“I’ll be waiting with my sweater on, Deputy Bossy,” Lena told him.
“I’ll be counting on it, Dr. Verglas,” Calix said, striding away.
Lena smiled as she watched the man swagger out of the restaurant. “Lena, Lena. You are in so much damn trouble,” she said aloud, getting her credit card out to pay the check.
Chapter Eight
Catching her off-guard, Calix picked up her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm the moment they got outside. Lena smirked a little at his gentlemanly action before hooking her arm completely around his. Within a few steps, it was the most natural thing in the world for her fingers to slide down until they linked with his large ones. Contentment went all through her when Calix tightened his grip.
Magic really had turned out to have some magic for her, even if she didn’t get to put her snow dome here.
“Are we going back to the same restaurant?”
Calix shook his head. “No, I’ve got something better in mind. Do you like chicken roasted over a spit?”
“Depends on who’s buying dinner. How many chickens can you eat?” Lena asked with a laugh. She squeezed his arm when Calix frowned. “I’m teasing you. Who doesn’t like roasted chicken? I’m not really picky about food. I love to eat. Guess that shows.”
“It does,” Calix said, glancing down at her figure. “And you wear every pound well. Trust me. I’m quite familiar with those pounds now.”
Lena chuckled. “Gotta love a man who appreciates curves. Where have you been all my life?”
“Perhaps waiting for you,” Calix said with sincerity. “If so, I’m glad you finally showed up.”
“Wow. You're just all Prince Charming today.” Lena hugged his arm and listened to Calix laugh. “That’s the secret to men getting lucky, you know. Being charming and sexy. Too bad more of them don’t get it.”
“Fire!” Lena heard someone yelling in the distance.
Calix dropped her hand and took off running in that direction. She watched him run off in amazement. Olympic sprinters didn’t run that fast. No wonder the man was inexhaustible in bed. His body was in uber prime condition.
A thick rope dropping over her head to land around her throat startled Lena. She grabbed it without thinking, her instinct to survive rising up to lend her enough strength not be pulled to the ground. Heat rushed through her alongside the panic.
“What the fuck…” she choked out, pushing the rope away from her throat as best she could.
She turned her head a little and saw one of Nate’s bullies hanging from one end of it and yanking down as hard as he could—the little shit. She could only assume there was another on the other side since equal pressure on the rope continued.
Were the evil little bastards trying to kill her?
“Let go of me,” she yelled, putting some real energy into pushing the rope from her throat. Someone needed to take those little monsters in hand and do some correcting.
Lena kept tension on the rope as she looked from side to side. No other child was in sight. Where was the third of the trio? There had been three boys picking on Nate.
A purple-haired woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere—like literally out of nowhere. Surprise had Lena letting go of the rope and promptly getting choked again. The woman muttered some words and raised her hands. Instantly, the boys dropped from the rope to the sidewalk.
Lena breathed in relief as the choking rope fell away from her windpipe and down her front to fall at her feet. She looked down and on the ground by the rope were two small white bunnies. She was stunned by the sight of them because she’d expected to see two evil children, but something inside her was still in survival mode.
The rope was gone. Two were down. One little shit was still missing.
“Where’s the third kid? There were three of them when I caught them picking on Nate. They looked like triplets.”
The purple-haired woman narrowed her eyes as she scanned the sidewalk in both directions. “The other one is probably the person who yelled fire. Those three work together as a team.”
The words had barely left the woman’s mouth when Calix came walking back with some sort of creature hanging from his grip. It looked like a little dog… and yet not a dog. What in the world was Deputy Dawg carrying?
Lena blinked rapidly as her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Nothing was registering as normal. A sharp pain in her gut made her double over and grab her stomach. The cramp passed quickly and she righted herself again. Maybe her time of the month was coming early.
Then intense itching suddenly hit her—all over. Lena started scratching her arms as she watched Calix and the purple-haired woman deal with the dog thing. The woman said words and suddenly a white rabbit dangled from Calix’s hand instead of what had been there before.
Or had she just imagined it?
While she watched in stunned disbelief, the itching got worse, and Lena scratched harder. Maybe she was having an allegoric reaction. She raked her nails down her throat and then over her arms again. She looked down, and to her horror, she saw silver and green scales everywhere on her arms. It was too much for her brain.
So she screamed...
Calix and the purple-haired woman turned to her, both looking equally alarmed.
“I’ve been poisoned,” Lena declared loudly, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Look. I have a rash all over me. I need a doctor. Where’s a doctor in this town?”
“Oh dear,” she heard the purple-haired woman say.
Calix walked over and set the white rabbit in his hand down beside the other two. None of them tried to run away. Lena found it amazing how well-behaved the bunnies were.
Lena leaned in close to him to whisper. “I’m itching all over, Deputy Dawg. If you gave me an STD, I’m going to kill you where you stand.”
Calix backed away from her and glared. “Dragons do not carry disease. And I would never harm you.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t mean to, but men do sometimes harm women.”
The purple-haired woman walked to them and knelt to put the rabbits into a cage that also had appeared out of nowhere.
