream
of
fire. Luckily,
dragon fire burned hot, precise, and so intense, that it quickly
extinguished itself once he quit blowing it. She followed him at a
safe distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak up on
him.

She bit her lip when she heard him admonish
Harvey for not following the twins inside the Fun House. The girls
loved going into it. This entrance led to the bottom floor Hall of
Mirrors. There were six ways in and out of the building, although
three of those were hidden for the most part.

Carmen moved to one of the side entrances
that was a double door for moving things in and out. She slipped in
the side. There were lots of corners and spaces to hide in.

This time, I’ll be the one to follow and
catch him sneaking around,
she thought with a grin as she
narrowed in on where the girls were giggling.

*.*.*

Vox froze as he turned in a circle. Sweat
broke out on his brow again as he listened. The hair on the back of
his cat’s neck was standing straight up. This was the place where
those damn beasts had been.

His eyes darted back and forth as he tried
to see where Kelan had gone. A light, cool fog floated along the
floor of the forest…

“Cavern,” he muttered. “It isn’t a real
forest. It is just a created one.”

He hissed and jumped when a firm hand
gripped his shoulder. Turning, he gripped the forearm connected to
the hand on his shoulder. He almost threw the body attached to arm
before he realized it was just Kelan. A low snarl escaped him.

“I’m with you,” Kelan reminded him, looking
at where Vox was still gripping his arm. “Can you pull the claws
in? They are a little painful.”

“Sorry,” Vox muttered as he released Kelan.
“Just... don’t sneak up on me. My cat is about ready to go crazy.
It knows those beasts are in here.”

“Wolves,” Kelan replied in an absent-minded
voice. “It took me a little while to remember what they are called.
Paul showed me some when I was on his world. They are like Harvey,
only wild and meaner.”

“I don’t give a damn what they are called,”
Vox muttered as he scanned the darkness and fog. A slight giggle
and movement to his left had him and Kelan turning at the same
time. “Roam, come here, son.”

A low hiss echoed before the tip of a tiny
tail flickered above the fog before it disappeared again. The sound
of scurrying feet and more giggles sounded, this time to their
right.

“B
á
lint, come to
daddy,” Kelan called out.

“Daddy,” a happy voice echoed. “Play tag
wiff momma.”

Kelan released a relieved sigh as he walked
toward the sound. He stopped with a frown when the spot where
B
á
lint had been turned out to be empty. He
twirled as the faint sound of giggles moved beneath him.

“I think they are going under us,” Kelan
told Vox as the big Sarafin cat-shifter backed up to where he was
standing. Kelan knelt on one knee and tapped the ground. A giggle
escaped under where he had tapped. “Vox…”

“They are coming,” Vox growled. “You find
the kids and protect them. I will take care of this.”

“Vox, I don’t…,” Kelan started to argue as
he stood up, but Vox had already shifted and was padding away from
him on silent feet. “I don’t think this is what we think it is,” he
finished with a shake of his head.

Kelan’s eyes scanned the area. The dark
shadow near the base of a nearby tree kept pulling at him. Striding
over to it, he knelt again and shifted enough so that he could see
better in the darkness. A black cloth covered a hole at the bottom
of the tree.

Pulling it back, a grin spread across his
face as he saw the rope lighting running the length of a tunnel.
That was how the kids kept moving around so damn fast! Sitting
down, he pushed his legs through the opening. A choked gasp escaped
him when he found himself sliding further down along a long, wide
tube. He laughed as he twisted and turned.

No wonder the kids were having so much
fun,
he thought as he spun around so he was sliding on his
belly.
It is a maze of tunnels built just for them.

Kelan’s laughter echoed as he landed in a
pit of large, round, colorful balls. He lay on his back, staring up
at the sky through the center of one of the hollow trees. Little
lights danced like the fireflies he had seen back on Earth.

This was Trisha’s doing,
he thought
as he saw the reflected image of a full moon.

A slender hand touched his, and he turned
his head to stare into his mate’s beautiful eyes. A smile danced
around her lips as he stared up at her in surprise, then in desire.
She knew he was trying to figure out why she was dressed so
funny.

"It would appear I've found me a Lost Boy,"
she murmured as she sank down beside him.

"B
á
lint?" Kelan
asked in a husky voice.

"Playing with Roam in the Bubble Room, Bio
is watching them. Riley has gone to get Vox," she whispered as he
drew her down over the top of him.

"I hope she takes her time," Kelan murmured
as he captured her lips.

*.*.*

Riley adjusted the sheet so she could see
better, smoothing it down so that the eye holes were even. She had
to hand it to Emma. For someone who was so shy and reserved, she
really knew how to make a ghost costume that was sexy as hell.

Riley glanced down at the thigh high pink
faux fur and Rhinestone high heeled boots. The sheet only went as
far as her upper thighs and sparkled like it was covered in a
million diamonds. Even the eye holes were framed with tiny
jewels.

