Page 82 of Fated for his Flame

I spun, looking at Vicek. “How far out are your men?”

“Five minutes. Maybe ten,” he said, the tightness of his mouth showing he’d overheard Chloe. “Too long.”

I nodded. “We’re leaving. Come on, everyone.”

Before we could go, the doors on both sides of the large room burst open, and dragon shifters poured into the room, spreading out to both sides. Our little group backed into the center of the room, with Chloe in our midst. Seven shifters against well over two dozen of Seth’s forces.

It wasn’t good. My father was right. We were vastly outnumbered after all.

“Well, well, well, if this isn’t pathetic,” Seth crowed as he emerged. “The little shit has come for his human lover.”

“She’s my mate,” I snarled defensively, unsure why the distinction mattered. But it did.

“She’s a spy!” he shouted. “Look what I found on her.”

He reached over and held up the dragon scale knife as he addressed his people, not me. “She was trying to take this back to her people.”

Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place with me even as the members of his house buzzed with shocked conversation. Dragon scale knives were not commonplace. They were quite rare for a reason.

I laughed.

Seth whirled, leveling the blade at me. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” I said. “You’re an idiot. So was I, but at least now I can see the truth starting to emerge.”

Chloe stirred behind my back.

“What truth?” he spat.

“You’re a moron.” I sighed. “Look, I’ll explain it for the simpletons here. You had her followed, right?”

“Yes!” Seth crowed again, waving the knife wildly. “Where she went to the CIA. To tell them all about us and give them a weapon they could use.”

“Except she didn’t.”

“We have the pictures,” he said. “You can’t expect me to believe it wasn’t her, can you?”

“Not that. What are you holding in your hand, Seth? A knife. The same knife you say she went to give them. Except she still has it after visiting. What the hell does that tell you?”

He was silent.

“That she didn’t give it to them!” I exploded angrily, furious I hadn’t somehow made that connection earlier.

“That doesn’t mean she’s not a spy.”

“Maybe she is,” I said. “But a true spy would have handed this over without blinking. So, she’s not telling them everything. And none of us, myself included, thought to ask her why. Something I’m very sorry I didn’t do. I judged her just like you, and I shouldn’t have.”

“She’s a spy. You’re just blinded by pussy,” Seth spat caustically.

I sighed.

“I’m going to kill you both, you know.”

“You can try,” I said warningly as several of his more eager people shifted on their feet, their expressions indicating their desire to carry out that exact order. “But my father is on his way here right now at the head of a full detachment of the palace guard. They’re under orders to bring your head to the sovereign. She’s pissed. So, even if you kill us, there’s no scenario in which you walk away from this. Except, perhaps, if you surrender willingly. Then, maybe Vicek will allow you to go before her alive.”

Vicek grunted.

“No, I think I’ll just kill you all and them, too,” Seth said. “We have the forces to stop them. They’ll just be expecting me.”

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