Dragon's Lair (14 page)

She took another sip and paused to smile at him. “Thank you. Shouldn't you be leaving?”

Was it possible she didn't realize what she'd done? “No problem. Anything else you'd like before I go?”

Alexia shrugged. “A slice of chocolate cake might be nice.”

Braeden waited a second to make certain one didn't materialize before signaling for the waiter lounging just beyond the dining area. “A slice of chocolate cake for Mrs. Drake.”

While they waited, Braeden wondered if the prophecy was true. He'd always thought it was nothing more than another of his aunt's stories.

The waiter brought the cake and asked, “Anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

When the man left, Braeden said, “Now, I really have to be going.”

Alexia slid her chair back. “I'll walk you to your car.”

“Car?” He frowned.

“To get to the airport?”

“I'm not taking the jet. I'll…”

“Just zip on over?”

“Something like that, yes.” He paused and looked down at her. “Alexia, if you need me, at any time, call me. Just close your eyes and concentrate. I'll be here.”

T
he light streaming in the window dragged Alexia from her slumber. She squinted and held up a hand to shield her eyes, wishing she'd remembered to close the draperies before going to bed.

Unable to get back to sleep, she rose, showered and dressed, tugging on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

In the kitchen, she pulled out the toaster and popped a couple of slices of bread into the slots. She made coffee and pulled butter and jam from the fridge.

While the bread was toasting, she wandered into the office to look at the pages waiting for her. She wasn't surprised to see the detail they contained. The changes were incredible.

She heard the toaster pop and returned to the kitchen. After spreading the slices with some butter and jam, she took them with her cup of coffee into the living room and stood in front of the sliding doors that led onto the balcony.

With the sun shining down on them, the mountains were breathtaking. Brilliant splotches of color scattered here and there made the view worthy of an artist's oil painting.

The fine hairs on the back of her neck rose. Alexia held her breath. Someone was watching her. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach, and in the icy chill skittering goose bumps up her arms.

“Who's there? Show yourself.” Her whisper echoed in the room.

She looked around and saw no one, yet the feeling remained. When she turned back around, she caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy form retreating from the balcony.

Alexia blinked, but when she opened her eyes she saw nothing. Slowly bringing her face closer to the glass, she stared hard but still saw nothing.

Had she been anywhere but Dragon's Lair, she'd have brushed it off to a trick of the light. But she wasn't anywhere else, so the fear and uncertainty remained.

Alexia jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Laughing at her nervousness, she opened the door. Her smile froze on her face. “Danielle, come in.”

What she really wanted to do was slam the door in the woman's face.

“Please, sit down.” Heading for the kitchen, she asked, “Do you want some coffee?”

“No. What I want is you gone.”

Alexia sighed while she poured Braeden's aunt a cup of coffee. Whether the woman wanted it or not, she could at least sit here and pretend to drink it while she explained.

And she was going to finally explain.

Alexia walked back into the living room and handed Danielle the cup, suggesting, “Just pretend.”

Danielle set the cup on the end table. Alexia couldn't help but notice the woman was dressed to kill, so to speak. Full makeup, hair slicked back into a severe bun. She wore a loud, black-and-red paisley printed suit, matching red blouse—so the blood wouldn't show as much, perhaps?

Alexia swallowed her sarcastic thought, then asked, “So, why the visit, Danielle?” The woman's timing was so obviously planned. She'd never have stopped by if Braeden were here.

The woman frowned, tipping her head and looking at Alexia as if something were dreadfully wrong. Finally she shook off whatever was bothering her and asked, “Do you care for my nephew so little that you are willing to risk his life?”

“He doesn't seem to be too concerned about my coming here.”

“I'm not talking about the damn manual or the danger you brought with you.”

“Then what?” Alexia groaned before answering her own question. “The curse.”

“Of course.”

“Give it a rest, Danielle.”

The older woman's face reddened. “You really don't care.” She nearly shook with anger. “Are you plotting his death?”

Concerned, Alexia stared at Braeden's aunt. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Why else would you intentionally tempt the Fates?”

“Oh, yes, the Fates.” Alexia sipped her coffee, hoping the caffeine would give her enough energy to hold this insane conversation. “I don't have any powers. None. And if I suddenly started draining Braeden of his, don't you think he'd notice?”

“He's too bewitched to notice.”

“Bewitched?” Alexia shook her head. The whole idea of Braeden being that distracted because of her was ludicrous. “When it comes to me, the only thing Braeden is bewitched by is the translation of the manual and getting me out of here.”

Danielle's lip curled into a near snarl. “Can you blame him?”

It was all Alexia could do not to slam her coffee on the table. Instead, she wrapped her fingers more tightly around the cup. “If he was so damn anxious to rid himself of me, why didn't he just file for a divorce? Then none of this would matter.”

“A divorce?” Danielle gasped as if Alexia had suggested Braeden shoot himself. “He can't divorce you.”

If the woman was going to throw the ruler-of-Mirabilus, High-Druid-wizard stuff out as an excuse, Alexia swore she'd scream. Obviously eager for self-torture she asked, “And why is that?”

“Dragons mate for life.”

Alexia watched the coffee cup fall from her hand to the carpet as if in slow motion. It was odd, really. One heartbeat, her fingers were wrapped around the thing. The next, the cup simply sailed to the floor and bounced twice, then rolled in a semicircle before stopping. She hadn't even felt her hand relax.

She stared at the spreading coffee stain, wondering how she'd get it out of the off-white carpet. Without responding to Danielle's inconceivable statement, Alexia rose, went to the kitchen, then came back with towels and a pitcher of cold water.

While she knelt on the floor trying to sop up the coffee, Danielle asked, “You didn't know that?”

