Dragon's Curse (Harlequin Nocturne) (9 page)

What did the Learneds have to hold against her that would make
her live a lie and intentionally put another family—
his
family—in danger?

Cam once again offered her the glass he held. “It’s just iced
tea.”

She took the glass from him, being extra careful not to let
their fingers touch. “Thank you. Please, join me.”

“I had every intention of doing so since you’re on my clock.”
He slid onto the bench across from her.

“I didn’t know I needed permission to leave for lunch.”

“Permission? No, but some notice would have been nice, and
leaving without your cell phone wasn’t a wise move.” He pulled it from his
pocket and set it on the table. “And quit driving that van up and down the
mountain.”

“My van is perfectly safe.”

“It’s top-heavy, rear-wheel drive and most likely doesn’t
handle well.”

She visibly bristled. Her eyes blazed and she tightened her
lips. Ariel leaned forward. “I appreciate your concern, but you are not my
father and I don’t need a keeper.” She shot him a hot, narrow-eyed glare,
adding, “And I am
not
driving the car Harold
recommended.”

Cam stirred his tea, studying the ice cubes in an attempt not
to laugh at her flash of outrage. “Harold was teasing you. There’s a sedan or a
Jeep that you’re free to use.”

She said nothing, but he didn’t have to be a genius to know she
resented being told what to do. “Look, Ariel, when those roads get the slightest
bit wet, they’re treacherous. I have no desire to explain your death to your
brother.”

“I know how to drive.”

“I never said you didn’t.”

“That’s what it sounded like to me.”

Cam leaned back on the bench. “Awful defensive for such a small
thing. Obviously something else is wrong, care to discuss it?”

She paled and stared down at the table. He was disappointed by
her reaction. This would be no fun at all if she clammed up under stress.

He resisted the urge to reach across the table and cover her
folded hands with his. Offering comfort over something this small wouldn’t be to
his benefit.

“Ariel, you may be offended, but I insist—” His cell phone
vibrated against his chest. He pulled it out and frowned. Why was Alexia calling
him?

He sent the call to voice mail and turned his focus back to
Ariel. “I insist you take one of the smaller vehicles. They handle better, both
are four-wheel drive, so you’ll have better traction and control. There’s less
chance of—” He glanced down at his cell, then told her, “I have to take this,
it’s my sister-in-law.”

Ariel nodded.

Cam flipped open the phone. “What do you need, Lexi?”

“Make sure the grimoire is safe, would you?” Alexia’s voice
whispered through his phone.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” The family book of spells was locked
securely in his office desk.

“Just check for me.” Alexia sounded frantic.

“I’m not at the Lair.”

“Can’t you just pop back and check?”

“No. But Braeden can.”

“No, he can’t. He doesn’t know.”

Cam blinked at her whining tone. Something was obviously wrong.
Alexia wasn’t a whiner. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I need you to check. Something just
feels wrong. I keep seeing the grimoire and it’s not in your office.”

The lock on his desk was spelled, so the book damn well better
still be there. “Where is it then?”

“I don’t know, some woman has it.”

Cam glanced across the table at Ariel. “What does she look
like?”

“I can’t tell. It’s like I’m seeing her through some foggy
dream.”

Certain she was seeing Ariel, he cursed to himself. “I’ll be
leaving here in a few minutes. I’ll give you a call as soon as I get back there,
okay?”

“Please, hurry.”

“I will.”

He put the phone back in his pocket. “Something’s come up.
We’ll finish this conversation later.”

“There’s nothing to finish.”

“I don’t have time to argue, I need to get back to the Lair.”
He stood up and dropped some money on the table. “Have lunch on me.”

Ariel grabbed the money and threw it at him. “I don’t need your
money.”

Cam refused to get drawn into a petty argument with her. He
left the money on the floor and walked away.

She had never felt like such a fool in her entire life. Ariel
covered her burning face with her hands. She’d humiliated herself in public and
acted like some spoiled brat.

The man was her employer, not her lover. What was wrong with
her? Ever since breaking into Mirabilus, she’d been haunted by dreams, teased by
cravings she didn’t fully understand.

She’d lost count of the times she’d stood on the balcony of her
suite letting the brisk wind whip about her while she watched the hawks soar,
wishing all the while she could join them.

