Michael exchanged a quick glance with Smith. Was she hallucinating? “Pirate man?” he asked.
She must have noticed the look he’d given Smith because she gave him a little smile. “Not a real pirate. He just looked like one. Olive skin and an eye patch, but dressed in an expensive suit.” She pointed to her bandaged arm. “He stopped the bleeding. I’d like to thank him, but I don’t know who he was.”
Michael felt the fine hair along his nape raise. There was only one person who fit that description that he knew of. “I think you just met Adam Baylor,” he said.
Sophie stared at him. “I thought you said he was evil. He saved my life.”
“Because he needs you to find the sword.” Pendragon’s arrival must have tipped Balor off. Since he was obviously following her, Balor knew where Sophie worked and probably where she lived.
The search for the sword had just gotten more dangerous---and more vital.
* * * *
Sophie rested her crutches against the edge of the sofa and sank down gratefully, easing her leg up on the cushions. She couldn’t just have broken her leg in one place. No. She had fractured both the femur and the tibia and now faced a good month of physical therapy before she would be able to travel.
She’d expected Michael to be upset with the delay, but he had stoically accepted it. In fact, he had been practically gallant, like some knight of old visiting her every day for a week before he’d brought her home from the hospital yesterday.
“Stay right there,” he said as he pulled the larger car he had rented into her driveway. “I’ll unlock the door.”
“I can unlock the door, Michael.” Sophie gave him a grin. “I didn’t break my hand.”
“Just sit there, will you?” Taking her keys, he sprang from the seat, had the door open, and was back on her side of the car just as she opened it. “Here, let me.” He eased her legs toward the side, helping her out.
“My crutches—“
“Forget those,” Michael said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and lifting her.
“I can hobble. They made me do it before I could leave the hospital.”
“Yeah, well, just hold on.”
Sophie leaned against him, suddenly aware of how solid his chest was. She felt the corded muscles of his shoulders as she tentatively wrapped an arm around his neck She wasn’t exactly a light-weight, and he was carrying her like she was a bag of feathers.
He kicked the door closed and deposited her on the couch as Pendragon clanked his claws across the tile floor towards them.
His cobalt eyes studied her and he came forward to sniff at her leg. Michael batted his snout away. “None of that.”
The dragon snorted small puffs of smoke. “I smelled metal.”
“That would be the steel pins in my leg,” Sophie said with a small smile. Had the dragon gotten that close to her a week ago before all this happened, she would have run screaming from the room, but oddly enough, those days in the hospital bed gave her time to rethink a lot of things. Not that she could run anywhere right now.
“I guess we won’t be traveling anytime soon,” he said.
“Afraid not,” Sophie answered. “It’ll be the middle of July at least.”
“Or longer, if that’s what it takes,” Michael replied.
The dragon gave a little sigh and sat on his haunches. “At least, Balor doesn’t know more than we do.” He cocked his head as Michael and Sophie exchanged glances. “What’s wrong?”
“It seems this Mr. Baylor knows who I am,” Sophie replied and told him about the rescue. “I know you both said he was evil, but he helped me.”
Pendragon’s bared his razor-sharp teeth. “He needed you alive.”
“That’s what I told her,” Michael said. “From now on, Sophie doesn’t leave our sight. Either you or I will be guarding her.”
Pendragon nodded. “Affirmative. Every single minute of the day.”
“Excuse me, guys,” Sophie intervened. “I am certainly not going to have you watching me when I take a shower!”
Michael tilted his head. “You might need someone to scrub your back.”
The idea of Michael being in the shower with her—her treacherous imagination flashed an image of him stark-naked—made her stomach flutter as though a hundred butterflies had suddenly taken leave of a roost. She felt her face heat and it didn’t help that Michael was grinning with no dimple showing.
“I think I can manage,” she said. “Thanks for bringing me home though.”
“I hope you’re not dismissing me?”
“Don’t you have a temp agency to run?”
