“We’re not sure that Alex is a slayer,” Mountain pointed out. “In fact, I am convinced that she is not a slayer. My female seems sure as well.”
“Not you too.” Torrent frowned. “You fell for this female’s bullshit? First Beck and now you too?”
That made his blood boil. Mountain waited a few beats, trying to clear his head, trying to slow his heart and to stop his adrenaline from pumping. Punching a king in the face wouldn’t be a good idea, even if he was sorely tempted.
“You still need to prove without a doubt that your female is who she says she is. That she is innocent.” Granite walked over to the window and stared out over the ocean in the distance. He turned back to face them. “It will be up to you to prove her innocence. I won’t allow you to mate her otherwise. Until then, you are to guard her. Check out her story. If you find that she is lying, you need to bring her back to be dealt with.”
“I can’t.” His blood still rushed through his veins. It still felt heated. If he wasn’t careful, smoke would begin to filter from his mouth and nose. A dead giveaway.
“Can’t what?” Granite asked, his jaw tightening. His eyes hard and unyielding.
“I…” He realized he was being stupid arguing with the male. Mountain believed Page was innocent. He believed it wholeheartedly. “I agree to guard my female. I agree to proving her innocence.” It would be easy to do so.
“Do you also agree to bring her in if she is lying?” Granite’s dark eyes seemed to darken further.
“It won’t be necessary because she is exactly who she says she is.”
“Mountain,” Granite barked. “I want you to swear it.”
“I swear,” he finally rasped.
Granite pushed out a breath and nodded. “Good.”
“You reported yesterday evening that you plan to seek out Alex Bell and Beck,” Torrent stated.
“Yes.” Mountain nodded. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was to come.
“Be careful.” Granite’s voice lost some of its biting edge. Concern bled into his features. “This could be a trap. She already has Beck, possibly against his will. They could end up capturing you as well. Two different dragons. Two separate lairs. It would be very convenient.”
“Beck is no idiot, and neither am I. I doubt very much that they have him. I will prove my female’s innocence and I will look into Alex Bell with an open mind. Do you have the information I requested?”
Torrent nodded. “Don’t let this fall into the wrong hands.”
“I won’t.”
Torrent handed him a piece of paper. Mountain read the words written there and raised his brows.
“We came up with safe words that would be difficult to crack.” Torrent cocked his head.
“You’re telling me.” Mountain walked over to the paper shredder and inserted the document. He watched as it came out in ribbons on the other end.
“Please try to talk some sense into Beck,” the male pleaded. “We will take him back, no questions asked. He needs to leave the female and—”
“With all due respect, my lord, I can’t do that. Am I right in saying that Beck is your second in command?”
“Yes. At least he was until he betrayed his people for a female. A slayer.” Torrent looked stricken. “That female almost cost Tide his life. I don’t understand how he could do this. Especially when Meghan has suffered from bad dreams and anxiety attacks.” Alex Bell had shot Tide. She planned on abducting the royal pair when Beck intervened. He still couldn’t believe that Beck would fall for a slayer. There had to be a reasonable explanation. Could it be that ten years later Alex Bell had still been clueless as to the real reason the organization existed? It had to be.
“I have met Beck on many occasions, and he is no fool.”
“Love can blind a male. Lust too.” He looked at Mountain like he was suffering from that exact fate.
“He is…was your second in command for a reason. You trusted him to lead. You trusted him to make split-second decisions, the right decisions even when faced with impossible choices. There is a reason you chose him for his role.”
Torrent frowned. He looked like he was thinking it through.
“All I am saying is,” Mountain looked at Granite and then back at Torrent, “I will not go into this blindly. I will not allow anything to cloud my judgment. Once I’ve established that all is above board, I plan on giving Beck the benefit of the doubt. He is in a relationship with Alex Bell. He may even have mated her by now. To ask him to leave her, to return…to leave his female…” Mountain shook his head. “I wouldn’t do it, and so I won’t ask it of him.”
“Does that mean I won’t see you again?” Granite sounded both upset and angry.
“You will see me again, my lord. I trust my female. I will bring her back and I will mate her.” He hoped to god it ended up happening. They still had her ex to contend with. Maybe after all of that, she would still decide that she wanted to be alone. That she’d just come out of a bad relationship. It could be worse, she might go back to that prick. It could happen.
Granite pushed out a heavy breath, bringing him back from his thoughts. “I hope it all works out for your sake. Let us know if you need reinforcements.”
“I will.” Mountain turned to leave.
“Good luck,” Torrent said.
Mountain glanced back. “Thank you.” He hoped he wouldn’t need it.
Chapter 16
Mountain drove the SUV while she inserted the SIM card into her new mobile phone. Her last one had died in the chopper crash. She fired the thing up. “Okay, so I take it I check out so far.” She glanced at Mountain.
“I knew you would.” He reached over and squeezed her thigh. “But I have to go through the motions. I hope you understand.” He kept his eyes on the road ahead. “My king demands it. Make that, all of them do.”
