by Olivia Ash
“Very well.” He tries to don his smile again, but this time, it’s obviously forced. He takes a quick bow and shuts the door behind him.
Once the man’s gone, I lift one eyebrow at Jace. “Festivities? Really?”
“It’s the largest contract of his career,” Drew answers before the dojo master can get a word in edgewise. “He doesn’t know the details—just that this is a big deal.”
“For him to remain neutral, it’s best he know as little as possible,” Jace adds. He scans the living room, shoulders tight with nerves. “Tucker, check the house and make sure it’s secure. Drew—”
“I’ll watch over Rory,” Drew interjects.
Jace shoots a wary glare at the Darrington in our midst, but Drew isn’t fazed. He relaxes casually against the kitchen counter and sizes up the dojo master, as if daring him to disagree.
After a brief moment of tense silence, Jace’s gaze drifts to me. “Are you all right with that?”
I nod. Drew isn’t going to do anything to me. Well, nothing bad. He has the libido of a teenager, and if he had his way, we would never leave his sheets.
“Fine.” Jace frowns, clearly not happy with the arrangement. “I’ll secure the perimeter.” He walks briskly toward the front door, but pauses beside me. He sets a comforting hand on my shoulder and gives me a tense smile before his gaze shifts to Drew. The moment their gazes meet, Jace’s smile disappears. The dojo master walks out the door, slamming it behind him.
“I’ll go check for bogeymen,” Tucker says, hoisting his shotgun over his shoulder. “You ladies just relax, now. Let the men do the work.”
I laugh. “Shut up, Tucker.”
He blows me a sarcastic kiss and begins opening doors, scanning each room as he clears them one by one.
“The woods are already filled to the brim,” Drew says in a quiet voice, nodding toward the sliding back door. “Everyone else got here early.”
“Surprise, surprise,” I mutter, leaning against the nearby wall. “I’m starting to wonder if this was a bad idea, Drew.”
“It’s not,” he promises with a confident shake of his head. “This needs to happen.”
“But your father is here,” I point out, my gaze shifting toward him. “After he—”
“I know,” Drew interjects, nodding curtly without letting me say anything more. He sighs and crosses his arms, watching the back doors warily. “I know.”
“First floor is clear,” Tucker shouts as he heads toward the stairs. “I was kidding though. You guys can totally help.”
“Nah,” I say with a shrug. “You’ve got this, honey.”
He chuckles, shaking his head as he scales the stairs. Gun lifted and aimed into the hallway above, he briefly pauses at the top of the stairs before continuing. His footsteps thud above us, and I shake my head in disappointment.
Stealth, Tucker. We’ve been working on this.
“I have three emergency evacuation plans,” Drew says, snaring my attention. “Four if they have a helicopter pad.”
I smirk. “You know they have a helicopter pad.”
He grins. “Four, then.”
“I have a few, as well,” I admit, absently scanning the living room again even though I’m confident it’s clear. “I just don’t like how busy the skies are.”
“Most of those were Fairfax dragons,” Drew assures me, leaning his elbows on the black marble kitchen counter. “They aren’t a concern.”
“All it takes is one spat in the forest for everything to blow out of proportion,” I remind him, leaning my head back against the wall. “You dragons sure know how to hold a grudge.”
“Us dragons, huh?” He grins playfully. “You don’t get to be selective about when you’re one of us and when you’re not.”
I laugh. “I don’t really feel like a dragon, yet.”
“What’ll it take?”
“Shifting,” I say. “Easy.”
“Well, hurry up, then,” he says, snapping his fingers. “Chop, chop. Shift already.”
“Oh, you think you’re cute.” I tilt my head, but it’s hard to hide my charmed smile.
He grins and closes the gap between us, sparking butterflies in my chest the closer he gets. He gently runs his knuckles across my cheek, smiling a little as he leans in. Heat blasts through me at his touch, igniting my core, and I resist the impulse to weave my hands underneath his shirt. I want nothing more than to feel the hard lines of his muscle beneath my fingertips, but Jace doesn’t know about us, yet—and given the way he and Drew always look seconds from killing each other, I’m not sure I want him to.
