Page 68 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

Would it ever end? Would I ever get to the bottom of everything there was to Cade? All my doubts were resurfacing. I stared at him, noting the tightness of his jaw. Pushing more now wouldn’t be helpful. But I filed away his words. Because we were going to have that conversation. When the time was right.

“So, you’re going to turn it over to them? Just like that?” I asked instead, focusing on the other issue.

“It’s not like I have much of a choice,” he said defensively. “What would you have me do? If I don’t, they’re going to come for me. For you.”

I eyed him. It was the first I’d heard of that. “They threatened you?”

He snorted. “They’re dragons obsessed with the amount of gold they own. Not to mention, they’re represented by a less than scrupulous sort of person. Yes, they threatened us.”

“Us?” I leaned forward. “Did I hear that right?”

“Yes. Us.” He said, shaking his head. “They visited the house this morning. They were there when we went into town to sell the gold. They know about you. About us. And they said if I don’t pay, they’ll hurt you.”

I started to respond, but he cut me off with a snarl.

“I will die before I let them hurt you,” he swore. “But, Sam, they will. Once I’m gone, there will be no one to protect you.”

I didn’t point out that if he were dead, they would have no reason to come after me.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, gesturing for us to head back up the tunnel to the surface. “I should have told you.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked, walking ahead of him, the light from his flame slowly replaced by the glow of daylight from the opening.

“I’d hoped I could solve it myself,” he said after a long pause. “I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“Awww, isn’t that cute?” a voice sneered from behind us, dripping with sarcasm.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cade

Wings shot from my back, spreading wide.

I knew that voice.

“Stay behind me,” I hissed at Samantha, my only focus on protecting her from the speaker.

My eyes landed on the speaker. The blood in my veins ran cold as I saw he’d brought a pair of others with him. I was outnumbered three to one, and they had the high ground, spread out as they were above the entrance to the cave. It was not a good position to be in, but I didn’t see any easy way to fix it.

So, I started formulating the best plan I could, based on the current situation. Keeping things peaceful would be ideal, but I wasn’t hopeful.

Reed looked like he was ready for a fight.

“What do you want?” I called up to where he crouched above the cave entrance. “There’s still time.”

“Kalann is growing impatient,” Reed spat. “He hasn’t seen any sort of progress yet. That’s making him rather suspicious that there won’t be any, either.”

“There will be. I’ll have his money,” I said.

Reed frowned. “It’s the first time you’ve said that and I actually believed it.”

The two men with him, Lincoln and another I didn’t recognize, shifted. My eyes darted back and forth between them. Clearly, they weren’t happy about that news, which only served to confirm my suspicions they were there for more than just a verbal reminder.

“Cade, what’s going on?” Samantha whispered.

“Later,” I said. “I promise.”

Everything was coming to a head, and I wasn’t ready for it. I needed time to think. To figure out what to do.

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