Page 53 of Dragon Detective

“Such a wonderful time for them both.” He held up his phone. “Let me order something from Kraken’s Keep, and we can pick it up when it’s ready and eat it at your place.”

“Sounds good.”

We stepped out of the hospital and sat on a bench while we decided what we wanted to eat. After he placed the order, we went around the building to the back lot where Reylor couldshift. I turned away while he stripped and placed his clothing in the bag that he dropped to the ground.

A flash, and he stood nearby in his gorgeous dragon form.

I was no longer frightened. In fact, I found him rather sexy in this form. Not that we’d do anything sexy about it, but he was so big and protective. Confident and strong. And who wouldn’t be excited by the thought that a potential boyfriend could shoot fire?

After I settled on his back and secured his bag to the spike between his shoulders, he took flight, soaring over the town while I exclaimed about how amazing it looked from overhead. The lights. The people and monsters strolling along the sidewalk who didn’t seem to be aware we flew overhead. And the endless sea sparkling in the moonlight.

Since our order wouldn’t be ready for twenty minutes or so, we’d opted to fly to my B&B. Reylor would drive to Kraken’s Keep to get our order when it was ready.

He landed lightly, and I turned away while he dressed, though he only donned his jeans and left his feet and chest bare.

Hand-in-hand, we strolled on the path weaving through the dunes between my building and the beach.

When we reached the lightly wooded area where my lawn gave way to sand, Reylor stopped, peering toward the backyard.

Someone stood on my small back deck. They held a saw and were methodically hacking up the railing. The rest of the railing spanning the platform lay on the patio in pieces.

With shadows blanketing the deck and patio, I couldn’t tell who it might be.

A growl erupted from Reylor’s throat, and he raced toward them.

Chapter 25

Reylor

Victor Drake, the owner of a nearby B&B, looked up as I ran toward him, claws popping from the ends of my fingers.

He yelped and dropped his saw, and it rattled on the wooden platform at his feet. With a leap, he landed squarely on the patio and started racing toward the path leading along the side of the building.

Strangely enough, a hoe Hannah must’ve left leaning against the back wall earlier toppled away from the building, clattering on the start of the path.

Victor tripped over it and fell forward, landing hard on his hands and knees. His groan rang out. Before he could scramble to his feet, I was on him, taking him down to the crushed stone walkway in a tumble of limbs.

I wanted to rip him apart for causing Hannah so much pain and distress, but the local law enforcement frowned on something like that. And with Katar away with Bailey and their soon-to-be-born youngling, he didn’t need the headacheof bailing me out or standing up for what most would view as inappropriate actions.

So I hauled him to his feet and lifted him off the ground by the front of his shirt.

As Hannah hurried over to join us, her phone already in her hand, Victor’s feet flailed in the air. She dialed. The police picked up, and she explained what happened.

“Detective Carter will be here soon.” She tucked her phone into the tiny purse she’d brought that matched her black heels. Those heels had haunted me all evening. I’d pictured a thousand ways I’d like to see her move in them, a thousand more ways I’d adore removing them from her feet, plus a thousand more ways I’d like to be with her while she wore them—and only them. All that had been put on hold due to Victor but I welcomed the chance to end this horrible situation for Hannah.

We said nothing as we waited for the police to arrive, and it wasn’t long before sirens rang out, silenced when a vehicle pulled up to the curb out front. Detective Carter hurried down the path and over to join us.

Only then did I lower Victor to his feet.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” Hannah told him sadly. “I thought we were friends. We exchanged recipes. We talked about sharing overflow guests.”

“I’m not sharing guests with you,” Victor snarled.

Detective Carter had his phone out and was feverishly taking notes of the conversation.

“There’s no room in this town for two B&Bs,” Victor said. “You were going to ruin my thriving business. Of course I had to make sure that didn’t happen.”

“I believe you’ve said enough.” Detective Carter pulled cuffs out of his back pocket and held them up. “Will you come along peacefully, or do I have to use these?”

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