Highland Dragon Read online

  “What am I supposed to do? Leave her at the airport?” Avery asked. A knot had formed between her shoulder blades, and suddenly the cut on her chest was throbbing like a bitch.

  “Has she actually seen Raven?” Gabriel’s eyes darted back and forth between them. “Can you tell her we’ve left town?”

  Avery poked her tongue into her cheek and shook her head. “If you think for a second that I’m going to entertain Mom all by myself this week and make up lie after lie for you, you are crazy. I can’t do it, and it’s wrong for you to ask me to. Shove a pillow under your shirt, or better yet, use your magic to look pregnant. I don’t care. But you are going to face her with me.”

  Nathaniel strode into the doorway. “You three are about as subtle as a brick through the front window. There’s no need for raised voices.”

  “Have you heard—?”

  “Everyone in the house has heard, Avery.” He picked a stray thread off his sleeve. “No one is leaving anyone at the airport. I’ve called Emory. He will take you and Raven to Heathrow to retrieve your mother and bring her back here. Gabriel will stay with Charlie for now. Tell your mother he stayed behind to allow more room in the car. I will ask Tobias, Sabrina, Alexander, Maiara, Nick, and Rowan to use this time to take a short holiday to simplify things. The rest of us can pass as human for a few days. We do it every day in public.”

  Avery winced. “Will the others be okay with making themselves scarce? I feel terrible kicking them out of their rooms.”

  Nathaniel gave a little nod. “I think it’s best for everyone involved.”

  Avery locked eyes with Raven before reluctantly nodding her agreement. “I guess we’re doing this. Let’s go get Mom.”

  By the time the two sisters arrived at Heathrow and loaded their mother’s luggage into the car, Raven had used her magic to create an illusion of pregnancy. Their mother raved over Raven’s empty belly while Avery rolled her eyes and mimicked her from behind. By God, their mom acted as if she hadn’t seen her in years rather than a few months. Avery intentionally chose the front passenger seat next to Emory and made Raven take the back with her. She’d always hated lying to her mom. This way Raven would be on the spot to answer questions.

  “This Nathaniel, he’s Gabriel’s brother?” Mom asked from behind her.

  Avery glanced over the seat at her sister.

  Raven smiled. “Yes. He has a home in Oxfordshire. It’s a bit of a drive. If you’re tired, I understand if you want to nap until we get there. There will be plenty of time for us to talk later.”

  “Nap? Never. This is my first time to England!” She gave an excited sigh and stared out the window. “Why is it I hadn’t heard about Gabriel’s brother Nathaniel before you both came here? Was he too busy to travel to the states for the wedding?”

  Raven nodded. “He owns a bookstore in London. It’s hard for him to get away.”

  She nodded slowly and tapped her chin. “But Gabriel owns Blakemore’s Antiques, and he’s okay with an extended visit?”

  Avery lifted an eyebrow and gave Raven a make-something-up-fast glare.

  “Gabriel hadn’t seen his brother in a number of years.” Raven smoothed her skirt as if the subject made her slightly uncomfortable. So far she hadn’t lied—precisely. Gabriel hadn’t seen Nathaniel in centuries. “He wanted a chance to become reacquainted. Plus Nathaniel is recently engaged. We wanted to help with the arrangements, considering we were just married ourselves.”

  “Engaged,” Sarah exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “How wonderful. Love is in the air.”

  Avery cleared her throat. “His fiancée is a singer recording her first indie album. She actually offered me a job as her personal assistant.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Avery watched her mother’s smile fade and her lips thin. “That sounds exciting, although would it be fair to take a position short term? You know, when you do come home, I’d love to give you more managerial experience at the Three Sisters. It’s long past time I promoted you.”

  Avery tugged at her seat belt. “That would be great,” she said weakly. It wouldn’t be great. It would be a life sentence. If she learned to run the Three Sisters, she would definitely be expected to take the bar and grill over from her mother, just as her mother had taken it over from their grandmother. The Three Sisters had been in the Tanglewood family since before Louisiana was a state.

