by Amelia Jade
A man Garath recognized all too well.
“What the fuck?” he snarled explosively, backing away from the board so quickly the makeshift wall clattered to the ground behind him.
He spun, anticipating an attack, but there was nobody there. Just the fallen sheet of wood that had hidden the board from sight. Garath looked around, trying to understand what was going on. It was too much to take in.
Falling to one knee, both hands clutched to his head, he tried to figure it out. To put the pieces together. No matter what he did though, he couldn’t come up with a good reason as to why Marie would have pictures of the dragon who had swindled him of his treasure up on her wall.
Opening his eyes, he forced himself to look at the pictures one by one. Some of them were blurry, but many were not. There were even pictures, he realized in horror, of the two of them together. Smiling. With her arms around him.
And in one picture in the very center of the board she was draped across him, her left hand prominently displayed on the other dragon’s chest, a huge diamond ring glittering from her ring finger.
An engagement ring.
Marie was engaged to another dragon shifter. Maybe even married to him. Not only that, but it was the same dragon who had once before swindled him of his treasure. And she looked happy with him. They were engaged! Garath’s head was pounding, anger swelling his muscles with blood as he berated himself for his own stupidity. How could he have been so blind?
Things with Marie had been going well. Too well, in fact, and he’d just chalked it up to them being mates. Instead, he realized it was quite the opposite. He knew now that Marie and the dragon Liam were actually working together. To pull a con. On Garath. Once apparently wasn’t enough for Liam; he needed to do it a second time, coming back for more.
Garath sat down on the cold concrete, stunned by how quickly everything had turned around.
A lie. The whole thing had been a lie. Marie had never liked him. She’d just been using him, getting close to him, so that she and Liam could screw him over again. His perfect mate was nothing more than an actress, their entire relationship a sham. And it had worked. He’d come to trust her, to believe in her and them. He’d been taken in just as easily as he had been the time before.
Pounding his fist into the concrete, he got up. No more though. No more delusions, no more fairy tales. He was done. Done with it all. These two weren’t going to get him a second time. Garath was older, wiser, and he’d just stumbled onto their plan. He was going to leave now and put it all behind him. He’d go back to see Colonel Mara, tell her about what was going on, and then he was gone. He didn’t need money from the government. He could acquire that other ways.
All he needed was himself.
He set the fallen sheet of wood back upright to hide the wall, turned off the lights, and went back upstairs. Marie was still in the shower. The desire to confront her almost got the best of him, but he choked his anger and embarrassment back down. Now was not the time for that. Better to just disappear and leave her curious as to what had happened. Gathering his stuff, he left the house and the woman he’d thought was his mate behind.
It was time he started living for himself anyway, and not for anyone else. One last stop, and then he was going to be a free dragon, unencumbered and able to explore the world at large.
The door closed behind him, and with it he left behind this chapter of his life.
Chapter Twelve
Marie
The warm water cascading down her body felt wonderful, even as it washed away the delightfully pleasurable sins of the evening before, leaving her refreshed and invigorated.
And ready to sin again.
She’d told the truth earlier about being sore. Her sex life hadn’t been this active in a long time, if ever. The early days with Liam were blurry, and she preferred not to think about them anyway. Certainly not with Garath in the picture now. He was just better in every way, and she’d stopped bothering to compare him after their first night together. It wasn’t even a contest anymore.
Marie was falling for Garath, and falling hard. It scared her though, and she wanted to talk to him about it. All too often relationships had problems because people didn’t talk, and she wanted to ensure that he was comfortable and that they were both on the same path.
Whether or not getting involved with him was the right decision was something else entirely. Marie hadn’t come to Barton City with the intention of staying. She was just here to find Liam and if she was lucky, screw the asshole over somehow as payback for stealing her father’s car from her.
Things were different with Garath in the picture. He was tied to the area, working with the military. The exact details of what he did were still unknown to her. It wasn’t a topic that had come up, but she wasn’t worried. There were so many top-secret things going on at the base out in the mountains that she’d lost count. He was involved with one of them, and that was all she was likely cleared to know.
“Garath?” she called, toweling her hair dry. The summer air would dry out her reddish-brown hair swiftly. It was long, but not overly thick, and it dried easily, which was a godsend.
Wrapping the extra large towel around her body, the gentle terry cloth warming her skin, she peeked out of the bedroom. He wasn’t there, and even after calling his name again there was no response. Her eyes wandered to the table. His shirt, a light gray V-neck was draped over one of the chairs.
“Garath, come on out. I’m not in the mood to be scared, please.” She walked around her house. It wasn’t like there were a ton of places someone his size could hide.
The washroom and second bedroom both came up empty, and the basement door was closed. She rarely went down there, except to add any new pictures of Liam to her tracking board, in hopes that she might be able to pinpoint his location even further. He was still here, she could feel it in her gut, her instincts. Unfortunately, she’d been unable to figure out just where.
