Chapter Thirteen #3
“All right then, I’ll call my pilot. And take this with you.
” Smith opened a glass cabinet filled with antique guns and removed a long leather scabbard from the bottom.
He handed it to Michael. “You can use this for the Sword. The inside is steel-lined.” He turned to Benton.
“Have the chef prepare a quick meal, would you?”
“Right away,” the butler said and turned to go. Pendragon ambled after him, then stopped and stared at Michael.
Michael sighed. “Hmmm—would you happen to have any ice cream?”
“Certainly. Several kinds. Would you like some for dessert?”
“Not me.” He pointed to Pendragon. “Gila monsters seem to be very fond of it, though.”
Pendragon glared at Michael and blew a puff of smoke. Mr. Smith’s eyes widened at the sight, but Benton merely looked down his nose at the dragon.
“Very well, sir,” he said.
****
Sophie glanced sideways through her lashes at Michael’s profile as he drove the rented SUV out of Charleston’s airport.
There hadn’t been much opportunity to talk privately with him.
Mr. Smith’s chauffeur had driven them to Love Field where a pilot and copilot waited, so the conversation had been general.
“I hope you understand why I wanted to stay hidden,” Sophie ventured. She’d tried briefly to tell him about Robert’s tenacity and obsession with winning, whether it was a court case or something or someone he wanted.
A muscle twitched in Michael’s stubble-lined jaw. “I’m supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around.”
“Hey! What am I back here?” Pendragon asked from the folded-down back seat area. “I’m supposed to be protecting her too.”
Sophie glanced back at him and smiled. “I’m sorry I left you.” She turned back to Michael, but he kept his eyes on the traffic. “I know you’re upset with me, but we got away, didn’t we?”
‘That’s not the point,” Michael said and grimaced as his cell phone rang. He glanced at the Caller-ID and handed it to Sophie. “It’s Smith. See what he wants.”
Sophie tapped the “On” button. “Hi, Mr. Smith. We’re in Charleston. Just arrived a little bit ago— What?” She listened in silence for several minutes and then responded with, “We’ll stay in touch with you then.”
“What is it?” Michael asked when she put the phone down.
“There’s been another dragon sighting at the clinic. It was all over the morning news.”
“Sigurd?” Pendragon rumbled, poking his long head through the space between the front seats. “I knew I smelt him!”
“Who is Sigurd?” she asked in a shaky voice.
Michael took a deep breath. “You remember the story of King Vortigern trying to build a castle and each night it would collapse? And how the sorcerer, Merlin, told him it was because a red dragon and a white fought in the ground below?”
Sophie frowned, wishing she hadn’t taken the pain pill earlier. It was making her thinking foggy. “I think I remember something about that. But what in the world does it have to do with this?”
“That was us!” Pendragon said. “The damn white bastard had help from Balor or I would never have been defeated.”
Sophie rubbed her temples, feeling the headache already starting, in spite of the medication. There was another dragon flying around? “So now you’re telling me this faerie tale is true—”
“No faeries,” Pendragon interrupted. “Dragons don’t bother with them. They’re too flighty.”
Sophie rubbed her forehead harder. “Of course. I forgot. Faeries are real, too.”
“Look,” Michael said as he eased the car into the motel parking lot and switched off the ignition, “I know you have a hard time accepting this other world that you didn’t know existed, but it does.
The white dragon was sent by Balor to find us.
He doesn’t have any clues for finding the Sword other than to follow us.
And when we do, he’ll want backup to deal with Pendragon. ”
“He’s not going to win this time,” the dragon said. “Why not let me go back there now, in my real form, and take care of Sigurd? That will be one less problem.”
“Can’t. I don’t give the orders. The Lady of Avalon sent you to protect Sophie,” Michael said.
“Sigurd will pick up my scent and follow us,” Pendragon answered.
“He’s already got Sophie’s scent,” Michael replied. “That’s why Balor sent him to the clinic. Hopefully, since you are in small form, your scent won’t be as evident.”
“You…you’re saying that now we have a dragon following us too?” Sophie asked, trying to think coherently.
“And Balor won’t be far behind him,” Pendragon said.
Sophie closed her eyes and hugged herself. “All I ever wanted was a nice, normal life.”
Pendragon snorted small spirals of smoke. “But you’re not—”
“Enough,” Michael said and eased himself across his seat to pull Sophie toward him, cradling her with one arm while his other and stroked her brow soothingly.
Even in her dazed state, Michael felt good.
It had been weeks since she’d touched him and the chemistry was still there, almost as if there were a special current vibrating around them.
Sophie nestled against his hard chest, the warmth of his body feeling like a snug cocoon.
He murmured something, soft and low, that Sophie couldn’t understand, but she let herself be lulled into relaxing in his embrace.
The last thing she sleepily remembered hearing was Pendragon.
“But she isn’t human,” he said.