It wasn't so much that she didn't know it, it was more along the lines of being so far-fetched she was having a hard time believing anyone would say something so outrageous. “This is the twenty-first century. If for some reason he can't file for a divorce, I can.”

Danielle picked up the used towels and carried them out to the kitchen, saying, “A civil divorce won't make any difference. It goes beyond legalities.” She came back with a couple of dry towels.

Alexia shook her head. “Look, this is between Braeden and me. It really isn't any of your business.”

“So you say. But what happens to this family once the manual is translated and you've taken all his powers? He'll be defenseless against any evil you release.”

“Just pretend for a moment that I buy into that whole draining-of-powers concept. What would stop me from defending him?”

“Do not take this lightly.”

“Oh, I'm not.” Well, that wasn't quite true, but it seemed easier to humor Danielle than to argue with her. “I'm just curious. If all this is true, why didn't you mention this before Braeden and I were married? That might have been a more opportune time.”

“Nobody knew you were going to hook him so quickly.”

“Thank you. I'm glad to know you think your nephew is that weak-willed.” Alexia rose and tossed the remaining towels onto the bar. “You knew from day one that I was mortal. If the curse about the eldest dragon marrying a mortal could prove so destructive, why didn't you talk him out of seeing me then?”

Danielle glared at her. “I tried.”

For some reason she couldn't explain, the knowledge
that Danielle had absolutely no control over Braeden made Alexia breathe easier. “So that's why you've hated me from day one—because Braeden chose me over your objections?”

“Even without the threat of the curse, it was all too fast. You don't meet someone and marry them less than a month later.”

“I guess in our case that wasn't true.” Actually, her sister had voiced the same worries at the time. “So, you intentionally tried to drive me away?”

“Yes. It was the only way to show Braeden how unworthy you were and how little you truly cared for him.”

“
Cared
for him? Danielle, I fell in love with him the moment I saw him from across the room. I was carrying his child—our child—and you sent a magical beast to run me off the road?”

“That wasn't me. I didn't even know you were out in the car that night—” Danielle froze and stared at her. “A
what
ran you off the road?”

Alexia waved the question away. She'd already said too much. “Doesn't matter. What's done is done. But you won't get the chance again.”

Danielle's eyes were wide. “You don't understand. I can't conjure up anything. I can only communicate intuitively by sending and receiving thoughts. That's all the natural ability I possess. And no potion, no spell, is going to permit me to conjure up a beast.”

Great. Alexia had never once thought Braeden was responsible. But she
had
suspected his aunt. If it wasn't Danielle, could it have been Nathan?

Had he been around even then? She remembered the overwhelming fear at seeing the dragon in her rearview mirror. It was the same type of fear she felt whenever
Nathan invaded her mind—a cold, sickening dread she was unable to control. Why had he been following her back then?

“You must leave here.” Danielle stood up and came over to stand before her. “I was right, you are dangerous. Braeden will die if you stay.”

From the forcefulness of her words, there was little doubt in Alexia's mind that Danielle Drake actually believed that. However, Alexia didn't.

“I'm not leaving, Danielle. I don't believe your curse is true, and even if it were, why would you assume for one second that Braeden couldn't be protected by means other than magical?”

“You just admitted that you were run off the road by a beast, and you could have been killed. What if it had been Braeden?”

Alexia was surprised at the level of worry Braeden's aunt displayed. She was also surprised that the woman seemingly believed her without question. She'd always been certain Danielle would accuse her of making it all up.

“Look, for one thing, Braeden has this innate sense that warns him of danger. For another, he wouldn't have been as terrified as I was and probably wouldn't have jerked the wheel so hard.” She didn't have the heart to tell his aunt about the dragon coming out of the book. It would only upset her more. “Danielle, he'll be fine.”

“You can't know that.”

Alexia couldn't find the words to ease Danielle's fears. “What can we know for certain? Nothing.”

“If anything happens to him…” The woman stopped abruptly, her gaze directed out the glass doors.

“What?” Alexia turned around, looking over her shoulder. “What do you see?”

“Nothing. Mist. Shadows. Nothing that would interest you.” She spun around and headed toward the door. “I should go.”

“You don't have to. Stay, check out the manual with me.” Alexia paused. What was she suggesting?

“No. I have a meeting to attend.”

Relief flooded through Alexia as the door closed behind Danielle. She didn't know what she'd have done if the woman had taken her up on her offer.

She went over and opened the balcony door. Braeden's aunt had seen something, leaving Alexia's senses even more on edge.

 

Alexia leaned back from the computer monitor, rubbed her eyes and stretched. Since Braeden wasn't home, she'd turned down his brothers' invitation to dinner so she could work on the book some more. After a while, though, putting this diary together was rather boring.

And typing up her notes, if anything, was even more boring.

“Alexia.”

She froze. There was that voice again—Nathan.

“What have you learned?”

“Nothing. Go away.”

“Not until I get what I'm after. Then—”
He laughed. The sinister sound made her hands shake.
“Then maybe I'll go away.”

Alexia leaned over and reached for the phone to call Sean or Cam. Before she could touch it, the receiver flew across the room as if thrown.

“No, no, my dear. We don't need anyone else.”

Trying hard not to panic, she said, “The book is nothing but a diary. That's all it is. Look for yourself.” She pointed
at the monitor, then choked on a scream. A ghostly image stared back at her from the screen.

“No, I don't believe you. No one would waste the time and energy involved in creating that grimoire to use the pages for a simple diary. I will get the truth, Alexia.”

With her feet Alexia shoved the chair as far away from the desk as possible, screaming, “Leave me alone!”

With any luck her brothers-in-law might hear her.

He laughed again. Alexia covered her ears to no avail. While the face on the monitor appeared to laugh with evil humor, the sound still came from inside her head.