“Nope. Stephanie can handle the office,” Michael said as he sat down in the recliner across from her. “I’m spending the night.”
Sophie shook her head at the memory. Michael had slept in the recliner and the dragon on the floor near the sofa where she lay. As much as she hated to admit it, she had felt a little bit special, like some medieval lady in King Arthur’s court. After all, how many modern females had a hunky man who was a throwback to chivalry and a dragon guarding her?
She was startled by a persistent knocking on the door. The dragon snarled, on instant alert. Could it be that Adam Baylor had found her? Michael had set wards of protection around her house before he left this morning, but what did she know of magic? Would they hold?
“Come on. Open up, Soph!” Robert called.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s my ex-husband,” she said to the dragon. “You’ll need to hide in the office.”
“I’m supposed to protect you.”
“Robert isn’t going to hurt me,” Sophie replied as she eased herself into a sitting position and reached for her crutches. “He may be annoying, but I can handle that.”
She hobbled toward the door and turned to make sure the dragon was out of sight before she opened it.
He brushed past her before she could speak. “Why didn’t you tell me you were in the hospital?” he asked as he strode to the middle of the room and turned around, glaring at her. “I called the clinic several times and Janie always said you were out.”
Bless Janie. She might be a man-crazy twenty-something, but she was also a good hedge. Sophie made her slow way back to the couch. Last night, Michael had been at her side every time she moved, but Robert just stood there, looking annoyed.
“I wasn’t aware that I needed to report in to you, Robert.”
“You were in a car accident with broken bones. I certainly should have been informed.”
“Why? And how did you find out anyway?”
“I just came from the clinic. Your new girl, Morgan, told me. Of course, I had to flirt a little to get it out of her, but that didn’t mean anything.”
Just like old times. “Flirting never means anything to you, does it?”
“Oh, come on, baby. Let’s not fight.” Robert sat down beside her, giving her the confident smile he used in the courtroom. “She’s a hot, little number, but she’s been around the block a few times, I think. She’s definitely not you.” He moved closer and put his hand on her good thigh. “Let me make you feel better.”
Before she could brush his hand away, Pendragon roared and flew across the room to land squarely on the coffee table in front of them. His spikes rose along his spine as he prepared to shoot a fiery flame at Robert.
“Stop!” Sophie shouted.
Pendragon growled and extended his claws like a cat.
Robert had jumped back, but quickly recovered. “Well, well, well. What have we here?” he asked.
Sophie sighed. How in the world was she going to explain a dragon? If only Pendragon had let her handle this! Dear Lord, don’t let him speak!
Pendragon growled again, but settled on his haunches, thankfully silent.
“You know I sometimes take in exotic species,” Sophie said, her mind racing for a really good explanation. “This is…um, a very rare Gila monster. He was scaring the cats and dogs at the kennel so I brought him home.”
/> Pendragon blinked at her.
“Gila’s are orange and black,” Robert said suspiciously.
“Yes. That’s what makes this one so rare.”
“And they are also poisonous,” he added.
Pendragon drew back his lips to expose his sharp teeth. Tiny tendrils of smoke drifted from his nostrils.
Robert sidled away from Sophie, keeping an eye on Pendragon, and then stood, moving slowly toward the door. Sophie almost smiled. It actually felt good to see Robert unnerved for once. She motioned for the dragon to return to the office. He rumbled, but jumped off the table and ambled away, his claws clicking on the floor.
Robert sharpened his gaze. “I don’t know what’s going on here, Sophie, but I think you’re lying.”
“I’m not a liar!”
“You’re not a good liar. I deal with them every day.” He studied her for a moment, bolder now that the dragon had retreated. “There is no logical explanation for it, but I think that thing I just saw is the dragon that the media has been in a frenzy about.”
“You’re right on one count, Robert. That certainly is not a logical explanation.”
