Eugene dropped to his knees beside Adam and pulled him into a tight hug. Adam patted his back while the rest of the Blaze ops grinned and chuckled to each other. Clementine could hardly believe what she was seeing. Adam was alive. But he’d been shot in the throat! She had seen him go down… How could he have survived that?
“Sorry we didn’t tell you he was alive,” Patrick said as he settled down around the fire. “But we were keeping it tightly under wraps. We needed the Pack to think he was dead and, honestly, it was touch and go there for quite a while.”
He fondly ruffled Adam’s hair.
Eugene sat back on his heels, grinning like a fool. “Oh, I’ll get mad over you thinking that I’d somehow let the Pack know he was alive later. Right now… I could cry.”
“I did,” Evan volunteered.
They all chuckled as they sat around the fire. Clementine still stared at Adam as though he was a ghost. “But I saw you die.”
“No, you saw me get shot. I don’t know how I managed to survive it, really. Erica says it’s the dragon constitution. I think it might just be a miracle.”
“More importantly,” Stephen interrupted, “it means that we know Mark turned on the team. Now, we don’t have enough to prove that you two weren’t in it together—”
“But I—”
Patrick held up his hand. “Let him finish.”
Clementine shut her mouth again. She didn’t like this. As grateful as she was for Adam to be alive, she couldn’t help but think that something else was going on. Something that was going to make her situation a lot more difficult, very quickly.
Still, Adam was alive. And the Blaze Ops weren’t immediately trying to cart her back to the Academy. Did that mean they believed she wasn’t the traitor? That Adam’s testimony of Mark attacking them was enough to convince them to trust her.
Stephen waited a moment before clearing his throat. “As I was saying. We don’t have enough proof that you and Mark weren’t in on this together. We’ve looked, and Mark covered his tracks well. We can’t find any evidence that he framed you. But, before your mate here gets all bent out of shape,” here he grinned at Eugene, “we believe you. We’ve talked it over and we took a vote on it and everything. It just doesn’t make sense for you to be a traitor. Not with everything else we know.”
Relief washed over Clementine. “Thank you.”
“But we can use the assumption to our advantage. The Pack doesn’t know Adam is alive, which means they don’t know that we have reason to doubt that you’re the traitor.” Stephen’s grin widened. “And that means you’re in the perfect position to infiltrate the Pack and get information from them.”
Clementine’s eyes went wide. “What?”
Chapter Fourteen
Eugene paced from one end of the campsite to the other, his hands clenching. The rest of the Blaze Ops watched him, looking anywhere from amused to sympathetic. It took all his effort not to just scream at them that this wasn’t happening, that he wasn’t going to allow it. If he said anything right now, he knew he’d end up saying things that he would regret and so bit his tongue to stop himself.
“You can stop glaring at me any time,” Patrick said, rolling his eyes. “You know as well as I do that this is the best way to move forward.”
“Best way?” Eugene laughed bitterly. “The best way for what? To die? To give the Pack exactly what they want?”
“To get the information we need and to prove once and for all that Clementine isn’t the traitor.”
Eugene glanced at his mate. She hadn’t said anything since Patrick proposed his ridiculous plan. Just sat there next to the fire. She didn’t look at him, either. Her gaze was fully on the flames before her. Her fingers gripped the fabric of her dress, but her expression was peculiarly blank.
“No.” Eugene shook his head. “No, I am not going to agree to this. If we go to the Pack, then they’ll just kill us both.”
“Not when you both have such high positions in the Academy,” Liam said. “The Alpha isn’t an idiot; he isn’t going to pass up having such good information. Besides which, he’d be able to use you both in his experiments.”
“So we’re supposed to help him now?”
Patrick sighed. Stephen, Evan, and Adam had left so the Colonel and Captain could talk with him and Clementine alone, as well as making sure that they were well and truly alone. Right now, Eugene wished that Adam at least had stayed. If he was seeing his friend alive, it’d be a lot easier to be grateful for his life and not be so angry that his team would suggest such a thing.
