“Yes. They opened the safe and pried it out of the sword.” Thorn’s voice was low, but the urgency was plain. “I’m at the museum now. Someone managed to get past security, attack Mr. Duffield and knock him out, before stealing his key to the safe.”
“But the code? How did he know the code?” George asked.
“We don’t know the answer to that yet.” Thorn sighed. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything. Name it.” He glanced at Nana who gave him a reassuring smile.
“Can you go to the cottage and fetch Emilia? She can track the diamond, but I’m not sure over what distance she can sense it.” Thorn paused. “Is Nana with you?”
“Yes.” He knew why Thorn was asking.
“You’d better bring her, too, and we’ll explain as much as we can.” Thorn ended the call.
“What did he mean?” Nana asked as George got out of bed and pulled on his clothes.
“Why don’t I explain on the way?” George dragged his shirt over his shoulders and buttoned it up. This wasn’t the way he intended for Nana to find out about the dragons, but it would make things a lot easier. Once she got over the shock.
Nana slid off the bed and dressed. Then she dragged a brush through her hair and splashed water on her face. “Ready.”
They went downstairs as quietly as they could, but not quietly enough. Halfway down a door opened, and Marcus’s head appeared at the top of the stairs. “What’s going on?” he hissed in concern.
“The diamond has been stolen from the museum. We’re going to pick up Thorn’s wife, Emilia, and take her to the museum,” Nana explained.
“Why?” Marcus asked. It was a valid question.
“So she can track it,” Nana said; evidently, she’d heard most of the conversation he’d had with Thorn.
“The diamond has a tracker attached to it?” Marcus asked incredulously. “How?”
Marcus was much too awake for this time in the morning. “It’s a small tracker. But doesn’t have a wide range so we have to get her now before the diamond gets too far away.”
George took a couple more steps down the stairs, but Marcus wasn’t buying the story. “Why does Emilia have the tracker?”
Nana glanced at George, and then said to Marcus, “Thorn had it at home and when he left for the museum, he was in such a rush he left it behind.”
“Ah, okay. Take care, both of you. And don’t do anything stupid,” Marcus warned before turning around and going back to bed.
George gave Nana a grateful look and ran down the rest of the stairs before Marcus came back with more questions. It was only when they were in the car and driving toward the cottage that Nana asked, “Am I going to get more of an explanation? We both know that diamond doesn’t have a tracker. And I hate lying to Marcus.”
George composed his thoughts. “The diamond belongs to Emilia.”
Nana stared at him as the first light of dawn crested the horizon. “That really big diamond belongs to Thorn’s mate?”
“Yes.” George turned right, following the road toward the cottage. He took another turn and followed a freshly laid gravel track that led directly to the cottage, where lights blazed in the windows.
“Where did Emilia get the diamond?” Nana asked as he stopped the car in front of the cottage and the front door opened and Emilia came out to meet them.
“It’s a long story,” George replied. As Emilia opened the rear passenger door and climbed in, the interior light illuminated Nana’s face. She would not be satisfied until he’d told her that long story.
“Hello, George,” Emilia said, and then leaned forward and thrust her hand out toward Nana. “Hello, you must be Nana, Thorn has told me all about you being George’s mate.”
“Has he?” Nana replied. “I wish I could say I’d been told all about you, Emilia, but I haven’t.” She cast a cutting glance at George.
“Oh.” Emilia sat back and did up her seatbelt, while George set the car in motion. “That’s because he’s hiding my secret.”
George looked at Emilia’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Just… It’s like a part of me is missing.” Emilia sighed and then fidgeted, as if trying to get comfortable.
“You mean the diamond?” Nana started to push for answers.
“Yes, the diamond. It’s part of my treasure.” Emilia glanced nervously at George. “George hasn’t told you any of this, has he?”
“No, he hasn’t.” Nana’s voice carried a hard edge.
Emilia leaned forward and placed a hand on George’s shoulder. “Thorn was right to trust you. Magnus was never sure.”