“You look tense,” Drew says, leaning over me.
“Can’t imagine why,” I joke. “It’s not like there’s six dragon armies surrounding me right now or anything.”
He grins, his eyes drifting to my lips. “If you need help relaxing, I might have a few ideas on how to take your mind off things.”
I laugh as he grabs my hips and presses my ass against the wall, pinning me in place. His lips graze my neck, teasing me, but it’s now fairly clear why he offered to “watch over” me.
“Go patrol or something,” I say, smacking his hard abs. It’s like hitting my hand against a rock, however, and touching his firm muscle only makes my heart beat faster.
“Jace said you’re not to be left alone for any reason,” Drew reminds me, his voice low and deep as he leans in toward my ear. “I’m just doing my duty to protect you.”
His strong grip on my waist tightens, and my eyes impulsively flutter closed as I imagine the things he’d like to do to fill the time. I grin at his flimsy excuse to stay close, but I roll with it. “Well, if it’s to keep me safe…”
“That’s the spirit.” He plants his lips on my neck, and tendrils of warmth spiral through my body with each of his kisses.
We could at least have a bit of fun before all the stress begins.
This meeting will be difficult. It will test us in every way, but I’m ready. Ready to face the Bosses. Ready to draw the line in the sand.
But the moment Irena wakes up—I’m gone, and I don’t care who that offends.
Chapter Ten
Roughly an hour after we arrive, I sit on the luxurious sofa with my hair splayed across the back of it. Eyes closed, I sigh deeply with pleasure.
This thing feels like a freaking cloud.
With a smile on my face, I sink a little deeper into the plush cushions, wriggling until I’m perfectly comfortable.
In the kitchen, Drew fiddles with something metallic. Spoons scrape and glasses clink, and I wonder what the hell he’s up to.
Tucker, Jace, and Levi are on patrol—something I’ve been told they’ll be doing a lot of while we’re here. I wanted to join, of course, but oh, no—I have to stay here and just be bored.
My four men seem to have agreed to some kind of pact to watch over me and secure the surrounding area, and honestly, I’m just not going to fight it.
If it makes them feel more comfortable, let them do it. Besides, I like having a bit of added security in the midst of all the craziness outside.
The door beeps, the knob rattling as it turns, and I peek through half-closed eyelids as it swings suddenly open. In seconds, Drew is at the corner by the kitchen, a butcher’s knife in his hand as he glares at the opening.
After a blinding flash of daylight, the door closes again, and Harper peeks outside through the eyehole without even looking back at us.
“What trouble are you getting into, Harper?” I ask with a wry grin on my face.
She looks at me over her shoulder and laughs. “All kinds.” Her gaze shifts to Drew, her eyes darting briefly to the knife in his hands, and she lifts her eyebrow in challenge. “You going to put that down, cowboy?”
He frowns but relaxes and tosses the knife on the counter before returning to whatever he’d been doing.
Harper trots over to the couches and sits next to me, her hair splaying over the plush backrest in much the same way as mine. “Aren’t these divine?”
“They sure are.” I close my eyes and take another blissful breath.
“I think I’ll try to buy the ones in my suite, but gods help me. Reggie never lets me get away with anything here.”
I chuckle. It seems like Reggie can, indeed, hold his own among dragons, then.
“I wanted to check on you,” Harper adds. “How was the trip over?”
I drum my fingers absently on the cushion beside me. “Uneventful.” I grin and steal a quick look at Drew before continuing. “And cramped.”
He chuckles, but the towering, muscled man doesn’t look my way.
“One of Jace’s decoys wasn’t so lucky,” Harper admits.
I sit upright, now giving her my full attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean they were intercepted,” the Fairfax Boss says with a grim frown. “The car flipped four times, and a masked gunman shot both the driver and the decoy soldier riding in the back.”
