The smell of old books, leather, and lemon engulfed me as I sat at a polished mahogany table under the domed ceiling of the Academy’s library, a twenty-pound monstrosity of a book laid open in front of me. “A little light reading,” as my favorite witch would say. Well, my favorite after Addie and Saundra and the other Beaumonts. Oh, and Gallad Augustine, who sat across from me as my Court-appointed tutor. Okay, so my favorite fictional witch has been known to say that. Gallad was quickly becoming my favorite male witch.

Although still a senior in high school, he probably knew more about the supernatural and the big secrets of Havenwood Falls than ninety-five percent of its residents. He’d only been studying it all since he was a kid, part of being groomed to eventually take the Augustine seat on the Court and the Luna Coven’s High Council. Basically, he was the younger, male version of Addie, which made sense since he was her cousin. He had a heart of gold and a brain to match, but with his leather coat and combat boots, he kept those attributes camouflaged by a bad-boy persona. In that way, he was pretty much a younger version of Xandru.

It had been awkward at first. Addie and I used to babysit him, and now he was tutoring me in the supernatural and town history. But when I managed to distract him from the heavy weight on his mind, he’d been a great help.

“You’re doing it again,” I whispered, nudging his jeans-clad leg under the table.

He tore his gaze away from the far wall of stained glass windows and blinked green eyes at me. “Huh?”

“Haven’t figured it out yet?” For weeks, he’d been working on a way to find his missing girlfriend, Macy Blackstone, but so far had been unsuccessful.

His face fell, as did his gaze. He pushed a hand through his already mussed-up dark hair. “No. And I’m running out of time. Macy left on the new moon, and it’s back around in two days. The town’s wards will make her forget everything about her home, her family . . . me.”

The despair in his voice broke my heart. “The entire coven’s working on it, right?”

“They’re taking a whole different angle than what I’ve been trying. If I could only get through to her . . .”

“I’m sure someone will figure it out, and she’ll be back in time for Founders Day on Friday.”

A sad sigh escaped him as I went back to my reading.

“This moonstone is pretty serious shit, isn’t it?” I muttered out loud.

In a bit of a delayed reaction, Gallad’s head suddenly snapped up. “Wait. What did you say?”

I slapped my hand over my mouth. “Oops. Sorry, kid. I meant serious crap.”

“No . . .” He gave me a bewildered look, then squinted and cocked his head. “What are you reading?”

“Uh . . . this history book you gave me.” I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, because history and I normally didn’t get along. I could never stay awake through the classes in high school. But this was different. Leaning forward, I whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m kind of digging it. Especially this.” I tapped my finger on the heavy book. “Who knew there were so many magical tools and artifacts? This one, the Eye of Valerian, is part of the moroi history. Our history. It’s inlaid with moonstone, which I looked up, as you taught me, because stones and gems are probably present for a reason. And it has all kinds of magical and energetic attributes. For—”

Gallad jumped up from his chair, sending it crashing to the floor.

“Michaela, you’re a genius!” He paced, rubbing his hands over his head. “I’d totally dismissed moonstone because it’s more of a feminine stone. Works for the females better, you know. But Macy’s a female. I mean, of course she is, but I wasn’t thinking in that way, because she’s not doing the spell. I am, but we’re a couple, which moonstone’s great for, and . . .” He must have realized he was rambling, because he stopped and turned back to me, a big smile on his face—the first one I’d seen since we began working together right after Macy left. “Freaking moonstone—that has to be the missing component. I could kiss you, Michaela!”

I jerked back. “Um, save it for Macy.”

“Yeah, for Macy. I’m gonna prove we’re soul mates and get her back. Fucking yes!” And with a fist pump into the air à la The Breakfast Club, he ran out of the library.

“Okay, then.” Smiling, I went back to my studies, focused on this Eye of Valerian.

