Trapped between a Demon and a Dragon

Chapter 19

"Now wait a minute!"

"Hell no!"

"Absolutely not!"

The men start talking over each other, expressing their displeasure at the announcement while Harper stands frozen in shock. Never in all their three year relationship did Misha ever express interest in having her meet his parents. And now his mother wants to meet her even though they haven't spoken to each other in nine years? It made no sense.

Speaking of not making sense...

Harper moves to stand in front of Misha so she could catch his eye. "When I was at your house Friday night, didn't you say your parents died recently?"

Her ex grimaces as he turns his gaze towards the floor. "Yeah. My dad and stepmom, who was more of a mother to me than my birth mom."

"His father remarried to a human after he separated from our matriarch," Talon chimes in from the doorway, his voice a little too chipper for the information he is sharing. "Most of us found it amusing when Misha started dating you. 'Like father, like son' we'd all say. But the matriarch wasn't too pleased with the relationship. Well, either relationship really. Getting replaced by a human. Twice." Talon flushes red as he looks around and takes in the scowls he is receiving. "Sorry. I tend to ramble in tense situations."

"Great," Kye says, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "So to sum it up, Har now has to deal with an ex, his human hating mother, his best friend who doesn't understand the word tact, and one if not two people out to kill her. Oh, and she has to go to work in the morning and deal with a bunch of teens who don't want to be there. Is there anything I am missing?"

"Oh oh!" Lily slides down through the floor onto the sofa, startling Talon causing their guest to fall back into the door in shock. "So the principal texted and said that your mom called and told her all about your family emergency so you have today off and longer if you need. So cool that your principal is all about modern communication cause it would have been harder to snoop on if she insisted on calling and all that."

For the nth time tonight, Harper feels a sense of dread fill her. Taking a seat by Lily, she grabs her phone and looks over the message. "Why would she say my mom called? Mom doesn't even know the school I work at. And clearly the only emergency in the past few days has been someone trying to kill me. Not sure if that counts as a family emergency."

Aeron's scowl deepens as Misha whispers a swear before muttering "of course it does."

Kye's eyes darken before he pushes off of the wall and crosses the room so that he is standing next to Misha. "I blame you, you know."

"Blame me for what," Misha scoffs. "For the destruction upstairs? I'll have somebody come by today to replace the window."

"No you asshole. I blame you for messing up Harper. You strung her along for years, then ghosted her for no f-ing reason. She was a mess, and I don't think she ever fully healed from it. I mean, look how nonchalant she is talking about her own potential murder. Hell the most successful relationship she has had since you ditched her is with an actual demon from Hell. How screwed up is it? No offense Aeron."

"I take great offense on both mine and my beloved's behalf," Aeron replies dryly as he moves over to Kye's side. "However, placing the blame for the damage done to my beloved's on the dragon's head is an happenstance that I can acquiesce to."

As the trio devolves into another shouting match, Harper struggles to put all the pieces of information she has in an overarching story. Mysterious letters talking about her immoral relationship. A student leading her to an assault and attempted murder. Someone creating a cover story for her missing work.Strange dreams haunting her. An actual hit being put on her. Someone stalking the house. Her ex coming back into the picture. Her ex's family wanting to meet her. It is like three different storylines all happening at once.

But what if she could merge at least a couple of the story lines?

What if some of them were related?

A theory is forming in her head, but, if true, it might destroy her relationship with someone in this room.

"Officer Mercard, did she say what time she wanted to meet?" Harper asks softly, her eyes never leaving the text message on her phone. "Apparently I have today off, but I would like to shower and sleep before meeting her. I don't think it'd be proper to meet the matriarch of a dragon thunder smelling like zombie drool."

The room is silent for a moment before Kye and Aeron let out a grunt as Misha shoves past them. "Minstrel," he moans as he drops to his knees in front of the sofa and reaches out and wraps his hand around hers. "Don't meet with her. Please. She is not a kind woman, especially not to humans. Don't put yourself in any more danger by meeting her. We don't need a third person out here trying to take your life."

"That's exactly why I have to meet with her." Harper looks up and locks eyes with her ex. "Let's be honest, she's probably scared that now that you are back in town, you are going to want to get back together. And ," she continues, ignoring the slight flinch from the man in front of her, knowing that his heart would feel a few more stabs before the night is over. "We've already established that your mom hates the idea of you building a life with a human. She probably wants to scare me off or threaten me into staying away from you. So I would rather reassure her that I am going full Taylor Swift and saying we are never getting back together instead of letting her stew and grow angrier and more dangerous."

"I can tell her that myself."

"But would she believe you or would she think you are just trying to shield me."

The silence that follows is enough of an answer for her.

Harper leans over and wraps her arms around Misha. "On Friday you saved me. Now it's my turn to protect you," she whispers in his ear before letting go. Turning towards the door, she raises a hand to catch the other dragon's eye. "Do you think she would be okay with an afternoon meeting? If it is earlier I think I might have a harder time convincing these guys to let me out of the house."

The officer looks over the men, his eyes pausing a little longer on Kye, before giving a curt nod. "I see your point. I will advise the matriarch that the afternoon would be in the best interest of all involved and message Misha with the time and place. Thank you for your cooperation, miss. Now, I'll go talk to your neighbor before heading back to the den. Have a good night," he says with a slight tip of his hat before disappearing into the night.

An uncomfortable silence fills the room. No one is happy about the decision but no one is brave enough to start another fight tonight.

"Well, I'm exhausted. Dying really takes it out of you," Harper says as she stands up and walks over to Aeron. "Kye, the sheets in your room were already cleaned, so you can go up there or stay here and talk to Lily. Lily, same thing. Misha, you can go home, stay on the couch, take the guest room, or go bunk with Dave. Just be careful; he bites. Aeron, you can either go to bed with me or back to Hell. I really don't care at this point."

Instead of answering, Aeron reaches out and wraps a hand around her wrist. A moment later the two of them are standing in the middle of their bedroom.

"Good choice," she says as she leans over and places a light kiss on his lips. "I like it when you choose me."

He uses his grip on her wrist to pull her back in for a more passionate kiss. "I will always choose you. But speaking of choices, I must protest your plan to meet the mother dragon. It is most unwise."

"...Do you trust me?"

Aeron recoils a bit at the question, and a look of hurt and offense crosses his face. "You are the only creature in Heaven, Earth, and Hell that holds that honor."

"Then trust my choices. You don't have to like them, but you have to trust that I am doing what is best," she whispers before brushing her lips across his neck. "Do you think you could do that for me?"

"I would do anything for you, my beloved."

"And I you."

With a light pull of her hand, Harper leads them into the bathroom to get ready for the night and the day that will follow.