by Vella Day
“I had to. You were in trouble.”
Another car pulled up behind them and rolled down the window. She recognized both men from the mine. They looked over at Birk. “Where do you want us?”
“Stay down here while I take Nessa to her condo.”
“What about the two men who were here?” Ernie said.
“Sanchon said they showed up, but when they saw him, they turned around and left. I didn’t get Nessa until I was sure they were gone.”
“We’ll make sure they don’t return.”
“Thanks.” Birk wrapped an arm around Nessa’s waist. “I bet you could use a drink.”
She laughed. “Boy could I.”
They escorted her upstairs, but even as they walked down the hallway to her condo, she remained on edge. Sanchon was standing watch at her door, and when he spotted them, he smiled.
“I’m glad to see you’re okay,” he said.
She was happy he was all right. “Thanks for chasing them off. Did you recognize either of them?” she asked. Birk gave her a dirty look. “What? It’s not like I’m investigating.”
Birk shook his head then returned his attention to her guard. “We now have two men downstairs to make sure they don’t come back. When I leave here, I’ll head to the mine and send someone over to relieve you.”
“Appreciate it.”
The three of them headed inside, and for the first time since she left Kyle’s apartment, Nessa relaxed.
“I’ll fix us all a drink,” Logan said.
“Beer is in the fridge, and a bottle of whiskey is in the cupboard next to the sink.”
The cupboard opened, glasses clinked, and the door shut. Logan returned and set three shots on the table in front of the sofa. She downed half her drink in one gulp.
“Ah, now that’s smooth,” Nessa said.
“What were you doing out so late?” Birk asked, his tone almost harsh. “I thought you were staying in for the night.”
Had she told him that? “After I bathed, I began worrying about Kyle.”
Logan swigged his drink. “I’ll ask you again. What is it about this guy that has you so concerned?”
She couldn’t hold it in any longer. “He’s my mate.”
Logan almost spit out his drink. “Seriously?”
She sat up straighter. “What’s wrong with that?”
He wiped the look of surprise off his face. “Nothing. It’s just that I thought you considered the mining inspector our enemy, especially since he indirectly works for the Royals.”
“I did, but Kyle is different.”
Logan shrugged. “Of all of us, I figured you’d be the type to give Fate the finger and say she was wrong.”
“I can’t deny how my body reacts to him.” Her face heated just saying those words.
“Okay, then. Kyle is your mate. Good to know. So how is he doing?”
“With the exception of a major headache, he seems okay.”
Birk leaned forward. “How does he feel about you? I thought I heard his sister isn’t high on dragon shifters.”
“She’s not. Lily poisoned him against our kind, but he’s coming around.” She explained about Nelor and what he’d done to Lily.
Birk’s hands clenched. “Geezus, that’s horrible.”
“I know.”
Nessa hadn’t taken more than a few sips of her drink when her cell glowed through her pants. She retrieved it from her pocket and turned the sound back on. “It’s a text from Kyle.”
Her fingers shook, partly out of excitement and partly from dread, fearing he’d had a setback. She swiped the screen and froze. She had to read it twice, wanting to make sure she understood what he was saying.
“You’re pale,” Logan said. “What does it say?”
“At Lily’s. Need help. We’ve been—” She sucked in a deep breath. “That’s all. The rest of the message didn’t come through.” Or at least she hoped that was all that happened.
“Or someone is there and smashed his phone.” Birk jumped up. “We should check it out.”
Birk was the consummate protector. “When I left Kyle’s, Lily was asleep at his place. Why would they go back to her apartment?”
“You’ll have to ask him. We should go to his sister’s and check it out,” Birk said with much urgency in his voice.
“I don’t know where she lives.”
“Where is your computer?” Logan asked.
“In my bedroom.” She rushed in there and turned it on.
“What’s her name again?”
“Lily Harper. She works at the Avonbelle Insurance Company.”
It took less than five minutes for Logan to find her address. “Got it. Let’s go.”
Because there were three of them, they flew and were at Lily’s apartment building in under a minute. They would have landed on the roof had it not been covered in air conditioning units. They found a park a half-mile away instead, landed, and then shifted. Running, they reached her place in less than three minutes. She lived on the first floor. The moment Nessa saw the damage to Lily’s door, her heart nearly gave out.
Birk held up his hand. “I don’t sense any shifters.”
Both she and Logan shook their heads, indicating they didn’t either. Birk pushed open the door, and when they stepped inside, Nessa’s legs shook, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Chairs were turned over and what looked like had been a vase was in pieces. Lily was sprawled on the floor with blood all over her face. Kyle was face down in an odd position. Claw marks marred his arms and back. Birk ran to where Lily was laying, while Nessa shot over to Kyle.
She gently shook him. “Kyle, can you hear me?”
They may not be mated yet, but pain was rushing through her veins. He groaned, giving her hope he would survive. “Who did this to you? Was it Nelor?”
Kyle lifted a hand to his face and grunted. As much as Nessa wanted to hold him, it was safer for him to lie still.
