Quinn bounced from the edge of the bed and moved toward her drying clothes, but Isaac’s large frame stepped in her way. He was already shrugging on his own clothing. She scowled up at him and planted her feet apart in a defensive stance. Isaac noted the stance and she saw the corners of his mouth quirk upward.
“You’re staying here,” he announced.
Her brows shot upward, so high she thought they might burst through the roof and into the room above. “Like hell am I sitting on my hands here. I’m going out there if it’s with one of you or if it’s on my bike. I’m going.”
Behind Isaac, Kenji sighed. This was a side of Quinn that he was used to. Isaac, on the other hand, wasn’t having it. He placed his hands on her arms and slowly rubbed them up and down. His sudden warmth reminded her just how cold she still was. She wasn’t a dragon, capable of withstanding the piercing winds and rain with dragon scales. She was just a frail human.
***
His mate was clearly not happy to be told she needed to sit back, but Isaac was not about to risk her health after he’d done just that. Quinn needed to stay here and get better. That was all he wanted from her, but she saw it as a sign of weakness. He could see it in her eyes when her confidence started to crumble around the edges.
How could he tell her she was the fiercest woman he’d ever met? How could he tell her she had more heart than anyone he knew? This woman was a protector down to her very core and being told she couldn’t protect even herself must have been a knife in her heart.
He’d gotten the radio to work again and tuned it into a channel GOE had been using. Kenji said the empty truck had been on the news so the agents must have known their channel was compromised. Even so, Isaac asked his mate to stay by the radio and keep an ear open. If anything was said over the channel, she would be the first to know. If it was about Lucia Avila, his mate could call her family. That was their compromise.
Isaac laid a kiss on her lips after listening to her promise she would stay put and left knowing that she would hop on the motorcycle the moment they were gone. Kenji was rolling his shoulders and preparing for his change when Isaac tapped him on his shoulder. When the dragon turned, Isaac jerked his head toward the gas station. There was no need to make the pedestrians and motel guest scream at the sight of two dragons.
Besides, there was something he needed to take care of before he left.
The two dragons made their way together toward the gas station. The motorcycle was still parked in the back and Kenji hissed as Isaac approached it.
“You mess with that and she’ll have your head.”
“If I don’t put the bike out of commission, she’ll head out on her own. Do you want her to get hurt? Do you want her to develop full blown hypothermia? I certainly don’t.”
She was going to hate him for this. She was going to scream, maybe even throw something at his head. It was something he’d seen Noelle do when Marc passed on Dane’s decrees. Isaac wouldn’t take it personally. He was doing this for her safety and that was it.
He flicked open the small hood over the engine’s inner workings. All he had to do was pluck out a spark plug and the motorcycle wouldn’t start. He pocketed the spark plug and turned to face Kenji. The dragon man was nearly sweating.
“That’s it?”
Isaac patted his pocket. “That bike isn’t going anywhere.”
“I thought you were going to have to slash a tire. That seemed… much nicer than what I would have done.”
Isaac shrugged. He’d read a few car manuals and some mechanic textbooks because Luc always seemed to want to screw with people’s cars and he had to find the easiest and least destructive way to do what Luc wanted. Half the time the funnier Avila twin just wrapped someone’s car with plastic wrap. There’d been a time, not too long ago, that Luc pressured Isaac into removing the airbag from a rental car for a quick prank on their leader’s mate.
“We need to get going if we’re going to find Casper.”
Without another word, he let his dragon form surge forward. The beast inside of him wanted to go back to the motel room and claim their mate. They’d come so close too many times. If only they could sink themselves deep inside her, then she would get the gifts of their mate bond. She would be heartier, have a longer life span.
But, Isaac knew she would rather he work on finding Casper before GOE did and, so, that was exactly what he was going to do. He had to pull on the reins of his beast a little to keep the giant form from speeding back to the motel door. The beast shook his head in defiance, but eventually let their magic flow over them and beat their wings to launch into the air.
It still amazed Isaac that Kenji’s roiling form simply took to the skies with no real wings. How did dragon magic achieve that? How did it work? It was, to him, more mind blowing than his ability to shift colors depending on his surroundings. Which, the dragon form beside him did a double take to make sure Isaac was beside him.
He didn’t like to talk about the depth of his abilities. Most dragons didn’t have as many abilities as Isaac. He’d never met another dragon quite like himself and it made him wonder. When Quinn told him about the experiments the GOE facilities ran on the young dragons, it made sense. He was afraid his magic wasn’t natural. Somehow, GOE managed to harness the power of dragons through their experiments and began to craft their own dragons, Isaac being one of them.
None of that explained how he came to be where he was. He didn’t know how he’d escaped the facility. Even worse, he’d taken to worrying that GOE had released him into the world for a reason. Maybe he’d watched too many action movies about sleeper agents. He worried that the wrong word would set him off and he would betray the only people he’s ever loved. It made him stay apart from most things. It made him turn to books when he could.
Now, he had a mate. The universe had seen fit to give him, a creature that even Mother Nature wanted to destroy, a mate. It blew his mind. He wanted to lock her up and never let her leave, but they both knew how that would end. Quinn would bring the building down upon his head just to get out.
