“It works every time,” Bas said, and pulled Bridget in for a kiss.
Cosimo and Valentine were waiting for them as they pulled into the parking lot of the Ironwood estate. Bridget clenched her jaw to keep it from falling open.
The Ironwoods lived in a fricking castle. She got out of the car and stared wide-eyed at the stone facade and the people in work gear and weapons filing in and out.
“No time to dawdle. We are already late,” Cosimo called to them. When they got nearer, he caught Bas up in a hug. “My beautiful boy, I’ve never been so proud or so terrified than I was last night.”
“Sorry if I scared you,” Bas said, hugging him back.
Bridget swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. She had never had a father and wondered what it would feel like to have someone like Cosimo give a fuck about her.
Bridget yelped as Cosimo dragged her into the hug too.
“You helped my boy come back to himself. Thank you, Bridget,” he said and kissed both her cheeks.
Oh. So that’s what it felt like. She swallowed down the salty taste of tears and emotion that were flooding her mouth.
“Aren’t we going to be late?” she said meekly. She couldn’t process this much feeling at once.
“You’re right. We had best not keep Kenna waiting,” Cosimo said, letting her go.
“Too late. Are all magicians this tardy?” a stern brogue demanded. A strong woman was waiting by the door, hands on her hips. She looked like she could wrestle a bear with her bare hands.
“Apologies, Kenna. Bas shifted into a dragon last night! We are all very excited,” Cosimo said, face beaming with parental pride.
“Christ.” Kenna sighed loudly. “That’s just what we need in this family. More dragons.”
“I heard that,” Taranis said and bent to kiss her cheek.
Kenna’s eyes narrowed, and Bridget knew there were few males out there ballsy enough to pull that kind of move on her and live to tell the tale.
“You know that I didn’t mean you,” she replied. “Get your asses to the conference room. We have things to discuss. You must be Bridget? Good. This rabble of magicians needs another woman in their family, so there’s some common sense.”
“Ah, thank you? Nice to meet you,” Bridget said. She hung onto Bas and tried not to get distracted by the weapons on the walls and ancient portraits of ancestors with Kenna’s stern expression.
The war room had an immense conference table with a map spread over it. Tea, coffee, and refreshments were placed on a sideboard, and Bridget thanked the gods for whoever had put them there. Charlotte, Reeve, and Lachlan were all waiting for them.
“Good morning, Apollonius,” Lachlan said with a smile.
Apollo ignored Lachlan and smiled at Reeve and Charlotte. “Morning all!”
“Nice to see you back in one piece, big bro,” Reeve said, and Bas ruffled his already messy hair. “Apollo sent me photos, and I thought he was taking the piss with some Photoshop until I saw the death grip you had on Bridget.”
“I’d like to run a few tests when you have time, Basset,” Charlotte said, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Apollo sat down next to her. “I want to do some, too, so let’s combine forces.”
“No one is pushing and prodding at me until this Brollachan is stopped. Then I’ll shift back and forth as many times as you want,” Bas said, pulling out a chair for Bridget. “Take a seat. I’ll get you some coffee.”
“Thanks,” she said and didn’t add the ‘I love you’ that almost slipped out. She was going to need a lot more caffeine before the meeting was over.
Bridget needed to talk to him about the love thing too. She was pretty sure she heard him say it the night before, but she could have dreamed it in a lucid state.
When everyone had their coffee and snacks and had settled in, Kenna started to go through the markings on the map along the river.
“Going off the map Bridget and Basset made, we have these areas set up as the Brollachan’s hunting grounds. These colored squares are areas we are going to check over for its den,” she began, using a laser pointer on the map. “Because of the nature of this creature, it might only be active at night, which means we might have a better chance of hunting it before the sun goes down. Charlotte?”
Charlotte pulled out a small device, and the screen behind Kenna turned on. She had taken photos of the hooks in the victims’ necks.
