The Enforcer (Fire's Edge)

by Abigail Owen

  A bubbling laugh poured from Cami’s lips and sank through his scales, worming its way into his heart. She liked flying on the back of a dragon? She’d probably laughed like that for Rune, too.

  That thought helped bring the darkness back, and he smothered the enjoyment like he would a forest fire, then settled in for the trip.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Headquarters.”

  …

  Cami closed her eyes and let the freezing air flow over her face even as Drake’s heat penetrated her body, warming every part of her. Maybe a little too well, because some of those parts were turning more than hot in a highly distracting way. So tempting to rub against the spike in front of her. Could he smell her arousal?

  She bit her lip, reliving those moments in the woods with him inside her. A different kind of heat to join the other.

  “Before we get there, I should tell you a bit about the team. But try not to ask questions. We don’t know who’s listening.”

  “I’m riding on the back of a dragon. I think they’ll put two and two together.”

  “Cami…” A single word of warning.

  She opened her eyes, which somehow weren’t bothered by the wind generated by the force of Drake’s speed. “Okay, okay.”

  As he talked, she listened in that weird way, with his voice humming in her mind. The most words he’d ever said in a row in her presence as he described the Huracán team and how long they’d been here. Then he’d gone into each of the team members and a bit about his sister, Lyndi. He filled her in on Finn’s new mate Delaney, and the trouble they’d had. He told her of Aidan and Sera, now mated, rogue, and in hiding. Because of the red symbol that showed on the back of Sera’s neck.

  The same red symbol that showed on Cami’s, except Drake didn’t know that. She hadn’t told him, and, until he blew fire over her neck, he couldn’t see it. Rune had warned her of the danger, but somehow, she’d missed how horrible it could be.

  “Wait.” She battled back the pounding jealousy as another thought struck. “Sera could have saved your life?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “We shouldn’t be talking about this out here. No one can hear me, because I’m sending my thoughts to only you. But they can hear you. Save your questions.”

  No way was she allowing that brush-off. “Why not?” she repeated. No one listening would tell what she was asking by those words.

  “Because she was meant for Aidan.” The words came out in pure Drake grumpiness.

  “And you gave her up? How did you know to do that?”

  “I didn’t. But if you saw them together.” She bumped around a bit and realized he’d just shrugged his shoulders.

  Another woman with the Chandali mark on her neck could have saved his life? I could save his life.

  Not that she hadn’t known, but the urgency had somehow grown, like a living, pulsing thing between them. Except he still didn’t know.

  Which meant he also didn’t know the political shitstorm having her anywhere near could bring down on him if others found out. Why hadn’t Rune told him if it was so damn dangerous? Maybe because they were going to be in Huracán territory, away from anyone who posed a danger to her. She’d assumed the danger was for her primarily. The bigger question right now, though, was should she tell him?

  “Almost there,” he said before she could delve more into it. “Brace yourself.”

  She tightened her grip and he tipped into a fast spiral toward the ground. At first, below her, was darkness with a few golden lights twinkling in the distance. Houses or ranches probably. Maybe a few businesses. The closer they got, a form of buildings started to emerge from the darkness.

  Almost a warehouse-like setup, or a bunker made of aluminum siding with a flat-topped roof that backed up to a small mountain, built right into the rock, it seemed. One story with what appeared to be a glass door at the front and glass garage doors on either side.

  “What is that?”

  “Our headquarters.”

  That single building was supposed to house twelve enforcers and their mates and families? Drake’s description of the team said they didn’t have near that many, and most weren’t mated yet. But still. Even for their smaller group, that shouldn’t be enough.

  “The headquarters is inside the mountain,” Drake said. As though he could read her mind. She knew he couldn’t, but that didn’t make it any less uncanny.

  In seconds they were on the ground. Cami climbed down only to turn around and have to swallow a scream because a gold dragon even more massive than Drake stood off to the side watching them closely. Almost coppery in color, he reminded her of a brand-new penny.

  Logically, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, otherwise Drake would be more defensive than he was. Instead, the hazing waves surrounded Drake’s body as he shifted. She lowered her hand from her mouth and tried a tentative smile at the gold dragon. “Hi. You must be Levi?”

  “And you must be Cami,” a dark voice rumbled in her head.

  Drake had told them about her? She guessed that wasn’t too weird. They were the closest thing he had to family and she was a dragon mate. Still, wasn’t he supposed to be hiding her?

  The gold dragon turned his head, the spiked ridge at the back of his skull catching a glint from a light inside the garaged part of the building and reflecting it into Cami’s eyes. He stared at Drake with one eye. “You told her about us?”

  Cami bit back a chuckle. Trust Drake to do this his way and damn any rules or expectations.

  Drake said nothing as he crossed the large flat field to where Cami stood. He took her by the elbow. “Let’s get inside.”

  She turned at the door to wave at Levi. “Nice to meet you.”

  He cocked his head, reminding her of a large, terrifying puppy. “You’ll fit right in, Camilla Carrillo.”

  Drake had told them about her, including that she was a mate, not that she’d get a chance to fit in much with this lot. She shot him a questioning look, eyebrows raised.

