Dragon Passion

by Amelia Jade

  “What’s going on?” he asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  She looked at him again, then shook her head and bolted for the door.

  Jared was faster. He didn’t go for her, but instead he simply moved to the door and put his back against it.

  “No,” he said. “I understand you’re upset, that something is bothering you. But it’s not worth you running off and getting in trouble over.

  She paused and reached out for her hoodie that was still hanging up, pulling it on while she looked at him, her cheeks still wet. Nadia shook her head again.

  “You need to tell me,” he implored her, looking deep into her watery green eyes, trying to convince her that no matter what she was hiding, it would be better once it was in the open. “You can’t hurt me.”

  Nadia crumpled like she’d been hit at that statement, the tears coming even faster. She fought a losing battle in trying to blink them back and wiping them away. He longed to reach in, to help her, to pull her to him so she could dry her eyes on his shoulder. His bear was frantic, telling him to do just that, to help her.

  But he could only remember the way she had drawn back from him earlier. She was afraid of what she was going to say.

  “Please,” he said, switching tactics. “Whatever it is, it will be okay.”

  “No it won’t,” she said in a ghost of a whisper.

  “Yes it will,” he reiterated.

  “It can’t be,” she told him. “Because it was me. I can’t unmake it.”

  He frowned. “What was you?”

  “This,” she said with a gesture. “It’s all because of me.”

  Jared opened his mouth to say he still didn’t know. Then he thought about what she was saying. “You’re saying it’s your fault that we’re in a motel?”

  She nodded nervously. “I caused it all. I told them where your base was,” she said, and he felt rage explode inside of him. “But I didn’t mean to. Please, I’m sorry! I didn’t know the truth. I was just doing my job.”

  “Explain,” he ground out, trying to restrain himself.

  How dare she? His team—his family—had been put in mortal danger because of her? Because she thought it would be a good idea to blab to people about them? His bear was torn in half, unsure of what to do. His human side was even worse. It crumpled under the revelation, allowing his anger to boil over.

  “I used to work for the city as a data analyst on various local projects and civic cases. They asked for volunteers to work a new and different case. Said success would result in possibility of promotion and transfer to a new division. I hated where I was at, so I volunteered,” she said through a haze of tears.

  Jared stared stone-faced, listening as she told him.

  “I used the city’s surveillance network and a bunch of other information to backtrack you, to find the warehouse.”

  His jaw dropped. “Why would you do that?”

  She looked distraught now. “They told us you were terrorists! That you were formulating a plot to hurt a lot of people in King City. What did you want me to do?!”

  “Think,” he ground out. “Do some research. Analyze data.”

  “I did,” she protested. “Why do you think after I was ‘promoted’ and transferred that I fled to you? I realized the mistake I had made, and warned you.”

  He reared back in surprise. “You warned us? How the hell did you do that?”

  “The news,” she said in a small voice. “I leaked it to the news. I called them up and told them.”

  “And you put my family at risk of death,” he finished.

  “I’m sorry!”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it!” he replied, trying to keep his voice calm as he walked into the center of the room, running his hands through his hair.

  He was furious. Beyond furious really, angry in a way that he wasn’t sure he’d ever been before. What Nadia had done was nearly unforgiveable. He had to try and think of it from her side though. To see how she had seen things. To—

  The door slammed closed.

  He spun on the spot, turning to look. Nadia was gone. She had fled into the hallway. He should go after her. To catch up with her. To talk to her. To tell her that it was okay that he was mad. He was allowed to be, in such a situation. He hadn’t taken it out on her, and Jared had no intentions of doing that, besides being hurt by the betrayal. But in time, with the knowledge that she hadn’t known better, and that she had—in her own way—given them enough warning to evacuate, he could forgive her.

  Couldn’t he?

  ***

  Jared sat on the edge of the bed for several long moments, contemplating what to do.

  “You already know what to do,” he said aloud. “So just do it.”

  He was up and out the door before the sound of his voice finished echoing through the room.

  The motel had a long walkway on the second floor that reached from one end to the other, connecting all the rooms. A thin wire railing rose up to ensure no one fell off, but otherwise it was clear to the ground. He took a split-second glance to ensure there was no car or other object below him and hurled himself off the second floor, landing in a roll at the bottom. He came to his feet and looked around, but he couldn’t see her.

  Instinctively his bear surged to the surface, staying just contained enough that its enhanced senses reached him. He tilted his head back, nose flaring frantically as he tested the air.

  There! He caught her scent, and he was off, following it across the parking lot and down the road. Nadia must have been running the entire way, because she had had no more than a thirty-second head start, and she was gone from view. He could track her for a long time though. His legs stretched out, beginning to eat up the distance with big loping strides that carried him down the road, across traffic, and between two buildings with a casual ease that would have stunned an observer.

  He emerged into a parking lot, beyond which was another major intersection.

  “Nadia!” he shouted, seeing her on the far side of the parking lot, just approaching the road.

