Light My Fire (15 page)

Chapter Sixteen

When Thursday morning rolled around Dana was more than ready to reopen Fancies. Three days away from the gallery had her going stir crazy and worrying about the dwindling state of her bank account. On the bright side, dreading over her finances saved her from stressing about the upcoming weekend. She still didn’t know what the hell her decision would be on the contract, and her increasingly out-of-control emotional attachment to Aiden only complicated matters.

Ignoring the headache pounding in her temples, she inserted the key in the lock and swung open the front door. The expensive new alarm system that’d mysteriously appeared late yesterday afternoon chirped a series of warning beeps, and she quickly punched the security code into the keypad. She started to walk into the main room of the gallery, but Aiden stalled her by snagging her elbow.

“Jace and I will do a sweep first.”

She frowned. “Why? If someone was here, the alarm would have gone off.”

“Just humor us.”

Rolling her eyes, she leaned against the wall and waited while her paranoid saviors checked each room. She passed the time inspecting the fresh paint job, pleased how the creamy eggshell finish completely masked the ugly graffiti. Precisely three minutes later Jace called out an all clear. Aiden strode from her office and she shot him an exasperated look. “What, you didn’t find a fourteen-foot dragon crouched beneath my desk?”

His response was a penetrating stare that left her wishing she’d never opened her big, sarcastic mouth. Ever since their conversation in her bedroom, the tension between them had been palpable. Though Aiden hadn’t issued any more declarations of love or brought up the forthcoming situation with the binding ceremony, she’d continuously felt his awareness of her and the heaviness of his thoughts. She’d caught the flash of pain in his eyes when she’d spoken of wanting a normal life. He knew as well as she did that normalcy wasn’t something he could offer. “I’ll, uh, start bringing in the new paintings.” Pivoting on her heel, she booked a speedy exit outside.

Tony pulled up in his station wagon while she propped open the Navigator’s rear door. He hopped out of his car and she gave him a surprised look. “You didn’t have to come in today.”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been bored to death the past few days.” Smoothing a finger beneath the collar of his argyle vest like it was scratching him, he strolled forward.

Her gaze shifted from the perfect crease in Tony’s chinos to the rust bucket behind him. She fought to stifle a grin. The huge discrepancy between his impeccable appearance and his choice of vehicles never ceased to baffle her. Of course, she should talk. Next to POC, the station wagon was a luxurious example of modern engineering.

Tony poked his head inside the Navigator and whistled. “Looks like someone’s been busy. Obviously your gorgeous hunks didn’t do a good enough job distracting you from the siren’s call.”

“Um, I think you mean muse. A siren is one of those chicks that lure sailors to shipwreck on a rocky coast.”

“Oh yeah.” Nodding, Tony balanced a crate of paintings on his hip. “I always get the two confused.”

Chuckling, she grabbed the remaining crate and slammed the door shut. “Maybe you should rethink being an aspiring art student. I’d hate to see you flunk final exams for getting the technical term for muse wrong.”

A squeal of tires and a blaring horn drew her focus to the busy street behind them. She spied a familiar burgundy Lincoln Town Car and groaned.

Shaking a fist at the irate honker riding her bumper, Emmaline executed a very illegal U-turn and swerved into Fancies’ parking lot. Sucking in a calming breath, Dana waited for her aunt to climb out of her car.

“Did you hear that idiot honking at me?” Emmaline stormed around the Town Car, her tightly permed curls bouncing with righteous indignation.

“Could have something to do with the fact that you almost caused a ten-car pileup.”

Paying no attention to Dana’s astute observation, Emmaline waved toward the gallery. “They get everything fixed in there?”

“Yep. As you can see, we’re in the middle of getting things organized. Why don’t you come back—”

“I’m here now, why would I want to come back? It’ll give me a chance to check up on things.”

