Page 15 of Dragon’s Midlife Secret Baby (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #1)

“Are you sure this is it?” Chelsea asked with a frown.

It hadn’t taken all that long to head southwest out of the city proper and into the less densely populated area toward Lynn, Massachusetts, but all the hope Chelsea had behind this visit had made it feel like an eternity.

It was nice to see homes a little more spaced out, with the trees crowding around them for protection.

This particular one, however, looked like it needed much more than a bit of shade.

It was built in the saltbox style, with two stories in the front and a long roofline that slid down to just one story in the back, though she doubted it was as old as the traditional colonial ones had been.

“This was the last place I knew of that he lived.” Maeve got out of the car but lingered near it as she shut the door.

She eyed the dilapidated structure, its roof in desperate need of repair.

The siding was the gray-green color of wood that’d been neglected for a long time, and weeds sprouted up all along the foundation.

“He might not live here anymore, but this is at least our first place to try.”

“Do you think he’ll be happy to see you?” Chelsea asked, teasing. “The one that got away?”

Maeve snorted. “Trust me, this guy is far too self-involved to have given me that much thought over the years. In the long run, I’m sure I was nothing more than a flash in the pan.”

“Not when he sees how well you’ve aged. He’ll probably be drooling all over you.”

“That would suit me just fine, as long as he was interested in helping us.” Maeve looped her arm through Chelsea’s elbow.

“Sol could very well have the answers we need, but he’s not the sort of man who can just be flattered into doing someone else’s will.

He’s married to his magic, and I don’t think any loyalty could come before it in his mind. ”

Chelsea shrugged. “Maybe he’s changed. It’s been an awful long time since you saw him.”

“You just called yourself old,” her mother teased right back.

“Yes, some people do change. I don’t think we should waste our time trying to be the ones to change them, though, which was exactly why I left him in the first place.

He cared much more about advancing magic and diving deeper into learning new powers than improving his life.

That didn’t work for me then, but I’m hoping we can use it to our advantage now. Shall we?”

Together, they stepped up onto the porch, avoiding the hole in the third step. The storm door sounded like it was going to fall off its hinges as they pulled it open. There was no doorbell, so Maeve knocked.

They were met with complete silence. Maeve knocked again, and the two women exchanged worried glances.

Neither of them said anything, but they didn’t need to.

If Sol were a dead end, they’d consult with some other covens.

It was doubtful they knew anyone who could create the sort of spell Beck had been put under.

After a third knock, Maeve sighed. “I guess no one lives here anymore. Let’s get back home and look at our other options.”

Just as they were making their way back down the steps, a long, slow creak sounded behind them. “Maeve?”

A man about her mother’s age stood in the doorway, tall and thin as a rail. Dark eyes stared out of a gaunt face with a crooked nose. He wore a long, tunic-style shirt over loose pants, and a deep red pendant rested against his chest on a long chain.

“Sol, how good to see you.” Maeve put on a sweet smile as she headed back up onto the porch.

Chelsea recognized that smile as the one her mother wore when pretending to be nice. What had actually transpired between the two of them? She wouldn’t be the one to ask, at least not until this whole fiasco was over with.

Sol, however, made no effort to pretend. His mouth was a hard, straight line, and his eyes watched her as though he expected her to try something sneaky. If he noticed her looks at all, he was an expert at hiding it. “What are you doing here?”

So much for a happy reunion.

“We need your help,” Maeve admitted.

One side of his mouth twisted up into a sneer. “My help? Are you trying to say that your low magic is no longer serving you? That groveling around in the weeds and gazing at the moon isn’t getting you the results you wanted?”

Hoo, boy. Her mother had dodged a bullet by getting away from this guy.

Despite his arrogance, Maeve persisted. “It’s a very important matter, and it might even be one that will concern you if it gets out of hand.”

“I highly doubt it,” he scoffed. He noticed Chelsea as if for the first time, even though she’d been standing there all along, and narrowed his eyes. “Your daughter?”

“Yes, this is Chelsea. Please, Sol. I won’t take up much of your time. I just need a little information.”