  She hesitated, turning back to see him gaining quickly. She kept running, putting her head down and speeding across the parking lot.

  He growled and moved faster, feeling urgency enter into his motions. Why was he in such a hurry? What was about to go wrong?

  Nadia reached the street and came to a halt, looking both ways to cross. A black SUV came screeching to a halt in front of her and the side door opened. A big man emerged, clamping his hand over her mouth. Nadia struggled, but her hoodie fell loose, tangling her arms up. Jared watched as it fell to the ground and the man hauled her back into the parking lot.

  Jared roared in anger and called upon his bear, dropping to all fours as the powerful animal ripped from his skin and surged across the parking lot in a burst of speed he couldn’t have hoped to match, trying to close the gap.

  He was too late though. The engine roared, rubber burned, and then it shot forward again, even as Jared leapt forward, paws outstretched. He dug his big claws into the side of the vehicle, but the flimsy metal trim simply peeled back as he hit the pavement and rolled, the metal ripped right from the frame of the SUV without slowing it down.

  He hurled his anger and defiance at the Agency, wondering how the hell they had been so lucky as to spot them and chase her down. That was one hell of a coincidence. Taking a moment to concentrate, he felt his skin shift as his human side reemerged. A crowd of onlookers had gathered, but he paid them no mind.

  Unsure of what to do now, feeling lost, he reached down and snagged her hoodie by the collar.

  Jared frowned as his fingers encountered something hard. He lifted the hood up and examined what he had found.

  It was a little metal circle with what looked like electronic components. A tracking device, it had to be. They had been following her from the start! That’s how they found the first safe house, and were able to follow them all the way out to the edge of the city.

  He growled again and cru
shed the bug between two fingers, dropping it to the ground where he used his boot to smash it into smaller fragments. His anger subsided into an icy rage. He looked up, eyes following down the street where the SUV had disappeared.

  The Agency had his girl.

  The Agency had hurt his friends.

  His lips pulled back in a wordless snarl that forced the crowd of pedestrians back.

  It was time the Agency paid the toll.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nadia

  The SUV pulled to a halt in front of her. To Nadia, it seemed to happen in slow motion. The door opened and a man emerged. The first thing she noted was that he was dressed very similar to the men who had tried to capture her when the whole ordeal had first started. Men she now knew belonged to the Agency.

  Bad men.

  The second thing she noted was that he was looked right at her and came directly toward her. His eyes were wide with glee and purpose, a maniacal gleam that shook her to her core. This man, whatever he was up to, was not up to any good.

  A bad man.

  The third thing she noticed was that he was coming for her. That’s when she began to scream, but his hand clamped over her mouth before she could. Nadia immediately began to struggle, but the oversized hoodie fell from her shoulders and got tangled up in her wrists. The man tore it off her as he tried to grab her arm to force her in the car.

  The last view she had of Jared was his raging bear chasing them down as the SUV accelerated, and the sound of his claws as they punched into the side of the vehicle and removed a chunk of metal. Then they were gone, and he was standing behind them, unable to do anything more.

  She tried to scream again then, but an elbow to her stomach knocked the wind out of her. A hood was dropped over her head, preventing her from seeing anything.

  “I really don’t think the hood is necessary,” she finally said. “I know where you’re taking me. I was there a few days ago.” She let her tone go smug. “I waltzed in and out right under the watchful eye of your guards.”

  One of them snarled, and something hit her in the face, taking all the attitude out of her as she tried not to cry from the pain. Something trickled down the side of her head, but it wasn’t until she tasted the distinct metallic tang of iron that she realized it was blood. The man had made her bleed!

  “Where is the Underground?” a voice said at last.

  When she didn’t answer, someone reached out and grabbed her shoulder, giving her an impolite shake.

  “The who?” she asked, trying to sound confused. “Isn’t that the name of some city’s subway system?”

  Another growl, but nobody hit her this time.

  “Tell us where the Underground is. Now.” This was a second voice. It was angrier, and impatient.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, trying to sound as exasperated as possible.

  “The man you were with, he belonged to a terrorist group known as the Underground,” the first voice repeated calmly, sounding unperturbed by her reluctance to answer. “You know the man. You’ve spent the past few days with him. Where are his friends? Where are they hiding? How many of them are there?”

  “Have you ever talked to him?” she asked with a snort. “The man has no friends. In fact, I’d like to thank you all for getting me away from him.” She was making this all up on the run, hoping they’d buy it.

  “Thank us?” the second voice said, sounding surprised now.

  “Yes. Did you not see that I was running away from him? He’s kept me captive,” she said. “Only this morning was I finally able to get free. It’s allowed me to realize the mistake I made by running away. I should never have done so.” She modulated her voice, trying to sound smaller and pathetic, in the hope that they might believe her.

  “Really? Fascinating story,” Voice Number One said. “Too bad it’s all a lie. Now tell us the truth.” His voice hardened as he spoke, and Nadia felt her stomach tighten into knots at what was left unspoken in his voice.

