Chapter Thirty

ERIN

The minute Harlon started talking, my heart dropped. Any minute now, he would convince the agency men to kill Nash, arrest me, and turn the ranch deed over to him.

“That dragon is a menace to society.” Harlon pointed to Nash, who circled overhead, steaming — literally, with angry puffs emerging from his nostrils.

“An out-of-control, cold-blooded murderer.” Harlon went on, indicating the pile of ashes. “He killed Angelina Saint James.” He nodded sadly at the men’s shocked expressions. “Just as she was trying to talk sense into him.”

“She was hit by the lightning bolt you threw!” I protested.

Technically, I was the one who’d bounced it back in his direction, but I left that part out.

Harlon tsked. “Sadly, he’s managed to infiltrate the minds of these poor, defenseless women. They’re under his spell.”

Pippa stomped forward, raising a fist. “I’ll show you poor and defenseless, asshole—”

I held her back as a dozen rifles swung our way. How was this happening?

Pippa seethed, kicking Angelina’s ashes. “This is our property! He’s trespassing. You’re all trespassing!”

The head agent flashed an ID. “Captain Edwards of the ADMSA. We’re just here to help, ma’am.”

I snorted. They were here to pin the blame on Nash, and I knew it.

“Then get this trespasser off our property.” Pippa stabbed a finger at Harlon.

He tsked. “They signed a bill of sale last week. I have it back at my office. This is my property now, but they refuse to vacate it.”

“We refuse to what? ” Pippa and I screeched.

Harlon was lying through his teeth, but he was doing it so calmly and confidently, I was afraid the agents would buy it.

But, whew. Captain Edwards stuck up a hand, cutting Harlon off. “We’ll take your statement in due time. Now, put your hands on your head and face the vehicle.”

“Of course. Anything to cooperate with the law,” Harlon hummed, sweet as honey, though he made no move to obey. “And anything to help bring in that renegade dragon. You’ll need to get him under control right away.”

My hopes sank. He was doing it again, dammit — playing tricks with people’s minds.

But Edwards barked, having none of that. “Save the mind-bending for humans, and put your hands on the vehicle. Now.”

I nearly cheered. What a relief to know the agents were immune to Harlon’s magic.

Then again, I wasn’t off the hook yet.

Edwards was a fit, square-jawed, sixtysomething man with a neat, salt-and-pepper beard. The kind of man who probably turned women’s heads everywhere he went — and not just the over-fifty crowd. A little like Harlon, in fact — except Edwards was on the right side of the law.

Or so I hoped.

“You and you,” he barked at Pippa and me. “Stay right where you are. And that dragon — I want him down here, pronto.”

I looked at Nash, who was still circling. Why hadn’t he fled when he’d had the chance?

Intense bronze eyes stared down at me, vowing never to leave as long as I needed him.

My heart fluttered, and I flashed him a broad smile.

“There’s another dragon over there, sir.” One of the agents pointed.

Edwards nodded curtly. “That one too.” He jutted his chin and boomed at them both. “You and you. You have one minute to land. There and there.” He pointed to two spots on the ground.

The guy had a hell of a voice — and a hell of a presence. Plus, neither the warlock nor dragon aspect seemed to faze him. But I supposed that was a requirement when you worked for an agency specializing in supernatural activity. Was he also a dragon shifter? A wolf? A warlock?

At his signal, four agents stepped behind a vehicle. A minute later, they were towering above it in dragon form. Without a word — or a growl — they stalked to one side and formed an intimidating line behind the other agents.

Pippa’s jaw dropped. “Wow. Dragons.”

I gulped. Yes, four of them. Just what we needed to top off this mess.

“How do you expect Nash to land with you crowding him?” I protested.

Edwards didn’t blink. “He knows the procedure.”

So, he knew it was Nash. Did they know each other personally? And, yikes. Was that a good or a bad thing?

Nash circled slowly, then glided in to land beside me instead of the indicated spot. He stood there, teeth bared, wings extended, tail lashing.

“Boy, am I glad he’s on our side,” Pippa murmured.

Me too. He’d single-handedly — er, single-clawedly? — fought off four dragons to save my ranch and my family. He could have run off to save his own hide, but he didn’t. He’d stayed to fight — for us.

For me.

I faced him, trying to catch his gaze. Not easy, what with him glaring at Edwards and Harlon in a way that said, If you make one move to harm this woman, you will die.

