September 2 | Night

Legend was up to something. I just didn't know what. The need to get to the bottom of it gnawed at me. When he returned later that night, I checked the odometer on my sedan and reviewed everything within the radius of where he could have gone, but no suspicious location jumped out at me. It almost felt unfair to doubt him; however, I knew enough about Legend Liang to hold onto my skepticism.

I stood over his sleeping form the next morning and felt a quickening in my heart. Was I seriously falling for the bad boy? Long hair pooled around his angular face. Thick black lashes fringed his closed eyelids, and his nostrils flared over parted lips as he snored softly. He slept without a shirt, and the magnificence of his body invited hours of gazing. My eyes followed a thin trail of hair down his tattooed torso to where it disappeared in his shorts. I bit my lower lip as I turned away to get my day started.

I didn't need Legend's problems. I wanted to be sensible. I wanted to not be enchanted by the parts he showed when he thought no one was looking. He was kind to those less fortunate, always the first to lend a hand in a crisis, slow to anger and quick to comfort. But he was also self-protective and not above dishonesty. What sort of criminal activity was he into that had slipped past my thorough vetting of him?

Unable to dig further, I made arrangements for the recon mission, marshaling a surveillance van from OASIS. The ride arrived later that evening, and we discussed going through with the wiretap the following day.

"The stuff they don't show you in movies is how boring a stakeout is." I peeled and stuck a utilities company logo on the side door. "Hours and hours of sitting and waiting in the cramped, musty compartment of a truck."

"I wish I could come," Nixie pouted as she surveyed the interior. One side of the van was modified with a shelf with computer monitors and audio equipment. A mirrored screen could be brought down to conceal it, creating the effect of an empty truck.

"You'll be eating lobster and filet mignon, princess. You won't even be thinking about us," Legend chuckled. He was changing the plates for me.

"I never stop thinking about you two," she flirted.

Grinning, I moved to the other side of the vehicle and applied the second sticker. The surveillance van was parked behind Abuelita's classic car. The shipping crate had finally been taken away that morning, and I had my yard back. Meanwhile, Delilah was staying out of the sun in the shed. She had asked for arts and crafts supplies to keep her busy.

I looked up as my cottage door opened. Fitz came out in the tuxedo that I had rented for him for Nixie's dinner with the president. He had a huge smile on his face as he modeled the fit, spinning around with his arms outstretched.

"How do I look? Are my guns showing?" He flexed his muscles in a double entendre.

Nixie playfully bopped his forehead. "We see you, Double-O Seven."

"Tomorrow evening I'm sending you out with some neat spy gear, too," I announced. "Your cuff links will communicate directly into Nixie's inner ear ring. She'll be wearing a panic button watch. Plus, you'll carry a vape pen loaded with tranquilizer darts."

"Right. Don't want to assassinate the president," Fitz joked.

"The president will have his own security team. Your job will be simple. An escort will meet you at the restaurant, and you'll pretend you're on a date while you keep an eye on Nixie. If it looks like she's in a bind, get her out of there safely."

"Copy that," he said.

"What about me? Don't tell me Fitz is the only one who gets the cool toys," Nixie leaned against the van, and I caught Legend checking out her legs in the jean shorts she was wearing. I reached under the front seat and pulled forward a box of gadgets. Her eyes widened with delight.

"Your bracelet has nausea tablets in case you need an excuse to leave," I showed her. "Your hair pin conceals a knock-out syringe. Be careful with it. I'll have a tracking device sewn into your dress, if all else fails."

"I didn't want to do this at first, but this dinner with the president just got a lot more exciting," she said.

"While you two are handling business, Legend and I will go with Delilah to meet with Darcy Cyprian so that we're still making headway on our primary mission. Excitement aside, my hope is that tomorrow night will be uneventful for all of us," I said.

The dragon shifter glanced up from playing with his totem. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but when I caught his eye, he changed his mind. I wanted him to be upfront with me. My shoulders slumped as he mumbled he had something to do and walked away. The dragon on his shoulder peeked back at me before hiding his face in Legend's neck.

Perhaps it was me. Maybe I was overthinking things. Legend and I were both the same, trying hard to protect ourselves from future hurt. But I was trying to let go of my fears. My instincts told me that Legend had a good heart. Wondering about his private life was only preventing me from being in the moment.

