Cipher, p.1
Cipher, page 1
CIPHER
INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY
DRAGON BRIDES
BOOK FOUR
KATE RUDOLPH
CONTENTS
About Cipher
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
What to read next: Storm
Intergalactic Dating Agency
Also by Kate Rudolph
About Kate Rudolph
ABOUT CIPHER
Cipher needs a bride if he wants to keep his inheritance…
When an ultimatum sets Cipher on a path to find his bride, his first stop is the Royal Matchmaker. But Cipher doesn’t want just any woman. He needs a perfect lady dragon who can handle all that society has to throw at her. A human with a checkered past will never do.
Not even when he’s certain that she’s his fated mate.
Morgan just needs a way home…
Ditched on a deserted planet, Morgan is losing hope of ever escaping. When a gorgeous alien crash lands on the planet, that hope comes roaring back. Maybe he has a way off the planet.
Or maybe they can just cuddle for warmth.
With Cipher at her side, she just might stand a chance against all the planet can throw at them. But the dragon is blowing hot and cold. And no matter how much her body burns for his, she refuses to give her heart to a man who doesn’t think she’s good enough for him.
But what fate has brought together, no challenge can tear apart.
And when Cipher sets his mind to wooing Morgan for real, she doesn’t stand a chance at resisting him.
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PROLOGUE
Cipher sat in his mother’s salon with a growing sense of doom burbling in his gut. He was an adult, the oldest of her three children, and for some reason he still feared that she would send him to his quarters in shame for some mischief he and his brothers had done.
He eyed Storm and Drake, who sat on either side of him. Drake looked pleasant as always, while Storm lived up to his name, danger brewing in his gaze. He hadn’t seen his brothers in weeks, each of them sent to far reaches of the planet on their mother’s business.
They hadn’t done anything wrong.
That didn’t convince his nerves of anything.
A servant opened the door and their mother glided in. She was nearly as tall as her three sons, an icy, elegant woman who could make weaker debutantes cry with a single raised eyebrow. And she surveyed Cipher and his brothers like she was preparing to send them to war.
She settled in behind her desk and Cipher’s dread bloomed. She was up to something. She always had her little plots and schemes, often playing him and his brothers against one another until she got exactly what she wanted. They’d learned to outwit her, or at least outrun her since they’d become adults.
But she knew their tricks even better than they knew hers.
“I’ve accepted an assignment from King Venin,” she announced. She was always careful to give his majesty his due, even in private. He was never my brother or your uncle, but always the king.
Neither he nor his brothers asked questions. Any interest could be a weakness, and they wouldn’t open themselves up to exploit this quickly.
Her gaze raked over them, fire banked deep in her amber eyes. “I’m set to represent the king and his government as the governor of a new dragon colony. I’ve agreed to one year. The three of you will be responsible for managing my affairs while I’m away.”
Cipher took a deeper breath than he should have and was caught in his mother’s gaze. But he could handle it. It meant she didn’t notice Storm flinch.
She let the announcement hang for a long moment before continuing. “It’s long past time I’ve named my heir. You have until I return to prove your worth. And I will not play games with our legacy. If you are not wed to suitable matches by the time I return, you’ll be disqualified. I’ve arranged meetings with the matchmaker for all of you. Don’t disappoint me.”
He could feel the heat of those words, even though she kept her fire tightly banked.
“Mother!” Drake objected, nearly coming out of his seat in outrage.
Cipher sighed. He did his best to protect his brothers, but he couldn’t help them if they called down their mother’s fury on themselves.
He let the condition roll around his mind while his mother laid out, in no uncertain terms, exactly what she expected of them in the next year. Cipher had never given his heart to another, had never seen a reason.
If he were honest, which was a dangerous thought in his mother’s salon, he’d been hoping he’d find his mate.
He was a fool. Fated mates were a gift from the stars and rare enough that waiting for one was absurd.
And yet, his three royal cousins had all found their mates. Two of them with humans, no less. The news had first rocked all of the dragon kingdom, but as the newest dragon brides had settled into their roles, they’d proved to all that they cared for their new land.
But Cipher had to let the dream of his mate go.
Finding a woman his mother approved of would be difficult enough. Hoping she was his fated mate was an impossible wish he could not afford to keep.
CHAPTER ONE
The end of the meeting with his mother put him in a sour mood, and the only way Cipher could clear his head was to take to the skies and fly. The people on the ground were barely specks at his altitude and he enjoyed the quiet.
Few dragons dared to fly so high. The air was thinner, harder to control, and if he stayed too long, even his thick hide would begin to feel the bite of the cold.
Would his chosen bride fly so high with him?
