Page 8 of Dragon Detective
“Excuse me?” she said.
“I’m a dragon shifter.”
“Oh.” She sputtered for a moment, perhaps not knowing what to say to that. As far as I knew, he was the only dragon shifter in town. Orcs and yetis were much more common. “I’m Evie to my friends.” She delicately held her hand out his way. Her eyelashes fluttered fast enough she might be able to use them to lift off the ground. Then she could soar over the path along the side of the house and keep flying all the way into town. “My grandfather owned Blakemore House and this,” her sweet smile faded fast when she turned her sharp gaze my way, “this interloper refuses to sell it to me. Me! If anyone should be opening an exclusive inn here, it’s Blakemore Group. I’ll have you know that the Blakemores, my side of the family, that is,” she simpered, “have run an exquisite chain of inns for many generations. Surely, you’ve heard of the Blakemore Inn Group?”
While his gaze shot from me to her, then back to me, Reylor scratched the back of his neck. “No, I haven’t.”
Her snort rang out. “I’m the acquisitions manager. This woman,” her finger poked toward me, “refuses to relinquish this property to those who should justly own it.”
As she’d already told me at least ten times. If nothing else, she was persistent. “I bought it from the estate.”
“Without my consent.”
“The realtor, the bank, and the lawyers didn’t mention your name during the closing. I bought it from your aunt, actually. Justin’s daughter.”
“And my father is his deceased son. I was out of the country when it happened. By the time I saw the email, you’d snatched it up. Sell it to me. I’ll give you a tidy profit, and you can walk away and find a new place to fix up for your quaint B&B.”
“I’m not selling,” I said firmly, pointing to the path. “I’ve told you that more than once. Please leave. We have things to do.”
Evelyn snarled, though her face smoothed when she looked Reylor’s way. “Perhaps you can talk some sense into this silly woman.”
Reylor’s brow narrowed, and the irritation in his amber eyes reminded me why villagers ran when a dragon swooped overhead. And we’d thought all that shooting flames stuff was fiction. “I believe you’ve been asked to leave the property,” he bit out. “As a licensed law enforcement officer, I’ll be happy to escort you to the sidewalk if you . . . can’t find your way.” Smoke, literal smoke, curled from his nostrils.
“Well,” she grumbled, pivoting on her heel. “You haven’t heard the last of me.”
With that, she stalked back down the side path. The growl of her engine reached us not long after, followed by a squeal of tires.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Not your problem.” He continued to glare in that direction. “Evelyn Blakemore?”
“Yes, that’s her name.”
“She’s just taken the number one spot on my suspect list.”
Chapter 4
Reylor
Dragon shifters didn’t rile easily. Fire and anger never mixed well. But when Evelyn insulted Hannah—my mate—it was over. I would’ve laid waste to the entire continent to remove the irritation from Hannah’s eyes.
“Do you think she’s been ripping up my flower beds?” Hannah frowned, clearly thinking. “You know, I could swear the writing on my front parlor mirror was lipstick, though, as I said, it was gone before I could return to wipe it off. But it was the exact same shade of red that Evelyn has worn each time I’ve seen her.”
“She wants you to sell. That’s a motive. Means? As Justin’s granddaughter, would she have a key?”
“Maybe.” Hannah worried her lower lip, staring toward the back door. “Changing the locks is one more item on my list.”
“How long’s that list?”
She sighed. “Too long. I’m working hard every day of the week. I don’t take time off for anything—”
“Not even to go out on a date?” I’d already noted she didn’t wear a ring, but not everyone did.
“I don’t date.”
“Oh?”
“I’m on a hiatus,” she said pertly. “Anyway. I’ve been working from sunup to sundown to get this place ready, though lately, I feel like I take two steps backward for each one forward.”