How had I ever doubted him?

I edged closer, trying to keep him calm. “It’s okay.”

My pulse rose with every step I took. Approaching a calm, friendly dragon, as I had a few nights ago, was one thing. Stepping into the personal space of a raging, smoke-puffing dragon was another.

I bit my lip and kept going, gently tapping the leathery plates of his chest. Wow. They were so hard. Could Nash even feel that?

Apparently, because he craned his neck to look down. Straight down, since I was that close.

My heart revved as I looked up — and up. That was a hell of a lot of dragon up there. Enough to make my knees shake. Thank goodness I knew that was Nash in there.

“It will be okay. Somehow,” I added a little lamely.

His frown said, How? but he did lower his wings slightly.

I patted his chest again.

Edwards pointed at the second, mystery dragon perched on a cliff — the one who’d been watching impassively all along.

“You there! I need you to land here. Now.”

The agency dragons rumbled, reinforcing the order.

The dragon blinked at them, utterly unimpressed. A long minute later, it shook out its wings in a bored motion and stepped elegantly into a smooth glide.

My jaw dropped. Until then, I hadn’t gotten a good look at it. Now that I had…

Pippa did a double take, whispering, “You’re kidding.”

The dragon’s hide shimmered like leprechaun gold, and when it stuck out its feet for landing, its talons had a shiny, manicured finish.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself. My hair whipped as the dragon landed, but that was the least of my worries.

“Mom,” Pippa whispered, as shocked as I was.

The dragon glanced at us briefly, then turned to the agents. Everyone went silent as she looked them over one by one.

Click, click, click went her talons, tapping the rocky ground impatiently.

Then Captain Edwards spoke, and things got even weirder.

Up to then, he’d been the picture of a cool, calm FBI-type. Now, his voice fell to a hoarse whisper.

“Virginia?”

I stared. He knew my mother?

She barely acknowledged him, maintaining her regal attitude with a distinct air of expectation.

“Oh. Right. Just a moment.” Edwards gestured to another agent, who hurried to the back of the SUV and returned with two bundles. He tossed the first roughly at Nash’s feet. The second, he laid reverently before my mother, practically bowing as he backed away.

“Hm-hmm.” Edwards cleared his throat, and all his men looked away to let my mother shift in privacy.

Any normal woman — or shifter — would rush to pull on clothes in a situation like that.

Not my mother.

She shifted slowly, almost lazily — a process I’d never actually witnessed. Not even now, because Nash shifted at the same time, drawing all my attention. In dragon form, he was so different, yet instantly recognizable. Same fiery eyes, same strong shoulders. Same aura of vulnerability mixed with invincibility.

“Nash,” I whispered, taking his hand.

He gripped mine tightly, and when he spoke, his voice was deep and scratchy. “You okay?”

I nodded. Yes. So far.

He nodded grimly, then nodded at Edwards. Clearly, someone he knew — like the dark-haired man over on the left Nash made brief eye contact with.

“Ingo,” Pippa whispered at the dark-haired man in disbelief.

I stared. Huh?

Then it hit me. That Ingo? Pippa’s ex?

Ingo went bug-eyed at her, then straightened. Neither he nor Nash acknowledged each other, which made me wonder. Where did Ingo’s allegiance lie — with his friend or the agency? And how did he feel about seeing my sister?

Lots of questions. No time for answers.

When I glanced back at my mother, she was human, naked, and in no rush whatsoever. In fact, she held up the plain gray jumpsuit and contemplated it with disdain. Finally, she sighed and pulled it on, leaving the front zip low enough to reveal her cleavage despite the winter chill. Next, she cinched the belt tightly, showing off her curves.

Then she cleared her throat, signaling You may turn to the others as if they were her lowly subjects.

“Hello, girls,” she murmured, barely giving us a second glance. “Nice to see you.” Then she frowned. “Good God, Erin. Fix your hair, will you?”

My jaw fell open. By the time I opened my mouth to respond, she’d turned her attention, such as it was, to Captain Edwards.

“Virginia,” he breathed again.

Pippa and I exchanged pained glances. Oh, they definitely knew each other. And as for how intimately … I really, really didn’t want to know.

I sighed and did my best to untangle my storm-blasted hair.

Mom only acknowledged Edwards after checking her nails. “Good to see you again…” She paused, thinking. Finally, she added, “Tim.”

His face clouded. “Tom.”

