Chapter Twenty-Three
Vil
As I guided the car through another turn, the engine purring in that higher-pitched, throaty, super-car way, I glanced over at Vanessa again. I tried to be surreptitious about it, given I’d been non-stop looking at her out of the corner of my eye the entire way, but she saw me anyway.
“What are you grinning at?” she asked, a matching smile stretching her face from cheek to cheek, her blonde hair flying around wildly in the wind coming in through the open windows.
“Just you,” I said honestly. “I like seeing you smile like that. It makes me happy.”
Even as the words came out, I felt an icy hand grip my stomach.
It was too much. That sort of thing was too upfront for Vanessa.
She’d explicitly told me that she was very unsure about “us” as a couple, let alone mated for life, despite our physical dalliances—though she didn’t seem to want to acknowledge them.
I’d overstepped a boundary by talking about feelings.
Not that I was any good at that to begin with, which was why I usually avoided it. Easier not to screw up by simply not saying anything.
“Um, thanks,” she said a little awkwardly.
But the smile didn’t fade from her face as she looked forward. Maybe I imagined things I wanted to see, but I would have sworn her cheeks were a tinge redder than before.
“Also,” I said, deciding now was a good time to broach the subject, “I need you to know something about all that’s happened.”
She looked over at me, the smile fading. “What’s that?”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I said heavily. “The truth. About me, I mean. What I am.”
I braced myself for her protests and the inevitable realization that she would have to lie to everyone about where she’d been and what she’d been up to.
To my surprise, the smile blossomed anew, and she reached over to pat my leg. “Don’t worry, Vil, I already worked that out myself. You can relax. Your secret is safe with me. I promise.”
I did a double-take. “What? You did? How?”
“When you healed me,” she explained. “Sure, it was extremely gross. But it worked! Which got me thinking about how it was a miracle that no drug could work such wonders. Then I realized what would happen if drug companies found out about it. The lengths they would go to, the things they would do. I won’t be any part of that. You and your people deserve better.”
I saw her shiver and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot to me.”
She smiled, and for just a moment, cruising down the street, everything slowed.
Just her and me, and nothing else. No worries, no concerns, no danger, nothing.
Her face full of joy, without the weight of pressure.
I took a snapshot in my mind, then and there, of that exact instant. I never wanted to forget it.
“So, what do I tell people?” she asked, glancing at my hand on her shoulder but making no move to dislodge it.
“That you were with me at my country estate,” I said, turning right where she indicated her street.
“Oh, great,” she said dryly, still smiling. “So I have to tell people I was a rich playboy’s toy for a few days. That’s going to do wonders for my reputation when it gets out.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“I—What the fuck?” Vanessa sat up straight, looking forward sharply.
I followed her gaze.
The street ahead was filled with police cars parked on either side, narrowing the roadway to one lane.
One more was parked in the driveway to a small bungalow with a white picket fence and lovingly maintained rose bushes along the front.
There was also a black unmarked four-door sedan in the driveway, parked just in front of the swath of yellow tape that blocked the path to the front door, its ends wrapped around a pair of trees and taped to the house.
In front of the house, a group of people, some in patrol officer uniforms milled about. Two of them had their backs to us, and I could see a third pair of legs behind them.
“Is this normal?” I asked. “Did I miss the Halloween memo? I take it that’s your house?”
“It is,” Vanessa said, sliding out of the car as I brought it to a halt in front of her driveway. “And no, it’s not normal at all. I have no idea what’s going on. Hey! Hey, you!”
I hurriedly put the car in Park and killed the engine.
Getting out, I swiftly caught up to Vanessa as she made her way up to the pair of officers.
They turned, parting to reveal that the third person was an officious-looking woman in a long wool coat.
She had her black hair parted strictly into a low ponytail and wasn’t wearing a hat.
She was, however, wearing a very stern expression. Her face, several shades darker than Vanessa’s naturally, turned even darker as she frowned hard at us for crossing what I’m sure was some imaginary boundary of her crime scene.
“Why are you breaking into my house?” Vanessa demanded of her.
The woman looked her up and down, not intimidated or retreating at all, though she cast me a second look that screamed “threat assessment.” “Are you Vanessa Padgett?”
“I am. What’s the meaning of this? Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Detective Robertson,” the woman said, flashing a badge at us.
“Great. That’s wonderful. Now explain yourself,” Vanessa snapped.
“I think,” the detective said, gesturing at two of the nearby officers, who moved toward Vanessa, “that you’ll be the one doing the explaining.”
Growling a warning, I moved to stand between Vanessa and the two officers. They hesitated, one of them letting his hand slip toward his waist. I bared my teeth in a silent snarl, all but daring him to go for his weapon. He would never make it.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, taking control of the situation as I looked over at Detective Robertson.
“This woman, Vanessa Padgett, is under arrest for the suspected murder of RJ Peele and felony fleeing the scene of a crime. Is that enough of an answer for you? Now, move out of the way before I arrest you, too.”
“But …” Vanessa protested weakly. “That’s not what happened.”
“Don’t say anything,” I growled, my mind working furiously as I stepped aside. The officers were doing their job, and I didn’t want to interfere.
Correction. I did want to interfere. I wanted to pick them up and hurl them across the street before I broke the detective in half and shoved her in a trash can for so much as thinking my mate was guilty of the crime. But I didn’t. I restrained myself from violence.
Do it the proper way so that her life isn’t complicated. She’ll want to return to Earth regularly after you take the throne, and you have to ensure that’s possible. Think smart, not strong.
“You do have the right not to speak,” the detective said while one of the officers finished reading Vanessa her rights.
“You’re making a big mistake,” I warned the detective.
“Maybe,” she said, though she didn’t sound like she believed it. “But right now, you’re on an active crime scene. So you’d better step back, or you’ll be the one making a mistake.”
One of the officers turned to face me.
My growl rattled the garage doors and sent him stumbling back a step, his hand snaking to his gun. I was suddenly in front of him, moving faster than he could react. I didn’t touch the officer, not even a hair.
“Don’t do that,” I whispered, baring my teeth. “It’s not necessary. I was leaving.”
I spun and stalked away, pausing next to the police car as Vanessa was put in the backseat. “It’ll be okay,” I told her. “I’ll find a way to fix this. I promise. Just hold on, okay?”
She nodded, but her attention wasn’t on me. Her stare had gone blank, and she was already retreating into herself.
I cursed myself for not anticipating it.
Of course the police would look into what happened.
But neither of us had thought ahead. We’d been so caught up in the events of the past two days that the consequences of her accident hadn’t occurred to either of us.
I should have made a note when she told me what had happened, but I’d been focusing on Vanessa and nothing else.
And now she was paying the price for my lack of forward thinking.
“Enough of that,” I growled to myself, sliding into my car and firing up the engine. “It’s time to fix this.”
I wasn’t sure how to do it, but I knew there was a way. The one thing I did know about human society was that money fixed everything. And what was a dragon without a hoard of treasure? Even if it took every dollar I had, I would see her free and her name cleared.
Throwing the car into gear, I squealed the tires and took off down the street, my eyes constantly flicking to the rearview, watching the car with Vanessa, head in the opposite direction.
I will see you soon, my dear. And I will have you freed.