Steam (16 page)

Behind them, she could hear Matthew and Prince Gareth talking quietly. “It must be amazing to fly,” Matthew said.

The two men joined them at the exit, standing so close together, their shoulders were touching. “It is. Don’t most witches have the ability to fly?”

Matthew shook his head. It was Sloan who answered. “No. Most witches can dissipate through doors and such by using a spell. They can use the same spell to travel long distances in short periods of time, so it’s often mistaken for flying. It’s a common misconception among other paranormals. Handlers don’t have that ability though. Except for the most basic of spells, we’re pretty much limited to what we can do with our specific element.”

Gareth nodded and looked over at Matthew. “You, though, are not a handler, correct?”

Matthew stared out at the night and nodded. “Right.”

“So,” Prince Gareth continued. “You’ve used spells to travel. I imagine the sensations is much like flying.”

Sunny’s throat tightened and she gazed at Matthew with concern. He’d never said anything about how not having magic made him feel, but when he’d told her on the plane, he’d sounded almost ashamed.

Matthew stared straight ahead. “I was born without magic.”

Sunny prepared herself to jump to Matthew’s defense. Even Sloan tensed behind her. She was sure Matthew had experienced his share of pity over the years, having been born into a clan of witches but with no magic.

“Maybe I could take you flying one day,” the prince said, immediately gaining her utmost respect for putting her friend at ease.

“How would that work?” Sloan asked.

Prince Gareth answered, but only had eyes for Matthew. “I would shift into my dragon, and you would climb on my back.”

“It sounds rather…intimate,” Matthew said, echoing Sunny’s exact thoughts.

“It is. Extremely.” The prince’s voice was low and rumbling, almost like a purr.

If the sexual tension between Matthew and Prince Gareth got any thicker, she and Sloan would have to hack their way out of the room with a machete.

Poor Matthew was nearly the color of a tomato. Sunny had never seen him blush this hard, or this frequently. And, judging by the amused look on Sloan’s face when she cranked her neck to look up at him, neither had he.

The lawyer looked like he was trying to figure out something to say. “Were you the dragon who went fishing earlier?” he finally said.

The prince’s face broke into a wide grin. “I’m glad you noticed. I saw you get out of the car, and I knew I had to get your attention.”

“You were amazing,” Matthew said.

The expression on the prince’s face softened into something far more sensual. “Thank you. I’ve been told I’m pretty amazing at other things too.”

The prince was definitely flirting with Matthew. Sunny would have taken Sloan and gone back to Raven and Leith, except she was pretty sure she’d get lost along the way, so she settled for keeping her mouth shut.

Matthew seemed to ignore the fact she and Sloan were present. Either that or he didn’t care. “Are you gay?” he asked bluntly.

The prince, obviously ignoring her and Sloan’s presence, stepped closer to Matthew and continued speaking in that low, seductive voice of his. “Dragons don’t define sexuality the same way your people do. We do not believe we should be limited to loving only one gender.”

“So in other words…” Matthew’s voice trailed off with a soft gasp, and Sunny risked a glance over at the two men and had to stuff her fist against her mouth when she saw the prince nibbling a little on Matthew’s ear.

“Wow,” Sloan breathed in her ear. “Prince Gareth certainly moves fast, doesn’t he?”

Sunny nodded and held her breath, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“In other words,” the prince said once he pulled back from Matthew slightly, “dragons find both males and females attractive. Also, you should know…dragons are very bold. When we see something we want, we rarely take long to claim it.”

“Your Highness,” Matthew said softly.

“Call me Gareth,” the prince replied.

“Gareth,” Matthew repeated.

“My name sounds beautiful on your lips,” the dragon murmured just loudly enough for Sunny to hear.

Sloan started coughing, and Sunny made a show out of patting his back. “We should get back to the meeting,” she said loudly.

She felt bad for interrupting. The last thing she wanted to be was a cockblocker, but she was pretty sure Matthew had forgotten she and Sloan were in the room, and she wasn’t sure if Gareth really cared they were there.

Matthew was still a bright shade of red, and Sunny wondered if he was ever going to go back to his normal complexion.

