Page 12 of Dragon Tempted

Sienna was in the driver’s seat, and he didn’t have time to argue with her. He climbed in and handed her the keys. “Go!”

She started the truck, jammed into reverse, and spun the truck around, heading down a dirt path before flooring it.

The boom shook the truck a few seconds later, and she skidded a little before righting the vehicle again. “What the hell was that?”

“The cabin just blew up.”

“Of course it did.”

And that was all she said. She didn’t cry or scream or ask him why the house blew up. She just stated it like she was ordering fries from a drive-through.

Who was this female?

After another minute the dirt road merged onto a regular road and she sped up. He looked over the seat, cringing at the movement.

“Don’t worry,” she said without taking her eyes off the road. “The backpack is there, along with a duffel that I assume is your go bag?”

She surprised him again. And that was saying something since he hadn’t been surprised in a long, long time.

“You might want to find something to press against your side. Blood is a pain to get out of things, even leather seats.”

He opened the glove box and pulled out a handful of napkins, pressed them against his side, and suppressed a moan. “Once we get to Nashville, we’ll drop you off and then I’m leaving town.”

She gave him the side eye before she let out a huff.

He blinked. “Did you just huff at me?”

She shook her head. “I don’t huff.”

“Then what do you call it?”

“It was a pfft,” she said as she came to a crossroad.

“Do I dare ask the difference?” Why was he asking the question at all? He would chalk it up to blood loss.

The tires squealed as she took the corner too fast before answering. “The word ‘huff’ is used by men about women. Not a good word to use just so you know.”

He shut his eyes for a second. Maybe he was hallucinating this whole thing. He wasn’t in a car right now with an arrow in his side arguing with a beautiful female over the difference between a huff and a pfft.

He took a deep breath and tried to think of the right words to convince her that he needed to get far away. He was a danger to them all. He should have never gone to Megan with the Death of Magic painting in the first place. Now she and her baby and clan were in danger, as was the bossy clan leader currently imitating a racecar driver beside him.

He took another breath. His eyes didn’t want to open, and his brain fuzzed out on him. Damn it. He was going to pass out, and who knew where they would end up with Sienna at the wheel.

Chapter 5

Holy hell! Holy hell! Holy hell! her inner voice hollered.

What had Sienna gotten herself into? Ryan was going to kill her for running off half-cocked if she didn’t die before then. And that was nothing compared to what her brothers and Marcus would do to her. But when Megan had told her that John was thinking about leaving, she lost all sense of self-preservation and took off on her own to confront him.

She sped up and waited for John to say something. He’d gone quiet after her rant about the word huff. She thought she’d been holding it together pretty well considering, but she spouted ridiculous things when she was anxious. After a couple more seconds of silence, she glanced over to see John’s eyes were closed. She slowed down.

“John?”

He didn’t respond and she reached over and shook him slightly. Her stomach bottomed out when he listed to the side.

Do something! Veronica screeched.

“Calm down!” she yelled at Veronica, and if she was being honest, at herself as well.