Page 101 of Dragon Tempted

Maybe the dagger would let him wrap his hand on top of Sienna’s holding the blade so that he could end his own life. It was worth a try. Whether or not it worked, Sienna would be devastated. He looked at the men in front of him. Sienna’s brothers, best friend, and surrogate uncle would stand beside her when it was over. She would need the support.

“Take care of her. She’s so strong and she’ll fight you, but she needs you more than you know. She looks up to you both.”

Eric nodded.

Adam swallowed hard. “We’ve got her.”

He turned to Ryan. “She’s going to need you most of all.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

For once in his interminable life, he wished he could say the same. But everyone was relying on him now. And he wouldn’t let anything else happen to this clan—to Lily, Bella. It was time to stop the Templars and bring back magic to fulfill his destiny.

Chapter 34

Sienna stood in the living room trying not to hyperventilate. This had to be some sort of cosmic joke. Kick them when they’re down and laugh at them? What was the point of all this talk of destiny and saving magic when she would have to lose her soul to make it happen. There had to be another way. There had to be.

Tessa and Megan came into the room. Sienna backed away from them. She couldn’t let them touch her right now. She was hanging on by the thinnest of threads.

“There is still time before the Templars come. You both need to grab the girls and leave. Actually, Adam and Eric should go with you too.” It wasn’t like they would have to stay. She would be the one to stop them, right?

Megan frowned. “Where would we go? The Templars could track us down and we’d be vulnerable.”

“I’ll send guards with you all,” she said, her voice tight from the emotions bombarding her.

“And take away resources to protect the clan? No way. We can go to the secure room in the basement.” Tessa crossed her arms. “And if you think that Adam and Eric are leaving you here alone, you have another thing coming.”

Sienna started to pace. “We don’t know how much longer before they come for us. Mia is going to warn us if she can. But she might have already sacrificed herself in the process.” Sienna barked out a harsh laugh. “It seems like sacrifice is the word of the day.”

“Sienna. We can think of something,” Megan said but not with a lot of conviction in her voice.

“But?”

Megan hesitated for a moment. “But…I’ve always wondered what would happen to John once the curse is broken. It’s the reason he’s lived these centuries.”

Sienna rubbed her hand against the middle of her chest, but the searing pain remained. “Maybe he would start growing old and live out the rest of his life instead of being stuck in limbo.”

Tessa nodded. “Maybe.”

“Then why is Mia convinced that the dagger is the answer, and why the hell did it choose me?” Sienna choked out the question on what felt like a mouth filled with sand. She circled around the coffee table by the couch as her pacing increased. “There is no way that this has all led to me having to kill John. No way.”

She bumped against the table, and pain radiated up her leg as one of Lily’s sketchbooks fell to the ground, pages fluttering across the floor. “Damn it.” She reached down and scooped up the pages, trying to arrange them before stuffing them back into the book. A drawing caught her attention, and she held onto it, letting the book and the rest of the pages land on the floor again with a soft thud.

“What is it?” Tessa asked.

Sienna stared at it, trying to understand what she was seeing. Tessa and Megan stepped up on either side of her and stared down as well, each grabbing onto her arms as if to support her and themselves at the same time.

A partial drawing showed the three of them standing around an oval. Tessa held a square, Megan held purple flowers. But what Sienna couldn’t tear her eyes from was the drawing of her holding a knife with red on the tip and dripping down the page.

“Oh my God,” Megan whispered.

The page in front of Sienna blurred, and she blinked back the tears. She couldn’t keep falling apart. Her beautiful niece had drawn Sienna’s destiny with the scribble of a red crayon, and it was time to face up to it.

Her phone dinged and she looked at the screen. “It’s Mia! She’s alive. The Templars are heading this way. She estimates they’ll be here in an hour.”

“I’ll go tell Marcus,” Megan volunteered.

“And I’ll get the girls ready to go downstairs,” Tessa responded, taking the drawing with her.