by Vella Day
“Thank you.”
“Go and be safe. This man wants to destroy your family and all that you hold dear.”
Her stomach churned. Nessa held Kyle dear. “Why?”
“That’s all I can say.”
Nessa knew begging would do no good. She thanked Magnolia again and then left, not sure if she was more scared now than before.
Chapter Nine
The morning after Nessa visited the Four Sisters Pottery Shop, she called the hospital to check on Kyle’s progress. Admissions told her that he’d been dismissed about an hour ago. As much as Nessa wanted to head on over to his house to see if he needed anything, she figured Lily was keeping an eye on her brother and wouldn’t welcome another intrusion by a dragon shifter.
Frustrated at not being able to help, Nessa decided to seek her father’s advice about whether there was anything anyone could do to speed up the process of finding the person who had tried to kill her and Kyle.
Grindale was a ten-hour drive or a ninety-minute flight. Had she not been desperate, she would have waited until he returned to Edendale. Even though there were some dragon shifters who might want to harm her, she decided to chance the flight, promising herself to keep a keen eye on her surroundings. She probably should have asked the guard watching her condo to come with her, but he needed to make certain no one tried to get into her home.
All of her brothers and cousins were either at the cleanup site or at the mine, holding down the fort. If she remained vigilant, she’d be safe.
In the past, whenever she soared above Tarradon, Nessa loved nothing more than to get lost in the beauty of the place, but today she couldn’t afford to. Once aloft, she flew as fast and as straight as she could to Grindale province. The dam rupture had happened in the town of Plux, not far from Drifsdown where her uncle’s good friend, Gregor Kearn, lived. If she couldn’t find her dad in the middle of the disaster, she bet Mr. Kearn would know where he was.
In a little under ninety minutes, Nessa arrived without incident. It didn’t take any kind of internal GPS to find the horror unfolding below her. She recognized several of the dragons flying people to safety. The entire town of Plux appeared to have been nearly wiped out, and her heart ached. Only the tops of homes were exposed as the floodwaters continued to rush down the main streets. Oh, my. This was far worse than she had thought possible. While Nessa had important issues to discuss with her father, these people needed her more.
She landed near what looked like a makeshift tent city. She shifted and then rushed in to give aid. Before she could even ask if anyone had seen her siblings, cousins, or father, someone shouted for help. She hurried over to them. “What is it?” she asked.
“We need these water bottles delivered to the far side of the camp. Can you take them?” The young man asked with such sincerity, she couldn’t turn him down. He was human and must have seen her fly in.
“Sure thing.”
Shifting in this crowded space wasn’t advisable, so she lifted two of the cases and walked them about five hundred feet to the other side of the camp where workers were handing out water to needy families. Her back was not happy with lugging so much weight, but for the next hour, Nessa transported the goods from one side to the other. The victims were filthy but surprisingly upbeat, and she never ceased to admire their spirit.
Nessa continued to help out the best she could, from setting up tents, locating loved ones, and delivering food. She did a few food flights into neighboring towns that hadn’t been affected and collected what supplies she could.
Near the dam itself, she was thrilled to see other mine owners there, including Safford DeLeon. To be honest, she wouldn’t have thought he’d ever be caught doing humanitarian work. She could still remember when he tried to lure some of the Caspian workers away from their site with promises of riches. A few had succumbed, but most had returned when they realized the man’s safety practices were suspect. Fortunately, after the death of his wife, he’d become more cautious.
It was close to sunset when she found her brother Birk. He was covered in dirt, but from his strong movements, he hadn’t tired.
His smile came out broad when he spotted her. “Nice to see you here, but who’s watching the mine?”
“The skeleton crew is. I would have stayed behind, but I have to find Dad. There have been some developments that I need his advice on.”
Birk sobered quickly. “What happened?”
She gave him the brief rundown. “After someone stole the rock that must have had incriminating evidence on it, I became worried that Kyle’s incident might not be an isolated one. The scariest part is that this dragon shifter isn’t normal. The ability to become invisible when in his human form means there is no end to the damage he could inflict.”
Birk wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out. Dad’s at Gregor Kearn’s estate. They’ve turned it into a shelter. I’ll show you where it is.”
“Thanks.
The flight from Plux to Drifsdown was like going from a catastrophe to lush green rolling hills. The castle was easy to spot mostly because of the large number of people milling about its vast acreage. They landed in the front driveway and entered through the open front door.
“Whoa,” she said. “People are everywhere.”
Mattresses were tucked side by side along one of the corridors, and families were huddled together as relief workers hustled between them.
Birk stopped one woman. “Have you see Laird Caspian?”
“The last time I saw him, he was on the back patio.”
“Thanks.”
The two of them wove their way through the crowd. Someone had turned on a rather loud stereo, playing upbeat music, and a few refugees were attempting to sing along. Once outside, they had to ask a few more people where they might find their dad.
Finally, someone pointed them in the right direction. She found their father talking to yet another mine owner, Wilson Snar. The fact he was here implied he probably hadn’t had a hand in Kyle’s attack.
