Seducing the Dragon: Part Three

by Jessie Donovan

  Contents

  Title

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Dear Reader

  Blaze of Secrets

  Reclaiming the Wolf

  Sacrificed to the Dragon

  Other Works

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Seducing the Dragon: Part Three

  Jessie Donovan

  Chapter One

  Bram Moore-Llewellyn sat at his desk. For the last half hour, he’d discussed with Kai, his head Protector, about Evie’s theory concerning Neil Westhaven slowly killing Caitriona Belmont with dragon-shifter hormones. With the facts laid out and them both in agreement, he asked, “A theory is great, but we need proof. Has anyone formerly related to Neil done anything out of the ordinary?”

  Kai tapped the fingers of his right hand against his leg for a few seconds and stopped. “Yes. I hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but it could be relevant now. Olivia Harris left early this morning, carrying a large suitcase to the landing and take-off area before shifting and gripping the item in her talons. She had a pass to visit the clan in Wales, so the Protector on duty thought nothing of it. In retrospect, she’s visited the Welsh clan a few times over the last few months. She might be meeting with Neil.”

  Olivia had once upon a time been Neil Westhaven’s female, but they separated six months before Bram had chosen a male for their next human sacrifice. He had thought assigning Neil to Caitriona would be a good way for his clan member to purge Olivia out of his system. “Find out where she went. It should be easy enough to determine if she went south to Wales or elsewhere, especially since red dragons are the rarest kind. Reach out to our contacts within the human communities to help discover her flight path.”

  “Nikki has been in charge of reaching out to our human contacts. I’ll ask her to do it as soon as we’re done here.”

  Bram nodded. “Good. However, I hope she’s done by this evening for the special dinner. I need someone to watch Evie if I’m called away.”

  “I’ll watch the human if that happens. As much as I don’t want to go to the dinner and want to focus solely on rooting out more information, Finlay Stewart might take offense at the absence of Stonefire’s head Protector.”

  At the mention of Finn’s name, his dragon growled inside his head. When will he be gone? He prevents too many things from happening. First, declaring our mate to the clan. Second, finding the threats to our future mate.

  We need his alliance. He will leave tomorrow. Be patient. Will you allow Kai to watch Evie?

  Yes. He knows the identity of his mate. Why he ignores her, I don’t understand.

  Leave it be. It’s his choice.

  With a grunt, his dragon faded to the back of his mind, allowing Bram to focus on Kai. “Thanks for offering. You’re one of the few males both me and my dragon will allow near Evie.” Kai nodded. With Evie’s safety taken care of, he moved to the next item on his list. “Right then, before I dismiss you to do your magic, there’s one more thing I want to put into motion.”

  “What?”

  “I want someone focused on questioning the dragon hunter we have in custody. If Olivia and Neil are leaking information, and who the hell knows what else, he may be able to confirm it. You and I have a lot on our plates already. Is there anyone amongst the Protectors you trust to handle the prisoner?”

  “Zain would be a good fit. He’s a newer Protector, but his performance is nearly as good as mine.”

  The corner of Bram’s lips ticked up. “I didn’t think anyone could be as good as you, not even me.”

  Despite his attempt to lighten the mood, Kai’s face remained serious. “If you didn’t have all of your clan leader duties, I’m sure you’d have enough time to train and surpass me. Frankly, the amount of paperwork involved with your job makes me break out in a sweat.”

  Bram full-on smiled. “It’s not so bad.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, tell me why you’d pick Zain, and convince me to trust him.”

  “He’s dedicated, carries out even the most menial tasks I’ve assigned him without complaint, and not even my most thorough background check could find anything suspicious. Add that to his experience of working with the human intelligence collection assets division of the armed forces a few years ago, and he’s our best chance at not only finding out about the attacks, but why the dragon hunter let slip he knew Evie Marshall.”

  Yes, find out why. We must protect our female. Bram sent thoughts of silence before he replied, “The dragon hunter mentioning Evie by name worried me before, but knowing Neil may be involved, worries me further. Still, as much as I want to know the connection, why should we trust Zain?”

  “I believe in him. He has no family apart from the clan as a whole. He’ll do anything to protect us.”

  His head Protector may only be thirty years old, but he acted far older on most days. Bram’s inner beast piped in. Zain is good. I never get a bad feeling from him. If Kai trusts him, we should too.

  While not the most fact-based endorsement, he treasured his dragon’s intuition. “Right, then involve Zain, but slowly. Have him interrogate the dragon hunter and see what he can find. If he’s successful, then share a little more until you feel confident sharing everything. I also want him to keep us both updated every hour, even if it’s just with a text message saying he’s found nothing new.”

  Kai nodded. “We have two hours before the clan gathers for the dinner in the great hall. It’s enough time for me to fill in Zain and have him start his interrogation.”

  “Good. Once that’s set up, make sure to escort Evie, Melanie, and Samira to the great hall. I need to meet with Arabella right before the dinner starts, which means I can’t do it myself. I don’t want to take any chances with their safety. If anything were to happen to the three human females on my land, the human media would soon rustle up a witch hunt against us.”

