Page 98 of Dragon Charmed

“Yes. What am I doing here?” she said with as much indignation as she could muster.

“It wasn’t my idea to take you. Nadia made decisions above her pay grade. But since you’ve been asking questions about me, the powers that be are nervous.”

“What’s with the masquerade?” Tessa looked her up and down for a moment, and her breath caught when she saw a small red cross tattoo on her hand.

Mia followed her eyes and flexed her hand, looking at it as well. “You know what this is.” It was more a statement than a question. “Why don’t you ask Adam about masquerades.”

“I can’t. Your witch, Nadia, made him forget who he is. He’s been trying to figure out the truth since then. So you might want to put a leash on her.”

Mia’s eyes flared for a moment before she composed herself again.

“Why are you coming after the dragons now?” Tessa pushed. “Templars haven’t been around for over a thousand years.”

Mia shook her head. “They’ve been around, they just haven’t been visible. But things have escalated.”

“Since the curse is being taken seriously now by the dragon clans?” Tessa said.

“Partly.”

“Because of—” Tessa stopped herself from saying Lily’s name. Did she really want to let Mia know that she knew who Lily was and that she and Evelyn were with the dragon clan?

Mia took a step forward. “Because of what?”

Tessa shook her head. “Why would you want to destroy dragons? You spent your life learning about them through mythology and art. Megan and your students admired you.”

Mia walked over to the window. “I’m not anyone to be admired.”

Could Tessa appeal to her somehow? “You can change things, you know.”

Mia kept looking out the empty window. “The winged calvary have finally arrived.”

Tessa’s heart stopped. “Don’t hurt them.”

Mia turned to her. “That’s not part of the plan.”

Maybe Mia wasn’t the bad guy here. “Come with me. With us.”

“Can’t do that. I have to finish what I started.”

“What about Nadia? Can you stop her from going after the clan again?”

Mia walked toward her. “Nadia will be handled. As will you.” She grabbed her arm and yanked her up and Tessa’s legs trembled. With her hands tied, Tessa raised them and swung her elbow as a weapon, slamming it into Mia’s cheekbone. Mia staggered back a step.

Before Tessa could escape, Mia pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.

She motioned for Tessa to walk over to the open window while she stayed hidden by the wall. “Stand still. We want your hero to see you.”

Had she totally lost it? “What are you doing?”

“Nothing if you stay still. I don’t want to shoot your savior, but I will.”

Tessa swallowed down her panic. “You won’t get away from him.”

Mia smiled. “I will if he’s busy rescuing you.” She watched through a crack in the bricks. “You’re going to jump when I tell you to.”

She backed up a step and struggled to breathe. “Hell no!”

“Either you jump, or I shoot him. And in case you’re wondering, I’m a damn good shot.”