Birk leaned over. “Snar has motive to want our mine to go out of business. His operation focuses solely on gold, and his success has been sporadic. Of all the mine owners, he’d have the most to lose if our gold mine panned out.”
“I don’t see him as a dark lighter.”
“Neither do I, but I’ve been fooled before.”
Nessa waved to their father to get his attention. “Hey, Dad.”
He spun around and grinned. “Well, if this isn’t a nice surprise.” Her father turned to Birk. “How are the relief efforts progressing in Plux?”
Wilson placed a hand on her father’s arm. “If you’ll excuse me, I see more dragons are dropping off another group of casualties. We’ll talk later.”
“I’ll be over shortly to help,” her father said.
Wilson smiled and limped off.
It was quite a sight to see the dragons carrying the injured and setting them down safely. Once the relief team arrived to take care of them, the dragons returned to the air and headed back in the direction of Plux.
Their dad faced Birk. “You were about to tell me about the relief effort.”
“It’s bad there, but everyone is making good headway. We’ve been searching all of the homes and rescuing everyone we find. It just breaks my heart to see the devastation though. Declan has been a lifesaver—literally. He’s healed so many people that he’s beyond exhausted. I had to battle with him to take a break.”
Her cousin was a hero. After all this talk of good deeds, Nessa wasn’t sure she should mention what happened to Kyle, but she needed to know what her father thought. She placed a hand on his arm. “Something happened at the mine, and I need your help—or at least your opinion.”
He looked around. “Sure. How about we step into the large tent over there? We’ll have a little more privacy.”
With the din of the rescue dampened, Nessa once more went over what had happened to Kyle, the stolen evidence, and what Magnolia
had to say. “She knows more than she’s saying.”
Her father nodded. “That’s always the case with those ladies. What I don’t like is that Magnolia seems to believe that someone is targeting us. In light of what happened, do you have any ideas who it might be?”
“Kyle and I agree that whoever set the charges at the gold mine has to know as much about explosives as I do.”
“Do you believe this expert is the mastermind?”
“I have no way of knowing.”
Birk looked at their dad. “I’m worried that whoever it is might try something else. I think I should go back with Nessa to help out at the mine. I’m not sure how we can work our skeleton crew any more than they already are.”
“I agree, but ask them to check in at different intervals when they are doing their rounds,” their dad said. “No matter how many cameras we have, it may not be good enough if this man is able to cloak himself. He seems mighty dangerous.” Her father placed his hands on her shoulders. “As for you, I don’t want you in the air unless you’re with someone. Usually one dragon won’t attack two at once.”
As much as Nessa didn’t want to be so restricted, it was sound advice. “I won’t. If no escort is available, I’ll drive.”
Her father nodded. “Good. You know, if you’re so convinced this culprit is a fellow miner, maybe I can have a few men try to hire on at the other mines.”
“To act as moles?” she asked.
“Yes. I know we’re paying them wages, but I’m sure they wouldn’t object to receiving a second paycheck.”
“Do you actually think the other workers will talk about some disgruntled owner who wants to take us down?”
He shrugged. “That or maybe someone is aware which dragon shifter is capable of cloaking himself when in human form. It might even be better to send in humans who say they were spooked by what happened at our mine. They heard some ghost is responsible for the attacks. Someone might talk.”
She liked her dad’s imagination. “It can’t hurt, but that could take months before we get a lead.”
“You have a better way to catch this guy?”
If only she did. “No.”
He hugged her. “I should be back in two or three days, but if anything else happens, call me any time of day or night, okay?”
“I will.”
“I might be busy here, but you always come first, sweetheart. You know I want to stay on top of anything to do with the mine.”
“I’m proud of all the work you and the rest of the men are doing. I know Grindale province appreciates it,” she said.
“I’m sure they’d do the same if we needed their help.”
After another round of hugs, she and Birk took off for home.
Someone knocked on Kyle’s door, and he clicked off the television. There hadn’t been anything on the tube other than the chaos at the dam. Seeing all of the devastation and pain made his head ache even worse. At one point, he even thought he saw Nessa there, but he must have been hallucinating. Her brother had told her that because of what had happened, she needed to stay at the mine. On second thought, Nessa seemed like the impulsive type to do something like that.
“Coming,” he called as he slowly eased off the sofa. He had to wait for his head to stop pounding before crossing the living room.
When he opened up and saw his sister standing there, it was as if someone had punched him in the gut. Her hair was messed, she sported a black eye, and the cut on her lip made him momentarily forget about his own issues. “Oh, shit, Lily. What happened?”
She shuffled past him, not making eye contact. “I am the stupidest woman alive.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her over to the sofa. “Sit here and let me get you something to drink.”
“I could use a hot tea.”
He was thinking of something stronger, but the caffeine would help his head too. “Tell me what happened.”
“Nelor happened.”
