Page 44 of Dragon Charmed

Before he could decide what to do, an even scarier thought emerged. Maybe there wasn’t a drawing at all? Had he imagined the whole thing?

“Ben?”

“Yeah. Um…let’s hit the road. We’ll be in Nashville in no time.”

They climbed into the truck, and he wrapped his hands around the steering wheel to stop them from shaking. Maybe he should get out of the truck and tell them to leave him behind.

“You okay?” Tessa asked.

“Yeah.” He could feel her watching him, but he didn’t turn to her. What if his eyes changed?

His heart was thumping in his chest, and he took a breath to stop from hyperventilating. What was the truth? He didn’t know why he had a note with John and Mia’s name. He didn’t know who he was.

Now he didn’t know what he was.

The only thing he did know was that he needed to take these three to Nashville and make sure they were safe. Then he would get far, far away from them all.

The hour-long trip ended up being closer to forty-five minutes. He thought Tessa might tell him to slow down, but she held her tongue. Somewhat of a surprise since she wasn’t shy expressing her thoughts. She seemed to be thinking through some things as well, which was fine with him since his mind was spinning and he prayed that he got them to safety.

He drove toward her apartment, and she finally turned to him with a question in her eyes.

“I got a call while you and Evelyn were in the bathroom. I have a client that has an emergency that they need help with. I’m going to drop you off at your place so you can take them to your friends. Didn’t get the feeling from our talk last night that you wanted me to know where they live.”

Was that relief he saw in her eyes? If she knew what had happened at the rest stop, it would be more than relief at getting away from him. They parked outside her apartment, and he helped carry the bags over to her car before jogging back and grabbing the booster seat as well.

Evelyn smiled. “Thank you, Ben.”

He nodded.

Lily pointed to him and then the car.

“I’m not going with you, little bit. But you’ll be safe now.”

She frowned.

“It will be okay.” He helped her get into the car and made sure her seat belt snapped around the booster seat before closing the door and standing up.

Tessa stepped right in front of him before he could escape. “I’ll call you later, and we can plan next steps once I have them settled.”

“It might take me some time to help my other client, but then we can start our search for Mia again.”

She stared at him a little too long for comfort. “Okay. Just let me know.”

He stepped back from her. Lily watched him with eyes much too aware for a five-year-old. She held up her hand and placed it on the window, and he tapped his finger against the glass before Tessa backed out of the space and drove away.

Ben watched them leave, and his chest burned at the same time a voice told him he was making a mistake. That he should follow them and make sure they were safe. Should he stop them? No. Not when he saw claws extend from his right hand. Clenching his hand, he hurried across the street and yanked open his truck door with his left.

He climbed inside and closed his eyes, refusing to see if they had changed. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Finally he opened them again.

The rearview mirror showed him normal pupils. When he opened his fist, the claws were gone, but blood pooled in his hand from where they had dug into his palm.

He wasn’t hallucinating after all.

Chapter 17

Tessa sighed in relief as she pulled through the gate and parked in front of the large house. She turned to Evelyn and Lily, who were both gaping at it.

“I know it’s big, but the people here are really nice.” She had texted Megan that they were on their way when they got into Tessa’s car.