Gallad didn’t know it, but I’d been returning to this page after finishing his assigned reading for the last several days. There really wasn’t much written about the special object, just a vague description, but the name tickled a memory I couldn’t grasp. I didn’t know whether it was something I’d heard in passing and quickly forgotten, or if it was another one of my lingering memory holes, which was infuriating. Considering it was important enough to be in this history book and was part of moroi heritage, I felt like I should know more about it.

I didn’t expect Gallad to return, so I ended our session early. I gathered the books and reshelved them, then headed out. I’d left my car for Sindi, and Xandru was supposed to pick me up again, so I texted him to let him know I was headed to the house in the Heights. I had time to spare, which wouldn’t be the case soon with my responsibilities to the Court and decorating at the inn, now that the renovations had been completed. Besides, the Eye of Valerian bugged me, and I felt sure it had something to do with our home or family.

I took my time on the walk as I enjoyed what was probably the last of the nice weather. The autumn equinox was in three days, which meant cold and snow would soon follow. Already the days were growing shorter and the nights chillier. At least I could look forward to skiing again.

Havenwood Heights was an upscale, gated community that crawled up the side of Mt. Alexa not too far from the falls. Mostly Old Families owned the grand estates here, the properties separated by acres of pines, aspens, maples, and oaks, providing seclusion and privacy. The mage families had built their manors closest to the falls, which, according to my readings, contained a wealth of magical energy. The mages denied it in public, but they had to. Otherwise, our little town would be flooded with magic wielders—real and wannabe. But that would explain the draw our box canyon and the falls had for supernaturals, many of whom stumbled upon the area accidentally, just like the Old Families had back in the 1850s.

As I crossed through one of the wooded areas, I recalled Addie and me running this same path when we were kids, because it was the shortcut between her house and mine. Our parents warned us not to, because the woods could be dangerous, but we couldn’t be bothered with following the winding main street. Although we were both aware of differences between us and other kids at school, we didn’t really understand that there were real animals in the forest who’d love to chomp on little girls.

Xandru’s truck pulled into the driveway just as I stepped onto the front walk to the family estate. Stopping in my tracks, I stared at the massive gothic manor that looked like a small castle, and all the happy thoughts drained right out of me, as though a plug had been pulled. I’d been distracted by the good memories and had forgotten to brace myself for seeing my childhood home and the emotions that always flooded over me when I did so. Pushing the feelings back down, I tried to focus on thoughts that were lightyears away from the heavy ones, such as memories of arguing with my parents about my relationship with Xandru. Or trying to fathom their feelings when they chose to send me away, thus ending their own lives in the hopes of giving me and my siblings normal ones. As normal lives as orphans can have, anyway.

Do better than this, I ordered myself, squeezing my eyes shut and focusing on tuning out those thoughts. I drew in a deep breath, forcing the tightness in my chest to loosen, before reopening my eyes and making myself see the home from a stranger’s perspective. Step back and observe. That was one of Addie’s suggestions for coping with overwhelming emotions—to pretend I was an observer of my life, not attached to the dammed-up feelings nor to what I was experiencing.

So I observed the mansion and pondered.

Now that I knew our parents had built the house nearly a century before they knew they could have more children, I wondered what they did with all the space before. Even with the three of us kids, there was enough room for a family five times our size. I knew why they’d built it so large, though—it was a statement. Of wealth, but more importantly, of standing in the community. That was also why our house was close to the top of the entire Havenwood Heights subdivision.

The Petrans weren’t only Old Family, but were one of the very first of those who’d wanted to establish a sanctuary for the supernatural. They’d been driven out of their homeland after the massacre by their first round of children, bringing the Rocas with them. All of them were cursed, as a result of that massacre, but determined to find a new home, a haven for their families and others who wanted to join. Eventually, they met the Beaumonts and then the Augustines, both of whom had come from Salem, and from there, the group grew as they made their way south and west.

Yes, I did quite enjoy learning the real history of Havenwood Falls.

