Fucking brilliant. If the human had even partial amnesia, that would make his job that much more difficult. "And how's her health? I need to know when I can talk to her again."
Sid glanced at Gregor, and the mated pair shared a look, one that didn't bode well for him.
Dr. Sid finally answered, "She's incredibly weak, Zain. I can't allow you to question her for some time. She needs to get stronger and then build up muscle strength again. As it is, she barely stayed awake for fifteen minutes before falling back asleep."
Gregor grunted and added in his Scottish accent, "Cassidy's right. There's no point in you hovering around the human, aye? We'll let you know when she's strong enough to face you."
Zain resisted a curse. "Are you banning me from her room? Because even if I can't interrogate her, she could mumble something in her sleep that could help the clan."
Gregor sighed. "So you're going to stay by her side for nearly every minute now? That'll just put you in the way, lad. And if nothing else, it'll make her recovery take longer since she'll be nervous around any dragon-shifter and may not sleep as well as she needs to."
Sid made a noise in agreement. "One of the nurses will be available to the human at all times, and there are also security cameras throughout the building. While we don't usually place cameras in the patient rooms, she's a special case, and I'll allow one. But only if I can turn it off whenever she's naked, or I think she needs some privacy."
He wanted to spit out that dragon-shifters didn't view nudity the same way as humans—you couldn't be modest when you had to be naked to shift into a dragon.
However, he didn't want to piss off Dr. Sid, either. Arguments were the surest way to do that, as he'd learned long ago. So he kept his tone as neutral as he could manage as he said, "If you let me visit her once a day when she's conscious, I promise I won't do anything to endanger her recovery. But even just one question a day could greatly help Nathan and Lucien with the cryptic, unsolved data."
For a beat, neither doctor said anything. Then Gregor finally spoke to his mate, "One question couldn't hurt, Cassidy. Especially if the camera is recording and we can watch to make sure he behaves."
Zain clenched his jaw. He wasn't a new Protector, fresh out of his British Army training like Dacian. He fucking knew how to behave and didn't need to be observed.
His dragon spoke up. Gregor tries to provoke you all the time on purpose. Stop rising to the bait.
Stupid Scottish dragons and their ways.
I dare you to say that to his face. Sid will never allow you back into the surgery again, not even if you're missing an arm and are spurting blood from a severed artery.
Not needing to get any more riled up than he already was—which talking with his dragon would most assuredly do—Zain focused back on the doctors, who were having that strange mated-pair conversation with their expressions.
Maybe most wouldn't notice it, but Zain was trained to watch body language. And given how he hated secrets, mated-pair conversations were fucking annoying.
Sid finally looked at Zain again. "Okay, one question a day. That's it. So think carefully about what you're going to ask her beforehand. Because even something like asking, 'What's your favorite color?' will count, Zain Kinsella. Those are my terms."
He grunted, knowing he wouldn't get more from Sid, not even if he pushed for days. "Fine, I agree. And since I haven't asked her any questions today, let me know when she's conscious again."
Sid looked about ready to say something, so Zain turned and exited the room.
As he walked down the familiar corridor that led to the rear exit of the building, he clenched and unclenched his fingers. Kai had refused to give him any other important duties until his current task—finding out everything he could from the human female—was accomplished. Which meant he could either test Dacian's skills to determine if he met the Protectors' standards or wait around for Ivy to wake up.
Needing to shift and spread his wings, he decided on the former.
Although he hoped the young male was well-rested, Zain was a tough trainer and evaluator. And given his shitty day so far, his surliness would only make it that much more challenging for the male.
Chapter Two
Ivy lost count of how many times she drifted in and out of consciousness. The only good thing was that she hadn't fallen back into a permanent coma.
Each time she awoke, bits and pieces of her memory returned. She'd finally remembered why she was with a bunch of dragon-shifters, too—she'd sought them out.
Of course, she had also remembered that her brother had been murdered because of her running away from the Dragon Knights' operation. At first, she'd tried to hide from the Knights with Richard and David, at their house on the outskirts of Brighton. But one day when she'd gone out to buy groceries, someone had gotten to them. She'd found the pair with their throats slit and the symbol of the Knights—a shield with a lance behind it—drawn on the wall in the living room.
She'd never forget that sight for the rest of her life, either. Her brother and brother-in-law had died simply because they'd tried to help her.
Even thinking about it now, tears threatened to fall. She'd loved them both so much. They had been her only family in the world. And in retrospect, she'd been young and foolish to join the Dragon Knights straight out of university. At twenty-one, Ivy hadn't seen how her actions would one day affect those she loved best in the world.
But they had. And it was something she'd have to struggle with for the remainder of life.
If losing Richard and David hadn't been bad enough, she'd only been able to report the murders to the police without giving out specifics of her ties to the Knights to catch the killers—which they would never do, anyway. The Dragon Knights were exceedingly careful and even had moles in the various police departments. One whisper of what she'd been, and she'd be as good as dead.