What bothered her was that it wasn’t just a wish—it was more a
need, a craving to let something deep inside her be free—something dark and wild
that she didn’t comprehend.

Ariel rubbed her forehead and breathed deeply. The sooner she
found what Renalde wanted and got away from the Lair and Cameron, the
better.

“Give me your keys.”

She jumped at Cam’s voice and uncovered her face to look up at
him. His hair and shoulders were wet.

“It’s raining. You aren’t driving that van back to the Lair.”
He set his keys on the table. “The sedan is parked in the lot one block down and
one street behind here.” He handed her a prepaid parking-ticket stub. “It’s a
black Mercury.”

“I still don’t understand—”

He leaned down, his hands flat on the table, his face inches
from hers. “My sister-in-law nearly died making that drive in the rain. Her
unborn baby did die. I am not—I repeat
not
—pulling
your dead body from that van.”

She pulled her keys from her purse and handed them to him. “I’m
sorry, I didn’t…” Her words trailed off as he turned around and walked away
again.

The waitress approached the table, stopping to retrieve the
money from the floor. She started to place it on the table, but Ariel held up
her hand. “No, keep it.”

The young woman looked at the bill. Her eyes flew open wide.
“But, ma’am, it’s a hundred-dollar bill.”

“It’s yours.”

“Thank you. Can I get you anything else?”

“No, just a bill for the drinks.”

“Your boyfriend already paid for them.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Ariel rubbed her temples. “He’s my
boss.”

The waitress’s eyebrows nearly disappeared behind her bangs. “I
should be so lucky.”

Lucky? Oh, yeah, that’s what she was—lucky. Ariel felt, oh, so
lucky.

The waitress put the empty glasses on her tray. “You have a
wonderful day and thanks again.”

“You, too.” Ariel grabbed her purse and took off to find Cam’s
car. She needed to get back and do some more snooping. How she was going to find
something as small as a pendant in a building the size of the Lair was beyond
her understanding, but there really wasn’t any other choice.

Besides, she couldn’t spend the afternoon dallying here; she
also needed to get back to her laptop to do some more gardening research.

There were some plants depending on her supposed expertise. She
could only hope they didn’t die before she could figure out what was wrong with
them.

Chapter 8

T
hrough a red haze of rage, Cam stared at
the grimoire lying on the desk in Ariel’s apartment office. How had she got it
out of his desk? And why couldn’t he pry it from the top of hers?

He’d tried to pick it up, repeatedly, then he’d resorted to
spells. And still he’d had no success. It was as if the grimoire was permanently
attached to her desk.

How?

There had been no indication that any magic had been performed
at the Lair this last week. He hadn’t so much as sensed his aunt casting charm
spells, let alone something powerful enough to get past his locks—tangible or
magical.

“What are you doing?”

He hadn’t heard Ariel enter the apartment. Not that it
mattered, it saved him from having to go and find her.

Without turning around, Cam asked, “How did you get past my
spell?”

“Your what?”

Her little game of playing ignorant needed to stop. “Enough.”
He spun around. “No more.”

She backed away from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“This.” Cam pointed at the book on the table. “The grimoire.
When did you steal it?”

Ariel leaned a little to look around him. “Steal it? I’ve never
seen it before. What is it?”

If confronting her outright didn’t work, what was it going to
take to get her to admit what she was doing? “Right, Ariel, like you don’t know
what it is.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t.”

It would be easier if he could believe her, but the proof of
her lie was right there, seemingly glued to her desk. He took a breath, but it
did nothing to cool his anger. Normally he was capable of controlling his
emotions. But something about this woman shattered any semblance of self-control
he—and his dragon—possessed.

“Knock it off. Your game is up. The proof is right there for
anyone to see. You didn’t even bother to try hiding it.”

Knock it off?
Cameron was acting as
if he’d lost his ability to reason. “Look, I don’t know how that book got there,
but I sure as hell didn’t put it there.”

He advanced on her—there was no other word she could think of
to describe his feral appearance or approach. He stalked her as if she was
nothing more than helpless prey. The glittering eyes, tensed jaw and fisted
hands as he loomed over her sent her adrenaline racing.

