Then wings grew out of Faye’s back, her limbs extended into forearms and hindquarters, and her face elongated into a snout. Within a few seconds, Faye stood in her blue dragon form and extended her wings. Because of helping her with physical therapy, he knew exactly where to find her injury and his gaze moved to the slightly crooked bone of one wing.
His dragon chimed in. She’ll be fine.
Faye turned her dragon head around and met his eyes. She huffed at him, and he had to lean forward to keep from falling over.
That was his cue to shift.
Embracing his beast, Grant grew into his green dragon form. Being male, he stood about a foot taller than Faye and Cat. Since he knew the height difference irritated Faye, he stood taller.
She narrowed her eyes, and he shrugged before crouching down and jumping into the air. As he beat his wings and ascended into the sky, he simply enjoyed the rush of wind against his hide. With a little practice, he could treat Faye as he had for years by teasing and challenging her. Only when he was nice to her did his instinct start to take over and make him want to do things to her he couldn’t. Things he couldn’t do until he sorted out the traitors.
His dragon spoke up again. But what about when we’re lying in the room next door to hers? I know what I’ll be thinking about.
You should be thinking of the traitors.
Why can’t we do both? Let Faye handle Cat’s security detail and we can look for the traitors. That will show Faye we believe in her.
Maybe. I want to ensure there aren’t any Dragon Knights or hunters in the area first.
She’ll think you’re coddling her.
Then so be it. After the drone attacks down on Stonefire, an enemy could be lurking anywhere.
Several of Stonefire’s clan members, including its head doctor, had been targeted by small drones that had ended up drugging them. Actually, according to reports, one of the victims had been from Ireland. At any rate, Lochguard’s head doctor, Innes, had gone down to help Stonefire and had ended up mating the Stonefire doctor who had been attacked.
His dragon added, But Stonefire found a remedy to the strange drug the drone carried and we have a vial just in case. It’s not a big concern.
Do you really want to risk the drug changing and possibly killing her?
Then talk to her about it. Faye was once our equal. That’s all she wants, to be an equal again. Besides, she can help keep an eye out for any threats. She can’t do that if she doesn’t know what threats to look out for.
Since when did you become so rational?
Ever since you became the opposite.
Grant mentally snorted. Then we’ll try it your way and try to treat her as an equal, oh wise one. But if Faye’s temper gets the better of her, we’ll do it my way.
Fair enough. And now that you’ve listened to me about this, I’ll have to pester you about kissing Faye, too.
No, dragon. Kissing the lass will have to wait, no matter how much she tempts us.
At last you’ve admitted that you’re fighting the pull, too. That gives me ideas on how to speed up the process.
We can’t endanger the mission.
We don’t have to.
As his dragon fell silent, Grant studied the slightly erratic beat of Faye’s wings. Simply flying had to be painful, but through sheer stubbornness, she had regained enough stamina to fly long distances. He still remembered the look of triumph in her eyes when she had stayed aloft for more than a few seconds. Of all the people in the clan, she’d trusted him and allowed him to help her.
He at least owed her a chance to prove herself.
If she could handle it, then maybe he would ask for her help with his uncle and the others. The sooner he rooted out the traitors, the sooner he could try to woo the lass. After all, Faye would never betray him.
Picking up his pace, Grant caught up to the two females again and edged out a little ahead. Since he’d made up his mind, Grant was anxious to reach Inverness. He needed to talk with Faye. Even if it meant tying her to a chair so she would hear him out, he would do it.
Chapter Five
As the river and buildings of Inverness came into view, Faye struggled to keep up with Grant’s pace.
She’d tested herself and knew she could fly for hours at a leisurely pace before the pain was too great. However, Grant was flying as if they were being chased by an enemy.
Her dragon yawned. He’s probably trying to rile you up. Ignore him. Cat is having trouble, too.
Looking to the side, Cat’s red dragon form would miss a beat every few seconds. Her irritation at Grant only increased. She’s not a Protector. Grant should know this.
Faye gave a low roar and garnered Cat’s attention. She slowed down her pace and Cat nodded before doing the same. The pair of them mostly glided the last few miles to the city. By the time they reached the empty car park next to Inverness Castle and maneuvered their way down, Grant was already in human form, fully dressed and waiting.
Her beast grunted. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him naked.
I thought you’d sworn off him?
It doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy his abs or fine arse.
Leave it to her beast to make something as natural as shifting into something about sex.
Thankfully the area was fenced off and private. Faye never cared much about nudity, but humans tended to make a big deal out of it. Despite having two humans as sisters-in-law, it was still hard to trust them as a unit.
She and Cat each placed the bags clutched in their forearms, the ones holding their clothes, to the side and gently touched their hind legs to the ground. Faye imagined her form shrinking into a human. A few seconds later, she stood beside Cat as they rummaged through their packs for clothes.
She tried not to think about how Grant could be staring at her arse.
Her beast spoke up. Forget him. He can look, but he will never have.
Her dragon really had convinced herself she could resist Grant.
