Chapter 19 #2
“Maybe he was hiding his complaint in plain sight. If enough were submitted, Nationals would be forced to send a new tester.” Thomas tapped his fingers against his lips.
“There’s one more thing. I asked Brandon pointblank if he knew who had requested a house training for Cerby. He said he had no clue, yet he was the one who sent the formal request. Was he lying, or was he unaware the request went out under his signature?”
“This all seems so random, but I’m sure there is some type of pattern here.
” He leaned forward and glanced at his watch.
“I’ve got some work to do before I go home.
Do me a favor and tell the others about this.
I think keeping everyone in the loop is smart right now.
Lack of information tends to lead to mistakes, and then bad decisions happen.
We need open communication between us. I think it’s the only way we’re going to keep us all safe.
You should talk Trent into relocating into the academy for a while.
Until we find the person behind all of this. ”
“It’s going to put back Cerby and Tempest’s training. We can get through this. They only have three weeks plus a little more.”
“Mia, a lot can happen in a short amount of time. I want Cerby trained as much as you do, but we have to protect one another. We can’t protect Trent or Sarah or the baby when they’re so far away.” Thomas met her gaze, and she broke the connection first.
“Fine, but I’m telling him it was your idea. What he does with that is up to him and Sarah.” Mia felt like she was losing the game.
Thomas stood and swept his arm to the doorway. “Ladies first. And Mia, this isn’t a game. Not by a long shot. No matter what’s going on, I’m going to be on your side, as will the rest of the Majors family. We take care of our own.”
When Christina and Mia got back in the car, Christina fiddled with the heater controls, delaying their departure. “Do you think he was being honest?”
Mia thought about the question, staring into the windows of Majors Grocery.
Thomas was talking to the woman at the counter again.
“If he was a stranger, I’d say he was lying through his teeth, but I think this is just Thomas.
He tells you what he believes, without any filtering.
He doesn’t say much, but his values and beliefs always stand behind his decisions. I need to talk to Trent.”
“Are you calling him or do you want me to drive you to his house?” Christina still hadn’t moved the car. She stared at Mia.
“Let’s go to the house. If Sonja throws a fit, we’ll know where we stand.” Mia shrugged. “Then it will be up to Trent and Sarah to make the decision. Besides, I haven’t seen Cerby in two weeks. I’m missing some puppy hugs.”
Christina put the car in motion and they started toward the outskirts of town, where Trent had a ranch house on several acres that butted up against National Forest land.
If you were going to have a dragon, his house would be perfect.
Mia wondered if Suzanne Parker had time between the threat and her death to notify Nationals about Buddy.
No matter what, she wasn’t going to go to a zoo.
She and Cerby were bonded. Not to mention she treated Trent and Mia as part of her pack as well.
“What are you thinking about?” Christina asked as they turned onto the road that would take them to Trent’s.
“Buddy. How long did it take for me to fall in love with that little dragon? Minutes? Days? I have to accept that my life here will never be normal. I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, so to speak.
” Mia turned to Christina. “Maybe you should rethink your decision to stay. You’ll be in the Abby Normal world too. Just like in Young Frankenstein.”
Christina chuckled. “I’m already there. It’s going to be my world, because we’ve decided to start looking at houses at the first of the year.”
“Are you serious? What about Portland?” Mia knew they were thinking about staying for the babies, but buying a house here sounded longer.
Christina shrugged. “It’s all on hold until I make a final decision. My boss was pretty sure she could make a case for me working remote due to the circumstances. Mom’s furious. She wanted me out of here and into a larger city where she and Dad could visit.”
“And Levi?” Mia asked.
“He was following me. He said he can be happy anywhere as long as I’m there. Isn’t he the best?” Christina wiped a tear from her eye. “Man, are there wildfires somewhere? The smoke is bad here.”
“It’s not wildfire season.” Mia frowned and looked around. “But something’s burning.” They pulled into the lane that led to Trent’s and saw the fire.
Trent’s house was burning. Or at least the left wing of it. Buddy, Cerby, and Tempest were crowded around a baby car seat. Sonja had a water hose, and Trent and Sarah were using magic to douse the flames and rebuild the house.
Mia jumped out of the car. She called to Christina as she ran. “Get Em in the car, just in case. Then back down the hill. Take the dogs too. Buddy? You need to follow them and protect Christina and Em.”
Buddy took off and hovered over Christina’s car. The dogs followed Christina as she grabbed Em’s car seat handle and took off.
Sarah looked back, and relief filled her face. When Mia joined the group fighting the fire, she said, “Thanks, Mia. I’ve been distracted between the fire and Em. Knowing she’s out of the danger is helpful.”
Trent looked down at her. “Cerby and Tempest got a little carried away today with their training. Now, I can’t get the fire to stay out.”
“It’s not my fault,” Sonja yelled over the noise of the water as it hit the fire. “We do this training at the camp all the time.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Any suggestions here would be amazing, Level Five.”
“Shut up.” Mia smiled at him and then focused on the building. “You’re fighting the fire. You should be joining it.”
She walked toward the part of the house that was in flames and started talking to it.
“Fire, fire, burning bright. Warm our toes, cook our food, keep us safe, and stay contained. The house is your home as well. Take good care of it and us.” She raised her hands, trying to enclose all the fire together.
“We support one another. We are one. We support each other. We are one.”
Slowly the fire went out. Mia waved her hand at the water hose, and the water stopped flowing.
“Hey, we need to get all the embers.” Sonja waved the limp water hose at her. “Turn it back on.”
“We don’t need it, and having the water running tells the fire to keep burning.
To keep fighting. We are one. We support one another.
We take care of all of us.” Mia took a breath, and she could hear the pop as the house went back to normal.
Prefire. She didn’t know what it looked like inside, but Trent could fix whatever was wrong with magic.
With the house safe and the fire cut off, Mia texted Christina to come back. Then she turned to Trent. “What on earth happened?”
Sonja threw down the hose and stomped over to where the others stood.
“The hellhounds are out of control, that’s what happened.
I should never have agreed to this unconventional training method.
” She shook a finger at Mia. “I thought I made it clear that no one was supposed to bother us here. You need to leave, now!”