Page 53 of The Black Dragon

Guilt flickered over Leo’s face. He paused in mopping up the spilled batter. “I regret the pain I caused that young dragon, but not the reasons why I did it. I experimented with him and took his magick to protectyou.”

More confusion. “Protect me? Fromwhat?”

Leo pitched the messy paper towelinto the trash. “There are things in this world that would harm you, Ariel, Powerful things. I only wanted Justin’s magick to give you a defense againstthem.”

But when she pressed him for answers, he refused tosay.

Appetite gone, Ariel trudged upstairs. After she’d skipped work for three days, she’d lost her job. And the new job with Vern, well, she had emailed him and told himshe was no longer available. After the fiasco of Mystic Shores, she hadn’t the heart to return to the Magecommunity.

It didn’t matter. In a few weeks, she’d probably be married, and had no reason to worry about work. She’d told Parker she’d give him a date, as long as he arranged for them to live anyplace other than Mystic Shores. Jubilant, he’d agreed to sell the house he’d recently purchasedthere.

Soon, she’d tell him the truth about no longer being a virgin. And if he refused to marry her because of it, that was fine as well. She could find a job, a place tostay.

Justin hadn’t demanded rent, so Leo was safe to stay in the house until he found another place to live. They still had the money from thesale.

Today, for the first time since Justin left, she hadsomething else to take her mind off her beautiful beast who’d captured her heart and then refused to listen toher.

Why would Leo be so concerned about protecting her? And fromwhat?