“Magnus has every reason to be suspicious, as have you,” George answered.
“Will someone please tell me what is going on and what this big secret is?” Nana raked her hand through her hair. “You aren’t involved in anything illegal, are you? Because if you are, you can stop the car right now and I’ll get out and find my own way home. Mate or no mate, I’m not getting mixed up in anything bad.”
“It’s nothing bad, I promise,” Emilia told Nana. “George is keeping a secret to protect me and my brother. We’re dragon shifters.”
Nana gasped and put her hand to her mouth before her expression changed to one of anger. “You’re making fun of me.”
“No, we’re not, I promise. If you want, we can stop the car and I’ll show you.” Emilia’s honesty shone through and Nana slumped back in her seat in shock.
“It’s true. Magnus woke up some weeks ago and then Thorn woke Emilia,” George said, realizing this would lead to many more questions.
“Woke up? You’ve been asleep?” Nana asked.
“For many centuries,” Emilia said. “Asleep on our treasure. The diamond was in amongst my treasure and the brooch was in Magnus’s hoard. Thorn and George were so excited about the find and the history surrounded them that we both agreed to loan them to the museum. Thorn came up with the story of finding the treasure in a cave way over the other side of the mountains. He did it to cover our tracks.”
“Wow.” She glanced at George. “You kept this secret all along.”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” George hoped she’d understand. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. If you can keep a secret like this from your mate, then you are one of the most trustworthy people I’ve ever met. And that means a lot to me.” She placed her hand over his.
“If you’d asked me straight, I’d have told you,” George admitted, and then caught Emilia’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Sorry, Emilia.”
“Don’t be,” Emilia answered. “We all know how difficult it is to lie to our mates. And anyway, if Nana asked you if the diamond belonged to a dragon shifter, she would likely have some idea of the truth anyway.”
Nana gave a short laugh. “It’s not the kind of thing you ask a person every day.”
“Here we are.” George drove into the near-deserted museum parking lot. The only vehicles there belonged to Mr. Duffield, Thorn and the town sheriff, Brad. “Let’s go see what happened.”
They got out of the car and headed around to the back door, which was opened by Thorn. “I sensed you.” He pulled Emilia into his arms and whispered, “I’m sorry I asked you to loan me the diamond.”
“Don’t be, it doesn’t matter,” she told him.
Nana arched her eyebrows. “There are not many people who would lose a large diamond and say it didn’t matter.”
“I mean the value of it doesn’t matter,” Emilia told them. “What does matter is someone stole from a dragon shifter.” Smoke puffed out of her nose before she regained control.
Thorn put his hand up to quieten her. “Mr. Duffield doesn’t know about dragon shifters, he still thinks I found the diamond and the brooch in the mountains.”
“But Brad knows?” George asked.
“He’s known about dragon shifters for some time. He’s cool with everything we do to get the diamond back as long as whoever sto
le it doesn’t end up with his head bitten off.” Thorn aimed this last sentence at Emilia.
“I promise,” she said crossly.
“So what’s the plan?” George asked.
“We go and talk to Brad and Mr. Duffield. Afterward, if Emilia can sense the diamond, we go and find it.” Thorn looked at his mate, whose eyes flashed with green fire.
“It’s still close by,” she confirmed. “But moving away at speed.”
As she spoke, Thorn’s cell phone rang. “It’s Magnus.” He handed the phone to Emilia. “I hadn’t told you, but the brooch is gone, too. Magnus must have sensed it.”
“Great.” Emilia took the phone from Thorn, who ushered the rest of them away.
Thorn glanced over his shoulder at Emilia. “Magnus is not happy. The brooch is his. I hope he can control himself when we find out who did this.” Thorn led them through the museum and along the corridor to Mr. Duffield’s office.
“Mr. Duffield, you’re hurt,” George said, seeing the bloody bandage on the museum curator’s head.
