Page 71 of Dragon Exposed

“Grey’s witch, actually. You may call me Tabitha.” Nina grinned, but it didn’t feel like my friend’s smile. It was wrong, like someone had tugged the corners of her mouth up without any emotion behind it. “We have your dragon, though. Don’t you want to see whether you’re really fated to be together?”

“I don’t need his heartstone to know it.” The words felt like ash on my tongue, like a lie I was telling myself as much as I was telling her.

I hated that his stone was still out there. That some other woman could be wearing it, thinking it was hers.

“If you don’t need it, do you need him? We could destroy him, as easily as we destroyed the other tourmaline dragon outside the station. Only, we wouldn’t give him the courtesy of a quick death. His body would be much more valuable to us whole. I could make dozens of fire-breathers from him. Thrall entire cities on Dragon’s Fire created from his scales.”

“Why? Why are you doing this to us?”

Tabitha laughed through Nina’s voice, distorting the sound I was so familiar with. “I’d say ask your mate, but you can’t, can you? No connection, no dragon shape of your own.” Nina’s head shook. “Perhaps I should tell you where he is, make the pain quick for you.”

“He’s my mate. If you hurt him, I will hunt your witchy ass down and rip you to shreds with my bare hands, dragon form or not.” I snarled and got up, slipping my shoes onto my feet. “Tell me, or don’t. Either way, I will find him, and I will bring him home safe to me.”

“If you’re so certain, perhaps you should bring his heartstone with you, prove his claims that your union was bound by the fates.” Nina pulled a tourmaline pendant out of her pocket and threw it at me. “But don’t blame me when the sureties he’s been telling you turn out to be false.”

I didn’t spend any time investigating the stone. “Where is he? How can I find him?”

“I thought you could find him all on your own?” Nina laughed, and then just as quickly as her eyes had clouded over, they went back to their usual brown, and she collapsed on the bed.

I knew I needed to figure out how to release her from whatever hold the vampires and the witch had on her, but I couldn’t do that and save Levi at the same time.

With a sigh, I used his phone to call Syrena and gave her a quick rundown of what had happened with my best friend.

“Just let her rest. There’s not much to do about the connection from here, and I’m in the middle of dealing with other tourmaline business, so I can’t exactly hop on a broomstick or whatever the human stereotype is.” I could hear the exhaustion in the witch’s voice, as if whatever she was working on was taking all of her energy.

It was enough to make me feel bad that I’d suspected her of being the one working with Grey. I had clearly underestimated her devotion to the clan, to Levi and his brothers.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“A couple things, I guess.” I sighed. “Levi’s being held somewhere, by Tabitha, or by vampires she’s working with. I have a place to start, I’m hoping it’ll be enough to find him.”

“And the other?”

“A tourmaline dragon was killed today, in the middle of New York. Levi knew him. A guy named Caleb. If he has family, or if he had a mate…is there anyone we need to contact?”

“I’ll put Ash on it. As their king, or at least their king apparent, he should be the one to deliver the news.” Syrena sighed. “Do you have a necklace or something handy? I can sometimes do simple spells over mortal technology if I can see the item.”

I squeezed the pendant in my hand. “Can you tell if something is Levi’s heartstone through a video call too? Tabitha gave me a tourmaline pendant, but I’m sure it’s a trick.”

“Let me see it.”

I switched to video chat and set the necklace on the bathroom counter so she could see it.

“I can’t be certain, since it doesn’t look like the same form that Levi wore, but it certainly could be. He would know for sure.” Syrena let out a long, slow breath. “Okay, keep the phone steady, focused on the pendant. Once I’m done, it should send out a ringing sound that will grow louder the closer you get to Levi.”

I held the phone while the witch chanted something in a language I didn’t understand. Before long, I could hear a faint, but persistent ringing sound.

Not the most pleasant of tracking methods, but anything I could use to help, I would. I turned the phone back to face me, and I was surprised to get my first glimpse of the witch on the other end. Syrena was nothing like what I’d imagined—she was more like a curvy rockabilly pin-up, complete with victory rolls and red lipstick that looked freshly applied, despite the tiredness around her eyes.

“Only you will be able to hear it, so don’t worry about attracting unnecessary attention. The tone and the spell should fade once Levi is found.” Her eyes darted away from the screen, and she cursed under her breath. “I have to go. Call me if you cannot find him, and I’ll see what other avenues we might be able to take.”

“Thank you, Syrena. Really. I hope that when things calm down some, maybe Levi can take me to meet you.” I wanted to apologize to her for not trusting that she cared for my dragon the way she clearly did. I wanted to apologize for not trusting that she really did deserve the love of all the Wystan siblings. But I didn’t know how to say it without bringing up more questions, and I had a feeling Syrena had more than enough on her plate without the random apologies from a new mate to the clan weighing her down.

“I have a feeling we’ll have a lot to get into together. Tell that stubborn mule of a dragon when you see him that no matter what the rest of the clan has to say, I understand the choices he made. And let him know that regardless of how the other dragons posture, I doubt any of his brothers would’ve made a different decision.”

I laughed. “I think he already knows, but I’ll certainly pass on the message.”

“Take care of him, Izobelle. He’s a tough dragon, but his heart sometimes leads him into choices that get him into more trouble than any of us needs.” Syrena hung up and the screen went dark, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

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