Page 19 of Confessions of a Middle Aged Dragon Queen
“I know,” my middle sister laughed right along. “It skipped right over me. All of the Dellencourts are known for having a great sense of humor, but not me.” Taking a deep breath and shaking off most of the giggles, she pointed to the newest member of our group. “As I was saying, Maisie, this is Theresa Thomas, our resident White Tigress and 911 operator extraordinaire.”
“Yeah, I know,” Maisie smiled, finger waving at Theresa. “I met her…”
"Yeah, they met when I called 911, and Maisie almost strangled Theresa with the headset cord."
"No, she didn't," Maeve snickered, trying and failing to act shocked and dismayed. "Maisie? You tried to kill someone? Why I never...”
“Oh, shut up,” my little sister giggled, sticking out her tongue.
“No, she didn’t try to kill me,” Theresa spoke up. “It was a misunderstanding, a whole lotta fear for her sister, and an overload of pregnancy hormones all rolled together.” Smiling, she winked. “We’re all good.”
“Fabulous,” Maisie beamed. Holding out her hand, she pulled Theresa in for a quick hug. “Sorry about the smell. Those goofball Wyvern-lovin’ freaks covered me in this glowing chartreuse gloppy goo to hide my scent from Martha. I have no clue what it is or where they got it, but it reeks!” Looking me right in the eye, she asked, “Why did they want to kill you, Martha? More to the point, why did they want to kill you bad enough to kill me to get to you?”
“How the hell do I know? I haven’t left Dragoon Bootay for four-hundred-and-fifty years next Wednesday. How could I have… Oh, shit!” Panic surged through me, my voice trembling as memories collided and tangled. Shaking my head, I stammered and stuttered, “But it couldn’t be. That was… Well, it was… It’s like I said, it was four hundred and fifty years ago. He can’t be… He’s in the … But didn’t I just…”
“Breathe, Martha,” Kai’s soothing baritone cleared some of the fog in my brain as Aideen was mentally filling him in on the debacle of that day in the paddock all those years ago with the Wyvern Brothers. When my Mate had most of the pertinent details, he calmly instructed, “Start from the part where you left the Isle of Skye.”
“Well, it was weeks after... I mean... It wasn’t like...” Breathing in and then exhaling, I tried again. “What Aideen told you is really all there is to it. Barney tried to set me on fire. She took over and captured his crazy ass. His brothers were sorry, and they were found innocent of collusion. Hell, he tried to set the oldest one on fire before he set his sights on me.”
Still looking into my Mate’s eyes, feeling calming Magic wash over me, I nodded and took another breath. I could finally speak without stuttering. “Barney was sent to the Council’s Prison. I finished my training. Then, I came home. That was the last time I thought about it… except… for…”
“Except for what?”
“Except for when Maeve was freaked out and we were flying down the road to save Maisie. But…”
“Oh, shit,” Maisie gasped. “Did you say Barney?”
“Yes,” I stressed the word with a slap of Magic to her backside– just a little goose to let her know I really needed her to pay attention.
“Okay, don’t get testy. I’ve had one helluva day.’
“I’m not getting testy. I just need…”
“Yes, you are getting testy, and I don’t…”
“Time out!” Maeve shouted. “Maisie, you go first.”
Grumbling under my breath about the baby of the family always getting what she wanted, I glared in Maisie’s direction as she recounted, “The leader guy? The one you turned to ash?”
“Yes.”
“He kept saying that they had to complete this mission and report back to Barney Mackrel-Mackel-Frackel-something-or-another. Hell, maybe he said, Macbeth. I don’t remember. I was trying not to go into labor.” She speared with a look, to which I rolled my eyes and huffed. Pursing her lips and shaking her head for a split second, she quickly got back on track. “Then they would receive the details for their next mission.”
Waiting for more. Needing to hear more. My heart pounded with fierce urgency. I made it about one point two ticks of a clock before I blustered, voice nearly shaking, “That was it? They didn’t say anything else? Give you a clue who Barney is? Where he might be?”
“Well, it seems like you know who he is.”
“Yes, but...”
Shoving the palm of her hand in my direction, Maisie kept right on going, “Yes, but nothing, and no, I didn’t hear shit! One of those Wyvern wannabes shoved me in the trunk of an old car and slammed the lid shut.”
“We need more information. Need to...” Anxiety pulsed in my veins, and I was spinning out of control. The only thing keeping me grounded was the wonderful man, my Mate, the one and only Kai Rí. Thankfully, he started talking, forcing me to clamp down on my spiraling thoughts before I ended up with both feet in my mouth.
“Okay, my guys are rounding up all the members of the wacky Wyvern Cult. We’ll turn them over to the Police and help with the interrogations.”
Pulling a cellphone from her back pocket, Theresa swiped her thumb across the screen as she said, “I’ll call my brother, Larkin, he’s the Chief of Police. I’ll tell him to expect a load of prisoners and your men.”
“Thank you,” Kai and I said in unison. To which I turned toward him and said, “Jinx, you owe me a Coke.”
