“Let’s see where we’re at.” I exhaled and absently noted my breath had turned steamy. I was far too upset at the moment than was safe or sane.

“Drink this,” Peri suggested calmly as she pushed a glass of ice water toward me. I looked at her questioningly and she merely chuckled. “Go on. You know you need it.”

I picked up the glass and grinned. “You’re right. I needed this.” I swallowed several gulps and felt the fire inside me go out. With a cough, I shook my head. “Thank you.”

“Good, now pass me another slice of pizza.” She pointed at the box of extra cheese. When I merely looked at her with raised brows, she snapped a few times. “Seriously. I’m trying to stay awake. We have to figure this out. I need fuel,” she complained.

Reluctantly, I picked up a slice, dropped it on a paper plate, and passed it to her. “You’re going to make yourself sick, cupcake. We can finish this in the morning.” Then I glanced at the clock. “Or the afternoon. It’ll be dawn in a few hours.”

Peri shook her head. “No, we need to finish this.”

I have to admit, I liked her spunk. Hell, I liked her. That much should’ve been obvious to anyone within a thousand feet of us. After all, I couldn’t seem to stop touching her. I could barely take my eyes off her face. I was fascinated with the way she knelt on the chair and leaned on the table. Every time she gathered her hair over one shoulder, I wanted to kiss the back of her neck and nuzzle her exposed skin. Peri had me so enthralled, I seriously struggled to focus on our mission.

“Let’s go over what the victims have in common,” she began slowly as she scanned the family tree. “All young, but not the youngest. These are the guys who’re working, making money, but unmated.” Her brow furrowed. “The line stops with them.”

“Hell, I should be in jeopardy too,” I murmured while I stared longingly at her hands. I’d touched them earlier and had yet to recover. Peri was so soft, so tiny. I could practically wrap my whole hand around her fist. In fact, I wanted to try it. With my fingers extended, I slowly pushed them toward her.

Suddenly, Peri bounced to her feet. “Bathroom. Be right back.” Then she bolted up the stairs and the door slammed shut.

Seconds after she disappeared, I heard footsteps on the stairs. The driver had finally come out of seclusion after disappearing the minute he finished dinner. “What are you doing?” Stephen’s eyes narrowed.

I stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He turned his head, watching me from his peripheral vision. “See, I think you do. I watched you over dinner and I think you like her.” His brow arched in challenge.

“Maybe I do.” I shrugged. “So what?”

“Listen, now is not the time. This girl is counting on you to keep her out of jail and…and not dead.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m watching you.” Stephen gestured to his eyes, then pointed at me.

“Really?” I stood and loomed over him.

He held up both hands. “Just watching. I mean…what could I do to you?” He swallowed hard. “Plus, you pay me.” Stephen shrank down in his seat.

“Obviously, I care about her. Help us figure this thing out.” I pointed to the family tree.

He moved from the foot of the stairs to the end of the table in all of six paces. The man was far more curious and interested than he let on. Slowly, he scanned the papers and his brow furrowed. “I don’t understand…” His voice trailed off.

Peri skipped down the stairs and froze at the end of the table. “Mishal…no!” Her mouth gaped open. “He’s not a friend. He’s an employee. He doesn’t…know.”

“Fuck!” I reached out, grabbed Stephen by the lapels and sat him in the chair beside me. Then I looked up at her. “I had no idea.”

“Obviously,” she grumbled. “Now I’ll have to fix it.”

“How?” I frowned.

Stephen watched her walking towards him with a resolute look on her face. “What’s going on? What’s she doing?”

Slowly, Peri moved to stand in front of Stephen. “Shh,” she whispered as she laid her hands on his temples. “Go to sleep and when you wake, no memories of tonight will you keep, nor claims of dragons will you make.”

His eyelids drooped immediately and he began to fall over, but with her help, we managed to keep him from hitting the floor. I hefted him over my shoulder and studied her for a moment. Her shoulders drooped and she couldn’t meet my eyes.

“Cupcake, I’m going to get him in bed. We’ll talk when I return.” I waited for her response, but she barely nodded. So, I cupped her face and tipped her chin up with my thumb. “For the record, I think you’re amazing,” I whispered, then I bent my head and pressed my lips to her temple before I mounted the stairs.

This was an interesting turn of events. I concentrated on ensuring Stephen was laid comfortably on his bed. I tugged off his shoes and removed his socks. Then I draped a throw over him. Standing upright again, I took a few deep breaths before I wandered back down the stairs and joined Peri in the dining room.

I found her in the kitchen, leaning over the sink, looking like she wanted to be sick. “You okay?” I asked as I wrapped an arm around her waist.

Biting her cheek, she slowly gazed up at me. “I guess we need to talk, huh?”

I nodded while a smiled played on the corner of my lips. “I think that would make sense. Somehow, I feel a story coming on.”

* * *

“It’s not a story so much as it is a different history.” I carefully took his hand in mine and gently pulled for him to come with me. To my surprise, he did. Though I was worried he’d pull away from me, or reject me, he merely held me as tightly as he had before he watched me perform my magic on our driver. When we reached the table, I picked up a pen and on the paper above the family tree, I wrote a name above the first dragon: Sabine.

“Sabine?” His brow furrowed and I knew he had no idea why I’d add her to the genealogy.

“She’s the creator of dragon shifters. I believe you refer to her as ‘sorceress’ in your version of history.” I waited patiently for his response.

Mishal nodded. “I’m listening, Peri. Talk to me.”

