13. Chapter 13
A scream bubbled at the base of Sienna’s throat.
Frustration and anger had taken form in her chest and traveled up her throat like liquid fire, but she forced it down while John was talking about being thrown out of his dragon clan.
And when he spoke in that toneless voice about lying on the forest floor for days waiting to die.
And yet again when he declared the attacks against him were because he was to blame for the damn curse.
Holy Fates. No wonder he lived away from everyone and everything. Had he never fit in anywhere? As far as she was concerned, he could be the king of grumps and hermits and any other thing that kept him safe.
Megan hadn’t said anything so far on the ride back to the house. Sienna glanced over at her and saw that she was holding onto the bar overhead like it was a lifeline. Sienna slowed the UTV on the wooded trail and came to a stop. She shut off the UTV and turned to her.
“Are you okay?” Sienna asked.
Megan unwrapped her fingers from the bar and then flexed them as if to get the blood flowing again. “You’re driving like we’re in the middle of a high-speed chase. Maybe I should drive the rest of the way back to the house.”
Sienna closed her eyes for a moment before responding. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. After talking to John, I feel the same. Do you want to go hit the heavy bag?”
“Hit and kick it.”
Megan smiled. “Me too. We can change and grab Tessa. You know she would be mad if she doesn’t get to beat on something.”
Sienna smiled back. “Okay.” Her smile dropped as buzzing sounded above them. “Wait. Do you hear that?”
Megan shook her head. “I don’t hear anything.”
Sienna expanded her dragon senses and looked up through the trees.
A moment later, a small black object flew over them.
She narrowed in on it with her dragon sight.
It was a drone with a blinking green light and what looked like a camera lens turning in a slow circle. “It’s a drone. It has to be Templars.”
“What should we do?” Megan asked.
Anger filled Sienna’s chest. “I’m going for it.”
Megan grabbed her arm. “Wait! It’s going to fly away if it sees you. Let me distract it and you can get it from behind.”
“How?”
“I’ll just drive the UTV toward the house. Once it sees me, it should follow and you can get it.”
Sienna hesitated. “Fine. But be careful.” Eric would kick her butt if anything happened to Megan.
Sienna climbed out of the UTV, and Megan scrambled into the seat and started it again. She drove through the woods at a slow pace. Sienna watched the drone home in on her and follow. She unfurled her wings, ripping through her shirt, and launched herself into the air.
Veronica hollered, Yahoo! Like she was on an amusement park ride.
A couple quick flaps of Sienna’s wings had her closing in on the drone as they weaved through the tops of the trees.
Her breathing sped up as she reached for it, but it dipped lower out of her reach.
She dived toward it, her claws lengthening, and grabbed it from behind.
She quickly covered the camera lens with her hand as she dropped toward the ground.
Megan had made it out onto the open backyard and turned the UTV around to meet her.
Several guards, including Marcus and Ryan, ran up to them while a couple others flew toward them as well.
Sienna pushed the power switch, and the light faded on the drone.
“Are you both okay?” Ryan asked, taking the drone from her.
“I’m fine,” Megan said, and Sienna nodded.
“Find the operator,” Marcus ordered the guards. “They can’t be too far away.”
The guards dispersed, leaving Marcus and Ryan alone with them.
“It has to be Templars, right?” Sienna asked, her heart thumping. “Do you think they recorded much?”
Marcus shook his head. “We just tracked it flying over the house. You beat us to it.”
“We should have Jonas take a look and see what he can find from it,” Sienna said.
Ryan turned it over. “Give me a second.” He located the panel, opened it, and pulled out a small SIM card.
“We got lucky. This type stores the recording in the drone and not the controller. But whoever was flying this would have seen what the drone was seeing. We can watch the recording to figure out what all the drone flew over.”
Heat bubbled under Sienna’s skin. “I don’t like these guys coming onto our land watching us. How do we stop them?”
“I’m going to double the guards, and I’ll have Carl increase his drives around our land in his sheriff’s truck,” Marcus said.
“Jonas already has tech installed that’s watching out for intruders, which is how we were alerted so quickly about the drone.
He also has some other tricks he told me about that we’ll work on implementing. ”
Ryan narrowed his eyes at her.
Sienna recognized that look. “Don’t yell at me. I’m being careful. It was a drone not a bomb. Megan distracted it and I got it down quickly. Can you take the drone to Jonas so that Marcus can follow up with the guards?”
Ryan nodded before heading back toward the house.
