Page 57 of Dragon Exposed

With that, he popped open the back hatch and crawled out, disappearing just out of sight into the tree line.

I had no doubt he could still hear anything going on here, but just in case, I grabbed the 9mm from the front and hid it under the blankets, keeping an eye out for anyone else.

22

New York, New York

LEVI

The drive into the city was a lot longer than I remembered it, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

Not when I had my mate by my side, tempting me at every turn with her arousal.

By the time we made it to one of the nicest hotels in New York, with a room overlooking Central Park, I had no doubts in my mind that Izobelle was just as determined to make our relationship last as I was.

I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stop thanking the Gods for giving me such a perfect mate.

At this point, I would be surprised if it wasn’t long before we conceived a child together.

It wasn’t like we’d taken any precautions since I claimed her.

She would make a spectacular mother—I was sure of it.

We just needed to ensure the vampires didn’t try to take her from me. Ever again.

Izobelle stripped out of her clothes as soon as we were through the door to our room, and she pointed at me with a scowl, stating in no uncertain terms, “I’m showering alone. And then you’re going to order a huge spread of food from room service. And maybe do some research on how to get fresh clothes up here. I swear, everything I’m wearing is stained with your cum in one way or another.”

I laughed. “I’m not going to apologize. If I remember correctly, you were the one who couldn’t keep your hands out of my pants most of the drive over here.”

Still, I let her head to the bathroom alone, putting a call into some of the boutiques that Krystana loved to visit when she came to New York.

With enough money thrown at something, I could accomplish just about anything. Including a whole line of clothing and lingerie for my new mate.

Once I was satisfied that she’d have things to wear if we ever decided to leave this room again, I put in an order for room service and got settled in a bathrobe on the couch, waiting impatiently for my sexy mate to come back out. Ten more minutes, and I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from breaking into her alone time, even if it were just to help her wash her most private parts.

Instead of getting to go visit with my mate again, though, life interrupted in the rudest way possible.

The man on the television wasn’t Grey, and based on the position of the sun, so high in the sky during the outdoor interview, he wasn’t a vampire either. The banner across the bottom of the screen labeled him as Oliver O’Leary, Deputy Mayor.

Likely someone thralled, then. It didn’t make his statement any easier to swallow.

“The recent attack on Philadelphia and the threats to other major cities in the U.S. can’t be ignored. America doesn’t bow down to terrorists, and the people of New York certainly won’t be. The mayor is working closely with the state and federal government to ensure the safety of our people over these monsters who walk among us. Rest assured, we will not stand for dragons or any other sort of shifter or fae in our city, or in our state. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency are working tirelessly to hunt down the individuals on the list of known shifters, and we won’t rest until this great city has been purged of all these monsters.”

He was a beady eyed little man in a cheap suit that didn’t fit him right, and he hardly looked old enough to drink alcohol, let alone incite an entire city to action against dragons, or any other sort of shifter.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was likely not working of his own accord, I would’ve been tempted to hunt him down and rip his head off just to make a point.

A point, I had to remind myself, that would be bad for both me and my mate.

“You’re really a fugitive, then.” Izobelle leaned against the doorway to the bedroom, wearing nothing but a robe and a towel wrapped around her hair. “Are we safe to be here?”

“We’re checked in under an alias, and Kash is working to make sure there are no records of any of us on the internet, no pictures that could be used to identify us. It’s not a foolproof process, but at least the average person would have a hard time finding out that I’m the guy who jumped off a building.” I got up and crossed the space between us quickly, needing to touch her, needing to be reminded that I had something to fight for, someone worth returning home for. “I think we’re going to have to make a move on Grey or on the vampires here in New York, if we’re going to have any chance of keeping this problem under wraps.”

“We need to go on the offensive, not the defensive.” She sighed and snuggled in close, as if she needed my touch just as badly. “We can’t keep just waiting for them to come after us, or it’ll never end.”

“Maybe not, but we also have to be smart about it. Grey’s been too many steps ahead of us for too long, for any of us to have hope of stopping him outright. At least not yet. The best thing we can do is figure out how to keep from letting any of our allies end up killed by a human or a vampire.”

Izobelle looked up at me like I was being stupid, which I was beginning to think was her favorite way to look at me. “We can’t just hope for people to not kill you, Levi. You’re probably the highest target. The vampires know what you look like. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets your face from the video footage of you jumping. They’re going to I.D. you, and then these people are going to come after you.” She scowled. “I don’t want to watch people coming after you, trying to kill you, or worse.”

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