Lowering his binoculars, he looked at the three other dragon-shifters. “Do you think any of the Snowridge farmers will know who these people are?”
Eira shook her head. “I doubt it. Few of the human farmers want anything to do with the dragon ones. Not to mention flying is restricted in this area to avoid spooking the animals.”
Kai’s dragon spoke up. We need a human to look into it.
Jane is English. Her accent will throw up a huge red flag.
There has to be a Welsh human who will help us.
Kai went through the few Welsh people he knew, both human and dragon, and finally remembered one. Trahern’s doctor friend, Emily Davies, is human.
But she’s from Cardiff. Welsh accents might all sound the same to me, but I’m sure the local people will notice.
Trying to find someone is too time-consuming. We’ll have to do this a different way.
He focused back on the three dragon-shifters. “As much as I want to charge in and search the grounds, we should wait here in the tree cover. Once the truck exits and Carys can confirm the tracks, then we can try sneaking onto the grounds for evidence. Once we have it, we can call for backup.”
“And if the truck never exits?” Wren asked.
Kai focused on Carys. “How sure are you of your tracking abilities?”
The dragonwoman placed her hands on her hips. “No other dragon has bested me yet in Wales.” She narrowed her eyes at Wren. “And you know that.”
Wren put up his hands. “I’m just trying to be prepared, Carys. You’re skilled, but for all we know, they have tunnels. Wasn’t that what you found near Carlisle previously, Kai, when you went after the dragon hunters there?”
Evie Marshall, the eventual mate of Stonefire’s clan leader, had been kidnapped along with Nikki and another Protector named Charlie. Part of the rescue plan had involved using tunnels that the dragon hunters had dug for escape routes.
“Yes, but the formerly based Carlisle group have huge numbers and resources. It seems unlikely the same would happen here. I say we wait and if nothing shows up by nightfall, one or two of us can try looking around undetected.”
Carys nodded. “I’ll be one of them. I may spot something you can’t see.”
Kai jumped in before the others could talk. “And since Delia is my sister, I should be the other investigator, unless Wren or Eira have problems with that?”
“No, it’s better for us to contact Snowridge for backup if needed anyway,” Eira answered.
“Right, then let’s settle in and each take different sections. Wren and Eira, go further south and keep an eye on the road. Carys and I will keep watch on the farm and surrounding open areas.”
Kai was thankful that Eira and Wren went without complaint. It couldn’t be easy for them to accept orders from another clan’s Protector.
His dragon spoke up. If they know the details concerning Evie’s rescue, then they’ve certainly looked into our past work. They know we can deliver.
Knowing someone is skilled and following their orders without hesitation are two different things.
Not to a dragon. Their dragon halves will keep them in line.
Kai snorted. That’s assuming everyone is as stubborn as you.
Aren’t all dragons stubborn?
Fair point. Now, be quiet. I need to pay attention.
As Kai watched the farmhouse and the outlying buildings, he also kept his ears open. If he so much as heard a child’s scream, he would have enough grounds to look into it and avoid the DDA’s ire in the aftermath.
Or, so he hoped.
No. He’d worry about DDA politics later. Even if it landed him in jail, he’d rescue his sister and the missing children. No one should endure the same fate as others that had been captured in the past, most especially children.
~~~
Jane stood at the entrance of the large cavern-like room and watched the quiet dragonwoman with dark hair.
From Maggie’s soft-spoken voice to her slightly shorter than average stature for a dragon-shifter, Jane tried to imagine Kai with the woman. But every time she tried, she only saw Kai tiptoeing around her and keeping his alpha nature in check.
In other words, he was never allowed to be his true self.
How could fate have ever thought she was Kai’s best chance for happiness, Jane had no bloody idea.
Still, no matter how much Jane disliked Maggie for hurting Kai, walking up to her and punching her in the face would be counterproductive. Besides, Maggie had never tried to entice Kai back. Hell, she’d barely even glanced at him whenever she and Kai had visited Snowridge in the past.
As Jane would tell Rafe if he’d wanted to do the same thing to one of Nikki’s former lovers, she needed to grow the fuck up and focus on what was important—helping Delia.
A bell rang and the young dragon-shifter students picked up their bags and exited the room. According to Lily, Maggie would be free from now until after lunch.
Taking a deep breath, Jane moved from her hiding spot near the entrance and waltzed into the room.
Maggie looked up at the sound of her footsteps. Her pupils flashed to slits and back before she asked, “What do you need, Jane?”
“So you know who I am.”
“Everybody on Snowridge does.”
When Maggie didn’t elaborate, Jane decided to steer the conversation toward her objective. “I’m here on an official matter, Ms. Jones. Delia went missing after your class and I need to know if she mentioned where she was going.”
Maggie moved to her teacher’s desk and sat behind it. “So you immediately thought I’d done something to drive Delia away.”
Jane frowned. “I didn’t say that. I’m just trying to get a better picture of what happened that day.”
Maggie looked away, and it took everything Jane had not to growl and demand an answer. She couldn’t afford to scare the dragonwoman and possibly miss out on information pertinent to her case.
