Sybil had taken over the business after her great-grandmother passed away in recent years, and it had soon become apparent that Sybil had a lot more magic than granny ever did. She also recently started working with a talented witch named Lily who was a whiz with anything tech-related, making the duo a one-stop shop for all our warding needs.
Up until recently, Gunnar had been the one who’d set up our cameras, but normal cameras didn’t have the ability to detect and follow magic the way our new ones did.
Those recordings had been the first thing I’d checked this morning. But none of them had shown anything peculiar last night during and before the time that Meera had had her dream. And of course, our alarms hadn’t notified us either.
“Good, I think. But I wanted to know if you detected anomalies at the penthouse last night between one and two a.m.”
“Nope. I sensed nothing wrong with the wards last night,” Sybil said over the phone. “Not even a blip. Did something happen?”
“No. Not really. But… never mind.”
“Spill it.”
“It’s probably just a dream then.”
“A dream you had?”
“No. Someone we are protecting.” That wasn’t a lie. She didn’t need to know the details, like the fact that Meera had been in my bed at the time.
“If you thought it was a normal dream, you wouldn’t have called me. Did if feel particularly malicious?”
I recalled the details Meera had provided. The dragon had demanded she bring him the egg. But she hadn’t mentioned anything about the dragon threatening her. Now that I thought about it, she hadn’t described the dream as threatening or scary. I was making that conclusion only by the fitful way she’d struggle on the bed like she was being chased.
“Not directly.” Now I was wondering if I was overreacting to a simple dream. “It’s probably nothing. I just wanted to double check.”
“Well, I’ll keep an eye out for anything unusual. Zayn and I are in the city this week, so I can also come by and check on the wards physically if you think it’s needed.”
“No, no. I think it’s fine. Just keep an eye out. Thank you.”
“You got it. Call back if you change your mind.”
I hung up and checked the camera footage one more time on my laptop. Nothing showed up anywhere.
I’d promised Meera I’d take her out and show her around the city today, an apology for being an ass and ignoring her for the past few days. I felt almost giddy to spend time with her, which was something I hadn’t ever felt. I wondered if it was just because I’d been voluntarily celibate for so long, and this was just my body and mind waking up again to feminine companionship. Or if it was actually something more.
Meera was out in the common area getting her own emails done while I finished up the simple tasks that kept Redrock running smoothly. Other than special requests from Desmon or the EA, we mostly sent one of our well-trained agents, now that three out of the four of us were mated.
Today, I was glad we’d gone through the process of hiring and training, because it meant I could spend the day with Meera, though technically she was a job too.
With fresh determination, I brought up the Redrock email and got to work.
Chapter 18
Meera
Thepenthousecommonareawas quiet today, except for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the occasional rustle of plants as a breeze from the open balcony door stirred their leaves. I sat curled on the couch, my phone buzzing in my hand. The screen lit up with Maa in bold letters, and my stomach twisted with guilt.
I’d planned on calling her much earlier, but since I wasn’t supposed to talk about the egg or the murder, I didn’t really know what to say. I’d avoided it. And now, she was calling me.
I’d gotten a panicked-sounding text from her, asking if I was okay, what happened with the fire, and if I had any details about it. She’d sent me a news article that questioned whether Karim’s unnamed fiancée, me, breaking up with him over his infidelity had anything to do with it. Completely caught unaware that my personal life was being discussed on the internet, I’d told her to call me in ten minutes as I cornered Graham and demanded to know what the fuck was happening.
He apologized for not telling me sooner about the fire at Karim’s office. I resisted quipping back that he couldn’t have told me anything on account of the fact that he had been avoiding me for days. He also told me that they had pulled some strings to make sure I wasn’t a suspect in the fire, because I was here in Darlington.
Maria’s reaction yesterday on the phone now made perfect sense.
I swiped to answer my phone. "Hi, Maa."
"Meera!" Her voice was sharp, panicked. "Are you okay,beta?”
