Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

KIARA

I wouldn't say it was easy on Talia to come to town, but it was getting easier. She stuck close to me and Rhea and she was uncomfortable going into new areas around town, but she didn't jump and flinch as much when people spoke to her, and if she was around people she was comfortable with, she did okay. We visited Liv's tattoo shop, the bakery that Talia loved so much she tried to volunteer for a job before she was ready, and a new bookstore that just opened up. I was proud of Talia for not trembling the whole day. Soon, she'd be strong enough to go get her man. Never in a million years did I think she'd be brave enough to do something like that, and yet here we were. Mates changed a person.

My mind flicked to Cal. I didn't feel like I changed for him or vice versa. He didn't seem to mind how much I worked, or the fact that I wasn't a romantic person. And I didn't have to worry about him faking being happy. If he was irritated with something, he'd tell me. Usually about a video game when he couldn't get past an obstacle or whatever, but still.

We were headed to the pizza place on the corner to pick up dinner to bring back with us when my phone rang. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach when I saw Walker's name on the screen.

"Uh, you guys go ahead. I'm gonna take this."

Talia looked worried, but I waved her off. Rhea was a cop. Talia was safe with her. And I didn't want her worrying about stuff like this. She needed to focus on getting her mate back, not the dragon causing problems for mine. Ugh, I couldn't let Cal know I referred to him like that in my head.

Answering the phone, I put it to my ear while scanning the busy main street.

"Santiago."

"I've got news."

"Tell me we caught him."

Walker sighed. "Never said it was good news, Kee."

Well, fuck. "Alright. What is it?"

"The thugs have moved on from your guy's house."

I frowned, leaning my back against the wall of one of the stores. "That sounds like good news."

"I thought so too, until Dolorosa brought in a perp who was talking about a big hitter leaving town. He was talking about Marino, Kiara. Your guy is in the wind. And we've got no clue where he's going."

Shit. If Jasper left town, it would make him that much harder to find. Unless we figured out where he was going, the prospect of catching him would drop to zero. This was a big country and not even Aiden seemed to be able to get any information on the guy.

"What are the chances he's still after your guy? Think he could come to you?"

"No," I answered with a growl. "Cal hasn't left the compound since I brought him here. He barely goes outside and only when I'm with him. There's no way someone would realize he was here."

Walker didn't know about the dragons, and I wasn't in a hurry to share the information. Aiden asked when we first met to keep his animal a secret. I've kept that secret since I was sixteen.

"Look, I don't know if there's a reason to keep hiding if Jasper's in the wind. You should consider coming home. I'm sure your guy wants to get back to his life. There's no point keeping him there if Jasper has given up the chase."

Normally, I'd agree with that. But knowing Jasper was a dragon, I wasn't even going to pretend that was an option. Cal was staying here, where he was safe. But unless I wanted Cal to be stuck here forever, I couldn't stay with him. I needed to get home and find this asshole.

"I'll get a flight out as soon as I can. I want to check for myself that Jasper is gone. I'll see you soon."

Hanging up, I scowled at the sky. I waited here longer than I should've. I only meant to drop Cal off and get back to work. Now I might've lost Jasper's trail because I was too attached to the nerd I was trying to protect. I should've left right away. Frustration boiled under my skin and I clutched my phone roughly. I was being stupid. I couldn't waste time with relationships. I had a job to do, and Cal was obviously a major distraction. It didn't matter how cute and sweet he was, or how good he was in bed. I wasn't interested in a relationship. I had work to do.

I was pulling up information on flights when my phone rang again. Christian's name flashed across the screen and my heart seized in my chest. Christian didn't call me unless it had something to do with Talia or Cal. And Talia was with me.

"What's wrong?"

"Reckless! Stupid! Do you have any idea what would've happened to you if you walked into my wards? How many times have I warned you people to stay away from my home?"