I tried to be as upbeat as Nixie and Fitz, but my years of experience in the field kept that from happening. I knew having my team pulled in two different directions wasn't ideal. I knew things could go haywire in the blink of an eye, but if we desired to use our time most efficiently, the dinner and the recon mission had to take place simultaneously.

Sighing, I turned to Nixie. "Now, let's see you try on your ensemble."

***

She came out of her room in a form-fitting royal purple dress with quarter length puffed sleeves. It was the night of the dinner party. The designer piece fell modestly to below her knees, but the corset-style cinching at her waist drew attention to the bustier's enhancement of her cleavage. She looked utterly fabulous. My mouth hung open as she stopped in the middle of the living room.

"How do I look?" Nixie grinned.

"Like a dream," Legend managed.

I shook my head, at a loss for words. Abuela Maya nodded with satisfaction, having helped the dazzling princess get ready, and Fitz tucked his forefingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. However, Delilah gave a bored stare from the sofa. The vampire was flipping through The Book of Tides, which had somehow wound up in the living room. I grabbed it from her and handed it to Fitz for safekeeping since Nixie wouldn't be able to take her usual purse.

The princess carried a black handbag and wore a matching set of heels that accented her obsidian jewelry. (I surreptitiously noted Delilah Claibourne was missing her own set of ruby and gold accessories.) Nixie's hair had been pulled up into a bun and secured with the ornamental hair pins that I had given her. She gave the word knock-out a whole new meaning.

Fitz pulled my spy mobile up to the front door, and Nixie prepared to leave. With the sleek matte black car as backdrop, somewhat uncharacteristic of me, I dragged her into a hug. "Take care of yourself, you hear?" I whispered. She nodded. Legend went so far as to kiss her cheek. Fitz didn't express any negative feelings about our gentleness toward her, so it was possible that he was coming to terms with our dynamic. I gave him a speech about what to do in the event of trouble, and he smiled at me with all the eagerness of someone who laughed in the face of danger.

Abuela said to Nixie, "Don't be afraid. Your ancestors walk with you, child."

I waited until the pair were safely on their way and Legend was completing a final tune-up of the van to confront the vampire in my living room. Delilah lifted her chin defiantly when I stormed in.

"What did he agree to do?" I cut to the chase.

She didn't respond. Irate, I shoved her against the wall and aggressively patted her down from behind, finding the dragon shifter's gun concealed under her dress. I snatched it away and yanked her around to face me. Werewolf to vampire, she had more speed, but I had greater strength. A grimace of disgust marred her features.

"I'll find another way," she said.

"Another way to do what?" I snarled. The blood pounded in my ears, and my throat tightened. My eyes burned. I trembled with rage and disappointment.

Delilah peered at me as if the answer were obvious. "To kill the bastard. What else did you think I had the gun for?" Her fangs showed when she smiled. "I gave Legend my jewels in exchange for his weapon. Your clever little hollow points were an unwelcome surprise at first, but then I thought of what I could do with them. I brought that scourge into this world, and I intend to take him out."

Darcy Cyprian. My eyebrows shot skyward. I thought Legend had turned against us. Instead, he had equipped her with the means to eliminate our opponent. My heart skipped a beat, and I clutched my aching chest. Of course, the dragon shifter hadn't betrayed us. Of course, he hadn't. I gradually released Delilah, trying to keep my erratic emotions from showing as relief flooded me.

"I don't want you drawing undue attention to us by trying to harm Darcy Cyprian tonight. Your only objective is to gather intelligence and report back to me. Do you understand?" I said in a commanding voice. "That's an order."

"Well, alright, sweetheart, but you'll regret not seizing this opportunity," she replied.

"You let me worry about that."

Shuddering, I ushered her to the van. I didn't like that Legend had tried to manipulate the situation, but I could see how he might have thought he was helping. Taking "initiative," as he had called it. I kept my thoughts about his actions to myself as he revved the engine and put the van on the highway.

Once we arrived in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, we parked at the end of Ashivant Lane on the shoulder of the main road. Delilah was chipped, which gave me a measure of confidence that she wouldn't get far is she tried to escape us. She was on daily shots to keep the fungal bloom from spreading out of hand, and she needed us as much as we needed her. As she climbed out of the vehicle, I directed Legend to the audio-video set up in the back.

