38. Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Ben didn’t want to set Tessa down, but she was shooting daggers at him with her denim eyes. That might not have been enough to persuade him if Megan and Sienna weren’t hovering as well. He placed her gently on the couch in the living room.
“Ian will be here soon. He’s finishing up with another patient,” Sienna said.
“I’m fine. Tell him not to rush,” Tessa said, followed by a flinch when she tried to get more comfortable on the couch.
Megan sat next to her and grabbed her hand. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Me too, Megs.”
Eric walked into the room.
“Anything from Marcus?” Ben said.
“No. He and the guards stayed behind at the abandoned building, but they haven’t found anyone.” Eric turned to Tessa. “Do you feel up to telling us what happened?”
Tessa nodded. As she told them the story, Ben couldn’t stay still. He paced and forced his dragon down more than once, especially when she talked about the fight and being drugged. Megan wrapped her arm around Tessa’s shoulder, and other than gasps and curses from the group as the story unfolded, they kept quiet. And the ridiculous kept coming. Witches and Templars, and Mia White in the middle of it all?
When she stopped talking, no one spoke at first. They all seemed to be in shock. Hell, he had no idea what to say.
“How…what…I…” Megan said.
Tessa smiled. “Exactly. I feel like I’m Alice, who fell down the rabbit hole into Templarland.”
Sienna and Megan chuckled, which Ben knew had been Tessa’s intent. She was breaking the tension with humor, taking care of others when she was the one who needed to be looked after. But the joke also served to push them away as well. To hide her vulnerability.
He wanted to gather her up again in his arms, but Sienna had already sat on Tessa’s other side as if she and Megan were comforting and shielding her at the same time.
“Talking to Nadia was like talking to the Mad Hatter. I thought maybe she had figured out who I was, but she kept calling me Sydney. She acted like I was in on some secret. Like I should have known the answers to the questions I was asking. And then Mia showed up.”
Megan shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”
“I know, Megs. She had the cross tattoo, but something was really off with the whole thing. She kept acting like she was on team Templar, but I think she is some kind of double agent. She’s part of the Templars, but she’s trying to stop them.”
“She made you jump out a window!” Megan said.
“Yeah, but she waited until Ben was close enough to catch me.”
“Wasn’t that considerate of her,” Sienna grumbled.
Tessa looked up at Ben. “She seemed really angry about seeing you at the gallery alive. Like it was a betrayal or something. And when I told her you lost your memory, which is why you had been missing so long, she was surprised but tried to hide it.”
“How did she see us? Was she at the gallery?” Ben said.
“I don’t think so. You told me that you saw my abduction on Connor’s cameras. Maybe Mia had tapped into that somehow and watched as well. How did you find me?”
“Carl from the sheriff’s office was able to track Nadia’s cell phone to a two-mile radius, but we didn’t know for sure where you were. Eric and I were driving around and found the abandoned buildings but the gates were locked, so we took to the air to find you.”
“So the paragraph from the scroll is right. Templars exist,” Megan said.
“Yeah. Mia said they never went away, but things have changed now so they are out in the open.”
“Because we’re trying to break the curse,” Eric said.
“Yeah. That’s my take. She wasn’t exactly forthcoming with much information. My gut tells me she gave Ben John’s contact information.”
Ben’s dragon rumbled. “And I don’t remember anything! If I did, you wouldn’t have risked yourself. I need to find a way to get my memories back so we can figure out what’s going on with Mia and the Templars.”
“I’m sorry. I asked Nadia if she could reverse the memory spell and she said no,” Tessa said. “Maybe if we could have captured her, she could have figured out something.”
Ben took a step toward her, and Sienna moved out of the way so that he could sit next to Tessa. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
Ben caught movement to the right and saw a frowning Lily in the doorway. “Little bit. What are you doing up?”
Tessa sat up and held out her hands to her, and Lily rushed over and climbed into her lap. Tessa flinched, which meant she was hurting, and he wondered how much longer Ian would be.
“I’m okay, sweetheart. Your hug is the best medicine.”
Lily snuggled into her arms, and Ben’s heart was officially gone. For both of them. A few minutes later Ian walked into the room. Ben could already tell that Tessa was going to argue with being examined.
“Lily, would you hold Tessa’s hand while Dr. Murphy checks her over? You can help too if that’s okay with Tessa.”
Tessa narrowed her eyes at him before nodding, and Lily clambered off her lap. Ben reached down and helped her up from the couch. Another flinch. He picked her up, and she opened her mouth to retort.
He whispered, “Little ears.”
She glared at him all the way up the stairs.
He thought he had won until they arrived in the bedroom and Tessa told Lily to escort him from the room. And she did, the little rascal. She was bossy without uttering a word. And she wagged her finger at him before she went back into Tessa’s room and closed the door. He could hear Tessa laughing, followed by Lily’s giggle.
A few minutes later Megan came up the stairs and went to Bella’s room, peeking inside before joining him in the hall.
“Nurse Lily kicked me out of the room.”
Megan smiled. “She has won over everyone.”
“Lily is easy to love.”
“She’s not the only one.”
Ben opened his mouth and then shut it.
Megan rested her hand on his arm. “That’s okay. I shouldn’t be the first one you say it to.”
Ian opened the door and stepped outside.
“How is she?” Ben asked.
“She’s good. I took some blood work so I can try to determine what type of sedative they gave her. She’s sore and has some bruises from being thrown in the van. Otherwise she is suffering from some mild shock, which she is trying to hide. Rest and plenty of fluids. Although Tessa told me to tell you that she needs food too, especially sweets.”
Megan chuckled. “Of course she did.”
“They both fell asleep a couple minutes ago.”
Megan turned back to Ian. “I’ll grab your bag if you can carry Lily back to her room for me?”
“Sure.” Ian opened the door, and Ben’s dragon settled as soon as he saw Tessa and Lily asleep on the bed.
Ian picked Lily up gently and left the room. Megan nodded to Ben before walking out and closing the door.
Tessa stirred on the bed and her eyes opened.
Ben took a step closer. “You’re okay. Go back to sleep.”
“Are you going to stand there staring at me all night?”
“No.” Yes.
She smiled and patted the bed. “Come rest with me for a while.”
He walked over to the bed and lay down on top of the covers.
She graced him with a sleepy smile. “We need to work on your bed manners. You laying on top of the covers with all your clothes on.”
He wrapped his arm around her gently. “We can talk about bed etiquette when you’re feeling better.”
She snuggled against him with a sigh. “Sounds like a fun conversation.”
Within seconds her breathing evened out and she was back to sleep. Ben wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. She had apologized to him because she couldn’t help him get his memory back. When this whole thing was his fault.
The witches and Templars had started this war, and he would damn well find a way to end it.