Xandru’s hand rested on the small of my back, and we walked up to the massive front doors together. He unlocked the door for me and let us in. My nose twitched as we entered, and not just because of the dust layered on every surface.

“Do you smell that?” I asked. “Someone’s been here recently.”

“Smells like Gabe.”

I sniffed again. “Yeah, and Aurelia. But there’s something different . . .”

His nostrils flared, and his eyes tightened for a brief moment, but then he simply shrugged. “Probably because Gabe smells different now.”

Really? I hadn’t noticed, but I was around him a lot more, which probably resulted in nose-blindness. “Hmm . . . that must be it. I wonder what they’ve been doing here.”

“You want me to check everything out to be sure?” Xandru asked. “I can also see what needs to be done before winter.”

I smiled up at him. “Would you mind? I need to look for something in my dad’s office.” I paused. “Just, um, check in on me every once in a while so I know you’re okay.”

Leaning down, he gave me a quick kiss. “Sure thing.”

Making my way to Dad’s office at the back of the house, I managed to suppress older memories, but had to shake off the ominous feeling settling over my shoulders from more recent ones. Residual memories of when I’d been here before and Mr. Roca, transformed into a large white man-bat, had kidnapped me. That was when I’d come across some of my mother’s old diaries on the shelves lining the walls of the office, and I’d learned about my older brothers, born in the early 1800s. They’d purposely wanted to become strigoi, so they massacred dozens in the area around their small town in Romania. Several covens of mages had to band together to stop them, and that was how the curse was put on my parents, Mammie, and the Rocas—to prevent such tragedy from happening again. The same curse that jumped to the Rocas when Tase turned me.

I went to those diaries as soon as I entered the wood-paneled room. I thought I’d lost the one I’d been holding when Mr. Roca had swooped me away, but we’d found it later on the living room floor by the shattered windows in the back of the house. I flipped through them all again, thinking I might have read about the Eye of Valerian on that fateful day when I’d learned more about our family history than I’d ever known. But there was nothing in Mom’s diaries.

I circled the large mahogany desk, sat in Dad’s leather chair, and swiveled around, taking everything in. I dug through his drawers and filing cabinets, then scoured the bookshelves again.

The whole time suppressing the sadness that tried welling in my chest and stung the backs of my eyes.

“There you are.” I plucked a tome off the shelf. I knew my father had also kept a journal. People did that sort of thing back then, since there were no cameras or social media to keep track of life.

The journal started with entries about discovering and settling into our box canyon, and beginning to build the inn. I turned the pages quickly, finding a few here and there had been ripped out. Finally, the Eye of Valerian was mentioned on a page dated July 1854.

I have finally been able to take care of the Eye of Valerian, hiding it away for good now that we are settled in our new safe haven. Valerian himself, a practitioner of the dark arts and the original moroi, created the piece, and it has been passed down our family bloodline ever since. It appears at first glance to be a pocket watch, but is so much more than a simple timepiece, powerful in many ways, as Valerian himself was. It is not a piece I wish to possess, nor one I can release to anyone else, but it remains indestructible. Therefore, I enlisted the help of two mages I trust to protect the timepiece by trapping its powers, and I have hidden it where only I know to ensure the power it holds can never be used—or abused—again.

Well. That was a bit disappointing. I’d been hoping to learn more about it—maybe find the piece itself. I flipped through the pages, but found no more written about the Eye of Valerian, such as where it was hidden. Here at the house? Or maybe at the inn? But the inn had been under renovations, and nothing, as far as I knew, had been found.

Unless Gabe had discovered it? He’d shown me everything he’d found, though. Right?

Bumps somewhere else in the house jolted me out of my own head, and chills ran up my spine. Leaving the journal behind, I crept out of Dad’s office, down the hall, and into the large chef’s kitchen.

“Xandru?” I called, though it only came out in a whisper.