“We know it’s hard for you since Clementine is your mate,” Liam continued, “but we have talked about this extensively. Fiona agrees with us, too. It’s either this or she goes back into custody. And then if there are more traitors in the Academy, she’ll continue to be in danger. Even if there aren’t, it’s going to take a lot of effort to convince people that she isn’t a traitor herself.”
“But Mark—”
“Even with Adam’s testimony and Mark’s actions,” Patrick interrupted. “Because it’s completely possible that Mark was working with her, not against her.”
Eugene hated to admit that it was true. He started pacing again, wishing he could just tell them both to go to hell. He had a feeling that his superior officers would not appreciate that, though. No matter how relaxed they were, no matter how much they didn’t hold to the strict military chain, insulting them was not going to go over well.
“If we do agree to this plan,” Clementine said slowly, “how will it prove that I’m not working for the Pack? Going to them… that seems to me like it would prove the opposite.”
“Because you’d be going to them as a spy and bringing back information.” Liam’s brow furrowed. “We’re not saying it’s not dangerous. It is. But from what Cooper’s found out, there have been problems with the Alpha’s research since we rescued Utopia. You’re well respected in your field and you’ve worked with her. It’s the perfect opening for you to get details on what exactly is going wrong and how we can use that to our advantage.”
Eugene opened his mouth, about to snap once more that it wasn’t going to happen. To his surprise, though, Clementine straightened and nodded.
“That’s the plan, then. I’m going in.”
“No!”
She turned to him, her eyes sad and heavy. “Yes. I’m not saying you have to come with me, but I’m going in. I need to clear my name, for one, and if I can help the people we have rescued from the Pack, or stop them from hurting more people? Right now, it’s the only way I can help anybody.”
Eugene shook his head, but he already knew that he’d lost the argument. Once Clementine made up her mind, who was he to say she wasn’t allowed to do it? As much as he’d like to simply grab her and run off far, far away, that wasn’t within his right.
He growled low in his throat as he plopped down next to her. “Fine. Fine, if that’s what you have decided to do. But I am going to come with you.”
Patrick pinched the bridge of his nose. “The plan was for Clementine to go alone—”
“Well, she’s not,” Eugene snapped. “No way am I letting her go into that den of wolves by herself. I know that the Alpha has a fixation with dragons. I know that he might kill me, but I don’t care. I’m not leaving her defenseless.”
“Well, it’s not like we didn’t expect that,” Liam said with a nod. “Colonel? Your thoughts?”
Patrick lowered his hand and glared reproachfully at Eugene. “It’s not what we got permission for. Maura will be upset with us changing the plan. She wasn’t pleased with the idea of willingly sending Clementine in.”
“Well, that’s the only way she’s going in,” Eugene replied. “With me by her side.”
“And what if the Alpha decides that you, a dragon, are too much of a risk to have around? How are you supposed to protect her if you are killed?”
Clementine flinched as the color drained from her face. Eugene opened his mouth, but she cut him o
ff. “The Alpha wants dragons, though. He’s gone to a lot of effort trying to kidnap the Blaze Ops. Even if things are going wrong with his experiments, he still has to think that dragons are the pinnacle of shifter evolution. He still wants a dragon so he can use their genes, right?”
“We don’t know what’s been going on since Utopia left,” Patrick informed her. “You’ve been out of the loop for a while. What we do know indicates that the Alpha successfully gave himself and an unknown number of others dragon-like capabilities.”
“But you said that things were going wrong.”
“We don’t know how. The Alpha might have all the dragon he wants already,” Patrick said grimly.
Liam cleared his throat. “Besides that, if the Alpha does want a dragon around, it means that he’s going to want to experiment on that dragon. And that carries a lot of risks as well. When I was the Alpha’s prisoner, Utopia was there to delay the experiments as much as possible. Nothing truly bad happened to me.”