Prince Gareth, however, was still looking at Matthew with obvious lust. “I can summon someone to take the two of you back to the main hall, if Matthew wants to see a little more of the palace.”

Sunny was about to accept Prince Gareth’s offer. She even considered suggesting he take Matthew on a tour of his bedroom, but Matthew was already shaking his head. “We really should get back to Raven and Leith.”

The prince smiled charmingly and spoke again. “I do hope you’ll consider coming back for a more
thorough
tour another day.”

“He will,” Sunny said brightly, patting the slightly stunned Matthew on the arm.

The action seemed to snap the lawyer out of his momentary stupor. “Maybe,” he said softly.

Sunny could practically see the image of Leith dancing in Matthew’s brain, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Gareth clearly wasn’t fazed by Matthew’s answer at all. Not when he slung his arm around Matthew’s shoulder and grinned. “Playing hard to get? I have a feeling I’ll enjoy the chase.”

Sloan linked his fingers with Sunny’s, and she swung his arm playfully as they followed the two men back to the main hall.

When they arrived, they found the dishes had been cleared and pens, pencils and pads of papers littered the table. The place now looked more like a boardroom than a dining room. Sunny and Sloan sat back down in their previous seats. Matthew headed for an empty chair between Raven and Leith, but Gareth steered him to a different seat. “I would prefer you to sit here, fierce one,” Gareth said, pulling out the chair next to his.

Matthew sat and looked over at his leader, shrugging his shoulders. Raven smiled and waggled his eyebrows. He was clearly going to grill Matthew on the way home. Leith didn’t even glance up. He simply stared down at the table, scowling. Sunny frowned at Leith’s attitude. What the hell had crawled into his dinner and died?

Gareth sat down and picked up a pen, tapping it against the table. “Now that the meal is finished, it is time to get down to business. Raven MacAlister, have you recalled your clan as per our agreement?”

Sunny suddenly clued into something that had been right under her nose. Matthew had been making calls to clan members, asking them to come home. He’d just told her that his parents had already put their house up for sale in Australia, and once they had everything in order, they would be moving to clan grounds.

They were building an army. An army composed of MacAlister witches and, hopefully, the dragons.

Now wasn’t the time to question Raven, or even Leith, about the upcoming events. Not when Gareth began speaking again. “I’m sure by now, you have all realized that the Queen has not joined us.”

The room was silent and Gareth tapped his pen again. There was no playfulness in his expression any more. Now, he looked like the very image of a cold, hard-hearted army general. “She is our second condition.”

Sunny didn’t miss the way Raven leaned forward and focused all his attention on the prince. “What about Queen Niya?”

Gareth eyed Raven. “She disappeared the day of the last witch battle,” he answered. “We believe there are two possibilities. I suspected she had a secret lover for a number of years before the battle. Did she run away with her lover?”

“I knew your mother very well,” Raven said, looking offended. “She loved her people. She would not run away with a lover.”

Gareth nodded slowly, looking at Raven with a strange expression. “I agree. The more plausible, but far less happy reason my mother would have disappeared would be because she was kidnapped.”

This time it was Leith who spoke up. “Who do you suspect?”

“The vampires. They dropped off the face of the earth the same day.” Gareth looked troubled. “We’ve been searching for her since she failed to return, but we can only do so much in our dragon form before we’re noticed by humans. In exchange for helping us find our queen, we will join you in battle when the time comes.”

“We’ll do it,” Raven said immediately.

“Huh,” Sloan muttered quietly. “That’s weird. Raven doesn’t usually make decisions like this without having Matthew do at least a little bit of negotiating.”

“Wait a minute,” Matthew interrupted.

The prince’s cold expression thawed slightly. “Yes, Matthew?”

“What if we haven’t found your queen before the battle? Will the dragons still fight by our side?”

“Good man,” Gareth said with an approving tone. “Yes. As long as genuine effort is put into the search for my mother, the dragons will battle with you.”

Matthew nodded slowly. “I’ll put something in writing, and you can have someone look at it and see if you agree.”

The prince rested his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “I make the legal decisions regarding the dragons,” he said. “So I’ll meet with you at a later time to discuss your agreement.”

