Page 3 of Devoted in the Midlife

"As one," I echoed, squeezing his hand. Then we started planning.

2

HAILEY

My living roomhad never been more crowded, or more supernaturally charged. Vampires, witches, dragons, and one fierce little chihuahua packed the space, their voices rising and falling like waves crashing on the shore. In the eye of the storm, I surveyed my team and tried to ignore the tangle of nerves in my stomach.

Flint darted between legs, his iridescent blue and green scales catching the light as he chased a very tolerant Goldie in her cat form. She batted at him playfully, her honey-blonde fur a blur. Claudia and Paige snuggled on one side of the couch. Izora perched on the arm of the sofa on the opposite side with Courage cradled in her arms.

I cleared my throat, and the room fell silent. "All right, everyone, let's get started."

I cleared the coffee table and laid out the dagger sheaths in the center, the ancient leather seeming to hum with untapped power. When I sat down beside Kendra, Flint, no longer distracted by his feline playmate, clambered into my lap, his small wings fluttering against my chest. I stroked his scalesabsently, marveling at how much he'd grown in such a short time. Soon, he'd be too big to perch on my shoulder like a scaly parrot.

"We've got a lot of ground to cover," I began, meeting each of their gazes in turn. "Jax, I need you to focus on keeping things running smoothly on the vampire front. And take any nonhuman skips if they come in."

Jax nodded, his hazel eyes serious. "I'll handle it."

"Grim, Nash, can you two cover the skip tracing cases with Cleo while we're occupied with this?"

Grim's scarred face twisted into a wry smile. "Chasing down human bail jumpers? It'll be like a vacation."

Nash elbowed him good-naturedly. "A vacation with a lot of paperwork. But we've got it covered."

I turned to my core team, the ones I knew I could count on when the supernatural shit hit the fan. "Kendra, Zara, Adalinda, Izora—we're on dagger duty. We need to figure out where the daggers are. We need to find them and figure out who used them to kill the dragons."

Kendra's brow furrowed, her dark eyes already distant with calculations. "I'll start researching their magical signatures. If we can trace their origin..."

"I've got contacts in the magical black market," Zara offered, her usual bravado firmly in place. "If anyone's been trying to offload ancient dragon daggers, I'll find out."

Adalinda cradled one of the sheaths reverently. "I will commune with the spirits of my ancestors. Perhaps they can provide guidance."

Izora sniffed, unimpressed. "I'll just ask around. Amazing what people will tell you after flashing them a little fang."

I bit back a laugh. I guess flashing her fangs was better than killing them.

Flint shifted in my lap, his small, sharp claws digging into my thigh. He was getting heavier every day, his baby fat giving way to solid muscle. A pang went through me at the thought of him growing up too fast.

Mama, he chirped directly into my mind.I help?

I scratched under his chin, earning a rumbling purr. "You're helping just by being here, little man."

"We're here for you, too, Hailey," Luke said, his voice soft but laced with that unintentional charm that made everyone lean in closer. "Whatever you need, we've got your back."

Heads nodded in agreement around the room, eyes glimmering with fierce loyalty. I swallowed against the sudden tightness in my throat. Leading this group, this weird supernatural family, had never been part of my life plan. But now, I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"I know you do," I replied, injecting confidence into my voice. "And we've got this. We're going to find out who's behind this."

Kendra scooted off the couch onto her knees, then pulled out the ritual items she needed for a locator spell from her bag. Quickly, she set everything up, with the sheaths in the center as the focal objects. She murmured an incantation. Then nothing happened.

“What the…?” Kendra bunched her face in glared at the sheaths.

"No offense," Zara piped up from across the table, "but couldn't Kit have left us a cheat sheet? Or maybe just, I don't know, a map?"

Her practical suggestion, tinged with fond exasperation, coaxed a smile onto my face. Not so long ago, Zara's presence would have set my teeth on edge, old resentments prickling under my skin. After all, she bit me and left me for dead. Luckily Jax turned me to save my life, or my non-life. Since Zara was a newly turned vampire who didn’t know there were rules against killing humans, she was placed in the vampire rehab program. Dominic and Amaya thought it would be good for Zara to stay with Jax and me until she was ready to live on her own. But after the wild ride we'd shared in that crazy fantasy realm, her straightforward approach had become a welcome constant.

Izora snorted, her dark humor leaking through. "Right, because ancient dragon deities are known for their clear communication skills."

Adalinda shot her a quelling look. "The daggers are ancient. You don't demand answers from divine relics. You earn them."