Dragon Mate's Secret (Guardian Dragons 0f Prospect Falls Book 2) Read online

  Michael watched him walk away, annoyed, then got to his feet and followed him. “And that’s going to take an entire night?” he asked.

  The professor shrugged. “Probably not, but we also need to go over a few things,” he said, heading for the lake. “Get our facts straight before we go any further.”

  He knew that Arthur was right and realized that he was letting his personal feelings for the man cloud his mind. Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the demons and the possibility that Sebastian was fueling their activities. By the time they reached the lake and sat down on the dock, he’d pushed away any personal feelings and was ready to talk.

  “Okay, let’s start with what we know,” Arthur said, his voice carrying across the lake. “According to Adam, the demons found them at the cabin almost as soon as they got there, then followed them down the mountain and into that cave.”

  Michael nodded. “I’ve never seen them behave like that before,” he said. “What’s even worse is that while Adam and Molly were up here fighting them off, there was another group headed for town. I think the one Molly hit with her car was just the first one.”

  “Very unusual behavior for this kind of demon. They usually just wander around until they make contact with a human or a shifter,” Arthur said, nodding his head. “What about the protection spell on the town? Is it strong?”

  He didn’t answer at first, had never thought about there being a problem with the spell that protected the town. “Well, we’ve had a hard time finding a true witch the last few years and were forced to settle for learned magic,” he admitted. “I never thought it might be a problem.”

  It took Arthur so long to answer, his stomach began to twist into knots. “It could be a problem. You should have contacted the council they would have found someone.”

  “We did. Sebastian turned down our request,” Michael said, the impact of his words making both men fall silent.

  “He’s been planning this for a long time,” Arthur said quietly. “But we’ll find a way to stop him.”

  “I hope so,” he said, getting to his feet. “I think I’ll turn in now. Will you be okay out here on your own?”

  “Get some sleep,” Arthur said. “Tomorrow night, we hunt.”

  But he’d only gone a few steps when he heard Arthur call his name. “There is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, getting to his feet. “I want you to know that I have only the most honorable intentions with your mother. It wasn’t my idea to move into her extra bedroom, but she made it impossible to say no.”

  Michael couldn’t help the smile that played at the corner of his lips. “My mother can be very convincing when she wants to,” he said. “I’ll take you at your word, but I think you should know that my father hasn’t been gone for very long, and she’s still a bit fragile from the loss.”

  Arthur nodded. “I remember what it was like after I lost my mate. I’ll be careful, but, Michael, your mother is still a young and vibrant woman with a lot of life to live. You wouldn’t want her to do it all alone, would you?”

  Michael didn’t answer; it was a question he didn’t want to think about. “I think I’ll go to bed now,” he said. “Just be careful, professor; I’d hate to see either of you get hurt.”

  He wasn’t sure if he’d just issued a threat or a sincere wish, but Arthur only stared at him, his eyes unreadable, so he turned and headed for the cabin. Exhaustion was hammering heavily on him, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was glad they weren’t hunting that night. After a quick trip around the cabin, reassured that there were no demons lurking in the woods, he collapsed into bed.

  But as tired as he was, he could tell that sleep wasn’t going to come easily that night, as once again, he was faced with a new upheaval in his life. He would have preferred to pretend what was happening between his mother and Arthur wasn’t anything to worry about; the only problem with that approach was that it was impossible to ignore what was going on right in front of him.

  Wishing life could go back to the calm and quiet that had bored him to death before Molly showed up, he closed his eyes, knowing that it wasn’t her fault. He understood now why Sebastian had been so opposed to the marriage and couldn’t help but smile at the irony that one of his own demons had provided Adam with the mate he’d been looking for. But that alone wasn’t going to halt Sebastian, and until he was stopped, Michael knew that life was going to be anything but boring.

  ***Amy***

  Still a bit rattled from her encounter with Horace at the bookstore, Amy walked into the diner and immediately felt all eyes turn to her. The silence that followed lasted what felt like hours, but could have only been a few seconds, before an older woman came bustling out from behind the counter.

  “Well, hi there,” she said, what looked like a genuine smile on her face. “You’re just in time. We’re going to close in a few minutes.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I could just take my food to go,” Amy said, wishing she wasn’t the center of attention.

  “Don’t be silly. I think we can squeeze one more in,” she said. “Follow me.”

  As they made their way across the restaurant, the murmur of conversation started up again, but she had the distinct feeling that they were talking about her. It was a relief to slide into the booth and open the menu, blocking out the faces around her for a few minutes. After she ordered, she opened one of her new books, blocked everything out around her, and let herself get lost in a long-ago time when dragons and knights roamed the world.

  The next morning, she woke with the sun, the uncomfortable dinner behind her, and jumped out of bed. Today, she’d poke around town, see if she could pick up some trace of Molly, but she’d have to be careful; strangers were clearly not very welcome in Prospect Falls. The town both intrigued her and made her nervous at the same time—a strange feeling for someone who rarely ventured out of her comfort zone in the city.