Birk spoke to someone on the phone. “We need you now, Greer.” He gave her the address. “Thank you. He’s in Plux, but maybe he can get away.” Birk pressed a few more buttons. “Declan. Thank goodness I got a hold of you.” He explained about the extensive injuries. “I’m worried about this girl, Lily. We need you fast. Yes, I know you are in Plux, but—oh, that’s great.” Once more, he gave out Lily’s address.
Thank goodness help was on the way. Nessa stood and went in search of some towels to clean the blood off their faces and to stem the flow on Kyle’s arm and back. She wet a few then returned to the living room.
“I’ll take one over to Lily,” Logan said.
She held out a towel to him, but when Birk made an odd growl at Logan, she gave it directly to Birk instead. They both watched as he gently dragged the cloth over Lily’s face. Something was going on. Birk was more of the warrior type than a nursemaid. It was Logan who was the gentler of the two.
And what was up with Birk growling at Logan wanting to help Lily? She couldn’t think about it right now though. She was worried about Kyle and needed to be with him.
Nessa wrapped one of the towels around the wound on his arm and then tried to clean his face. He opened his eyes and pushed up on his elbow. “Why are you here?”
He was recovering from a concussion, so his confusion concerned her. “You texted me that you were in trouble. Don’t you remember?”
He glanced down at the blood covering his hand. “Oh, fuck. I did. Thank God you’re here. I see you brought help.” He managed to sit up. “I need to check on Lily.”
When Kyle tried to crawl toward her, Nessa stopped him. “Just lie still Kyle; you have been hurt pretty bad too. Birk is helping her.”
Kyle blinked. “Oh, yeah. Birk. He’s in charge of security at the mine.”
She sighed with relief now that he seemed more aware of his surroundings. “Yes. Can you tell me what happened? Was it Nelor?” From the claw marks on Kyle’s body, it was a shifter. The question was which one?
“No.” Kyle looked over
at his sister again and then back at her. “Is she going to be okay?”
“She will be. My sister Greer and our cousin, Declan, who’s flying in from Plux, will be here soon to help. They’ll be able to give her better care than at any hospital.”
He dropped back down to the floor and winced. “If anything happens to her—”
“It won’t,” Birk said with such force even Nessa didn’t question him.
She hadn’t realized he’d been listening. “I thought Lily was spending the night at your place.”
“She was, but after you left, she woke up and was quite agitated. Lily insisted I take her home. Not wanting to upset her, I did. I locked everything up for her and said I would call her when I got home to make sure she was all right. I was half way to my place when Lily called to say she heard footsteps outside her door. I think I told you that Nelor, her ex-boyfriend, had recently been released from prison and had come over to see Lily, and that visit ended in him hitting her.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, she thought he might have seen me leave and had returned. She was really scared.”
“I’d be scared too.”
“She was crying so hard. Shit. I knew I shouldn’t have left her. Damn girl is so stubborn. I turned around and headed back to her apartment. I didn’t see anyone outside her place or in the hallway. I wasn’t here more than five minutes when someone knocked on the door. I told her not to answer it, and she didn’t. But apparently, they heard me and broke it down.”
“Them?”
“There were two of them.”
This was worse than she thought. “Then what happened?”
“After they smashed their way in, they threatened me, saying I had to make sure your mine never reopened.”
Her mind swam with questions. “Why come to Lily’s place instead of yours?”
“I didn’t think to ask them. This is all my fault. I should have insisted Lily remain at my place. She would have been safe there, damn it!”
Now Nessa felt bad for questioning him when he was obviously so upset. “Kyle, it wouldn’t have mattered. It sounds like they would have gotten to you both one way or another. They obviously aren’t amateurs as they got through what security Lily had too. Can you tell us what they looked like?”
“Fuck if I remember. They were huge and were able to turn their hands into claws.” Kyle faced her. “Like the way you can.”
“It’s possible they were the same two men I heard come after me tonight,” she said more to herself than to Kyle.
As if he forgot about his injuries, he grabbed her hand. “They came after you? Are you okay?”
She appreciated his concern. “Yes. I hid in the trunk of my car until Birk rescued me.”
“I thought you were a tough dragon lady,” he said with a half-smile.
Tough was a relative word. “Can I fight a dragon and win? Most likely, but two dragons? Probably not. When these two guys located my car, I was in the parking garage of my condo, hiding in the trunk. I couldn’t have shifted even if I’d wanted to. If they’d remained in their human form, I would have been injured.”
“I’m sorry, Nessa. I’d hug you, but I don’t want to cover you in blood.”
He was such a sweet man. “A virtual hug it is then.”
A knock sounded on the door, interrupting their moment. Greer pushed it open and stepped inside. “Oh, my.”
She was dressed in a crisp navy blue suit and three-inch blue and white heels. With her hair piled on top of her head and her makeup perfect, Greer was a vision of loveliness. She glanced between the two injured parties.
“Greer, I’m so glad you’re here.” Nessa said.
“Help, Lily first,” Kyle said.
Her sister nodded. She kicked off her shoes and knelt in front of Birk. “Has she regained consciousness at all?”
“I don’t think so,” Birk said with more worry than she’d heard in his voice in a long time.
Greer placed her fingertips on Lily’s forehead and dragged them across her cheeks to her throat. Her sister closed her eyes as she began to hum.
