Nina shrugged into her jacket. “Nope. Built up a tolerance to that, too. That’s why they call me badass.”
But Tessa had found something in Nina. Something she’d been lacking for a long time now. Someone who made her feel safe. Comforted—even if it was done in the gruffest of manners. And she didn’t want to lose that. “Promise you’re telling me the truth?”
Nina’s eyes raked over her face, searching. Tessa’s head swarmed with an image of Nina for a moment, almost as if her brain had been nudged, and then it was gone as swiftly as it had come. “I promise I’m telling the truth, kiddo. I do it all the time. How else do you suppose I put up with these two?”
Where was this fear coming from? Why was she clinging to a woman she hardly knew?
“It’s the fear of being abandoned,” Nina provided.
Wanda was behind her in seconds. Her face had admonishment written all over it. “Nina! Shame on you. You know better than to read minds. Off-limits, vampire!”
Tessa pushed the chair back, wobbling when she rose. How invasive. How incredible. “You can read my mind, too?”
Nina held up a palm to Wanda. “Yeah. I only do it when I need to. So relax and listen to me. I make you feel safe. You haven’t felt that way in a long time. Swear, I’m not going to fucking disappear on you like everyone else in your life. You’re not alone. I’m coming back. Hear that?”
Crimson spots burned holes in Tessa’s cheeks. Her worst fears voiced to a roomful of people she didn’t even know and the man to whom she was always trying to prove how completely independent she was. But it was true. “I hear you.”
Nina smiled. “Good. Now go fucking lie down because you look like shit. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Wanda tucked her arm into Tessa’s and pulled her toward the couch. “C’mon. Let’s sit by the fire and rest. You look feverish, and that worries me.”
Tessa let herself be led to the couch, taking one last peek at Nina as she and Mick headed out the door before allowing Wanda to tuck a blanket around her shoulders and settle her on the couch.
* * *
“YOUR woman’s freaked out, dude. Fix that shit,” Nina said on the ride to Tessa’s store.
Mick gripped the steering wheel. “She’s not my woman. She’s my best friend’s sister.”
“And you feel responsible for her. That’s a good front. Dude, she’s lost a lot of shit in her life recently. Not just her family but now her store with all the old shit in it. Maybe a little love from you would ease some of her stress. Because she’s clinging, and that’s not healthy.”
He glanced over at Nina. “She’s not normally this way. Usually she’s mouthy and determined to prove to me that she can handle everything on her own.
“Usually, she’s not a dragon, dummy. Look, just go easy on her. If she lobs you one, don’t take the bait. I know it’s your thing, but I don’t like the feeling I get from her.”
“You mean when you read her mind?”
Nina slapped her gloved hand on the passenger door. “Yeah. All right. When I read her fucking mind. There’s a lot of shit going on in that nutty-ass head of hers, but she’s scared. She feels alone. Like, really alone. The kind of alone that even upsets a tough old bitch like me. Where does she go if she has no job, dude? How will she take care of herself in this dive of a town? Who does she turn to if she can’t pay her mortgage?”
“She can turn to me.”
Nina shook her head as Mick pulled up to the store where many of his fellow firefighters had gathered. “She doesn’t feel that way. She feels like you’re holding something back, and she’s GD right. You don’t have to tell me what it is, because it ain’t none of my business, but it’s pretty important that you two trust each other, seeing as we can’t find any of your kind anywhere. So get that shit together. The longer you two fight, the longer I have to reassure her. Not a fan of being somebody’s Binky.”
As he pulled to a full stop, Mick looked over at her. “I don’t believe your tough-guy exterior. Not even for a minute. You’re a good person. And while it’s not like Tessa to be clingy, I hear what you’re saying and I’ll do my best to keep the fighting to a minimum, okay?”
“Good. Now let’s go, Optimus Prime. Let me do the talking.”
“But—”
Nina popped the door open. “But shit. Shut up so I can work my magic and Tessa can at least collect some of her insurance money. She’s going to need it if she’s still considering relocating.”
