by Kyle, Celia
Charlie wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Trust me. I understand more than you think. The good news is that he hadn’t spent all of your money, and I have no doubt Othercross Judiciary will see fit to remand those funds back to your possession very soon.”
Wyntir laced her fingers with Stark’s, which seemed to cheer him up. “That is cause to celebrate. It also means I can afford to throw you all a thank-you party. This space is far too tight to do it right. Besides, I have a pool.”
The assembled specialists cheered their approval. A couple of the Skypoint specialists glanced over at their boss, Robb Samuels. Wyntir must have caught the exchange.
“And you East Coast people better not even think of flying off yet. From what I hear, you guys really saved our collective bacon. We’re family now, whether you like it or not.”
Robb broke into a grin. “Can’t argue with that. Or a pool!”
* * *
Tessa couldn’t remember the last time she had smiled so much. And that was saying something because she was a through-and-through optimist. The atmosphere in Stark’s massive, lush backyard was so infectiously bright, feeding her good mood. It was almost as dazzling as the sunshine glittering across the surface of the pool.
Everywhere Tessa looked, there were laughing, smiling faces. People clutched beers or flutes of champagne. Some splashed around in the pool and played a crazy, tipsy rendition of volleyball. Wyntir and Stark milled about, making sure their guests were happy, and of course accepting everyone’s congratulations over their engagement.
Tessa had a grand old time, chatting and joking with people, stopping by the snack table to pile up a plate, and always returning to stand next to Dyrk. Proudly. Hand in hand.
As far as Tessa was concerned, this was just about nirvana. The vibes were high. The music was bumping. The sun slowly sank toward the horizon, casting a gorgeous warm hue across the scene. She rested her head against Dyrk’s shoulder, and he turned to kiss the top of her head, a shiver of happiness zipping through her.
A loud clinking drew everyone’s attention. Charlie stood on a chair, his glass raised for a toast. However, when he lowered his glass and cleared his throat, it quickly became clear what he had to say would take a bit longer. Tessa always enjoyed Charlie’s monologues.
“Welcome, friends and family,” Charlie called out. “It’s good to see everyone here together. We have a lot to celebrate, and I intend to let you all do just that. But first, I think it’s important to update you. Most of you know some of the story, but no one besides Klent and me know all of it, so hopefully nobody minds.”
Cheers and whoops erupted across the lawn.
Charlie nodded, a twinkle in his eye. “That’s what I thought. My old friend Klent and I learned a lot from Xavier when we were transporting him from the holding center. So here we go.
“As it turns out, the blast from that damn meteorite did mess with Xavier’s mind. He spent weeks on his own out there in the desert, recovering from his severe injuries under a big rock. He stayed in his dragon form to speed up the healing process, but it still took time—time enough that when he crawled back out, he was a changed man. You see, a dark delusion took hold of him in those dire moments of loneliness and despair in the desert. He concocted this belief that Klent and I, his two closest friends, had set him up. Keep in mind that it was his idea to go looking for that meteorite in the first place, but he didn’t think about that. He believed the whole world had turned against him, so he turned his back on us.
“Xavier realized quickly that he had acquired some kind of new, special power. He concluded, quite rightly, that it must have been something in the meteorite itself. When he’d blasted it, the thing had exploded, leaving a massive debris field of blue crystals.
Tessa gasped, her fingers reaching down to feel the small bag of crystals in her skirt pocket. “Like mine?”
Charlie nodded gravely and then continued his story. “Having turned away from everyone who loved him, Xavier had no support system, so he had to figure out how to support himself. All he had to his name was a big field of crystals, so he gathered up a few and sold them to shops specializing in such things. When the internet became a thing, he turned to selling them online. He invested that money wisely and quickly learned he had a knack for investing.
“By that time, he’d realized that the crystals enhanced the holders’ natural abilities. That’s how Dyrk knew Xavier was involved and why our Tessa has an unusually well-developed sense of empathy for a human. It’s why I believed her when she told me the compound was a trap.”
For a brief moment, Tessa was crushed that Charlie didn’t think her powers were all hers. Then she thought back to when she’d first purchased the crystals online and realized he was right. Her normal empathy had grown in strength since she’d started at Wildridge. Shoot!
“Don’t worry,” Charlie added with a wink. “The effects are short-lived and not at all dangerous. Not by merely holding them, anyway.”
That was a relief. She didn’t want to grow a third arm or something.