Fuck. His fists clenched as acid burned in his stomach. “Did the bastard come to your house? I thought he was still in jail for assaulting you.”
“He just got out. And yes, he came to my house.”
Double fuck. “I take it he broke down your door?” Kyle failed to keep the bitterness from his voice.
“I, ah, let him in. He told me he was very sorry about what he did and that during his incarceration, he’d realized how much he’d hurt me.”
Kyle didn’t believe a word of it, but apparently Lily did. “Then Nelor should have offered to pay for your medical bills.” They’d been extensive, especially with all the skin graft operations that followed.
She looked up at him with teary eyes. “I know he hurt me, and I know you can never understand, but I actually miss him.”
“Him? Or someone to be with you?”
Lily didn’t answer him at first. “That makes me sound like some lonely pathetic person, but you don’t know how hard it is for me. When I do have the courage to go out, if they see or feel the scars on my back, I get a look of pity or disgust and then never hear from them again. I’m tired of being rejected and alone.”
Kyle dropped down next to her and hugged her. “Oh, Lily. Your time will come. Not every man is shallow. You are an incredibly beautiful and talented woman who has a lot to offer.”
“You’re my brother, and that makes you prejudiced.”
“Am not. Prejudiced that is.” He had questioned his own integrity a few times. If he’d met a scarred woman, how open would he be? Somehow, he didn’t think he’d like the answer. “You’ll find the right man someday, but that man is not Nelor Dobbins.”
“I know.” She hung her head.
“Did you call the cops at least?”
She nodded. “They said they’d search for him, and once they catch him, he’ll be arrested for causing bodily harm.”
“Since he was just released from a two-year sentence for the same thing, it sounds like he will be in for a long time.”
“I hope.”
“Rest while I fix that tea.” He hustled into the kitchen, put the water on to boil, and dropped a tea bag into each of the two cups.
Kyle didn’t want to lecture her on how Nelor almost killed her the last time and that she was damn lucky he hadn’t done worse this time. His sister felt bad enough, but what had she been thinking? The man would never change. That dragon shifter was bad to the core.
He mentally sighed. The worst part about Nelor begging forgiveness was that his sister would harden her heart against all dragons even more. It was ironic that Lily would give the scum Nelor a second chance but not give Nessa the benefit of the doubt.
Not that Kyle planned on asking Nessa out when the mess with her mine was finished, but the woman intrigued him something fierce. Hell, during his recovery in the hospital, she’d had the starring role in his fantasies. Something about her fierce loyalty and determination to right all wrongs spoke to him. Okay, her body spoke to him too, but that alone was not enough to create a good relationship.
The teakettle whistled. Kyle poured the water and then carried the two cups of tea out to the living room. He placed them on the coffee table in front of him. “What stupid reason set Nelor off that he felt it was all right to use you as his personal punching bag?” He wasn’t sure why he asked, but for some reason, he needed to know.
She shrugged. “He apologized for everything, and then said he wanted us to get back together.”
“Seriously? After all this time?”
She nodded. “It’s not like I ever visited him in prison. I don’t know why he thought I’d say yes.”
“You told him no, right?”
“I did.” She huffed out a laugh. “Apparently that was not the right answer.”
“I hope the cops catch him and lock him up for good.”
“That would be wonderful.”
If Nessa were here, he bet she could give Nelor a run for his money. “Until Nelor is caught, you should move in with me.”
She leaned over and hugged him. “Thank you, but I’ll be okay.”
That was what she always said.
“Then how about taking some self-defense classes?”
She looked up at him with teary eyes “What good would that do? Even if I had a gun, I couldn’t kill him.”
Was that because her heart was too big or because the soft spot above a dragon’s heart was a small area and hard to hit? “There’s more to self-defense than learning to shoot. I just don’t like you being alone.”
She lifted her tea and took a sip of the steaming liquid but immediately placed it on the table. “I won’t be careless again. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“I hope so. I will be keeping an eye on you. I may even look into hiring someone to stand guard outside your place.”
Lily rolled her eyes at him. “I told you I will be fine, Kyle.”
“Lily, I am your brother; please let me do this. It would kill me if anything happened to you, sweetie.”
“Fine. I would be lost without you too.”
“And speaking of that, you’ll stay here tonight. And no arguing.” She smiled and then nodded. “Good. Now drink your tea.”
Chapter Ten
Once Birk escorted Nessa to her condo, he stayed for a while to discuss a possible strategy on how to handle this new threat.
After they exhausted their options, Birk slapped his thighs and stood. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay staying alone?”
Nessa might be unsettled by what had happened, but she’d deal. “I have a guard outside the door. If this person manages to get by him, he’d have to bust down the steel door to get to me. By that time, I could escape out the window.” Without a balcony, it would be a bit tricky to jump out as a human and then shift into her dragon, but it could be done.
“Just checking. I’ll discuss our new tactics with the men. I want to go over the security measures we currently have in place and what additional things we’ll need to add in order to beef it up. We’ll meet tomorrow morning at nine in the top floor conference room.”