Chapter Fifteen
Bernie
Xavier’s fussing woke her up. Bernie yawned as she retrieved her baby. She blinked blearily for a few times as she cuddled Xavier close to her. As much as she knew she needed it, napping during the day never felt all that great. Her mouth was dry and she was in desperate need of some juice or water. And maybe something small to chew on.
“I hope you had a better nap than Mommy did,” she cooed to Xavier. “And that’s a dirty diaper.”
She quickly threw open the curtains to let in some nice sunshine and fresh air. Then she changed the diaper and headed downstairs. She heard voices murmuring from the living room and when she glanced in she saw Polly and Gilbert. They sat close to each other on the couch and it looked as though Polly had been crying. Bernie tried to duck out before they saw her but Polly glanced up and met her eye.
She smiled and held out her arms. “I need some baby snuggles.”
Bernie gave her Xavier, then hesitated. Should she ask what was wrong, or just let it go as private business? She cleared her throat and Polly shot her a warning glance. Right. So, she needed to not bring up those tears.
“Where is Tyler?” she asked instead.
“Oh, he went out.”
Bernie frowned. She remembered that now. He had woken her up to tell her that he was heading into town. “He’s not back yet?”
Polly shook her head. “Well, I guess he might have come back while we were talking and decided to stay outside. I don’t know. Why?” A smirk grew on her lips. “Is there something that you are in desperate need to tell him?”
“Nothing that desperate.” Heat rose to her cheeks. Here she was, trying to be nice and give Polly a break and Polly threw that right back into her face. Well. Bernie supposed she had it coming, with all the back and forth that she and Tyler had done since she arrived. “Do you mind watching Xavier for a bit? I’m feeling a bit gross and I think some fresh air will help with that.”
“Of course.”
Gilbert slipped his finger into Xavier’s hand and smiled, though it looked wistful. “I’ve got to be going soon, so—”
“I’m capable of taking care of a baby.” Polly’s tone grew a little lighter. “After all, I’ve been taking care of you and Tyler for a couple years now. Xavier is much less demanding.”
Bernie relaxed to hear her joke and smiled along with her. “Thanks. I don’t want to take him outside today, it’s a little cool. And I think that he might be getting a bit of a cold, he’s been stuffed up lately.”
Gilbert shook his head. “Dragons don’t get sick.”
Xavier sneezed.
“Although I guess at this age he’s not a true dragon yet. Not until his fires spark.” Gilbert grimaced and ducked his head bashfully. “So, I guess he could be getting a cold.”
Polly patted Bernie’s hand. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take good care of him until you get back. Go. Enjoy the sunshine. Get some vitamin D.”
“Thanks.” Bernie hesitated still. Even after all this time here and the more frequent times when she had left Xavier with Polly or Tyler while she went and did something else, it was still hard for her to leave her baby. “I have my phone if you need me.”
She left before she could change her mind. She was only going for a little walk, after all. The cool air filled her lungs, helping to wash away the exhaustion that still clung to her body. The neighborhood was quiet. The police presence that had been hanging around was no longer necessary, as the traffickers that Bernie had helped put away were all pleading guilty. It had been decided that they no longer posed a danger, and for that she was grateful. She had enough to worry about without criminals added on top of it all.
Her phone rang. Bernie answered it at once.
“Miss Gardener.” The male voice was low and husky, with a layer of growling to it that made her shiver. “My name is Leopold Turner. I’m an associate of Tyler’s in his motorcycle club. I’m afraid that there has been an incident.”
Her heart leaped to her throat and her whole body went numb from inside out. Her fingers tightened on her phone until her knuckles were white. It felt as though her tongue was glued to the top of her mouth. For several seconds she couldn’t even breath. An incident. That could mean anything. If anything had happened to Tyler, what would she do with herself?
“What happened?” she managed to rasp out. “Is Tyler okay?”
There was a scuffling noise, then Tyler’s voice came over the line. “Bernie. I’m fine.”
A howl in the background. Bernie clutched the phone tighter. Her whole body burned. Wanting to run, wanting to fight. Wanting to rush back to Xavier and hold him close. Wanting to track down whoever took Tyler and make them pay for whatever they’d done to him.
“It’s all okay. I promise. Just stay with Xavier and—”
There were more scuffling noises and Leopold’s voice came over again. “Mr. Freeman is fine, yes but we need you to come down here at once. There seems to be an argument between him and another of our members over you and we need to have this whole business put to rest. Please, come as soon as you can.”
Another member? The cold in her body was replaced by hot anger. Bill. That asshole! Her hands clenched for a moment. The phone went dead and she pushed it into her pocket. Okay. Fine. They wanted her there so they could put it to rest? She’d go. And Bill Johnson would rue the day he ever thought that she was his dream woman. There would be no more cowering.
