Page 157 of The Dragon's Mate

The senator ignored him, training his gazeon Cadmus. “Before your clan leaves, we want you to agree to being tagged andmonitored by the HAPI group. It’s a simple procedure, a small chip is embeddedin the back of your skull and -”

Bones barked out a laugh. “Enough. Highelder, it’s time to leave.”

Cadmus held out his hand. “One moment, Bones.”

“Cadmus -”

“A moment, I said.” A growl rose from theold dragon’s throat and both Bones and Kaida took a step back, giving each othera troubled look.

Bones hadn’t been joking when he saidCadmus could kick their asses. In his youth, the high elder had been the clan’smost powerful dragon and despite what appeared to be a fragile appearance now,his dragon was still incredibly strong and dangerous. Even Bones with all hispower and strength, would be no match for an angry Cadmus.

“Senator, while I appreciate that you haveyour concerns about my kind, I want to assure you that we have no wish to harm thehumans. We will continue to live our lives as we did before, quietly and withlittle contact with humans.”

“Is that right?” Senator Matthews turnedhis dark gaze toward Kaida. “Because a member of your clan is in a relationshipwith my child. That doesn’t seem like the dragons are keeping their distance.”

Cadmus glanced at Kaida, a soft smile crossinghis face before he turned back to the senator. “We cannot choose who ourchildren fall in love with, Senator. You may not agree with your son’s choices,but I will not deny Kaida her mate.”

“Mate.” The Senator’s voice held a thinnote of disgust in it. “Your dragon whore seduced my son to drive a wedgebetween him and me, and to weaken the faith my constituents have in me. I willnot -”

“Call her a whore again and you will be nothingbut ash on the floor,” Bones snarled at him.

Kaida put a hand on Bones’s arm as Cadmussaid, “Insulting my clan will not get you what you want, Senator. Peace canonly be achieved through -”

“The only way to achieve peace is if youdisgusting animals leave. You are a threat to every human in this city, and it’smy job to protect them,” the senator said. “Revealing yourself to humans was amistake. They’re frightened and their fear will push my bill through the senate.If everything goes to plan this evening, by this time next year every singleparanormal on the planet will be tagged and registered. No longer will you beable to hide your true nature in the shadows. We will know exactly who andwhat you are.”

His face red and his hands clenched intofists, the Senator lapsed into silence. Kaida could almost hear the heavy thudof his pulse as he glared at Cadmus.

A weary look of resignation on his face,Cadmus said. “I want peace between our kinds, Senator Matthews. I want paranormaland human alike to live without fear of the other. But with men like you incharge, there can be no peace. We will not leave our home or allow ourselves tobe tagged by your group, and you will not accept anything less. Ourconversation is done.”

A triumphant look passed over the senator’sface. “Understood.”

The senator held out his hand, and Cadmus walkedforward to shake it.

Her dragon growled a warning and beside herBones stiffened. “Cadmus, return to me. Now!”

Martin stepped closer as the senator tookCadmus’s hand. Both Kaida and Bones growled a warning as something in the man’shand glinted in the light.

“Cadmus!” Kaida shouted as Martin stuckthe hypodermic needle into Cadmus’s neck and injected its contents.

Cadmus jerked back, his hand clapping down onhis neck as he stared at the big blond man. “What have you done?”

Bones and Kaida charged forward and, movingquickly, Martin yanked Cadmus closer, whipping him around as he yanked a gun fromhis belt and pressed it against Cadmus’s temple. “Any closer and I’ll blow hisbrains out. Think your high elder can survive that?”

They stopped and Bones snorted harsh laughteras the other men pointed guns at them. “You stupid asshole. You’re fuckingdead and you don’t even know it.”

Kaida waited for Cadmus’s scales toappear. Even if he didn’t fully shift immediately, the scales of his dragon wouldbe thick and heavy enough to stop any bullet from piercing his skull. When he remainedin his human form, she took a step forward. “Cadmus?”

The senator laughed, an ugly sound thatechoed in the abandoned hangar. “What’s wrong, bitch? You didn’t really thinkwe’re this stupid, did you?”

“Cadmus, shift,” Bones said.

“He can’t,” Martin said. “How’s that for fuckingbananas? We just injected your precious high elder with a serum that suppresseshis ability to shift.”

Horror infused every molecule in Kaida’s bodyas she stared at Cadmus. The old dragon’s face was pale and for the first timein her life, she could see fear in his eyes.

“Cadmus, you must shift,” she whispered.

“I cannot,” he said.

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