Page 57 of Dragon's Code

“Also I need French toast and coffee. Oh and bacon.”

Kashton gives me a cocky smile. “Wear you out?”

I grab the pillow from behind me and swat him over the head with it. “Go answer the door.” I climb out of bed, managing to thwart his grabbing hands.

I sneak into the bathroom, pee, brush my teeth, and pull on a robe. I hear Kashton and someone else talking, but can’t really hear what they’re talking about. I come back out to find Krystana, Jerrick, and Darius standing in Kash’s room. He’s wearing shorts and a tank top now.

Such a bummer he had to put on clothes.

I decide to step into his room, catching everyone’s attention.

Krystana gives me a big grin as if just looking at me she can tell what her brother and I have been up to. I roll my eyes and try to focus on the men instead.

“Hi, Athena,” Jerrick greets.

I give him a small wave. “Everything okay?” I ask.

Kash shakes his head. “Jasmine. There’s video footage of your ex-boyfriend trying to pop her out of her cage.”

“Raphael?”

Jerrick nods. “He is definitely a techno fae. He had a potion with him to break through Penelope’s wards and then he just bypassed our security system with his own powers. He almost grabbed her and disappeared, but Penelope set up one more layer of protection last night, and he wasn’t able to break it. Since we know they can travel on radio waves, that’s what we’re assuming he did to get back out again.”

“Oh god. I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this…”

Jerrick holds up his hand. “This is not your fault. I’m guessing that Raphael made you a mark. He knew you were connected to the dragons. Not sure what his endgame is, but I’m guessing it’s coming. You need to not be alone, not even in the bathroom right now.”

I glance over at Kash who looks furious and concerned at the same time, but I’m not sure what’s winning at the moment.

I catch sight of the bruise on his neck and realize that I did that to him last night. It was instinctual. I wanted to bite him. I wanted to leave my mark on him. I wanted him to be mine. Kinda primal, but I’m not going to lie, I really liked it. I would happily do it again.

“Why would he try to take Jasmine?” I ask.

Krystana sighs. “We don’t know, but we wonder with the shit she’s been pulling, if she’s not in league with Grey or Raphael. Or maybe she’s been put up to it or forced to do it on Dragon’s Fire or something. We don’t know yet.”

“We have to get her back,” I say. “Find out one way or another.”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but Jasmine hasn’t always been like this. The last few years she’s been under a lot of pressure. Her father wants her to mate and produce more heirs. It’s not uncommon especially because she’s one of the last unmated female dragons, but it still doesn’t make any sense. She’s not that old. Most dragons don’t start having children until they’re older.” Krystana puts her back to the wall. “We don’t have all the pieces, it’s hard to speculate at this point.”

At first, I thought I was imagining the small tremor. Then the window rattled in its frame.

“What the hell is that?” I ask, heading for the window.

I pull back the curtain and the first thing I see is a cloud of smoke. “What the–”

“Holy shit,” Krystana says.

A second later, I see exactly what she’s talking about. The Las Vegas Strip is on fire. There’s multiple cars burning along the road. There’s at least four military tanks that I can see driving over cars that get in their way. There are dozens of men in military garb or some wannabes with camouflage pants and white tank tops or some variation.

“What is going on?”

Jerrick turns and heads toward the door. “Let’s go find out.”

We all trot down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. We breach the lobby only to find a small crowd already gathering.

“Fucking hell,” Jerrick mutters as he heads for the sliding doors. The crunch of the shattered glass under his feet. The glass doors and the windows are all blown out from whatever exploded.

Kashton takes my hand and we go out together. I’m unsteady on the glass but as always, he keeps me steady. I wish I’d put on real clothes now, not just a robe. We stay along the building as we move to get a better view of a man who is standing on a tank in the middle of the road, right down the median, knocking down trees, smashing plants and concrete under its tracks.

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