The Dragon's Witch Mate

CHAPTER: 5

Liam looked over the pictures that Stuart and Elvis had taken. Most of the photos that Stuart had taken showed Vienna at work. One was of her smiling up at a guy who Stuart had said was her friend, Brian. He apparently took her out to lunch once a week. There was also a girl who looked to be about the same age as Vienna named Isabel. The background check on them showed they had no past connection to Mackenzie (the dragon king's brother), although Isabel's job as a freelancer made it a little harder to keep a check on her.

Elvis had taken a few pictures of Zara at school. Zara, the second oldest, always seemed to have a smile on her face and was usually surrounded by people. Clover the third Steven sister, and in middle, seemed to rarely smile. Liam had a funny feeling she was trying to hide a curvy figure under the loose clothes she wore. Her blue eyes showed a wealth of wisdom that went beyond her years.

Elvis came into the room and Liam put the pictures down and smiled at him. "So how does it feel to go to a regular high school?"

Elvis chortled. "It was not quite what I was expecting." Elvis was seventeen and just around six feet tall. Liam figured he would probably grow another couple of inches before he was done. Elvis closely resembled his brother. He let his dark brown hair grow out long so that it hung just past his collar, and his warm smile showed off his dimples. He was extremely excited to be able to help on a mission. Normally, Liam would not let him, but since they needed someone who was able to get close and hang out at the high school, and Elvis was the right age. His only assignment was to help keep an eye on the girls and to find out what he could.

Liam looked down at a picture of Vienna and her sisters again. "Stuart was saying he could not smell any magic on Vienna. What about her sisters?"

"Magic no, but there is something about them." Elvis looked at the picture of Clover that Liam was looking at. He informed Liam that, "something had happened with Clover last year. I have not been able to get anyone to talk about what had happened to her. Whatever it is, her sister Zara tries to protect her as best as she can but her classes keep her on the other side of the school campus most of the day."

Liam smirked. "You cannot get the girls to tell you, Elvis?"

Elvis grinned, showing his dimples. "I know that whatever happened started with the cheerleaders. When I asked them, they ask me why I want to know about the girl. I tried asking Clover's best friend Tanya, but she glared at me and told me to go back to playing with those bitchy cheerleaders and leave her friend alone."

Glowering over some of the pictures, Liam noticed Clover hunched over. Scrolling through, he found a picture where her face was relaxed, her attention fixed on something. "What is she doing here?"

"She was drawing, and I managed to take that photo when she stopped to look at her picture," Elvis replied.

Liam closed the folder with Clover's info so he could concentrate on those of Zara. Clover and Zara had a lot of the same features, but Zara carried herself differently as compared to her sister. She stood up straight and in almost every picture, she was smiling and laughing. The only ones where she was not, were the ones where it seemed as if she was defending her sister. Most of the pictures where she looked the angriest have two boys who looked like athletes. "Who are these two guys?" Liam asked Elvis.

Elvis glanced at the picture. "Those are the two who seem to t*****e Clover the most. They both are on the football team, totally obnoxious from the few encounters I have had with them."

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on her. Make sure these guys stay away from her," Liam instructed.

Elvis nodded. "Not a problem." The grin he gave Liam was a little mischievous. "I would love a reason to knock both of them down."

Stuart came in just then. "Who are we knocking down?" he asked his younger brother.

Liam interrupted before Elvis could open his mouth. "I want him to keep an eye on those guys who seem to trouble Clover and to keep her safe."

Stuart nodded. "Good idea, although try not to get into a fight at school. We do not need to draw any attention to ourselves."

Elvis grinned. "Better head upstairs and finish the homework they gave me."

Both the guys nodded before Liam went back to looking at pictures. Opening Vienna's folder again, he found himself looking at some of the pictures with her and Brian. He fought the urge to growl. He didn't know why, but some of the pictures bothered him, even though Stuart had said that they were just friends. Looking up from the computer he saw Stuart watching him. "What?"

Stuart raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?" he asked Liam.

"Yeah, why?" Liam asked him.

Stuart chuckled as he grabbed two beers from the fridge. Handing Liam one. Liam noticed that Stuart was trying to conceal his smile. "You have this look on your face like you are going to rip someone's head off," Stuart said.

"Whatever man," Liam mumbled before opening the beer he had taken from Stuart.

Taking a swig of his beer, Stuart smiled. "Do you want to come to the office and check her out for yourself?" he asked Liam.

Thinking about it for a second, Liam nodded. "Yeah. I messaged Jordan earlier, and he wants me to get to know her and see what I think. I told him that you cannot smell magic on her, but by the picture you sent of Vienna, he is pretty sure she is the right one," he said to Stuart.

Stuart leaned against the counter. "There are not that many girls with truly violet eyes, so that alone puts her and her sisters in the running. She is really sweet, so a part of me hopes she is not the one, and we can leave her out of this mess, but I have a funny feeling that she is."

Liam looked over her picture. His dragon's reaction to her also made him think she was the one. Most of the night, he looked over what they had found about Vienna, debating on the best course of action to get close to her. Stuart's notes about her let him know she kept most men at arm's length. Liam really admired how much research Stuart had done. There was even a note about a boyfriend who had dumped her shortly after her parents had passed away. It was because she had chosen to raise her sisters, instead of dumping them in foster care, as it had been suggested by the guy. He, therefore, decided it was more than he was willing to sign up for. "i***t," Liam mumbled to himself angry with that guy. Vienna's decision in thinking about keeping her family together and raise the sisters herself told him more about her than anything else could.