by Rinelle Grey
“We just want to keep an eye on them,” the inspector insisted. “Make sure they’re not threatening Mungaloo. We don’t want to hurt them. The leader of the other clan is cooperating with us, maybe the leader of this one can too.”
It all seemed so reasonable, on the surface.
In Brad’s previously ordered world, he would have trusted the police, told them everything he knew, and believed they would do the right thing.
But in his ordered world, something as unexpected as dragons would never have existed. That changed everything. People were scared, and that meant he couldn’t trust them.
He needed to do everything he could to keep the location of Rian lair a secret as long as he could. “You really just want to talk to them?” Brad asked. “You’re not going to arrest them all too?”
“Of course not,” the inspector said, his voice cheery. “Where would we put all those dragons anyway?”
Brad tried to look uncertain. It wasn’t too hard, he was uncertain. Just not about telling them where the lair was
“There’s a road out of town, running near a creek. If you follow the creek along, there’s a cave. They’re in there.”
That should be suitably vague enough to keep them searching for a while, shouldn’t it?
The inspector looked pleased, at least. “Thanks, gentlemen. You’ve been most helpful. If your story checks out.”
“Are you going to let us go then?” Brad said, though truthfully, he didn’t hold out much hope.
How was he going to warn Lyrian and Rian clan that they had only a very short time to get out of there?
“Not yet,” the inspector said. “But cooperating is a good start.”
He stood up and waved to the officer still standing near the wall. “Senior Constable Lyons, can you show these two men to a room?”
Brad’s heart pounded. They fact that they’d been granted a reprieve did little to alleviate his panic. Once the police realised he’d sent them on a while goose chase, he’d be in exactly the same situation again. Worse actually, because he was pretty sure lying to the police would get him in a lot more trouble than he was already in.
And once they realised he’d been lying, the police would return to wave rock to search there again.
How was he going to warn Lyrian?
Chapter 2
Lyrian was too caught up in the feeling of loss that had pervaded her mind since Brad had left to really pay much attention to what all the other dragons were saying.
Their conversation was pointless anyway. The comments about how this was all Brad’s fault, the praises of his bravery in sacrificing himself for the clan’s greater good, none of them meant anything at all.
How could they, when Brad had left her?
Anger and helplessness welled up in her, the intensity of the emotions making it hard to breathe. Or maybe that was the tears that kept trying to fall, that she choked back. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t cry.
Because if she started, she wasn’t sure if she could stop.
She’d been so happy only a few hours ago, when Brad had agreed to mate with her. So amazed at the fact that he’d decided to spend the rest of his life with her and Anarian instead of returning to America.
Now he was gone anyway.
She knew he had done it because he thought it was the right thing to do, but she couldn’t believe that. Him not being here would never feel right to her.
Somehow, the hole in her heart felt even bigger than it would have if he’d left to return to his home. Maybe because then she could have at least imagined him being happy. Probably because she’d had a taste of how wonderful that life could be, then had it ripped away from her.
One voice finally broke through Lyrian’s misery.
“I’ll call my boss, he’s a lawyer and he’s already offered to represent the dragons if there’s anything he can do,” Lisa said firmly. “I’m sure he can get Brad out of there.”
“Do you think so?” Lyrian asked, hardly daring to hope.
She caught the look Verrian shot his mate, and Taurian’s frown, and her heart sank again.
Lisa though, didn’t look deterred. “If anyone can, Barry Hutchinson can,” she said firmly.
“I’m not sure it’s that simple,” Taurian said slowly.
Lyrian swung around and stared at her brother. “What do you mean, not that simple? Are you saying we should just give Brad up? Not even try to get him back? Weren’t you the one convincing me to mate with him just a few hours ago? Why would you do that if you didn’t want him to be part of our clan?”
A thought occurred to her, and she blurted it out before she even had time to consider it. “Did you encourage Brad to leave, or help distract me while he did?” Her voice shook, and a matching tremor ran through her arms and legs.
It was an effort to hold back the tears. To pretend to be cool, calm, and collected, as her clan expected her to be. Brad leaving had broken her trust in the world, and even in her brothers. And she couldn’t even find it in herself to care.
Taurian frowned. “Are you accusing me of lying? Of encouraging your mate to leave?” His voice thundered. “Why would I do that? Have I done anything but support you since you arrived?”
Lyrian stared at her brother. Of course he hadn’t. But if Brad could just walk out like that, how could she trust anyone?
Even her brother.
“If you didn’t help him leave, then why aren’t you suggesting we do all we can to help him now? That implies that you think we should just give up and let the police have him.” Her voice shook on the last words, the possibility too horrible to even consider.
Taurian’s voice softened. “I’m not saying that. I want to bring Brad back to our clan as much as you do. I’m just saying that this is bigger than your mate. Bigger than just helping one person.”
He looked around the clan, and Lyrian could see all of them hanging onto his words. “The fact of the matter is, our existence is no longer a secret. The humans know dragons exist. And while Brad and his brother have bought us some time, that’s all this is. Eventually, we’re going to have to find a way to deal with the humans, once and for all. And we need this time Brad has given us to do that.”
