“And maybe that’s okay,” she said, quietly, testing out the theory. “Maybe … you don’t need to get together with your fated mate. Maybe Idojust want things to go back to the way things have been since I moved here.”
“Mays…”
“Because one of the things that might change—” She curled in on herself. “Someone’s been sending me these treasures. I’m worried that—I don’t even know how he would find me, I don’t even know who heis, but—”
“You’re worrying yourself sick over it anyway?” Felicity sat next to her, nudging her side until she uncurled. “Because all dragons are mortal enemies, so whichever one you took home from the bar that night, he’s definitely going to turn out to have been feuding with Corin since they were both in diapers, and your whole messy situation just got a whole lot more soap opera?”
“You don’t need to be mean about it.”
“And you don’t need to punish yourself for something that isn’t your fault and might not be true, anyway.” She put an arm around Maya’s shoulder. “Apollo managed to get through life without making any terrible dragon enemies.”
Maya snorted. “We’re talking about Corin Blackburn, here, not Apollo. Even before I knew he was a dragon shifter, I knew he made grudges more easily than he made friends. And since finding out that he and Montfort were both dragon shifters, and the others Apollo told us about? The chances that another dragon shifter living in the same city was a total stranger to him are zero to none.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Not because tears were pricking there, because the hell was she going to cry over this, but because she was suddenly so tired. “It doesn’t matter. He’ll be gone again soon enough. And then…”
Her voice trailed off.
If Corin was going to leave—if he was going to be out of her life forever—then there was something she needed to know before he was gone.
12
Corin
The last thing he expected was for Maya to call him a few minutes after sunrise the following morning.
“Confirming our meeting tonight?” he asked.
“Bringing it forward. I found something,” she said. “It’ll be easier if you come down here.”
He’d been planning on flying out to the Blackburn vault that day. He’d left messages with his grandfather, telling him of the theft and warning him he’d be coming down hard on the dragons who should have been guarding the clan vault the last six months. The old man hadn’t replied, which was typical.
But the promise of seeing Maya sooner than anticipated put all thoughts of that out of his mind. Besides, she’d found something. To do with the stolen treasures, he assumed. So technically, spending time with her instead of spending the day flying around in a cloud of misery counted as continuing his investigation.
“I’ll be down immediately,” he said.
“Great. It’s my day off, and Jacqueline said she can take Tomás for a play date, so—ow! Baby, it’s justcardboard.There’s no goldhere, see?” The connection crackled for a moment as though she’d put the phone down, and then her voice returned. “See you when you get here.”
She hung up. He stared at his phone.
Nobodyhung up on the leader of the Blackburn clan.
A year ago, Maya wouldn’t have, either. Not when she was busy being Maya Flores, competent and efficient executive assistant. She’d played her part perfectly.
The same way he’d played his.
And look where we ended up.
Maybe if they’d both been less good at being Maya Flores and Corin Blackburn, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
Maya’s front door was unlocked. He knocked, and followed her shouted greeting up the stairs to a room he realized too late was her bedroom.
It was as gloriously chaotic as the rest of her home. A brightly colored blanket covered the bed, and a worn armchair did double duty as a clothes horse. The whole room smelled like her.
Maya was standing by the window, backlit by sunlight that touched her in all the small delicate ways he wanted to. Her cheeks reddened as she caught sight of him—briefly and efficiently—and then she nodded, as though blushing had been on her agenda for the day and now it was over with, it was time to move on to other business.
“There you are,” she said. “I can’t reach the other ones. I’ll need you to hold on to my legs.”
“What?”
“I figured out where Tomás hid the packaging from the other parcels. No wonder my gutters have been so blocked.” She gestured to the bed, where Tomás was grumpily curled up in dragon form next to a pile of ripped cardboard and plastic wrapping. “Yes,you, little mischief. You just wait. I’ll put you to work as a chimney sweep, next.”
