“So that’s why you hired Marvin.”
“Yes. We’d been trying to hire a high-level gem empath for a long time – under the table, of course – but we couldn’t find anyone who would work for us.”
“Well, there’s a reason that Marvin was willing to work for you, obviously. He’s not a high-level gem empath. It would be hard to find one who would risk losing his license and going to prison for you.”
He nodded somberly. “I have to ask, Kelly. Is there any possibility that the Dragonsblood would cure her? If, say, you used your powers on it?”
She sighed. “No, unfortunately. If it would work, I’d do it. I’d heal her in exchange for you giving me back the jewel, and I’d return it without saying how I got it. But I sensed the Dragonsblood the other day in the castle. I didn’t sense any healing powers from it. I’m not exactly sure what it does– I’d have to handle it personally and get to know it – but it doesn’t heal.”
“What do you mean, you sensed it?” He stared at her suspiciously. “There’s no way you touched it.”
Time to come clean. “I can sense power gems from a distance, if I focus really hard. I can’t do it for too long or it makes me sick, though. That’s why I’ve been having these headaches.”
He scowled. “So. That would explain why you were so eager to tour the castle.”
At that, she felt a flash of anger. “Hey. You know who I am and what I do. I told you from the minute I met you that I was after the ruby. Excuse me if I didn’t disclose my methods. And don’t get on your high horse with me, Mr. Jewel Thief.”
He still looked disgruntled, but he nodded and said, “Fair enough. And you didn’t turn us in.”
“Well, I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that it was actually the Dragonsblood, and I didn’t even know if I could get a warrant. And I didn’t know where you had it hidden.” She glanced at him. “And if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t really want to see you or your family in prison.”
As a grin quirked his gorgeous mouth, she smacked him.
“Stop looking so damn smug! Anyway. The only jewel that I know of that might have the specific healing powers you need is the Sunrise Citrine. It’s in the Mildenhorff Museum in New York City. My firm insures that gem, in fact.”
“We’ve heard of that gem and its reputed healing powers.” Gabriel’s brows drew together. “My father was in the building next to the museum when he got busted – right before he managed to break in. Calder had found out what my father was planning, and reported him.”
“Even though Calder knew what it was for?”
Gabriel’s expression hardened and his eyes flashed red with anger. “He sees things as very black and white. And now security around that particular gem is so tight that even we can’t steal it. And that’s saying a lot.”
She groaned. “Don’t brag about your thieving skills to an insurance investigator! I’ll do some research, see if I can find out about any jewels that could specifically reverse mental illness in a dragon.”
After hours of research, of phone calls to personal contacts, of poring through her files, she hadn’t found anything.
There was someone who might possibly know, somebody with many more years in the field than her. Her mother. And Kelly did have a bargaining chip.
She called up her agency.
“I knew you’d change your mind,” her mother sneered.
“I haven’t changed my mind. I still quit.”
“Then why are you calling? Have you found the ruby?” her mother demanded.
“I have a pretty good lead, but I don’t know exactly where it is, and trust me, searching this castle won’t turn it up,” she said. “However, I know how we can get it back. We need to find a gem that could heal madness in dragons.”
She explained in a general way what had happened to Gabriel’s sister, without telling her that the jewel that had caused her madness had been stolen. “I think there’s a good possibility that if we could get access to a healing gem, then I might be able to locate the Dragonsblood.”
“In other words, Gabriel’s family does have it.” Her mother’s tone was smugly triumphant.
“Not necessarily,” Kelly said. “And it doesn’t matter who has it, frankly. If we return it to the Rossi family, you don’t have to pay for its loss.”
“Since when are you trying to protect criminals?” her mother snapped at her.
Since we were hired by criminals whom I don’t feel particularly motivated to help, she thought with annoyance.
“Just see what you can find out about healing jewels,” she said, keeping her tone calm. She was sure that her mother would do her absolute best. She found money highly motivating.
