Page 16 of Her Dragon

“Which will probably make him even grumpier,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “And I’m the one who’ll pay the price if you piss him off. The man holds the fate of my education in the palm of his hand. I cannot afford to get on his wrong side.”

“When I’m done with the professor, you won’t have to worry about him ever again,” he vowed, a determined gleam in his eyes.

I assumed he said that to reassure me, but it only concerned me more. Especially when I remembered what Evette and Laina had said about how there were no lines a shifter wouldn’t cross for his fated mate. “Maybe you should wait until this afternoon after my class so I can be there too.”

“Will that make you worry less?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he agreed.

“Thank you,” I whispered, going on my toes to give him a quick kiss before I headed to my class. He was waiting for me outside the door when it was over and did the same for my second lecture of the day. Then we had lunch at the campus deli. I nibbled on my sandwich, my nerves getting to me again, until Artemis reminded me that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me—physically or mentally.

As soon as my geology class was done, he slipped in the side door that only Dr. McCord used. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten access to that hallway, but it turned out to be a good thing because he blocked my professor from leaving as the lecture hall emptied.

“Who’re you?” Dr. McCord demanded when Artemis didn’t step out of his way.

“Artemis Drake.”

Dr. McCord scoffed at his reply. “Your name means nothing to me.”

Artemis wasn’t intimidated by my professor, straightening to his full height as he quirked a brow. “I’m the man who’s here to talk to you about being in possession of stolen property.”

“Stolen property?” Dr. McCord echoed, his head jerking back.

“The lunar meteorite Marielle brought to you on Monday,” Artemis explained.

Dr. McCord shot me a dirty look. “I can assure you that I would never knowingly take possession of something that had been stolen. I have too much to lose to take a risk like that.”

“Don’t blame Marielle.” Artemis moved to stand next to me, sliding his arm around my back. “She’s not the thief here. You are.”

“I didn’t steal anything,” Dr. McCord protested, his eyes widening. “Marielle gave the Lunaite to me for testing.”

“Only because you wanted to prove me wrong when I was right,” I muttered.

My complaint earned me another scathing look from my professor, which Artemis did not appreciate judging by the threatening growl that rumbled up his chest. “And if I hadn’t come here, knowing damn well my rock was Lunaite and not magnetite because I’ve owned it for years, would you have told her you ran the test but didn’t find any cosmogenic nuclides?”

“Of course not,” Dr. McCord denied. “She would have gotten the credit due to her for finding a lunar meteorite although it appears my doubts were warranted since I’m assuming you didn’t get your Lunaite in the woods near here. So Marielle technically didn’t discover it.”

“She might not have, but she’s still the rightful owner of the lunar meteorite that’s worth more than you make in a year. Maybe two.”

Dr. McCord’s gaze darted between us, and he gulped. “And as such, I will make sure it is safely returned to her. Today.”

“Good,” Artemis grunted. “Try to fuck over my woman again, and losing your job will be the least of your worries. Dead men have no need to work.”

Artemis’s parting words were probably over the top, but they turned out to be effective. Dr. McCord never gave me a bit of trouble during the remainder of my studies.

12

ARTEMIS

Marielle's eyes widened as we wound down the mountain path toward the entrance I used to my cave an hour after we left the college campus. “Whoa, it’s even better from this side. I can’t believe I stumbled across the cave where you hide your treasures. Not that I went much farther after I found the Lunaite.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Just wait. As impressive as the meteorite is, you haven’t seen anything yet. The stories about dragons collecting all sorts of things aren’t just myths.”

“I kinda already figured that out for myself since I literally stumbled across a rock worth a quarter of a million dollars, and it was just lying on the ground, not even with the rest of your hoard.”

The path widened as we turned down a hidden trail, and I squeezed her hand, feeling oddly nervous about how she’d react to one of my favorite spots. With as much as Marielle loved nature, I assumed she would appreciate what I’d done to the cave. But this was the first time I’d taken anyone here, not just a woman.

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