I inhaled deeply, careful to control my emotions. “I’m one of her descendants. Let me tell you the rest of the story.”

“I should’ve known there was more,” he murmured.

“There’s always more. History is written by the victor, remember?” I shrugged.

“Tell me out here,” he suggested, his arm now around my waist as he tried to lead me into the living room.

I played along. I sat where he wanted me. After all, my family had been on the losing end of history for nearly a thousand years and our role had been nearly blotted out ever since. I curled up in a corner of the couch and he plopped down in the middle, giving me absolutely no room to breathe, and I rather liked it. Despite my sadness and my fear, deep down, I had strange stirrings and I knew they were about this dragon shifter.

“Once upon a time, there was a sorceress named Sabine who held in her heart a great love for the king of a once-great kingdom. The city had been under attack for many years and finally an accord had been struck. The king would marry his daughter off to the prince of their enemy. This union would bring peace and great wealth in the form of her dowry.” I glanced at him briefly before reaching out to take his hand in mine. Closing my eyes, I felt the thrum of energy between us which, while unnerving wasn’t altogether unpleasant.

“Go on,” Mishal urged, even as he squeezed my hand tighter.

“Of course.” I took a breath and adjusted my position on the couch to lean forward instead of back. “While the princess was being transported to the Turks to take her vows, a dragon kidnapped her and killed most of her entourage. When the king found out, he called upon his knights to battle the dragon, and when they ultimately failed, he reached out to his trusted sorceress, Sabine, to rescue his daughter. She made her way to the dragon’s lair, which was little more than a cave in the cliffs over the ocean. Though she expected to find the princess miserable and frightened, Sabine found the princess curled up in his arms, singing to him, nuzzling up to him, and the dragon was practically purring.” I chuckled.

“I know this story. Sabine made the dragon into a man, and he became the first dragon shifter.” Mishal grew serious. “Tell me more about Sabine. What happened next?”

“This is where your historical account ends, but where it suddenly becomes interesting for my family.” I shook my head. “See, Sabine returned to the king. She explained what happened. He was furious. All he saw was the end of his kingdom, the loss of money, the continued war.” My eyes flashed as I looked at him. “The king was a ruthless, greedy man, and yet Sabine loved him.”

“Sounds like he was worse than the dragon.” Mishal frowned.

I nodded. “Oh, he was. He blamed Sabine, threw her in the dungeons without hearing her out. It took a month before he could bring himself to look at her. By then, her love had turned to hatred. She told the king she would’ve married him. He’d been a widower for years. She told him he would’ve wanted for nothing.” I released his hand and rubbed my temples. This part of the story always made me hurt. “The king laughed and told her he wanted no part of marriage to her. She had no dowry. She had no title. In his world, she had nothing to offer.” Pain shot through my temple and I winced.

“You okay, cupcake?” Mishal reached out and gathered me into his arms. He pressed my head to his chest and rocked me, comforting me like he would a child.

I sniffled. “You still see me as that little girl who wanted nothing more than to curl up in your lap every night,” I mumbled.

He froze and pushed me back from his chest so he could look me in the eye. “Actually, no…I don’t. That thought never occurred to me. Instead, I wanted to comfort a woman I’ve quickly grown to…care about.” Mishal finger-combed my hair, rubbing my scalp as he wound his fingers through my wavy tresses.

“You mean it?” I whispered, feeling more hopeful than I had in such a long time.

Leaning down, he pressed his forehead to mine, then slowly met my eyes until we were staring at each other. Pangs of longing hit me in the heart and where once I felt strange tingles, a fire now raged. A whimper escaped my lips and then nothing because his lips were against mine. Part of me wanted nothing more than to give in to this temptation. But the sensible part overruled and insisted I finish what I’d started. I pulled back and pressed my fingers to his mouth. “Wait,” I whispered. “There’s so much more you need to know before…before you kiss me again.”

He pulled my fingers from his face so he could speak. “You think I won’t want to after that, huh?” Mishal shook his head. “Just hurry up so I can prove you wrong.” He grinned, then tucked me under his chin. “Continue.”

I licked my lips, wondering where to pick up the story. “When the king refused her, humiliated her, she lost it. Heartbroken, she never considered the ramifications of her words. She didn’t even think of them as a spell. They were just the ramblings of a scorned sorceress.”

“She cursed him. Good for Sabine.” Mishal chuckled.

“Ah, but also bad for Sabine, almost as bad as for the king. See, spells should always be made with caution. We’re now taught to watch the wording, pay attention to our emotions, and remember the rule of three.” I sighed.

“What’s the rule of three?”

“Whatever we do comes back to us threefold, good or bad. Cursing is no joke. Sabine became a cautionary tale. She told him he’d never know love, he’d lose all his wealth, and he’d lose all his power,” I whispered. This part of the story still gave me shivers. “The kingdom was overthrown. The coffers were empty. And because he was truly a terrible person, not a single soul loved him, except maybe his son. As the castle began to crumble under the Turk’s attack, one of the knights rescued Sabine and they ran off together, but she was never the same again.”

Mishal quietly digested the tale before asking, “How so?”

“Well, though the knight loved her, she had no love in her heart. Their union was fruitful in that they had children, but there was no love, no money, and she’d grown afraid of using her magic, so in a sense she lost her power too.” I bit my cheek and nuzzled deeper into his chest.

“And since?” He wondered. “What has become of your line in the last…what, nearly nine hundred years?”