My mother didn’t actually say, Whatever , but her gesture did. Then she looked at Nash, who wore a matching jumpsuit. On him, it looked like a badass Top-Gun -type uniform, while my mother looked ready for a fashion show. And she hadn’t even had time to accessorize.

She threw Nash an appraising look. The kind of look she’d probably once thrown at Tom — er, Captain Edwards — shortly before taking him to bed, only to disappear without a word the next morning.

Normally, I would have sighed. But since it was Nash she was checking out, I ground my teeth.

Nash leveled a look at her, then slid an arm across my shoulders and nodded at Edwards. “Captain.”

The guy nodded gruffly. “Nash.”

My mother shuffled, displeased at not being the center of attention.

“What are you doing here?” Pippa asked.

Our mother replied in a long-suffering, Is this what I get for sacrificing everything for you? tone she had no right to use.

“Your father called me.” Then she frowned, turning to me. “Or was it your father? Maybe Abby’s?” She shrugged. “It was late. I could barely think straight.” Then she yawned. “God. It’s still late. Or early. I need a coffee.” She looked around, and though she didn’t actually stick out a hand for someone to press a steaming Arabica blend into, the expectation was clear.

Sure enough, two agents practically stumbled over each other to reach the back of the SUV. The winner returned a moment later with a thermos and a paper cup.

And here I’d been thinking the BDSM would pack their trunks with weapons, radios, and magic-tinged restraints. But so far, they’d only produced jumpsuits and coffee. Did they carry doughnuts too?

Either way, Mom clearly hadn’t lost her mojo.

She considered the paper cup for a long time, waiting, perhaps, for the guy to whip out porcelain. When none appeared, she reluctantly accepted it. She sipped the coffee, shot the agent an offended look…and sipped again.

Yes, mixed messages were my mother’s specialty.

“Why would Dad — or Erin’s dad — call you?” Pippa asked. “And, wait. He has your number?”

My mother shrugged as if to say, It’s not my fault my ex-lovers keep hounding me . “He had the feeling something was wrong. He called Greg first — oh, there. It was Erin’s father who called, not Pippa’s — but neither were close enough to get here quickly. So they called me.”

A deep sigh made it clear what an inconvenience that had been.

“I’m not sure why you bothered,” I couldn’t help snipping. “You didn’t even help. Why?”

She took another sip of coffee. “You three seemed to have things under control. And your dragon friend did too.” She shot Nash an appreciative look.

Not appreciative of his help. Appreciative of his looks.

I tightened my hand around his.

“We could have died, Mom,” Pippa protested.

“Now, now. Don’t be so dramatic.” Still, she narrowed her eyes on Harlon. “On the other hand, this warlock was throwing lightning bolts at my daughters, and one has to wonder why.”

Her tone dropped, and her eyes went icy.

Strangely enough, that warmed my heart. Maybe Mom did love us. Maybe she did care, in her aloof, distant way.

Edwards turned to Harlon, looking dangerous as hell.

Harlon stuck up his hands. “I had to defend myself. They attacked me.”

Pippa and I huffed, while Nash stepped forward, growling.

My mother snorted. “They attacked you, did they?” She motioned to his car with her coffee cup. “Did they lure you out here too?”

The agents leaned in, waiting.

Harlon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. It was shortly past dawn on a Sunday. Even a warlock couldn’t explain that away.

“And that storm that came out of nowhere,” my mother continued. “Did they launch that at you too?”

I crossed my arms. “That’s at least a class-two warlock, isn’t it, Nash?”

He nodded. “At least.”

Edwards frowned at Harlon, then at another agent holding a clipboard. Did the paperwork there categorize Harlon as a harmless class-four?

“Right. Hands on the vehicle, sir,” he ordered.

Harlon huffed. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, but I can’t wait to find out all about you.” Edwards moved closer, flanked by two big men. “And I mean all. Finances. Business licenses. Unauthorized use of magic…”

I flinched, spotting Harlon’s fingers twitch.

“Go ahead,” Edwards said coolly. “We’d love more evidence of what you’re capable of.”

Harlon’s jaw went hard, and he shot me a dark look. The glare he shot at Nash was even more murderous. “What about him?”

Tim — er, Tom — followed his gaze to Nash. “Oh, he’ll be talking to us as well. As will the others.” He looked at Pippa and me, though nowhere near as menacingly. “But I advise you to worry about your own business.”

