Page 9 of Dragon Tempted

Sienna relayed what happened, and they sat quietly until she finished. Adam gave her a long look. “I asked you what was wrong earlier today, and you didn’t mention any of this.”

“I know. I decided to see John when I got back to the office and started thinking about next steps. We have to do something. What if we showed the other clans the curse?” She held up her hands before they could protest, and glanced over at her nieces as they played. “We could remove the line about the oracles.”

The couples looked at each other, communicating without saying a word. A small ache settled in her chest. She was happy for her brothers, but she couldn’t help but wish she had that sort of connection with someone.

“We don’t have to decide anything now,” Sienna said as she watched Lily turn Bella around very slowly, both girls giggling.

Eric watched the girls as well. “Bella, Lily, it’s time for bed. Come get your good-night kisses.”

Tessa and Megan held out their arms as the girls climbed into their laps for smooches. When they were done, the girls climbed into Sienna’s lap, and she kissed them both, hanging on tight. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt these girls. Would destroy anyone who tried. But she couldn’t get over the feeling that sitting back and doing nothing would put them in danger as well. And as clan leader it was her job to protect them all.

Chapter 4

John stared at the words in front of him, running his fingers over the print. He’d pulled out the translation of the scroll shortly after Sienna left, and had been turning to it again and again the last couple of days.

Although he wouldn’t forget it anytime soon.

Not that he would be forgetting Sienna anytime soon either. He’d met her one time, and she had already left an indelible mark on him, much like Lily’s and Arabella’s birthmarks.

Yes, their birthmarks heralded the return of oracles. That had to mean something. Lily’s biological parents had been dragons, but Bella was special considering the fact that her mother, Megan, was human. Until she’d been conceived, there had never been a human-dragon child born. At least that he was aware of, and he had centuries of knowledge rattling around in his brain.

How many memories could one person hold?

And speaking of memories, he walked over to the couch, shifted the one side, and flipped back the rug to reveal the trapdoor. He opened it, pulled out his backpack, and unzipped it. It was full of any note he had taken or lead he had followed over the centuries regarding the curse. His journey—one might say his obsession—was captured in old leather volumes from the past as well as spiral-bound notebooks he had more recently migrated to.

He sat down and flipped through his notes. His more formal writing of the past had also changed over the years. Now his thoughts were often in abbreviated scribbles. He’d dealt with witches, of course, considering he was half witch, although the meetings were never happy ones. But he didn’t remember dealing with anything regarding Templars, and as he set one book aside and picked up another, his memories were holding true. Megan had researched the Templars, or Knights Templars as they were known in the history books.

They had supposedly disbanded almost a thousand years ago, yet the curse referenced them and now they had come out of hiding, kidnapped Tessa several months ago, and threatened Lily. He made notes about Tessa in his notebook and then flipped back through pages of his newest notebook until he found what he was looking for—Mia White.

When John had finally gotten his hands on the Death of Magic painting, he tried to find Mia White and have her examine it. Mia was the foremost authority on art history regarding dragons. But she’d dropped off the grid and couldn’t be located. Undeterred, John found Megan, a former graduate student of Mia’s, who also studied dragon art and agreed to show the painting at the museum she worked for in Nashville.

And hadn’t that opened up Pandora’s box? And showed them the actual curse that had started it all.

Both Adam and Eric almost died because of it. Witches and Templars were now attacking the Simonson clan. And Mia White, the person he thought would help, had turned out to be a Templar? And for what? To stop dragons from breaking the curse? A curse that had stripped them of turning into their full dragons centuries ago. Until recently they still could unfurl their wings and claws and had their advanced dragon senses of sight, smell, and hearing. But those were failing as well. Dragon children were being born without the marks on their backs symbolizing where their wings should appear.

The time had come to finally put an end to this curse.

But how? All these notes were like puzzle pieces that he couldn’t fit together.

And the words to break the curse played on repeat in his head. They flashed like a neon sign.

Blood will be shed

Forgiveness and Sacrifice

Magic restored

His gut was telling him it was time to move on. To work to break the curse…by himself. It had been centuries since he’d allowed anyone close. Now the threat was growing. Hell, it was smacking him in the face.

Blood shed. Blood shed. Blood shed.

Forgiveness and Sacrifice.

He had no problem sacrificing himself to stop this damn curse. Had always expected that would be the outcome in the end, especially after the curse was revealed. Hell, hadn’t his so-called grandmother set it all in motion by shedding his blood to create the curse to begin with?

He’d become desperate to finish what his blood had started, and his desperation had almost cost the Simonson clan several lives. He wouldn’t put anyone else at risk, not again, especially Megan and Bella. He even worried about Tessa, who got on his last nerve. And her daughter, Lily, too.

His cell rang and he glanced at the name on the screen and wondered if his thoughts had conjured her.