I could hear Runa ranting in the background. Normally, she was really calm, even when she was pissed off. But right now, she was furious for some reason. It was hard to hear Christian over her shouting.

"Hey, Kiara. I'm going to need you to come back. Aiden's already on his way, but Cal and Andrew pissed off a witch and she won't settle. I–"

"Don't you dare put this on me," Runa screeched. "She needs to get back here and deal with her mate! He's an idiot! What kind of human sees black smoke coming from the trees and thinks they can do anything about it? You aren't fireproof!"

A growl rumbled low in my throat. "He did what?"

"And what about the cubs? What would they have done if you got hurt? Irresponsible! Reckless! I–"

"Just get back here," Christian urged, his voice strained with tension. "I've never seen her this upset before."

"I'm on my way. Keep her away from the humans, Christian."

I didn't wait for his reply before hanging up. I didn't have time to spare. I raced for the pizza shop, nearly running into Talia and Rhea as they came out with a stack of boxes in their hands.

"We need to go. Now."

Cal must be cursed. Or maybe he had a death wish. There had to be a reason he kept pissing off really powerful paranormals. First a dragon, now a witch whose actual magical limits no one really knew. She said she was a healer, but she was very tight-lipped about her actual abilities. There's no telling what she could do if you pissed her off enough.

The entire ride back was filled with tension. Despite the cool temperatures, we had to drive with the windows down in my car because my dominance was suffocating Rhea and Talia. Talia especially looked pale and ill the entire drive back.

I barely threw the car into park before I was out the door and racing inside. Cal sat guiltily with the cubs on one of the couches, grimacing whenever Runa's voice raised a notch. She wasn't in the room, but you could hear her shouting from Aiden's office.

"What happened?" I demanded.

Cal's head jerked up, and he couldn't even force a smile. "Okay, so hear me out–"

I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. This better be good.

"Everything was fine, and I was watching the kids with no trouble. Runa never showed up, but I honestly forgot we were waiting for her until we heard an explosion from outside. There was black smoke coming from the direction of Runa's place. I was worried about someone getting out of that, so Andrew and I went outside to–"

A growl ripped from me, and I shot him an incredulous look. "You thought two humans were the smart choice in approaching a potential fire? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking she might be hurt," he argued, pushing off the couch to stand in front of me. "Other than the vague warning I got from your friend about wards, I didn't realize how dangerous it'd be. I wasn't going to run through fire or something. The explosion was huge. For all we knew, she was lying in the yard and needed medical attention. We went looking for her, she ran into us on the way, and she's been screaming at us ever since. No one was actually hurt. Yeah, it was a little reckless, but we were just trying to help."

All the indignation slowly escaped me, leaving only fear for his well being and a whole heaping of annoyance for the situation in general. I closed the gap between us, yanking him into a hug, and sighed when he squeezed me back. Fear was the driving force for the rest of my emotions, and being able to touch him and know he was safe helped a lot in driving that back.

"Don't do that," I grouched. "I didn't spend all that time and effort getting you away from Jasper just for you to do something stupid here and get yourself hurt."

He huffed out a laugh against my shoulder. "My bad. Though, you probably should've explained earlier that tripping Runa's wards could kill me. I didn't realize they were that dangerous. In most video games, wards keep people out. They don't hurt people."

I straightened, frowning at him. "Her wards hurt people?"

He shrugged. "That's what it sounded like. It was hard to tell over all the shouting. It's why she's arguing with Aiden now. He was pissed there was something that dangerous in an area where his mate could accidentally stumble on it. And she won't tell him what experiment caused the whole thing in the first place. Is, uh… Is it normal to feel really nauseous when he's pissed off? I swear the air was vibrating."

"Yeah, that's normal," Rhea answered for me. I hadn't noticed them coming in, too focused on Cal. Talia sat between the cubs, stroking their hair and soothing them while Rhea leaned against the wall, a deep frown on her face. "She didn't tell anyone what she was working on? What kind of healing spells explode if they go wrong?"