So at the first opportunity, she'd resorted to her last option: to run to the dragon-shifters and give them the information she'd stolen from the Knights' database. True, she'd hated and feared dragons for most of her life, but if there was anyone who could—and would—take revenge on the Knights, it was the dragon-shifters.
Enemy of an enemy was a friend, and all that.
What she hadn't counted on was passing out on Stonefire's land and then falling into a coma for a year. The doctors still hadn't told her why it'd happened, or if it could happen again.
Which meant her time could be short, and she needed to convince them to listen to her. Without her knowledge, they'd never crack all the information on the thumb drive and truly be able to take down the Knights.
However, no one smiled at her or even tried to initiate a conversation that didn't revolve around her health. To get them to listen to anything she said, and believe it, was going to take some work.
One of the doctors—Dr. Lewis, a dragonman with dark hair and glasses who spoke with a Welsh accent—walked into the room. Out of the three doctors she'd encountered so far, Ivy preferred him the most. He rarely spoke unless necessary, and he never lingered after completing his routine checks on her health. He oddly didn't view her with malice, or any emotion, really, beyond curiosity.
Maybe he was the one who would believe she had information the dragons still needed.
After checking her vital signs on the machines, he asked, "Any noticeable changes?"
"No. I'm still always tired and weak."
Half-truth. She'd recovered all of her memory, but she wasn't going to share that just yet.
He scribbled down something on his clipboard. "Then tomorrow you'll start some light physical therapy. However, if anything hurts before then or during the process, make sure to say something."
She'd barely nodded before he left the room.
So much for swaying Dr. Lewis to her side. Maybe he was too aloof for her purposes.
Not that she had time to do more than notice he'd left because a second later, the dragonman with dark hair and eyes, the one she'd f
irst seen upon waking, strode into the room.
He pulled up a stool next to her bed, sat down, and crossed his arms over his chest.
No doubt he tried to intimidate her with his bulging muscles and much bigger form. But given how much effort the doctors were investing to save her, he wouldn't dare hurt her.
At least not yet.
The dragonman stared, and she stared back. If dragon-shifters weren't much more than animals, which a lot of people believed, then she couldn't show her fear, or he'd pounce.
Although in the back of her mind, Ivy started to think dragon-shifters were more human than animal. But she quickly rejected it. If she accepted they were a lot like her, it would invalidate a good chunk of her life.
Focus on your endgame, Ivy. That's all that matters.
Right, the destruction of the Dragon Knights.
Wanting the dragonman to leave her alone so she could work on a plan, she croaked, "What do you want?"
He remained silent. And as the seconds ticked by, Ivy hated how she couldn't even sit up in bed, let alone turn over to give him her back and dismiss him.
However, there was one thing she could do. And even though she shouldn't irritate the dragonman, she closed her eyes to feign sleep.
He grunted. "Don't even think of going to sleep until I'm done with you."
Her eyes flew open. His brusque tone ruffled her feathers. "I'm tired, so go away."
He raised his brows. "You were in a coma for a year. If I were in your shoes, then I'd want to try and stay awake as long as possible."
Normally, if she were at her full strength, Ivy would argue back. Standing up for herself was how she'd soared up the ranks of the Dragon Knights, until she'd become the head of an entire research department.
But every inch of her body ached, and it was true—she was exhausted. So she merely murmured, "I'm going to close my eyes in two minutes and go to sleep. So if you have something to say, do it before then."
His pupils flashed to slits and back, and Ivy was glad she couldn't jump or really even flinch. Even though she'd watched videos during her early days with the Knights and knew it meant a dragon-shifter was talking with their inner beast, it also reminded her of the monster within. One who could come out and wreak havoc on any person they wanted.
Sure, the Department of Dragon Affairs—or DDA—claimed to have everything under control, but it wasn't the full truth. Ivy had seen the damage done in some of the more remote areas of the UK, not to mention other parts of Europe. Some dragons took what they wanted, escaped, and were never caught or later punished.
Because, really, how would a government agency take down a full-sized dragon without using an illegal weapon or chemical agent?
The man finally spoke again. "What was your role inside the Dragon Knights?"
Ivy struggled to keep her eyes open. Even if this was the golden opportunity to convince him they needed her help with decoding the encrypted data, she couldn't stay awake much longer. Maybe if she gave him a hint, he'd come back later, when she had more energy. So she murmured, "I was a researcher."
He opened his mouth to say something, but Dr. Sid came in and pushed the man away until he stood and moved. She said, "That's enough, Zain. I have a few more things to check before Ivy falls asleep again."
Even though the dragonwoman was shorter and less muscled than the man, he merely gave a curt nod and left the room.
Zain was his name, apparently.
Dr. Sid moved closer to her bed and said, "If he bothers you too much, then let me know, and I'll keep him away."
Ivy wondered why Dr. Sid would care. Sure, they wanted her alive for some unknown reason. Although after Zain's question, she suspected they wanted all the information on her research and projects from her time with the Knights.
Still, there was no reason for the female doctor to be even tangentially nice to her for the first time.
Especially since dragon-shifters weren't supposed to care about humans, beyond their ability to give them babies.
