Page 43 of Dragon Charmed

“While I’m jumping out of a helicopter onto a moving train?”

“Exactly!”

Ben smiled. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

Her hoo-ha was screaming a bunch of suggestions, and Tessa told the little busybody to shut up. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve been asked that question more than once?”

“I’m not surprised in the least.” He reached over, and she held her breath as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Go to sleep, trouble.”

“Sweet dreams, Wells…Ben Wells.”

He chuckled again and settled onto his back. She turned away from him. There was no way she could face him anymore while they were sharing a bed. She needed to get herself in check or she would show him what trouble was all about.

Chapter 16

Ben studied the relatively empty rest stop. They had left early from the motel. He didn’t know about anyone else, but he hadn’t slept much at all. He wanted to chalk it up to being worried about Lily, but lying next to Tessa was the real reason.

Yes, she was beautiful, but it was so much more than that. Her brains, her spirit, her humor all did something to him. Even when she kept things from him, he was still drawn to her. She wasn’t telling him everything about Lily or these mysterious friends of hers, but there was only so much he could push and not alienate her. Hell, he’d even risked telling her he was going to call John, which of course was a bluff, and she still didn’t share anything more.

But then, he wasn’t sharing either, so he couldn’t be mad now, could he?

They had driven for an hour to get some distance from Evelyn’s hometown and had picked up some breakfast takeout to eat at a rest stop. Tessa and Evelyn were throwing away the trash and running to the restroom before they headed out for the last hour of their trip.

Lily sat at the picnic table. She was in her own world coloring furiously on her sketch pad. Ben had seen her do the same thing at Evelyn’s house when she’d drawn the picture of the men taking her. He walked around the picnic table and looked at the picture. It was a drawing of Lily and she had wings. She was flying in the air.

What the hell did that mean? Was she an angel—Christ, was she dead? His chest rumbled, there was no other word for it, and he had trouble catching his breath. Heat burst in his head and ran down his neck, arms, and into his hands. No one would hurt this little girl if he had anything to say about it.

She was still coloring the other side of the picture, and he wanted to scream at her to hurry up. To show him who her attacker was. Who he needed to protect her from.

“Lily, who does this to you?” he asked in as quiet a voice as he could manage.

She sat back a little and pointed at him. What! His throat locked up. He studied the rest of the picture. It was a drawing of him. Except she had drawn gray slashes for his fingers and his eyes were oblong like a snake.

He stumbled back from her and bumped into the side of his truck parked behind him. His hands itched. Claws erupted from the tips of his fingers! Holy shit!

He looked up. Lily watched him with huge eyes.

Ben spun away from her and caught his reflection in the truck window. His pupils had turned into slits. What. The. Hell. He slammed them shut.

Not real.

Not real.

Not. Real.

When he opened his eyes again, they were back to normal. He flexed his fingers and saw that the claws were gone too. He sucked in a shaky breath. He was losing it. Had to be. A little girl draws a picture, and he imagines it’s real. What else could it be?

Maybe he was unstable. Hell, he couldn’t remember anything, and now he thought he was…he didn’t know what he thought he was. He dragged more air into his lungs.

He turned around to check on Lily. She smiled back at him. Would she be smiling at him if she had seen claws and snake eyes? Especially if he was going to hurt her when he was in that state? It had to be some sort of hallucination. Had to be.

But that didn’t make him feel any better.

“You two ready to go?” Tessa called to them.

He flinched. He hadn’t heard her and Evelyn coming back.

Lily closed her sketch pad and stuffed it into her backpack along with her crayons. Was he happy she did that? Or should he show Tessa and Evelyn the drawing?