Afternoon sunlight flooded through the windows, reminding me that this was not that night, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Especially when Xandru didn’t respond, just like Addie, Aurelia, and Gabe had never answered that night. My gaze swept the kitchen and the great room beyond, falling upon a knife block on the marble counter and the fireplace poker by the hearth. Poker it was—it had a longer reach. I twitched my hand in the air, and the sharp metal stick flew across the room to me.

“Xandru,” I whisper-shouted again as I tiptoed past a formal dining room and into the foyer, holding the poker up, ready to swing.

“Hey!”

My heart leapt into my throat as I spun around and looked up, cringing at the thought of finding another man-sized bat hanging from the ceiling. But no. It was only Xandru, standing at the top of the stairs. He jumped all the way down, landing right in front of me and sending my heart racing again. The poker dropped and clattered to the floor, my hand flying to my chest.

“Look what I found.” He grinned widely, holding up a blue vest with a silver dragon on it in one hand and a matching skirt in the other—my old cheerleading uniform.

“Are you kidding me? You scared the shit out of me!” I gave him a light shove.

“Sorry, but look.”

Humoring him, I studied the uniform, and then frowned. “It’s so . . . small.”

Turning the pieces over, he eyed them. “Well, you were small.”

One hand went to my hip as I jutted it out. “Were? And what am I now?”

He looked up, his eyes flickering with an oh-shit moment. But only briefly, before he grinned and pulled me into an embrace, his hand slipping down to my butt and giving it a squeeze. “Now, you have luscious boobs and a nice round ass.”

I laughed. “Good save there, Roca.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” My head craned back to look up at him. “Luscious boobs, though? I didn’t know you even knew that word.”

“Mmm . . . lickable came to mind first, but I do have a filter. Sort of.”

Leaning up on my toes, I kissed him before turning for the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

I’d have to deal with this place another time. I still wasn’t ready.

I couldn’t even care that Xandru’s idea of looking for ways of winterizing included going through my old closet. I hadn’t noticed he’d brought the uniform with him until I was sliding into the truck’s seat.

“Are you kidding?” he asked when I said something about not fitting into it. He held the two pieces up to me. “You looked sexy before, but I can’t wait to see those luscious boobs and that round ass in this now.” He tossed the pieces at me and added before he closed my door, “But only for me. Nobody else will see that, not even at Halloween.”

Like I’d ever wear my old cheerleading uniform as a Halloween costume in my own hometown. Examining it, I knew I’d look like a porn star, with it barely covering my lady parts.

* * *

“Are you sure this isn’t some cult kind of thing where they’re going to make you drink the Kool-Aid?” Sindi sat on my bed, watching me get ready for my official swearing in. “But, you know, blood Kool-Aid?”

My eyes widened. “Blood Kool-Aid. We should try that! Gabe will probably like it.”

She rolled her big blue eyes. “You’re a sick bastard, Kaela.”

I smiled at the name. And not just because it wasn’t Kaekae. She’d known me for many years in Atlanta only as Kaela Peters, so adjusting to me being Michaela Petran still hadn’t happened. The rest she’d taken pretty well—once she got over being mad at me for not telling her sooner. Until she’d physically come to Havenwood Falls, though, I hadn’t been able to tell her anything about it except that it was nice and I liked my new job, especially when I was promoted to general manager so quickly. Not until she agreed to move here and the Court gave me permission was I even allowed to tell her about my family here.

She was thrilled for me, but I thought she was even more excited about being able to go out in the sun. I couldn’t blame her, because she’d been a vampire for over a century, forced to avoid daylight all that time. She also enjoyed all the hot men in town. Nobody specific had caught her full attention, but she didn’t mind the eye candy.

“You have to admit, it’s weird, this Court thing,” Sindi continued. “We can’t even be there for you to be sworn in. How do we know it’s all legit?”