Sol flipped his gaze up in what was nearly an eye-roll. “All right, but I only have a few minutes. Come in, and don’t touch anything.”

How charming. They followed him into the house, which wasn’t much better on the inside. The lighting was dim, barely doing anything to fight off the drizzly day. The place smelled old and musty, and a thick layer of dust covered the table in the entryway.

As they moved into the living room, it was obvious that this was where Sol must’ve spent most of his time.

Books were lined up on shelves and stacked on tables.

None of them were dusty, suggesting he was actually using them.

A large tome sat open on the coffee table, and a fountain pen sat cradled between the thick pages.

Sol snatched it up and shut the book before either one of the witches had a chance to look at it. “Have a seat.”

Chelsea sat beside her mother on a loveseat that looked like it’d seen better days.

Maeve wasn’t a snob by any means. She enjoyed thrifted furniture and finding ways to use what they already had, but it was impossible to imagine her living in a setting like this.

Chelsea was desperate to ask more questions, but they’d have to wait.

Rehashing her mom’s love life wasn’t exactly the reason they were there.

“Sol, I need your help.”

“So you said.” He sat in an armchair across from them. Resting his elbows on the arms, he steepled his fingers just under his chin.

Maeve’s eyes fluttered, and Chelsea guessed she was working hard to retain her composure.

“A friend of ours was put under a very powerful spell. We need to find the person who cast it, and I thought you might know. I don’t believe anyone who travels in my circles would be capable of such a thing.”

Sol let out a light snort. “Probably not, if it was really that powerful. Then again, if you’re dealing with something that strong, you might be entirely out of your element to begin with.”

“We managed to break it,” Chelsea countered.

Her mother’s fingers pinched her leg, but she ignored it.

Why should they let this guy talk to them like that?

“It was a rather complicated spell, one that could’ve easily been confused for a drugging or an injury, so it wasn’t easy to detect or to break, but we did. ”

The old man let out a long, impatient sigh. “Well, good for you. It doesn’t sound like it could really be that complicated, not if you managed to break it. And if you did, why do you need to bother finding the person who cast it? It’s over with.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t,” Maeve said, her voice steady and measured.

“Fine. If I’ve already gone to the trouble of bringing you in here, you might as well tell me what it was. It’s probably just some second-rate witch in one of these local shops, selling spells for a few bucks. Disgusts me.”

Maeve’s nostrils flared. “We wouldn’t come to you for something like that. Sol, I believe this was a mindwipe spell.”

He’d been sitting back on his chair, not relaxed but certainly not interested in the conversation. Now, he leaned forward, making the red pendant around his neck sway. It caught even the dim light of the room. “Mindwipe?”

“Yes,” Maeve affirmed. “The victim is concerned that whoever did it might still be after him, which is why we need to find that person, even though the spell has been broken.”

Now it was Sol’s turn to flutter his eyelids, this time in disbelief.

“Maeve, I never thought you were living up to your potential with all your potions, crystals, and natural magic. You were smart, though, someone who could really start to understand the true notion of the universe if you were so inclined. That was why I bothered wasting my time with you, and it was no surprise when you wanted to take the easy route. That’s what everyone wants to do.

The thing is, even being smart and talented, there’s no way you could break a mindwipe spell. ”

“We had help,” Chelsea offered. Her mother didn’t pinch her this time.

“Please,” he shot back dismissively. “I don’t keep track of all the women in your fold, but I doubt even the entirety of the sisterhood would be strong enough to handle a spell like that. It would take someone incredibly powerful, someone with arcane knowledge to do such a thing.”

“It took my grandson,” Maeve spat.

“Please!” He got up from the chair and shooed them toward the door. “This is ridiculous.”

Maeve remained firmly seated, and her chin jutted forward slightly as she addressed him.

“Sol, I’ve always tried to be generous with you.

You and I wanted different things, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

You had a different life path to pursue, and I respected your work as a mage.

But I think it’s about time in your old age that you start understanding you’re not the only person in the world, nor are you the only one who knows a few things.

My grandson Corbin is just a toddler, but he’s got powerful blood mixed in his veins that makes him a very special talent. ”