  “Um, Mom,” Raven interrupted, seeming to sense Avery’s discomfort. “How are things with you?”

  “Oh well…” She waved a hand dismissively. “Your father has been around a lot. He was absolutely destroyed when that Charlotte just up and left him like she did. I mean, the letter was so cold, and the way she just abandoned you in Sedona, Avery, it was all… just odd. He’s heartbroken. I finally convinced him to box up her things and give them to charity.”

  “She was a nutjob,” Avery said. “He dodged a bullet, believe me.”

  “Yes, I think we all know that.” She shook her head. “But since she’s been gone, he comes to see me every day. You know David… he can’t be alone. To tell you the truth, I needed this trip just to get away from him.” She laughed a little, and Avery’s heart broke.

  Aborella, posing as Charlotte, had put her father under her spell and made him believe she loved him. The fairy had tried to use the same magic on her, but it hadn’t worked as well. When they vanquished the evil bitch months ago, Avery never thought of what her absence would mean for her father. She was sure it was confusing, like a part of his life was completely gone.

  For a long time, they traveled in silence until Emory cleared his throat. Avery turned her head to see Raven conveniently knock her purse onto the floor.

  “Oh! Mom, can you? I can’t get down there like this.” She rubbed the mound of her belly.

  “I’ll get it,” her mom said hastily. She leaned over to collect the spilled items while Emory drove off the road and through the wards around Mistwood. By the time she sat back up, they were nearing the manor. “Oh! Is this it? I didn’t even notice it from the road!”

  Raven laughed nervously. “Everyone says that. It’s the trees. They make it practically invisible.”

  Avery chewed her lip at the way Raven’s voice rose in pitch. It was her sister’s tell when she was lying. Would Mom notice? She released a relieved breath when Sarah didn’t remark.

  Thankfully, Emory wasted no time in parking the car in front of the entrance and popping open the back door.

  Avery let herself out and sidled up to Raven. “So far, so good.”

  The heavy wood of the decorative front door swung open, and Nathaniel welcomed them inside. “You must be Ms. Tanglewood,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Please, call me Sarah.”

  “I’m Nathaniel. Welcome to Mistwood.”

  Mom shook his hand. “You have a beautiful home.”

  They were interrupted when Clarissa descended the stairs and hustled to Nathaniel’s side, extending her own hand. “Hello, I’m Clarissa.”

  Avery watched all the blood drain from her mother’s face. “Clariss—” For a moment, Sarah stared, openmouthed and wide-eyed. Then she swooned, toppling to the stone threshold to the sound of her daughters’ screams.

  Chapter Three

  “Mom!” Avery slapped her mother’s cheek gently.

  Nathaniel swept Sarah into his arms and carried her to the couch in the main parlor. Although she’d knocked her head when her body crumpled, there was no blood. She was breathing but unconscious.

  “Nathaniel, can you get some ice? She’s going to have a bump.”

  Her mother’s lashes fluttered. “Avery? Oh…” She rubbed her head. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault you fainted.”

  Nathaniel returned with a cloth bag filled with ice, and Avery applied it to the bump.

  Sarah’s eyes searched the room, locking onto Clarissa. “No, what I mean is, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. She’s why you haven’
t come home, isn’t she? Because you know. She told you.”

  Raven moved in closer and set her hand on Avery’s shoulder. “Told us what, Mom?”

  Sarah’s brow dipped, and her gaze flitted between the three of them. “That she’s your sister, obviously.”

  The room exploded into gasps and murmurs.

  “What does that mean?” Avery’s mouth popped open. She closed it and then looked toward Raven as if her sister might have an explanation. But she seemed just as shell-shocked.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Mom, are you serious?” Raven shook her head incredulously.

  Clarissa was as still as a statue as she said, “I’m your… daughter?”

  Their mother glanced in her direction, then squeezed her eyes shut. “You didn’t know? How could you not know? You all look exactly alike for God’s sake. No DNA test is needed here.”

  “Mom.” Raven’s tone was razor sharp. “Start explaining.”