Shrugging, I wrapped a lock of hair around the curling iron. “It’s part of Havenwood Falls. The Court makes it all work. Without it, this place would be chaos. Or nonexistent. And I guess I’d rather be a part of the decisions than have them made for me. I’ve had enough of that, thank you.”

“You have a point, I guess. I still think it’s bizarre.” She stood to her full height, towering over me. “I’d better go get ready myself. I’m looking forward to this Founders Day. It sounds so charming and quaint. Maybe there will be a lumberjack competition!”

I smiled and shook my head as she left the cottage for her own next door—the one I’d stayed in when I’d first arrived back in town. She seemed to be enjoying small-town life a little too much. I wondered how long it would last, especially once the snow began to fall. Would she stay, or would I have to say goodbye again?

As I crossed the town square for City Hall, people were already gathering in groups, preparing for the Founders Day games to begin. Most groups consisted of family members, or, at least, the same supernatural types—fae in one group, the McCabe mountain lion shifters in another, etc.—all to prove a point of who was faster and stronger. Although a couple adult teams were mixed, I was surprised to see a group of mixed teens, and I decided they’d be my pick for the winners, simply because of their courage. According to Aurelia, the supernaturals had become very cliquish since we’d been in school.

“That Kasun girl doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Irene Beckett gossiped as I passed by her on the corner of Town Square Park. “I know teenagers. I taught them for thirty years and could never get the different kinds to cooperate as a team for more than a few minutes. And she thinks she can get them to win? Foolishness, I tell ya.”

“Ah, give her a chance to prove herself,” I said. “You never know.”

The old woman lifted a silver brow. “Are you defending a wolf, Michaela Petran?”

Ugh. I hated to admit it, but I was. “I’m defending a girl boss. One girl boss supporting another. Maybe if you’d done that back when you were teaching, you’d have had more success.” I held back the cranky old bitch part as I walked off to cross Stuart Street.

After all of the studying and buildup about the power of the Court and keeping secrets and everything, the actual swearing in was more of a letdown than episodes one through three of Star Wars. Saundra Beaumont did some magical thing that made my skin tingle and said a few words, I recited the vows I had to take, they gave me a special phone, and then it was over. No letting of blood or drinking of it, Kool-Aid flavored or otherwise. As soon as we were done, everyone took off for the ribbon cutting at the new library.

“That was lame as shit,” I said to Addie as we left through the metal door and stepped out into the sunshine.

“They rushed through it, being Founders Day and all.” She stopped to switch out her regular glasses for shades.

“Why would they schedule my swearing in for today then?”

“Magic of the new moon combined with the equinox strengthens the spell. Trust me—the ritual may have seemed lame, but the magic binding you was not. Tonight will be freaking insane. I can’t wait.”

A chill ran down my spine, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Sindi had been right in her paranoia. On the other hand, I hadn’t heard Addie this excited about something in a long time. All that magical energy must have been crackling through her veins.

Sindi waited around the corner for us, and we all walked over to the library for the ribbon cutting. I was excited to see Graysin Ravenal in all her awkward gloriousness when she checked into the inn the other night. Not just because we had a lot of design work to do with the inn, but because I genuinely liked her. She’d been responsible for the library’s interior design, and I hoped her return to town for the ribbon cutting meant she was staying.

Although, I didn’t think anyone could miss the awkward tension between her and Everett, the guy she’d left behind, up on the porch as Mayor Barbie cut the ribbon. She stood slightly angled away from him, using her dark hair as a curtain between them. His normal, laid-back demeanor was replaced by a stiff stance, a clenched scruffy jaw, and dark eyes scanning over the crowd, but every once in a while, darting toward her when he thought Mayor Barbie’s bouffant hair hid him.

“What the hell?” Addie hissed from my side.

I looked at her to see what had her attention and followed her gaze. Across the street in Cook’s Corner Park, standing within one of the walled gardens, were two tall males, their heads just above the wall’s height. They appeared to be in deep discussion. One was unmistakably Tase. The other glanced up, and I sucked in a breath.

