New Lavaria

Cora checked herself out in the mirror.

‘Dammit!’ she said, before ruttling around in her bag to find the blood red make-up to reapply. A strong hand appeared on her shoulder, tugging gently so she would turn around.

‘Here, let me get that for you.’ He crooned, his voice like velvet and sending a current of heat right to her core, as he leaned in and kissed her so deeply, it took her breath away, using his thumb to correct her smudged lipstick.

Pulling away, a smile tugging at her lips, she replied, ‘You wanna go again for round 3?’ and winked at him, before returning to look for her lipstick. ‘Ah!’ she exclaimed as she found it lodged at the bottom of her black clutch bag.

‘As tempting as that offer is, I should get going. My friends will be wondering where I disappeared to.’ He explained, pulling his white t-shirt back over his head of short black hair, closing his purple eyes as the shirt slipped over his handsome face, and those muscles that were fit for a god. He had to be one of the bigger animal shifters with the size of him.

Cora bit her lip, giving him another once over. She didn’t know his name, had simply bumped into him at the bar over an hour ago, felt some kind of connection with him and here they were. She did know one thing though, he was beautiful.

She turned back to the mirror, putting on her lipstick and brushing her hair with her fingers, hoping that she didn’t look like she’d just been fucked for an hour by the perfect stranger in an upstairs room of the nightclub they were in. She tucked her auburn hair behind a delicately pointed ear, one of the subtle nods toward her fae heritage, and used her fae hearing to listen to the thump of bass for the music downstairs.

A zipper sound pulled her back to the room, and she turned as the beautiful man was looking her up and down, a shit eating grin on his face.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” His eyes darkened as they lingered on her large breasts, barely contained within the crop top she was wearing, and he started towards her.

Her phone started to ring before she could answer, the name Ruby flashing on the screen.

“Shit.” She said, shooting a text message to say she was on her way. “That’s my lift home.” She started towards the door to exit the abandoned room, but he stood in her way. Smirking at her as he blocked her from leaving and running a calloused hand up her smooth thigh. Goosebumps rose all over her skin as she let out a little gasp at the pure electric touch.

“Fuck” she muttered under her breath, her eyes closing.

“Until next time gorgeous, I hope to run into you again.” He cooed, kissed her cheek so gentle, then turned and left.

The emptiness of his presence made her open her eyes as he exited through the door, making her realise she didn’t catch his name.

*A MONTH LATER*

Cora took a sip of the mocha in the large orange cup decorated with pumpkins and almost let out a moan of pleasure at the perfect mixture of coffee and chocolate, two of her favourite things. Her phone buzzed, and she put the cup down to check the notification.

Ruby: So sorry I’m late! I’ll be there in 5 minutes!

Pfft, yeah right, Cora thought to herself, then clicked off the messaging app and opened up WhereRU? It was an app that tracked your every move but was only visible to the members of your party.

She clicked on Ruby’s photo and saw that she hadn’t even left her house yet.

Clicking back on the message thread, she wrote:

Cora: Liar, I can see that you haven’t even left your house yet!

Ruby: I need to delete that damned app! I’m just about to set off, you know it won’t take me long, I have the fastest wings in Lavaria!

Cora: 5 minutes and I’m leaving. You know my boss will kill me if I’m late from lunch again.

Ruby replied with a string of kissing faces and Cora just sighed. Putting her phone down on the small brown table and taking another sip of the delicious mocha.

In a whirlwind of purple and pink streaked black hair, beautiful brown skin and gorgeous grey wings, Ruby arrived, 10 minutes late.

Cora looked to her best friend, then to her imaginary watch and arched a perfectly groomed auburn eyebrow at her.

“I thought you had the fastest wings in Lavaria?” Cora asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“I thought you said you would leave 10 minutes ago?” Ruby replied, smirking at her and pulling her wings in tight to her slim back.

They both burst out laughing at the same time, before signalling the waiter over to order Ruby a drink.

“Okay, the suspense is killing me! What is so important that I needed to come see you today instead of our usual routine tomorrow evening? ‘The Wulvs’ are playing at The Green Griffin tomorrow, I know a guy who can get us near the front!” Cora said, letting her excitement for the idea show clearly.

