I turned back to Nancy to see that she was looking from me to Lucus, a sour twist to her features.
“Coren, honey, you are good people despite your apparel choices.” She eyed the Yew Bow strung across my back. “I don’t want you getting wrapped up in any kind of trouble. I’m not one to be superstitious, but some have mentioned how strange it is that the earthquakes began when your new friends came into town.”
I snorted. “That’s ridiculous and you know it.” She wasn’t far off though, and her suspicions were making my hands sweat. What would she do if she knew I was responsible for all the bad crap going down? That my own work on the Mage Duke’s curse had turned his dark magic into a demon dragon thing that was causing all the damage to our beloved hometown?
Nancy lifted her eyebrows. “It seems ridiculous, yes, but what if there is a more logical reason for the connection? Have you heard Earl McKinnon’s development plan for Franklin?”
“Isn’t he the one who built the new apartment complex past the museum?”
“That’s the one.” Nancy waved a finger. “He wants to turn Franklin into a little Nashville. He has no respect for the history of this place.” She huffed and shook her head, shaking her styled coif so hard that a dyed lock fell over her cheek. “What if your friends are working with him? How well do you even know them?”
“What do you think Lucus and the rest of them would be doing for Earl McKinnon?” She was really showing her crazy side. This whole earthquake thing had riled her up beyond anything I’d seen in her the whole time I’d known her.
She grinned, looking triumphant. “What if they are tampering with gas lines to push the city into a budget crisis?”
Lord. I had to get this woman under control. If she thought Lucus was a criminal, she’d dog his every step, and we’d never get a chance to track down the wyvern.
I put my hands firmly on Nancy’s shoulders. “Look. My Aunt Viv knew their families. They aren’t the type to do things like that for money. They have money of their own. And they’re nice. They’d never do anything like that.”
“You don’t know that, Coren. You yourself said you’d only just met them. Don’t be fooled by good looks, honey.”
My hands fisted, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucus step closer. “Don’t honey me, Nancy. I’m not an idiot. This little chat is over now. Bye.”
I spun, but she caught my wrist. As I turned to argue, the end of the Yew Bow grazed the back of her hand.
Nancy’s eyes went wide. She stumbled backward, gaze on Lucus. “I…his…horns and wings…I can’t…” She rubbed her eyes and stared again.
Shit. My heart did turbo jumping jacks. Nancy was seeing through Lucus’s glamour.
5 Coren
I whirled to face Lucus. “Did you drop your glamour?”
He walked up quickly, frowning as Nancy pointed and mumbled incoherently. “No. Of course not.”
“You’re a demon!” Nancy whimpered, her finger still stretched out, pointing at Lucus. “I didn’t know…but it’s real. It’s true.”
And then Baccio strolled out of the trees. Fabulous timing, asshat. “Lucus, we must talk.”
Nancy gasped, her gaze going from one fae to the other.
I held out a hand. “Nancy. Listen. I can explain. Just breathe.” I reached for her just as the color drained from her face and she dropped to the fog-strewn grass.
I knelt beside her, the fae brothers standing over me.
“How did she see through my glamour?” Lucus bent and placed a hand on Nancy’s arm. I guessed he was throwing a little healing her way.
“I don’t know. I accidentally hit her with the Yew Bow. Could that do it?”
“It’s a powerful artifact. It’s possible.”
Baccio huffed. “Forget the humans for a moment, Lucus, and listen to me. Your mage’s work on the curse has turned the Duke’s work into a demon.”
Your mage. “Listen, Baccio,” I said, “we already know that, and it’s not like I planned the whole demon thing. I was trying to free you and your brothers.”
“I realize that,” he said, sneering, “but once again, you failed miserably and now we have a disciple of death breathing down our necks.”
I shivered at his name for the demon. It seemed remarkably accurate. “Just hold on. We have to do something about Nancy.”
Baccio raised an eyebrow. “I care not for any Nancys.”
“Hey, I know a super fabulous one I met at a beading convention with my Aunt Viv, so don’t judge people by their names.”
Lucus lifted Nancy into his arms. “Baccio, if you have something to say, say it.”
I pulled my phone out and texted Hekla to come over with her Volvo so we could get Nancy out of here.
Hey, Hekla texted back. Titus texted me but it was weird. I think something is wrong.
Sliding my phone into my pocket, I shelved that worry for later.
Baccio looked across Pinkerton Park, his gaze snagging on the copse of trees he must have been living in. “I want to help you fight, Lucus.”
“Ignoring me?” I smiled with all my teeth.
“As much as I am able, yes.”
Lucus still held Nancy, and I could tell that was the only reason he wasn’t shoving his brother’s chest and starting a big old fight. His eyes flashed with green light. “She is my mate. She risked everything to try to free us, and she succeeded. You know as well as I do that twisting magic at that level will always have frightening repercussions.”
Baccio’s nostrils flared as he stared