  The other male stood up. “Anything else?”

  “Just be careful. Olivia is our main suspect for betrayal, but there could be other traitors in our midst. I’m not the only one with someone to protect.”

  “I’ll do my job as I always do.”

  Sometimes, Bram wished his head Protector would be a little more open and forthright, but that wasn’t Kai’s personality. Bram was one of the few people who knew Kai’s greatest secret, but it wasn’t Bram’s place to push on the matter. Well, at least until it caused his Protector to lose focus and put the clan in danger. So far, Kai hadn’t shown any of those symptoms.

  He stood. “Of course you do, or I wouldn’t trust you with the safety of my future mate.”

  Kai turned to go but then turned back around and said, “Is she your true mate? Is that why you’ve claimed her so quickly?”

  His dragon huffed. It’s none of his business. Evie is ours. That is all that matters.

  Still not telling me your reasons?

  Silence was his answer.

  Rather than try to make his dragon talk, he said to Kai, “I don’t think she is, no. But she has knowledge to help our clan. Just like you do everything in your power to protect the clan, so do I.”

  Kai looked unconvinced, but rather than argue, the male nodded and left Bram alone in his cottage.

  ~~~

  Evie was waiting for Melanie Hall-MacLeod to bombard her with questions. Ever since she’d whisked Evie from Bram’s cottage, the woman had been pointing out houses and businesses and explaining them as if she were a tour guide. Despite her earlier behavior when Evie had still been just a DDA insp
ector, Mel wasn’t being as blunt as before.

  However, ten seconds after she, Melanie, and Samira entered Mel’s house, she turned toward Evie and said, “Tell me what’s going on with Bram. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you the entire time we all were saying goodbye. His eyes even flashed to dragon slits once.”

  As she looked from Mel to Samira and back again, Evie debated her options. These two women knew the ways of dragonmen well, and probably could already guess Bram’s attraction to her. Denying it would be a waste of time.

  She also needed to convince Melanie to tell her more about this mysterious dragon exposé book of hers. The truth might win the other woman over. “He said I could tell you two and no others. Bram is taking me as his mate.”

  Mel placed her hands on her hips. “Did you trick him? Or force him? You can’t be his true mate, so I’m trying to figure why he’d agree to that.”

  Evie resisted blinking. That wasn’t the response she’d expected. Still, as much as she wanted to fit in with the two human women in the clan, she wasn’t about to take their crap.

  Evie took a step toward Melanie. “I’m sure people questioned your relationship with Tristan in the beginning. I expected better of you, but you’re just as judgmental as the dragon-shifters I’ve dealt with over the last seven years. Without giving me a chance, you think you’ve figured it all out.”

  Mel’s hands fell to her sides as she narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know how Skyhunter treated you, but my motives are true. Bram is my leader. I only want what is best for him.”

  Evie clenched her fists at her sides. Resist the urge to tell her to fuck off and mind her own business. Remember, she wants to help the clan improve their image. Bram needs her help.

  With a deep inhalation, she forced her temper down a notch. “He’s your leader, yes, but how well do you know him? I don’t need the mate-claim frenzy to entice the man to open up to me. He has more burdens than you can imagine. I can help with that.”

  Samira stepped between them. “Melanie, you’re getting nearly as bad as Tristan when it comes to protectiveness.” She turned her deep brown gaze to Evie. “How about we get you ready for the dinner? I’m sure you have questions that need to be answered. You might not be a sacrifice, but not even your experience with the DDA will prepare you for mating a dragon-shifter.”

  Taking another deep breath, Evie forced her tone to be more even. “I spent seven years with the Department of Dragon Affairs and a year before that in an intensive dragon-shifter study course. Seeing as I surprised Bram with some of my knowledge, I wouldn’t dismiss me just yet.”

  Melanie frowned. “You knew something about dragon-shifters that Bram didn’t?”

  She nodded. “Yes, and if you ever stop interrogating me, I want to propose working with you on the launch of your book. My knowledge concerning British law alone is worth a lot to you.”

  The two women glanced at each other. Evie knew these two had had months to get to know each other, but she hated being the outsider yet again. Except for her one dragon-shifter obsessed friend, Evie had been pretty much alone for the last seven years.

  Most humans didn’t like to associate with a known DDA employee. Talk shows and conspiracy blogs had convinced too many people that dragons liked to pick off the DDA employees; associating with one would make you a target as well.

  Add all of that to the recent targeting of DDA employees by the dragon hunters, and, yeah, people weren’t exactly lining up to be her best friend.

  Melanie was the first to speak again. “Let’s try this again. I think my mate’s behavior is rubbing off on me, and I need to tone that shit down. Just let me say this—if you hurt Bram, I won’t forgive you. He sacrifices a lot for the well-being of the clan, and while I think he likes you now, I don’t want him to suffer in the long run.”

  Staring at the other woman, Evie decided her best chance at eventual acceptance was to start over. Even if her connection to Bram was new, she already felt protective of him. Maybe explaining that would ease Mel’s worries. “Look, from what I’ve seen of Bram so far, he’s a strong, funny and clever dragonman. As long as he doesn’t betray me or break my heart, I won’t do the same to him. After all, he’s taking on a lot more than just a mate with me.”