Matthew nodded as he jotted in his notebook. “I can have something ready for you in the next few days. Is there some way I can contact you to set up a meeting?”

Prince Gareth pulled out a business card and handed it to him. The card was a heavy stationary with black script writing, spelling Gareth’s name and the words “treasure hunter.” There were two numbers printed on the card and one number handwritten on with blue ink. “Call the third number. It’s my personal cell.”

Matthew extracted one of his own business cards from his pocket and scrawled something on it. “Here, this is my number.”

Sunny was beyond excited. She couldn’t wait to tell Anna all about how the prince flirted with Matthew and how flustered Matthew was. She was already planning on asking their driver if they could stop at a bakery on the way home so they could have something sweet to snack on while they chatted. Maybe she could talk Matthew into joining them.

Abruptly, Leith pushed back his chair and stood up. “We need te get goin’ before the tide comes in,” he announced, his accent full and heavy.

Gareth saw them to the exit, where the same woman was waiting to drive them back home. Leith waited exactly three seconds after they got into the car before starting in on Matthew. “What were ye thinkin’, goin’ off alone with a dragon? Especially since I’ve told ye more than once that I’ve felt an increase in unfamiliar magic nearby.”

Matthew glared at Leith. “Geez, Leith. You told me that, with the increase in your magic, it’s hard to tell how close the unfamiliar magic actually is. What’s with you?”

“Are ye that desperate, Matthew? That filthy dragon was eyeing you like he was a bee and you were the flower. And what were ye doin’ with him for so long?”

“Why is it your business?” Matthew shot back. “It’s not like you have any claim on me.”

Sunny felt like she was watching a tennis match. One would lob a question or an insult, and the other would respond immediately.

But Leith’s reaction was a little over the top. He was acting like a jealous lover. Maybe there was more to it than she realized. Leith certainly seemed protective, almost possessive of Matthew at times. She’d witnessed the number of times he’d brushed up against Matthew at meals.

Leith growled and grabbed Matthew’s wrist. Matthew didn’t pull away and Sunny had to give him credit for standing his ground. “What, Leith? Tell me how you feel right now,” Matthew demanded.

Leith leaned forward until his mouth was barely a centimeter from Matthew’s.

Sunny held her breath when Matthew raised his free arm and caressed Leith’s cheek.

“Say the word,” Matthew whispered. “Say the word and I’ll tell Gareth we will only be business associates.”

Sunny’s lungs were beginning to ache from holding her breath for so long, but she didn’t want to chance interrupting this very intense moment. She felt like she was eavesdropping, but there wasn’t anywhere else for her to go. Especially since the driver had already started the car’s engine and eased onto the beach.

“Matthew…” Leith’s voice sounded a little desperate, like he needed to say something and just couldn’t find the right words.

Heart breaking for Matthew, Sunny watched as Leith reached up and gently removed Matthew’s hand from his face and muttered a spell. Less than a second later, the blond witch had disappeared.

Matthew dropped his hand into his lap. “Well,” he whispered. “I guess I got my answer.”

Sunny was about to climb over Sloan’s legs to give the lawyer a hug, but Sloan beat her to it. He wrapped his arm around Matthew’s shoulders and pulled him close. Raven patted Matthew’s knee. “It’ll be fine,” he said softly.

Matthew swallowed and nodded jerkily before leaning his head against Sloan’s shoulder for a brief second before sighing and pulling out a business card from his breast pocket. Sunny recognized it as Gareth’s card.

“He’s a good man,” Sloan said, nodding at the card. “And he’s clearly interested in you.”

Matthew didn’t say anything, but he did run his thumb over Gareth’s name.

Sunny almost couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d never seen Sloan and Matthew really interact with each other. They’d always acted more like acquaintances than anything else but here Sloan was, comforting another man, a gay man at that, without a second thought. It showed her an entirely new side of Sloan.

Touched, she linked her fingers with Sloan’s and squeezed gently. Sloan squeezed back and continued whispering to Matthew.

Sunny slid on to the bar stool next to Matthew and grinned. “Thanks for inviting me,” she said.

Matthew smiled back and signaled for the bartender. “I thought you could use a break from all the training,” he answered.