  “I don’t know what you seek,” she said at last.

  A hand gripped her knee, and slowly began to squeeze. Nadia set her jaw and forced herself not try cry out as the grip got tighter, and the pain increased. A finger from a second hand jabbed itself into her leg just above the knee to the outside, and a blast of pain shot up into her, overwhelming her.

  “They’re all over,” she blurted out.

  The finger disappeared, and the grip on her knee loosened.

  “Explain.”

  “They were at the warehouse. You tried to take them. They scattered across the city, to predetermined points. I don’t know where they are. He never told me, and truthfully I never asked. He seemed intent on keeping them all a secret.”

  She winced and waited, but the hand removed itself from her knee entirely, leaving behind a dull throbbing pain.

  I’m sorry I couldn’t be stronger, Jared.

  The truth was, she hadn’t really given them any information. She could perhaps answer their question about how many there were, but she wasn’t even sure she had the full picture, based upon the brief interaction at the warehouse. Everything had been moving at a frantic pace then, and Nadia’s numbers were unlikely to be reliable.

  Thankfully, she realized she actually knew very little about the Undergrounds operations, and thus could give away just as little. That made her feel somewhat relieved, though she was nervous about how hard they might try to hurt her if they thought she was lying.

  There was quiet mumbling from the other men in the car, but the engine combined with the noise coming in from outside served to drown it out before it reached through her hood.

  “We’re here,” a voice said, and the van began to slow, and then she felt it lean forward as it went down a ramp.

  The next few minutes were a blur as she was pulled from the van, kicking and screaming. Voice Number Two yelled at her, and slapped her across the face, stunning her as someone else carried her along. There was an elevator ride, some stairs, and then another elevator ride that felt vaguely familiar.

  The same layout as the building the other day.

  Nadia was literally back where it had all begun. At last they sat her in a chair and strapped her in. When that was done, her hood was removed, and she found herself sitting across from a man in a gray suit.

  Her blood cooled instantly as something in his eyes and his body language told her that this man was extremely dangerous, and that she should not mess around with him at all.

  “Very good,” he all but purred, his voice so smooth it struck her as wrong. “You’re in my care now.”

  Nadia snorted. “Care, is it? Perhaps you should have a word with your associates then.” She hadn’t meant to mouth off to him. It had just happened. She braced herself for another blow, but it never came. Her eyes inched back open.

  Then the man frowned, his eyebrows coming together as eyes so dark they were almost black peered at her.

  “That is from my men?” he asked.

  “That and the bruise on my stomach and the pain in my knee,” she said, her voice a little less haughty this time.

  “Excuse me,” the man said, rising easily from his chair and opening the door.

  Two men stood outside that she could see.

  “Did you hit her?” he asked one of them, his voice just loud enough for her to hear.

  “No.” She heard the response, and recognized him as Voice Number One.

  “And you?” Suited man turned to the other person in the hallway.

  The answer wasn’t as forthcoming.

  She watched as the new man, their boss she guessed, reached back and closed the door. There was what sounded like yelling, followed by a thud, and then suddenly the entire wall shook in its frame, sending dust drifting down from the ceiling.

  A moment later the door opened and the man in the gray suit reentered the room, tugging on his jacket to settle it back into place.

  “You have my apologies on that,” he said with
a dip of his head. “They have strict orders not to hurt humans, especially females who cannot fight back.”

  Nadia glared at him at his reference to her being impotent when it came to fighting in the shifter war, but she couldn’t fault his logic. She couldn’t fight back against them. But then again, that wasn’t her job. That was Jared’s.

  Now if only I hadn’t screwed things up so badly that he might come after me.

  That thought came and went quickly. Jared wasn’t going to come after her. Assaulting this place, their headquarters as he’d called it, would be suicide. His friends were scattered across the city, and without them, he didn’t have a chance.

  Stay away, Jared. I’m sorry. I wish things could have worked out better.

  She sent the thought out, hoping against hope that he might understand. That he would be able to forgive her for what she had done.

  “Now, I have some questions I would like you to answer,” the mystery man said.

  “No.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “No?”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t have any damn information, and whether I tell you or don’t tell you the minute details that I do know, you’re going to kill me. So why should I bother?”

  “Kill you? Why would I kill you?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

  “Either you’re an award-worthy actor, or you’re blind,” she said. “You hate them, and anyone associated with them. Like me. I could talk if you let me go. So you’re going to kill me.”

  “Hate who?”

  “Shifters. The Underground. Their entire kind. For some stupid reason, you refuse to let them exist.”

  The man began to laugh. “Hate them? No, no my dear. You have me all wrong. I do not hate them. That is much too impersonal. After all, they made me. I simply need them, and your friends have been entirely too pesky, getting in my way.”

  “They made you?” she asked, now the one confused. “I don’t understand. Why do you kill them then?”