Page 20 of Dragon's Code

“Fucking asshole. No wonder my father had to take out the fucking king. Why was he trying to do that to his own people?”

“Grey promised him a chunk of the world to rule over a gambit of human slaves. He was buried in his own greed and desires. There were a lot of rumors about what he was trying to get done. He was a fucking fool.” Syrena looks sick to her stomach with all this information.

“Here’s the other thing, Penelope and I discovered a spell. A new spell. It’s nothing like Dragon’s Fire or Dragon’s Breath. It’s doing something different. It’s marking humans as dragon mates.”

“Wait. What? What do you mean?”

“Someone cast a spell to find dragon mates and then they’re sending assassins after those potential mates,” Penelope says.

“Seven human females have been butchered. Their fatal wounds clearly come from vampires. The humans haven’t figured that out exactly. All seven of those women had residue of the spell on them. I’ve taken enough samples to finally back into the spell. That’s how I figured this out. Penelope and I re-engineered it so we can find those women who are being marked, so we can protect them. There’s a couple hundred in the United States and there’s a lot more spread throughout the world.”

“Human mates?”

“Yes. The reason why I wanted to talk to you is because there is one in your hotel right now. Penelope said that everyone is a dragon in the building. But that’s not right, is it?”

I stare at the computer screen, then glance at Penelope, then back to “No, it’s not. I don’t know about the staff, I’d have to check with Jerrick, but the only female here is Athena.” I know I don’t have to tell Syrena that she’s human, and the look in Penelope’s eyes tells me she can put two and two together without me spelling it out for her either. “Her ex-boyfriend is stalking her and she didn’t feel safe. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“Not Athena,” Syrena says with a gasp. “After everything she’s been through, she doesn’t deserve to be in this mess.”

“Trust me, Sy, had I known, I would’ve wrapped her up and sent her anywhere else.” My brain finally catches up with what Syrena said in the first place. “Wait, you’re saying that Athena is a dragon’s mate?”

My dragon growls and it rumbles in my chest. It’s so loud that Penelope and Syrena obviously hear it. I rub my chest trying to soothe the ache of my dragon, of my own soul.

“Kash?” Penelope asks from the bed. “Are you all right?”

I glance at her, then back to Syrena. “Tell me now.”

“Yes, she’s a dragon’s mate. Come on, Kashton, don’t you think it’s you? After everything you two have been through.”

I stare at my friend and then turn away from her, only to meet Penelope’s curious gaze. “No. She’s not my mate. I will not put her in danger. She’s been through enough and we’re in the middle of like three different wars.” Even as the words tumble from my lips, the lie tastes like bile in my throat.

“Kash, you can’t protect her from the world. No one can.” Syrena uses her surrogate older-sister voice.

I snarl, an animalistic rage boiling in my gut. The thought of not being able to keep her safe is not okay, makes me want to burn Las Vegas to the ground and then find anyone and everyone who would even consider hurting her, touching her, looking at her.

Syrena’s expression hardens. “Kashton Wystan, stop your temper tantrum right now. I don’t know what your problem is but we’ve all suspected that you’ve been in love with her since you were kids, so what’s your problem?”

I rub my hands over my face, trying to calm myself down, while mentally yelling at my dragon to get a hold of himself. “We’ve been friends forever, if she felt that way…I would know. She doesn’t. She just broke up with somebody.”

Syrena sighs. “If you’re not her mate, then fine. But she’s somebody’s mate. Which means she’s marked either way and in danger. You can’t protect her from it.”

“The hell I can’t.”

“Kash,” Syrena says with a sympathetic lilt in her voice that just infuriates me.

I don’t respond, but she continues, “Kash, she’s meant to be in our world. You need to ask yourself what you’re really protecting.”

I shake my head and stand up away from the computer. “Is this some metaphor for trying to protect my heart from breaking or some bullshit?”

“Yep. I always deal in bullshit, don’t I, Kash?” Her tone drips with sarcasm, and it just makes me and my dragon even more irritable.

“You don’t have to be a glib bitch.”

“Penelope, would you please smack him upside the head for me?”

“You got it,” she says from her place on the center of her king sized bed. “He won’t ever see coming.”

“Thank you,” Syrena replies.

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