“And I’m aware of all this,” Eugene interrupted. “I know that there are risks. I know what could happen. But let me put it this way to the both of you,” he glared at Liam and Patrick. “What if it was your mates? Patrick, would you let Fiona go into a situation where she might be killed without you? Liam, would you let Utopia go alone to people who had already tried to kill her?”
They glanced at each other and shook their heads.
“I’m not letting my mate go alone, either.” Eugene turned to Clementine.
To his surprise, she was still pale. Doubt clouded her eyes and she got to her feet abruptly. Her hands clenched into fists as she jerked her head to one side. She stalked away, Eugene quickly following. This was just getting put into place, why was she looking so upset now? His brow furrowed as they moved several meters away, out of earshot of the others.
“I don’t want you to risk your life because of me,” she hissed. There was a certain amount of desperation in her eyes, in the way she was holding herself. As though she might suddenly fly apart from the pressure.
Eugene grasped her hands tightly in his. He stared deep into her eyes, wanting to reassure her while also knowing that nothing he could say would make this any safer. If they were going to do this, then they had to take the risk that they’d die.
“We don’t have to go,” he said softly. “We can take our chances with the Academy. With Adam’s testimony, I think we have a good shot at having you cleared of the charges brought against you. We can just—”
“Please don’t say that the only reason you volunteered to come with me was to try to make me stop because you know I’d be more concerned about your life than mine.”
Eugene chuckled at the warning glare in Clementine’s eyes. He brought her closer and kissed her forehead. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her passionately, but Stephen, Adam, and Evan had rejoined Liam and Patrick now. By the animated arguing that they were doing, no doubt the Colonel had explained to the rest of them the change in plans. He had a feeling that any sort of passionate display would be met with a certain amount of disdain that he didn’t want to deal with right now.
“I said exactly why I volunteered to come with you,” he murmured. “Because I love you and I can’t stand the thought of sending you in alone.”
“But what if they don’t believe you? What reason would you give for going to them in the first place?” Her eyes shone with worry.
“If you think about it, I have a ready-made reason why I’d betray the Academy, just like you. If they believe that you’d go to them in order to stay free from the Academy, they’d believe that I’d follow my mate. And I will. To the ends of the earth.”
Clementine let out a soft breath. Then she threw her arms around his neck. She brought herself to her tiptoes. Their mouths crashed together, and Eugene forgot all about their audience. He pulled her in tight, kissing her deeply while the Blaze Ops let out whistles.
“Yeah, baby,” Stephen shouted. “Show him what you’ve got.”
Clementine let out a soft, “oh!” and stepped back. Her face turned as red as a beet while Eugene’s face went rather warm, too.
Holding hands, they returned to where the Blaze Ops waited. Evan had a strained smile on his face, while Liam and Patrick looked a little exasperated. Stephen smirked and made air kisses at the two of them. Adam leaned against a tree, crossed his arms and scowled.
“You’re going to get yourself killed, you know that?”
Eugene forced a cocky smile. It was true that the situation wasn’t ideal, but the ideal was impossible. “Hey, if I do, you can have my stuff.”
Adam’s eyes flashed. He glared, clearly not amused by the joke and shook his head. “I didn’t think any of this was a good idea. I don’t care what people are saying about it being our best chance. It’s not a good plan. We should be re-establishing ourselves. Circling the wagon, protecting the Academy. Not… this.”
“Your objections have been noted,” Patrick said, wearily as though they’d had this argument before, and the only reason he wasn’t snapping was because of how close Adam had come to dying. “But they have made their choice.”
Adam continued to scowl.
Eugene squeezed Clementine’s hand. “Well. If we’re going to do this, we might as well get started. Right?”
She gave him a terrified smile back. “Yeah. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back home.”
Eugene hoped it would be that easy.
Chapter Fifteen
The hair on Clementine’s arms stood on end as she glanced nervously at the three large wolves that were following close after them. Eugene walked as though he didn’t notice any of them. Not the three practically treading on their heels with those wicked-looking machine guns. Not the dozen a little further back, also with machine guns. Not the four to the left and the four to the right with sniper rifles.