The two dragons caught sight of a river snaking below them. Quinn had pointed it out on her map and tracked how close it was to where they’d interrupted the GOE truck. She said it was likely Casper would be near the river. In reality, it wasn’t much more than a creek, but Kenji snaked toward it and breached the surface of the water. Isaac saw the long water dragon below the water’s surface surge forward with even more speed. From down there, Kenji had a ground view while Isaac would have the bird’s eye view. It also kept them much less conspicuous as they moved.
Isaac’s eyes grazed over the ground below. They were looking for a pale man, or a white dragon. It took a little while before they found anything and it certainly was not what they’d hoped.
Chapter Eight
The moment the two dragon men left her presence, Quinn threw off her bathrobe and darted for her clothes. They were mostly dry, only slightly cold from her earlier jaunt in the rain. This time, she grabbed her leather jacket and tied her boots a little tighter against any offending water.
There was no way either of them could expect her not to do something. She’d sent them on the most likely path toward Casper, but that still left a huge amount of land open. Casper was fast, as she’d seen outside the GOE truck. If he was a Welsh ice dragon, the cold wouldn’t bother him the way it bothered her. If anything, it should feel like a brisk day for him.
Quinn grabbed the radio her mate had prodded into a working condition again and took it with her. It would easily fit into her saddle bag and there was a small port that she could connect her Bluetooth device to so that she could listen while wearing her helmet. Technology was a great thing.
The storm that followed them was finally fizzling out. It was now only drizzling, thin trickles of water dropping from weak looking clouds. Quinn pushed her helmet over her head and buckled it beneath her chin before dashing toward the nearby gas station. She’d seen Kenji and Isaac head this way
before they left, probably to use the covered space to change shapes away from prying eyes. They’d seen how well humans in this area reacted to dragons.
It was only reasonable, given the state of the raiding dragons who still took what they wanted from nearby farms and businesses. The government didn’t allow dragons to get licenses or hold regular jobs. The smart dragons took to e-trading with what little they could scrounge up. Others produced art to sell to dragon fanatics. She’d heard of dragons overseas using their elemental gifts to work forges and whatnot.
Making a living was possible, but it wasn’t easy. That left the lazy and the desperate to become raiders, destroying farms or stealing from banks with their elemental powers.
Quinn skidded to a halt in front of her bike. She threw her leg over the damp, leather seat and kicked the ignition.
Nothing happened.
Her heart clenched.
“You son of a bitch,” Quinn muttered as she hopped off her bike and threw open the small hood.
A smile crept over her lips when she saw what Isaac had done. It could only have been Isaac, she thought. Kenji didn’t know squat about the inner workings of a motorcycle. Isaac, on the other hand, she figured would know quite a lot about combustion. Her mate might have thought he’d have the upper hand on her, but this was her baby. Quinn knew just as much about how it worked, if not more, than he did.
She danced to the small saddle bag hanging from the back of her bike and plucked a spare spark plug from its depths. Of course, she had to shake off some sprinkles and powdered sugar, but in moments, she was road ready again.
It felt good to have the engine rumble beneath her again. The motorcycle had always been her key to freedom, a gift from her aunt’s mate that her aunt hadn’t been particularly pleased with. Squeezing the throttle, Quinn shot out of the gas station parking lot and followed the map she’d memorized in her mind.
Along the way, her eyes taking in everything around her in case Casper appeared, she wondered what her family would do about Lucia. The Quetzalcoatl had been through the worst of the GOE experiments from what she’d heard and it had left the woman more monster than human. Of course, Hector would want his mate back. Quinn had no doubts Hector would tear the world apart to get her back. It’s what she would do for Isaac.
Quinn raced along the backstreets, most likely the ones they’d flown over earlier that day, when a truck passed her at breakneck speeds. The truck almost pushed her off the road and the bike swerved beneath her on the wet asphalt. Her thighs clenched around the bike as she corrected her path. When she looked up, she recognized the back of the truck.
It was another GOE vehicle. While it wasn’t marked, it looked exactly like the one she’d seen earlier. The radio in her ear crackled to life. She’d forgotten about it and it startled her and the bike jerked beneath her grip.
“Subject I-A-C spotted up ahead. All agents are given permission to handle with force, but do not kill. We want this one alive.” The voice on the radio crackled in her ear. Why did that voice sound familiar?
Quinn pulled the throttle and the bike surged forward. If she hadn’t been on the road, if she hadn’t brought the radio with her, they never would have found Casper. That’s what she told herself as her knee skimmed the wet asphalt around a corner. She should have been more aware of her surroundings. She should have been more aware of the fact it looked like she was following the truck ahead.
She wasn’t looking up. She only saw the truck in front of her. If she chased it, she thought it would lead her to Casper. If she chased, she could grab Casper before they could. That was what Quinn was thinking.
Then, the truck turned onto a beaten road. The pavement was no longer clear of potholes. It became jagged and irregular with crumbling shoulders. She gritted her teeth and held on as she bounced over holes in the road. All she needed was to spot Casper before they did, but the road didn’t lead to Casper.
