Page 82 of Primal Dragon

“Holy Hell. I can feel the power in this thing,” Syrena said.

“Can you destroy it?” Henrik asked.

She shot him a glare. “I’ve had the thing for thirty seconds. I don’t even want to attempt to destroy it until I know what it is. Ancient magical artifacts are usually ancient because they can’t be destroyed or destroying them would cause more problems than it would solve. Power isn’t something you can just destroy. Usually, something else will just absorb the power.”

Henrik sat down with a huff. “Who makes up these stupid ass rules?”

Syrena shrugged. “The gods, I would guess.”

“How much time do you need?”

“I need more than time. I need supplies to figure out what this thing is.”

Warren sighed. “Text me your list, I’ll get it. In the meantime, we need to check in with our teams who are doing stake outs and probably relieve them, and we need to start taking turns getting some rest.”

“I need to go home and feed my cats,” Quinn said.

Everyone turned and looked at her.

“What?” she said glancing around at everyone.

“I’m going to take her home, we’ll get some rest, then be back here. Keep me posted in the meantime.”

Henrik reached out his hand for Quinn. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He slung his arm over her shoulder as they headed outside back to his car.

“Are you doing all right with all of this?”

Quinn wasn’t sure how to answer the question. She was handling it all the best that she could, but she was frustrated with the hurry up and wait game. Giving up her ring was weighing on her and she didn’t understand why.

“Can we stop by the clinic? I want to check on our little friend.”

Henrik perked up. “The kitten?”

She nodded.

“That would be great.”

They arrived at the clinic. Quinn led the way back into the kennels after checking in with the vet on duty to make sure everything was going all right.

The little calico kitten was sleeping soundly in her cage. Quinn reached in and pulled her out. She went into the exam room where she’d left Henrik. He was sitting on the bench with his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes closed.

“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?” she asked.

Henrik’s head dropped forward. “Yeah. I probably should’ve waited to ravage you until after all this was over.”

Quinn blushed. She knew he was right, but at the same time, she wanted him to take her back home and ravage her again before they went to bed.

She held out the kitten to him. Henrik lifted the ball of fur out of her hands and cuddled the little creature against his broad chest. There was something so beautiful about the way he cared for the tiny thing. Henrik had a big heart, it was evident.

Her heart raced with the knowledge that she loved him. She could lose him and James before all this was over.

“Do you think we’ll be able to keep her with us when all of this is over?” he asked.

Quinn blinked at him. “With us?”

Henrik lifted his gaze to her. “Yes, with us. Do you think that after everything we’ve been through, claim or not, that I’m not keeping you with me?”

Quinn sat down on the seat next to him, cringing at the discomfort of the bench not holding her ass very well. “I guess I hadn’t thought about the next step. We’re mates so we have to move into together and just be together immediately?”

---