Relocating? Wait. Tessa was thinking about leaving Vermont? He didn’t have time to dwell on that as he dropped from the car and followed Nina to the circle some of the guys had made around the store’s entry.
“Gentlemen,” Nina said, sticking out her hand to the nearest fireman. “I’m Marty Flaherty, your guide to all things suggestive today. So who’s up for having their brain matter tickled?”
Mick fought to keep from snickering when Nina introduced herself as Marty.
Deon Bateman shot Mick a look of confusion. “What?” he asked, the condensation forming a cloud coming out of his mouth.
Nina waved a finger under his nose. “You heard me. Don’t play stupid, pal.”
Deon nodded like a trained seal, pushing his hands into his down jacket. “Sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to be stupid.”
Billy Tobin clapped Mick on the back from behind, his thick fingers digging into Mick’s shoulder. “You okay, buddy? How’s Tessa? We couldn’t believe it when we all heard. How the hell does something like this happen and we don’t even wake up? It had to burn hot—just look at the place. It’s a charred shell.”
Nina whipped around, zeroing in on Billy. “Who’re you?”
Billy glanced at her, his booted feet shuffling. “Billy Tobin. Why?”
“Listen up, Billy Tobin, that fire burned hot because fires are hot. You bunch of potential calendar boys came running right over the second the alarm bell rang and put it out, didn’t you?”
Billy nodded his ginger head, his blue eyes glazed. “As soon as we heard the bell.”
“Nobody was hurt, and we suspect it was an electrical fire, which is what we’re going to tell the nice man from the insurance company, right, boys?”
All of them, every last one of Mick’s friends from the firehouse, nodded like puppets on strings. “Yes, ma’am” was muttered in one fashion or another from every set of lips.
Nina brushed her hands together. “Good. Now remember what I said. Auntie Q’s burned down due to a clear case of faulty wiring. You got a call from nine-one-one, when someone anonymous called the fire in. You all answered the call and put it out like the good firemen you are. You’re going to go back to your nice firehouse and write up that report. No one was injured. No further investigation needed. We clear?”
Ten or so sets of eyes, glazed and fixated on Nina, seemed to register her request. Then every man nodded his head in agreement.
“Good deal. Thanks, guys.”
Everyone stirred then, feet shuffled on the frozen ground, words were murmured, and then all the guys were rushing at Mick, worry on their faces. “How’s Tessa?” Deon asked.
Mick cleared his throat, marveling at more of the crazy. “She’s pretty upset, which I’m sure you’d expect. She’s taking the day to catch her breath.”
Gil Ormon, firehouse lothario, a slick man who spray-tanned religiously once a week at Tan and Sand, leaned into him. “Who’s the hot broad?”
“The one responsible for molding your pea brain like some goddamn piece of Play-Doh,” Nina whispered from behind, her tone crisp and menacing. “So step off, Prince Charming. Because not even the loneliest day in the apocalypse would make me consider you.”
Mick fought a bark of laughter when Gil instantly took a step back and changed his tune. “You got a handle on Tessa?”
Immediately, Mick’s hackles were up. Tessa had turned Gil down on more than one occasion, but if what Nina said was true about her new vulnerability, he didn’t want Gil and his dime-stor
e charm wheedling his way into her life. “Tessa’s at home dealing with the insurance and catching her breath. She’s fine, just shook up.”
“Mick! Mick!” a woman’s voice yelled from across the road.
Damn. Sandy Giden. He’d forgotten all about her. He’d promised to help her with the school’s fund-raiser for the firehouse last night.
Mick swung around, putting a smile on his face, only to see Sandy’s look of horror. Her petite frame, wrapped in several layers of clothing, came to a complete stop. “Oh, poor Tessa!” she cried. “Is she okay? We all heard over at the bank, and I wanted to come and see if we could do something to help. You know the Ladies of the League are always willing to roll up our sleeves.”
Mick dropped a hand to her shoulder. “Thanks, Sandy. I’ll pass that on to Tessa.”
“Was anyone hurt? I can’t believe we didn’t smell the smoke. I said to my Bernard just this morning, a fire like that surely would create enough smoke to wake up the people in the next town over.”
