Chapter 17

By the time Dallas had showered and made it to the back patio, breakfast was spread out, and to her surprise, Avery and her dragon friend Mikael were there. Rhys was also there, looking good enough to eat and watching her with that predator gaze as she stepped out toward everyone. It seemed he was always watching her.

Some of Dallas’s tension eased when Avery smiled and stood, shoving her chair back and meeting her on the edge of the lanai. In jeans, sneakers and a pullover sweater, she looked like she always did—adorable. “Lola asked me over, so I hope it’s okay that we came so early,” she said as she pulled her into a hug.

“Hey, I’m just staying here. You can do whatever you want,” Dallas said, laughing. “But I’m so glad to see you.”

Avery’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I can’t believe you have a pet dragon and didn’t tell me.”

“To be fair, I’ve only had her for a little while and the world has been kind of crazy.”

“No kidding. We’ve been so slammed with construction lately, trying to get people housed. It’s like this never-ending race to work faster.”

“I can imagine. So you have roommates now?” She glanced over to the big dragon, who was pretending that he was not watching Avery, but it was pretty clear that Mikael was keeping Avery in his line of vision.

“Yeah. King wanted me to house some ancients who’d woken up right before The Fall, and now I’m living with a bunch of dudes. It’s good for my brothers at least—now they have actual decent male role models to look up to instead of their annoying older sister. Even if they are all sort of more or less adolescents.” She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing.

Dallas knew that Avery’s father took the cake on being the douche king of the world, so she understood what her friend meant by decent role models. Really, an avocado was a better role model than their father—though the boys weren’t teenagers anymore, they were in their early twenties, something she sometimes forgot. They just seemed young to her. The two young men took after their Cuban mother in the looks department, dark hair, darker skin and very handsome. Avery was adorable and had a natural bronzed glow year-round, but for the most part she took after her father—something Dallas knew the human hated.

“It’s so cool that you’re friends with Avery too,” Lola called out, motioning for them to come sit at the table with the others. “And you need to eat, from what I hear.”

Dallas shot Rhys a dry look as she and Avery headed back to the huge table, but he shrugged and pulled out a chair for her. Which was oddly sweet.

“Thanks,” she murmured as she sat next to Avery. Rhys sat across from her in a spot next to his friend Mikael and immediately poured her coffee from the carafe. When he added the amount of sugar she liked, she realized he really did pay attention.

“So do you think I could ride Willow?” Avery asked as Dallas started piling fruit onto her plate.

Dallas glanced over at Willow who was busy entertaining herself with a volleyball someone must have given her. It was a miracle the thing wasn’t smushed yet. “You really want to?”

“You wish to ride a dragon?” Mikael asked suddenly, straightening in his seat, all his focus on Avery.

Avery’s eyes widened. “Uh, yeah! Who wouldn’t want to?”

He frowned at her. “You never said anything. I will take you flying.”

“Well you guys never asked if I wanted to go flying, and now the cutest dragon in the world is one of my friends’ pets.” She grinned as she looked at Dallas. “So, what do you say?”

“I think she’ll be fine with you. She’s really good with me and Rhys—and all the ladies here.”

“Hey, she likes me too!” Axel called out from the other end of the table.

She glanced down the table at Axel and shook her head at the lion. “And she likes Axel too. I think it’s because he sneaks her treats he thinks I don’t know about.”

“Well, Axel is very lovable,” Avery said before spearing a strawberry with her fork. “He’s a big, squishy lion.”

Dallas noticed that Mikael’s expression went dark at the mention of Axel. Dallas caught Rhys’s gaze and realized that he was simply watching her, all intense and sexy and brooding. Snagged in that stare, in those eyes, she found that she couldn’t tear her gaze away. Damn it, she needed to get her concentration off him but it was pretty impossible, especially after he’d held her in his arms all night. She distinctly remembered what it felt like to have all those muscles pressed up against her, to have his arms wrapped around her, comforting her.

Blinking, she managed to look away from him and simply focus on the fruit on her plate.

“So where are your brothers?” Lola called out from the other end of the table.

Mikael jerked slightly, looking away from Avery. “Are you talking to me?”

“Yes. Where are the hotties who hang out with you? You know, the ones who don’t talk much but look like they’d be a lot of fun in bed.”

“Quit teasing him,” Avery called out, then shot Mikael a grin. “She’s just messing with you.”

Lola snickered and took a sip of a mimosa. “I so am not.”

“She’s definitely not,” Bella said, rolling her eyes. “Keep your brothers away from her, she’ll eat them alive!”

Mikael looked a bit like that proverbial deer caught in headlights. But when his gaze landed back on Avery, he seemed to settle himself.

