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HAILEY

My living room had 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 scales absently, 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."

Zara held up her hands in mock surrender while Kendra pointedly turned a page in her notebook. I watched them each attack the problem in their own way.

On the surface, they couldn't be more different. But as the evening wore on and they passed books and theories back and forth, a seamless rhythm emerged. When Kendra raised a skeptical eyebrow at one of Adalinda's more esoteric suggestions, Zara smoothly redirected the conversation.

As the night ticked on, research materials and empty takeout containers scattered across every surface. Eyelids drooped and yawns slipped out between theories. Slowly, the team began gathering their notes and bags. Luke and Ransom left about an hour ago. Janice must have snuck out not long after Kit left because I didn’t remember seeing her when I was passing out assignments. Hmm. She must have gotten a call from Hunter HQ.

Adalinda slipped the dagger sheaths into her bag with a thoughtful frown. "I’ll take these and see if I can get a magical read on them. Perhaps a more intimate environment will encourage them to share their secrets."

One by one, they filed out into the misty night, hands shoved in pockets and chins tucked against the chill. Zara shot me a tired salute as she left, Kendra and Adalinda following deep in conversation. Izora sauntered out last, Courage snoozing in the crook of her arm.

And then, stillness. The sudden absence of voices left a hollow space that the drumming rain quickly filled. I surveyed the scattered debris of our planning session.

In his bed by the sofa, Flint twitched and huffed in his sleep. A smile tugged at my lips despite the knot of worry in my chest. The path ahead was unclear. But with my team around me, I let myself believe we just might be able to navigate whatever the gods threw our way.

I collapsed onto the couch, the last dregs of adrenaline seeping out of my bones. Jax settled beside me, he curved an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. I snuggled into his side, letting my head rest against his chest.

We sat like that for a long moment, the silence broken only by the sudden muffled patter of rain and the occasional snuffle from Flint's bed. Jax's fingers trailed up and down my arm in an absent rhythm, his touch as soothing as the steady beat of his heart under my ear.

"You did good tonight," he murmured eventually, his chin resting on the top of my head.

I huffed a laugh, the sound muffled against his shirt. "I'm not sure what I'm doing. I just know it needs to be done."

His chest rumbled with a hum of agreement. "That's what leadership is."

Leadership. The word settled on my shoulders like an ill-fitting coat. When had I become the one people turned to for answers, for direction? I was just a skip tracer with a side of supernatural weirdness. But now...

Now I was part-dragon, juggling ancient magic and shadowy threats like some urban fantasy heroine. An over-forty heroine at that.

Jax grounded me like no one ever had. More than my four siblings. The steady hum of our bond was a reminder that I wasn't facing this alone.

My team had my back, and Jax was the steady foundation beneath it all.

I tilted my head back to look at him, a sudden rush of gratitude tightening my throat.

As if sensing my thoughts, Jax dipped his head to press a soft kiss on my forehead.

I let my eyes flutter closed, breathing in the clean scent of his skin, the hints of spice and leather that clung to him always.

We might have stayed like that for hours, letting the world narrow to the small cocoon of the couch.

But a particularly loud snore from Flint jolted us out of the moment.

Our eyes met, shared laughter bubbling up to chase away the last of the tension.

"Come on." Jax unfolded his long frame from the cushions.

"Let's get the little guy to bed."

I scooped Flint out of his nest, cradling his sleep-heavy body against my chest. He snuffled and chirped, burrowing into my warmth as I carried him to the bedroom with Jax trailing behind.

Our room was dim and peaceful, the flickering candles casting dancing shadows on the walls. We rarely used the lights in our bedroom because candlelight was easier on a vamp’s eyesight. Plus the glow cast a romantic vibe through the room.

I settled Flint onto his cushion in his makeshift burrow in our closet, tucking the blankets around his small form as he rolled and stretched. With a jaw-cracking yawn, he settled back into slumber, his dreams untroubled by thoughts of ancient daggers or looming threats.

Jax's arms slid around me from behind as I straightened, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder. I leaned back against him, letting his warmth seep into my tired muscles.

"He's going to outgrow that bed soon," Jax murmured.

I huffed a laugh. "At this rate, he'll be wanting his own room by next week."

Jax's arms tightened around me. "They grow up so fast."

The wry humor in his voice coaxed a smile onto my face despite the bittersweet truth beneath the words. With all the madness swirling around us, it was easy to forget that Flint was still just a baby. A baby dragon, sure, but a baby, nonetheless.

I pulled the closet door to, leaving it open a crack. Then I turned in Jax's arms, twining my own around his neck. He kissed me like he’d been waiting to get me alone all night, which he probably had. I sure did.

Deepening the kiss, he slid his hands down my back, pulling me closer as if he could absorb me into himself. We just stood there kissing and touching for several moments before separating.

We undressed each other as we moved toward the bed, letting lips and fingers map familiar paths across bare skin. When we tumbled onto the bed, it was with breathless laughter and wandering hands, the darkness chased to the corners by the glow of our mingled joy.

Jax's lips found mine again, the kiss deepening as if he could pour every ounce of reassurance into the press of his mouth. I wound my arms around his neck, answering with my own need to banish the uncertainty that shadowed our lives.

His hands roamed over my body, each touch sparking heat beneath my skin. "Beautiful," he murmured against my lips. "So damn beautiful."

His hands caressed every inch of newly exposed skin, his touch reverent as if I were something precious and fragile. He laid me back on the bed, his lips trailing fire down my throat, across my collarbones, lower still until he closed his mouth over the peak of my breast.

I arched into him, my fingers tangling in his hair as he lavished attention on my sensitive flesh. Each pull of his lips, each flick of his clever tongue, sent sparks racing down my spine to pool in molten heat at my core.

"Jax..." His name fell from my lips on a sigh, part plea, part prayer.

He hummed against my skin, the vibration making me gasp. Slowly, torturously, he kissed his way down the plane of my stomach, pausing to dip his tongue into my navel.

And then his fingers were there, parting my slick folds to delve into the heart of me. I cried out, my hips bucking into his touch as he stroked and caressed, each pass of his fingers winding the coil of tension tighter in my belly.

He brought me to the edge once, twice, only to gentle his touch and bring me back down. My thighs trembled, my breath coming in panting gasps as he worked me higher and higher.

When the wave finally broke, it crashed over me in a rush of blinding pleasure. Jax's name tore from my throat as I shuddered and clenched around his fingers, the intensity of my release leaving me boneless and gasping.

Jax gathered me close, his arms banding around me as he settled his weight over me. I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my thigh, the heat of his skin searing into mine.

With a groan, he buried himself inside me, my body welcoming him like he'd been made to fit there. We moved together, our rhythm as familiar and necessary as breathing. Each slow drag of his hips stoked the embers of my pleasure back to a roaring flame.

I locked my legs around his waist, drawing him impossibly deeper. Our lips met again, the kiss messy and desperate as we chased our shared peak. Tension coiled tighter and tighter, our movements growing frantic with need.

When we shattered, we came together, twin cries of ecstasy swallowed by the press of our mouths. Pleasure whited out my senses, my vision sparking behind my closed lids as Jax's fangs sank into the junction of my neck and shoulder. I answered in kind, tasting the coppery tang of his blood on my tongue, the bond between us flaring bright and strong.

We collapsed together, our limbs tangled and chests heaving. Jax's weight pressed me into the mattress, solid and grounding. I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling the last tremors of bliss shiver through him.

In the hazy aftermath, wrapped in each other's arms, the troubles of the world felt very far away. Whatever tomorrow held, whatever dangers we'd face, we'd face them together. In this moment, that certainty was enough. It had to be. It was all we had.