“Is that Ronan Bishop?” I whispered.

“It sure as hell looks like it.”

I glanced around the dispersing crowd, searching for the peasant top and flowy skirt that was signature Callie Montgomery. “I don’t see Callie. I wonder if she knows he’s back.”

“I want to know what the hell Tase is doing talking to him.” Addie stomped off in their direction, but Ronan saw her and immediately took off.

I looked up at Sindi, whose bright red lips were pulled into a smirk as she watched Addie.

“I kind of feel sorry for Tase,” she said.

“Don’t,” I muttered. We waited for Addie to rejoin us, but she and Tase disappeared behind the garden’s walls, and I wasn’t about to go see what they were doing. “So, I guess it’s you and me now. Addie will meet us there, and we’ll catch up with Graysin and Callie. We’ll need to distract Callie, if Ronan’s back.”

By the time we reached the square, though, we were too late. We crossed Eighth Street just in time to see Callie’s eyes connect with Ronan’s. I stopped in the middle of the street as they glared at each other, Callie in yoga pants and layered tanks, a pile of bracelets adorning her wrists, and her waist-length, dark hair pulled into a loose ponytail, and Ronan dressed for a night at the club. After one long, intense moment, she took off running toward her store, leaving Graysin standing there in bewilderment. Ronan sauntered after her.

“Oh, shit,” I breathed.

We hadn’t known Callie too well growing up because she’d traveled a lot with her family, so she hadn’t really been part of our crowd. After I left, though, she came back permanently to manage her family’s consignment store, and she and Addie had become closer friends. We’d hung out since I’d returned, and I’d learned just enough about her love life to know I didn’t want to be anywhere around when Ronan finally caught up to her.

“We need to rescue Graysin before she gets in the middle of something bad,” I said to Sindi as we finished crossing the street.

“I don’t think we need to worry about her.”

Graysin had already moved, but away from Callie, Ronan, and the sure disaster that was coming between the two. When I saw her headed toward Everett, I decided we didn’t need to interrupt that reunion, either. In fact, considering the tension between those two at the ribbon-cutting and the possible explosion about to take place at Callie’s Consignments, we probably needed to grab a bucket of popcorn and a seat for the show.

“So, what now?” I looked up at Sindi.

“Whoa.” That single word came out in a totally Sindi way—breathy and horny. “Who is that fine specimen of sex on legs?”

My gaze followed hers. “Oh, hell, no!”

Her tongue swiped over her lips as she stared at him, not even looking at me as she spoke. “You said Xandru didn’t have any other brothers besides Tase, but there’s no mistaking that’s a Roca.”

Grabbing her arm, I tried pulling her away toward Coffee Haven. “I said he didn’t have any you needed to be involved with.”

“Oh, I totally need to be involved with every inch of that.” Jerking her arm free, she strode away, making a beeline for Adrian Roca.

Crap. Of course, with Sindi being who she was . . . if anyone could handle a Roca, she could. I just wished she wouldn’t.

She glanced over her shoulder at me, batting her baby blues. “Aren’t you going to come and introduce me?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I will in no way be a part of this. You’re on your own.”

She threw me a stern look, then shrugged and smiled, flipping her red ponytail over her shoulder and continuing toward the biggest mistake of her life. Which was saying a lot.

I looked around town square, saw the teams were starting to prepare for the first races, and realized I was alone. “Well, so much for making this a girls’ day.”

I made my way to Coffee Haven to grab a special coffee made by Harlow, the witch barista. The shop’s owner, Willow, who was a fae, offered up a secret menu that contained special ingredients for the supes. Harlow could make the drinks, as long as Davis, the new human manager, wasn’t around. For me, she topped my whipped cream with a sprinkle of what looked like red sugar crystals, but they weren’t made of sugar. The drink—coffee with a sprinkle of blood—was my personal heaven. When I saw Gabe standing alone outside, I ordered one for him, too.