Chapter Nineteen
Birdie’s Bridal Creations wasn’t too crowded at ten a.m. – or it wouldn’t have been if it weren’t for most of the Kingsley clan gathered in the room, trying on dresses, gossiping and drinking champagne out of crystal flutes.
Kelly was doing her best to keep a sharp eye on Tabitha, but she was pretty sure Tabitha had managed to snag at least one bouquet from the display case. She’d tell Gabriel about it later. He was sitting on a bench outside with Winthrop, drinking coffee, banned from the store because of the superstition that it was bad luck for a groom to see the wedding dress before the ceremony.
Planning for her upcoming wedding, only weeks away now, had a surreal quality. She was actually starting to think that it might happen. She might be able to stay here and marry Gabriel. She had nothing to go home to in Seattle. She felt at home here. She was where she was meant to be.
She and Tabitha had settled on a dress that flattered her small frame. A sweetheart neckline made the most of what curves she had, and pretty antique lace swirled in curlicues down the length of the gown, spilling onto a modest sweep train. Cadence had come to weigh in on the bridesmaid dresses, and she’d also promised to help Kelly with any advice she needed on raising dragonlings, when the time came.
“Not saying that I’m actually getting married to a dragon shifter, but if I do and I have four dragonlings, I am blaming you,” Kelly informed Cadence. Cadence was so fertile that her blood had been used by a fertility clinic to create a serum that helped infertile female dragon shifters conceive.
“Me? That’s biologically impossible. I can’t cause multiple births just by standing next to you. Pretty sure, anyway,” Cadence said, sipping her champagne. “Mmm, tasty. Want some more? You should drink while you can.”
Kelly reached for a glass. “True, nine months is a long time to go without… Shut up! Now you’ve got me doing it!”
“It won’t be nine months,” Cadence said, setting her glass down. “Because you’re human, you’ll have your eggs removed when you’re only a few months along and they’ll be raised in a hatchery at the fertility clinic.”
“You sound just like Gabriel, talking about all this as if it will happen,” Kelly said skeptically, and then downed half the champagne in one unladylike gulp.
“That’s because I see the way you guys look at each other,” Cadence said. “And also, I know that Gabriel is a good guy, in his own special way. I mean, he’s also kind of an ass, but then again, so is my husband. But they’re both also true-blue when it comes to love, and they’re as loyal as they come. By the way, I saved all my babies’ asbestos bibs, so you won’t have to buy any.”
“Asbestos bibs?” Kelly said with alarm. “Oh dear lord.” She finished her champagne and hurried away, heading over to Evangeline, who was holding up a silk rose-colored bridesmaid’s dress.
“This dress isn’t too hideous,” Evangeline said grudgingly, setting it back on the rack.
Then she leaned in and looked up at Kelly with a burning intensity in her gaze. “Uncle Gabriel says that he talked to you,” she said. “Promise me you’ll do whatever you can to try to help my mother.”
“Of course I will,” Kelly said.
Evangeline’s gaze dropped and she stared at the floor, biting her lip. �
��I barely even remember what she was like. I was six when she….” Evangeline trailed off. “Maybe if she was normal again, all the other kids at school wouldn’t call me crazy.”
Then she looked at Kelly again. “Is it selfish for me to care about that? It is. I shouldn’t care about anything but my mother getting better.”
“It’s not selfish at all,” Kelly said. “It totally sucks being the odd man out. The weird kid. I speak from experience on that one, believe me.”
“I don’t like it when people call me crazy,” Evangeline said quietly. “I’m going to go get some coffee now.” And she walked out of the store.
Kelly walked after her, stepping outside into the bright sunlight.
“Evangeline,” she called, but Evangeline just walked even faster, shoulders hunched, head down.
“She’ll be fine,” Gabriel said, waving her over to the bench. “Don’t feed into her teenage angst. How’s it going in no-man’s land? Get it? Because men aren’t allowed?”