“I was assaulted from behind,” Mr. Duffield said indignantly.
“We’re still trying to figure out how the perpetrator got the code,” Brad said. “Thoughts so far. This is the work of a shifter. Something small. Who maybe hid in the basement and saw the code being entered.”
“But a small shifter wouldn’t be capable of this,” George pointed at Mr. Duffield. “Which means he would have been human when he assaulted you.”
“Which means we might get a look at him from the CCTV,” Thorn’s voice rose with excitement.
Brad said, “Already got someone on it. But you’re welcome to look, too.” Thorn and George moved as one, turning to leave the room.
Nana followed, her face pale. “What if Vito did it?” she asked as they hurried along the corridor.
George stopped in his tracks. “This had to be the work of a shifter. One small enough to get inside undetected.”
“He might have an accomplice. But that would explain why he decided I wasn’t worth his time. Why go for a couple of risky drug runs when he could go for the jackpot, a big diamond, and a priceless brooch.”
George held the door open for Nana and they entered a small room where one of the security guards sat in front of three screens. Each screen showed a different view of the museum, but the one he focused on more closely was the one overlooking the corridor leading from the museum to the basement.
“Anything?” George asked as they entered the room.
“Not yet.” The security guard sat up straighter in his chair, looking more observant now that he had an audience. “Do we have any idea what I’m looking for?” he asked cryptically, glancing at Nana.
“It’s okay, we all know about shifters,” Thorn said, leaning forward and staring at the screen. “We could be looking for a small shifter. But alternatively, we have to remember whoever stole it had to get out carrying the diamond.”
“Unless they hid it somewhere,” the guard answered.
As he spoke, the door opened and Emilia entered. “Magnus will join us in the search.”
“There.” Nana’s voice made them all jump. “The door opened.”
The guard rewound the footage and played it once more. Sure enough, the door of the basement opened and something small and tan colored, with a long tail, slid out into the corridor, heading toward Mr. Duffield’s office.
“What is that? A weasel?” The guard froze the image and zoomed in. With the image still too blurry, he used the control panel in front of him to clean the image up.
“A mongoose,” Thorn said excitedly. “Of course, he’d be big enough to carry the diamond, but small enough to hide. He could have gotten into the secure section in a bag, or simply slipped inside yesterday in all the excitement of the opening.”
“That doesn’t tell us who he is, though, does it?” Emilia asked, an edge to her voice that would cut through glass.
“No. It doesn’t.” Thorn pointed at the screen. “Where does he go next?”
The guard pressed play and they all watched the mongoose as he hugged the side of the corridor and turned the corner toward the curator’s office. “Let me switch views.” The main image changed, and they picked up the same creature as he scurried along the corridor and stopped outside a closed door.
The mongoose pushed his small body against the closed door, but it was firmly closed. Standing on its back legs, the wiry creature tried to reach the door handle with his front feet but again failed. Dropping back to all fours, he looked over his shoulder.
“This is it.” The excitement in Thorn’s voice mirrored that of everyone else in the room. They were about to get their first glimpse of the person responsible for the thefts.
The air shimmered around the mongoose and a shadowy figure grew larger and larger until the form become corporeal. “Dammit, he’s dressed for the occasion!” George’s exasperation intensified as the figure, dressed head to foot in black, reached out and opened the door to the office and slipped inside.
They couldn’t see what happened in the next couple of minutes, but the shadowy figure slid back out into the corridor, head down, and ran for the basement door. They could imagine what happened next, the correct number was entered, the key inserted in the lock and then the man came back into view, no doubt carrying the diamond and brooch in a pouch or pocket.
“Go to the cameras outside the museum,” Thorn instructed. The guard used the keyboard to pull up the relevant time-coded video. “Nothing. He must have gone mongoose again.”
The door behind them opened and Brad poked his head around. “Anything?”
“Mongoose. The guy was dressed in black when he shifted into his human form. We have nothing.”