I hurried past Callie’s Consignments, cringing at the sounds coming from inside the closed store, to where Gabe stood in front of Madame Tahini’s place.

“I don’t drink coffee,” he said when I held the cup out to him.

“Trust me. You’ll like this one.”

His eyes lit up when he took a sip.

“Right?” I smiled. “Just don’t tell anyone. So what are you doing out here alone? Aren’t you supposed to be helping for your volunteer work?”

“I did earlier with setup. Ms. Howe told me to take a break.” He took another swallow of coffee, licking the whipped cream off his upper lip. “So are you officially a member of the Court now?”

“Yep.”

“So you can get me back into regular school?”

“I’ll try after this semester. As long as everything goes well.”

He frowned. “I’m trying as best as I can.”

“I know you are. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. When you found all that stuff while they were working on the inn, you didn’t happen to find any pocket watches, did you?”

“No.”

Was it me, or did he answer that a little too quickly?

“None? Not even a timepiece for that leather cuff you found?”

He shifted his weight. “Well, yeah, there was one, but it was junk. Didn’t work.”

“What did it look like?”

He shrugged. “Like an old-fashioned pocket watch.”

“Was it decorated with moonstone?” He didn’t reply at first, and I thought maybe he didn’t know what moonstone was. “White but kind of pearly?”

“I don’t know,” he finally said, more of a growl than spoken words, though. “I mean, no. It was just plain. Old and boring.”

He started to walk off. Something wasn’t right, though. His entire energy had shifted. I didn’t need to be a witch to sense that.

“Gabe, are you sure? You didn’t find anything like that?”

“I think I’d know, Michaela! I don’t have anything like that,” he shouted, throwing his half-full cup in the trash can. “I have to get back to help.”

He hurried off, leaving me frowning.

“What did you find in that old inn of yours?” a raspy voice asked from my right. I turned to find Old Man Mills’s lanky frame standing in front of his pawn shop on the corner, his wild white hair, pale green eyes, and snowy skin making him look like an elderly version of Jack Frost. “Anything you want to sell?” He shuffled closer, and I inched away. “Maybe that timepiece that doesn’t work?”

“Gabe found it all. It’s up to him.”

“I’d be very interested in seeing what he found.”

Something in his tone made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Why?”

“Could be worth something, young lady. I’d pay him handsomely for it.”

“Do you think the timepiece is valuable?”

His white brows lifted. “I don’t know without seeing it, but I have a good hunch there was something valuable lost—or hidden—in that inn.”

The strange feeling intensified. “I’ll, uh, let him know.”

“Be sure you do. I insist.”

I took a bigger step away, not at all liking his tone or the way he looked at me. As if he wanted to eat me. Considering he was a dragon shifter, that could have very well been in his thoughts.

“Like I said, it’s up to him.”

“Just remember, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” His tongue seemed to slither on the word treasure.

Nodding, I turned to hurry off, only to crash into Addie.

“He’s so creepy,” I whispered as we crossed the street back to the park.

“What did he want?”

“He thinks we found treasure while renovating the inn.”

“Treasure, huh? As in dragon treasure?”

I snorted. “You’re such a dork. That’s a myth.”

“Is it?”

I looked sideways at her, and she rolled her eyes.

But perhaps she was on to something . . .

Based on my father’s journal, the Eye of Valerian could have been hidden somewhere in that inn. The date of the entry had been right around the time they’d been building it. And the more I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine Dad hiding a family heirloom, especially one with magical powers, anywhere else besides the inn or the house—the two places he had complete control over.

Until he died.

If Gabe hadn’t found the pocket watch, I wondered if someone else had. It definitely could have been valuable, considering Old Man Mills’s interest.

And then I recalled a certain somebody digging in the conservatory during the renovations. Somebody who’d already proven how far he’d go for money.