She laughed. “Gabriel, Gabriel. Still dreaming of that career in stand-up?”
“Made you laugh, didn’t I?” He winked at her and grabbed her hand, and the sun was beaming down on him, and Kelly didn’t want to be anywhere else on Earth. This was home. This was where she belonged. Standing next to a charming thief who told terrible jokes and only wanted to make her smile, with his crazy mother in the store stuffing bow-ties into her purse, watching a sulky teenager stalk off around the corner. It was perfectly imperfect. It was where she was meant to be.
Huge, dark shadows slid along the sidewalk, and she glanced up to see several dragons flying north. They were fire dragons, four of them, flapping their enormous wings and slicing through the air.
Gabriel followed her gaze. “They don’t usually fly in formation like that,” he said. “Unless it’s centurions, but most of the centurions here are ice dragons.” Then he shrugged and returned his attention to Kelly. “So how’s it going in there? Selected a dress yet?”
“We’re narrowing down the choices.”
“We should start planning our honeymoon,” Gabriel mused.
“I’m just getting used to the idea of maybe really going through with the wedding. I’d forgotten about the whole honeymoon thing. Yikes.”
“Sorry, babe, I know this is all on fast-forward. Oh, look who’s here now! The fun-killer!”
A taxi pulled up by the curb, and Teresa climbed out.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Princess Charming,” Gabriel said. “Huh. She somehow looks a little less bitchy this morning.”
Winthrop had been sitting on the bench next to theirs with a scowl on his face, looking as glum as ever. He glanced up when Teresa walked towards them.
“Gabriel, I need to talk to you privately,” Kelly said, and he let her tug him away, heading down the sidewalk and leaving Teresa and Winthrop alone. Teresa sat down on the bench next to Winthrop.
“What’s happening over there?” Gabriel stared at them in astonishment.
Kelly snorted. “What do you think’s happening? Okay, let me explain it to you. Sometimes, a boy and a girl like each other very very much…”
“Really? Teresa and Winthrop?” He looked at Kelly questioningly, then glanced over at the two of them again. “Yeah, I could see it. They’ve got a lot in common. They’re both like human versions of Eeyore the Donkey.”
Kelly strangled on a laugh. “Oh God. No, no, no. Now I’ll never get that image out of my mind.”
“You’re welcome.”
Winthrop and Teresa were leaning in close, and Teresa was saying something to him, with an intense look in her eyes.
Then Winthrop reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Oh my God,” Gabriel said to Kelly in a low, shocked voice. “That look on his face. I’ve never seen that before. It’s terrifying. He’s…he’s smiling.”
A few minutes later, Teresa and Winthrop seemed to have reached some kind of agreement, because Teresa actually smiled back as Winthrop pulled out his cell phone and began entering her number into it. That was the first genuinely happy smile Kelly had seen on Teresa’s face in ages, she realized. Whenever she’d been with Chad, her smile had had a tense, frantic quality to it.
Off in the distance, Kelly heard the sound of sirens. She glanced at Gabriel, who was frowning now. “They’re heading north,” he observed. “The same direction those dragons flew a little while ago. Well, whatever’s happening, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
As the Kingsleys wrapped up their business a little while later, several patrol cars pulled up and parked next to Gabriel.
Principe Teague climbed out, accompanied by half a dozen dragon centurions. Calder climbed out of one of the cars.
“What a surprise to see you here,” Teague said. “Why is it that every time you’re nearby, something bad happens to the Maplethorpes?”
“Fortunate coincidence,” Gabriel said with a nasty smile, his eyes blazing red. Kelly smelled a faint hint of sulfur as smoke drifted from his nostrils.
“You don’t have any proof that they have anything to do with this,” Calder said to Teague with annoyance.
“I’m your Principe.” Teague’s lips curled back in a snarl. “You do not question me in front of others.” His centurions gathered behind him, their expressions hostile.
