Free WickedBeast by Gail Faulkner Page A

did. How difficult do you
suppose it is for an earth dragon to find a vein of gold? Or diamonds? Or any
other thing he might need? Molly will not be working there either,” Cord
informed her.
    Kelly raised a brow. “Can you even afford us? Wind doesn’t
exactly make money.”
    Cord chuckled. “When an investor has been around long
enough, he owns a share in every bank, every company, everything worth
investing in. Inventing shell companies made me invisible and has been very
profitable. But the point you’re not getting is all of it really is yours. I
was created for you. Everything I might own is yours.”
    Minuet took the spoon out of her mother’s hand and continued
eating.
    Kelly cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “No, it’s not
and you’re not. I don’t own living beings. No one is owned.”
    Cord reached around behind Minuet and lightly traced a finger
down Kelly’s cheek as he said softly, “Yes they are and you do, but it’s going
to work a bit different than you’re thinking.”
    She got his message. He could see it in her unblinking stare
and soft gasp. She did own him and everything he was. It would be his pleasure
to show her how that was going to benefit her.
    “You have to think of Minuet,” Cord continued in a normal
voice, pulling the trump card. “Sending her to daycare while you work might not
be a good idea. We’ve been given a small window of time for both of you to
learn a great deal of skill. I can teach you, but not in the evenings when
you’re both tired from a long day. Your new job has to be helping your daughter
master her talents while honing your own. Your lives depend on it.”
    “You really think… I mean, we don’t even know who the birds
are from.” Kelly stumbled around, voicing her real concerns in front of Minuet.
“Surely it’s not as serious as all that.”
    “There is a truck rolling around the country with a
powerful, endless spell on it. Obviously the wielder does not have to be near
it for the spell to continue at full strength. The best we can hope for is only
one interested party has noticed it and wishes to find the source of such
never-ending power,” Cord said conversationally to shield the importance of the
statements from Minuet. “I’m not that optimistic by nature.”
    “Oh. Can’t we find the truck and un-spell it?” Kelly asked.
    “Sure, but you or I can’t. The little lady responsible would
have to, and I don’t think she has the skill at the moment. Removing is always
harder than putting on. If she made up the spell on her own, the words could be
tricky. We can’t risk the explosion of power a mistake would cause.”
    “I sorry,” Minuet said quietly, proving she was following
the conversation much more closely than the adults wanted her to.
    “Sweetie, it’s okay. Mommy and Cord will take care of it.
All you need to worry about is not doing something in secret again,” Kelly
cautioned.
    Big eyes blinked as she looked at her mother. “I pomise.”
    “Good girl.” Cord smiled into the worried little face. “We
will not be making that mistake again.” He picked up her empty bowl and took it
to the sink.
    “Am I gowned?” Minuet asked Kelly.
    “Gowned? You can put on your dress-up gown if you want,”
Kelly assured her. “We unpacked dress up a few days ago.”
    “No. Gowneded for being bad,” Minuet insisted. “No dress
up.”
    “Grounded? Is that what you mean?”
    Minuet nodded.
    “Where did you learn that word? You can’t be grounded,
honey. You don’t drive or use the phone,” Kelly explained to her worried
daughter.
    “I see TV. Gownding is da worst.” Minuet nodded confidently
as she said it. “Can I play Coco? She waiting.”
    Cord had felt the little dog sitting at the back door too.
The animal hadn’t made a sound and he’d waited to see if, as he suspected, it
communicated with Minuet. Quickly he questioned the relationship. “Who owns
Coco?”
    “She is Molly’s,” Kelly explained. “A sweet