Elise was biting her lip again. She’d been trying to kick the habit, but the last few days had run her nerves ragged. Watching the video footage of Nick’s little expedition into enemy territory was doing nothing to calm her down, and they were only five minutes in.

“There!” Weston said, pausing the video and pointing to a dark spot on the top right hand corner of the screen. He’d hooked his laptop up to Elise’s television, and was using the TV monitor to play back the footage. Elise was impressed with how stealthily Nick had snuck through Saul’s camp, but she also felt slightly sick thinking about how close her son had been to such violent people.

He’s a dragon, remember. Let him spread his wings.

“Watch that spot,” Weston said. “That’s where you’ll see that Saul is hiding the bats.”

Elise watched closely as Weston hit play again. She could see why Holden considered Weston his best friend. Weston was smart, funny, and just as stubborn as Holden. Elise wondered if all dragons were that stubborn. Every one that she’d met so far certainly seemed to be, her own son included, of course. Holden seemed to sense her tense mood. He reached over and grabbed her hand, and she instantly relaxed. She relaxed even more when she remembered that she now had a job working with Holden’s crew. She could hardly believe how lucky she was. She loved cooking, and now she was going to get paid to cook for Holden and his friends, instead of having to work for a boss who seemed to exist just to make her life miserable.

The black spot on the television screen grew closer, and Elise strained her eyes. One of Saul’s soldiers, a wizard, it seemed, opened the door with a flourish of their magic ring. From the vantage point Nick had had with his camera, it was hard to see into the opening. But there was a lot of movement inside the darkness, and now and then a bat flew out of the opening.

“That seems to be the hub of the bat cloning operation,” Holden said. “If we can destroy that, it’ll be a devastating hit to Saul’s power.”

“When do the others get here?” Violet asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Holden replied. “We’ll need a day or two to brief everyone, but then we should be ready to hit the ground running. While the rest of our army continues to search for the dragon ruby, we’ll be hitting Saul with a surprise attack.”

“You’re sure this will work?” Elise asked. She tried not to sound nervous, but she knew she was failing miserably at that task. Holden gave her a reassuring smile.

“We’re never sure of anything, Love,” he said. “But thanks to Nick, we know exactly how Saul’s camp is laid out, and how he runs his operations. We have a big advantage. I know you’re not happy that Nick snuck off, but I do have to say, that boy of yours has skills. He just handed us the tools to seriously cripple Saul’s army.”

Elise looked over at Nick, who was pretending not to hear Saul’s praise. The way her son’s chest was puffed up with pride, though, gave him away. He knew he’d done well. Elise sighed. She was really going to have to work on not worrying constantly, but at least she knew Holden was looking out for Nick. Holden was strong, and would fight to the death to defend Nick. What more could she ask for, really?

She watched the rest of the video with Holden’s hand in hers, and then listened as the group made plans on how to best show the soldiers who would be coming into town tomorrow everything they needed to know about Blackstone, the tunnels, and Saul’s camp. They talked for hours, and eventually realized they were hungry.

“I’d offer to cook you something, but I still haven’t managed to squeeze in a proper trip to the grocery store,” Elise said.

“No worries,” Holden replied, standing up and giving her a wink. “You’re not starting your job until tomorrow, anyway, so why don’t we let someone else do the cooking for once? Do you have a suggestion for a good restaurant in town?”

Elise laughed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but we should go to the diner.”

Holden gave her a look that said he most definitely thought she was crazy.

“I’m serious,” Elise insisted. “The cooks there make excellent food, and, honestly, I want to go and prove to everyone that I’m fine. I’m not scared of my old boss, and I’m not going to hide away just because he fired me.”

“You sure you want to give him the business?” Holden asked.

Elise shrugged. “Just this once, to rub my happiness in his face. Besides, the tips go to the servers. They’re still my friends.”

Holden grinned. “Alright. Let’s go, then.”

The group made their way to the diner, and, as Elise had thought, all eyes turned in surprise when she entered with her new crew. Luckily, Hannah, one of her favorite former coworkers was on shift today. Hannah grinned when she saw Elise.

“Sit anywhere you like,” Hannah said.

Ignoring the stares, Elise led the group to one of the large round tables in the restaurant’s far right corner. She sat between Holden and Nick, but didn’t bother picking up a menu. She already knew by heart what the menu said, and she already knew she was going to order the chilaquiles. While the others looked over the options, Elise looked around at the place, still hardly able to believe she didn’t work here anymore. A smile played at her lips as Holden reached out underneath the table to put his hand on Elise’s knee. Elise realized she was happier than she’d been in a long time. She was sitting between Holden and Nick, her two favorite people, and she was about to enjoy a good meal at a place where she no longer had to put up with the rude boss. A few minutes later, Hannah came by with the coffee pot.

“Coffee for everyone?” she asked. “Except for Nick, I suppose?”

Nick made a face in the direction of the coffeepot. “I’ll take a lemonade, please,” he said.

“I’ll grab that for you in just a minute, hun,” Hannah said as she started to fill the mugs on the table. She looked over at Elise and lowered her voice. “How are you doing, Elise? It was awful how the boss fired you. No good reason! What an asshole.”

“I’m good,” Elise said with a smile. “He did me a favor. I don’t have to deal with him anymore.”

“Have you found another job yet?” Hannah asked, keeping her voice low. “I wouldn’t worry if you haven’t. I overheard the boss saying that he was going to try to hire you back. He’ll make it sound like he’s trying to be nice and do you a favor, but the truth is everything’s going to shit around here without you. You were the best employee here.”

Elise smiled, feeling gratified to know her absence was being felt. Before she could answer, though, Holden put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

“As a matter of fact,” Holden said. “Elise has found another job. She won’t be needing to work for that asshole anymore.”

Hannah’s eyes widened as she seemed to truly notice Holden for the first time. “Are you with this hunk, Elise?” she asked.

Elise smiled. “Yes. And I’ll be working with him and some of his friends from now on. It’s kind of top secret, but trust me when I say that it’s a good cause. You’ll be seeing more of him and his crew around these parts. Make sure you’re nice to them. They’re good people.”

Hannah smiled. “Anything for you, Elise. And good on you for finding a man. Sometimes I thought you were never gonna date again, but it looks like you were just waiting for someone spectacular. I’d say you found him.”

“I’d say I have,” Elise replied with a smile. Holden’s arm around her tightened, and from the corner of her eye she caught Nick smiling up at her. She felt warm, loved, and optimistic about the future with her dragons.

And for once, she wasn’t biting her lip from nervousness, but rather from happiness.