“What?” Drew demands, his smile fading as he towels off his hands and storms toward us at the news.
My fingers curl into a fist at the news, and for a moment, I can’t speak as my heart thuds against my chest. I’m disgusted, both with the hitman and myself. I never want someone to die for me, to—
“Rory, relax,” Harper says, her eyes shifting between mine as she studies my face. “They’re dragons, which means they’re far tougher than they look. They’re fine. Hurt, but alive.”
I let out a shaky breath of relief.
“This guy has a death wish,” Drew says, his voice dark.
“He does,” I agree.
“When you leave, you need to be extra careful,” Harper says, her gaze shifting between me and Drew. “Even more decoys. Disguises. I’m honestly not sure if it’s safer to go without soldiers to avoid suspicion, or go with them in their human form to have back up. This guy—he’s good.”
“He’s not that good if your people survived,” Drew points out.
“Thanks for caring.” Harper shoots Drew an annoyed glare. “He didn’t realize they had dragonscale armor under their clothes. If they’d been without it, they’d be dead.”
“He won’t make that mistake again, then,” I say, leaning back against the couch to process this news.
“Probably not,” Harper admits.
“Lovely.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Drew says with a confident shake of his head. “Not right now.”
“How so?” I ask dubiously, not agreeing in the slightest.
“Rory, you need to focus on what’s in front of you.” Drew points at the white curtains covering the sliding glass door in the rear of the house. “Those dragons are the immediate threat. We’ll worry about this guy when we leave. No loner is going to make it here in one piece, not with this many armies on the property.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “Focus on one thing at a time.”
“The Darrington is right,” Harper says with a nod.
Drew lets out a frustrated groan and glares at Harper. “You’re lucky she already knows.”
“Oh, do you?” Harper lifts her eyebrows as her gaze shifts to me. “Good! I was worried he’d kept his secret from you somehow.”
“Are you trying to get him in trouble?” I ask with a nod toward Drew.
“I just want to make sure you’re prepared, Rory.” Harper says with a shrug. “You need to know who you’re up against, and technically, we’re not in the embassy anymore. I can call him whatever I want.”
Drew wrinkles his nose in annoyance.
“So, do you know what to do?” Harper asks, as if she hadn’t just tried to reveal Drew’s secret. “Tomorrow?”
“During the ‘festivities?’” I ask with a chuckle. “Yeah. I’m set.”
“Good. Keep your cards close to your chest, though I’m sure you’re already familiar with that.” Harper gives me a fleeting once-over glance, a knowing glint in her eye.
Yet again, I wonder how much she knows about me—and if she knows the truth, why does it seem like she doesn’t care?
“I have news for you on the favor you asked of me,” she adds, leaning in as her voice lowers.
“Oh?”
Drew frowns, his gaze shifting between the two of us, but he quietly walks away to give us space.
“The feral fracture happens during a mental break,” Harper says quietly. “In eighty percent of cases, it came at a loss of life. It happens when a shifter loses someone close to him, someone special—usually, someone he protected.”
Oh.
Oh.
It clicks for me, then. Levi’s pain.
All the clues he’s sprinkled across our conversations, probably not even realizing what he was telling me.
Levi lost someone dear to him—and when I saved him from the trap, he found someone new to protect.
It could very well be that his drive to keep me safe is the only thing that has kept him sane. It’s proof to his dragon that he can protect others. That he’s capable. That he’s trustworthy.
He said that he and his dragon no longer trust each other. Whatever happened to him, it left his dragon doubting his ability to keep control. To protect not just those they care about, but also each other.
“How do I fix this?” I ask quietly, more to myself than Harper.
“How does anyone rebuild trust?” she counters, leaning her head back against the couch with a sigh. “Slowly. Over time. Bit by bit, showing you’ve changed. Proving that you still care.”
But Levi doesn’t have time.
“If anyone can do this, Rory,” Harper says with a smile, “it’s you.”
