Page 34 of Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons #2)
Chapter Twenty-One
A rabella brushed the soft, warm cheek of her little niece, Annabel, with her finger and smiled.
While she’d been afraid to even hold the twins when they were first born, she’d become quite the protective auntie.
Between her brother, Tristan, Melanie and herself, nothing would happen to the sweet babies. They would make sure of it.
And it wasn’t just because the little girl was partly named after her, either.
Annabel and her brother, Jack, had been vital to her healing process.
Whenever she held one of them, her dragon would come out to make soothing sounds inside Ara’s head.
Because she came to visit her niece and nephew often, Ara was growing more accustomed to her inner dragon’s presence inside her head, to the point the beast’s appearance didn’t incite a panic like it had done for years.
She still might not be able to hold conversations with her inner dragon quite yet, but progress was progress. At least, that was what her brother’s mate, Melanie, always said.
A knock on the door caused little Annabel to scrunch her face and turn her head in the baby way which signaled they were about to wake up. With a little rocking, her niece fell back into a peaceful slumber.
Arabella heard footsteps coming from the direction of the door and she looked up to see who dared to disturb her niece’s sleep. She did a double-take. It was Finlay Stewart.
Pushing aside her surprise, Arabella frowned at the Scottish leader. Without thinking, she asked, “Why are you here?”
All eyes in the room turned toward her, but she never stopped rocking little Annabel in her arms. The Scot was a dragonman, not a god. If there was one thing she’d learned from Bram, it was that even clan leaders needed to be questioned from time to time.
Still, to ease the worry of her friends in the room, Ara added, “I’m sorry, but if he’s offended by one question, then he has issues. A clan leader deals with far worse, am I right?”
One corner of Finn’s mouth ticked up. “Aye, you’re right, lass. As long as you don’t call me a daft, unlikeable sod, you can say whatever you like. I prefer honesty myself.”
Arabella said, “I don’t know you well enough to say whether you are a daft, unlikeable sod or not. I’ll let you know the verdict when I come to it.”
The Scottish leader burst out laughing and she couldn’t resist a small smile.
Tristan cleared his throat and Ara darted a look at her older brother. There were questions in his eyes. Given the stubbornness of the MacLeod bloodline, he wouldn’t give up until he had answers.
Finn’s voice filled the room and she let out a mental sigh of relief. She could postpone her brother’s interrogation until later.
Finn said, “Thanks for that, lass. Given the circumstances, I needed a good laugh.” Finn’s brown eyes stared straight into her, not even once moving to the scar on her face or the healed burn on her neck.
Ara resisted fidgeting under his intense gaze.
She nodded and he continued, “I’m here because I need to talk with my clan.
I hate to break up the baby time, Arabella, but you know your stuff, and I need your help.
Can you set up a secure video connection from here? ”
She nodded. “Yes. I always keep a back-up computer at my brother’s house.”
“Good. Then let’s get to it. I need to go back and maybe help Bram with something.”
Hugging Annabel close, she replied, “A please would be nice.”
“Lass, will you please help me? Pretty please? My clan would thank you.”
Arabella blinked. She hadn’t expected him to cave so easily. “Okay.”
Avoiding eye contact with Finn, she stood up and walked over to her brother. She really didn’t like the mixture of concern and determination in her brother’s eyes.
Once Tristan took the baby from her arms, her dragon scurried back into the far reaches of her mind. For some reason, the action stung a little.
Carry on, Ara. There are far worse things happening right now. She moved toward the door to the little room used as an office. Just as she reached the door, her brother growled and said, “Don’t follow her, Stewart.”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder just as Finn replied, “Arabella is a grown dragonwoman who speaks her mind. She didn’t say anything about waiting out here.”
Even with the baby in his hands, her brother took a step toward Finlay. “I don’t care if you’re Lochguard’s leader or not. This is my home. Try ordering me around and see what happens.”
Oh, bloody hell. Ara moved between Tristan and Finn. Looking at her brother, she said, “Tristan, it’s okay. With the door open, I’m virtually in the same room. I’ll be fine.”
Her brother’s brows furrowed. Crap. She knew that look. When they were alone, he was going to question the hell out of her.
