Page 13 of Fight Fire With Fire

Dawson followed me across the room. “What’s wrong?”

“Blake must have realized I never returned home last night when I didn’t come down for breakfast this morning. He’s more of an early bird, while I’m a night owl, so he probably went to bed thinking I’d be back after he went to bed.”

The ringing stopped before I could answer, and I was just about to call him back when Dawson asked, “You live with Blake Aldebrand?”

I didn’t understand why he sounded so upset by that fact, but I assumed it had something to do with how territorial shifters were with their mates. “Yes, I told you that he took me in after my parents died, remember?”

“That was years ago.” Dawson tugged me against his chest. “I didn’t realize you hadn’t moved out yet.”

“I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.” He didn’t seem happy with my explanation, so I went up on my toes to brush my lips against his. “And I liked it there, with members of our coven coming and going on a regular basis. It helped me to feel as though I was an important part of our community.”

He captured my mouth in a deep kiss, stealing my breath before he lifted his head again. “Never doubt that you’re the most important person in my life.”

My heart melted at his vow. “You can be so sweet.”

“Only for you,” he whispered against my lips.

My phone began ringing again, and if I hadn’t known that Blake was worried about me, I would’ve tossed it across the room so I could kiss my consort without listening to the darn thing. But unfortunately, that wasn’t an option at the moment. “I need to answer that.”

“Put it on speakerphone,” he growled.

I knew Dawson wasn’t happy with Blake because he hadn’t warned me about Adan’s rules, so I did as he asked. “Hey, Blake. I’m so sorry I forgot to let you know that I wouldn’t be home last night.”

“Thank the goddess you’re okay, Ember.” Blake’s voice was as frantic as I had expected, and I noticed that Dawson’s shoulders eased just the tiniest bit. Hopefully, this call would help to show him how much Blake cared about me. “I was worried when you didn’t come down for breakfast, and when I checked your room, I noticed that your bed was still made. Did you stay at a friend’s house last night?”

“Um, not exactly.” I grimaced and shook my head when it looked as though Dawson was gearing up to explain the situation for me. His dragon flashed in his eyes, a sign of how unhappy he was that I wanted him to keep a lid on his anger. “I’m still at The Abyss.”

“Why in the world haven’t you left yet? Is there a problem? Do I need to call Adan to ask him to intervene?” he rattled off question after question.

“Well, there’s a good reason and a bad reason,” I drawled. “Which do you want first?”

“The good.”

I moved closer to Dawson and leaned against his chest, beaming a smile at him when his arms wrapped around me. “I found my consort.”

“Ah, that is an excellent reason. Congratulations, my dear.”

I gave Dawson a one-armed squeeze. “Thank you.”

“And the bad reason?”

This was the tricky part because my explanation was going to remind Dawson about why he was so pissed at Blake. “I think you probably should call Adan because he’s sequestered me while he tries to decide how I need to be punished for breaking one of his rules.”

“You used magic at The Abyss?”

I let out a little huff. “How come you didn’t assume that I killed someone?”

Blake ignored my lame attempt at humor and asked, “You’re safe where you’re at for the moment?”

“Yes.”

“Sit tight. I’ll take care of this,” he vowed before ending the call.

“He damn well better,” Dawson growled. “You wouldn’t have been in this mess if he’d used his brain before sending you here.”

“It’s as much my fault as it is his,” I insisted. “I knew he wanted to tell me something about The Abyss, and I didn’t wait until his granddaughter's visit was over so we could discuss it without any more interruptions.”

“But you had no way of knowing how important the piece of information he’d left out was.”

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