Embarrassed by her outburst, and worried the woman had heard her outburst, Lena put a hand on Calix’s arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that just because I’m seeing strange things. Maybe I’m hallucinating. Maybe the diner put peyote in the cherry pie I ate. Are you feeling okay?”
“Not really,” Calix admitted. He picked up her hand and ran his fingers over the rash on her arm. Had the hyenas done something to Lena?
“It itches like crazy. It all happened so fast, Calix. You ran to the fire and then a rope dropped over my head. It was two of those teenage bullies who were picking on Nate when I rescued him. I kept looking around for the third one, but he never came.”
“Nate was the kid you saved?”
Lena nodded. “Yes, and you should see that little guy’s hands. When he grows into them, Nate’s going to be bigger than all three of those bullies put together. Biology is going to fix his bullying problem eventually, but today it was three big guys against a little one. That’s just not right.”
Calix turned to the purple-haired woman who was staring at them both. “Topper, I think we have to…”
“Topper? You’re Topper?” Lena exclaimed, her head turning. “I’ve been looking all over for you. We need to talk.”
Topper nodded. “I know. I’ve been looking for you as well. Thank you for saving Nate.”
“I’m glad I happened to be driving by. He’s a great little guy.”
“He is,” Topper said. “Nate lost his parents when he was a toddler.”
“Oh, that poor baby,” Lena said.
“Topper, you need to… you know,” Calix said, sounding like Theo talking about sex.
He was sick about what had to be done, but it couldn’t be helped. Lena’s mind would need to be wiped.
“I would normally agree, but it won’t work on her,” Topper said, smiling at him.
“Why?” Calix asked, stunned by the news.
“Human magic doesn’t work on dragons. That spell only works on humans.”
“But she’s not…” Calix turned back to Lena. He closed his eyes. “What have I done?”
“Maybe something. Maybe nothing. We’ll probably find out for sure tomorrow,” Topper told the worried dragon. “There’s going to be a super moon—a perigee—very close to earth and it’s going to be full. Maybe Stark and the visiting aliens can do your patrol tomorrow night. You’re going to have to take Dr. Verglas out to the old Bateman farm and lock her in the big cage.”
“Lock who in a cage?” Lena demanded.
“Topper, I can’t lock her up,” Calix protested.
“Do you and Theo want to have to roast her to keep her from destroying the town?”
Calix sighed and shook his head. “No. No, ma’am, I don’t.”
“Bateman place then. The cage is inside the warehouse. I would do it tomorrow before three in the afternoon. The moon will be visible by then. Tonight though, you have some explaining to do. Dr. Verglas has a right to know what could be happening to her.”
Topper stuck out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but no, you can’t build your snow dome here in Magic. And by the way, Dr. Verglas, science can’t explain everything. I’m really a witch. Calix is really a dragon. Those bully kids are teenage hyenas who just had their first shift. Nate’s a bit younger, so we don’t know yet what Nate is going to be when his shifted form shows up. Oh, and I don’t think you’re completely human anymore. Tomorrow you might turn into a dragon. Nate certainly thinks you will. He’s a reliable seer, and the child has not been wrong since he was four.”
“Uh…” Lena said, her brain suddenly unable to form a cohesive sentence.
Topper looked at Calix. “Tell Theo not to worry about the hyena children. My daughter and husband will take care of them as rabbits until we decide what to do with their parents. Picking on Nate was bad enough, but the children have now attacked someone they believed was human. No one in Magic has ever harmed an innocent on purpose. If they can’t be taught better, then they can’t stay here.”
“Yes, ma’am. I agree with you,” Calix said with a nod.
He studied Lena’s face as Topper and the rabbits blinked out of sight. Lena still looked stunned by what she’d seen. How was he ever going to explain any of it to her? Lena had no foundation to accept what went on in Magic. She certainly had no paradigm to believe dragons were real.
“I know this is probably reaching for straws, but can I still take you to dinner?” he asked, avoiding the elephant topic a bit longer.
“I…” Lena scratched at her arms. She looked down and saw the rash was starting to disappear. “I’m not sure.”
“Aren’t you hungry? I’m starved. The pie wore off hours ago,” Calix said softly, hoping to return their conversation to something normal.
“I’m not sure about eating any more food here in this loco town. Was I poisoned?
“No,” Calix said, putting his arm around Lena. “You weren’t poisoned.”
“You swear there was no peyote in my cherry pie?”
Calix chuckled. “No. There was no peyote in your pie.”
Lena stopped walking, leaned away, and stared at him. “Are you really a dragon?”
Sighing, Calix closed his eyes and nodded.
“So you weren’t teasing about being my dragon, you were just having a laugh at my expense because you knew I didn’t believe you.”
Calix hung his head. “I told you the truth because I didn’t want to hide what I was from a woman I was planning to take to bed.”
“But you knew I wouldn’t believe you. You knew I didn’t believe a word…” Lena put a hand to her head. “Hell, I still don’t believe it. I think this whole town might need mental help for their delusions.”
Nodding again, Calix stepped away. “I should never have given in to my desire for you. You’re the first female in my entire life that I’ve wanted this much. I couldn’t stay away from you, Lena, but I never meant to change you. I hope I haven’t.”
