Chapter Five

ARCHER

"Was he bothering you?" My dragon was restless and bled through my voice. I wasn't used to seeing Mia with dragons who weren't family.

"On the contrary, Ollie saved me from one of Aunt June's family," she said.

"So long as he wasn't cracking on to you." They'd been standing close together, and he was too good-looking to be trustworthy. Small for a dragon yet striking, with curly blond hair framing a delicately featured face that would have looked cherubic if not for his eyes. They were bright blue, wide and sparkling, and not in the least innocent. He'd been looking at me as if I were the only person in the world who mattered, and if he'd been turning that sort of attention on Mia… I shouldn't have brought her. She was young, inexperienced, and all too ready to fall for someone who made her feel that way. God knew, for an instant, I'd felt a tug of attraction towards him.

"I think you'd better stay in your room when the next session is on."

" Archer." She stopped dead, forcing me to a halt. "I'm here to represent the family while you're off talking head of family business. Locking me away like Rapunzel isn't going to work. Let me do what I'm here to do."

She was right, but when I'd asked her to come, I hadn't expected any of the attendees to be so young or attractive. If Ollie Shaw set out to charm Mia, I couldn't see any way she'd be able to resist.

"Besides, Ollie doesn't swing my way. At least, if he does, he's not interested in me. He was talking about Nate Mortimer's arse before you arrived. Now, can we find somewhere quiet so you can tell me what you've learned so far?"

I suspected she was wrong about Shaw's intentions. My dragon had definitely picked up on something between them, because I hadn't liked seeing him with her.

We filled plates from the buffet table, and I glanced around, looking for a private corner. My gaze found Ollie Shaw, and I studied him for a moment. He was too attractive for his own good or for my peace of mind. I didn't know anything about the Shaws, which was hopefully a good sign—they weren't one of the troublemaking families.

I revised that impression as I saw him drop half his lunch into what looked suspiciously like Margaret Teague's handbag. She'd been perfectly pleasant to me, but I doubted she'd take that well. Our eyes met, his filled with horrified mortification, before I turned to follow Mia out of the hall, leaving Shaw to his fate.

We found a quiet spot in the bar, with a table for our glasses and two leather armchairs. There were plenty of dragons already here, and the amount of scotch being drunk meant the afternoon session might get rowdy.

"What do you know about Pete Smythe?" she asked me. "He started talking to me earlier, but there was something about him…" She glanced around to check no one could overhear. "I didn't like him."

"Always trust your instincts," I told her. "That goes double if it could be a matter of safety. It's worth considering if someone's simply different from what you're used to, but if something doesn't feel right, listen to that feeling over being polite."

I hated this. I wasn't cut out to be a surrogate parent. But I did the best job I could, even though I'd messed up badly with Tim. He'd been such a sweet kid, and I still couldn't work out what I'd done to make him hate me.

"How about I bump into Smythe later and see what I make of him," I suggested.

"Thanks," she said, with a quick smile before turning her attention to the sandwiches on her plate. I felt a stirring of sympathy for Ollie Shaw because these sandwiches were ridiculously overfilled.

As we ate, I told Mia about the Berstows' existence and Margaret's idea. There was little time to discuss either as two o'clock neared, and I was due back in the meeting room.

"You'll be okay?" I asked her. "Text me if you're worried about anything."

She wrinkled her nose. "I'll try not to. Maybe I'll find Ollie again."

If there was anything left of him after Margaret had finished with him.

"Be careful, and remember everyone here has an agenda, including Ollie," I reminded her before I left, and tried to ignore the way she rolled her eyes. Mia wasn't Tim. She wouldn't cut me out the way he had, even though I annoyed her at times. She called me over-protective, but I was simply keeping my family safe.

OLLIE

Margaret Teague had been unexpectedly forgiving. My knees had trembled when I'd had to confess to the head of a dragon family what I'd done, but after she fixed me with an extremely hard glare, she thanked me for telling her.

"Perhaps, Ollie Shaw, you might consider eating at a table in future," she said as she turned away, the desecrated bag safely over her arm. "I suggest, too, that you find yourself elsewhere before any other delegates claim their belongings. I assume that glass of orange juice is yours?"

My glass was somehow lying on its side, its contents having soaked into the carpet and possibly one or two briefcases. Fucking hell, could this day get any worse?

