Page 8 of Love in Unexpected Places

“You’re sure no one saw you?”Lana asked.

“I checked.We’re fine.”

“Richard went to the kitchen to get something to drink.He’ll be right back.”

There was only one chair for Sullivan to sit in, and he accepted it when Lana gestured at him to use it.She sat on the bed, cradling her baby against her chest.She looked tired, but then, everyone in the coven did, and she also had a baby.Nothing in this situation could be easy for her to deal with.

They stayed silent until Richard returned, carrying a bottle of water and a juice box.He looked as tired as Lana.Sullivan already knew he wouldn’t be asking them to join him and the others in the fight.That wasn’t why he was here.

“You said you wanted to talk about our leaders,” Richard said cautiously.

This was a risk for him and Lana.Sullivan might be here to ask for their help, but he might also be spying on them for the coven leaders.People knew he was friends with Braden, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t working with the other leaders.Sullivan would have to be the one who reached out, which was fine.Even if Richard and Lana decided to betray him to the coven leaders, he didn’t have a lot to lose.

Just his life.

That wasn’t exactly true.He had parents and siblings, and he didn’t want anything to happen to them, but he’d already talked to Chance, and they knew what to do if anything was to happen to Sullivan.They’d leave the house and rush to pack territory, where they would be welcomed and protected.That was the best Sullivan could do, even though he wanted to do more.

“I do,” he said.“As you know, a lot of people aren’t happy with how things are going.I don’t know about you, but I never wanted anyone to get hurt, and attacking a dragon clan wasn’t something I agreed with.”

“Yet you were there.”

“As were you.We both know we didn’t have a choice and what would have happened if we refused.I did my best not to hurt anyone that night, but I will never forgive myself for what I did do.”

“What do you need from us?”Lana asked.

“Just to stand back.I know you don’t want to be involved.You have your children to think of, and I respect that.The only thing me and the people I’m working with are asking is that when the leaders order you to fight us, you don’t.”

“You’re thinking about fighting the coven leaders?”Richard asked.

“I don’t think there’s another way out of this.Talking to them won’t work.Braden has tried to stop them, but he’s one against four.Even if he manages to convince another leader, they’ll still be in the minority.”Which meant that no other leader would be stupid enough to move to their side.Braden was the only good one.The power had gone to the head of the others.

“We can’t help you fight, but we can stay away from the fight,” Richard said.“I have to protect my family.I hate what the leaders are forcing us to do, but if I have to choose, my kids will always come first.”

“I never expected anything different from you.I would never ask you to choose or fight over your children.Besides, they’re who we’re fighting for.”

Richard opened his mouth to say something, but a scream made all three of them jump.Sullivan was on his feet in seconds, rushing to the door, pausing only to check that no one would see him coming out of Richard and Lana’s room.

There was no one in the hallway, but he could hear a scuffle, and he needed to know what was happening.With one last glance inside the room, he slipped out and closed the door, then started running in the direction from which the scream had come.

He turned the corner, and there it was.A woman was clinging to the doorframe of one of the bedrooms.The door had slammed so hard against the wall that its handle was embedded into the drywall.Two mages were trying to get the woman back into the bedroom, but she was fighting them with all she had.Her eyes were wide, her expression scared, and Sullivan desperately wished he could help her.Stopping what was happening would put him in the spotlight, though, and he wasn’t ready for that.He had more work to do.

“What’s going on?”he asked one of the few mages who was standing there watching the fight.

“She’s one of the dragons.She tried to escape.”

That was a surprise.There were spells on the dragons that meant that they couldn’t escape.It was possible for them to break those spells, but not without the help of a mage.After Lester had escaped with one of the dragons, the leaders had ensured it wouldn’t happen again.

Sullivan sucked in a breath at the sight of one of the leaders stalking down the hallway.Deborah looked pissed, and as soon as she stopped in front of the dragon, she slapped her.

It was enough to break the dragon’s focus and for the two mages who’d been trying to pull her back into the bedroom to do just that.The dragon screamed and tried to catch Deborah’s arm, but Deborah stepped back, looking disgusted.

“What’s going on here?”she bellowed.

Physically, she wasn’t much to look at.She barely reached five feet and was so thin that it looked like a good gush of wind would snap her in half.She wore glasses, and her graying hair was tied behind her neck.Her clothes were always some shade of gray or brown, including today.She looked unassuming and like she couldn’t hurt a fly.

But there was hatred and anger blazing in her gaze, and Sullivan pressed against the wall, not wanting to find himself in her sight.It wouldn’t do him any good to become a target.

“I apologize, Leader,” Trevor said as he stepped out of the bedroom.“She got away from me.”

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