Oh Lord
. She didn’t need to read between the lines to know what
things
Emmaline was referring to. Her suspicions became confirmed when she followed her aunt inside the gallery. Emmaline didn’t even glance at the walls, instead she bee-lined directly toward Aiden and Jace. The brothers broke off in mid conversation, identical expressions of wary expectation stamped on their handsome faces. Dana almost felt sorry for them. Still, they were deflecting some of the heat off of her, and that certainly had its benefits.

Plunking the crate down, she surveyed the walls. At least the painters had reinstalled the picture hangers. Lining all those babies up had taken her endless measuring and repeated finger smashing courtesy of the hammer. Talk about a major headache if she’d been forced to do it all over again. Tony approached with the other crate and she did a quick inventory, mentally arranging the paintings for highest visual impact. She reached for the closest canvas just as Emmaline skipped to her side.

“Hon, I have to run. Call me later though, all right?” After delivering a quick peck on Dana’s cheek, Emmaline rushed out the door.

Dana gaped after her aunt.
Huh, that wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it’d be
. She turned her head at the heavy tread of Aiden and Jace’s advancing footsteps. Taking one look at their bemused countenances, she grimaced. “What did she sucker you guys into doing?”

Jace blinked. “How the hell did you figure that out?”

“I’ve been a frequent victim of my aunt’s wily strong-arming for twenty-seven years. Trust me, I’ve worn the same expression as you a dozen times or two.”

“Apparently we’re escorting you to La Luna’s employee potluck Saturday night,” Aiden said, his tone dry.

“Oh, crapazola.” She slapped her palm against her forehead. “I totally forgot about that. Don’t sweat it. It’s not like we have to go.”

“And risk your aunt kicking my ass?” Jace grunted. “I don’t think so, sweetness.”

Shooting him a look from the corner of her eye, she cackled like a chicken.

“Nice. Cock-a-doodle-doing from the woman who hid behind a crate the entire time her aunt was here,” Jace scoffed.

She tilted her nose in the air. “For your information, I was not hiding. I was strategizing the layout for the new paintings.” Bending, she picked up the dragon and princess canvas and sashayed to the hook near the small, lacquered table. After placing the painting, she stepped back to eyeball the angle.

“Give us some direction and we’ll get the rest of these up for you.”

As it seemed to constantly do, Aiden’s husky baritone sent excited shivers along her skin. “You don’t have—” She caught the stubborn set of Aiden’s jaw and gritted her teeth.
Oh screw it
. “The next painting in the crate goes on the hook by the door.” While Aiden carted the canvas in the direction of the entrance, she snapped her fingers at Jace and pointed to the wall behind him. “You can put the gothic fairy there.”

Jace cocked his eyebrows. “I do believe you’re starting to enjoy dishing out the orders.”

She plastered on a sweet smile. “You know what they say—if you can’t beat ’em, make ’em sweat their balls off doing grunt work.” Tucking her hands in the pockets of her lightweight wool trousers, she watched Jace align the canvas on the hook. If she wasn’t careful, she could get used to having Aiden and Jace around to carry out her bidding. She instantly sobered at the thought. If she chose to remain in this odd triangle, she’d be the one doing the obeying, not the other way around.

Aiden returned to her side and grasped the next canvas in the lineup. A nerve twitched in his jaw when he noticed which painting he held. Almost as if he couldn’t help himself, he stroked his thumb over the image of her tied to the apple tree. Muttering a soft curse, he yanked his finger away. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. She’s not as fragile as she looks.”

His gaze whipped her way and she gestured to the canvas. “I mean the painting.” God knows he wouldn’t believe her if she told him the model wasn’t exactly a fragile flower either. “You can bring it over here.” She walked toward the adjacent wall, leaving him to follow. “I wasn’t planning to showcase
The Sacrifice
at the gallery but my other dragon paintings really took a hit from the asshole with the spray can. Other than this one, the canvas hanging over the table, and a few others I fortunately took to the Ren fair, I’m pretty much wiped out.” Planting her hands on her hips, she inspected the hook hanging eyelevel in front of her. “Okay, I think this spot will be perfect for it. What do you think?”

