Chapter Thirteen #2
Bene clapped my shoulder on his way past. “That’s okay, man. Anyone could have missed a target that big.”
My growl chased both felines and Henrik to a safe distance. That left me alone with Mina, overlooking the gash I’d burned through her forest.
She picked up a charred twig, inspected it, then waved to the torched strip.
“Not that I’m not grateful,” she said, picking her words carefully. “But could you maybe next time…”
I raised an eyebrow. “Let you die?”
“Maybe just ask questions first, fire away later.”
I crossed my arms. “You don’t ask a guy who’s lurking around your property. You demand.”
Mina pursed her lips and turned toward Bene, who was picking through the ashes.
“Any evidence?” she called out.
He laughed. “Evidence? It’s all incinerated.” He gave me a thumbs-up. “Great job, big guy.”
I rumbled in warning, then snapped my head left, toward the road.
Everyone tensed, picking up on the same thing.
“Incoming vehicle,” Bene warned.
Mina bit her lip, and I touched her shoulder. I only meant to reassure her. But, zing! Even that minor contact sent fireworks through my veins.
Mina looked up at me through wide, shocked eyes, telling me she felt it too. And not just the fireworks, but also the wild hopes and fantasies.
My chest filled with a warm, heavy sensation, and the world around me blurred like it did when I flew and got in the zone. Especially here, around Chateau Nocturne, with its peaceful landscape of fields, vineyards, and forests.
Fields, forests, and Mina, my dragon whispered.
“Police car,” Roux muttered.
His voice seemed miles away, but it was enough to tear us out of the moment. Really tear, like a wave ripping two shipwreck survivors apart, each to their own fate.
Or shared fate, my dragon murmured.
“All right, everyone.” Mina hurried ahead. “Let me handle this.”
We followed as she took a shortcut back to the house. The police car reached the main door before we did, and an officer emerged from the vehicle.
Just one, Henrik murmured into our minds. We can easily take him down.
We can, but we won’t. Not unless I signal, you got that? Roux barked sternly.
Mina had the legs of a gazelle — hard not to notice — and loped right over. No surprise there. But the way she greeted him — well, that caught me off guard.
“Clem!” Her voice rose in glee.
When the policeman turned around, he lit up like a Christmas tree. “Mina!”
I froze as they practically threw their arms around each other. They stopped at the last minute, though, gripping each other’s forearms and flashing goofy smiles.
Uh-oh, Bene murmured into the others’ minds, loud enough for me to catch it. Mina has a guy.
A young, buff, blond cop. The kind too good to be true, like a Chippendales stripper.
Mina does not have a guy. She couldn’t, my roiling gut decided.
And if she does, we’ll kill him, my dragon chimed in.
The cop leaned in and traded kisses with Mina. And not just harmless air kisses. The bastard made full contact with her cheeks each time.
A snarl built in my chest even before the wind carried his scent to me.
Wolf shifter, my dragon grumbled.
A secondary scent clung to the first, and I nearly snarled. The scent of desire.
He wanted Mina. Bad.
Bene grabbed my arm before I could charge over and roast that ass alive.
“Nice of you to stop by,” Mina said, all sweet and shiny-eyed. Not at all the way she treated us.
Yeah, well, the cop probably didn’t torch her forest, sneak around her attic, or punch her, Bene whispered into my mind.
That was an accident, dammit! Roux grunted.
I slammed a wall over my thoughts and focused on that jerk of an officer, who looked like he ought to be starring in Baywatch instead of policing a tiny town in the French countryside.
Yeah, well, he’ll be starring in his own mystery soon, my dragon growled.
I pictured him lying in a pool of blood somewhere behind a barn. Better yet, a haystack.
“Unfortunately, I’m here on business.” When he looked up, his expression changed instantly, regarding us like inmates and not law-abiding citizens.
Okay, maybe law-abiding was pushing it, but still.
“You have guests, I see,” he growled, not at all pleased.
“Clients,” Mina hurried to tell him.
The word stabbed at my heart. I didn’t want to be a client. I wanted to be more.
“Clients?”
Mina nodded firmly. “Clients. Can I invite you in for a drink?”
He shook his head. “No time, sadly. I’m here in response to reports of a fire.”