  As she showered and got dressed, she weighed her options for breakfast, finally discarding the idea of going shopping and making her own in favor of another uncomfortable meal at the restaurant. From there, she’d do some shopping, chat up some of the business owners, then come back to the cabin. She had a plausible story ready for the next person who asked and was sure that it was believable since it was almost the truth.

  Leaving the car behind, she headed around the big pond toward the long driveway, the feeling that she was being watched making goosebumps break out on her arms. As she walked by the office, she glanced over without moving her head and saw Miranda peeking out of the curtains. She was tempted to wave but resisted and walked on by, pretending she hadn’t seen her spying through the window.

  The diner wasn’t as crowded as it had been the night before, and for a change, her entrance didn’t quiet the room, although she did see a few people whispering as she made her way to the back counter. She climbed up on a stool just as a young woman came out of the kitchen, her arms full of plates.

  “I’ll be right with you,” she called, then stopped and stared at Amy for a minute before continuing on her way.

  When she came back, she filled Amy’s cup with coffee. “You’re the woman staying at the cabins,” she said, cocking her head and looking at Amy for a minute.

  Amy couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess I am,” she said. “Strangers sure do attract a lot of attention around here.”

  “Well, we don’t get many tourists,” the waitress said.

  “I’ve heard that a couple of times,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful little town. I don’t understand why.”

  Amy realized too late that she’d said the wrong thing when the woman’s face closed up. “I’d better get back to work,” she said, then pulled her order pad and a pen from her pocket. “What can I get you?”

  * * *

  The grocery store was in an old building with creaking wooden floors, and old-fashioned bins against one wall stacked with produce. On the opposite side, there were a few glass-fronted coolers and a meat co
unter, complete with a slab of meat hanging from a hook. The rest of the space was filled with tall shelves, each overflowing with merchandise that appeared to have been shoved anywhere there was space.

  It was crowded in the store, so she’d managed to slip in unnoticed, but as she stood staring at the shelves, unsure where to start, she heard a soft voice ask, “Can I help you find something?”

  She turned to find a young girl staring up at her. “I was looking for coffee,” she said.

  “Right this way,” the girl said. “My dad doesn’t believe in organization. He says it’s too limiting.”

  After an hour of walking up and down the aisles and a trip over to the meat counter, where the butcher gave her strange looks, she had a basket full of food and a few treats she couldn’t resist. When she approached the counter to pay, the little girl was standing behind the man at the register. She grinned at Amy, then disappeared into the back room.

  “That’s a lot of food for someone who’s only staying one more night,” the man said as he rang up her purchases.

  Amy looked at him, surprised at first that he knew she’d only paid for two nights, then remembered where she was. “Oh, well, Prospect Falls is such a nice quiet little town, I thought I might stay for a few more days,” she said.

  “On vacation then?” the man asked casually, but she could see the keen interest in his eyes.

  “Yes, an extended vacation,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m a professor of English literature back in New York and I just needed to get away, breath some fresh air and all that.”

  “So, you’re thinking of staying a while then,” he said, glancing up at her. “This town can get a little boring once the charm wears off.”

  “Well, if I get tired of the town, I can always explore the mountains. They are very beautiful,” she said, looking out the window.

  “The mountains are closed to people,” the man said. “You can’t go up there.”

  Amy turned back around and looked at him. “Closed?”

  He nodded. “No one is allowed up there—ever. Too many bears.”

  Chapter Five

  ***Michael***

  It was a relief to see Adam’s farm as they got closer to Prospect Falls, and Michael was sure that he’d never been so happy to be going home. After two days of searching and hours of tracking, they’d finally managed to get close enough to a demon for Arthur to read it, as he called it. But much to his dismay, it didn’t give them the quick answer they were looking for; instead, it had led to even more questions and it looked like it was going to take some work to figure out how to stop Sebastian.

  When they pulled up to his mother’s house, she came rushing out, her hopeful smile making him even more frustrated. “Did you figure it out? Is it Sebastian?” she asked as soon as they were inside.

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell,” the professor said. “I need to figure out what spell he’s using first.”

  “Arthur needs some peace and quiet to work,” he told his mother. “Once he figures out the spell, he can trace the magic, and we’ll have a place to start looking.”

  She nodded. “I’ll be as quiet as a mouse, but it’s lunchtime, so you should both eat something.”

  “I think I’ll have lunch down at the restaurant, and then I’d better get down to the station. I’ve been gone too much lately,” he said, his mind already on all the paperwork that had probably piled up on his desk.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” his mother said, raising her eyebrows. “There’s a strange woman in town. She’s staying in one of the cabins at Miranda’s. She claims that a friend of hers came through here a few months ago and raved about us, so she came to see for herself.”

  Michael sighed. “Mother, I wouldn’t get too excited. It happens every once in a while,” he said. When she just stared at him, he added, “But I’ll check her out.”