She turned to Megan. “Now I really need to beat on something.”
Megan smirked. “Me too.”
A short time later Sienna finished wrapping her hands before shoving them into gloves and clumsily sealing the Velcro cuffs closed.
Then she stood in front of the heavy bag and stared at it.
Ryan said you needed to center yourself before you started your routine.
To imagine the problem you’re dealing with is contained in the bag that you are about to pummel.
Sienna wasn’t sure about that. But she was sure that life was unfair.
Hearing John’s story was heartbreaking. And he’d only shared a sliver of what he’d experienced in the centuries he’d been alive.
Yes, her father had resented her because she reminded him of her dead mother, but he didn’t kick her out of the clan or use her to destroy others, making her the scapegoat for it.
It had taken everything inside her to keep the emotions buried away in John’s cabin.
From his jerky pacing and scowls, she could tell how hard it had been to answer Megan’s questions.
And then they had to deal with the damn drone trying to spy on them.
Sienna raised her hands in front of her and took a breath.
She struck out lightly, getting the feel of the bag and her stance before hitting the bag harder. The curse was like a monster octopus, wrapping its tentacles around them all and trying to pull them under. They needed to stop it. She needed to stop it.
Damn straight, Veronica growled.
For the clan.
THWACK.
For Bella and Lily.
THWACK, THWACK.
For John. Her leg jabbed up.
THUMP.
“Aww, you started without us,” Tessa proclaimed as she and Megan walked into the courtyard.
“Because you’re always late, Tessa.” Sienna walked over to the bench and grabbed the water bottle between her two gloved hands, taking a quick swig.
Tessa scoffed. “Five minutes after the time given is not late. Everyone knows that.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Sorry. I tried to speed her up.”
“Don’t let her scold you, Megs. She looks like she has puppet hands right now. You can’t take someone seriously with puppet hands.”
Sienna shook her head and turned back to the bag, hitting it harder than before as she imagined the Templars as her next problem to eradicate. She zoned out for a bit, and when she finally stopped to catch her breath, she saw Megan had gloves on and both she and Tessa were sitting on the bench.
She backed away from the bag. “Sorry I was hogging it.”
“No worries,” Megan said as she stood up and walked over to the bag.
She sat down next to Tessa, who helped her pull off her gloves. Sienna wiped her face with a towel.
Tessa watched her best friend. “Megs, keep your hand up in front of your face while you hit with the other one. That’s it.”
“You not going to practice?” Sienna asked.
“I beat on this bag on the regular. Needed to hone my defense skills after getting grabbed by that Templar thug.”
“Adam said you almost got away from him.”
“The important word in that sentence is almost.” She turned to Sienna. “Megan just filled me in on the drone and the talk with John. Gives a whole other perspective to Sir Grumps-a-Lot, doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” Sienna sighed.
“He can be hard to deal with. Maybe that’s why I like him since I’m the same way.”
Sienna smiled. “Glad you’re so self-aware.”
Tessa barked out a laugh. “That’s true. John doesn’t know it, but I think he needs someone he can confide in. A friend.”
“Feels like you’ve been giving this a lot of thought. Who do you suggest?” Sienna took a sip of water.
Tessa tilted her head and smirked.
Sienna choked, coughing until she could catch her breath again. “Oh no. Not me. What about Megan?”
“Megan is too kindhearted. She told me she barely stopped from crying when he was answering her questions. You know John isn’t going to respond well to that.”
“What about you?”
Tessa shook her head. “Oil-water. Not a good combo.” Tessa held up her hands. “And before you suggest it, Eric and Adam are out too.”
Sienna nodded. “Because they’re overprotective.”
Tessa laughed again. “Because they’re both jealous Neanderthals when it comes to John. You do remember that Lily’s drawing of me and John standing hand-in-hand in front of his cabin put the fire under Adam’s butt to declare his love for me, right?”
“Yes.” That story had become folklore in the family. They were running out of options. “What about Marcus?”
Tessa’s eyes widened. “Two grouches who don’t like to talk? How is that going to work exactly?” She rested her hand on Sienna’s arm. “I’ve seen how he is with you. Look how he was during the meeting. How you convinced him to stay. He respects you. And that’s saying a lot where John is concerned.”
And hadn’t Ryan said something similar to her too? “And how exactly do you think I should make this friendship happen? A friendship bracelet is not going to work.”
Tessa clapped her hands together. “Not from you. But that just gave me an idea.”