"Damn, but I look good!" She whispered with
a grin.

The fact that all she had on under the sheet
was a pair of matching pink lace panties and bra didn't hurt her
self-esteem either. She definitely had never had a ghost costume
like this before! Pearl would have had a heart attack if she’d
tried to leave their small apartment in this get up.

She carefully opened the door in the tree
and stepped out. Shutting it firmly behind her, she rounded the
tree just in time to hear a loud snarl and see a flash of fur
several yards ahead of her. Biting her lip to keep from giggling,
she strode through the makeshift forest amazed at how real-life it
looked.

The theme parks would be eating their
hearts out for something like this,
she thought as she peeked
around another tree.

Vox was turning in a tight circle sniffing
the air. A low rumble escaped him, sending a shiver of desire
through Riley. She rolled her eyes behind the sheet. The warm heat
that pooled wasn’t coming from her cat, it was one hundred percent
her reacting to Vox’s sexy growl.

Riley decided that if she wanted to get back
to bed before daylight, she’d better push her wayward pheromones
back under control. Raising her arms up, she stepped out from
behind the tree and started making ghost sounds. What she didn’t
realize was that at the same time as she stepped out from behind
the tree, the program running the ghostly wolf pack restarted.

Three of the huge creatures suddenly
appeared in front of her. The light from the hologram caught on the
Rhinestones, causing them to flash with twinkling brilliance.

Riley knew she was in trouble the moment Vox
turned. If she thought his hair was standing up before, it was
nothing compared to what it was doing now. It looked like he had
just come out of a commercial dryer filled with static
electricity.

Dropping her arms to her side, she stood
looking at him for a fraction of a second before deciding retreat
was probably a good idea. She turned at the same time as he emitted
an ear-shattering roar of rage. Reaching for the tree as she
tripped over one of the roots, she fell onto the soft ground
material with her ass up in the air.

A low cry escaped her when she felt Vox’s
hot breath against her ass. Covering her head, she waited to feel
his sharp teeth and claws rip into her flesh. Instead, warm hands
ran up over the curve of her buttocks.

“Riley,” Vox choked out.

Rolling onto her back, she peeked up at him
through the sheet. A soft moan escaped her when his hands followed
her roll and ended up at the top of her thighs. Licking her lips,
she looked into his stunned eyes.

“Hi, Tiger,” she whispered in a husky
voice.

*.*.*

Vox froze every few steps, waiting and
listening for the beasts to appear again. He had caught a brief
glimpse of them, but they had disappeared when he got close. It was
driving him crazy that he couldn’t smell them. He didn’t know what
wolves were supposed to smell like, but he was sure they had some
kind of scent.

He paused in the center of a small group of
trees and lifted his head. Drawing in several deep breaths, he
could detect a trace of B
á
lint and Roam.
Turning slightly, he also caught another one… Riley had been
here.

His head jerked around when the soft sound
of moaning reached him. A loud roar escaped him when he saw a
figure materialized from between the trees along with three of the
wolves. Rage washed through him at the threat and he charged the
wolves and the figure.

The first wolf reached him as the twinkling
figure turned. He swiped his paw at it and stumbled when it went
through it. He whipped around as the second came at him. This time,
a shiver ran through him as it passed right through his body.

Determined to get at least one of the beasts
that night, he decided to go after the one that had turned. Rushing
forward, he saw the figure stumble and fall. The moment the
beautiful, rounded ass was uncovered, he knew exactly who it was.
No other living being had a more desirable, gorgeous ass than his
mate.

The hot breath of his cat fanned her ass
before he shifted. Reaching out, he ran his hands over the familiar
flesh of his mate. A low rumble escaped him when she moaned as he
turned her.

Oh, yes,
he thought as he reacted to
her scent and he called out her name.
This is definitely my
mate.

“Hi, Tiger,” she whispered.

Bright, blue eyes peeked up at him from
behind the… bed sheet. A reluctant smile tugged at his lips when he
saw the color and the ‘bling’ as she liked to call it. He gently
pulled the bottom of the sheet up so he could see her face. His
breath grew heavier the further it went as he saw how little she
was wearing underneath it. By the time he had it over her head,
both he and his cat were panting.

“Why are you wearing a pink bed sheet?” He
asked in a strained voice as he climbed over her so he could cage
her with his body when she shivered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m a ghost,” she replied as she stared up
at him. “I was trying to scare you. But when you turned, I thought
you were going to rip me apart.”

A husky laugh escaped Vox. “I was chasing
the wolves until I realized they were just holograms. They are very
real looking ones, but they are harmless.”

His voice faded when she reached up and
began playing with the short hair at his nape. She turned her head,
looking around the dark forest area. Except for a few hologram
wolves that occasionally passed through, they were practically
alone.