  Mel frowned. “That’s a bit cryptic. Care to explain what you mean?”

  Honesty, Evie. Keep at it. After all, these people will soon be your clan too. “The dragon hunters want to kill me. Bram is mating me to protect me. In exchange, I’m offering him information. Since even Arabella was interested in my information, I can only imagine your whole clan would like my insider knowledge.”

  Samira interjected, “Arabella? You met her already?”

  Evie nodded. “She was sent to babysit me last night. I only managed to type out the information about the dragon hunters, but she absorbed every word.”

  Melanie sighed. “Of course she would.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “I’ll talk with Ara later since she’s supposed to attend tonight’s dinner. She might very well be planning something daft, such as going after the dragon hunters alone.”

  Evie frowned. “I might talk with her too. Taking on the dragon hunters by herself is bloody idiotic. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. After all, there are other ways to go after them, ways that will sully the hunters in the eyes of the human public.”

  Mel nodded. “I agree. She might be my sister-in-law, but Arabella doesn’t necessarily listen to me. The more people watching Arabella, the better.” Melanie paused a second, then added, “Ara keeps her distance, but persistence pays off in the end. She could use more friends. I hope you give her a chance.”

  In one way, at least, Arabella MacLeod was like her. “She’s clever and doesn’t beat around the bush. We should get along fine.” She looked from Mel to Samira and back. “Right, I think we’d better start with dressing me up. I’m not a smart dresser, so you two are going to have to help me with the hair and such.”

  Samira smiled and placed a hand on her back. “I live with two males, so I take any excuse I can get to dress up another female.”

  Evie gave Samira a wary glance. “Just don’t go overboard.”

  Samira pressed against her back, urging her to walk. “Don’t worry, dragon-shifter traditional dress is quite simple, really.”

  Evie resisted a sigh. “Yes, I know, but the dresses are like half an outfit. Is there a way to cover up some of my skin? Bram doesn’t need the distraction.”

  Mel beat Samira to a reply. “Even with some kind of unique leotard underneath, he’d still be distracted. Dragon-shifter males love to see their females in the traditional style. Just wait until you get the mating band with his name engraved on it. That’ll really turn him on.”

  Rather than comment on the far-off look Melanie had in her eye, no doubt she was thinking of her own mate’s reactions, she turned toward Samira. “I don’t want fifty bobby pins in my hair with enough hairspray to coat an entire room. Do something simple.”

  Nodding with an evil glint in her eye, Samira replied, “Simple. Yes, Bram will like that.”

  She sighed. While she’d had a few boyfriends over the years, she’d never taken hours to get ready. Make-up made her face itch, for one, and heels made her trip.

  Before she could tell them Bram preferred her natural, Samira and Mel discussed all the ways they could do her hair with less than ten bobby pins. The style names went over her head.

  Still, as the two other women talked, a sense of peace came over Evie. She wasn’t naive enough to believe these two women were now her best friends, but just spending time with other humans was nice. At the rate she’d been making tentative friendships, Evie would soon have more friends than she’d made during her entire life. Being dragon-obsessed was starting to pay off.

  Chapter Two

  Arabella MacLeod took one last look in the mirror and wished breaking it would erase the image in the reflection. While she’d had ten years to grow accustomed to the scars on her face or
the pink, crinkly healed burns along her neck, shoulder, and arm, most of the clan had barely learned to stomach her face.

  Yet Bram was making her attend the fucking gathering despite her wishes. Any excuses she’d thought of had been shot down. If she wouldn’t meet the Scottish leader in private, then she’d have to do it during the gathering. She was Stonefire’s best tech expert, and Bram wanted things to run smoothly, as well as securely, with their fragile new alliance with Lochguard.

  Fine. She could meet with the leader at a gathering. A room full of people would help stave off her memories. They might even help keep her episodes at bay. But the gathering was formal attire, which meant wearing half a bloody dress.

  As a teenager, she had loved the traditional dresses which fastened over one shoulder, hugged her breasts, and flared out at her hips, but no longer. Her tattooed arm was burn-free, but even with the strip of material over the shoulder of her healed burns, her other upper arm was pink and wrinkly.

  In other words, ugly.

  She shouldn’t care, but this was the first formal gathering she would attend in nearly a decade. At that moment, her heart thumped in her chest as her stomach churned. Unless the Scottish leader decided to dance around the great hall naked, everyone would be staring at her and talking about her. She was “poor Arabella”.

  She narrowed her eyes. Well, fuck them. Putting her shoulder back, Ara turned from the mirror and headed toward her front door. She may still be afraid of her inner dragon and have flashbacks of her time with the dragon hunters, but she could take care of herself. She would prove it at the gathering.

  Snagging her cloak and tossing it over her shoulders, Ara exited her house and into the brisk April evening air. Her cottage was quite far from the main living community, but she loved to walk. The silence always brought a sense of peace.

  Within ten minutes, she could see the outline of the great hall.