Clementine couldn’t think about anything but them. Except, this is a terrible mistake.
When a booming voice spoke behind them, she jumped in surprise. She whirled, turning to see a man almost as tall as Eugene. But that wasn’t what first caught her attention.
His skin was mottled shades of red and purple. His eyes were a blazing yellow, his hair brittle and standing on edge. There was a limp to his walk and the smell—like roasting meat mingled with infection and disease. Clementine bit down on her gag reflex. She instinctively shied away from him. In her medical opinion, that man needed to be in a hospital bed immediately.
She shrank into Eugene’s side as the man smiled at them.
“Well, perhaps it is a good thing that my assassination attempts on your life have been unsuccessful.” Though his words were aimed at Clementine, those yellow eyes did not leave Eugene. “Now I have a respected doctor as well as a new dragon. How very fortunate.”
This was the Alpha? Clementine breathed through her mouth, but the smell was still overwhelming. What was wrong with him? When Patrick said something had gone wrong, she hadn’t anticipated something like this. The splicing hadn’t worked, that was clear, but what had it done to his body?
“We are seeking sanctuary,” Eugene rumbled. He held his shoulders stiffer, broader, like he was trying to make himself look bigger. “And in return, we offer you our—”
“Whatever.” The Alpha waved his hand. His gaze focused on Clementine. “I have been looking to recruit a new doctor. Our replacement for Utopia Tennet was less than clever, and I had to terminate his employment.”
Clementine shuddered at the implication.
“As you can see,” the Alpha spread his arms. “The serum has had some unfortunate side effects. I don’t care if you’re here genuinely or not. Time will sort that out. But while you are here, you are going to perfect my serum and fix this.”
Clementine glanced over him and swallowed hard. “I will try my best,” she started, but the Alpha suddenly hissed.
His eyes flashed as he stepped closer, focusing on Eugene again. “You’re one of the Blaze Ops.”
>
Startled, Clementine glanced at Eugene. Hadn’t the Alpha already known that? Eugene’s brow puckered as he pressed an arm to Clementine’s chest, pushing her protectively behind him. Clementine held onto his shirt, hoping that he wouldn’t do anything foolish. Now that they were in this situation, it hit her hard how dangerous it really was. If the Alpha didn’t believe them, what would they do? They couldn’t fight their way out, and there was a netting of barbed wire over their heads that would no doubt stop Eugene from flying.
“I am,” Eugene said. “But I’m here willingly with Clementine.”
The Alpha whipped a pistol from his belt and pressed it into Eugene’s throat. Clementine bit off a scream while Eugene stiffened.
“Why?” the Alpha demanded.
They’d already been going to say that! He was the one who interrupted and said it didn’t matter. Clementine’s heart hammered in her chest, and her fingers curled more deeply into Eugene’s shirt. They were going to be killed. This had been a terrible mistake. And her baby… Eugene would never know that they were going to be parents.
Maybe that’s for the best, she thought desperately. Because then he’s got less to mourn.
“Clementine is my mate,” Eugene said. His tone was stressed but still amazingly calm for the situation. “I’m here because the Academy won’t believe she isn’t the traitor in our ranks, and you have proven that you can easily kill her to protect whatever other operatives you have. So, we’re here because it’s the only way to keep her safe.”
The Alpha glared at him a moment before smiling again. He put the gun away, as though nothing had happened and hummed pleasantly. “Well, that is all I needed to know. You made the right choice, Dragon. Because if she hadn’t come to me, I would have found her and ripped her to pieces.”
Eugene growled. All the armed guards around them stiffened, lifting their weapons.
The Alpha waved at them impatiently. “That’s the way a man protects his mate; calm the fuck down.”
Those few faces Clementine could see scowled. The guns pointed back at the ground, and Clementine let out a sigh of relief. If they could just keep this up… maybe they had a chance at survival after all.
Dragon's Pride (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 3) Page 9