Page 42 of Knight of the Sword

Robert sidled away from Sophie, keeping an eye on Pendragon and moving slowly toward the door. Sophie almost smiled. It actually felt good to see Robert unnerved for once. She motioned for the dragon to return to the office. He rumbled, but jumped off the table and ambled away, his claws clicking on the floor.

Robert sharpened his gaze. “I don’t know what’s going on here, Sophie, but I think you’re lying.”

“I’m not a liar!”

“You’re not a good liar. I deal with them every day.” He studied her for a moment, bolder now that the dragon had retreated. “There is no logical explanation for it, but I think that thing I just saw is the dragon, the one the media has been in such a frenzy about.”

“You’re right on one count, Robert. That certainly is not a logical explanation.”

He shrugged. “The big dragon lighting up the night sky isn’t logical either. But Air Traffic Control at DFW sighted something on their radar that wasn’t a plane. That data has been sent to NOAA and the FBI.”

Sophie groaned inwardly. She should have known this craziness wouldn’t stop simply with the media. “I have no idea what that was.”

“Liar,” he said again, “and, unless you want the media to ‘somehow find out’ you’re harboring that dragon in small form, I suggest you think twice about us getting back together again.”

“The divorce has been final for a year. Let’s not rehash old problems. Go back to Amber.”

“I’m not taking that whore back.” Robert gave her a look that was just short of menacing. “And I don’t appreciate another man messing with my wife, either.”

“I’m not your wife and what are you talking about?”

“Morgan told me how that guy, Michael, has been sniffing around your skirts. No doubt he wants to get between your legs—”

“That’s enough. You keep Michael out of this.”

Robert’s eyebrows rose. “So. I have competition, I see.”

“You don’t have competition! What I do is my own business. You no longer have any claim to me!”

“We’ll see about that,” Robert said, his eyes narrowing a bit. “I’m sure the authorities might be very interested in knowing what you harbor here.”

Sophie stared at him, feeling her blood chill. “You’d turn me in?”

He gave her his confident-attorney smile. “In a heartbeat, baby. I’ll call you tomorrow and see what your decision is. Hope you make the right one. We used to be so good together. Remember?”

Sophie watched him walk to his car. If there had been even one tiny drop of doubt in her blood, it was gone now. Robert was a cold, self-centered man only concerned with his own interests. And somehow, that “interest” had refocused on her.

The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time with Robert, but she couldn’t let the media—and certainly not the authorities—discover the dragon either. If he returned to full size, breathing fire, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

Nor did she want Robert dragging Michael’s name through the mud. Or worse, concocting some foolproof accusation against Michael that would land him in jail. Robert was capable of it.

She’d have to find some way to keep Michael away from her.

Chapter Twelve

“What do you mean, she isn’t here? The woman has a broken leg!” Michael ran his hand through his wind-blown hair and glared at Pendragon. “You were supposed to protect her!”

The dragon snorted. “That woman is more wily that Gwenhwyfar ever thought of being!”

“What do you mean by that?” Michael demanded.

“She told me she was really tired and needed a nap, but I guess she was conspiring with that ex-husband of hers.”

“Ex—was Robert here?”

“He arrived shortly after you left this morning. At first, she didn’t seem too happy to see him, but then he sat beside her on the sofa. I tried to intervene, but she sent me back to the office.”

Michael groaned. “This just keeps getting worse. Now that bastard knows you are here! He’s seen you.”