“You’re convinced the Mortimer dragon’s trustworthy?” Margaret asked me.
“Yeah. It looks like the younger Fortescue son was lurking yesterday, and he’d have caught me red-handed if Nate hadn’t stepped in.”
“Strange that he was lurking like that. Do you think they suspect something’s been going on, and they hoped to catch whoever it was?”
I shrugged. Nate and I had discussed that earlier. Nate was hung up on the fact that Taylor had identified by name all the Fortescues who weren’t at home rather than saying the family was out. “Almost as if he’d been asked to cover but couldn’t bring himself to lie,” he’d said.
“If there’s nothing on paper, I’m not sure you’re going to be able to find out anything else,” Margaret said. “I think we should simply wait for James to reveal his hand.”
She evidently saw my resistance to that suggestion because she tightened her grip on my arm. “God knows why, Alex, but I’m rather fond of you. I wouldn’t want to see you facing the wrath and considerable might of the Fortescue family for no real reason.”
Their considerable might was precisely why we needed to find out what they were up to. They outgunned us, both in numbers and resources. If they decided they didn’t want Arthurian dragons around… Well, we’d fight to the last and inflict a hell of a lot of damage, but we couldn’t win against them. Knowing bankers, they wouldn’t make it physical but would call in mortgages or buy our land or something. I was a bit hazy about how they could do that, but I didn’t doubt there were all sorts of legal dirty tricks available to rich people.
I wasn’t prepared to stop investigating. “I’ll keep liaising with Nate,” I told her, hoping she’d hear what she wanted to in that statement.
Her brows raised. “Is that what you kids are calling it these days?” She sobered abruptly. “And that’s another thing for you to be careful about. I brought you with me because you have a good brain but need some experience. Don’t mess things up because you’re thinking with another part of your anatomy.”
“Aunt Margaret! Howcouldyou?” I staggered dramatically, looking for a fainting couch to support me in my shock.
Her eyes were like gimlets. “I know all of your tricks, Alex—deflection with humour won’t work.” She leaned in. “For the record, I was talking about your heart. I saw how you looked at him just now. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
That made two of us. Margaret meant well with her warning, but she was too late. It wasn’t that I was in love with Nate Mortimer. Sure, he was hot as hell, and I’d take him to my bed in a heartbeat, but I scarcely knew him. My problem was that Iwantedto know him. I wanted him to be the man I thought he was, though the chances of me getting that right for once were infinitesimal.
NATE
Bath hadn’t changed since our walk around it that morning. The only difference was that it was much duller without Alex’s company. Even so, I wasn’t in any hurry to return to the house and the crowd of visiting dragons.
A board outside the tourist office advertised coach tours to King Arthur’s Realm. I stopped for an instant, surprised by the coincidence. Could Alex and his familyreallybelieve they were descended from King Arthur? I didn’t think anyone gave credenceto his existence as a historical figure, though there was evidently enough interest in the legends to milk tourists.
I hadn’t paid the story of Arthur any attention since I was a child. My favourite book back then had been a lavishly illustrated hardback, full of tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. One particular illustration, that of an improbably handsome Lancelot wearing not very much, had cemented at an early age my realisation that I was gay.
I’d loved the stories about Excalibur. The magical sword forged in dragon fire had captured my imagination. Dad had bought me a plastic toy sword, which I’d instantly christened Excalibur and tried to jam into every rock I found. Unsurprisingly, it broke. Dad had dried my tears by telling me that once the rightful heir to Arthur appeared, they would pick it up and it would become whole again, stronger for having been broken.
I wondered briefly what had happened to my book and broken sword. I supposed they had been packed up with the rest of our stuff when Mum and Dad had died in that accident and given to a charity shop.
Over the years, I’d thought about how different my life would have been if the accident hadn’t happened. I knew dreams would change nothing, but it had helped to have an imaginary, perfect world instead of the one I inhabited. Uncle Thaddeus had taken Rufus and me to live with him, and I’d be forever grateful to him for that. I had no doubt that he’d come to love us both. But I also had no doubt that he only took us because Rufus was red, like him. I’d been the unavoidable adjunct. Without Rufus, he’d never have chosen to adopt me.
Although they hadn’t intended to make me feel excluded, Rufus and Uncle Thaddeus had been happy together in their red-dragon, book-collecting world. A world in which I didn’t belong. The restof the family didn’t particularly want anything to do with me, and when I’d tried to be part of the family, I’d tried too hard. My neediness was tedious, Andrew had said. He’d been nominated to be spokesperson for all my cousins, telling me to be less annoying. It had taken me a little while to figure things out, but I’d finally realised the reason no one wanted me was because I had nothing to offer. I’d have to make myself useful.
I’d watched my uncles and my aunts and learned their tricks when it came to socialising. I became a valued guest who could grease even the most awkward social wheels, and I successfully flattered and cajoled clients.
But I knew it was unlikely to last. I’d made myself useful to Charlie in so many different ways, and they hadn’t been enough.Ihadn’t been enough.
With an effort, I shook myself out of my depressing thoughts. Bim had sent me here. That had to count for something—he must have some belief in my ability.
That cheery thought lasted for perhaps twenty seconds, and then I remembered I was the only Mortimer who’d ever exchanged anything other than a solicitor’s letter with the Fortescues.Thatwas why he’d sent me. I’d just have to succeed in my investigation, and then perhaps something would change.
*
“Mr Fortescue would like to see you,” Taylor told me on my return to the house. “He’s in his study.”
My heart thudded guiltily as I headed for the first floor and the room Alex had been rifling through earlier. Perhaps he’d been careless and left something out of place.
I paused halfway along the landing. My heart rate and breathing needed to be normal before I was any closer to James. Even in human form, dragons’ senses were keen, and if he heard my heart beating as if it were trying to get out of my chest, he’d know I was involved in whatever was wrong.
Once I had myself under control, I knocked on the door.
“Ah, Nate,” he said, getting up from behind the desk and moving towards the armchairs by the fireplace. “Have a seat. Whisky?”
