Page 41 of Dragon Charmed

“Yes. I told them that we would be back to Nashville in the morning.”

He sat in the desk chair. “And they’re okay with you bringing strangers to stay with them?”

“Yes.” She didn’t want to add more. She just wanted to answer the questions he asked and see how much he was going to push her.

“Did you tell them about Lily’s ability to see the future? Or are you going to spring it on them once you get there?”

Guess he was going to push her sooner than later. “They’re aware.”

His eyebrows rose. “And they believed you?”

She nodded.

He stood up and walked over to the door and then back again. “Tessa, what aren’t you telling me? You weren’t surprised about Lily’s ability.”

Her stomach dropped and Tessa shook her head. “I was surprised.”

He crossed his arms. “You might have been surprised that Lily had powers, or whatever you want to call them, but you weren’t surprised about the power itself. Is this something you’ve seen before?”

Holy snickerdoodles. Even though Marcus and Eric thought she was creative enough to dodge questions, it wasn’t that easy when she was looking into Ben’s big brown eyes. What to tell him? “I haven’t seen it personally, but I’ve heard of it before.”

He stopped his pacing and stared at her. “From these friends of yours we’re taking Lily to.”

Tessa tucked her hands under her legs to stop her fidgeting. “Ben, I am trying to protect Lily and Evelyn, and the best place for them is with my friends.”

He frowned. “What were you and Evelyn talking about at the house before we left?”

“I was trying to see if she was holding back anything from us about Mia and where she might have gone,” Tessa said. It wasn’t a lie, but not the full truth either.

“And?”

“She doesn’t know where Mia could be.”

“Anything else?” he pushed.

She had to give him something. “I asked her if Mia had powers as well.”

“What did she say?”

“She said no. She had never seen anything from Mia that would make her believe she had Lily’s ability.”

Ben started pacing again. “Why would a college professor be hiding a little girl who can see the future?”

“I don’t know.” Which was kind of the truth. She didn’t know how Mia knew dragons were real or how she ended up with Lily.

He turned toward her. “And if I call John Baker to ask him what the hell is going on and why he is really looking for Mia White, would he tell me a different story?”

Tessa pressed her thighs down on her hands. She would start waving them around if she didn’t control them. “You can call John if you want. You’ve met him. He’s a man of few words and most of them are delivered between grunts and growls. I don’t see him supplying any sort of information. And I think the less people who know about Lily, the better. Someone is obviously after her.”

“You told your friends,” he argued.

“I did.” What could she tell him to calm him down? “I know you don’t know me or my friends well, but they’re good people. They’ll protect Lily and not take advantage of her gift.”

And off he went again. He was going to wear a spot in the already thin carpet. “You think someone was using her? Like some government conspiracy movie?”

Better him head in that direction than her telling him about evil witches and curses. “Possibly. I can’t imagine the lengths someone would go to for this power. If they think they can have her predict the future of the stock market or something else, they could make millions.”

Ben dropped into the chair. “I don’t know what the hell is going on. This is unbelievable.”