Sophia growled, she couldn’t hold it back, the sudden surge of jealousy washing over her in a wave.Kane was hers, her dragon whispered.
She felt Jamie’s hand on her arm in a reassuring pat. “That was finished before you woke up, before Kane met you.”
Sophia nodded, the reassurance helping to take the edge off. Taking a few deep breaths, she brought herself back under control and was able to focus once more.
“And I reminded them that Nicky couldn’t be with Kane since you spent almost the entire night with him.”
Damn right she had.
And then Jamie added with a chuckle, “That reminder, of course, got your brother all fired up, but anyway, I thought I’d go see a friend of mine. She might be able to help. Want to come?”
Grateful for the distraction, Sophia readily agreed and Jamie began walking toward the water instead of the circle of cabins or the area where the pack vehicles were parked. “We’re going by boat?”
“Yup,” and then with a sly grin over her shoulder, “During the trip, you can give me all the juicy details of what’s going on with you and Kane. I’m dying to know.”
“I broke his nose,” Sophia blurted, still feeling guilty over the incident despite Kane’s assurances that he was fine and that he didn’t blame her for what was clearly an accident. That he, in fact, blamed himself.
That had Jamie stumbling to an abrupt halt and turning with a wide-eyed look of disbelief. “No!” and then with a look of affront, “What did he do? Was he a dick? Do I need to help you beat on him some more?”
Sophia shook her head. “I dozed off in the tub and didn’t realize he was there when I woke up.”
“Oh, my God,” Jamie gasped between hoots of merriment. “Though I suppose a punch to the nose is better than a dragon in his tub.”
“I headbutted him, actually.”
That only rejuvenated Jamie’s laughter, to the point where she was bent over with it, eyes closed, tears leaking down cheeks that had turned an alarming shade of red. The vampire was laughing so hard, she’d passed the point of sound. Her mouth was open, but nothing came out until she gasped in a much-needed breath.
“It was an accident,” Sophia added sheepishly.
Jamie waved her hand in front of her face, too overcome with mirth to speak. It was several moments before she managed to gasp out, “Poor Kane. He was probably trying to be all sexy too,” she said with another round of laughter. “What a mood killer. I wish I’d been there to see his face.”
Luckily, it hadn’t turned out to be too much of a mood killer, nor had it affected Kane’s performance in the least. In fact, Sophia couldn’t wait for a repeat performance – well, minus the injury this time – and if she had her way, that would be tonight.
Kane had his meeting with Archer Langley and Destin Jourdain, but they’d agreed to meet after at a place close by that had an open mic night. “You’ll hear some of the best jazz,” he’d excitedly told her on the ride home. Personally, Sophia hadn’t cared where they went, would have been perfectly happy if he’d suggested she meet him at his house again, but the thought of an actual date had thrilled her to the core.
Just the thought of seeing Kane again had her heart pounding with anticipation and her thighs clenching with need. Clearing her throat and hoping for a distraction, Sophia asked, “So who are we going to see?”
Jamie wiggled her eyebrows. “The swamp witch.”
Sophia suddenly had images of a haggard crone covered in green slime and moss rising from the depths of the swamp.
The look on her face must have conveyed those thoughts because Jamie suddenly cackled with glee. “No worries, Nedra is going to love you,” and then with a wink, “She has a thing for reptiles.”
Chapter Twenty
While Nedra herself didn’t rise out of the swamp, her house did. The place was built right smack in the middle, the only way to get to it, by boat. It was also a cramped space, a veritable rabbit warren of little rooms that made Sophia’s dragon a bit claustrophobic under those low ceilings.
Jamie obviously had more than a mere acquaintance with the woman since she’d just walked right into the house without knocking. Of this mysterious Nedra, there was currently no sign, so Sophia took a moment to look around.
The kitchen table seemed to be a catchall for open books, potted plants, seedling trays, and mason jars with assorted twigs, roots, rocks, and powders. The assortment didn’t end there, however, but had also spread to the countertops and even on top of the stove.
“Nedra?” Jamie called out.
Their answer was a loud disgruntled sigh that seemed to be coming from just down the hall and then a heavy southern accent declaring, “Child, if you’re here to check my progress on that immortality potion, rushing me will get you nowhere. If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
Immortality potion? What a strange thing for a vampire, who was already technically immortal, to be searching for, but before Sophia could ask about it, a woman, who Sophia assumed was Nedra, made an appearance.
Her skin was a soft brown, wrinkled with age, a pair of half-glasses perched on the end of her nose as she looked from Jamie to Sophia with curiosity. The woman was also potentially colorblind considering the ensemble she was currently wearing. A vivid orange turban completely covered any hair the woman might have on her head, a purple cardigan with deep pockets on the front was worn over a red top that was tucked into the high elastic waist of a pair of yellow polyester pants. The combination of colors was startling and had Sophia blinking rapidly.
