doesn’t have any of those. Not if all he had were one-night stands.
“What’s going on here?” She studied her boyfriend’s face. It seemed frozen in fear. “Nick? Are you all right?”
“I, uh—I’ll let you know later.”
He approached the woman slowly as she slid off her bar stool. “Mother, I mean…”
Gaia grabbed the collar of his leather jacket and led him out the back door.
Mother?
Chapter 19
“This is the second time you’ve fucked up, Wolfensen. What did I say would happen if you ever revealed any more about paranormals to a human again?”
He glanced up and down the alley, looking for an escape route. “I-I don’t remember.”
“That’s convenient, isn’t it? Let me remind you.” She waved her hand in a circle and something like a movie became visible in that space. He saw himself standing there, being upbraided by Gaia. Her image said, “If you ever expose the existence of paranormal beings again, I’ll send you to Mount Vesuvius and go all Pompeii on your ass. You get me?”
The movie dissipated into the air in a curl of smoke.
“Oh, yeah. Now I remember,” he said, despite a sudden dry mouth.
“Good. Well, guess what?” She raised one hand.
“Please don’t. I’m afraid there’s another breach, and I have to take care of it.”
Her jaw dropped. “What do you mean by another breach?”
Even if she’s pissed, my punishment can’t get much worse. He took a deep breath and spit it out. “My girlfriend’s roommate overheard us talking. Now she’s in the wind. We need to find her and—”
“I know all this. Why do you think I showed up?”
“Oh. I guess I thought it was because I marked Brandee as my mate.”
“You what?” she roared.
Crap.
The back door opened a crack and Brandee peeked out. “Is everything okay back here?”
Mother Nature continued to stare at Nick but snapped her fingers in Brandee’s direction. “Come here, girly.”
Brandee stiffened and didn’t move.
Gaia whirled on her. “Now!”
Nick shouted, “Hey. Don’t talk to my mate that way.”
A sinister smile played across the ancient one’s lips. “Aren’t you the brave fool, Nicholas Wolfensen.”
Brandee stood in the doorway and appeared like she didn’t know where to go or what to do. She glanced over her shoulder as if she wanted to run back to the safety of Boston Uncommon.
“Go back inside, sweetheart. I’ll take care of this.”
She nodded and disappeared back inside.
Nick folded his arms and stood with his feet shoulder width apart. If Gaia was going to punish him, so be it. But she’d better not drag Brandee into it. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Then how did her roommate find out?”
“I told you. It was an accident. We were talking and her roommate overheard.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be talking about the supernatural. Or if you absolutely must, maybe you should be someplace where you won’t be overheard.”
Another idea occurred to Nick. If they were living together, they could talk freely all the time.
Then Mother Nature continued, “Either that or I could see you both put into solitary confinement.”
“Don’t. Brandee would never divulge our existence on purpose.”
Gaia folded her arms. “How do you know that?”
“She promised not to.”
“Oh well, that’s all you had to say. I mean, look how well humans keep their promises.” She snorted.
Nick began to pace. This conversation wasn’t going well, but then again, he hadn’t been sent to Mount Vesuvius yet. “I can fix this if you’ll let me.”
“How?”
“Brandee knows her roommate better than anyone. We’ll find her, bring her back, and have Anthony compel her to forget.”
“Where is Anthony, anyway?”
“He’ll be here soon. The sun is just beginning to set.”
“So, who’s in charge when he’s not around?”
“A human. Claudia, the manager.”
“Is she aware of the bar’s seedy underbelly?”
Nick raised his eyebrows. Seedy underbelly? Is Gaia reading too many crime novels?
Mother Nature stomped her foot. “I asked you a question.”
“As far as I know, none of the other employees are aware of the bar’s paranormal patrons or its paranormal owner.”
Mother Nature’s tense posture relaxed slightly. “That’s good. By the way, what the hell is a dragon doing here?”
“A dra…” Nick suddenly remembered the unusual guy with the yellow-streaked hair. Of course! The guy’s a dragon. They all had unusual markings to denote what family they belonged to, or so he’d heard. He’d never met a dragon. At last, another piece of the puzzle fell into place for him. Who would want a fire mage like Katie?
“A fuckin’ dragon,” he muttered.
Gaia tipped her head and squinted. “What’s rolling through that hairy skull of yours?”
“I’ve been working a case. It involves a