Ariel backed away, careful to keep a close eye on him. She had
to get out of here, otherwise she feared he’d completely lose control.

“Don’t lie to me anymore. I know you work for the
Learneds.”

“Who?” Even though he had the name wrong, Ariel knew he was
onto something. It didn’t matter if he’d figured out that she worked for someone
else or not. She wouldn’t admit it—doing so would only assure Carl’s death. “I
work for you. Remember, I’m your gardener?”

Cameron lifted his arm and moved his hand as if he was writing
something on an invisible blackboard, then made a motion to turn the imaginary
board toward her. He said nothing, just glared at her.

Ariel held up her hands and shrugged. Was she supposed to do or
see something? “What?”

“You can break a lock spell, but can’t read?”

“Read what? There’s nothing there to read.”

He hadn’t lost the ability to reason—he’d lost his mind
altogether. She backed up another step and ran into a brick wall where there
should have been nothing. Sick to her stomach, Ariel looked over her shoulder
and saw exactly what was there—nothing. Yet when she pressed back with her body
she hit a solid, albeit invisible, wall.

She looked back toward Cam and saw writing in the air. Fighting
the urge to faint, she read and reread the two lines until she realized it was
an anagram—Renalde followed by Learned.

Still, it didn’t matter. Nothing did. Not the impending danger
closing in on her, or what Cameron might know. The only thing that mattered was
keeping Carl safe. And it was that single goal that gave her the strength to
stiffen her spine and say, “Nice trick. You should host a magic show here at the
Lair.”

Quicker than she could blink, Cameron cleared the few steps
separating them and clamped one large hand behind her neck.

As he shoved her toward the desk, Ariel swore he growled. Like
some animal.

Yet, to her consternation, now that he touched her, she was no
longer afraid of him. While his touch conveyed anger, it wasn’t a cold icy touch
of impending doom. His grasp around the back of her neck acted more like a solid
anchor in what had quickly turned into an extremely bizarre argument.

Although, that fact made her wonder who had lost the ability to
reason. Obviously, she had.

“Let me go.” Her struggle proved useless and he pushed her down
onto the chair behind the desk.

“Magic show? Trick? You come to the Lair to help the Learneds
kill me and my family and then act like it’s a game? Do you think this is
fake?”

Before she could respond, he flicked a wrist, flashing his hand
above the desk.

A movie with no screen—like the holograms from nearly any
science-fiction show—appeared. She watched two families warring against each
other through the centuries. From the Dark Ages to modern day she saw gruesome
images of torture and death. The years flew past her eyes, one more brutal than
the last.

Eventually the setting started to look more familiar. Ariel
guessed she was now watching something from about the time her own parents were
married. The cars and clothing were similar to those in her parents’ photo
albums.

A car with two smiling and laughing adults—Cam’s parents, from
his resemblance to the man—picked up speed and rammed into a giant tree. Ariel
jumped back, but Cam held her firmly in place. She watched in horror as another
man, one who looked like an older version of Renalde, laughed with apparent
satisfaction, then took flight from a nearby tree limb to circle the now-burning
car before flying away.

The next several years, a decade or two, zipped by
uneventfully. She watched as three boys—two twins and a younger boy—grew up with
a woman she recognized now as Danielle Drake.

But suddenly another car, one more modern being driven by a
very pregnant woman about her own age, came into view. The dark night sky poured
rain, rumbled with thunder and flashed with lightning.

It was apparent by the woman’s tears and tight expression that
she was very angry with someone—a husband or lover perhaps?

The woman’s anger swiftly turned to fear and terror as a dragon
repeatedly rushed the car from behind as if to attack. Ariel realized that the
beast had no intention of attacking the vehicle. It sought only to frighten the
woman into running the car off the slick mountain road.

This was not the dragon from her dreams, nor was it the one
she’d seen at Mirabilus. She knew that by the vile, cruel face, dripping fangs
and glowing-red eyes.

After it succeeded in running the car over the side of the
mountain, the beast turned into a human. One that once again resembled Renalde.
The man leaned over the edge of the road and cursed before disappearing.

Her view focused in on the car. Ariel saw the woman’s life
slipping away. To her shocked dismay, she also saw the woman’s belly glow,
sending a touch of color back into the unconscious woman’s cheeks.