  Like he had with Levi, Drake ignored her.

  Inside the building was about what she’d expect for a human hotshot crew, which she knew was their cover story and way of interacting with humans when needed. The large front room had a beat-up meeting table to one side with mismatched chairs and a foosball table to the other. Sort of a rec room and meeting room combined. Down a long, narrow hallway were more rooms—storage, offices, and such by the look of them. Then the hall opened into a large hangar-like room with firefighting gear and tools, a wall of tall lockers, and gym equipment for workouts. The two garage doors she’d seen from outside could obviously be opened to let the California weather in.

  “Where is everyone else?” she asked.

  “In the mountain.”

  So why are we in here? She wanted to ask but figured Drake would just show her rather than talk. Strangely, his system of silence and grunts was becoming comfortingly familiar. He might not be a talker, but he communicated everything if you listened and watched hard enough.

  “I assume Levi is on patrol or something?”

  Drake flicked her a glance. “Yeah.”

  Had she impressed him with that observation? Seemed pretty obvious to her.

  Drake led her to a door off to the side of the lockers which then went through a bunk room and into a small galley kitchen. Super basic.

  “Do you sleep here?” That would be a lot of testosterone and firepower packed into a small space. A recipe for disaster, if you asked her.

  “Not often. It’s more for show, for any humans who happen by.”

  He moved to a wall in the kitchenette and hit a spot that opened a panel with a silent whoosh. A quick palm scan involving glowing blue lights, and the entire wall slid back, equally silent, to reveal a cavern beyond. This she could handle. After months i
n Rune’s hideout, caves felt almost more like home than her own did now. The steady cool temperature and earthy clean scent filled her senses and calmed her, tension leaking from muscles she hadn’t even realized were that tight.

  “What the fuck, Drake?” She heard the voice before a man stepped out of the shadows.

  Leaner, and only a tiny bit shorter than Drake, though still tall by human standards, like Drake he descended from an Asian line of humanity, though where Drake’s coloring was more a rose-gold undertone, this man was paler. Japanese maybe? Good-looking, despite a mass of yellowing bruises covering his face. Oddly green eyes—lime green if she had to get specific—gazed at her with open curiosity. He vaguely reminded her of Rune’s guy, Jiǎ. Except, when this man turned his gaze to her, his expression softened, and she didn’t get that shiver of instinctive ick that tended to strike around Jiǎ.

  “Sorry,” he said. “You must be Cami. I’m Hall.”

  He held out a hand and walked forward. Cami smiled and went to take it, except Drake stepped between them. “Why aren’t you locked in a cell?” Drake snapped.

  Cami did a double take to stare at him. “A cell?”

  Hall’s eyes flashed. So fast, she thought maybe she was seeing things, but for an instant, the irises turned slitted, the green taking over the full eye, like a snake. “Finn believes I wasn’t working against the team. The others agree.” He quirked a smile that still had lines of strain around the edges. “All is forgiven.”

  “Huh,” Drake grunted. Clearly, not everyone was ready to forgive whatever this man had done.

  Hall just shook his head and addressed her around Drake’s bulk. “Don’t pay him any attention. The rest of us don’t.” He flashed what she guessed was supposed to be a charming grin.

  No matter the lack of ick, Cami didn’t like the way he said that, even if she tended to work around Drake’s personality herself. Rather than return the grin, she stepped closer to Drake. “I make up my own mind about who to pay attention to, thanks.”

  Hall’s grin dimmed a bit, jet black eyebrows winging high, but she was more aware of how Drake slowly turned his head to look down at her. She returned his searching gaze with a steady one of her own. This man risked his life to come protect her when he didn’t have to. When he was dying. He’d saved her family. As far as she was concerned, Drake had joined Rune and Skylar on the short list of people she could trust in this new world she’d landed in.

  Drake took her by the hand, his large and warm around hers—almost his version of a thanks if she had to guess—and started walking.

  “Let Finn know we’re here,” he said to Hall who followed.

  “Levi already took care of that. We were up anyway.” Hall turned and together they walked down the corridor.

  “Why?” The way Drake said that, all the tension that left her when she entered the cave slithered back through her, locking tight in her shoulders.

  Before Hall could answer, they exited the tunnel and into a massive chamber. Cami screeched to a halt, yanking Drake to a stop beside her. If the walls weren’t formed out of caves, she would’ve assumed she was in a mansion. The room reminded her of the foyer room in the Von Trapp family home on The Sound of Music—a large open space with a massive staircase that broke off to either side, wrapping around the entire second story with doors to rooms leading off the landing.

  “Not like Rune’s, is it?” Drake asked.

  She managed to peel her gaze from the sight to find him watching her with a rare smile. Cami shook her head. “I did not expect this.”

  He lifted his head to look around. “You should see the Red Clan’s stronghold in Everest.”

  Everest. Jeez.

  “We need to go,” Hall interrupted.

  Drake tensed, the vibrations of it radiating to her this close, and she could practically hear him thinking. He’d let her distract him for just a second from a bigger, unknown issue.

  “Why is everyone up?” he asked again.

  Hall’s eyes went flat. “Your timing is impeccable, brother. The Alliance wants to talk to the team.”