“You have to guard me until such time as you prove me completely innocent?” She laughed, still shocked. She’d been naïve enough to think that Granite was being nice. That guarding her would entail looking after her and keeping her safe. What Granite actually meant, Mountain later pointed out, was that he meant for Mountain to guard her so that she couldn’t do harm to others.
“I apologized. I told you—”
“I know. It’s fine. You can’t control other people’s thoughts or actions.”
“But I can change their minds.” He glanced her way again, putting those gorgeous chestnut eyes on her.
She nodded. “One more stop and then I’m in the clear.”
He put both hands back on the steering wheel. “Your apartment checked out. I just need to see your place of business.” His Maps app blared in the background, directing him to Pencils and Things Stationers, where she’d spent every work day for the last seven years. She could hardly believe it had been that long.
Mountain needed to make sure that Erin Janet Blithe existed and that she and Page Bell were the same person. Were they the same person though? Were they really? Of course, physically they were, but otherwise she felt different as Page. More real. Stronger. Definitely stronger.
“The sales guy back there,” she pointed behind them, “would not have given me a new SIM for my new phone if I wasn’t Erin Blithe.”
“I realize that.” Mountain gave her a half-smile that did things to her. The man looked amazing in normal clothes. So far, she’d only seen him naked or in those cotton pants. He looked fantastic both ways, but decked out in jeans, a t-shirt…man oh man, but he was hot. There was something about a guy in jeans. Especially a big, muscular guy. She tried not to stare too much.
Not that the cotton pants had been bad. Thin and low-riding. She had a feeling he would look good in just about anything. A paper bag…a sack…
“We need to do it anyway. I need to report back to my king. I don’t want anything standing in our way. I—” He clamped his mouth shut. “I want to keep our options open.”
By options, he meant them, as a couple. Options for them as a
couple. Her stomach did this flip flop thing. It was both nerves and excitement. That was what was so darned frustrating. How could she be both scared shitless of something and really excited at the same time? “Okay. That’s fine.” She scrolled through her messages. There were a couple from Jenna. One from an insurance company hoping to sell her personal insurance for fifty percent less than what she was currently paying and…that was it.
Had she expected something from Shaun?
Was that it? Maybe she had. Especially considering the last time she had seen him he’d been with the lady from his work. Did she care that he hadn’t bothered to text her again? No. It felt good that she didn’t mind. Liberating even. That he hadn’t called or texted spoke volumes.
Page sent a message to her friend, telling her she was okay, and then tossed the phone in her bag as they pulled up into her work parking lot.
“Wait a minute.” Page pulled out her phone again and rechecked her messages. Weird! She scrolled through her emails as well. Double-checked everything.
“What is it?” Mountain frowned.
“I rented that helicopter. It was due back yesterday. They should have contacted me. They should have had an arrest warrant out on me by now. I have two missed calls, both of which are spam, and no messages or emails from the charter company. That’s just plain odd.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Of course I have to worry. I rented a helicopter and didn’t return it. The chopper is a pile of ash and I don’t have—”
“I sorted it out.” Mountain turned in his seat to face her.
“What? What do you mean by that? How did you sort it out?” She sounded skeptical.
“You said you rented the chopper…back when I first met you. I checked up on it when we got back to the lair. You were sleeping. I…I let them know that there had been an accident and I paid the company off.”
She felt her jaw drop. “Um…I obviously have something wrong with my hearing. Did you say you paid for the helicopter I crashed?” She touched a hand to her chest.
He nodded. “A dragon fire-balled an unarmed craft out of the sky. The dragons need to cover your costs. It’s the least we can do for almost killing you. I’m going to petition for further compensation, regardless of what happens between us.”
“Further compensation?” She shook her head, feeling overwhelmed. “No, that wouldn’t be necessary. I should never have entered restricted airspace. Private airspace. It was stupid of me.” She thought back on his exact words. “You said you paid though. As in you personally? You footed the bill for an Airbus HC135?”
“It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll claim it back.” He shrugged.
“That’s big money.” Crazy money. “That’s…it’s…” She pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.” She breathed him in. He smelled of soap and of him. He smelled really good.
“Any time.” He hugged her right back, wrapping her up tight.
She wished she could stay in his embrace all day or run away with him. Just the two of them. Somewhere remote and intimate. Somewhere where they served multi-colored drinks with little straws and umbrellas. Maybe one day. Maybe.
“It’s pretty big,” he said, staring ahead as she pulled back. Mountain pointed at the building in front of them.
“Not really, considering it’s both the offices and the depot all in one.”
“Still, how many pencils can one company sell?”
“You would be surprised,” she smiled. “Pencils and Things supplies most of the schools around here with their annual stationary packs. We provide many of the local businesses with all their stationary needs and then there’s the factory store ‒ you can’t see it from here, it’s on the other side. I’ll take you on a tour.”
Mountain grinned at her. “We’re wasting our time here.” He put the SUV into reverse and shook his head. “I don’t have to go in. I can tell you know this place like the back of your hand.”
She put her hand over his. “No, let’s go in. You said you need to go through the motions. That you need to be sure. Well, that means going in there.” She pointed to the main doors. “I don’t want you to have to guard me anymore.”