Fifteen minutes later, increasing the volume, I clutched a headphone to my ear and nodded at Legend to let him know the audio was solid. He focused on the monitor that displayed the black-and-white night vision surveillance footage.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Delilah sized up a stylishly dressed stranger.

"Delilah, how surprising to see you. Alive." The other woman smiled.

"I think that's Malice Ashivant," I said to Legend, "one of Darcy's infamous djinn attorneys."

Delilah confirmed it, "Bless your heart. You were just a sassy teenager the last time I saw you, Mal. Now I hear you're doing a swell job running the law firm, but I do hope you don't wind up like me. You'll work yourself into an early grave."

"There, see?" I said as I studied him staring at the computer screen. He appeared ultra focused on reconnaisance. I wondered what he had done with the money. I wanted to ask, but, more than that, I wanted him to volunteer the information. I wanted him to care enough to be honest with me. I looked away.

I wanted to believe the dragon shifter was shaping up to be a better person, given the purpose and direction that being an agent had allotted him, but I wasn't sure that I had the emotional bandwidth to stick around through the transformation. I wished I could see him through Nixie's eyes, with uncomplicated affection and less of a need to investigate what lurked underneath. But I was a woman who had endured a lifetime of pain, and maybe that made me jaded. I just didn't want to be heartbroken.

I also pondered how much control I had over the situation. The harder I tried to resist, the stronger my attachments became.

Had it been a matter of plain old physical attraction, I would have considered myself safe. I hadn't anticipated understanding Legend's motivations and what drove him to try so hard, even in unconventional ways, to save the day. He needed to feel like he had earned love, as if it were something that had to be earned, as if he didn't deserve it otherwise.

"Are you hearing this?" Legend brought me to the present.

"Sakes alive! Why would I work for the Council of Overlay Affairs when I'm a wanted woman?" Delilah asked.

"To cut a deal," Darcy opined.

Delilah huffed, "Alright, fine if you don't want to hear about what I'm after. I figured you'd realize knowing the date of every future war, famine, pandemic, or major pivotal moment in history would be empowering."

"Come again?" Onscreen, the billionaire vampire leaned forward as Delilah patted her hair.

"You always did have a god-complex," she said. "With a tool like that book, you'd be unstoppable. Alas, everyone wants it, but no one's had any luck finding it."

Legend ran a hand over his face. "I can't tell if he already knew about The Book of Tides or if she's filling him in," he said. That was my concern, as well. His "helpful" bid to let Delilah spearhead a recon mission might have just blown up in our faces.

"Judging by Delilah's body language, neither can she," I expelled a breath. This was an extra dimension that we didn't need. "Darcy is showing signs of having heard of it, although he may not have known specifics. His primary focus still seems to be the Map of Destiny. The longer they chat, the more he'll know."

"Should we bring her in?" My partner seemed antsy.

"Why? Worried she'll do something else we didn't plan for?" I asked as I reached into my waistband and placed his gun on the shelf between us. "You want to tell me how she got that?"

"I..." He looked down at the weapon and went silent.

"Legend, when I hired you, I made it clear that trust is essential between us. But trust can't be mandated. I understand that. I will not ask you about your personal problems. I won't even scold you for jeopardizing our entire team with that stunt. I am rooting for you. We all are.

"But I want you to know that this hurts me. When I have to question your every move and doubt your ability to be a member of our team, it hurts because Nixie and I are doing our part by showing up for you. Abuela Maya and Fitz, they're showing up for you, too. You have to trust us enough to see that and match our energy," I said. "Trust me enough."

"I owed a drug dealer," he blurted out.

I was taken aback by the sudden confession, so I swallowed hard. I lowered my head and blinked away the unexpected tears that had welled up in my eyes as I spoke. "Thank you for telling me."

"Nixie needs to know as well," he said. "I'm sorry for lying. I'm sorry for hiding things. I didn't know what else to do, and I was so worried about being seen in a bad light by you two. Dex, I care about you more than I can put into words. I think I'm falling in love with you."

As I wiped the wetness off my cheeks, I realized that a faint beeping sound had been going on for several minutes while we were talking. We could finish discussing the ramifications of what he had done later. Squinting, I leaned over my equipment to determine its source.

"...Did you hear me?" Legend asked.

"Oh, shit," I whispered.

"What? What is it?"

"Nixie's panic button." 

  *** 

The next part will become free from November 20, 2023, but until then, it can be unlocked for only 5 Coins!