"Bye," I squeaked, and fled.

* * *

Once the afternoon session had started, Mia found my hiding place in the corner of the hall, far, far away from any bags or briefcases. She told me what had happened at the morning session and wanted to know what I thought about families mixing more freely. We were pleased to find we shared the same opinion—it was common sense, surely.

"What did your brother think?" Your sexy, hot as hell brother who needed to haul me off to the nearest flat surface. Vertical or horizontal, it didn't matter.

"I don't know. He doesn't tend to say what he's thinking until he's made a decision."

A man of few words? Even more my type.

"Are you going to see the stones tonight?" she asked. "It's pretty close to the full moon, but I think it's probably the safest place in the country to fly, because the types of New Age people who hang out there will assume they're witnessing a time-slip or something if they see drag—you."

"I'd love to, but I'll need to find a way to get there." Jack was unlikely to come flying in case Lisa needed him. "It's only a couple of miles, isn't it? Maybe I can walk." Shifting in the hotel gardens and flying there wasn't a good idea because some of the staff probably lived in, but I so wanted to fly over the stones. I'd looked them up before coming here, and something about them called to me, even through the screen of my phone.

"Or we could get you a lift with someone. You won't be the only one wanting to go. I'll ask around."

"Thanks." Mia was turning out to be a useful chance meeting. "So where are the rest of your family representatives?"

She paused. "It's just me and Archer," she said at last, and something in her voice warned me not to pursue that line of conversation.

"Have you met the new family yet?" I asked instead.

That started us off on a hunt around the hall, hoping to meet one of them. If I had any say in the matter, I'd vote for name badges next time because it was ridiculous trying to work out who people were by lurking long enough to overhear names.

* * *

When the head of family meeting broke up, it looked as if it hadn't gone smoothly, with more than one dragon striding out of the conference room red-faced and angry. I was sticking close to Mia, waiting for her brother, when Jack came over.

"Dad's going to brief us," he said, after I'd introduced him and Mia.

He was letting me into the inner circle? I said goodbye to Mia and followed him to his parents' hotel room. There, it became clear why Jack's dad wanted to include me in the briefing. He was ensuring every member of the family held the same line—that this idea of mixing more freely was short-sighted and asking for trouble.

I'd always respected Mr Shaw as head of our family, but I didn't want to argue a position I didn't agree with.

"Um, what if Nate Mortimer talks to me?" I asked when he finished speaking. "I mean, we don't want to upset the Mortimers, do we? Can I pretend I'm still thinking about his proposal?"

Mr Shaw's nostrils flared, and Jack's mum put her hand on his arm. "It's only Ollie," she reminded him, before turning to me. "Just do what Harry has told you," Her tone sounded mild, but there was steel underneath.

Only Ollie. I shouldn't have been upset, because she'd just saved me from a chewing out by my head of family, but it never grew easier to hear the way people referred to me as if I were an idiot.

"Shit, Ollie," Jack said as soon as we were out of the room. " No one questions the head of a family. Not even you."

"Not even me?" I shouldn't have said it. I didn't want to hear the answer when I already knew what it would be, but I was still feeling raw from Mrs Shaw's statement.

"I know you don't take anything seriously, but can you at least have a bit of common sense while we're here? Otherwise I'm going to regret—"

He broke off, though it was obvious what he'd been about to say. It hurt. Still, I wouldn't let that show—I never did.

"You don't want to know what we found out about the Berstows, then?" I teased him. "Like the fact they're meant to be this scholarly family but one of the dragons that came with them looks like a bouncer. He's even got a burn scar down his face and neck, as if someone flamed him."

Jack allowed himself to be distracted by my gossip and, for a while, it was as if nothing had changed between us as we headed to the pool for a swim.

But that evening, when I asked if he wanted to go flying over Avebury with me, he shook his head. "I have to be by my phone for Lisa."

I wasn't surprised, and I knew he was doing the right thing, but that left me with a problem. Being a learner driver still, I couldn't take his dad's car out on my own, even if he'd have considered lending it to me in the first place.

I messaged Mia, hoping desperately that she could help. Otherwise, I'd have to resort to Google maps and a hike along country lanes in the dark. That prospect didn't appeal to me in the least, but I wasn't going to miss out on Avebury.