Mick, at a loss for words, let Nina handle it.
“Mornin’, Sandy. I’m Marty Flaherty. Nice to meet you.”
Sandy peered at her suspiciously, tucking her chin into her hand-knitted scarf. “Nice to meet you. You new here?”
Nina slung an arm over Sandy’s shoulder and began walking her away from the store, their feet crunching in the cold snow. “Just a temporary visit. So let’s talk about the fire last night . . .” As the two wandered off, Mick let his mind revisit the idea that Tessa would leave Vermont.
She loved it here. She loved the snow and that she knew everyone’s name. Why would she leave?
Because she doesn’t know what to do with you, stupid-ass. Because you have to tell her. Because sometimes starting over is easier than hanging around.
His phone vibrated from inside his jacket pocket, pulling him away from his thoughts of Tessa. Mick scrolled through the texts, cupping the phone to shade the glare of the bright sun.
His eyes flew open at the text from Marty, his gut clenching.
Come home now! Tessa needs Nina. Don’t ask questions. Get here fast.
Just as he was about to call out to Nina, she was scrolling on her phone, too.
When she looked up at him, he saw genuine concern on her face, and he knew, behind those big sunglasses, worry steeped her eyes.
She pointed to the truck.
So Mick ran.
Fast.
Because something was wrong with Tessa.
Mick thrust open the door just as his wings drove their way out of his skin and settled on his back, slapping Nina in the face.
She ducked under them, making a dash for Marty, who was in the middle of the living room, pacing. “What the fuck, dude?”
Marty tucked her hair behind her ear. “We have a problem.”
“We’ve had one of those ever since we came to this damn town, Marty. What now?”
Mick heard the concern in Nina’s voice for Tessa, but rather than point it out to her, he decided to be grateful for it. Tessa had found comfort in Nina. Something he couldn’t seem to provide.
He fell back against the door, and with the tip of his right wing he knocked over a lamp Tessa had picked up at a garage sale, sending it skidding across the floor.
Wanda poked her head out of the bedroom, her face flushed rather than that eerie pale. She took one look at Mick and sighed. “Marty! Wings at twelve o’clock! Nina, get your ass in here now!”
Mick began to move toward Tessa’s bedroom, crashing his way through the entryway, taking coatracks and pictures from the wall with him, but Wanda shot up a hand. “No! You stay put. She needs a woman’s touch right now.”
“And Nina’s that woman?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as Marty came up behind him and pushed his wings together like an accordion.
Nina glared at him. “Hey, fuckknuckle—vagina here. That makes me a woman, okay? Now go practice setting shit on fire or something. You know, so you don’t burn down your ladylove’s next place of business?”
“She’s not my—”
Nina threw up a hand to quiet him. “I know. She’s not your ladylove. Shut up and go find an airport hangar to rest those things in,” she mocked before she disappeared inside the bedroom.
Mick tried to turn around, but found he couldn’t quite maneuver in the small space. “Marty?”
“Mick?” she answered, muffled and strained, the scuffle of her heels resounding in his ears.
“What’s going on with Tessa? Was Frank here again? Is she hurt?” He couldn’t keep the panic from his voice. He wanted to be a real keep-it-close-to-your-chest man here, but it wasn’t working out. Anything that had to do with Tessa sent him into irrational orbit.
“No Frank, and she isn’t hurt,” Marty grunted. “Now hold still, and stop moving around. These things are like trying to hold on to greased cats.”
“Then why did she need Nina?”
“It’s a female thing?”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I’m not sure what I am right now. How about we focus on making these go away?”
Right. His wings.
His wings.
Would he ever get used to that? What had made them pop out to begin with? “Do you think we’re ever going to find anyone to teach us how to control this? Especially Tessa. You see how she suffers when she de-wings. How will she live like that?”
Marty sighed from behind him, scrunching his wings back together to keep from taking out poor Joe-Joe, who was sleeping on the sofa, blissfully unaware. “I don’t know, Mick. I don’t have any answers. Nothing. I’m just as in the dark as you. But why don’t we see what brought it on? Let’s explore where you were at when they popped out. What was going on inside your head?”