The finality in his voice sent a chill down Lyrian’s spine.
She didn’t want to hear it. Most certainly didn’t want it to be true.
Taurian looked at her as though he could hear the doubts in her mind, and said softly, “I know this is hard for you Lyrian, but you need to think of your clan, of your position as princess, not just of your mate. If we don’t use this time wisely, then Brad’s sacrifice will be in vain.”
Lyrian didn’t want to be a princess and put her clan first. She wanted to transform into a dragon, rush down to the police station, and demand that they return her mate. Immediately.
But despite her emotional turmoil, she couldn’t deny that Taurian was right. Too much was at stake. Too much had happened in the last few weeks, both before and after her return to the clan, for things to just go on as they had.
“What are we going to do?” she asked in a whisper, for once not caring that her clan was seeing her uncertainty.
She didn’t want to know that this was bigger than her. Bigger than Brad. Bigger than them being together. She had hoped to spend a few days, at least, with her mate, before having to face all this.
She didn’t want to believe that Taurian was right.
Even though she knew he was.
Brad had bought them time. Time to figure out what they needed to do next. But that didn’t mean they had to ignore him while they figured it out.
Taurian stepped forwards, a ready answer on his lips. “Our best chance of a favourable outcome for the dragons is if we present a unified front. If the humans see us at war with the Trima dragons, then they are going to assume we are a warlike people. If we can make peace, and approach them together, then I think both clans stand a better chance of finding a solution with the humans.”
; His words made so much sense. Even if they did seem impossible right now.
Two days ago, Lyrian had thought their war with the Trima dragons was the biggest challenge her clan had to face. Now that seemed insignificant compared to finding a way to convince the humans to accept the existence of dragons.
Then again, perhaps this was just the thing to bring the warring clans together?
Lyrian couldn’t help a grudging admiration that her brother, her youngest brother, was taking over with so much confidence. And he was doing an excellent job of it.
Then again, it wasn’t his mate that had been taken by the police.
She felt lost and alone. Even in the midst of her family.
Her mate’s absence hurt even more than her family’s absence had.
Which was why she needed to do something about getting him back. “Calling Lisa’s boss and asking him to see if he can help Brad does not prevent us making peace with the Trima clan. In fact…” an idea hit her as she spoke, an idea so surprising she had to pause to consider it for a few moments before continuing, “Perhaps Lisa’s boss can help Ultrima too? Surely that would improve relations between our clans?”
Taurian stared at her. In fact, everyone was staring at her.
Lyrian stared back defiantly. “What? It seems like the perfect opportunity to put him in our debt.”
“You could be onto something,” Taurian said musingly.
Lyrian looked around for Ostrian, sure he would be the one to object, but the elder was strangely absent. Where was he, and what was he up to? Probably no good, if she knew Ostrian.
But right now, his absence helped her. No one else voiced any objection to her suggestion, so Lisa reached into her pocket, then grimaced. “I don’t have my phone. Can I borrow yours?” She turned to Karla.
Taurian’s mate nodded and handed a phone over. “Yours probably wouldn’t have worked out here anyway. I bought a satellite adapter for mine.”
Lisa nodded, and dialled. “I’ll call Barry. Lucky I have his home number.”
Still, Lyrian was on edge as she listened to the one sided conversation that started out with Lisa sounding apologetic. She breathed a sigh of relief when Lisa said, “Thanks, Barry, and keep us informed.”
Lisa hung up and turned back to the others with a smile. “Well, now that that’s taken care of, what next?”
“Next we continue making plans to wake Sarian,” Taurian said firmly. “That’s what we were going before the human police showed up, and it’s our best plan now. Without knowing Sarian’s wishes, we can’t possibly know how to approach Ultrima, or whether it is, in fact, possible to make peace with the Trima clan.”
He was right, of course. Waking Sarian was the best course of action.
Lyrian reluctantly let go of the urge to rush to the police station and rescue Brad, though she did keep it in the back of her mind in case Lisa’s boss couldn’t help Brad, and turned her focus to a problem she could solve. “Right, we need a team. I’ll go of course, and I suggest we keep numbers small. Another two dragons should be enough to come with me.”
Taurian put a hand on her shoulder. “First, you need a rest,” he said firmly.
“There’s no time to rest,” Lyrian said immediately. “You said yourself, waking Sarian is best done under the cover of darkness.”
“There are plenty more hours of darkness,” Taurian insisted. “And you don’t just have yourself to care for, you need to consider Anarian too. If you collapse from exhaustion, what happens to your baby?”
Lyrian didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to admit that his words made sense.
She was sure there was no way she could sleep. She was too keyed up.
And she missed Brad far too much.
They should be falling asleep in each other’s arms after a night of thorough mating. Not separated. Definitely not worried for each other.
And yet, this was the reality she had to face.
She was about to acquiesce when a voice echoed through the tunnel leading to the main room, “Don’t tell me I came all this way for nothing.”