“I know who it is,” Nana said suddenly.
“You do?” Emilia asked excitedly.
“Yes, that man was Vito Jerrell, or whatever name he calls himself by now.”
“How do you know?” George asked.
“The way he walks. He leans to one side very slightly and drags his left foot. Just a little. It’s an old injury from a motorbike accident years ago. Most people don’t notice it, but when you know a person well enough.” She looked at George. “It’s the little things you notice.”
He nodded. Nana was certain, and he believed her.
“Let’s go catch a mongoose,” Emilia said.
They filed out of the room. When they were out of earshot, Brad asked, “Are you sure you can track him? Just by the whereabouts of the diamond?” He kept his voice low.
“I can. And if Magnus comes along, too, we can both track our treasure. If we concur, we know we’re going in the right direction.” Emilia made it sound so easy.
Brad sighed. “I don’t like this much. I should go with you.”
“Then come with us.” Magnus and his mate Ruby walked across the marble floor of the museum. “Unless you want us to deal out an old-fashioned justice. One hand for theft. But maybe we’ll take both his hands since he stole from each of us.”
Brad nodded. “Can you carry us all?”
Magnus looked at them each in turn. “Thorn flies with Emilia. Brad, you can come with me. George and Nana can go with Ruby.”
“Let’s go.” Brad strode out of the room, past Mr. Duffield who was receiving medical treatment for the cut on his head. “My deputy will be here shortly, he’ll take a statement.”
“Where are you all going?” Mr. Duffield asked, holding a bandage on his head.
“To catch a thief,” Brad replied.
“Dead or alive,” Magnus muttered.
“This is not how I saw my life heading when I met my mate,” George told Nana.
“Life is never going to be dull, is it?” she asked in return.
“No, my love, I don’t think it is.” George grinned. They were going to go dragon riding. What better way to impress a lady on a second date?
Chapter Nineteen – Nana
“Dragons.” Nana stood close to George as t
hey watched Emilia, Magnus and Ruby shift into dragons. They’d driven back to Thorn and Emilia’s cottage for some privacy since, unsurprisingly, the whole of Bear Creek did not know dragon shifters existed.
“Yes. Dragons,” George said in wonder. “I will never get used to the sight.”
“How long have you known?” Nana grabbed hold of George’s hand as Emilia shifted. Her dragon was huge, with a long tail that twitched like an angry cat.
“Only a couple of weeks. They are very secretive.”
“Obviously, since they’ve been living in our midst and I never knew.” On the ride back to the cottage, Emilia, Magnus and Ruby had given Nana a brief idea of how many of them there were. She wasn’t sure if that conversation was to intimidate her or not.
“They are secretive for their own safety,” George said and then took her hand and pulled her toward Ruby who had also shifted and stood with four large feet planted on the ground, waiting for them to mount. Was that the correct term?
A nervous giggle erupted from her chest. “I’m not sure this is real.”
“It’s real,” George replied and kissed her cheek, before helping her climb onto Ruby’s foreleg and then onto her back. George, swift and sure, seated himself behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Immediately, Ruby’s red dragon launched herself into the air, leaving the ground behind.
“Wow.” There were no words to describe the feeling of flying. Of course, Nana had been on plenty of airplanes. But this was like riding on the back of a massive bird. The steady thrum of wings, the air in your face. “Amazing.”
They climbed quickly, heading toward the mountain, where Emilia said she sensed the diamond. Nana wasn’t sure what was weirder. Dragon shifters, or dragon shifters who could tell where a small piece of their treasure was.
We have a bond to our treasure, Ruby had informed her. Like the mating bond. Which might have been easier to understand if she were a shifter who had experienced the mating bond.
Nana put her hand to her temple, this was all a little too much.
But she was here, with the wind whipping her hair and a view of the mountain that few people ever saw. They skimmed the tips of the trees, and flew through wooded valleys, with Emilia on the trail like a tracker dog.
Silverback History Bear Page 13