The woman finally met her gaze again. “I may have mentioned a secret exit that the Protectors use to escape, but I didn’t tell her to go looking for it.”
“How did you know about this exit?”
She half expected for Maggie to bow her head and keep quiet. However, she answered, “My late mate’s brother is a Protector and he mentioned it to me once.”
“Late mate?” Jane echoed.
“Yes. My mate died a few weeks ago, of a dragon-related disease.”
As Jane’s mind whirred, she noted the lack of grief in Maggie’s eyes. She should keep her mouth shut, but her curiosity won out. “By your lack of mourning I’m guessing you didn’t love him.”
“No. Although he was good to me whilst alive.” Maggie cleared her throat. “Is there anything else? Otherwise, I have lessons to prepare.”
Maggie may be soft-spoken, but if she were weak in her youth, she’d mostly outgrown it.
Her first impulse was to tell Maggie to leave Kai alone. Jane had no idea if her kiss would still initiate the mate-claim frenzy or not. Dragon-shifters could move past a true mate, but Jane had no bloody idea how long it took.
But then she remembered Kai’s loving glance, and it chased away her fears. Jane trusted Kai. Even if Maggie tried something, Kai would remain faithful.
A small niggle of doubt warned otherwise, but Jane pushed it away. Otherwise she might never find out what she needed. “If you mentioned the secret door, then I imagine Delia told you why she might need it. Can you share anything about that?”
Shrugging, Maggie rearranged a few stacks of paper. “She wanted to investigate something, to try to imitate you.” Maggie’s dark gaze met her own. “If anything, this is your fault. It’s hard for a human to understand, but dragon-shifter teenagers are always out to prove themselves. Delia is trying to prove herself to you.”
Jane clenched her fingers. “Says the woman who told her how to escape. Hate me if you like, but risking a child’s life to get at me is unforgivable.”
“Kai will find
her, but he’ll blame you for it all. Maybe then he’ll finally understand why humans and dragons should never mate.”
She closed the distance between them. “Kai will easily see how a woman who broke his heart wanted to hurt his current love. What happened with Kai is your fault, Maggie. If you think there’s a second chance with Kai, then you don’t understand him at all.”
“I’m not about to discuss dragon matters with a human. I’ve told you all that I know. You’d better leave before I mention to my clan leader how a human is trying to scare me into saying what she wants to hear.”
The urge to punch Maggie returned, but Lily’s warning about not being able to win against a dragon-shifter came back to her.
Jane may not be able to win a physical fight, but she could win the long game. Once Kai returned, they should be able to find a way to use Maggie’s pettiness to ensure she got what she deserved. Putting any young at risk was a crime with dragon-shifters. Or, so it was on Stonefire. She imagined it was the same on Snowridge.
Maggie Jones would get her comeuppance in the end.
Jane took a step back. “This isn’t over.”
Shrugging, Maggie raised her brows. “It’s your word against mine. I don’t know how things are done on Stonefire, but Snowridge puts clan above strangers.”
Jane wanted to take out her phone and show she’d recorded the interview, as she always did, to review later. However, Jane would allow Maggie to think she was safe.
Turning around, she strode out the classroom and down the corridor. It seemed Jane and even Kai had underestimated Maggie’s abilities. She’d ensure that neither one of them ever did so again.
Chapter Six
Kai and Carys had kept to the trees and watched the area until nightfall. When the sun finally set and nothing had happened, they made their way toward the farmhouse and other buildings. Eira and Wren were posted at two different spots to keep watch and alert them to anyone coming their way.
Thanks to his dragon-shifter eyesight, Kai could see every rock or even cigarette butt on the ground despite the near-darkness. The key was to make as little sound as possible and to avoid any potential booby traps. Kai didn’t think they’d have sophisticated security systems, but he kept an eye out for them as well.
Light shone through one of the windows in the farmhouse on the ground level. However, as they approached, he didn’t hear any talking, footsteps, or other signs of human habitation. He signaled for Carys to investigate the perimeter of the house while he went to the barn.
As his dragon always did on important missions, he remained silent inside Kai’s head but lent his observation skills and would let him know if he spotted or heard anything.
Closing the distance to the stone building of the barn, Kai sniffed the air. Instead of animal dung, hay, or dirt, he smelled something chemical he couldn’t name.
Since he’d dealt with his fair share of explosives in his army days and could identify them by scent, he ruled them out, too. However, ever since his clan had been targeted with drugs that made dragon halves take over and go wild, Kai had learned to be cautious of any chemical he couldn’t name. When he had the chance, he needed to talk with Dr. Sid and the other doctors on Stonefire so that he could obtain a sample of the drug and have his Protectors memorize the smell.
Scanning the side of the barn, he counted a few long, narrow slits on the sides in addition to the set of wide, wooden doors. One of the ventilation slits was on ground level, so Kai crouched down and crept to just below it. The silence made him suspicious.
Careful not to disturb the earth and make noise, Kai rose slowly until he could peek through the opening. A large, white truck sat at the far side of the room. Sweeping the room with his eyes, he noticed a thin line of light shining from behind a closed door.
His dragon spoke up. We need to look inside.
I know. Give me a bloody moment.