At a signal from Edwards, two agents escorted Harlon into one of the vehicles. They piled in after him and drove off, followed by two other SUVs — and two of the four dragons, high in the air, where more patches of blue appeared. The other two dragons shifted to human form and drove away in Harlon’s Range Rover.

That left two vehicles, six agents, and Captain Edwards, all staring us down.

Well, three agents stared us down. Edwards had a hard time dragging his eyes away from my mother. I could practically count the sparkly hearts in his eyes.

Finally, he cleared his throat and barked orders at his men. Two pulled out some kind of forensic kit and got to work on Angelina’s ashes, while the other four set off to measure the scorch marks on the earth.

I shot a covert glance at the petroglyphs, then jerked my eyes back to the ground. How the hell were we going to explain the vortex?

Maybe we can gloss over those details, Pippa’s voice sounded in my mind.

I gave her a teensy-tiny nod.

“Now, I’ll need statements from everyone…” Captain Edwards started.

“Yes, yes,” my mother said impatiently. “But surely you don’t have to do that out here. Or in that drafty office of yours.”

Pippa and I exchanged looks. Mom had been to his office?

Pippa glanced back at my mom, then sighed. I want to ask, but I don’t want to ask.

Mom showed Edwards her empty coffee cup — the most pressing misdemeanor on her list — and gestured toward the main house. “Can’t we do this in a more civilized way? I’m sure it won’t take long to clear everything up.”

Edwards studied her, torn between protocol and my mother’s charms.

Ha. The man might be immune to the magic of a class-two warlock, but not to my mom.

Pippa chimed in next. “Good idea. We could put on coffee — real coffee. And didn’t Claire make muffins?” Then she faked surprise. “Oh! Mom, if you come over now, you could see your granddaughter. I know how much you’ve missed her.”

Nash raised his eyebrows. I didn’t say a word.

“What a shame it would be if you had to hurry away now. A crying shame,” Pippa emphasized, going for the hard sell.

“Oh yes,” my mother agreed with no emotion whatsoever. “I’ve missed her so much.”

Ha. She missed coffee more, but we’d learned to take what we got.

“I suppose we could start inside,” Edwards murmured.

And off we went, down the hill to the main house.

“So, the vortex…” Pippa whispered.

I shushed her with a sharp look at Edwards, then corrected her. “Vortexes.” It sounded wrong, though, so I mulled it over. Vortices ?

“Aunt Emma only ever showed me the one by the head of the canyon,” Pippa whispered.

“She only showed me the one by the cliff,” I added.

Pippa rubbed her chin. “And Abby was somewhere over by the mesa.”

We chewed on that for a moment.

“One vortex with three outlets, or three separate vortexes?” Pippa wondered out loud.

I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Anyway, let my sister chew over that topic. I threaded my arm around Nash’s and trailed behind her.

“So, are you still in trouble?” I whispered.

He weighed that up before whispering back. “Not sure. But I think I might let your mother handle things for a while.”

I stifled a laugh. “Not sure if that’s a good idea.”

He chuckled, then stopped and took both my hands. “I’m not sure about a lot of things, except one.”

My heart stuttered, and my breath caught.

He ran his thumbs over the tops of my hands. “I know I’ve never felt more alive than I have around you. I know I was meant to come here. And I know I never want to leave.”

I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. When I finally spoke, all I could come up with was a jittery joke.

“Technically, that’s three things.”

He flashed a smile. “Call me greedy.”

A thousand emotions choked me. Not one helped me come up with an intelligent response, though. The best I could do was, “Well, Sedona is a nice place…”

Nash shook his head. “It’s not the place. It’s because you’re here.”

I cleared my throat, trying to remain composed. In the end, I flung my arms around him, holding him tight. So tight, my chest squeezed, and it was hard to breathe. But easing up a little didn’t change that, so I went back to a desperate squeeze in case another warlock, vampire, or shifter came along to take him from me.

“I’d like you to stay too,” I whispered. “No — I’d love it.”

He grinned. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. Just as clearly as I felt so many other things. Joy. Hope. Energy. Desire.

And above all, impatience. I wanted to fast-forward in time to a point past coffee and muffins, past the interrogations and everything else we couldn’t avoid. I wanted to pop back out at the point when all that was done and Nash and I could be alone. To talk. To love. To figure things out.

Nash kissed my neck, then my cheek, and finally my lips, promising we’d get to that. Soon.