“Maybe I like guarding you.” He looked at her in a way that did things to her insides.
“Let’s go in,” she repeated. “We may as well, we’re here already.”
“You sure?” he asked; his cellphone beeped.
“Yes.” She let go of his hand. “I’m still on vacation since I’m not due back until Monday. The story is, I left my driver’s license in one of the drawers of my desk and I’m here to collect it.”
“What about me?” Mountain gave her this look.
“You’re my friend.”
“Friend?” He scrubbed a hand over the light stubble on his jaw and then quirked up a brow.
“Yes.” She snorted. “Men and women can be just friends you know?”
“Absolutely.” He nodded once, like he didn’t believe a word of it.
They got out of the car and headed for reception. Michelle smiled as soon as she saw Page. Her eyes widened when they landed on Mountain, who was looking at his phone. “Hey, Erin.” Her eyes stayed glued on Mountain.
“Hi, Mich!”
“I didn’t think you were due back till,” she looked at her watch, “next week.” Her eyes moved back to Mountain, who came and stood next to Page.
“I’m not officially back yet. I left something I needed at my desk, I’m just here to pick it up.” That sounded believable.
“Who’s your friend?”
Page smiled. See, men and women could totally be friends. “Oh, this is…this…I…” She couldn’t call him Mountain. What kind of a human name was Mountain? It wasn’t human at all. “Gary,” she blurted. “This is my very good,” Cringe. “friend, Gary.”
“Hi, Gary, I’m Michelle. My friends call me Mich,” She held out her hand, which Mountain shook. “I’m single,” she added with a wink, still shaking Mountain’s hand vigorously.
“Good to meet you. I’m here with Erin.”
“Oh, yeah.” Michelle let go. “Of course you are.” She blushed profusely.
“See you shortly, Mich,” Page said as they walked away.
Michelle giggled like a schoolgirl.
Mountain laughed under his breath. “Gary? Did you just tell her that my name is Gary?” He laughed some more.
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” she whispered back.
“Nothing. Just that you’re a terrible liar. You’re not a slayer. You would never cut it as a slayer. Not in a million years. I’m not sure how you pulled off being Erin Blithe for so long without getting caught.” He stopped walking.
She smiled, stopping as well. “That’s the worst compliment anyone has ever paid me.”
“It’s not!” He put his hand to her back and smiled at her in a way that made her…well, it made her chest squeeze tight. “It’s a straight-up compliment. You’re not a liar. There’s not a bad bone in your body. We’re wasting our time here. Let’s go and see your sister.”
Her heart beat faster at the prospect. “Are you sure?”
“More sure than I’ve ever been about anything.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “Let’s go and find Alex.”
“I already know where she is,” Mountain whispered. “I got a message from Beck a few minutes ago.”
“What?” She felt her heart pound.
“I’m in the process of setting up a meeting.”
“What are we waiting for?” She tried to keep her voice down.
Mountain nodded, and they headed back.
“That was quick,” Michelle said as they entered the reception area.
“I knew exactly where it was.” Page patted her bag as if her license was inside.
“See you next week then.” Michelle waved.
Page waved back. The thought of having to return on Monday felt wrong somehow. It was hard to believe that she had still been working there less than a week a
go. So much had changed. She only realized just how much now that she was back.
Then she saw who had just parked next to their SUV. Who was getting out of the silver BMW.
Oh no!
“That’s Shaun’s uncle,” she whispered. “He’s also my boss.”
Sheldon did a double-take as he saw her. His brow furrowed. The lines around his mouth became more prominent for a few seconds. Then he smiled. “Erin. You’re back early. Please tell me you’re back?” He pushed out a dramatic sigh. “The temp isn’t nearly as good as you. She doesn’t get things done right. You know the way I like things to be done. The filing is a mess and—”
“Sorry, not yet. I’ll be back Monday. I just needed to stop by to pick up my…something I needed. I…we’ll be heading off now.”
“Who is this?” Sheldon asked, narrowing his eyes on Mountain.
“This is Gary. Gary, this is my boss, Sheldon Jones. He owns Pencils and Things.”
“Good to meet you. We’d better get going.” Mountain opened the car door and stepped to the side.
Sheldon looked disapproving. “How do you know…Gary?”
It was none of his business, but she couldn’t say that to his face. The man was her boss after all.
Page squared her shoulders. “Tinder, actually.” She smiled. “I swiped right and the rest ‒ as they say ‒ is history.” Where had that come from?
“Tinder?” Sheldon looked up at the sky, he frowned heavily. She could almost smell the smoke, that’s how deep in thought he was.
“Shall we?” Mountain asked, gesturing inside the SUV.
“Yep, I think that’s a good idea.”
“Tinder,” Sheldon said a second time. Then his eyes widened, and he pulled in a breath. “Oh!” he said almost to himself.
It was too late to take back. She might as well own it. Page smiled as she walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle to where Mountain was waiting.
“Wait a minute, Tinder…as in…I thought you were just on a break?” Sheldon asked. “Aren’t you two getting back together?”
Dragon Guard: Earth Dragons Series: Book 1 Page 14