He shrugged. “The big dragon lighting up the night sky isn’t logical either. But Air Traffic Control at DFW sighted something on their radar that wasn’t a plane. That data has been sent to NOAA and the FBI.”
Sophie groaned inwardly. She should have known this craziness wouldn’t stop simply with the media. “I have no idea what that was.”
“Liar,” he said again, “and, unless you want the media to somehow ‘find out’ you’re harboring that dragon in small form, I suggest you think twice about us getting back together again.”
“The divorce has been final for a year. Let’s not rehash old problems. Go back to Amber.”
“I’m not taking that whore back.” Robert gave her a look that was just short of menacing. “And I don’t appreciate another man messing with my wife, either.”
“I’m not your wife and what are you talking about?”
“Morgan told me how that guy, Michael, has been sniffing around your skirts. No doubt he wants to get between your legs—“
“That’s enough. You keep Michael out of this.”
Robert’s eyebrows rose. “So. I have competition, I see.”
“You don’t have competition! What I do is my own business. You no longer have any claim to me!”
“We’ll see about that,” Robert said, his eyes narrowing a bit. “I’m sure the authorities might be very interested in knowing what you harbor here.”
Sophie stared at him, feeling her blood chill. “You’d turn me in?”
He gave her his confident, attorney smile. “In a heartbeat, baby. I’ll call you tomorrow and see what you decision is. Hope you make the right one. We used to be so good together. Remember?”
Sophie watched him walk to his car. If there had been even one tiny drop of doubt in her blood, it was gone now. Robert was a cold, self-centered man only concerned with his own interests. And somehow, that “interest” had refocused on her.
The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time with Robert, but she couldn’t let the media—and certainly not the authorities—discover the dragon either. If he returned to full size, breathing fire, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.
Nor did she want Robert dragging Michael’s name through the mud. Or worse, concocting some foolproof accusation against Michael that would land him in jail. Robert was capable of it.
She’d have to find some way to keep Michael away from her.
Chapter Twelve
“What do you mean, she isn’t here? The woman has a broken leg!” Michael ran his hand through his wind-blown hair and glared at Pendragon. “You were supposed to protect her!”
The dragon snorted. “That woman is more wily that Gwenhwyfar ever thought of being!”
“What do you mean by that?” Michael demanded.
“She told me she was really tired and needed a nap, but I guess she was conspiring with that ex-husband of hers.”
“Ex—was Robert here?”
“He arrived shortly after you left this morning. At first, she didn’t seem too happy to see him, but then he sat beside her on the sofa. I tried to intervene, but she sent me back to the office.”
Michael groaned. “This just keeps getting worse. Now that bastard knows you are here. He’s seen you.”
Pendragon rattled his scales and huffed. “Well, he was touching her. Tanio’s orders were for me to protect her. Of course…” He cast a baleful eye at Michael. “I could do that much better in my correct form. The man would be nothing but ashes on the rug right now.”
“Great. Then Sophie would be a suspect in her ex’s disappearance, if not arrested for murder. There will be no fire-breathing at mortals!” Michael began to pace around the empty living room. “I’m going to have to get you out of here before he returns with the police. There have been APB’s out for you ever since the first sighting.”
“Humph,” Pendragon said grumpily. “I could handle the police too.” He sighed resignedly. “She told him I was a rare Gila monster. Do you know how humiliating that is? I am not a lizard!”
Michael paused in his pacing. At least Sophie had the quick sense to come up with something half-way believable. It might buy them some time to get away. But where in the hell could Sophie have gone with a still-mending leg?
“She didn’t leave with him, did she?”
The dragon shook his head. “They were standing by the door, talking too low for me to understand since my hearing has been affected by this puny, little body I’m inhabiting. Maybe he came back for her. I don’t know. Like I told you, she said she wanted privacy while she slept and closed the door to the bedroom. I remember Ygraine was the same way, wanting to spend time in her chambers, although Uther usually joined her there.” He stared unblinkingly at Michael. “I didn’t think you would want me to intrude.”
