“Because I looked you up. Asked around.” Gerri’s fingers drummed against her leather notebook. “The intel I received on you was so impressive that I knew you were exactly the right woman for the urgent assistance I need.”
Intel?Heat crept up Lila’s neck. “Are you looking for professional help for yourself? Because I should mention that my schedule is quite full, and?—”
“Me? Oh honey, I’m a lost cause.” Gerri laughed, a sound like silver bells. “But someone else needs your special touch. On the planet Nova Aurora, actually. A dragon shifter king who’s suffering terribly with a mental ailment.”
Lila blinked. Once. Twice. “I’m sorry, did you just say dragon shifter king?”
“King Draven Kaelith. He’s been suffering for quite some time—longer than he’ll care to admit—but lately it’s affecting his everyday life. He can’t manage it alone anymore.” Gerri’sexpression softened with genuine concern. “His mother, Queen Serenya, finally broke down and begged for help.”
“Don’t they have healers on their own planet? Someone who would understand dragons better than a human from Earth?”
“This is a unique case that’s baffled even their best healers.” Gerri stepped closer, and that electric energy pulsed stronger. “Sometimes the solution comes from the most unexpected places.”
Lila’s mind reeled. Dragon shifter. Another planet. A king with mental health issues that had stumped alien healers. “This is... completely insane.”
“The best adventures usually are.” Gerri reached into her purse and withdrew a business card that shimmered faintly in the fluorescent lights. “Think about it as both a professional challenge and an opportunity for adventure. A break from your daily grind here on Earth.”
The card felt warm between Lila’s fingers.
Gerri Wilder, Paranormal Dating Agency. Making Magic Happen Since Time Began.
“Call me when you decide. No pressure, but...” Gerri’s eyes flashed gold again. “Time is of the essence.”
Before Lila could respond, Gerri turned and walked away, her heels clicking a staccato rhythm that seemed to echo long after she’d disappeared through the clinic’s glass doors.
Ten minutes later, the Santa Monica twilight painted Lila’s convertible in shades of blues and silvers as she navigated the familiar streets to her townhouse. The business card sat on her passenger seat like a tiny beacon, catching every streetlight they passed.
Dragon shifter king. Planet Nova Aurora. Mental health crisis. What the hell?
She pulled into her driveway beside Harper’s Honda Civic, noting the additional car parked behind it. Liam’s pickup truck.
Great. Intervention Thursday strikes again.
The front door opened before she could put her key in the door. Harper Lane stood in the doorway, her auburn hair pulled into a messy bun, wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt that probably belonged to her latest conquest—the hot lawyer she’d been dating for the past month.
“There she is. How was the daily grind of saving everyone’s sanity except your own?”
“Subtle as always, Harp.” Lila brushed past her friend into the warmth of their shared living space. The townhouse smelled like takeout Chinese and the candles Harper compulsively lit whenever she was plotting something.
“Lila!” Liam’s voice boomed from the kitchen. Her younger brother emerged with three wine glasses and a bottle of something expensive-looking. At twenty-seven, he still had their father’s easy smile and infectious enthusiasm that made it impossible to stay annoyed with him. “Perfect timing. Harper and I were just discussing your tragic lack of a social life.”
“Were you now?” Lila kicked off her heels and sank onto their overstuffed sofa. “And what fascinating conclusions did you reach?”
“That you need to get laid.” Harper settled beside her with the grace of someone who’d had two glasses of wine before Lila arrived. “Preferably by someone who isn’t a cheating bastard therapist.”
“Trevor’s name is banned from this house.” Liam handed Lila a generous pour of red wine. “We’ve moved on to better prospects. Speaking of which, Harper’s lawyer friend has a partner who?—”
“No.” Lila took a sip of wine that probably cost more than her grocery budget. “Absolutely not. No blind dates, no setups, no more interventions disguised as casual Thursday drinks.”
“Come on, sis. When’s the last time you did something just for you? Something exciting?” Liam settled into the armchair across from them, his expression shifting from playful to concerned. “You give everything to everyone else. Your patients, Mom when she actually surfaces from her grief cave, me when I need relationship advice?—”
“Speaking of which, how’s Emma?” Lila deflected, but Liam’s face lit up at the mention of his fiancée.
“Amazing. She sends her love, by the way. But don’t change the subject. We’re worried about you.”
Harper nodded, her expression unusually serious. “You’re burning out, Lila. We can see it. You need something... different.”
Different.The word hung in the air like a challenge. Lila’s fingers found Gerri’s business card in her pocket, the warm shimmer of it almost pulsing against her skin.