  “It was thirty years ago. David and I weren’t ready to have a child. We were too young. We could barely support ourselves.”

  Nathaniel appeared with a beverage tray. Avery hadn’t seen him leave the room and assumed one of his oreads, Tempest or Laurel, was actually responsible. “Tea, Ms. Tanglewood?”

  “Yes, please. Whatever you have there.”

  He poured her a cup. Mom sat up, stirred in a lump of sugar, and raised it to her lips with trembling hands.

  “We weren’t even married yet, you understand.” She cast Clarissa a beseeching look. “We had to give you up, and the Blacks were such a good family. I knew they would give you the life you deserved.”

  Nathaniel’s empathetic gaze fell on his mate, and he crossed the room to stand beside her. He rubbed her shoulders supportively.

  “I was told my biological parents died in an automobile accident.” Clarissa’s throat bobbed with her swallow.

  Their mother blinked rapidly and leaned back against the sofa. “Heavens no. Why would the Blacks tell you that?”

  “They didn’t. The social worker told me after the Blacks died in a tragic accident when I was five.”

  Mom brought her hands to her mouth and gave her head two quick shakes. “But… if they died, who raised you?”

  “I was fostered by… many families.” Clarissa’s gaze dropped to the Persian rug but not before Avery caught a flash of pain in her blue eyes. In the short time she’d known Clarissa, Avery had come to understand that her upbringing had damaged her in ways the rest of them would likely never understand.

  Sarah’s face paled. “What? But… by the time you were five, we were settled. We would have taken you.”

  Clarissa shrugged. “I don’t know how it works.”

  “I’m so sorry, Clarissa. I never knew. I’ve followed your career over the years, but I couldn’t contact you because…” She gestured toward her with both hands. “Well, because you’re you! You’re famous. I had no idea if the Blacks had even told you about us. Oh, what a mess.” She buried her head in her hands.

  As the initial shock began to wear off, Avery experienced a bubble of elation and rushed to Clarissa to give her a tight hug. “You’re my sister. My real, blooded sister.”

  Raven, though, wasn’t ready for hugs and acceptance. She crossed her arms and paced the room. “I can’t believe you kept this from us, Mom. Why?”

  Sarah brushed her bangs back from her eyes. “What was I supposed to say? There isn’t really a good time to tell your children that they have a sister out there and that she’s a famous pop star.”

  Millions of questions tumbled through Avery’s mind, and she rubbed her temples. “So Dad knows too? He was part of this?”

  Their mom nodded.

  Nathaniel stepped deeper into the room. “Sarah, is that why you named the bar the Three Sisters?”

  For a second, Avery was confused. She’d heard Raven explain the name to him before. It was a historical name. Why was he asking a question he already knew the answer to?

  “Oh no. The Three Sisters has been in the Tanglewood family for generations. It was named after a small plantation owned by three Tanglewood sisters from way back when Louisiana was a new territory. As the legend goes, someone burned the place down. One of our ancestors was accused of being a witch, can you believe it? So those three sisters opened the Inn of the Three Sisters, which eventually became the Three Sisters Bar & Grill. My bar.”

  “That’s quite the story,” Nathaniel said, suddenly acutely interested. “Three women running a plantation on their own in a colony.”

  Sarah shot him a lighthearted grin. “There are all these rumors in our family that they were…” She lowered her voice. “…actually witches. It pops up again and again in our family history.” She giggled as if she found the whole thing ridiculous. “Although my brother and I understand that back then, the word witch was used to describe any woman who dared to think independently. Family legend also said they were Greek, but we all figured they were French like most of the population. Tanglewood isn’t a popular surname, and we can’t trace our roots back before New Orleans. We think the three women invented it because they wanted to hide their true identities. Maybe they were criminals after a new start. It would fit with the city’s history.” She shrugged, her narrow nose wrinkling.

  “Witches,” Clarissa blurted. “What a story.”

