Page 55 of Dragon Charmed

She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the key. Marcus unlocked the cuffs, and Eric hauled the man up from the bed and hugged him. Then Marcus pulled him in for a hug.

Ben was gaping at them like they were speaking a different language. “I don’t understand. I’m Adam?” He turned to Tessa. “You told me I killed him.”

Tessa didn’t understand either. Adam had died in the cave, and now the guy she had spent days with was him?

“Let’s get you packed up and back to the clan house,” Eric said. “We’ll figure this out together.”

Ben pointed to his duffel bag, which Marcus grabbed, and they walked outside. Tessa snatched her Taser off the floor and followed them.

“Do you want to ride with us and I can have one of the guards drive your car to the house?” Eric asked.

“No…I’ll drive. Um…someone will need to bring his truck though. What about Sienna?”

“She wasn’t home when we left. I’m going to have Marcus call her guard and get her home ASAP. I’ll want to tell her before she sees him.”

“And Ian should come,” Tessa said.

“Yes. Marcus is calling him next.”

Tessa climbed into her car and rested her shaky hands on the steering wheel. How had this taken a one eighty? Ben was Adam? The über-rich leader of the clan and head of their company?

When Eric asked her if she wanted to ride with them, she had panicked. He was Ben, a wonderful man who became a liar, and then a dragon, and then a killer in the span of a few minutes. And then, surprise! He was Adam resurrected from the dead. Her brain and heart were suffering whiplash.

The drive gave her some time to calm down. She pulled in behind the SUVs and parked in front of the clan house. As everyone climbed out of the cars, another car arrived and parked behind Tessa. Sienna got out of the car as well. Crap! She was sure Eric hadn’t told her over the phone what had happened, which meant she was walking into this unprepared. Tessa headed toward her and tried to stop her to explain.

“What’s going on, Tessa?” Sienna said, looking past her.

Before Tessa could respond, Sienna froze and a scream ripped from her throat. Tessa reached for her, but Sienna was on the move, running to Ben and throwing herself into his arms.

Ben’s gaze locked on Tessa. A host of emotions ran over his face. Confusion, pain, hope, and then back to confusion again.

It was a miracle Adam was alive. That’s what she had to hold on to. They would figure this out. And she would sort out her feelings for the lost man…dragon…who had no idea of the superhero shoes he would be expected to fill.

Chapter 22

Ben stood at the bedroom window taking in the valley. The scene was picturesque, but it didn’t feel like home to him. Even the actual house he was standing in didn’t feel like home. It was a hell of a house, and it belonged to him?

After leaving the motel, Eric and Marcus tried to talk to him about what had happened. He wanted to figure things out. That had been his whole reason for leaving Walter’s place, but their words became muffled. As if his mind was full and blocked any and all information flying at him at the speed of light.

How could he be this Adam? He didn’t have any spark of recognition when Eric and Marcus embraced him. And Sienna? Her scream had pierced him. He would be an emotionless robot otherwise, but he didn’t remember her.

Dr. Murphy, another person he was supposed to know, had just finished examining him. Now he was finally alone. And he was relieved, which made him feel guilty. Shouldn’t he want to spend time with his family? To figure out what it meant to be Adam?

He was in shock, or that’s what the doctor said. He’d wanted to hook him up to an IV, but Ben refused. So they compromised and the doctor had Ben drink two glasses of water and made him promise to lie down for a bit. Ben hadn’t slept but an hour here or there for the last three days, so he knew he could use the sleep, but his nerves were dancing and not in the mood to cooperate.

He turned when the door opened slightly and a head peeked inside. His heart jumped at seeing the little girl. He stopped himself from backing away from her since he was still worried about hurting her somehow. “Lily.”

She grinned and walked into the room carrying her crayons and sketch pad.

That smile did something to his insides. “Did you come to visit me?”

She nodded and sat on the couch, because yes, the bedroom was big enough to have a couch and chairs in it along with a desk and a large attached bathroom. Ben didn’t know if he would get used to this. But then, he came from this, right?

He walked over and sat next to her. “Will you show me the picture you were coloring of you and me the other day?”

She nodded and flipped through the pages until she held up the book to him. It was the same picture, but Lily had added some things to it. He had wings as well. Did that mean he could fly? He sat back and blew out a breath, and Lily reached over and patted him on the hand.

His heart cracked open. She was such a wonder, and it had nothing to do with her gift and everything to do with her kind soul. He blinked his heavy eyes.