“What is she doing?” Kyle whispered.
“Greer uses magic to close the wounds and heal the skin.”
“That’s incredible.”
Birk held Lily’s head steady while Greer did her work. When Lily moaned, Kyle grabbed Nessa’s hand and squeezed, but she doubted he was even aware he was doing it. Lily finally opened her eyes and looked around. Fear and distrust radiated off her body.
“It’s okay, Lily,” Kyle said. “They are here to help.”
Kyle’s sister tried to push up to a sitting position, but when her arms collapsed, Birk stopped her from hitting the floor. Once he propped her up against his chest, Lily’s gaze focused on Nessa, and her lips thinned. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Twelve
Seeing Lily wake up brought Kyle great relief. He would have crawled over to his sister, but Greer instilled confidence in him.
Lily’s question about why Nessa was in her house held quite a lot of animosity, but it was also tinged with curiosity. “I called Nessa. I feared those men might come back, and if they had, I wasn’t in any shape to defend you.”
Lily sucked in a big breath and hiccupped. Birk picked up the wet towel and wiped away some of the blood on her face. “You’re healing nicely,” he said softly.
Her brows scrunched, and then she grunted. “Then why do I hurt so much?”
Greer placed a hand on Lily’s arm. “I promise the pain will go away shortly.”
Lily glanced up at Greer then over at Kyle. “Maybe you can help my brother.”
“I’ll try.” Greer looked up at Birk. “What about Declan? Is he coming?”
“He’s on his way.”
“Good,” she said.
Greer rose, and when she moved over to Kyle, Nessa scooted out of the way. If her brother hadn’t been watching, he would have asked Nessa to stay by his side. Just being next to her brought comfort. No doubt about it, Nessa Caspian had gotten under his skin. Hell, every time he was near her, he couldn’t help but want her. When the attraction had grown to this heightened point of need, he didn’t know—but it had.
Greer placed her hands on his face, and when she touched an open wound, he winced.
“Close your eyes,” Greer said. “Try to absorb my healing energy.”
The moment he did, Nessa returned to his side and held his hand. Her touch helped him relax. Seconds later, the pounding headache subsided, and the stinging on his arms and back lessened, though he wasn’t certain which of the sisters was giving him more relief.
Kyle opened his eyes, and both Greer and Nessa smiled down at him.
“How do you feel?” Nessa asked.
It took him a moment to assess his condition. “I can’t believe it. My headache is finally gone for the first time in days.”
Nessa smiled. “Greer is amazing.”
No, you are amazing, Nessa.
Kyle looked down at his arms and then touched his face. The wounds had dried up and were healing. “Thank you, Greer. I never would have believed it was possible if I hadn’t just experienced it.”
“You’re welcome. The wounds on your back will heal as well,” Greer said.
Nessa squeezed his hand. “We probably should get out of here. Those men might come back.”
“Why would they? They delivered their message—loud and clear.”
“Perhaps, but I like to be cautious.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m very sorry you had to go through this.”
“Thank you. I’m more worried about Lily right now,” he whispered. He would handle whatever came his way, but his sister was innocent. “She has nothing to do with this.”
Nessa rubbed his arm, and his thoughts scattered. “In a way, she does. I’m betting the attackers want her to suggest to the injured workers that they sue us for everything we’re worth. Avonbelle insurance might say everything is our fault. If we lost in court, i
t could do some serious damage to our reputation.”
Lily spoke up, sounding a lot stronger. “My company is not like that. Besides, I’m just one of many workers who make recommendations. People review my case files. I can recommend all I want, but Avonbelle Insurance would only spend the money to fight your family if they thought they could win.”
Kyle loved hearing his sister’s passion. The fact she wasn’t spewing hate was a good sign that she might be softening toward dragon shifters.
Birk looked down at Lily and then at Kyle. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
Kyle didn’t like the possessive look in the man’s eye. Nelor had acted like that at one time and look what happened. Kyle sat up straighter. “I can take care of my sister.”
The moment he said it, he realized he might not be able to. Those men had barged in and shoved him like he weighed nothing. Sure, he got in a few good swings, but when the men’s claws came out, he was smart enough to know he couldn’t fight them both.
One of the men started tearing up the place, and Lily nearly lost it. She screamed at them to stop, but the men ignored her. It was then that she charged one of them. He swung a fist and connected with her face, and she’d dropped like a stone. The second man then lifted her off the floor and shook her.
To protect Lily, Kyle had jumped on the man’s back and tried to pry him off his sister. Sadly, his act of aggression only made things worse. That was when one of them clawed him.
With his memory becoming clearer, he told Nessa what had occurred. “After that, everything is a blur. I remember them giving me another warning about never reopening your mine and then they left. I texted you but then passed out before I could finish my message.”
“Thank goodness you contacted me.”
Birk sat up straighter. “Declan is here. He must have flown in at super speed.”
Right now, Kyle was thankful for all the help they could get. Lily’s face was white, and despite her recent outburst, her breathing was becoming shallower. His sister must be weak, or she would have never let Birk hold her. Or did she yearn for the comfort?
