Page 19 of Dragon Tempted

As clan leader, Sienna dealt with a lot of infuriating people. Even her overprotective brothers could push too far. And that was nothing compared to the other clan leaders. But John Baker? He was in a league all his own.

She tensed at the sound of the door opening behind her.

Her inner voice sang, You’re in trouble nah-ow.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Sienna braced herself for the lecture she would be receiving from her brothers and Marcus. She turned and blinked in surprise to find Megan and Tessa walking toward her.

“How’s John?” Megan asked.

“He’s doing better. He practically fell asleep in the middle of arguing how dangerous it is for him to stay here.”

Tessa snorted. “I’m not surprised.”

“How are you doing?” Megan asked.

“I’m fine.” Sienna sighed. “A lot of excitement.”

“That’s an understatement,” Tessa said, resting her hand on Sienna’s arm.

Megan stepped to her other side. “Are you up to telling us what happened?”

Sienna leaned back against the railing and recounted escaping from the cabin. When she finished, instead of bombarding her with questions, both women stared at her.

“What? Your silence is killing me.”

“Just trying to absorb it all,” Megan said. “Why did you go see John?”

That wasn’t the question Sienna expected. “Because you told me he was leaving. We need to break the curse. He can’t leave.”

“Right. But you ran off without letting anyone know,” Tessa added. “That’s something old Tessa would have done.”

Sienna blew out a hard breath. “All I saw was red, and I had to get to him and stop him.”

“And you landed in the middle of an attack,” Megan said.

“It’s a good thing I was there.” Sienna jerked upright from the railing. “I got John out of there to safety.”

Megan and Tessa looked at each other before Megan spoke. “That’s true. But you could have gotten him to safety with Ryan’s help. And he would have been there for added protection.”

Sienna gaped at them. “Wow. I was expecting my brothers to come out here and lecture me. Instead they sent in the big guns.”

“Big guns.” Tessa laughed. “I love it! Actually Eric and Adam were having a very serious discussion on what to say to you, and we told them to let us handle it or it would blow up spectacularly in their faces.”

Megan reached for Sienna’s hand and grasped it. “With everything that’s happened recently, we want our family safe. And that includes you.”

Sienna swallowed. “I’m the clan leader. I will do anything to protect our family and this clan.”

Tessa grabbed Sienna’s other hand. “You are the clan leader. And a grown-ass woman. And I know that most of the other clan leaders don’t take you seriously. You have a trifecta of stereotypes working against you. You’re a woman, you’re young, and you’re beautiful, so you have to work three times as hard to be taken seriously. But the people that matter know the truth. You are a brilliant, amazing leader. We just need you around to keep leading us.”

“I know.” It chafed her somewhat to admit this. Years of being the baby sister with overprotective brothers had fine-tuned her independence, but she had almost lost both of them to this curse. She could understand why everyone was worried.

“Have you talked to Ryan yet?” Megan asked.

“No,” she grimaced. “But I need to go find him.”

Both women gave her a hug before she headed into the house to face her best friend. Ryan not seeking her out and telling her off immediately had her nerves tingling. And those nerves ratcheted to an uncomfortable sting when she didn’t find him in the office. Instead, Marcus was there on his phone handing out assignments to the guards.

She waited until he’d finished his call to speak. “Everything good?”