  “Now?”

  Hall nodded.

  Drake’s hand tightened around hers, more like an unconscious spasm. “Shit.”

  “Are they here?” Cami asked. Forget slithering, the tension clamped icy claws on her muscles and squeezed. Suddenly she was grateful for Drake’s hand on hers, like a line she could draw courage from.

  “No. Video conference in the war room.” Hall started them moving again, past the stairs to another hall and another set of stairs, this one a spiral case almost hidden in an alcove, formed from the very stone of the mountain, almost like a castle turret, but leading down instead of up.

  “We’ll have to put you in another room,” Hall said to Cami.

  “She stays with me,” Drake said.

  Hall frowned. “Bad idea.”

  Cami agreed. They were supposed to be keeping her existence a secret from these Alliance people. But she wasn’t going to point that out in front of Hall. There was something between these two that obviously needed resolving.

  Drake kept a hold of her hand and glared at his teammate’s back as they descended the stairs.

  Ahead of them, though he didn’t turn around to see the glare, Hall heaved a dramatic sigh. “Cami, I’m afraid your bodyguard is a colossal ass.”

  Drake loosed a soft growl that had the hairs on her arms coming to attention like a tiny army of soldiers. This Hall guy clearly had a death wish.

  “I stay with Drake,” she countered in a deliberately hard voice. “And I agree…”

  They reached the bottom of the stairs, but Drake slowed, just barely, but enough that she noticed. She sent him a conspiratorial grin. “As asses go, his is pretty colossal.”

  Drake choked back a sound that had to be a laugh, and Cami chuckled.

  Hall paused to stare at her, then Drake. “No wonder he promised to guard you.”

  Despite offering the words with an ironic grin, Cami got the sense that Hall meant that sincerely.

  Drake let go of her hand, which turned into a cold lump at her side at the absence of his touch. “Is the Alliance waiting?” he asked.

  Hall checked his phone. “We’ve got five minutes.”

  Quickly they hurried her to yet another corridor, only the closer they got to an open door, the more voices she could make out. The rest of Drake’s team probably.

  He stopped outside the door and turned, taking her by the shoulders. “If you’re discovered here, the Alliance will know what you are.”

  She nodded.

  “Stay out in the hall. I’ll leave the door open. Do not make a sound or show any part of yourself. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  He squeezed her shoulders a little harder. “I mean it, Cami. Not a sound.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Drake.” She returned his serious stare with one of her own until he gave a sharp nod and left her alone in the hallway.

  Silence, then a female voice said, “You asshole.” Followed by a crack of sound. Cami tensed. Had someone hit Drake? “A fucking video was your version of goodbye? A video not even to me, but so the team had proof you were dying?”

  More silence.

  What was happening? Was he throttling whoever had dared to hit him? That terrible slither of jealousy wormed through her. Was that Sera?

  “Save your family reunion for after,” a deep voice she didn’t recognize sounded from within the room.

  The jealousy leaked away. Not Sera. Lyndi. Cami formed her lips in a silent whistle. He hadn’t said goodbye to his sister? She shook her head. What a Drake thing to do.

  More silence.

  She didn’t hear him or Hall mention anything about her, but two seconds later a man popped his head out the door. Pale blond hair and eyes closer to white than blue told her this had
to be one of the two white dragon shifters on the team. Drake had told her all about them, too.

  “Holy shit,” he said.

  Another head popped out. Dark hair this time, but the same white-blue eyes. “Fuck me.”

  “Get your asses in here.” That was definitely Drake’s snarl.

  They disappeared and the room settled to quiet, then the clack of a keyboard reached her, a beeping that sounded familiar. She’d skyped with her family enough when she’d been off at college to recognize a similar sound.

  “Mathai,” that same deep voice from a moment ago responded. “To what do we owe the honor? It’s been quite some time.”

  Cami had to quell her curiosity and the desire to peek inside. Who was speaking? Finn she’d have to guess, because it made sense that the leader would speak first. Who was Mathai?

  “Finn. I see you have gathered the whole team,” a male voice replied, obviously from a speaker the way it sort of echoed. “Where’s Levi?”

  Okay, so the man speaking for the team was the Alpha, Finn. Cami was glad, now, that Drake had bothered to go through the team members and a tiny bit about each on the flight over here.

  “On patrol,” Finn answered.

  “And your mate?”

  Cami figured Mathai must mean Delaney.

  “Asleep. I didn’t see the need to wake her. Should I bring her down?”

  A pause. Then, “No. Drake is who we’re concerned with anyway.”

  Drake? Cami’s heart plummeted to her feet. Why would they want to talk with Drake? It couldn’t be about her, but the sharp rock poking holes in the pit of her stomach said it had to be.

  “Yes?” That was Drake. If she wasn’t busy trying to get her heart back in the right place, Cami would’ve smiled at his tone. Pure Drake. No bullshit, and don’t bother me.

  “Tell us about the woman.”

  Cami had to stifle a gasp. Drake had warned her. Not a single sound.

  He means me. No way could he mean anyone else. Oh my God. Does the Alliance know about me?

  Chapter Fifteen