He let out a burst of flame and swooped low as a wave of injustice threatened to send him spiraling to the ground. He should be allowed to choose his own woman, to find his own mate. Instead, he had a meeting with a matchmaker and instructions to find a woman his mother would like.
Ha! His mother didn’t even like her own children. She was more than likely to reject any bride and hold their inheritances over their heads until her dying day. And then she’d hurt them one last time when her final wishes were read.
If he was a better older brother, he would have waited at home to discuss things with Storm and Drake. Presenting a united front was the only way they had of not bowing to their mother’s will.
But this time Cipher didn’t see a way out. He was thirty-six years old. Every year the debutantes got younger, and the thought of wedding one made him faintly ill. There had to be at least one dragoness closer to his age with whom he could make a life.
He dove again, this time shifting at the final second and landing on human feet.
He was on the edge of the city and had his appointment with the matchmaker in half an hour. Cipher was so tempted to skip it that he nearly leapt back into the air to fly home. But his mother was still at the estate for another day, and running into her was even worse than speaking with the matchmaker.
Besides, he didn’t need to act on whatever he heard. He’d listen politely, see if any prospects would be suitable, and, if not, go on his way and find a woman he could tolerate through his own means.
He walked with the kind of determination that made other pedestrians dodge out of his way. To Cipher, they may as well have not existed.
The sign outside of his destination was discreet: Royal Matchmaker written in a flowing script with a smaller sign that indicated the business was open. Cipher could still walk away. But he summoned his will and opened the door, stepping inside as if he was about to go into battle.
But he’d never battled in a cozy tea shop.
He looked back at the door to make sure he was in the right place. He wasn’t sure what he expected of the Royal Matchmaker, but definitely not two comfortable, patterned sofas, a low table, and a tea pot with two delicate cups on a tray beside a small plate of cookies.
A middle-aged woman with light brown skin, dark hair, and striking blue eyes walked out from behind a curtain, a polite smile on her face. “Good afternoon, sir. May I help you?”
He’d heard rumors this woman was psychic. Perhaps, if he was willing to trust her, she could point him to his mate.
If such a woman existed.
But the idea of revealing his deepest desires made him faintly ill. There was a better than even chance that every word he said would be repeated back to his mother or one of her agents. He’d have to watch his tongue.
“I have an appointment,” he said, the words harsher than was polite.
“Your name?” She pulled out a leatherbound notebook from a small desk and flipped it open.
“Cipher.” He forced himself to modulate his voice. This woman wasn’t his mother and was only doing her job. She deserved a bare minimum amount of courtesy. It was his duty to set an example for others, and he would not become some tyrant si mply because he was in a bad mood.
The woman consulted her book before making a small notation, closing it, and putting it back in its drawer. “My lord, welcome. My name is Shade and I look forward to working with you. Please,” she said, gesturing to the sofas. “Have a seat.”
If he sat, this might take more than a handful of minutes. Of course, he’d been kidding himself if he ever thought it might end before the tea was drunk. Perhaps she had some sort of ritual that he had to endure before she brought out the list of prospective brides.
He took his seat and noticed a small stack of fliers neatly placed at the edge of the table, one for a service called the Intergalactic Dating Agency. He had to bite his lip to keep from scoffing. He could deal with a matchmaker, but he wouldn’t be contacting anyone else, certainly not an agency.
Shade poured their tea and took two dainty cookies for herself. For a moment Cipher thought he’d resist the sweets out of spite, but the cookies hadn’t done anything to hurt anyone. They deserved to be eaten. He smiled faintly at his own absurdity as he nibbled.
“The fact that your mother is forcing your hand makes you hostile to me,” Shade said between sips. “And yet you still came. Interesting.”
“Forcing my hand?” He couldn’t stop himself from responding, and he wondered if the tea was loosening his tongue. Cipher put his cup down, but managed not to glare at it.
“I haven’t drugged you, my lord. I am merely observant.” She poured more tea into her own cup and pointedly filled his back up.
“I heard you’re more than observant.” Rumors swirled through the city faster than anything else, and Cipher made it his business to know what was important. He’d mostly ignored anything he heard about the matchmaker, but after her name became closely associated with the princes and their mates, he’d done a little research.
It paid to be prepared.
Shade merely shrugged. “There are three dragons you will find acceptable on the planet. Your mother will find two of those women acceptable. You may be able to make a love match with one of them.”
This didn’t sound like psychic predictions, but it was what he was here for. “I’m sure you have dossiers. Will you set up meetings with the two acceptable women?” The third one intrigued him, but he wouldn’t sacrifice his inheritance for an arranged match his mother wouldn’t like.