No answer came from Aiden. Swiveling, she discovered him standing stock-still in the center of the gallery. She returned his stare with a perplexed look. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re the missing puzzle pieces.”

“Pardon?”

“The paintings.” Aiden stalked to the hook protruding from the wall and situated the painting before turning to survey the rest of the gallery. “Your vandal only destroyed the paintings that depicted dragons.”

Rubbing her chin, she ping-ponged her attention between the two crates across from her and the partially vacant walls. “Wow, you’re right. Good catch.”

Jace left his station by the wall and joined them. “What’s up?”

“Aiden just pointed out that the creep only damaged the paintings of dragons. Interesting coincidence, huh?”

When neither brother answered, she cocked her head to find them looking at each other. She gave a frustrated exhale. “Enough with the psychic twin routine. Whatever you’re thinking, share with the rest of the class.”

Aiden peered toward the front desk, where Tony was making inventory tags for the new paintings. “Maybe we should go into your office.”

She took one glance at Aiden’s guarded expression and swept her arm in the direction of the rear hallway. “After you.”

Once in her office, she settled her butt on the edge of her desk and gestured impatiently. “Obviously you both see some connection with the paintings, so spill it.”

“A Drakoni isn’t responsible for the vandalism.” Aiden scruffed his fingers over the nape of his neck, ruffling the ends of his hair. “If there’s one common trait all dragons possess, it’s pride.”

“What exactly does pride have to do with vandalism?”

Jace coughed into his hand before grinning sheepishly. “In simple terms, it means we dragons are too vain to deliberately destroy pictures of ourselves.”

She swung her stare to Aiden and he nodded. A snort escaped her. “And here I thought Calvin was stuck on himself. All right, so it wasn’t a Drakoni. That should help narrow the list of suspects.” Resting her elbow on her knee, she plunked her chin in her hand and contemplated Aiden and Jace. “Speaking of Calvin, he seems a likely culprit. Maybe we should have a little chat with him.”

Aiden’s face hardened. “Much as I’d love the opportunity to
chat
with your stalker ex, I don’t think he’s the one behind this.”

“Are you kidding? Calvin is not only a certified psycho, he has a major axe to grind, what with me dumping him.”

“I’m not going to argue against your ex being a psycho, but there’s a problem with your theory.”

She narrowed her eyes at Aiden’s matter-of-fact tone. Clearly dragons weren’t only vain and arrogant, they were also big know-it-alls. “Such as?”

“Whoever destroyed those paintings has a bigger axe to grind against dragons than anything they have against you.”

Her mouth swinging open, she jumped from her perch on the desk. Obviously intuiting that she was two seconds away from going ape shit at his clearly dumbass assumption, Aiden rubbed his hand soothingly along her arm. “Let me explain. The graffiti is terrible—and something I fully intend to snap the perpetrator’s neck for—but the paintings were slashed. Brutally. It takes an awful lot of bottled-up hate to display that kind of violence toward an inanimate object.”

Her memory flashed back to the damaged canvases, each one looking like it’d been given the Freddy Krueger slash ’n’ trash special.
Good God
. He was right. Someone had one hell of a grudge against dragons. “You guys must have racked up some major enemies over the years.”

Aiden grimaced. “Several centuries of pillaging and burning villages tends to bring the hunters out of the woodwork.”

“Hunters?”

Wariness blanketed Aiden’s face. “Some of our enemies have made it their life mission to hunt us down and eradicate our kind.”

It took a moment to fully digest what he was saying. Once she did, she sputtered on a cough. “You mean there are actual dragon slayers walking the earth?” When both Aiden and Jace merely shrugged, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “It might have been nice telling me about that sooner, you know.”

“Actually, we did. Outside La Luna, on the day you first met us.”

She stared blankly at Jace until a vague recollection started to take shape. “Wait a minute. Did the conversation in question include snare nets and assault rifles?”

Aiden’s mouth twisted in wry amusement. “More than likely.”