Page 11 of Dragon's Golden Mate
Maeve tucked some of that long, silvery hair behind her ear. “What did you see?”
He was focused on the slim chain of her earring with a bit of moonstone at the bottom, and the way it dangled so close to her neck. Kendrick blinked and sat back. “On my first round through the building, one of them simply wasn’t there. Then it was when I came back through. I know that sounds crazy, and I know stone carvings don’t just get up and move, but it definitely wasn’t there the first time.”
“That reminds me.” Maeve looked up at her daughter. “Do you have anything about runes? Ogham, specifically?”
“Right here.” Tina laid a slim volume on the table.
The two of them reached for it at the same time, their hands brushing. Kendrick felt the warm softness of her slim fingers beneath his, and his dragon urged him to pull her hand into both of his. He fought the instinct hard and pulled away instead. “I’m sorry. You go ahead.”
“No, really. You should,” she insisted. “You were the one who saw the runes.”
Reluctantly, Kendrick pulled the book over and flipped it open. He tried to recall exactly which symbols had been carved on the little statues, but hismind refused to concentrate. Maeve was the perfect person to help him with this. She was smart and attuned to magic. She knew the area, and she had access to better information than he could find in any library or public records.
She was also consistently reminding him of his intention to stay single. The rest of the clan really hadn’t been too far off when they’d said he’d made a vow. Kendrick wasn’t interested in going through all of that heartache again, and he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t. He’d been lucky enough to have more than one fated mate already in his lifetime, so it would only be pure selfishness if he paired with another.
Wouldn’t it?
A gentle knock sounded on the door, and Nia poked her head in. “Uh, Tina?”
“Yeah?” Tina had sat down on the opposite side of the table and was flipping through a book with gilt edging. She didn’t look up.
“I, uh, I have an inventory issue.”
“Are we missing something?” Tina kept her hand on the book as she looked at her employee.
“No.” Nia blushed a little and chewed her lip. “I just don’t know where to put something.”
Tina’s brows scrunched together. “That’s nothingto be embarrassed about. I told you when you started working here that I’d much rather you ask me if you have any questions instead of making assumptions, so you’re doing the right thing.”
Nia took a deep breath, seemingly preparing for something. She stepped into the room. Her eyes darted toward Kendrick for just a moment before she held up a large phallus made of rose quartz. “I don’t know where to put this.”
Kendrick cleared his throat. “I didn’t know this wasthatkind of store.”
Maeve and Tina burst out in laughter.
“It’s not!” Tina assured him. “That’s not what that’s for at all!”
“No.” Maeve’s eyes were watering, and she ran her finger underneath them. “It’s symbolic, and it helps with infertility or other sexual issues.”
Now Nia was laughing, too. “I really hated to come and ask you when you had people in here, but I didn’t think I could just put it out with the towers and spheres.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tina assured her. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and tossed them to her. “You can put it in the locked glass case up by the cash register. Otherwise, someone will swipe it within a couple of days.”
“Okay. Thanks. And sorry again!” Nia ducked out of the room.
Maeve was still giggling a little. “The poor girl. The look on her face!”
“How much do you want to bet she asks Colette to lock it up instead?” Tina snorted a little. “Those two girls are like night and day, but I just love them. Anyway, are we making any progress on this old building?”
Kendrick had managed to get back to his notes on the runes, but his concentration was completely shattered now. “Some, at least, although I’m not sure where it’s going.”
“I’d like to get a feel for the cathedral myself,” Maeve said as she flipped through her notes. “Books and pictures can be helpful, but something’s missing. I guess I just want to feel that energy for myself, if you think that would be all right.”
“It’s not far. We could walk there right now, if you’d like. I could use some fresh air.” The tension he felt between himself and Maeve was far greater than the odd currents of energy he’d picked up on at the church, and this dark little room was starting to feel cramped.
“That works for me. Tina, let me help you put all of these books away first.”
“No, don’t worry about it.” Tina shooed her mother’s hands away from the stacks of books laid out on the table. “I’ve noticed that some of them need to be organized a little better, anyway. Go on. Take those notebooks with you, too. I don’t need them back.”
