Page 58 of Dragon Exposed

“What’s worse than being killed?” I wanted to smirk, but the seriousness in her eyes, in her tone, made me bite back the smile.

“Haven’t you ever seen any alien invasion movie? People would dissect you. If you’re lucky, they’d kill you first.” She sighed. “You just need to stay safe. In order to do that, we have to fight back. We have to take the battle to the vampires, disrupt Grey’s plans, before he can do something worse.”

I pulled her in closer to my chest, reveling in her scent. Even with the chemical tinge of the hotel’s shampoo and soaps, Izobelle had a smell that I was sure would draw me in, every damn time.

My dragon wanted us to be covered in it, and to mark her with our scent too.

“What are you thinking? How do we outsmart a vampire who’s been plotting this for decades, at least? How did you track Viktor, even before you knew his name?” I scooped her up and carried her back to the couch, settling with her on my lap before I flicked the TV off.

I didn’t think either of us wanted more of that tonight.

Izobelle snuggled into me, sliding her hands up the back of my shirt to be skin to skin. “I took everything I knew about vampires, about how he’d killed my family, and put clues together. But mostly, it was luck. I got into the right area and hoped for the best.” She pursed her lips. “What do you know about Grey? What sort of patterns has he left?”

Nothing that had happened since our clan was attacked seemed to be any sort of pattern. It all seemed random. Clubs in Miami were testing grounds for Dragon’s Fire. An underground street-racing and criminal ring in Chicago got targeted to build an army of people dosed with Dragon’s Breath. And now, he’d exposed real dragons in New York.

The only things that seemed consistent was a desire to make dragons into the bad guys. Our skills, our magics, weaponized. Our presence in the human world made to look like a threat.

“Well?”

“He’s got a grudge against dragons. The Tourmalines especially. He targeted our clan. He used other dragons to attack us.” I frowned. “Whether he’s meant to or not, every major move he’s made has involved one of our mates, in one way or another. Finley almost died from getting poisoned with Dragon’s Fire, the same drug used to thrall so many in Times Square. Quinn’s friend had been trying to infiltrate the vampires who we later found out were using Dragon’s Breath to create humans that could breathe fire.” I nuzzled her neck. “They used you as bait to draw me out, to force me to make that dive.”

She furrowed her brow, sitting up to look at me more intensely. “You said dragons usually present their mates with their heartstones, but you and your brothers don’t have yours. Why?”

“Tristan, under the control of Grey, was trying to destroy them. We thought it was to keep Tourmalines from mating, to eventually drive us into the craze. Syrena, our clan witch, sent them out into the world for safekeeping until we or our mates found them.” I frowned. “What are you thinking?”

“What if he’s tracking them somehow? What if his intention was to find your mates, so that he could use us against you?” She shifted, so that she was straddling me, sitting on my thighs, but it didn’t feel sexual. More like she just needed us to be face to face. “What if the only reason Viktor was in that club we both ended up in, was so that I’d find you? So that you’d have reason to jump off that building?”

I shook my head. “None of this is your fault. I chose to jump. I chose to put my family, and all of dragonkind at risk.”

“But you wouldn’t have even considered it without knowing I was in the Square. You would’ve laughed at the vampire’s demands.” She got up off my lap and started to pace. “How do we find your heartstone? Who would have access to it?”

“It’s a magical object, and it gives off a faint signature of energy. Not one the average person would sense, but a mate might be drawn to it. The witch who created them would have a connection, but Syrena’s been struggling to track them.”

“Or maybe she doesn’t want to?”

I shook my head, even as the idea didn’t sound as insane as it could have. Syrena knew the magic behind the heartstones better than anyone. If she wasn’t trying to find them, if she knew where they were…it would mean that our clan witch, a woman we’d trusted with more than just our lives, had betrayed us all. “It couldn’t be her.”

“If not Syrena, then who, Levi? You said it yourself, she has a connection, but she can’t find them? How else do you explain that?” Izobelle propped her hands on her hips but froze when there was a knock on the door. “Who knows we’re here?”

I got up and kissed her cheek. “I believe you were the one who demanded clothes and food. I would imagine it’s one or the other.”

Even though I was playing it cool, I couldn’t help but think about what Izobelle was suggesting.

If Syrena was to blame for why I didn’t have a heartstone to give my mate, if Syrena was tracking the stones and our mates, she wouldn’t have any trouble locating us here. She wouldn’t have any issue sending vampires here to take us out.

On edge, I opened the door slowly, ready to let my dragon out at the first sign of danger.

Instead, what I got was a pimple-faced kid whose nametag read Grant, and an entire cart piled with domed plates.

“Bring it into the living room.” I smiled softly at him, trying to fight back the adrenaline coursing through me.

Grant nodded, wheeling the cart in slowly, like he was afraid he would jostle things and ruin our spread.

Even with the domes covering the dishes, it smelled incredible. I handed the kid a cash tip, not paying much attention to the size of the bill until his eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open.

At this point, I’d have been willing to hand him another hundred to get out of the door quickly.

“Th-th-thank you.” He pocketed the money as fast as he could, like he was afraid I’d realize my mistake and try to take it back. Scurrying out of the room, he almost stumbled over his own feet, but he barely managed to stay upright to leave.

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