Page 48 of Shifters in the Night

“I wonder if maybe you should stay with one of us tonight,” Bael said. “Jillian and I would be happy to host you. I know it’s not very enlightened of me and you are a strong, independent woman capable of taking care of herself … but the idea of you being out there at Bayard’s place all alone, it makes me uncomfortable.”

Not to be outdone, Zed added, “Our place is open to you, too, cher.”

“Maybe you should take them up on the invitation, Lia,” Alex suggested softly.

“You’re all very sweet, but I’ll be just fine. And if I’m not, you’ll be the first ones I call,” Lia said.

* * *

As it turned out, Lia didn’t have to call any of them because just a few hours later, she woke to Bael pounding on her front door. She plodded through her darkened living room, yawning, and saw Bael through the front window. When he made eye contact through the glass, his shoulders sagged in relief.

“Bael!” she cried, opening the door. “Is everything all right?”

“I’ve been trying to call your cell,” he said. “When I couldn’t reach you, I drove on out. Are you OK?”

“Sorry, I turned my phone on silent,” she said. “Sometimes, Victor texts me at night and wakes me up. I appreciate you checking on me, but as you can see, I’m just fine.

“I’m real sorry to have to tell you like this, but Alex was found outside his trailer at the compound a while ago, unconscious,” Bael said.

“What?” she exclaimed. “Is he OK?”

“He’s lucky Ivy found him fairly soon after it happened. We figure it was around midnight,” he told her. “Ivy got him to Will right after. Whatever he got hit with, it rang his bell pretty good.”

“Why would anyone want to hurt Alex?” Lia asked.

“Some people still have a problem with the League,” Bael said. “When was the last time you saw Alex?”

“He walked me to my car around eleven?” she said, shrugging. “I got home about twenty minutes later. I texted him to let him know I was in the house safe, but he didn’t respond. I thought he was just busy.”

“And you didn’t see anything before you left? Anything unusual? Anybody hanging around that didn’t look like they were just enjoying the festival? Did Alex argue with anybody?” Bael asked.

For a moment, Lia mulled it over. Was her boss really capable of violence? Yelling and pouting and generally being unpleasant sure, but hitting someone and knocking them out? And why Alex? Victor wanted to impress Alex, to get more business through him. Violence didn’t make any sense.

“This is what I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow. Victor has been acting strange ever since we got to town. He has these plans for remaking Main Street into a sort of strip mall, and he has a lot of proprietary feelings about the Bayou. He thinks he should own it. I think that’s why he was such a mess tonight. Things aren’t going his way.”

“Zed did mention that he’s been hassling the locals about buying their businesses,” Bael said. “My aunt Bathtilda threatened to light his ass up if he didn’t get out of her shop. Light him up literally. She’s a dragon. She can do that.”

“Why didn’t anybody say anything to me?” Lia asked.

“Because we didn’t think you knew anything about it,” Bael told her. “You’ve been completely above board with us and you’re different than your boss. You’re … ours. We know when someone has made their home here, Lia. And you’re not going anywhere, no matter what your boss does.”

Speechless, she reached out and hugged him. Bael chuckled and patted her back lightly.

Lia cleared her throat. “Just in case you needed more to worry about – Burt Bremmer keeps grumbling about all of the changes the ‘outsiders’ are bringing to Mystic Bayou. I’ve heard him talking about how much he resents it a couple of times, trying to talk other people into being as upset about it as he is. Oh, and he started a petition to shut down construction of my project. He said he had a meeting with Alex to talk about it.” Her jaw dropped as realization struck her. “Do you think the meeting was last night? What if Victor’s just pouting about not getting his way and Dr. Bremmer is the one who hurt Alex?”

“I’ll look into all this, right away. But I do know that Victor hasn’t been seen since shortly before Alex’s attack. Your coworker, Eddie, said he had plans this weekend in New Orleans.” Bael put his hand on her shoulder. “This is all really helpful, Lia. And Alex is gonna be fine. For a human, he has a head as hard as a rock. That was Will’s professional medical opinion.”

“Do you think you could take me into town to see him?” she asked. “He doesn’t really have anybody he’s close to here, and I hate to think of him alone.”

Bael nodded grimly and she dashed to her room to change into non-pajamas. It took far too long to reach the clinic. She knew she didn’t feel the sort of affection for Alex that ended in a romance, but she certainly liked the man. There were an unusual number of cars parked outside of the clinic for the middle of the night. When she looked to Bael, he shrugged. “No one’s ever really alone in Mystic Bayou. But it’s nice you want to check on him. Also, now you’re within shouting distance if something happens, so it’s a win-win.”

She might have been mad, but the forest green cloud of relief surrounding Bael was too thick to allow it.

“Very sneaky, Sir Dragon,” she told him as she climbed out of the car.

“I have my moments.”

* * *

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