Warmth filled Dallas’s chest as she listened to their interaction. She really did like her solitude on her farm and all of her friends out there, but in the country she saw everyone in small doses. Here she was inundated with people and she found out that she really liked the company. And she could admit that she liked being included and accepted for who she was with this group.

She’d always tried to tell herself that she was fine and didn’t care what people thought of her, and for the most part that was true. But it was a hell of a drug to be accepted. She glanced over at Rhys again and he was still watching her, a definite hungry look in his expression.

He wasn’t even trying to hide it, which was a bit disconcerting. This male was seriously messing with her head. If she was into casual sex maybe she could have something fun, a fling with him. But she wasn’t wired like that—she needed more trust with someone before she contemplated anything intimate. Getting naked and letting all her guard down was a big deal. It required so much trust.

At that thought, she looked down at her plate and focused on her food. Her stomach was a tight ball of anxiety but she knew she needed to eat. Especially since they would be out again today searching for the crest. She was feeling hopeful, however, that they could cover a lot of ground since they were starting early. She just wished she had some witch friends she could call on to help. She actually did have a few who she trusted, but someone had once told her that the best way to keep a secret was not to tell anyone.

Right now she knew this needed to remain a secret among only those who were currently aware of it. Because someone could make an offhand comment to someone else, not meaning to, and alert the wrong people that King was looking for them.

“I have to head out soon,” she said to Avery when there was a lull in the conversation. “So if you want to ride Willow now, you can.”

Avery had pushed her chair back before Dallas had even finished her words, practically jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas Day.

“All right, you’re definitely ready.” Dallas laughed as she pushed her chair out and joined her. Then she looked over at Rhys. “We won’t be long. As soon as we’re done, will you be ready to go?”

He simply nodded, and she wished he wasn’t so damn sexy, so damn delicious looking. Because she could eat that male right up, whether he hated witches or not.

* * *

Rhys stood next to Mikael, who was leaning against an oak tree, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Willow swooping up and down throughout the yard with Avery on his back.

“She’s a good little flyer,” Rhys murmured. “She’s not going to drop your female.”

“Avery is not mine.”

“Okay, then.” He could say it all he wanted, but Mikael watched her in the same way that Rhys watched Dallas.

“She’s not yours, then?” Axel dropped down from the damn tree—sneaky feline.

Even though he’d surprised Rhys, Rhys remained immobile—and made a note not to underestimate this lion. He might act genial and fun-loving, but Axel was clearly skilled at sneaking around.

Mikael shoved off the tree. “Who the fuck wants to know?”

The lion just grinned, far too much mischief in his eyes as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Pretty sure it’s clear that I’m asking. And I can’t help but wonder if maybe she would prefer riding a lion instead of a dragon.” Then he laughed to himself and strolled away—as if he wasn’t baiting a giant, deadly predator who could set him on fire.

When Rhys realized that Mikael was literally blowing out smoke, he grabbed his forearm. “Get your shit together. He’s just screwing with you.”

“I’ve never had a lion pelt before. I think it would make a nice throw rug.” Mikael’s tone was dry—with just a hint of truth ringing in his words. “I would toss it in front of my fireplace.”

“Something tells me Axel gets that a lot. So are you going to tell me why you’re here?” Rhys asked the other dragon.

“It’s as good a place as any.” He lifted his shoulders. Then he shoved out a sigh. “We woke up near here and my clan is gone. We are the last of our family.”

“I didn’t realize.”

Mikael’s jaw was tight as he watched Avery squealing in delight. “For now, this is my home.”

Rhys had a feeling that his home was wherever Avery’s was, but he didn’t comment. “I told you why I’m here. I’m close to finding my sister’s killer,” he murmured, low enough for only his old friend to hear. “She was so…sunny. Happy. It kills me that her life was cut so short.”

“If you need assistance, let me know. I remember her.” The faintest smile played across his expression.

“She is impossible to forget.”

“So how close are you?” he asked.

Rhys couldn’t give any details about what they’d discovered, but he nodded. “Very. Closer than I’ve ever been before.”

“Then we will all help, my brothers and I.” Mikael rolled his shoulders once, seeming anxious, before settling against the tree again. “It will be nice to have someone to track down.”

Many years ago, Mikael had been the enforcer for his clan. He’d worked with trackers to hunt down rogue dragons or other supernaturals who got out of line and broke their rules.

Rhys was glad to have an ally, someone he trusted. Because he wasn’t doing this alone; he needed someone else to have Dallas’s back as well. He was hunting down an evil, and if that evil figured out Dallas had helped him, she would become a target. He was determined that never happen.

And while he was willing to die for his cause, he would never do anything to cause harm to Dallas. Not even for his own revenge. That knowledge shook him at a molecular level but it was true.

He would sacrifice his own life for vengeance, but he would not sacrifice her life.