That disarms me. “Why are you so… nice?”
Harper laughs, arching her head against the plush sofa. “You really aren’t used to friendship. Oh, gods.”
I keep waiting for the catch. For the trick. For the young woman to show her cards and reveal herself to be a manipulator, like everyone else.
And she just… doesn’t.
“We girls have to look out for each other, Rory.” Harper winks at me and stands. “I admire your determination and strength. There aren’t many who can take on Jace, after all.”
The Fairfax Boss heads for the door with a sarcastic little nod in Drew’s direction, and the fire dragon watches her warily as she leaves. I study the thunderbird shifter before me, wondering if this is, in fact, someone I can trust.
It feels too strange, too surreal to say I have a friend—but my life has gotten so bizarre, lately, that I’m at least open to the idea.
It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve done in the last few months, after all.
Chapter Eleven
I sit upright in the darkness, my nerves suddenly on fire as I’m shaken awake by something I can’t see.
Beside me, Tucker snores lightly with his head buried in his pillow. Moonlight illuminates the soft white curtains, the dim blue light casting a soft glow on the room. Tucker’s weapon collection lies in neat rows along the hardwood, leaving only just enough room to get to the door.
My ear twitches, and I wonder what my subconscious picked up on that jolted me out of my sleep.
I grab my gun from under my pillow and lightly slip out of bed, walking toward the door without a sound. I press my ear against the wood, craning my neck as I listen.
Silence.
Every fiber in my body, however, warns that we are not alone in the little cottage.
Quietly, I remove the three traps I have set around the door—a few daggers in the gaps between the door and the frame that will drop if someone opens the door from the other side.
With the exit disarmed, I twist the doorknob and sneak into the dark hallway. Gun trained on the space ahead of me, I carefully make my way toward the main living area, passing shadows and checking rooms as I go.
Clear.
Clear.
Cl—
As I tilt my head into the living room, I spot a collection of silhouettes in the darkness. Twelve people, and I’m guessing they’re men judging by
their builds.
My eyes dart toward Drew’s room across the open expanse, wondering if he’s okay. If Levi’s okay outside. If Jace, who’s on patrol, even knows what’s happening.
“Rory, how good of you to join us,” a familiar man’s voice says from the darkness. “We were just coming to get you.”
Jett Darrington.
Damn it all.
I have enough bullets to take out ten of the men, but I doubt Jett would go down with a traditional bullet. I’ll need to come up with something clever to disarm both him and target number twelve.
Time to dance, I suppose.
“Jett,” I say as if we’re old buddies. “How good of you to drop by.”
I take a few cautious steps into the living room, always careful to keep my exits in the corner of my eye. Front door. Hallway behind me. Drew’s room. A window in the kitchen.
It’s habit, more than anything else—I’m not leaving this place without my men.
All of them.
Jett steps forward, his face slowly coming into focus despite the low light. Beside him, another familiar face appears—Milo, Drew’s big brother.
“Milo’s here, too, huh?” I ask, smirking even as I have my gun trained on them both. “Isn’t this a treat?”
Jett grins, eyeing my weapon as if it’s a toothpick. “Aren’t you going to scream for help?”
I laugh. What a blatant power play. He should know better, frankly, and I’m disappointed he thinks something like that would shake me.
“What’s so funny?” he asks, tilting his head curiously. “I could take you, little girl, and no one would know where you’ve gone.”
“That’s cute.” I grin, not willing to let this jackass think for even one second that he has the upper hand. “If you really could whisk me away, Jett, you’d have done it already.”
His arrogant smile falters ever so slightly.
A conceited man like this—he wants to prove how superior he is to everyone else. He wants to live and remain above others, and that means it’ll be fairly easy to pluck at the strings of his ego.
Time to play.
“Let’s stop wasting time, shall we?” I prod, eager to get this over with. “What do you want? And I mean really, Jett. Most people want to turn me into some kind of weapon, and others just want to show me off. Are you as boring as they are?”