His chest tightened again and his fists clenched. “I was worried about Tessa.”
Marty batted at his wings with light swats of her hand. Swats that sent pulsing vibrations throughout his body. “But you were angry when you spewed fire at the store.”
He clenched his teeth. Seemed he was always worried about Tessa. “Yes.”
“So maybe it has to do with a heightened emotional state? It makes sense, right? Anger, fear.”
His wings shifted a bit, fluttering on his back, and he felt every fine bone in them as surely as he felt his feet or his legs—like an appendage or another limb. Rolling his shoulders, he heard Marty squeak.
She sputtered her next words. “Whoa, Nellie! Take it easy, huh? Anyway, you were worried about Tessa, and at the store you were angry with her. So focus on calming down and let’s see where that gets us, okay?”
“Okay,” he muttered, breathing deeply. As he inhaled then exhaled, his chest expanding and deflating, he began to relax and his wings began to fall to the floor like a parachute that had lost its wind.
“Oh!” Marty shouted. “That’s it. Just relax and breathe, and if they’re going to pain you like they did at the store, I’m here. I’ll help.”
“I’m here, too, man,” Darnell said, appearing before him from out of nowhere in a mist of sparkling dust. His cheerful face gave Mick something to focus on as the demon assessed his wings. “Daggone, buddy. You got some spread there. Now look at ol’ Darnell and breathe.” Darnell put both his hands on Mick’s shoulders and gazed directly into his eyes.
And it was like deflating a balloon this time. There was still the crack of bone, though less jarring, still the ever-present ache along his spine, dulled now, but it was working.
Darnell gave him an encouraging smile. “Good job, my friend. You doin’ it.”
But then Tessa screamed, setting off the rip of flesh as his wings reappeared, making Marty scream, too, as she was hurled back against the door.
What the hell was going on in there?
* * *
NINA, at the end of the bed, the burned-out closet as a backdrop, looked at Wanda over the top of Tessa’s head. Wanda was sitting behind Tessa, holding her around her middle, whi
ch had grown to the size of a small beach ball.
And Tessa knew that look in the vampire’s eyes. Something was wrong.
Duh, something’s wrong, Tessa. Since you woke up this morning, your stomach inflated like some mutant hot air balloon. Definitely appears as though something’s just a little off, don’t you think? You look like you’re having Rosemary’s baby.
“What the hell is happening to me?” Tessa cried between grunts that came from deep within her throat. It had begun as a pain in her right side, which she’d attributed to gas. Eggs did that to her from time to time, and while Nina’s eggs were yummo, they’d made her stomach feel heavy.
But by the time an hour had gone by, her stomach had grown before their very eyes, and she was screaming like a schoolgirl only half an hour later as one cramp after another assaulted her like knives in her gut.
This couldn’t be what she thought it was. How? How was this possible?
“Wanda?” Nina yelled over Tessa’s screams. “What now, paranormal crisis counselor?”
Nina didn’t know what was happening? Not good.
If Nina didn’t know what was happening, that was bad. Very bad. But it couldn’t be what they were all thinking it was. What she knew they were thinking it was . . . How could it be?
Nina clamped her hands on Tessa’s thighs and shouted, “Tessa, look at me! Look at me and focus. Stop screaming because you’re killing my fekkin’ ears, and focus. I don’t know what the fuck is happening, but I’m here, okay? I’m here no matter what.”
The shift in her stomach was excruciating, pulling her flesh so tight she thought she’d burst. Her eyes almost fell out of her head when she caught a glimpse of her belly, distorted and growing more enormous by the minute. Her belly rippled with life, rolling and twisting until the pain seared her from the inside out.
What. The. Hell?
Yet Tessa tried to focus on Nina while sweat poured from her forehead and her insides turned to gooey, molten lava.
Wanda rocked her, pressing her knuckles into Tessa’s back to ease the pain there. “Breathe, Tessa. Just breathe. Let your body do what it will. Don’t fight, honey.”
The Accidental Dragon Page 10