Page 26 of Dragon Charmed
“Sorry. That’s a discussion for another day. Anyway, the red cross is the symbol of Saint George, who is the patron saint of England and also known as the saint for soldiers.”
“And why is that interesting?” Marcus asked.
“Because St. George is someone I do know about. He died around 300 AD. He refused to denounce his Christianity and was killed. But around the time of the Crusades in the 1100s, his story changed to include—wait for it—him slaying a dragon. There are numerous art pieces that show the battle. Obviously it has been interpreted as myth with the dragon symbolizing evil.”
“Or could it possibly be true?” Tessa asked as she glanced around the table at the serious faces.
“Exactly,” Megan said. “We also don’t know for sure if the Templars took on the symbol of St. George because he was the patron saint of soldiers or because of the dragon story. And were the Templars the ones who fabricated the story since it was introduced during their lifetime? Or is it a true story that was brought forth by the Templars since they were fighting dragons as well?”
Megan rested her hand on top of Bella’s head as if to protect her. “The Templars were disbanded in the early thirteen hundreds. And while there was an Order of Christ that many Templars transferred to in Portugal, that order has been gone for centuries. There has been speculation that other groups like Freemasons were descended from the Knights Templars, but nothing to really substantiate that.”
Bella slapped her hands on her high-chair tray, oblivious to the heavy conversation happening.
“So if this group has been gone since the fourteenth century, what does ‘Templars unite’ mean in the second paragraph of the curse?” Tessa said. “A curse that was created by John Baker’s grandmother hundreds of years after the Templars?”
Marcus scowled. “Are the Templars resurrecting to come after dragons in the present?”
Sienna blew out a hard breath. “And we can’t forget that the next line in the curse is ‘blood shed’—if they are coming, I don’t think it’s going to be a friendly meeting.”
Crap on a cracker. Tessa was glad she’d decided to follow Ben. This was too serious to rely on John to keep them apprised of what was going on.
Megan pushed her plate to the side away from Bella, who was reaching for it. “I hope that John’s PI can find a lead on Mia White. She is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to all things dragon and mythology. Maybe she would be able to fill in the blanks.”
Tessa chewed on her lip. It was time to come clean. “Yeah. About that. I need to tell you something. I might not have let John handle the search for Mia White on his own.”
They were all staring at her now. Even baby Bella was quiet as if anticipating something was about to happen.
“And what did you do exactly?” Megan asked.
“Well…I started to go to John’s cabin to convince him to let me help.”
“And how did you know where he lives?” Eric said.
“Megan’s address book. I didn’t just memorize his phone number the other day when I called him. You really should stop using a paper book.” Not the best way to handle things, but she blurted nonsense when she was nervous.
Marcus chuckled before covering it with a cough when Megan glared at him. At least she wasn’t glaring at Tessa, yet.
Eric interrupted the glare fest. “You said you started to go to his cabin?”
“Yep, I was almost there and I saw a truck coming from his house, so I followed it.”
“You followed a strange truck!” Megan barked.
“Yes. Since John is a recluse who doesn’t have people come to his cabin, I figured it was the PI John hired, and I thought I might not get another chance to help. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” It made perfect sense to her.
Megan pinched her nose. She did that when she was getting a headache. “And where did you follow him to?”
“To a coffee shop.”
Megan glared at her. “Please tell me you didn’t confront him, Tessa.”
So much for avoiding Megan’s wrath. “No.”
Megan blew out a breath. “Good.”
Tessa swallowed. “He…umm…came over and knocked on my car window.”
Megan groaned.
