Page 43 of So I Dared a Dragon

Did you talk to Hugo?I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose to keep the emotion at bay. I missed the wolf more than I could possibly find words to explain.

Yes, but it was strictly business. He showed us one of his beloved heat maps, and I can send it to you…it definitely looks like something’s up.

A chill went down my spine.I can get dressed and come in.

Don’t you dare. I’ll be heading home soon. Marissa volunteered to pull the overnight—we owe her big time. She’ll keep you up to date. We need you well-rested and at your fabulous best.

If you insist. She was right, even if I didn’t like it.

I wanted to move fast on this episode. First, because I’d been worried that things would be weird with Calista. I’d let her come between me and Hugo, and my first order of business would be to invite him brunch tomorrow as a thank you. We needed to talk, like yesterday. I couldn’t expect him to put himself indanger for this episode when it was clearly causing both of us so much heartache.

Reluctantly, I headed to my boudoir and slipped in between my silk sheets. I had my white noise machine turned to high and my sleep mask on. Otherwise, my wolf would be on point at every noise.

Not that I turned my phone to silent. I wanted to hear that noise, confirmation that this outrageous mission had gone according to plan.

I hated not being in the thick of things.

No surprise I tossed and turned all night, willing myself not to pick up my phone. In the rare moments that I managed to drift off, I was treated to nightmares of Hugo in the jaws of a dragon.

Okay, message received, loud and clear. I simply couldn’t let this silence go on another day. I had to tell Hugo I was ready to commit to him, even if it terrified me, because living without him scared me more.

I should’ve just gone into the office, I thought as I threw the covers off me. There was no way today would be anything close to productive, but I could show everyone who worked until the early hours some appreciation. I thought about ordering brunch, but they’d probably appreciate the extra sleep more. Once everyone had rested, we’d be able to work on a cute date night recap and then start working with Aarix to plan his date.

Of course, that plan hinged on whatever they’d discovered overnight.

I made a matcha and did a few quick stretches before checking my phone. My morning routine was crucial to being able to roll with the inevitable punches that each day provided.

A frantic knock on the door caught me in the middle of one of my favorite poses. I opened it to find Marissa.

“I’m sorry if I woke you. I tried to message and call, but when you didn’t answer, I couldn’t wait any longer—”

“What’s wrong?”

Her makeup was smudged under her eyes, and she looked absolutely exhausted. “I haven’t heard from Bjorn in hours. Hugo, either. They went to the mountains with the dragons, but Bjorn’s got satellite service on his phone for when he goes to visit his family.”

“Come in.” I was frantic, my mind spinning with a thousand things I needed to do but couldn’t execute. “Help yourself to some matcha. I’ll get dressed and wake up Calista.”

Marissa bit her lip. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea?”

I put my hands on my hips. “Did something happen? Tell me everything.”

“Nothing new. Whoever’s threatening her might be trying to bait us into bringing her somewhere dangerous. I don’t have any intel to back that up, but the ink’s barely dry on that note.”

“Any word on who placed the order?” We needed to start getting answers, because these questions were piling up.

“Nope. Still too early.” Marissa sighed. “I have an alert set to my phone to call them as soon as they open.”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving Calista alone,” I said.

“We’ve got to give her a way to help, so she doesn’t feel left out. Maybe we could have her work at the library with Laura and see if she can find any mentions of dragons in those ancient books?” Marissa suggested. “I could text Wendy too. She’ll most likely jump at the chance to talk about new-to-her ancient artifacts.”

“Excellent idea. I’ll be ready in just a few minutes.” I turned around and almost charged headfirst into a very sleepy looking Calista, who’d just padded out of the spare boudoir.

“Morning,” she said with a yawn. She blinked a couple times, and then tilted her head. “Hey, Marissa. Didn’t know you were coming over this morning.”

“I forgot I invited Marissa over for a matcha and production meeting.” I wasn’t sure there was any reason to panic yet. “We have a special project for you today. We need you to do some research.”

“Sure. What am I looking for?”

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