Laina pulled him into a hug, before glancing behind him. “Is this the legendary Meredith? I don’t remember meeting you, but Jason told me you were here before.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Meredith shook her hand.
“I’m glad my brother finally has a partner,” Laina said. “I’ve always worried he didn’t have enough backup.”
Silas was tempted to protest the partner remark out of habit but stopped himself. Meredithwashis partner and more. “Laina, I hate to pressure you, but we need to know what happened. You said something about a dragon.”
She nodded. “I was coming out of Four Paws, still in the parking lot. It wasn’t even fully dark. Nickelova appeared out of nowhere and stabbed me three times with a dark black blade. She was gone before my head hit the pavement.”
Silas furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t Nickelova.”
“It was!” Laina scoffed. “I think I know what she looks like by now. We were face-to-face when she stabbed me. I was close enough to smell her hair.”
“She doesn’t have a heart,” Jason said. “I saw her seal herself into a cocoon at the top of her mountain. She was mortal and miles away from any help in one of the most brutal environments on the planet.”
Laina met his gaze. “I know what I saw. She’s here, in Carlton City, and she stabbed me.”
Meredith gripped the bedrail. “It is possible. She put herself in the cocoon. She might have taken herself out. You said she had a dragon scale? Then she had magic. She’s more vulnerable without a heart, but if she were willing to take the risk, she could be the one helping Alex.”
“He ripped her heart out of her chest,” Jason said. “Why would she help the man who tore out her heart?”
Meredith shrugged. “I don’t know. But I believe your sister.”
“Why would I lie?” Laina said.
“No one thinks you’re lying. I believe you thought you saw Nickelova. It just doesn’t seem probable,” Jason said.
“There’s only one way to know for sure,” Silas said. “We go back to the mountain and see if she’s still there. And if she is, we wake her up.”
“Ryker gave you the heart,” Jason said incredulously.
Silas shook his head. “Ryker gave Soleil the heart. Soleil gave it to me.”
“You have Nickelova’s heart?” Laina’s mouth popped open. “By the goddess, Silas.”
“Did you forget the portal is gone? How do you plan to get to her mountain?”
“That is a job for one of our witchy friends, and in this case, I think the Smuggler’s Notch witch, Polina, is the one for the job.” Logan had been offering Silas her help for weeks. It was time he called in that favor.
“After the shift, right?” Laina said. “You’re going to wait until after the shift when I’m stronger.”
Silas looked at her sympathetically. “You’re pregnant. You and your baby barely made it through this stabbing ordeal. Don’t you think you should keep yourself safe? Think of the baby.”
“I am going,” she said. “Believe me, if Kyle can’t keep me in this bed, you won’t either.”
Silas snorted. “Where is the doting husband?”
“Sleeping. I had to threaten his life to get him to go home.” Laina sat up straighter in bed. “So, we’re in agreement then? We go after the shift.”
Silas darted a glance between Jason and Meredith. “After the shift.”
“There’ssomething I need to talk to you about,” Meredith said to Silas as they made their way back to the car.
“Sounds serious. Is this about my overprotective nature or something else?”
“No.” Meredith snorted. “You are way overprotective, but that’s not what this is about.”
“Then what is it?”
