Page 92 of Primal Dragon

Henrik snarled. “She’s not going to die. I won’t allow it.”

Syrena was quiet again, but he could hear her muttering and moving around. Finally, she came back to him. “You’re right. She’s at the club.”

“I’m going.”

“No. You’re not. Not right now. Not when we don’t know what’s going on.”

He harumphed. “You’re not my king, Syrena.”

“Do you want me to call your king?”

Henrik sighed, trying to make his dragon calm down. “No. I’ll take your lead. I always listen to smartest person in the room or on the phone.”

“Look, I’m going to delve deeper into this. Sebastian and Nash are the only two who are possibly not IDed. They’re going to the club right now. You do not go in there. I will portal over there and stop you.”

“You got it, boss.” Henrik raked his fingers through his hair. “If anyone touches her…”

“We’ll get her back, Rik. She’s still under my protection spells. I need time.”

The line disconnected. Henrik got into his car and headed to the safe house, unsure of what else to do. It took everything he had to not take a detour.

The drive seemed to take forever. When he finally got inside of the safe house, it was complete chaos. Warren, Arthur, Enzo, and Letty were all in the kitchen looking like they were ready for a fight.

Syrena entered the kitchen from the other side of the house.

“You’re just in time, your majesty.”

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that,” he said.

Syrena nodded. “There are times it warrants it. Sebastian and Nash are at the club. They haven’t seen her.”

Henrik’s jaw tightened. “What are we doing here? This doesn’t feel much like a rescue mission.”

Syrena tilted her chin up. “It’s a rescue mission. We have a lot of intel and we know where two other holding facilities are. We’re going to hit those.”

Henrik swallowed his anger. Now was not the time to be selfish. It was totally fine that Quinn was in the mouth of the monster fending for herself.

Henrik doubled over when his dragon roared with fury in his head.

Warren clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do it, man. Stay here with us. We’ve got a plan.”

“Talk fast,” Henrik growled.

“We’re going to hit these other facilities to draw out some of the guards at the club. That place is always crawling with vampires. We’re going to empty it out and then we’ll see what Sebastian and Nash say. If they think it’s safe enough, we’ll go in. We don’t have eyes on Rebecca. We don’t have eyes on Stefano. He’s been out of sight since you were at Drake’s.”

Henrik wanted to let the dragon out. He wanted to tear anything and everything apart that was standing in his way. Quinn was his to protect and he’d failed her. Or she’d left him. She didn’t want him. Didn’t want to be claimed by him.

Henrik tried to ground himself in something to tether him to reality. He wouldn’t control anyone he loved. He doubted he could’ve controlled Quinn, even if he tried. She left and for whatever reason it had nothing to do with him. He had to hold onto it. Their lives wouldn’t always be on the same path. She had other things in her life that were important. She didn’t revolve around him.

Even if they were fully mated to each other, she was free to do what she wished. He couldn’t protect her from everything, just like his father hadn’t been able to protect his mother from everything. Grey had killed his mother first, so his father would have to watch her die, and then die along with her unable to save anyone else.

Henrik knew it had to be certain hell for his father until he was dead. No dragon would survive such a devastation.

No matter what Syrena said about his half-claim, he knew he wouldn’t go on without Quinn. If she died because of the vampires, nothing and no one, not even direct orders from his king, would stop him from hunting down Grey and ripping him to shreds with his teeth, no matter the consequences.

Henrik tried to hold onto the fact that Quinn could take care of herself. James had tried to keep her protected. She wasn’t alone. She was smart, strong, and more capable than any human he’d met before. She would figure it out.

She had to figure it out. He needed his mate.