Opening the door to the basement on the freak chance Garath was down there, she called into it. “Gar, if you’re hiding down there, you’re going to be there a while. I’m headed into the bedroom. Either come fuck me, or we’re going for food. But either way, you don’t have any time to waste.”
That should summon him, no matter where he was hiding. But thirty seconds passed with no response. Then a minute. There was no way he could resist both food and sex. It just wasn’t possible; she knew Garath too well. So where the hell was he?
Her stomach was slowly knotting itself into a ball, telling her that something was wrong. The real question was what. She couldn’t figure that one out. Even knowing she wouldn’t have to explain the pictures of Liam she’d hidden down there was of no solace to her.
“Where the hell did you go?” she muttered to herself, grabbing his shirt and giving it a sniff.
His scent was strong upon it, heady with its exotic nature, a fragrance she couldn’t quite place. Draping it over her shoulder, she retrieved her phone from the bedroom and sent him a message.
Five minutes later she called him. There was no answer. She tried again. And again. Left a voicemail. She was beginning to worry. This wasn’t like Garath, at all. He was always around, almost unwilling to let her leave his sight, and reluctant anytime she had to do so. For him to just disappear was very out of character.
Where could he be?
A sudden thought struck her. Could it have been his work? Maybe he was some sort of spy, and his enemies had caught up with him? She began looking around the house, but there was no signs of a struggle that she could see. Garath was strong and quick too, and she doubted he would go down easily. A fight between him and someone his equal was certainly something she should have heard in the shower.
The mystery grew with every minute. She thought about calling the police, but it was too soon for that. For all she knew, he’d been called away upon urgent business that required him to go, now, and he hadn’t even been able to grab his shirt or tell her. That also seemed
unlikely, but she was fast running out of options.
Frustrated, she decided to stop by his apartment on her way to work that afternoon to see if he was there. In the meantime, there didn’t seem to be much else she could do but wait and hope he got in contact with her.
Don’t let me down, Garath. I trusted you. Please don’t make me regret that.
Chapter Thirteen
Garath
This was just like Colonel Mara.
He seethed silently on the inside as the driver dropped him off in front of the officers’ mess hall.
“She’s inside, sir,” the baby-faced private said helpfully. “Do you know your way around?”
“Yes.”
The force and hostility in his voice drained the blood from the young soldier’s face.
Garath was blind to that though, his anger at the situation leaving him focused solely on Colonel Mara. How could she know that he wanted nothing more than to avoid the officers’ club and Marie? And then to bring him here anyway? It was just one more reason for him to be rid of the entire situation and strike out on his own.
His resolve to follow through no matter what grew firmer, and he marched inside with a purpose, the Jeep’s driver gunning the engine and racing away from him as fast as possible. A wise move. Being around Garath just then was not the place to be if one valued their safety. He was pissed, and a ticked-off dragon was not exactly known for its restraint.
Barging into the seating area, he located Colonel Mara and made a beeline for her. All eyes focused on him, guest and worker alike. His size, demeanor, and the sheer power radiating from him were unavoidable. Colonel Mara saw him coming. He saw surprise register on her face for a moment, though it was swiftly replaced with a cool, assessing gaze as he closed.
“Why did you—”
“Sit.”
The steel in Colonel Mara’s voice stopped him flat. His nostrils flared with anger, but the other person seated with her prevented him from doing little more than glaring. Kallore, the crimson dragon mated to Colonel Mara, stared up at him, a false smile on his face. Garath may have been irate, but he wasn’t about to take on someone like Kallore. Not when it was obvious the other dragon was ready for it.
“I don’t have to take orders from you,” he spat. “Why would you bring me here?”
“Are you and Miss Proctor not an item?” she asked. “I figured you would want to spend time here to perhaps see her.”
Garath glared. “For your information, no, we are not.”
“I see. Sit.” Colonel Mara all but ignored his statement and gestured at a chair.
“I’d rather stand, thank you.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck. Sit your ass down in the chair, you rude sonofabitch.”
Kallore just smiled wider, and Garath decided maybe he should sit down.
“Fine.” He pulled out the chair and sat down.
“Better. Now before you say whatever little speech it is you’ve obviously thought about in your head, let me tell you something. I am not some piece of shit you can walk all over, okay? I didn’t do a damn thing to you, so you’re going to relax and show me some respect and decency, otherwise I’m going to tell Kallore here to take you out back and beat it into you. Am I understood?”
Kallore’s grin turned wicked.
“He wouldn’t enjoy that,” Garath said calmly, his tone frigid. “But very well. If you say you brought me here out of courtesy and not spite, then I shall accept that. Good enough?”
Colonel Mara seemed ready to argue some more, but in the end declined. “Good enough.”
Garath relaxed ever so slightly. Kallore looked disappointed.
“Now, tell me why you wanted to see me.”
“I’m leaving.” Like she’d guessed, he’d had a little speech rehearsed, but Garath decided to dispense with it. Perhaps the blunt approach would work better.
“Leaving where?”