It led to an open clearing and a small bridge. The water below wavered and Quinn caught the shape of a familiar form. Her heart stopped. Her head jerked up and her eyes caught faint movement on the bridge. She could just make out the form of her mate’s dragon shape as he fidgeted nervously.
Quinn quickly realized that Subject I-A-C was not Casper.
It was her mate.
Without any further thought, Quinn launched into action. She zoomed around the truck and kicked an opening door closed. If she could cause enough of a distraction, then Isaac could get back to safety.
She didn’t have time to wonder why or how the agents knew about him. No one should have known he was there. The agent he’d left alive couldn’t possibly have known who Isaac was, who he’d been to GOE in the past just by one look at his dragon form. It didn’t make any sense. Isaac hadn’t been in the hands of GOE for decades and the agent hadn’t looked that old.
Someone else had told GOE Isaac was helping her. That was the only thing that made sense. She looked down at the shape in the water. Would Kenji have given her mate away so that he could have her back? He admitted himself that he’d lied, said that he wanted the best for her.
Dragging her boot along the pavement, she made a sharp turn back toward the truck. Through the windshields she could see the confused agents inside. They were reaching for their weapons. Sure, they’d been ordered not to kill Isaac, but that didn’t mean she was safe. An agent had already assaulted her once that day.
She had to think fast. She had to buy Isaac time. If she made it out of this alive, then she’d have a conversation with Kenji. Quickly, Quinn forced her bike to shudder to a stop and clumsily hopped off her bike.
***
“I’m so sorry!” his mate cried after taking her helmet off. “I didn’t mean to hit your door!”
The agents behind the windshield frowned at one another. This time it was a man and a woman. Isaac noticed that neither agent was the man he’d let go earlier, but that didn’t help him any. He held his stance, his scales still blending in with the bridge and the foliage around them.
The man shoved his door open and hopped out, casting a casual glance at the door she’d sideswiped before his eyes flickered to the bridge behind her. “No damage done,” the male agent said with a false smile. It was wide, but didn’t reach his cold eyes.
The man stepped toward his mate and Isaac had to swallow his growl. Quinn was supposed to be back in the motel room. She shouldn’t have even been able to start the damned bike after he took a spark plug. Then again, Kenji had noted how dearly she treated the motorcycle. Of course, she would have known what he did to it. Of course, she would have been able to fix it.
He needed to be smarter about it next time. If there was a next time. Isaac watched the agent approach his mate. His muscles were tense in anticipation. He’d rip the man’s head off before he let the agent touch Quinn.
Isaac’s mind tried to work out how GOE knew where they were while the beast watched Quinn. Their search for Casper had turned up nothing. It was as if the dragon man had disappeared completely, somewhat living up to his name. But, their search for Casper had been as stealthily as the two dragons could have mustered.
There was no way GOE could have seen him in the air from the ground. This close, there was a strong possibility the agents had caught sight of him. He wasn’t invisible, after all. It was clear that Quinn was trying to buy him time to escape, but he wasn’t about to leave her alone with them.
The dragon lurking beneath the water’s surface under the bridge didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch. Could Kenji have told the agents where Isaac would have been? It didn’t seem likely in his mind. Kenji might have wanted Quinn all to himself at one point, but Quinn would never return to him after his lie, let alone if he gave her mate up to GOE. What if he didn’t do it for Quinn, Isaac wondered. Kenji had lost his reason to stay faithful to the nomadic family of dragons if he could no longer have Quinn.
If he was a double agent, one of the children GOE had changed, then that would explain a lot. Still, Isaa
c had a feeling, as if his brain had already worked out who’d betrayed them but couldn’t tell him yet, that Kenji was not to blame.
“I think I’m a bit lost,” Quinn told the agent. “Could you help me get back to town. From there I think I could re-orient myself.”
“We don’t have time to deal with her,” the female agent hissed when she stepped out of the truck. The female agent glared at Quinn. Isaac wished he could see his mate’s face. She was an excellent liar, he thought. Or, perhaps, she was an excellent actress because he didn’t think she’d ever once lied to him about anything.
Quinn, like the actress she was, took a step back in hesitant confusion before lurching toward the male agent. She gripped the front of his jacket after a false trip and let out a nervous laugh. Isaac didn’t like seeing her touch him. He didn’t like seeing the man’s hand wrap around her. He wanted to growl, wanted to tear the man’s arm off.
If he moved, he’d give himself away. Then again, he was almost certain the two agents had already spotted him. He needed to get his mate away from here. Kenji could fend for himself. Double agent or not, Isaac didn’t care. All he needed was to get Quinn to safety.
The female agent huffed and pulled the weapon at her hip. Isaac had only a moment to realize it wasn’t the usual Taser they were issued. The shot rang out and he felt the impact of it hit his thigh. He grunted and dropped, the foot refusing to bear any weight.
Another long moment passed before he realized that he hadn’t dropped his form. His head shot up. Blood trickled down his scales, giving away his presence. The gun must not have been loaded with silver shot, he wondered.
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