Shade nibbled on another cookie and stared at him, her eyes getting a far off look in them after a moment. “You want me to tell you about your mate.”
Despite himself, he leaned in closer. He hadn’t said a word to anyone about wanting a true mate. But it didn’t make Shade psychic to know he might want one. Who wouldn’t? But he forced himself not to ask. He was giving up that dream.
Shade didn’t make him say a word. “If you want to meet your mate, you must take a journey. You will not find her among the suitable brides on this planet.”
“She exists?” He meant to scoff, meant to dismiss her words and demand she set up the meetings he should be having. Instead, he needed to know more. “When? Where? What is she like?”
But Shade only shook her head. “Fate does not like intervention. I may merely set things into motion, and only with a gentle hand. Saying anything else would do more harm than good.”
That sounded like something a fraudulent psychic would say. It was impossible to be wrong when a woman refused to make predictions.
Cipher got up from the couch and stomped towards the door. “We’re done here.”
Shade stood as if he wasn’t throwing a temper tantrum and crossed the room to shake his hand. “I shall prepare the dossiers on your prospective brides. You may pick them up next week. Unless you take your journey.” She opened the door for him.
The sounds from the street broke a bit of the spell he hadn’t realized he’d been under. Cipher wanted to tell her to keep her dossiers—he’d find a bride himself—but he bit his tongue. He was on a deadline and had no luck at wooing eligible women, at least not for more than a bit of fun and flirtation.
But as he stalked through the streets to the edge of town, where he could launch himself into the sky and fly home, he couldn’t help but think of the other possibility.
His mate was out there—if he was brave enough to take a journey. He pumped his wings faster, eager to get home.
He had to pack.
CHAPTER TWO
"I bring you fire!” Morgan Murphy watched as smoke billowed up in a tiny stream, stronger and stronger as she heard a crackle. “Ha! Take that Bart, I’m not dead yet.” She blew on her tiny flame and watched as yellow overtook the gray smoke. It wasn’t her first successful campfire, but it was the fastest.
After fourteen days, she was starting to get the hang of this.
She had a trio of small fish hanging from a hook she’d fashioned on a small rock face. She’d managed to find enough branches and leaves to make something that almost resembled a tent and did an okay job at blocking the wind and rain. Her bones ached with the chill and every day seemed colder than the last.
But she was still alive.
She just didn’t know how much longer she’d manage to stay that way.
“No, no, no!” She watched as the flames sputtered out. She hovered over her creation, adding a few dry leaves and blowing on the whole pile until the smoke started back up and the fire came back to life. Morgan stared at it this time, until she was sure it was big enough not to die.
Then she grabbed the fish and shuddered. Luckily, she’d had a knife on her when Bart threw her off the ship. Otherwise, she’d be trying to butcher fish with her bare hands. And it was gross enough with the knife.
If she had a functioning communicator or information tablet, she might be brave enough to eat some of the few plants she’d found growing on this barren rock. But she didn’t know what was poison and had no access to medical care.
But she was pretty sure the meat was safe.
She hoped.
Who ever got poisoned by meat so long as it was cooked enough?
“Is fish technically meat?” She’d started talking to herself in the hours after the ship took off and she hadn’t stopped. She was all alone, and she might go crazy if she stayed silent.
Though, if she were honest, she’d admit that the whole talking to herself thing wasn’t anything new. It got lonely in the engine room. But down there, she was talking to her machines. And sometimes they answered.
Okay. Maybe she was going crazy.
She got some meat off her fish and set it up on her makeshift pan on the fire. It was a piece of metal she’d scavenged from an old vehicle that looked like it had crashed decades before. There were no permanent settlements on this little rock, but she’d found plenty of evidence of exploration. A couple downed ships, some old vehicles, even an old hut she’d spent two nights in before moving on.
That detritus gave her hope. The planet wasn’t exactly out of the way and ships had clearly used it as a stopover before. Maybe one of them would stop and she’d get a ride home.
Of course, she didn’t have credits to pay for it. But that was a problem for another time.
She ate the fish as soon as it was cooked, wincing at the heat on her tongue. It was best to eat it hot. She had no spices, no way to cover the oily, slightly bitter taste of this pink and green fish that teemed in the nearby river. But the heat made it almost taste okay.
She might actually kill someone for a burger.
No. Morgan couldn’t think of a juicy burger, cheese melting off the edges, the bun toasted to perfection and the toppings perfectly complementing the meat.
She forced another piece of fish down and grimaced. Definitely not as good as one of the burgers from Lenny’s Diner back on the space station. Of course, if she headed back there, Bart might actually kill her.
