Page 102 of Dragon Charmed

Within seconds her breathing evened out and she was back to sleep. Ben wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. She had apologized to him because she couldn’t help him get his memory back. When this whole thing was his fault.

The witches and Templars had started this war, and he would damn well find a way to end it.

Chapter 39

Ben headed to the dining room even though the last thing he needed was a cup of coffee. He was jumpy and it had nothing to do with caffeine. Last night was still on a never-ending loop in his brain. When he saw Tessa in that dilapidated building standing in that open window, and then she fell, his heart had plummeted along with her.

What if he hadn’t gotten to her in time?

When she’d landed in his arms, he could breathe again. She could have died. He couldn’t…wouldn’t let her put herself in harm’s way again for him or for this clan.

He found Megan, Eric, Sienna, and Marcus sitting in the dining room eating some elaborate dessert.

“Marilyn bakes when she’s stressed,” Megan said. “Plus she heard that part of Ian’s prescription for Tessa was sweets, so she made three desserts. Do you want some?”

Ben shook his head.

“Where’s Tessa?” Sienna asked.

“She ate the late breakfast Marilyn sent up and then lay back down again. I had to practically tie her to the bed to rest. But she fell asleep within a couple minutes.”

“You’re good for her,” Megan said.

If he was so good for her, she wouldn’t be traumatized to begin with. Before he could respond, Evelyn rushed into the room, out of breath.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.

“I can’t find Lily. Have you seen her?”

Ben’s stomach twisted as everyone jumped to their feet. Did the Templars get to her like they had Tessa?

“Where was she last?” Marcus asked.

“In her room. I went downstairs to have some tea with Marilyn, and when I came back, she was gone. I peeked into Bella’s room and Tessa’s to see if she might be there, but I didn’t find her. I’ve been going through the rooms and nothing.”

“Okay. Everyone split up. Megan, Sienna, and Evelyn take the upstairs. We’ll take downstairs,” Ben said. “Meet in the foyer in ten minutes if you don’t find anything.”

“I’m going to have the guards start searching the grounds,” Marcus said before he headed out the door.

Ben’s brain was fighting with his heart and telling him to calm the hell down. She was a little girl who could be playing a game of hide-and-seek. He would hold on to that until they had searched every inch of the house.

Ten minutes later they reconvened in the foyer with no Lily. Megan ran down the stairs and held up Lily’s sketch pad. “I found this under Lily’s pillow.”

The drawing was of Lily crying as a man held her. Ben was lying on his side with his stick arms holding his head like he was hurt or unconscious.

“Did the Templars take her?” Eric said. “How the hell would they have gotten into the house?”

“Or maybe she ran away,” Megan said. “If she saw Ben being hurt because he was trying to protect her, maybe she ran.”

Ben bent over. Jesus, was she out there somewhere alone trying to protect him? Hadn’t he and Tessa told her they would protect her, not the other way around?

Tessa walked down the stairs. “I can’t get any sleep if you all are running around the house. What’s going on?”

Ben took a step toward her. “Lily’s missing. We’ve checked the house, and we can’t find her.”

Color drained from Tessa’s face. “Where’s my phone?”

Megan rushed over to the table in the foyer and brought it back to her. “Here.”