“Am I changing?”
Calix swallowed hard and then shrugged. “As far as I know, humans cannot be turned into other creatures. I want to go with a resounding no.”
Lena blew out a breath. She held her arms up. Now they looked completely normal again. They were worried about her turning into something? What were the people in this town smoking?
She looked at Calix. He looked like a ten-year-old who knew he was in big, big trouble. It was the most adorable thing she’d seen in her entire life. That didn’t mean she believed anything that had happened in the last twenty minutes. How could she?
The peyote possibility was seeming more and more plausible.
“So… dinner?” Calix asked again.
Lena sighed loudly. “I don’t know what the hell to think or what to say.”
Calix reached down and laced his fingers through hers. “Come to dinner with me. We’ll eat, and I’ll answer any questions you have.”
“Those naked aliens?” Lena said, letting Calix tug her along.
“They’re visitors from the planet of Glacier. The travel portal Topper’s husband opened dumped five of the six of them into the desert. No one knows why, but that’s why you found them on your way here. Glacierans are actual aliens, but friendly as far as I can tell. Some military idiot on their planet told them to come here naked because Topper’s husband did. Only with Stark it was a mistake, or at least that’s how I heard the story. He’d read something in Frost’s report…”
“Frost? As in animal woman, Lacey’s husband, Frost? He’s an alien too?”
“Yes. Frost was the first alien to come here. He was a Star Ranger and chasing a bad guy. Two of the aliens have actually married witches in this town. Both families have babies now. This is why we can’t have any academics here. We could never constrain all the new people, and someone would eventually find out Magic is a safe haven for paranormals.”
“Hold up,” Lena said, digging in her heels to get Calix to stop. “All that stuff you’ve said to me. Now you’re telling me none of it was a joke.”
“Nothing I said to you was ever a joke, but I was happy when you found some of it funny. You have a great sense of humor. It makes you easy to be with,” Calix said, tugging her forward again. “We’re late for our reservation. I hope we can still get in. By now someone’s probably told Sandy all about what happened, but I’d like to walk back in the daylight instead of the dark.”
“Thought you were a dragon,” Lena said with as much snark as she could manage. This town was nuts. Everyone in it was nuts. “What could a legendary mythical creature of massive proportions possibly be afraid of?”
“I’m afraid of you hating me. I don’t think I could bear it,” Calix said sincerely. “I meant what I said to you earlier. My dragon and I both feel the same way.”
Lena said nothing in response to that declaration—for almost a whole minute.
“The jury is still out on you, Deputy Dragon Dawg. And for the record, I still don’t believe any of this shit. Eventually, my brain is going to make some sense of that Topper woman popping up out of nowhere and what she did to those little hoodlums. When I have a reasonable explanation for what I saw this evening, I will blow this punk-out sky high. If someone’s playing a practical joke on the newbie in town, I’m going to use my size ten foot to kick their prankster ass, even if it’s an alleged dragon ass. You feel me?”
Calix nodded. “I feel you. Can I feel you more later?”
“I can’t believe you even asked me that while I’m mad as hell. I swear, men are all alike. Are aliens like that too?” Lena asked.
Calix laughed. “I have no idea. You tell me. You hauled five naked ones out of the desert and drove for hours with them in your van.”
Lena huffed. “They were polite. Not one of them even got a stiffy. They were complete gentlemen.”
Calix
grinned. “Unlike me who bedded you the first day I met you.”
Lena shrugged. “I said yes, didn’t I? In fact, I think the bedding was my idea. I’m a big girl and I make my own decisions.”
“Yes, ma’am, you did suggest sex first. I’m hoping you suggest it again. I’ve missed you every moment we’ve been apart.”
“What if the rash comes back?”
Calix laughed. “I’ll help you scratch any itch you have.”
“More sexual innuendo?”
“It’s all the game I’ve got at the moment,” he said.
“You got that right,” Lena said, falling into quiet step beside the alleged dragon.
Chapter Nine
Topper sighed. “I barely got Jessica to go to sleep. She was so excited to meet her daddy’s alien friends. I think she might have a crush on Mars. She kept saying his name over and over.”
A naked Stark smiled as he crawled into their bed. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain to her that she’s an alien too. It’s been on my mind a lot lately.”
“You don’t need to explain it to her. She’s not an alien,” Topper said firmly. “Jessica’s a witch. We’ll have to try for an alien next time.”
Stark chuckled as he watched his beautiful witch undress for bed. She’d showered earlier but had to put her robe on to go tuck their child back into bed.
“I think the moment you start teaching Jessica spells, you’re going to find out just how alien our daughter is. Spells won’t make sense to her. She has more logic than a child her size should have.”
“Agreed,” Topper said, sliding beneath the sheets. “Sometimes I kind of miss when she couldn’t talk. Her baby stage didn’t last long.”
Stark nodded. “Glacieran children grow fast but not as fast as Jessica.”
“It’s like she’s in a hurry to grow up.”
Topper's Magical Christmas: My Crazy Alien Romance, Book 4 (Magic, New Mexico 40) Page 7