“Fire?” Mina pasted on a fake smile.
Boy, was she a bad liar. Good thing Mr. Law and Order was more focused on glaring at us.
Bene’s fingers dug into my shoulder as he tugged me aside. I resisted, then realized moving upwind wasn’t such a bad idea. Especially as a dragon shifter at the scene of suspected arson.
“Yes, a fire. In the woods. You didn’t notice?” the officer asked.
“Oh. That fire.” She gulped, then played it down. “I did. My clients were kind enough to go out and check it.”
“They did, did they?” Officer Baywatch grumbled.
Roux nodded. “I’m no expert, but it looked like a lightning strike to me. The fire was already out when we got there.”
“Lightning, huh?” The policeman eyed him suspiciously.
A good thing Roux, unlike Mina, could lie through his teeth like the rest of us. And that he stood upwind, hiding his scent from the wolf’s.
“Like I said, I’m no expert…” Roux shrugged.
“And what do you do, Mr…?”
“Anand. I’m a logistics contractor,” he supplied smoothly.
The police officer looked around skeptically. “Logistics. Moving goods in and out of Auberre?”
I nearly laughed out loud. Auberre was so small, and its population so old, that there wasn’t much movement of any kind in town.
Roux flashed a friendly smile. “Not here, no. We’re here for a retreat. You know — working to anticipate trends in a rapidly changing global network, et cetera, et cetera.”
He managed to hit exactly the right tone to sell our cover story — a story that Gordon, that conniving bastard, had come up with.
The line he’d had me memorize was, We move high-value goods through risky areas, and I’d practiced it dozens of times. Now, more than ever, it didn’t sit well with me.
“A retreat. I see,” Baywatch murmured, looking over the rest of us.
Speaking of which… Bene whispered, nudging me backward.
“And this fire was — where exactly?” Officer Baywatch demanded.
Mina pointed. “Over there. Would you like to see?”
“Yes, please.”
My dragon nearly burst out of my skin when he and Mina stepped toward the forest.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Bene murmured, clamping down over my arm when I moved to follow them.
Roux cut in, hissing at Bene. “I’ll go. Take him inside before he torches another few acres.” Then he strode after Mina and the cop, slipping his hands into his pockets in a way no self-respecting mercenary ever would. Which was the point, I supposed.
“Come along, Romeo.” Bene shoved me toward the front door. “Let’s get you some breakfast.”
“Not hungry,” I growled.
“Well then, let’s get me some breakfast. We’ll find some meat for you to tenderize or something.”
“Heathens,” Henrik sighed, bringing up the rear.
“Says the one who sucks blood,” Bene muttered.
I went inside because I had no choice. But I stayed glued to the front window for the eternity that dragged by before Mina reappeared from the woods. She smiled and shook hands with the cop — the shithead. No kisses this time, though the guy definitely wasn’t happy with that.
At least that gave me a glimmer of hope about Mina.
Then I caught myself. I didn’t want hope.
I didn’t want her. In fact, it made perfect sense for her to hook up with him.
A teacher and a policeman. She could work in the local school.
He could keep this sleepy little town safe from guys like me.
They could have two-point-three children and live happily ever after.
It made sense, but I just couldn’t stomach it.
The cop glanced at Roux, then pulled Mina aside and whispered. She whispered back while Roux casually admired the roofline of the chateau.
Finally, Mina nodded, though neither she nor the cop looked satisfied.
He gave the chateau one last, suspicious look-over before sliding into his patrol car — a pathetic, boxy Citroen that was more Mr. Mom than Miami Vice, I noticed with some satisfaction.
Then he drove off slowly, considerate enough not to leave tire marks in Mina’s gravel driveway.
Goody-Fucking-Two-Shoes. I scowled.
Roux waved, keeping his distance, but the cop only had eyes for Mina.
Finally, he disappeared down the tree-lined driveway. Good riddance.
When I get my claws on that bastard… my dragon snarled.
“Get your claws on this instead.” Bene pressed a plate of bacon into my hands.
I ignored him, watching Mina. She crossed her arms and gazed down the driveway for a long time. Longingly? Hopefully? Or was she, like me, happy to see him leave?