“Okay, that sounds really cool! But you would need to get us three tickets instead of two because….” Ruby’s words trailed off as she looked from Cora to her hands, picking at her perfectly manicured fingers.

“Go on, as long as you’re not bring Tay, I can’t stand that bitch.” Cora encouraged her, a flicker of concern rising as to why her bubbly and outgoing friend was acting so nervous.

“I met someone, just over a month ago, and honestly, he’s a dream boat. He’s beautiful, funny, not really the ‘hang out’ type other than the odd booty call but I asked if he was busy tomorrow and he said no, and I kind of invited him to hang out with us at the bar!” Ruby blurted, speaking so fast it was a miracle that she picked up on anything.

Cora narrowed her eyes, before saying, “Okay, but if he’s so great, why have you flushed brighter than your namesake? Also, don’t think I didn’t hear the part where YOU had to ask him out.” she scowled at her best friend, before softening her facial features. “Seriously, why do you look so freaked out about telling me this?” She asked a shade gentler.

Ruby rustled her wings, before sighing and putting her head down onto her arms on the table.

“Because I really like him, and I know what you’re like with anyone that I meet with. You always say they’re not good enough for me. But this time Cora, I’m the one that isn’t good enough for

him. Please just be normal tomorrow when you meet him, I really like this guy.” Ruby said, her voice muffled by her arms.

Cora sighed.

“Okay, I’ll take it easy on him. But the second he tries to be an asshole, he’s going to get it. What’s his name, and where did you meet him?” she replied, her voice steady.

Ruby peaked up at her, visibly relaxing before retelling the oh-so-romantic sOphi of how they met at a club, she had hooked up with him and it had been amazing, blah blah blah.

Half an hour later, on her walk back to work, Cora thought back to her own amazing hook up about a month ago. That tanned body, muscles to die for, short black curly hair and purple eyes that appeared in her dreams. She bit her lip, that was a good night. She did kick herself for not getting his number, or even his name. It wasn’t her normal move, but she would have definitely met up with him again.

A few minutes later, she placed her palm to the large wooden door that housed the library that she worked in, feeling the magic sealing it shut hum beneath her fingers. It was the biggest library in Lavaria, holding every book imaginable, it even included a hidden annex below that held the rarest books. She took a deep breath. It was her love for books, knowledge and hisOphi that had kept her in this job, not the creeps that ogled her every chance they got, and not the asshole manager that was constantly on her tail too. The magic finally recognised her own signature, then opened wide enough to allow her to slip in.

The library hardly got any visitors this time of year, what did it matter if she was a few minutes late every now and again? As if the mere thought of him drew his attention, Andy strode into view.

He was a handsome male, she could tell why plenty of girls wanted him, but his personality was as entertaining as watching paint dry. Even if he was heir to one of the richest beings in the whole of Lavaria, no amount of money could make him interesting.

“Late again, Miss Grey?” He asked, his voice holding a hint of amusement. At least he was in a good mood. A gaggle of girls giggled nearby, clearly excited at the thought of seeing the famous male in the flesh. He was notoriously known for being a grade A asshole with several viral videos of him ripping into ‘lower’ beings.

“Apologies Andy, it won’t happen again. You know how Ruby gets when she’s had a coffee.” She replied casually, glancing to his face and waiting for the reaction she knew was coming. Andy had had a fling with Ruby just over a year ago, he was obsessed with her and practically drooled at the mention of her name. Ruby hadn’t said much about what had happened between the two of them, just that he was a little too much for her, but that didn’t stop Andy asking about her every chance he got.

“How is my little rogue angel?” He asked, his voice remained the same but she saw the flicker of longing pass through his eyes. Ruby must have really done a number on him.

“She’s great! Actually, she’s just been telling me all about this new guy that she’s dating, Stark. She said he’s a real gentleman.” Cora lied, well the name was correct anyways.

Andy’s face visibly dropped. He put his hands in his pocket and shrugged, trying and failing to look like he wasn’t effected by this news. Cora’s lips quirked up to the side, knowing she’d hit her mark.

“I’ll see you later, Miss Grey. Please do try to stick to your allotted break times. I’d simply hate to see you fired for such tardiness.” Andy replied, his voice holding a sharp tone to it, before her

strode away, running his fingers through his hair and throwing a side grin to the girls still hovering nearby.