“You’re the Principe of the ice dragons. I work for the Dragon Elders, not for you.”
“The last thing we need is your help,” Gabriel snapped at Calder.
Calder snorted. “Good, because I’m not trying to help. I want to see the investigation done properly, and the right people punished for this crime. At this moment, despite what Teague is saying, the centurions have no reason to think it’s you.”
“No reason? Every time there’s an attack on the Maplethorpes, they’re right there!”
“They’re three miles from the house.” Calder met Teague’s gaze with a steady, unflinching glare.
“Punished for what? What happened this time?” Tabitha said irritably. “Did Pandora’s extensions catch on fire?”
“Very close,” Teague said, his eyes glowing blue. “The Maplethorpes’ house caught on fire. Four fire dragons flew over it and burned it to a crisp. If the Maplethorpes had been home at the time, they’d have been killed.”
There were several gasps of shock and surprise from the Kingsley family members.
“Nice try,” Teague sneered. “So you’re pretending you didn’t know? That’s what we’re going with?”
He glanced over at Kelly. “Got anything to say for yourself? We’ve been doing some checking up on you. You can manipulate power gems, which means that you shouldn’t have anything to do with the Kingsleys.”
“Do your research. It means that I can’t work for them as a gem empath,” Kelly said coolly.
“In theory, a power gem could influence a dragon’s behavior,” Teague said, his cold gaze fixed on Kelly. “It could cause them to attack.”
“In theory, you could remove your head from where it’s inserted up your ass, but I’m not holding my breath.” Gabriel’s teeth were bared, and the air around him was so hot that Kelly had to take several steps back. “We’re going home. And if you try to stop us, I will issue you a sky challenge right now.”
“Hey! Completely unnecessary! I do not have any power gems on me,” Kelly said, glaring at Teague. “And I’m not a damn sociopath.”
“Are you willing to let a female officer pat you down, just to verify that?” Calder asked, gesturing at a blonde female ice dragon.
Kelly said, “Sure, why not?” at the exact same moment that Gabriel said, “Hell, no.”
Shaking her head, Kelly walked over to the dragons and handed her purse to Calder. “Search away,” she said.
The female officer patted her down as Gabriel scowled protectively. Calder swiftly went through her purse, then looked at Teague and shook his head. “Nothing.” He tossed the purse back to Kelly.
Kelly grabbed Gabriel’s arm. “Let�
��s go home,” she said to him. Home, meaning back to the castle. The castle where she’d marry Gabriel and live with him for the rest of her life – if Teague wasn’t the death of them first.
Chapter Twenty
“You set a mean brunch table, Winthrop,” Kelly observed the next day. Winthrop normally set a strictly formal table. This morning he’d decided to embellish it with napkins folded into swans and little wrapped nosegays on her and Gabriel’s plates.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“And you seem to be smiling.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am,” Winthrop said, pouring more ice water into her glass, and then retreating.
“That’s why he’s smiling,” Gabriel said, inclining his head as Teresa walked towards them, holding a paper shopping bag.
She stopped by the table. “Can I join you for lunch?” she asked hesitantly. “I brought a gift of apology, just in case you’d consider letting me act like a sister for once.”
She dug into the bag and pulled out a Styrofoam box and a gift-wrapped box.
“A pearl bracelet for my sister, and a filet mignon for you,” she said to Gabriel.
She sat down at the table next to Kelly. Winthrop hurried over and poured her a cup of coffee, a smile playing on his lips. Again. This was getting positively unsettling.
Gabriel grabbed the Styrofoam box and opened it, and nodded in appreciation. Then he slid the meat onto his plate.
He sawed off a big piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth. “She makes a strong argument for why we should accept her back into the family,” he told Kelly.
“So you can be bought off with meat?” Kelly asked, putting on the bracelet and admiring the pearls, which had a delicate hint of rose pink to them.
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