Latrima strode into the room, her white hair streaming down her back. Her blue eyes flashed far darker than their pale colour suggested they could.
She didn’t look happy.
Chapter 3
The question of how he was going to warn Lyrian filled Brad’s mind as the female officer, Senior Constable Lyons the inspector had said, led them back through the corridor to a room somewhere. Brad wasn’t even really paying much attention. He was desperately searching for some way to get a message out, but the best he could come up with was telling a lawyer.
A solution that was vastly unsatisfactory, since it meant letting someone else in on his secret.
The senior constable opened one of the doors, and waved them in, and Brad followed her hand automatically, halting half way into the room when he realised it was already occupied.
His heart skipped a beat. He’d thought the police posed the greatest danger to him today, but that paled into insignificance as he stared at the young man with long blonde hair and glowing silver eyes sitting on a stretcher with his back against the wall. He looked deceptively innocent.
Brad knew he was anything but.
Even if he hadn’t seen his picture on the television earlier, he would have instantly known this man was a dragon. His perfect physique and unrealistically pale blond hair, not to mention the glowing silver eyes, made it clear he was no ordinary human.
He wasn’t even an ordinary dragon. This was Ultrima, head of the Trima clan. The one who had sent dragons to kill Lyrian and her brothers. The one who Brad had been told was the greatest threat to the Rian dragons.
The one who, according to Lisa and Verrian, had let himself be arrested by police.
Brad stopped dead in his tracks, his heart pounding, not continuing forwards despite the officer prodding him roughly.
Did she not get it? “You’re not going to put us in here with him, are you?” he asked, turning to look at the woman. “You can’t.”
She looked amused. “Sorry, we don’t have a lot of spare space right now. Maybe you should have thought about the risks before you went chasing dragons, hey?”
“The risks of chasing dragons outside, where I have a chance of escaping from them, are far different to the risks of being in a room beside them,” Brad said firmly. “Come on, you can’t really be intending to leave us in here alone with him? If anything happens to us, the police will be blamed. My parents would sue,” he added, feeling desperate.
“Don’t worry, you’re all on camera,” the woman said, waving her hand towards the camera on the roof. “We’ll keep an eye on you.”
Somehow, that assurance didn’t make Brad feel any better. “So you’ll be able to see us be incinerated. Comforting.”
The woman gave a short laugh. “Don’t worry, Ultrima won’t incinerate you. He’s a lightning dragon.” She paused for a long moment, her eyes dancing, before adding, “He’ll electrocute you.”
She pushed Brad into the room next to the dragon. Nate followed with less resistance. Well, he was mated to a lightning dragon, one of Ultrima’s former warriors. Maybe he had less to fear from the Trima dragon leader.
“Don’t worry,” Senior Constable Lyons said, “I’m sure he has no intention of doing so.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “Just don’t piss him off.”
Brad stared at her, a little surprised at her cavalier attitude. He’d expected the police officers to be… if not scared… at least a little cautious of the dragon. But she seemed completely unconcerned. What was going on?
There wasn’t time to wonder though. She disappeared back out of the room, closing the door behind her. Brad heard the click of a lock.
Then he and Nate were alone with the dragon.
As his heart pounded loudly in his ears, Brad couldn’t help wondering if this was deliberate. Did the police hope he and Nate would be more likely to talk if the alternative was to be locked up h
ere with a dragon?
It was a reasonable supposition. If he didn’t have such an important reason to keep quiet, Brad could see it working quite well. But even if the Trima dragon did electrocute him, he’d still keep quiet about Lyrian and Anarian. Because keeping them safe was far more important than his own life.
Resolve welled up in his heart, strengthening it ready for anything he had to face.
Then his resolve faltered as he remembered.
If anything happened to him, then Lyrian died too. That’s what the mating bond meant.
For the first time, he had an inkling why Ostrian objected to it so much.
Why had he not held out, just a few hours longer? Then Lyrian wouldn’t be at risk.
When Ostrian had asked him if he was in any danger giving himself up to the humans, Brad hadn’t even considered the possibility of this scenario. Nor had he considered the fact that he might be doing the very thing he’d tried to avoid, putting his mate at risk too.
Did the police understand what they were doing? How much risk they were placing him and Nate in?
Did they care?
Ultrima might have been acting like an ordinary human when he’d allowed himself to be taken by the police, and maybe even since he’d arrived at the police station, but Brad knew better. He’d had lightning thrown at him by a Trima dragon. He’d narrowly missed being hit.
Hell, his car had been hit.
These dragons were dangerous. And this particular one had every reason to hate Brad. Every reason to want him gone. If he knew Brad were mated to one of the Rian princesses he could take this chance to rid himself of them both in one blast. It probably wouldn’t even bother him that the police wouldn’t take kindly to him killing people in their police station. He could bust out of this building any time he wanted to—unlike Brad and Nate.
The thought was sobering.
He edged slightly away from the door, keeping his back against the wall, and staying as far away from Ultrima as he could. Nate did the same.
