Page 26 of Bound By Fire and Magic
He nodded but didn’t look less concerned. “People keep disappearing.” He took hold of her hand. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
9
Elle had insisted on driving. She liked being in control, and where Kirin was concerned, that was getting harder and harder to do.
He ran his finger down the window. “It always bothered you not knowing why your mother turned her back on her family, her heritage.”
Kirin’s words pulled her from her thoughts.
“Yes. Nana made it clear that something had happened.”
He nodded toward an older woman walking three dogs down the sidewalk. “That’s your great aunt Zelda. You could ask her.”
Elle slowed down, taking in the woman with the long white hair. “My mother’s aunt. Mom got a little drunk on wine one night when Dad wasn’t around and let some family history slip. She told me the family legend of how Zelda single-handedly fought off a group of marauding Dragons who’d attacked her family’s home over a hundred years ago. I could hear the pride in Mom’s voice when she whispered that we were descended from a pirate.”
“Pirate blood still flows strong through some of their veins,” Kirin said. “Your cousin is a treasure hunter, searching the ocean’s floors for old ships. You have another cousin who is a ghost hunter. What she’s really hunting, and getting rid of, are Elementals, but the Mundanes don’t know that.”
Elle flicked a glance at him. “It’s not fair that you know more about my family than I do.”
Kirin gave her a soft smile, obviously taking her comment as sad and not bitter. “Dragons know each other.” He shrugged. “You hear stuff.”
“I want to talk to Zelda.”
Elle turned right at the next street and found the nearest parking lot. She had no idea what she would say to a relative she’d never met. They reached the small park where three gangly Afghans were playing Maypole with Zelda, wrapping their leashes around her legs.
Kirin nodded in greeting. “Zelda, good to see you.”
She looked up, laughter in her eyes. “You, too.” Her eyes narrowed. “There’s something not quite right about your energy. Maybe from being out of town too long?”
“Exactly that.” He pulled Elle up beside him. “This is Elle, Tara’s daughter.”
Zelda moved closer to Elle, scrutinizing her face. “I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. Tara brought you to the house once, showed you off. But never again.” She grasped Elle’s hands. “You took after your Deuce father. A shame. But”—she glanced at Kirin with a hint of a devilish smile—”maybe you have some of your mother’s Dragon in you after all. Come visit, yes? Deuce or not, you are family.”
Elle took all that in with a deep breath. “Thank you. I’d like that. Very much.”
Zelda hadn’t released her hands. Her skin was dry but soft, like old parchment paper. “You have your mother’s eyes, the big, almond shape and rich color. We’ve missed her.”
“You know she’s…missing, don’t you?”
Zelda nodded. “We saw it on the news and then contacted your father to find out more. He filled us in but wanted no help or support. We didn’t know how you would feel about hearing from us. There’s been no update? No word of her?”
Elle said, “Nothing.”
Zelda’s mouth turned into a frown. “On the news, they said the police suspected either your father or Kirin’s father. I think your father loved her too much to hurt her.” She glanced at Kirin. “And Stein, I do not see him as a murderer.”
Elle forced out the words. “The police eventually came to the conclusion that she ran away.”
Zelda touched Elle’s cheek. “I saw the light in your mother’s eyes, in her heart, when she brought you here. She would never leave you…unless it was a truly desperate situation.”
Hadn’t Elle thought the same thing, deep down inside? Still, that was better than her being dead. Elle’s heart ached at the thought. She nodded toward Kirin. “I obviously don’t agree with my father’s disdain for Dragons. I need to know why he feels that way. And why my mother turned her back on her family when I know how close Dragon clans are.”
Zelda’s face shadowed. “You want to hear this? It’s ugly.”
Elle nodded, her heart beating faster. “I need to.”
The dogs pulled at Zelda, each wanting to go in a different direction.
Kirin held out his hand. “I’ll take them.”