Dropping down, Kai quietly moved to the wide door. The hinges weren’t well-oiled, which meant they’d make too much sound. He continued moving until he turned the corner and examined the other side of the barn. One of the windows didn’t have any glass in it. While high up, it was his best option for getting inside.
When he reached just below it, he jumped up and just managed to grab the ledge. He slowly pulled himself up. As he attempted to lean inside the window to check the surroundings one more time, something scratched his arm. He dismissed it as remnants of the former window. However, when he finished his sweep of the interior, his grip slipped. He tried to catch himself, but his fingers barely responded. Kai fell and managed to tumble into a somersault to avoid making too much noise.
Inside his mind, his dragon curled into a ball. So much noise. Make it stop.
Kai heard nothing.
Carys appeared at his side. One look at him and she crouched down, slung his arm around her shoulders, and helped him up.
As his dragon started to roar, Kai barely paid attention to what was happening. Only when he heard Carys’s voice was he able to note they were back inside the cover of the trees.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Scratch on my arm…” His dragon roared louder. “Something is wrong. Get me back.”
His beast flicked his wings and pushed to the front of Kai’s mind. He managed to whisper, “Drug me,” before he was tossed inside a mental prison and forced to watch his dragon thrash about uncontrollably.
Carys placed a hand over his mouth and quickly extracted a pre-filled syringe from one of her pockets. Kai’s dragon bit her palm, but she merely grunted and stuck the needle into his skin.
In the next instant, Carys flew several feet into a tree. To her credit, she didn’t cry out but rolled right back at him.
Kai wanted to stop his beast, but could do nothing but pound against the invisible prison.
Carys reached him with another needle in her hand. Kai had no idea if the first one hadn’t worked or wasn’t doing anything.
Kai’s dragon lunged at her, but Carys sidestepped and swept his leg. He faltered and she jumped on his back with an arm around his neck. His dragon growled, but Kai could feel the prick of another syringe. His dragon continued to buck their human form until Carys was thrown against another tree trunk.
His dragon turned their body toward her, but as he took a step, he faltered and fell to his knees. After another second, the world went black as Kai silently hoped his dragon hadn’t just alerted the inhabitants to their presence.
~~~
Jane stood with Lily and Gareth Owens on the outskirts of the landing area. Snowridge’s leader had told them Kai had been injured, but nothing more.
While her mate had been hurt in the line of duty countless times before, Rhydian not telling her or Lily the details didn’t bode well.
Lily put an arm around Jane’s shoulders. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Jane. If he were dying, Rhydian would’ve said.”
What Jane didn’t mention was that there were worse fates than death for dragon-shifters. Between going rogue or inner dragons going silent, there were many things that could be wrong with Kai.
Not usually one to wring hands, she couldn’t help but twist her fingers around each other. On Stonefire, she would already know what was going on. Being the outsider on Snowridge seemed to cause one complication after another.
A red dragon came into view. Behind it was a black dragon. Since Kai was a golden one, he had to be in his human form with one of the two beasts.
As they drew closer, Jane focused on the red dragon, which was slightly smaller and meant it was a female. From the way her hind legs were close to her body instead of down and behind, it meant the dragon was carrying something.
Soon enough she could make out a human form clutched in talons.
It was Kai.
Never taking her eyes off her mate, Jane watched as the red dragon made it to the landing area, hovered, and gently laid him on the ground. The instant the dragon moved away, Jane raced to her mate’s side.
Kneeling down, she checked him for injuries. But beyond a scratch on his arm, she didn’t notice anything else.
The red dragon had shifted back into Carys’s human form. Jane looked at the dragonwoman. “What happened?”
The dragonwoman shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. All I know is that his dragon took over and immediately treated me as an enemy. Kai mentioned the scratch, but nothing else.”
Jane looked back to her mate and placed a hand on his chest to ground her. She’d never be able to help her dragonman if she broke down and lost focus.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned down and studied the scratch. The blood had already clotted and there was no apparent redness or puffiness. “Were there drones or special guns fired at you?”
“No. I saw Kai try to crawl through a barn window, and next thing I know, he fell to the ground. While I didn’t have time to investigate the barn, there was a strange chemical smell wafting from it. Maybe long exposure to it knocked him out.”
“Possibly.” Jane moved her hand up his chest, his neck, and finally cupped his strong jaw. “I’d highly suggest a blood test and reaching out to Dr. Cassidy Jackson on Stonefire. I can’t be sure, but this might be something we’ve dealt with before.”
Before Carys could answer, Rhydian Griffith’s voice filled the area. “I think we need to talk, Ms. Hartley.”
Jane glanced up. “If you think I’m going to leave Kai’s side, then I’m sorry, I’m going to have to say no, even if it means defying your orders.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else of Kai’s mate. But whilst the doctors examine him, you’re going to tell me everything you think you know about this situation. Hovering at his side will only get in their way and delay their treatment. A clever female like yourself knows better.”
The steel in Rhydian’s voice made Jane want to bob her head, but as she stroked the late-day stubble on Kai’s cheek, she found the strength to say, “I’ll share as much as I can without asking my clan leader’s permission.”
Finding the Dragon Page 5
