Page 89 of Dragon Charmed

Tessa turned the corner. “And maybe we’ll get lucky and Connor will find someone who has been in contact with her.”

“You were pretty impressive with the story you came up with,” Megan said.

Tessa smiled. “Him bringing up Mia threw me for a loop, but it’s an opportunity.”

“What was the phone number you gave him?”

“It’s Ben’s burner phone number. You still have it, right?”

“I do.”

“At least we have something to try. Let’s talk about what the heck we’re going to put in the email to Mia.”

Tessa could feel Ben’s eyes on her before she looked at him in the rearview mirror. He nodded. She hoped they were one step closer to figuring out a way to put a stop to this curse and, fingers crossed, a way to give Ben his memories back.

Chapter 35

The summer air calmed Ben’s dragon. The wispy clouds called to him, and he wondered how it was possible that he had a dragon, or…was a dragon. He wasn’t sure exactly what the correct term was. He still barely believed it himself, even after he had unfurled his wings and soared through the air with Lily. It had been an inaugural flight for them both, really.

He wanted to launch into the air now and feel the undercurrents massage his wings. To let go of his worries. Would he ever remember? And if he could, could he be the person his family and clan remembered or, more importantly, needed him to be?

“I’ve seen that look before,” Sienna said as she walked toward him.

“What look?”

“Wanderlust. You tried to hide it from me in the past, but I knew you better than you thought I did.”

It felt strangely comforting to know she recognized something that reminded her of his past. “And what did I do when I had this look?”

She came to a stop next to him. “Nothing. You would push it down and do your duty as CEO and clan leader.”

Ben turned to her at the frustrated tone in her voice. “Was that a bad thing?”

Sienna frowned. “No. You’re a good man. A great leader and a loving brother.”

He looked at her for a moment before responding. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

She nodded. “But. You never did anything for yourself. Never took a break from all the responsibilities.”

“Well, I’ve been on a break for over a year now.” He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice but didn’t think he was successful.

She rested her hand on his arm. “I have a feeling it hasn’t exactly been a vacation these past months. And all of this being thrown at you must make you want to run away screaming.”

“Fly away screaming,” he quipped.

She smiled. “I get that. You’re waiting to see if you get your memories back. To see if we can find out more about Lily or to hear back from Mia now that we’ve emailed her.”

They had decided to have Megan email Mia and simply say that she was worried about her, as were others from the university, and asked her to respond that she was okay.

“What about you?” Ben said. “You’ve taken a lot on your shoulders as well.”

“Running the clan is an honor. You were a role model on how to be a good leader. But I also learned that I can’t do it all myself. Eric and Marcus have been a great help, as have Megan and Tessa. They both helped us figure out that the curse was real and dived right in as members of this clan.” Sienna’s eyes sparkled. “I see you have taken a liking to her as well.”

Ben kept a straight face. “Why wouldn’t I? Megan is a good partner for Eric and a wonderful mother.”

“Yes, she is. But you know who I was talking about.”

He sighed. “Tessa is one of a kind.”