By the time help arrived, the woman lived, but the babe she
carried had somehow given so much of its own life for the mother that he
couldn’t be saved.

Behind her, Cam cursed softly. He sounded surprised, as if he
had never known what had happened in that wrecked car. Without thinking, Ariel
reached up and covered his hand with her own, offering what little comfort she
could. A long moment passed before he pulled his hand away, saying, “That’s
Alexia, my twin brother’s wife.”

She nodded, then turned her attention back to the next set of
images. Another woman, a dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty, stood laughing on top of
a rock outcrop. The shadow of a winged beast attacking shrouded her in
darkness.

Cam once again stretched out his hand. “No more.”

Ariel stared at the now-empty space above the desk. From the
thick pain lacing his voice, she could only assume that this had been
his
wife or lover. And that she, too, had died at the
hands of Renalde or his family.

Ariel wanted to cry, to throw herself across the desk and sob
in despair. If the Drakes with their apparent powers had been unable to defeat
these monsters for centuries, she and her brother didn’t stand a chance if she
couldn’t find the items Renalde wanted.

“Now do you understand?”

She nodded mutely. Oh, she understood, all right. She
understood that like Renalde, Cam was more than just a mere human. She also
understood that his family was at war with the family who held her brother.

“What are they after? What do you protect?” She had the
gut-churning idea that she already knew the answer to both questions.

Cameron tapped the manuscript on the desk. “This, for one
thing.”

No one had ordered her to search for a book, so she felt safe
asking, “Exactly what is a grimoire?”

“It’s an ancient diary containing the family’s spells and
secrets.”

She stared at the blank pages. “There’s nothing there.”

“No, there isn’t. Not for you and me. But words and symbols
appear for Braeden and Alexia.”

“She’s like…you?”

“Like me?”

Ariel didn’t want to ask if his sister-in-law
was…unhuman…inhuman…not normal, too, so she reworded her thought. “Does she have
powers?”

“Not until they were given to her.”

“Given to her?”

“By the grimoire.”

Ariel leaned back. She had no desire to change who or what she
was.

Cameron laughed at her. “The book won’t spell you. Not if you
can’t read it.”

She wasn’t taking any chances and moved farther away from the
desk.

Without preamble, Cam said, “You work for my enemy.”

Ariel remained mute. While he hadn’t asked a question, if she
agreed with him, he would expect—perhaps even force—information from her. Yet,
if she denied his claim, he would know she lied. Then what would he do to
her?

After he obtained the information he wanted, what then? Would
she be tossed out of the Lair before she could find what she needed to save her
brother?

“No.” Cam leaned over her shoulder to whisper against her ear.
“Don’t answer. It will be more entertaining to find out for myself.”

Ariel shivered, uncertain if the sudden increase in her
nervousness was caused from his implied threat, or from his nearness.

He stroked a finger down her neck. “And don’t worry, you
haven’t lost your front as a gardener—yet. I intend to keep you close.” His
breath was hot against her flesh. “Very, very close.”

“And since I can’t move this—” he reached around her to jab at
the edges of the book “—I’m closing down this apartment and sealing off the
room. Your things have already been moved to another one.”

“One has opened up?”

Cam smiled. Even though he knew she referred to an apartment in
the employee wing, he deliberately chose to misunderstand. “Yes. One has.”

She wouldn’t like the apartment she was moving into, but he
didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to him was that while she was at the
Lair, she never left his sight.

He pulled out the chair. “I’ll show you to the apartment.”

When they left her suite, he paused to turn back toward the
room. After clearing the room of everything except the desk and the grimoire,
Cam cast an ancient, powerful spell, one that only he could undo. The room was
instantly sealed in a solid block of concrete.

The desk and book were protected from the concrete by a thin
layer of pure energy. However, if anyone but him tried to break the spell, both
items would disintegrate and the grimoire would be lost for all time.

He turned back to Ariel and placed his hand under her elbow to
lead her out of the apartment, down the hall and around the corner to his.

“Where are we going?”

Cam didn’t answer until they were both inside his apartment.
Then he released her elbow. Heading for the kitchen, he simply said, “Welcome
home, roomie.”