Dr. Sid raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then, don't answer. But for the moment, I'm on your team, Ivy. Don't give me a reason to switch sides."
Her eyelids drooped, but she blinked them open again. Before she could think better of it, she blurted, "Why?"
"Because I've looked at some of the recruitment videos and tactics, and I can see how they could influence someone. They're completely bullshit, but convincing. And if you can be persuaded to the truth, then maybe others could, too." Ivy opened her mouth, but Dr. Sid continued before she could say a word. "Right then, it's time for you to get some more rest. Tomorrow you're going to have someone move your limbs and get them used to a little movement. And it could bloody well hurt after so long of disuse. So, rest and conserve your energy."
Something about the dragonwoman's tone of voice made Ivy want to listen to her. It was strange since she'd never really experienced the feeling before, the desire to obey.
Maybe dragon-shifters did have some strange magic of their own.
However, she gave up the fight to keep her eyes open and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Zain sat with his boss, Kai Sutherland, along with the two IT specialists who had been working on cracking Ivy's thumb drive data. He was more familiar with Nathan, who worked specifically with the Protectors. However, over the last year, Zain had come to value Lucien's input as well, even if he sometimes would unconsciously switch to his second language of French when he was working on a problem.
But given the male's mother was French, it at least somewhat made sense.
Kai finally spoke for the first time after Zain had revealed Ivy's role. "If she was a researcher, then she's more valuable than we thought. Everything needs to be done to help her recover and maybe work on her reversing her brainwashing, too, so that she'll talk to Nathan and Lucien. Shots of dragon-shifter blood should help speed up her recovery time as well, regarding her physical strength."
Zain grunted. "I agree, but anything medically related is in Dr. Sid's hands."
"Maybe," Kai stated. "Right now, Stonefire lacks a physical therapist, and Lochguard is busy using theirs with some injury I don't know the details of. Which means you're going to have to step up and help, Zain."
He frowned. "Yes, I helped with PT whilst in the army, learning all that I could on the job, but I haven't done any of that stuff for years."
Kai shrugged. "Regardless, you're our best chance. And before you mention the doctors again, I'll talk to Sid. She'll say yes. The trick will be in finding a volunteer to give her their blood on a regular basis."
Good luck, Zain thought. Few would want to help a human who had been hell-bent on eradicating their kind.
Zain raised his brows. "You sound pretty confident about Sid."
Kai replied, "She wants my mate's help with something to do with her dragon doctor alliance project. And whilst Jane would do it anyway, I may use it as leverage."
Kai's mate was a former human reporter named Jane Hartley, who had no problem matching Kai's alpha personality. He snorted. "Right, because that'll go down well with Jane."
Kai grunted. "My mate owes me a favor or two. So I'll collect."
Granted, Zain didn't know the first thing about having a mate, let alone a human one. However, he didn't think trading favors was the ideal situation.
Still, if Kai said it would work, Zain believed him. He replied, "I may have some PT training, but I know nothing about deprogramming someone who's been brainwashed. Who's going to help with that?"
Kai didn't miss a beat. "Serafina Rossi. She arrived on Stonefire last week. She worked as a psychologist back in Italy, and she should be able to handle the exit counseling side of things."
"I know she's Brenna's cousin, but how do you know we can trust her?" Zain asked.
Brenna Rossi had been one of Stonefire's Protectors before mating an Irish dragonman and moving there. Zain wished she was still around to help with Ivy. Brenna would've been much better at a fake friendly re
lationship than Zain ever would.
Lucien spoke up for the first time. "Trust me, I did the most thorough background check I could manage. Serafina was being told what to do with all the clan members, regardless if it was the best for their health or not, by the Italian clan leader. She came here for freedom and the ability to do her job without interference."
Zain frowned. "How the bloody hell did you get that from a background check? Did you call people up and interrogate them?"
Lucien rolled his eyes. "Of course not. But her uncle lives here, and he told us quite a bit. Hacking her emails and personal accounts confirmed most of what Gabriele Rossi told us anyway."
"Should you be hacking so casually, Lucien?" Zain drawled.
The male grinned, his teeth white against his light brown skin. "It's only a problem if you get caught. I'll never get caught."
He was about to say more, but Kai jumped in. "Lucien had permission, end of story. You and Serafina will be working together on this. Once Ivy is in a better place and is strong enough, Lucien and Nathan will join in, too. I don't doubt your interrogation skills—you've done a bloody good job watching over her and getting straight answers so soon—but Lucien and Nathan can probably speak to her in a less intimidating way."
He eyed the two males—one with pale skin and blond hair, the other with light brown skin and black hair, both as muscled as any dragon-shifter in their prime—and snorted. "Right, because they're so much less intimidating."
Nathan cleared his throat. "I don't growl nearly as much as you do, Zain. So that works in my favor."
Lucien chuckled, and Zain glared at one male and then the other. "You two have become way too familiar around me. At one time, neither of you would look me in the eye."
Lucien shrugged—an annoying habit of his—and said, "It's hard to be nervous around someone you've seen singing drunken karaoke."
Persuading the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons Book 12) Page 2