Page 42 of Mikhail
Mr. Thorne pondered the idea. “Hmmm…I don’tknow…”
She hoped her hasty ramblings had made some kind of sense. She knew it would be outing the Barinov and Belishaw families, but she wasn’t exposing them as dragons. The story still worked with both of them being descendants, and with Belishaw’s family’s connections. If she could just get so far as having Mr. Thorne agree to set up a meeting, she was sure the matter could bedropped.
Mikhail should have just come forward in the beginning with the letters and demanded the jewels be returned to him, but the stupid, stubborn man hadn’t thought that through. No, he’d just acted on his emotions, stolen his treasure back, and kidnappedher.
There was a pregnant pause before Thorne finally spoke. “This is highly unusual, but since it is a private sale, there might be some room for negotiation. Do you have original letters, not copies? The museum will need to verify theirauthenticity.”
She exhaled in relief. “Yes. I know you are a man of honor, Mr. Thorne, and this is a matter of the highest honor. He was wrongly branded a traitor and only officially exonerated upon Elizabeth’s death forty-four years later. But the jewels were never returned to him. By then they were already lost. We must see justice done for hisfamily.”
Mr. Thorne sighed. “As much as I wish to have the rest of the jewels back, I believe you’re telling me the truth. Or, at least, what you believe is the truth. It sounds like the ownership of the jewels is more complicated than we realized. I’m glad you called me, Ms. Linwood. The police have Ms. Harkness under heavy surveillance. They expect you to make contact withher.”
“Yeah, I thought they might expect me to call her,but—”
“Ms. Linwood, we shouldn’t talk here. It isn’t safe. Why don’t I come to you? They’ll be waiting for you inLondon.”
“Okay. Where should we meet? I’m just leaving Tintagel inCornwall.”
He took a moment to think before answering. “Go to Boscastle. It’s not too far from where you are. They have a small museum about the origins of witchcraft. Across the street from it is a small pub. You can wait for me there and have some dinner. It should take me about four hours. Once I arrive, I’ll meet you in the pub, and we’ll head over to the museum. I’m acquainted with the owner, and she won’t mind us using the shop to meet. We won’t have to worry about surveillance thatway.”
“A museum of witchcraft,” she repeated. What an odd place to meet. Then again, these small English villages had a wealth of interesting historical locales, and she did love history. It would be a nice distraction to see a museum; it might help her stop thinking about Mikhail for just a few minutes. “Okay, I’ll wait for yourcall.”
“See you soon.” Mr. Thorne hungup.
Piper let out a slow, deep breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Thorne believed her, at least enough for her needs. That had been one of the biggest hurdles she faced. If she could get him on her side, things might work out afterall.
As she drove down the winding road, she tried to remain calm. She knew Mikhail would be mad that she’d left and taken his private letters. She would have given anything to be back in his bed, nuzzling him and counting his heartbeats until she fell asleep. The sense of peace she felt with him had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She couldn’t quite explain it, and in a way it seemed likemadness.
She didn’t believe in love at first sight and certainly frowned upon the idea of loving someone so fast. It had to be lust, basic physical instinct, not real emotion. Love was built over months and years. Yet even knowing that, it didn’t explain the shattering feeling she had in her heart the farther away she got fromMikhail.
I can’t stay with him.We don’t have a future.She hadn’t forgotten what she’d learned about dragons mating humans. It didn’t end well. She didn’t want to grow older each day while he stayed young forever.No. Not forever.Until she died. Then he would soon follow her. It wasn’t fair to him, to either of them. She deserved to grow old with a man she loved, and he deserved someone who would spend centuries making him happy, not stripping those yearsaway.
A fish may love a bird, but where would theylive?
The reality of her departure left her hollow inside. But she’d done what she had to do.He’ll go home to Russia, be with his brothers, and someday find adragoness.
A bittersweet smile twisted her lips as she remembered how he’d described drakelings. They were born human with a dormant dragon inside them, and for a time aged like normal humans, but at thirteen years the bond to their dragon began to strengthen, and they started to learn to transform. He’d told her how he’d felt the first time he’d learned to fly and how the thought of watching his own children someday having to learn made him both nervous and excited. She’d listened with tears in her eyes as she’d imagined for one shining moment that those children he spoke of would behers.
But humans and dragons couldn’t havechildren.
Piper rubbed away the tears in her eyes when she saw there was an exit coming up on the road, along with a sign for Boscastle, but she slowed when she saw a car with its hazard lightsflashing.
A man stood beside his car which had a flat tire, and he held a tire lever. A rosy-cheeked boy who looked about five leaned out of the window of the SUV, watching the man. The grim expression on the man’s face almost made her laugh. Many people didn’t know how to change a tire, but she did. She had plenty of time to kill before she reached Boscastle, and right now she needed to feel useful. She drove up beside the man and rolled down her passengerwindow.
“Hey, I saw your hazards flashing. Do you needhelp?”
The man straightened and set his lever down. “Actually, yes. My son and I were trying to reach Boscastle when my tire blew. I can’t get any bloody mobile service up here for atow.”
Piper pulled out Mikhail’s phone. Two bars, better than nothing. “I have service. You want me to call someone?” She smiled at the little boy, who waved at hershyly.
“If you don’t mind, it might be easier for me to make the call.” The man sighed and set the tire leverdown.
“Sure. I’ll have a look at your tire while you wait.” She handed the phone to him, and he began to dial. Piper got out and walked over to his vehicle, examining thetire.
That was odd. It wasn’t just flat—the rubber had beenslashed.
She turned halfway to speak to the man. “Hey, Ithink—”
Piper’s last sensation was that of falling to the ground before she was consumed indarkness.