***
Bernie marched into the club bar, her eyes blazing and her teeth clenched. Half a dozen dragons milled about. In the center of the room was a long couch. Tyler and Bill both sat on it. The tension radiating off of them both was strong enough that she could smell it. With her hands clenched, she marched over to them.
Tyler’s face was a mess. Blood dribbled from his nose, his lip was split and there was a purple-green bruise on his eye. He straightened and grimaced when he saw her. At first, she thought it was because she had come when he told her not to, then she saw the way he held his ribs. The movement must have hurt him.
At that moment, she was glad she wasn’t a dragon. If she was, her flames would have consumed her and she would have gone off like a nuclear bomb. Every inch of her trembled as she whirled on Bill. He gave her an angry, pouty look.
“Did you do this to him?” she demanded, pointing at Tyler.
“Bernie, I—” Tyler started but Bernie held up a hand and cut him off.
“Did you?”
Bill snorted and shifted on the spot. “I had to put him back in his place.”
She lunged forward. Seeing her boyfriend—her mate—in such a state overwhelmed all her common sense. Howling at the top of her lungs, she swung both fists at Bill’s face. Somebody seized her around the waist and dragged her back, so her blows just missed Bill. He jumped to his feet, smoke billowing from his mouth.
“You see?” He pointed at her but looked at the other dragons around them. “You see what he’s done to her? He’s got her riled up so much that she’d injure herself attacking her own mate! How can you say I’m not justified when he’s done this to her?”
“I tried to be polite about it but I’m not your mate!” Bernie shrugged the hands off her and gave Bill a glare that she hoped would melt his face off. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“So, you’re saying you’d rather be with this asshole?” he gestured to Tyler.
“You don’t get to decide who I’m with and frankly the fact that you think you can makes you the biggest asshole in this room!”
Bernie would have liked to have said more, but Tyler shot her a warning glance and she fell silent. She glanced around to find all the dragons looking at her with expressions of various excitement. A chill ran down her spine. What had she done this time?
“We have two males here both claiming this woman as their mate.” One of them, who sounded like the dragon she’d talked to on the phone, clapped his hands. “We’ll just have to resolve this the old-fashioned way.”
Old fashioned? Bernie shivered. In this case, she couldn’t help but think that it was code for the sexist way.
“The two challengers will fight for their mate,” Leopold continued. “We’ll give Tyler twenty-four hours to recover from these injuries and then he and Bill will fight for the right to claim her. The winner will have the human and his mate and—”
“No.” Bernie interrupted. “I make my own decisions, I choose who my mate is. And that creep,” she gestured to Bill, “will get a bullet in the brain if he tries to touch me again. I swear if you think that you can just come in and tell me what I’m doing with my choices and my body—”
“Who you mate isn’t your choice.” Leopold’s voice was so condescending she nearly took a swing at him. “Mates are destined. Your destined mate will win this fight. The loser will abide by Fate’s choice.”
Bernie stared at him, her jaw hanging loose. She didn’t even know how to respond to that. One thing was for certain, though… this was a very, very bad situation. She turned to Tyler, but both he and Bill were being hustled out.
Twenty-Four hours. And then they were going to fight over her fate. The man she loved against the man who thought he owned her. Arguments flashed through her mind but they had already proven that they didn’t care what she thought, or what she wanted.
“Wait!” she called, just before she lost sight of Tyler. Everybody paused. “Wait, I need to say one more thing.”
She started toward Tyler. Leopold grabbed her arm, but she elbowed him in the stomach, making him let her go. Once she got to Tyler, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. It didn’t matter who else was around. She didn’t care.
There were tears on her face when she pulled back. Part of her was embarrassed by crying. She ignored that, however. She had good enough reason to cry.
“I love you, Tyler Freeman,” she whispered to him.
Bill growled. The dragon holding him back tensed. Tyler ignored him as he wrapped his arms tight around her waist. There was a desperation in his kiss that made her pulse skitter.
“I love you, too,” he whispered.
And then she was being pulled away. He was gone within seconds. Leopold stepped between them and gave her a funny look. It morphed into a smile and he patted her shoulder.
“Cheer up. If he is your mate, there is no way he’s going to lose.”
Bernie opened her mouth to demand to know if he thought there were real witches in Salem, too, but closed it again. There wasn’t any point in arguing. She wasn’t going to change anything. For all she knew, fighting at this moment would only end up putting Tyler in a worse situation.
Her hands clenched. What was she going to do with herself for twenty-four hours?