Michael swept his hand through his hair again. “You’re right. Who would suspect that she’d leave in her condition? But where could she have gone?” He pulled out his cell and hit Smith’s contact number. A brief conversation ensued and he slid the phone back into his pocket. “The butler said he didn’t know anything about her disappearance,” Michael said.
He didn’t want to think that she’d go off with her ex, but the guy was persistent. Michael had done some research on Robert and found that he won nearly all of his cases. That made him a shrewd and persuasive opponent. Had Sophie succumbed to some offer to take care of her? Michael’s aura flashed red at the thought of the bastard even touching her. Pendragon’s head snapped up, his spikes rising. Michael drew his power back in. He needed to think logically. Inciting the dragon certainly wouldn’t help.
“There’s no sign of a forced entry,” he said as an afterthought.
“I would have heard that or any sound of a struggle,” Pendragon said. “I was napping in the office across the hall.”
“Napping? Why weren’t you on watch?”
The dragon gave him a disgusted look. “What was I supposed to watch for? You’d warded the windows. The doors were locked and woman was asleep in her bedroom.” He managed to look indignant. “Dragons like to doze you know.”
Michael shook his head and moved past him to the bedroom. The coverlet on the bed was smooth and showed no signs of anyone even lying down. Nothing else in the room seemed disturbed either. He opened a closet door. Items hung neatly side-by-side, color-coordinated. How like Sophie to be that organized. He couldn’t tell, though, if anything was missing. Shutting the door, he glanced at the dresser where a few toiletries sat along with a figurine of a prancing horse. And propped up beside it was a small envelope with his name on it.
He hurried over and ripped it open. Quickly, he scanned the short note and raced back to the living room.
“She left,” he said waving the paper at Pendragon. “Says she had a kind offer for complete care during her recovery and she’ll be in touch whe
n she’s well.” He glanced down at it. “We’re not to worry.” He crushed the paper in a wad in his fist.
Damnation. She must have returned to her ex. He had money and servants to care for her no doubt. The feeling of betrayal struck sharp as a blade in Michael’s back. The wily one in the debacle was not Sophie, but that conniving bastard, Robert.
Michael tossed the paper down. Robert may have won this round, but he certainly had not won the war. The battle hadn’t even begun.
* * * *
Balor leaned back from the computer screen and chuckled. It was the first truly good laugh he’d had since that manuscript had been found.
Morgan sidled up behind him, pressing her breasts against the back of his head as she slid her arms around him to stroke his chest. “What amuses you?” she asked.
‘This is just too rich,” he answered, clicking on the mouse to rerun the video he had just watched. “I knew it was a good idea to have Caldwell get that webcam inside the Cameron woman’s house. Look.”
Morgan squinted at the frozen screen. “That looks like a large, red dog. No…wait. It’s a huge lizard.”
Balor laughed again. “That is the red dragon.”
She leaned closer over his shoulder. “Do you mean the one that got the media all stirred up? How did it get reduced in size?”
“Not sure. Probably some deity’s work.” For a moment, his mouth tightened, remembering that he had once had that status. Damn those Avalon bitches. He pulled Morgan around to sit on his lap and placed her hand on his cock. She stroked him expertly through the silk of his dressing robe and he smiled again. “One thing’s for sure. Pendragon would not have given up his size willingly.”
“Is it permanent?” Morgan asked as she pushed aside the robe to fondle his bare skin.
“Probably not. Being shrunk…” He grinned as his prick grew larger with Morgan’s ministrations. “…keeps him under the radar from the media. Most likely it was the warlock’s idea. He’s going to need the press to go away before he and the vet can take off searching for the sword. Too bad she had to get into that wreck, though. Now we’ll have to wait as well.” He gave Morgan a quick glance when her hand froze in place. “Why did you stop?”
The Immortals II: Michael Page 13