Rather than argue, Faye dressed quickly. Cat did the same. Within a few minutes, they had their packs in hand and walked up to Grant. Faye spoke first. “A DDA representative is supposed to meet us here at any minute and take us to our accommodations. Once that’s done, I want to take Cat out along the river for a meal.”
He raised his brows. “So you want me to scout the area first?”
“Why do you sound so surprised? It’s usual practice for a security detail team to split up the work.”
“Aye, but given your temper earlier, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he drawled.
She frowned. “I’m not going to dignify that with an argument. Just do your job, McFarland.”
He took her arm and pulled her to the side. “Speaking of that, I was thinking about the drones Stonefire had trouble with not that long ago.” He handed her a vial and needle kit. “Just in case, here’s one of the antidote packs. The formula may have changed by now, but it’s better than nothing. The second either you or Cat is attacked, I want to know.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m aware of protocol, Grant. If you’re trying to cover your arse, there’s no need.”
He growled and hissed out, “Neither one of us are mind readers, Faye. I just want to be clear since I’m going to leave most of Cat’s security to you.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, truly. Don’t sound so surprised.”
Her dragon spoke up. Let’s not waste time arguing with him. I’m hungry. Let’s hurry up and find somewhere to eat along the river. I’m sure some of the restaurants allow dragon-shifters. If not, I think casually showing a talon or two will convince them to change their minds.
Faye snorted. When Grant raised his brows, she cued him in. “My dragon is hungry. Is there anything else?’
He grunted. “Just keep your mobile on.” He paused, and she also heard the footsteps. Grant added, “I’ll do the talking. We don’t need to upset the DDA.”
Rather than respond, Faye stuck out her tongue. She could k
eep her temper in check when it came to strangers. Grant was just trying to provoke her.
Her beast chimed in again. Maybe the DDA human will be attractive. Now that the Stonefire dragonwoman has mated a human male, it’s not so dangerous. We can widen our potential partner pool.
No sex with the DDA person. If it’s a him, you might break the male.
Her dragon huffed. If he’s weak, I wouldn’t waste energy trying to nab him.
Faye rushed to Cat’s side just as a man in his thirties walked into the space. He was slightly taller than Faye with black hair that went to his chin and blue eyes. He wasn’t unattractive. But from his gait and countenance, he wasn’t a soldier. Faye’s dragon would definitely break him.
Too bad, her dragon murmured.
The male smiled at each of them in turn, but his gaze lingered a second on Cat. He nodded. “Cat MacAllister, welcome to Inverness.” He looked to Faye and then Grant. “Lochguard has been secretive about who they’re sending for their security. May I have your names?”
Faye itched to answer straightaway, but bit her tongue. Grant was their security team leader in public.
Grant replied, “What’s yours, first? And I need to see some identification.”
The human didn’t slump his shoulders or show any other signs of being intimidated. Faye gave the human credit. More than a few had cowered under Grant’s dominant tone in the past.
The male finally answered, “I’m Lachlan MacKintosh, the coordinator of this event.” He took out a badge and displayed it. “Here’s my ID.”
Grant studied the ID and nodded. “I’m Grant McFarland, in charge of surveillance and strategy. This is Faye MacKenzie. She’s Cat’s personal bodyguard.”
Lachlan nodded to each of them as he placed his ID into one of his pockets. “Good. With introductions out of the way, we should get going. Follow me.”
“Where are we going?” Faye asked.
Lachlan glanced at her. “It’s confidential. There are eyes and ears everywhere. This is a known landing area, which makes it a target. I’m not about to compromise Ms. MacAllister’s safety.”
She wanted to push further, but Cat placed a hand on her arm and smiled. “Since the DDA director has used quite a bit of her political capital to put together this event, let’s just follow him.” DDA director, Rosalind Abbott, had only recently taken command after a scandal and imprisonment of the former director. Cat leaned over to whisper, “I trust you to tell me if he’s leading us on or not.”
Faye grunted and looked to Lachlan. “After you.”
The corner of Lachlan’s mouth ticked up. “And to think, dragon-shifters don’t usually have a reputation for being polite.”
“We can be, but it’s hard to do when people are shouting or trying to kill you,” Grant answered.
“Fair enough,” Lachlan said. “We expect there to be some disturbances during the tour, although all of the locations have been carefully selected for a reason.”
“And let me guess, the details will have to wait?” Faye drawled.
Cat jumped in. “All of the cities I saw on the list sound lovely. I’m sure we’re all grateful for the chance to showcase our work.”
“You’ll meet the others at our destination. We have much more than just artists. I’m sure you understand our need to be secretive as to all of the details,” Lachlan said.
“Let’s just get to the place we’re going so we can stop with all of the vague comments,” Grant growled out.
Lachlan raised his brows but remained silent. The human picked up his pace, and they all followed suit.
~~~
Grant spent the rest of the walk observing the human named Lachlan.
At first, he’d worried about Faye flirting with the male. But as she questioned and talked to him, she didn’t seem to show any interest in him beyond a working relationship.
His dragon spoke up. You could stop worrying if you just pursued her openly. Then we could better focus on our mission.