Cora rolled her eyes, before heading down the hall and into her office.

She opened the door to her office and was immediately attacked by Ophi, her pet dragon. “Okay girl, settle down. Did you miss me?” she cooed, scratching under Ophi’s chin. Speaking into her mind, Ophi replied, “I always miss you! You should take me with you more. I am not an indoor dragon you know.” Cora practically heard the eye roll as well as seeing it. It was still amusing to her, seeing a dragon that was no bigger than a cat, roll it’s eyes in exasperation. Even after the 5 years of having her.

“Okay, okay. I will take you out more. You’re very valuable to me, and there are more than a few creeps in these parts. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you.” She said, telling her the truth as to why she didn’t take her many places, other than the ones she trusted.

Ophi followed her through the small and cosy room, before climbing on to her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck. “I love you, Cora.” She spoke into her mind. Cora smiled, leaning into her beautiful opal coloured dragon, “You too.” She replied.

After taking her jacket and bag off and hanging them up, Cora got to work. She was in the middle of going through some artifacts that a museum had sent over to validate their authenticity. This was one of her favourite jobs, researching the history behind the items, absorbing all of that knowledge and logging it into the library system with an updated description and the correct authenticity.

The artifacts this time contained a lot of armour, weaponry and sculptures that were supposedly from the first dragon wars over in the Realm of Medi. If true, these were incredibly rare and valuable pieces and Cora was having the best time going through them.

She picked up what looked like talon covers, monstrous in size, when a small object fell out of the glove-looking piece of armour. Frowning, she gently picked up the item, twisting it in her hands to get a better look at it.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” She asked Ophi, who was currently sprawled on her back, looking very similar to a pet dog.

Cracking open a jade green eye, Ophi looked over at what looked to be a white stone of some sort.

“It can’t be!” Ophi cried and shot to her side.

Cora held out the stone for her to get a better look at it.

“Did you say these artifacts are from the first dragon wars?” Ophi asked, awe lining every word.

“Yeeeah, why? What do you think it is?” Cora asked, looking at the simple yet beautiful stone. Upon looking closer at it, it wasn’t plain white at all. It was more like an opal, white with hints of pink, purple and blue.

“That is a very powerful gem Cora. Back in the time of the great dragons, before we learnt how to control our powers through our companions, we used gems like the very one that you’re holding. The more powerful the dragon, the more beautiful the gem. This is an opal, I’ve never seen one like this before, but look at all of the different colours! It’s beautiful, the owner of this gem will have been very powerful indeed.” Ophi explained, not taking her eyes off the gem.

“Okay, settle down crazy. I don’t believe for a second that a museum will have sent me this on purpose. Something so powerful would have been kept there and under protection with a

professional looking into it. Not some girl with a history degree.” Cora replied, walking back to her desk and picking up the inventory list.

She checked it twice, there wasn’t a mention of the gem anywhere.

Cora clicked her computer back on, re-reading the emails exchanged with the museum, double checking the lists sent numerous times, not a single mention of the gem on anything.

“Maybe they didn’t know it was there? There were stories of the more powerful dragons being able to ‘cloak’ their power gems in order to stop their enemies finding it. Maybe the cloak dropped after the magic sensed it was in good hands with you?” Ophi said into her mind.

“Hmm. It is strange that there isn’t a mention of the gem anywhere, not the inventory lists or the emails. But that doesn’t mean that it’s some crazy powerful gem. I’ll lock it in my drawer and we can look into it more tomorrow. It’s 5:30pm and I am so ready for a shower and some trashy tv. I wonder if the new season of ‘A day in the life of a mermaid’ has started yet?” She said, more to herself than Ophi, but got a resounding agreement from the small dragon anyway.

“Don’t forget to make yourself invisible this time. I cannot deal with another lecture about ‘fire breathing dragons’ near the priceless books again. You really pissed him off when you melted his expensive leather shoes.” Cora said to Ophi.

“Well, he shouldn’t have said such mean things about dragons being ‘lesser beings’ he deserved it.” Cora practically heard the smile in Ophi’s response.

“I can’t argue with that.” Cora replied, before leaving her office and locking the door.