Page 92 of Dragon Charmed

She looked around the van, but there was nothing to use as a weapon. “What’s going on, Nadia? Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere we can talk.”

“We could have talked at the gallery.” This was bad. As in bury-the-body-in-the-woods bad. And for what?

Nadia glared at her. “Not for the conversation we’re going to have. I have a feeling some persuasion might need to happen to get straight answers from you.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

Persuasion? She sounded like someone from a bad spy thriller. Tessa stopped herself from laughing even though hysteria was bubbling up from inside, threatening to erupt.

“I’ve got her.” Nadia frowned at whatever the person was saying. “It was my call to make.” Nadia turned away and lowered her voice. “I can handle it.” More talking on the other end, louder this time, but Tessa still couldn’t make out the words. Nadia hung up soon after.

“Sounds like someone isn’t happy with you kidnapping me.”

Nadia glared at her. “Shut up.”

But Tessa was in full fight mode, even if that meant using her words to land the punches. “What? You don’t want to admit what you did was a mistake? You think there aren’t going to be repercussions? You should let me go now. Pull over and let me out and I won’t tell the cops what happened.”

Nadia stared at her for a moment. “Pull over.”

Tessa’s heart thumped. Was she actually listening to her? The guy pulled to the side of the road.

Nadia nodded at the guy. “Give it to her.”

“You can’t just do it?” he said.

“No. Magic isn’t going to work on her.”

Give what to her? Magic? Wait…Nadia was a witch? And why the hell wouldn’t a spell work on her?

Tessa crab walked backward away from him as he moved toward her. Before she could fight, he crowded her.

“Hold still!” He grabbed her arm and jabbed a needle into it.

Within seconds the world grayed. She tried to concentrate to stop herself from passing out. To focus on anything to stop it. She looked at the bastard’s lower arm.

At a tattoo in the shape of a red cross like the Knights Templars wore.

Chapter 36

Apparently the earlier flight had done little to appease Ben’s dragon. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could actually feel it rumbling in his chest. Or maybe he was doing the growling himself. Now he was out for a drive in the truck that at some point he would need to get back to Walter. Eric had insisted on tagging along, which was fine with Ben.

“You feeling better now?”

Ben glanced over at Eric. “Was it that obvious?”

“You were a bit antsy earlier. Other than going to see John, you’ve been cooped up at the house.”

“It’s more than that.” He wasn’t sure how to explain. “I feel like I’m stuck until I get my memories back, if that makes sense.”

“I get it. My memory was impacted after that witch’s spell hit both of us. I remember the frustration at that time, and I at least knew who I was and could remember my past except for a few events. Don’t lose hope. We’ll figure it out one way or another.”

Ben nodded and they drove in silence for a few minutes.

“We better head back to the house or we’ll be late for dinner,” Eric said. As if in answer to his announcement, his phone rang. “It’s Megan.” He clicked on the phone. “Hey.”

“Hi. Where are you two?”

“Out for a drive. We’re just turning around to head back to the house.”