“Here. The program. Everything. I’m done with it and with the other dragons. I won’t be around them any longer. If I’m going to fight, it will be on my own terms, in my own way, without you or anyone else interfering or telling me what to do or how.”
Colonel Mara shook her head. “No. We need you here, Garath. We need to fight together, as a team. The Steel Scales could use someone like you, with your experience and prowess. Vanek is a good leader, and the human volunteers are among our best. There’s no better place to make a difference.”
“No.” Was she insane? Stay here and fight in a unit composed of dragons? The Steel Scales were an interesting unit, he didn’t deny that. Dragons fighting with armored humans mounted above them like cavalry of old.
Couldn’t she see though? That dragons were untrustworthy and to be avoided? He’d just relearned that lesson firsthand. It wasn’t like he was going to just jump back into it. They would just try to steal and swindle him, like Liam and Marie had tried.
It wasn’t like he had any treasure left anyway. Liam had taken that all from him the first time. Garath had tried to figure out what it was they were after, but he didn’t know. Maybe it was his dignity? First Liam had taken his wealth, now they were trying to take from him his pride and the will to live? By setting him up with a woman he’d thought was his mate, and then revealing to him that all along it was little more than a setup. He wasn’t sure how, but it felt right.
After all, with the loss of his treasure he’d lost his will to live. It was what eventually drove him into the long sleep of dragons, trying to avoid the pain it caused him. Now that he’d been given a second chance, and even thought he’d found a reason to stay awake this time, they were out to deceive him. His reason for living had been stripped away from him again, this time it was a lie in the form of a short, curvy woman with beautiful red-brown hair and ice-blue eyes that mesmerized him with their depths.
The same woman that had just come barging out of the kitchen doors and was storming across the distance between him.
“You!” she snapped, not even halfway there. “Where the hell have you been? And what are you doing just waltzing into my work like this? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”
It was a good act. That was his first thought. She was playing it up well, doing a great job of pretending like she still cared about him in an attempt to get him back. But Garath wasn’t fooled. Not anymore. His blinders had been lifted.
Across the table from him Colonel Mara was looking back and forth between him and Marie, her face thoroughly unimpressed. He got it. Marie was creating a scene, something that Colonel Mara didn’t want to be involved in. It would be best if he brought it to a close swiftly, so that perhaps he could get into her good books and leave without the military coming after him when he departed. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, just to be left alone.
“Well, are you going to give me an answer?”
She was well trained. The hurt sounded real.
Almost as real as the hurt he felt at how she’d betrayed him, lying to him while the whole time she was engaged to the same dragon who had swindled him, robbed him of all his treasure. Well, Garath was done being hurt, done letting anyone get close to him. He was done trusting anyone.
“You want an answer?” he growled, still sitting down, refusing to even grant her that bit of respect.
“Yes.”
“I’m on to you. Your tricks. Everything. Your plan is a bust, because I’m done and I’m not coming back.”
“What?” She looked bewildered, but the confusion was a poor mask as he dropped the other end.
“I saw the pictures. Of you and him. You’re engaged to him. I saw the ring.” His eyes were going black with anger he was sure, but Garath didn’t care. “I know all about your plan.”
Chapter Fourteen
Marie
He’d seen them. The pictures of her and Liam. The constant reminder of her own failure that she kept up as a way to remind her never to be that naïve again.
“What plan?” she asked weakly, realizing that
just about anything she said wouldn’t work. “There’s no plan.”
“I’m not stupid!” Garath roared. “I’m not going to be swindled when the evidence is right in front of me. They’re up on the wall like a shrine. You love him!”
“No,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “That’s not what it is.”
Garath sneered. “Right. Then why are they up on the wall like a shrine to him? Hidden away where I wouldn’t find them, because you knew if I did, I’d leave you. Well guess what, I did find them, and I am leaving you.” He shook his head sadly. “Not like there was anything to leave in the first place I guess. You were always his.”
“I’m not his, Garath,” she said, feeling stronger now as her own stubbornness kicked in. It was not going to end like this. “Not anymore.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that. You’re going to have to tell me all you know. Tell me everything that’s going on.”
“There’s nothing going on!” she shouted. “What do you want me to say?”
“To tell me the secret that you’re hiding.”
Marie gasped. How could he know that? He couldn’t. There was no way. She’d never even hinted that she knew anything. Something clawed at her there, a thought trying to make itself known to her. Try as she might though, it didn’t crystallize, remaining just out of reach of her consciousness.
“I can’t,” she said when Garath tilted his head sideways, prompting her to speak. “Because I don’t know one.”
It was a lie. She did know a secret about Liam. A major one. But she couldn’t tell him. Not with Colonel Mara there. If the government found out what Liam really was, they would do things to him, hunt him down, and worse. Marie hated him with all her heart, but she wasn’t a cruel person. She couldn’t subject him to the experiments they would put him through when they caught up with him. Liam could stay hidden from her for now, but the government would find him far quicker.