“At some point, the growing darkness in his mind convinced him the right thing to do would be to create an army of super-dragons, with the express purpose of taking down my company so they could take our place as the premier West Coast shifter protectors. But he freely admitted to us that he wouldn’t have stopped there. He wanted to take over Los Angeles. And from there, the world.
“The problem was that the power the crystals gave off was weak and dissipated quickly, so he began to test new ways of using them on smaller, non-dragon shifters he came across—the kind of people who wouldn’t be missed as much or as soon. The homeless, criminals, those who lived on the edges of society. Most of them died terrible, excruciating deaths. But after many years, he developed a solution that seemed to work. He found that grinding the crystals into a fine powder, mixing it in a solution, and injecting it into the shifter’s vein directly worked and didn’t kill the test subject.”
“Gross,” Blaise said. Everyone agreed.
“It took only six of these treatments to imbue the shifter with unimaginable powers, like our old foe Danque Anguis. Xavier had to have bribed many officials to test inmates as he did, and he only moved on to dragons once his procedure was perfected. As you all might have guessed, Xavier funded these experiments with Stark’s money. He was a master con man. He always reserved just enough money in Stark’s accounts to not raise alarm. Even the burglary of Stark’s home was orchestrated by this fallen man who was once my friend. He was after a document, one that would grant him access to Blaise’s trust fund. So, he did his research and recruited Bellicent to plan the burglary, promising her she could keep whatever she wanted. As you can guess, this little detail and the fact that she hid it from the Othercross Judiciary means she will likely receive a penalty of more years added to her sentence.”
“Good,” Thrett grunted. A cheer rose up around him and then died down for Charlie to go on.
“Xavier’s lab and his…process have been put to an end. His lab and all of his research have been destroyed. The Judiciary confiscated the remainder of the crystals, but unfortunately they have no way to collect what has already been sold off. The bright side is that no one would be able to duplicate his work without a massive quantity, and we’re certain he sold his collection in small enough pieces that no single entity should have enough to cause any real trouble.”
“Small blessings, I guess,” grunted Elektra.
“Oh, my dear,” Charlie said with a beatific smile, “we have so much more to be grateful for than that. Namely, this amazing team. I am so proud of you all, not only for the hard work you do but for being such upright and wonderful people. Let’s raise our glasses to everyone who was involved in bringing down Xavier and his dark industry. One of the most dangerous criminals in the history of dragondom, and you all are responsible for putting him away. You should all be proud.”
Everyone toasted and cheered as Alice stood up on a chair next t
o Charlie and called out, “I have party favors! Everyone come get a kitten!”
Tessa all but screeched with excitement. Dyrk looked unenthused, but he let her drag him over to the box of kittens. Tessa happily picked up the gray and white tuxedo kitten, still tiny enough to curl up in her hands.
“Oh my goddess, you’re the cutest little thing!”
She nuzzled the kitten’s soft fur and then turned pleading eyes up at Dyrk, who still looked less than enthused.
“I promise he’ll stay at my place, so he won’t get cat hair all over your apartment,” she said.
“Fat lot of good that does me,” he groused.
Tessa frowned. Was he really going to get cranky over her getting a kitten? “Why?”
“Because I plan on moving in with you. As soon as possible, if you’ll have me.”
Tessa squealed as she threw an arm around Dyrk’s neck and met his lips for a sweet, joyful kiss. The kitten snuggled between them and began purring. Just as she’d known deep in her heart, all it had taken was a little patience.
* * *
Thanks so much for reading Tessa and Dyrk’s story! Are you caught up on all of the Real Men of Wildridge goodies? The series is now complete!
1. His Fiery Kiss - http://bklink.to/hfk-amazon
2. His Blazing Passion - http://bklink.to/hbp-amazon
3. His Scorching Desire - http://bklink.to/hsd-amazon
4. His Feverish Embrace - http://bklink.to/hfe-amazon
5. His Heated Caress - http://bklink.to/hhc-amazon
6. His Burning Heart - THIS BOOK!
About the Authors
Celia Kyle
Ex-dance teacher, former accountant and erstwhile collectible doll salesperson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Celia Kyle now writes paranormal romances. It goes without saying that there’s always a happily-ever-after for her characters, even if there are a few road bumps along the way. Today she lives in central Florida and writes full-time with the support of her loving husband and two finicky cats.
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Marina Maddix
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Marina Maddix is a romantic at heart, but hates closing the bedroom door on her readers. Her stories are sweet, with just enough spice to make your mother blush. She lives with her husband and cat near the Pacific Ocean, and loves to hear from her fans.
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Copyright © 2020 by Celia Kyle & Marina Maddix
All rights reserved.
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