  “Good. We can’t afford to have strangers snooping around here,” she said.

  “Has she been snooping around?” he asked, a little more interested in the stranger.

  “No, I guess not,” his mother said. “But you can’t be too careful. Remember what happened that time the reporter showed up in town?”

  “Don’t remind me,” he said. “That was almost a disaster.”

  When he walked into the diner, he got a round of enthusiastic greetings and he knew that the town was on edge. Most of the time, they treated him like he was one of them, but clearly the stranger had them keyed up, and he knew that it wasn’t going to be a quiet lunch.

  “Good to see you back, Sheriff,” Horace said, taking a seat next to him. “Have you heard that there’s a stranger in town?”

  Michael nodded. “My mother told me,” he said, relieved when the waitress put down his lunch. “I told her I’d check it out.”

  “She told me she was here because one of her friends was here a few months ago,” Horace said. “And she told Mac over at the store that she’s some kind of a professor back in New York. She bought enough food for a week.”

  “We’ve had this happen before, Horace,” he said, trying to be patient. “Why is this woman upsetting you so much?”

  “She got into the bookstore without an appointment,” the little man said quietly. “That’s never happened before.”

  Michael set down his fork. “Well, that doesn’t prove anything.”

  “She also bought candles, a huge bag of salt, and a bunch of herbs.”

  “Are you telling me that you think this woman is a witch?” Michael asked.

  Horace shrugged. “I’m not saying that, but the town is pretty worked up.”

  Michael wanted to bang his head on the table; this was the last thing he needed, but he had to check it out. “I’ll go check her out as soon as I finish my lunch.”

  “Well, then I’ll leave you to it,” Horace said, getting up from the table.

  The first stop he made after lunch was the office at the cabins, and before he was even through the door, Miranda was on him. “She’s in number five, her name is Amy, and I think she’s here to capture a demon and take it with her,” she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

  “Okay, slow down,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and making her stand still. “Number one, I doubt she knows anything about the demons, which leads to number two, don’t spread rumors and don’t talk about demons.”

  “Fine, but just wait and see: she’s up to something,” Miranda said, pouting a little bit.

  “How about if I start by running her name through the system?” he asked. “Then, we’ll start worrying if we have to.”

  Miranda wrote down the information on a slip of paper and handed it over to him. “Do you want me to keep an eye on her?” she asked, looking out the window.

  “You’re going to anyway,” he said. “But don’t start calling me all the time; just write down anything that looks suspicious and I’ll stop by later.”

  At the station, it took him nearly an hour of chatting and getting caught up before he could do his search on Amy Thompson of New York City. It became clear almost immediately that there wasn’t anything extraordinary about the woman. She was a professor, lived alone, and didn’t seem to have very many ties. Both of her parents were gone, and as he read, he actually felt a little sad for the woman.

  But nothing jumped out at him, so he pushed her from his mind, deciding that her story was probably true. He’d still have to find a way to meet her, just to be sure, but on the surface, she was nothing more than a lonely woman taking a vacation, and he saw no reason to believe any different.

  ***Amy***

  Amy arrived back at the cabin, off-balance again and not sure she was equipped to take on whatever was going on in Prospect Falls. The longer she stayed, the stranger the town became, and a part of her wanted just to pack up and leave, but the sinister feeling that was beginning to grow kept her there. She was becoming more and more certain that something had happened to Molly there, and she was determined to find out the tr
uth.

  But it was clear that she needed to lay low for an afternoon, get her bearings, and figure out what her next step would be. If someone had harmed Molly, and the town was covering for that person, she had to be careful, or she could be the next victim. That thought startled her, and for the first time, she became a little scared. She was out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any help, but she shook the thought off.

  There was nothing she could do today unless it was to pack up and leave, and since she wasn’t doing that, there was a long stretch of time that belonged only to her. Groceries stowed away, and plans for a special dinner in place, she took the candles she bought back to the bathroom. Pouring a liberal amount of bubble bath into the filling tub, she lit the candles and settled in with one of her new books.

  When she awoke the next morning, her fears of the previous day seemed a bit ridiculous; she’d let her imagination get away from her as usual, created a mystery where there wasn’t one. If people acted a little odd around her, she was a stranger in a town that didn’t get many. And the warning about the bears was just that: a warning. She’d read too much into it, blown it all out of proportion.

  Today, she’d stop tiptoeing around and just ask someone about Molly, maybe show her picture. This was the last place there had been a signal on her phone. She had to have talked to someone, and eventually, she’d find that person. It couldn’t be that hard in a town this size. If that didn’t work, she’d think of something else; Molly had to have left some kind of a trail. People didn’t just disappear.

  But an hour later, she was sitting at the counter in the restaurant picking at what was left of her breakfast, trying to get up the courage to mention Molly’s name. She knew that once it was out of her mouth, there would be no taking it back, and she couldn’t bring herself to take that step. About to give up, she grabbed her purse and began to root around inside for her wallet, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone sit down beside her.