From the corner of her eye, she caught Finn smirking. She faced him. “Just because I didn’t outright say to stay out here doesn’t mean you can just enter any room you wish in someone else’s house. I’m sure you have things you don’t wish for strangers to see.”
Finn’s smirk widened. “Lass, there are things I verra much want you to see.”
The Scot exaggerating his accent was the last straw. Ara’s restraint shattered. “Stop with the innuendo. It’s not sexy. It’s irritating. Just for that, you stay out here. Once I have things set up, I’ll call you.”
Before he could reply, she walked back toward the door to the small office and entered the room.
Taking out the laptop, she plugged it in and turned it on.
While she waited for it to boot up, she couldn’t decide whether to sigh or to laugh.
The expression she’d glimpsed on Finlay’s face, one of open astonishment, made her day.
Working as quickly as she could once the laptop was ready, Arabella heard nothing but silence coming from the other room.
When everything was set up, she walked out to see Finn and her brother staring at each other.
It was then she noticed Melanie studying her with the careful look her sister-in-law always used when trying to spot clues to solve her latest puzzle.
Bloody hell. It would be a double-team interrogation later.
She hated being under such constant scrutiny.
All she wanted was for her brother and his mate to allow her to recover in her own way.
Yes, she’d needed the kick in the arse to leave her cottage and face the clan, but that had been over nine months ago.
As Finn had said, she was a grown dragonwoman.
Rather than think about agreeing with Finlay Stewart on anything, she cleared her throat. Everyone’s eyes moved to her. Arabella motioned toward the office. “It’s ready.”
Finn walked up to her. “Are you going to show me how to work it?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be daft. You know your way around a computer. Do it yourself.”
The corner of her brother’s mouth ticked up, but she ignored it. Many of the clan members might be intimidated by her brother, but Ara wasn’t afraid to tell him what she thought of him. Sometimes he was a right cocky bastard. She’d deal with him later.
Finn let out a long, drawn out sigh. “Right, then I’ll do it myself.”
As he walked toward the office, she held out her arms to her brother. “I want Annabel back.”
Tristan said, “I could use her as leverage to make you answer a few questions.”
His mate, Melanie, piped in. “Tristan MacLeod, stop it. I won’t let you use our children as leverage. Give Ara our daughter. We can talk with your sister once things calm down.”
Tristan glanced to Melanie and sighed at the stubborn glint in Mel’s eyes. Arabella knew she’d won and took Annabel from Tristan’s arms.
Once she settled back into the chair with her niece, she hummed a tune.
Soon, her dragon joined inside her mind.
While Ara should be worried about everything happening to the clan, she felt more content than she had in a long time.
After all, she’d put a clan leader in his place, won a mini-battle with her brother, and was cuddling her niece again.
She refused to admit Finlay Stewart was the reason most of it had happened at all. Neither she nor her dragon were ready to face that fact.
Instead, Arabella continued humming to her niece.
Putting Finn in his place had boosted her confidence.
Maybe once everything was settled in the clan again, she could try pushing her boundaries even further.
Until she completely overcame what the dragon hunters had done to her and her mother, she would never be anything more than ‘poor Arabella’ in the eyes of the clan.
She wanted to finally be allowed to be herself.
As Evie polished off the last of her English breakfast, she paused with her forkful of egg halfway to her mouth and reread the summary of the current investigation file on her computer:
Based on the number of witnesses sharing the same testimony, it is highly probable the Carlisle hunters have several escape tunnels.
None of the Carlisle city plans, going back to the 16th century, show anything bigger than sewer pipes.
Yet the hunters appear from behind vegetation and abandoned sheds in the area on a regular basis.
More interviews and research will be conducted in three months to determine if any tunnels exist.
Bloody hell, if the hunters had constructed escape tunnels, that was something Bram and his clan needed to know.
Laying down her fork, she skipped ahead to the second Carlisle investigation conducted three months later and read the summary:
As predicted, a series of underground tunnels were detected.
Using the witness testimony from three months previous, the use of radar technology confirmed two known exit points.
The DDA believes the Carlisle hunters are unaware of our discovery, but the department will sit back and wait for confirmation of this supposition.
This knowledge may be used for future operations.