Ignoring his beast, Grant kept his mind clear of all thoughts and studied their surroundings. Since it was early evening, the streets were full of people walking home from work or heading out to shop or dine.
Everyone from Lochguard wore long-sleeved shirts against the cooler than normal temperature of early summer, which hid their tattoos. Still, a few eyed the tall Lochguard trio and moved as far away from them as possible, probably because their height and build signaled that they were most likely dragon-shifters.
Most of the humans paid them little attention, although a few did smile in passing. Inverness had been one of the friendlier cities in the past. The isolation of the Highlands had worked to Lochguard’s advantage.
However, as the city continued to grow with each passing year, he wondered how much longer it would be safe, let alone welcoming to dragon-shifters. After all, there was a small Inverness dragon hunter gang. Luckily, they weren’t as organized as the one run by Simon Bourne. The gang formerly of Carlyle but currently near Birmingham was tied with the Dragon Knights as their greatest enemies. Bourne’s gang was more organized and had been growing in membership. Still, he would have to talk with Faye later and discuss their options in case they ran into the Inverness dragon hunter group. The last thing they needed was to draw unnecessary attention to their presence. The art show needed good press, not bad.
They soon arrived at a street that branched off into several side streets full of bed and breakfast establishments. After turning down a street and walking another minute, Lachlan entered the front garden gate of one called, “The Scottish Rose.”
The building looked like a dozen others or more on the street. It was attached to another house on one side and was brick. As they entered the front door, Grant noted the B&Bs to either side posted no vacancy.
Lachlan didn’t bother to check in and proceeded to the living area. Once he shut the door to the room, he turned to face them. “This B&B and the other two on either side are where all of the participants and their guards are staying.”
“It seems a bit out in the open with regards to security,” Grant pointed out.
“Perhaps. But the DDA owns all three of these buildings. We find it easier to come and go along the busy street full of tourists, especially since we book rooms to anyone who wants it most of the year. Even the locals think this is just another bed and breakfast.” Lachlan pointed toward the ground. “However, there is also a tunnel underneath that serves as an escape route, in case we need it. The DDA has taken every precaution to ensure this event goes forward.”
Grant grunted. “We’ll need to see the tunnel and study its exit point.”
“In time,” Lachlan answered. “First, I need to brief Cat and the others on the event. You’re the last to arrive. Wait here while I fetch the remaining participants.”
The human left, and Grant looked to Faye. She nodded in understanding—she would locate all of the available escape routes as soon as possible as well as find the nearest place they could shift and fly away, if need be.
In that second, Grant forgot about the traitors in his family as well as him trying to resist Faye. It was nice to be doing more than paperwork behind a desk. Being the head Protector wasn’t always as glamorous as some might think.
Grant’s thoughts were cut short as another human entered the room. His worn-leather jacket and the battered fedora in one hand made him blink.
However, before Grant could say a word, the human grinned and took Faye’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” He moved to Cat. “I’ve been itching to talk with some more dragon-shifters.” He moved to Grant, but at his glare, resisted taking his hand. “Although, maybe you can stand to the side if all you’re going to do is stare at me.”
Grant growled out, “Who are you?”
The man put his hat over his heart and stood tall. “I’m Maximilian Holbrook, the premier dragon-shifter archaeologist in the UK. You can call me Max.”
Grant vaguely recalled the name from a report. “You’re the one w
ho bothered one of my clan members on Skye and we had to relocate you.”
“I wasn’t bothering anyone,” Max answered. “That dragon intruded on my dig site. I was a bit friendly, but it was one of the first times I’d seen a dragon-shifter in the flesh. An older female, correct? I liked her. Although the other dragon female who took me back to Suffolk handled me a little rough.”
“Iris took you back. And from all accounts, she was trying to shut you up,” Grant stated.
Max raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? I thought she was telling me she couldn’t hear, so I only shouted louder.”
It was a miracle Iris had delivered the human in one piece. Grant would’ve been tempted to drop him into a loch.
Cat stepped in between them. “Hello, Max. I’m Cat, one of the artists. I thought this event was dragon-shifters showing off their creative talents? Pardon me asking, but what is an archaeologist doing here?”
Max’s gaze moved to Cat’s. “Ah, but the event is called, ‘Unmasking Dragon-shifters’ and that’s what I do. I bring a historical perspective. It’s hard to understand the present without knowing the past.”
Grant crossed his arms over his chest. “I would think that a dragon-shifter archaeologist would be a better fit.”
“There aren’t many of them, sadly. Besides, I have a knack for digging in places most can’t access since I’m human. No one knows more about dragon-shifters in the Roman period in Britain than me.”
Grant didn’t care if Max had more artifacts than the bloody queen, he could make Faye’s task difficult if he followed Cat around and made a spectacle of himself. According to his report from Iris, the human didn’t understand self-control or how to keep under the radar.
Cat spoke up again. “Well, then, you’ll just have to share some of your stories with us over a meal at some point. I don’t know much about dragon-shifter history, apart from what we’re taught in school. But I’m sure there’s plenty of little-known, interesting stories to hear.”
The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons Book 4) Page 4