Page 72 of Dragon Tempted

“You can never be too careful. We don’t know if there was a bug or tracking device in the box.”

“Paranoid much?”

He frowned. “I’ve been attacked multiple times. It pays to be paranoid.”

“Sienna, do you want me to get you something to drink?” Ryan asked.

Sienna shook her head. “No. I’m fine. Let’s get going.”

Ryan backed out of the parking space. “What was in the vault?”

“I don’t know yet. Mr. Paranoid didn’t want us to open anything until we were in the car.”

“Good idea,” Ryan said.

Great. She was dealing with two paranoid males. She blew out a breath and reached for the small box first. Sienna unwrapped the cloth around it and found a ring box. She flipped open the lid. It held a man’s signet ring. Picking it up, she ran her fingers over the raised sentry symbol. “This ring has to be for Eric. It must represent the shield the second storybook talks about.”

Sienna reached for the flat cloth-covered article next and unwrapped it to find another leather-bound book. Her nerves danced when she saw the familiar writing of her great-grandmother. “It’s the continuation of the story.”

“Read it out loud,” Ryan said.

“I will. Give me a moment. I have one more thing to open.” She reached for the item and revealed a wooden box. She pushed the latch and opened the lid. Inside was a small metal bowl. She lifted the bowl from the blue velvet it sat on. On the side, the sentry seal was etched around the bowl in four places.

“What do you think this is for?” she asked.

John went pale and shook his head.

She stared at him. “What’s wrong?”

He hesitated. “There’s something about the bowl.”

“You’ve seen it before?”

“I…don’t know.”

She placed the bowl back in the box and closed the lid, and he seemed to breathe easier. “We can worry about that later. How about I read the next part of the story? We might get it done before we get home.”

Sienna opened the book again, turned the page, and began reading out loud. The longer she read, the more tension clogged the air. Because this story was all about the youngest sister, Evie, and her quest. A quest that would have her facing off with trolls, a trickster, and an ogre. Sienna kept reading until she got to the point where Evie knighted her brothers and they became dragon sentries.

“What does all this mean?” John said.

Sienna could see Ryan’s worried eyes in the rearview mirror. “Your brothers are going to lose their shit when they hear that you have to go on a quest.”

“I know. But it can’t be helped. And it doesn’t say that they come with me, which is going to make it worse.”

John shook his head. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

Sienna picked up the book again and flipped the page, only to blink at the damaged book. “The last pages have been ripped out.”

Noooooo, Veronica wailed.

Sienna had prayed that the end of the story would hold the clues to finally breaking the curse. But it was gone. And she didn’t know what that meant for her or her brothers. She let the book drop to her lap, and John rested his hand over hers. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Ah guys, we have another problem right now. We picked up a tail.”

Sienna twisted to look out the tinted back window. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It’s a pickup truck that’s been behind us for a bit now. When we were on the main road, I was less worried, but they took the same exit and just turned again when we did.”