Page 57 of So I Dared a Dragon

We both groaned at the knock at the door.

Marissa stuck her head in. “Showtime, if the two of you are ready.”

“We are,” I said.

“Are we?” Aarix said softly.

Marissa nodded, not hearing him, and started to shut the door.

“Wait,” I said quickly. “I have to show you something.”

Marissa furrowed her brow, but stepped into the trailer. “Is everything okay?”

My heart was still pounding from the interruption, and the nerves didn’t help. “Remember how you said you thought all the ancient phenomena that’s happened around the show is connected?” I swallowed hard and picked up the notebook. “We’ve got a couple more things to add to the list.”

“Sunshine, are you sure you want to show this to her?” Aarix asked.

My gaze met Marissa’s, and we shared something deeper than a contestant-producer relationship on a reality show. She knew what it was like to be on the outside, looking in.

“Marissa will help us,” I said as I handed her the notebook. “I wrote this after the visit to the library. This isn’t my handwriting. I didn’t know what some of these words meant. But Aarix did.”

“Whoa,” she said softly as she read over the passage. “I heard about the pages being wiped clean at the library. Wendy and Laura were concerned a curse could’ve been responsible. They don’t think you’re cursed,” she added quickly. “But something might be trying to block you or even be channeling through you. Magic isn’t their area of expertise.”

“We should find someone who knows magic,” I said.

“There are some enchantresses in Tennessee. They’re mated to our thunder,” Aarix suggested. “They would be happy to help.”

“I’d love their contact information. We’ll get them here as soon as possible.” Marissa smiled at him, looking tiny compared to my massive dragon. Then her expression turned more serious. “I don’t have any answers about the disappearing script or your writing. But as far as the jewels for the talons, the pattern seems to echo when we found the Hudaknocker. They were left in a common, unassuming place where anyone could’ve found them.”

Aarix nodded. “We can look for other similarities.”

“Tonight is the perfect night to do it. We were able to gather almost everyone who’s been working on the exhibits—the curators and the researchers. Lars is here too. He seems to be the only immortal creature from long ago that actually survived until today.”

Aarix stiffened.

“Besides the dragons in that mountain,” I added.

“Yes, of course. We should probably get out there.” She headed for the door.

I turned to follow her and looked over my shoulder at my dragon. Sweet moon, was he gorgeous. “Remember what I said about flirting.”

“There’s no way I could forget, sunshine.”

Only Marissa and Bjorn waited for us in the van. Everyone else had already gone to the museum. Aarix nodded at Bjorn, and something seemed very familiar between them. I couldn’t quite place the energy. I was definitely a novice at magic; I was far from fluent in reading vibration. But with Aarix in my life, it was a force I couldn’t ignore.

My thoughts raced on the short ride to the museum. Aarix laced his fingers between mine, holding my hand on my thigh.

Was Marissa right, and those relics had been placed in plain sight, or was it that we finally gained the ability to see them? And if the latter was true, what else had we been missing?

The Museum of Shifter History was an impressive building on the edge ofThe Mating Gamecampus. We could’ve walked there if it wasn’t for Bjorn’s equipment and the paparazzi who eagerly shouted questions at us as we walked the red carpet toward the entrance.

“Aarix!” one of the reporters called out. “Did we see dragons in the sky the other night?”

My mate stopped, and his impressive presence was enough to make the reporter shrink back. I was glad I didn’t have to do his laundry.

“Soon dragons will be a familiar sight in Sunset Springs,” Aarix said, putting his hand protectively on my back.

“Can you tell us why that is?” the reporter asked.

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