  Their mother took another sip of tea. “It really is. It followed my family through the years. If my girls haven’t told you, it’s tradition in our family for the maternal line to take the name Tanglewood. I kept it when I married David, my mother kept it, my grandmother kept it. There was a Tanglewood witch back in the 1800s—oh, I suppose she would have been my great-great-great-aunt—who people said could cure any illness. She made this elixir…” She laughed. “It was basically a snake oil cure. But people swore by it.”

  Nathaniel tugged at the cuff of his suit. “So more than one generation of witches.”

  She rolled her eyes. “A few generations didn’t perpetuate the legend. Sometimes a Tanglewood woman would give birth only to boys. But for some reason, other generations kept reviving it. And now there are dozens of spooky Tanglewood stories. My brother Sam has kept some of the journals and things. He lives in Minnesota. He’s more into the history than I am.” She tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Anyway, don’t you worry, Clarissa. Despite the weird family history, I am not a witch and cannot turn you into a frog. I can tell you from personal experience that the rumors about the Tanglewood witches are complete hooey.”

  Raven choked and coughed into her hand.

  “No wonder we look so much alike.” Avery still couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

  Their mom leaned forward and focused on Clarissa. “No one expects anything from you. I am here for you if you want to get to know me, but I understand how difficult this must be. Whatever you’re feeling, whatever you want, it’s fine with me.”

  Clarissa took three ragged breaths and lost the fight to keep her tears at bay. “I have a family?”

  Mom’s eyes turned misty. “If you want one.”

  Clarissa left Nathaniel’s side and strode across the room to their mother. Sarah stood and pulled her into her arms. Although it made a nice picture, Avery watched the two with mixed emotions. She’d grown close to Clarissa over the previous weeks. She already loved the woman like a sister. This was good news. So why the heaviness in the pit of her belly? Because she couldn’t understand her physical response, she plastered a smile on her face and worked hard to display a casual demeanor. No reason to outwardly show an emotion she didn’t even understand. Inside though, tension built in her shoulders and the healing cut on her chest throbbed.

  The two women parted, and Nathaniel clapped his hands together. “How long will you be staying with us, Sarah? I’ll tell the staff to ready a room for you.”

  “Only three days, I’m afraid. I wish I could stay longer but I can’t. Have a business to run.”

  Three days. Avery closed
her eyes and thanked the Lord for small favors. They could keep her busy for three days.

  That evening, since Raven was supposed to be pregnant, she and Gabriel stayed behind while Avery, her mother, Nathaniel, and Clarissa took a ride around the grounds of the estate on four of Nathaniel’s prized horses. Avery’s mare was a sweet-natured Appaloosa named Millie, who made no attempt to keep up with the beast Nathaniel rode, a stallion twice her size with a disposition that matched his name, Diablo. Her mother rode a Thoroughbred named Luna who was so dependable Avery thought her mom could drop the reins and have the same experience as holding them. Clarissa’s horse was far more spirited, but Nathaniel’s mate proved to be an accomplished rider.

  Distracted as she was by the stunning grounds, Avery didn’t think again about what had happened that day until they’d all shared dinner and retired to their rooms, exhausted from the day’s activities. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep until finally she gave up and decided to walk down to the kitchen for a warm glass of milk.

  As she stepped into the hall, a flash of light caught her eye. It was a reflection of gold in the shape of a silhouette, as if a woman in a gold lamé dress had slipped from the hall a half second before she’d turned her head and the gold flash was all that was left in her wake.

  “Laurel?” she whispered. Perhaps the oread was up here cleaning. Avery followed the light past the other bedrooms and down an adjacent hallway. This was a direction she didn’t normally go in the house. Mistwood was an absolutely massive manor. There were many areas she hadn’t yet explored, and she felt a tingle of curiosity as she padded down the empty hall.

  An open door revealed a bedroom with furniture draped in white sheets. Hmm, this wing must not be used often. A red Persian carpet runner covered the length of the hall, which was bordered in dark wood wainscoting. Framed portraits hung between brass sconces that filled the space with a warm ochre glow. Curious, she approached the first portrait.