Page 51 of The Dragon Recruit
“Right, I’m sure you don’t.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Believe me or not, I don’t care. As I said, I was meeting a DDA liaison and the next thing I knew, I ended up here.” Thankfully, she’d regained her strength, so she stood and studied Bethan. “How didyouend up in here?”
Silence.
That was something no one had wanted to discuss, along with Zoe’s news about the mass grave. Some still refused to believe her, although she thought it might be because of denial rather than true disbelief.
Zoe shrugged. “Aye, well, then there’s not much else to discuss.”
The female fell silent, and Zoe pretended to study her nails as she checked out the cell across from hers. Her biggest conquest so far was the female formerly from Skyhunter named Gemma. Even so, the female hadn’t revealed much beyond how someone had shot canisters of something into their settlement back in the Cairngorms. And then she’d woken up here.
Zoe was starting to think there had been two types of gas—one to knock out everyone and allow someone to take the females of childbearing age, and another to kill the rest.
And to think, she’d been on a treasure hunt with Logan Lamont and Emma MacAllister not too long ago, and now she was trying to convince traitors to trust her.
Bethan went to her bunk and turned her back, feigning sleep. Zoe was about to talk with Gemma again, to see if she couldlearn even more, when her cousin walked over to her and said, “I believe you were meeting with that DDA person.”
Hiding her surprise, she replied, “Why?”
Rebecca frowned. “What do you mean, why?”
“Why now and not before?”
Her cousin lowered her voice. “It’s the most likely scenario. Even if I didn’t agree with Finn about the humans, I can’t imagine him imprisoning all of us and putting you in here, too, to find out information.”
“It would be rather elaborate, aye? And expensive.” She studied Rebecca a beat and decided to push a wee bit. After walking to the corner, she waited for Rebecca to follow before lowering her voice so no one else should be able to hear. “Who would want to put us all together, then?”
Emotions flitted across her cousin’s face—uncertainty, worry, fear, and finally resignation. As if she’d made a decision.
Zoe might be one of the younger Protectors, but she had learned a while ago when to keep silent and when to talk. And so she waited.
Eventually, Rebecca leaned over to her ear and whispered so softly Zoe almost missed it. “When they moved us in here, I had started to wake up.” She paused, and Zoe didn’t even dare to breathe until her cousin spoke again. “They mentioned a ‘she’ was in charge. Someone named Green. Do you know who that is?”
A female named Green? Then it hit her—Margot Green was Simon Bourne’s half-sister. Bourne was in charge of the dragon hunters, and recently, Margot had caused some trouble for Stonefire. Zoe’s gut said that was the “she” they’d referred to, which meant Bourne’s sister was a bigger threat than they’d first surmised.
Zoe’s triumph at learning the information was quickly replaced with anger. Had the rogue dragon-shifters kept theirpeople in the dark about possible enemies? Even if they believed humans were beneath them, the dragon hunters had dangerous weapons that could hurt or fatally wound dragon-shifters. And they should’ve been warned.
But before she could prod for more information, the daily lunch arrived. The human males who delivered it wore masks, like always, and didn’t say a word as they pushed small troughs into each cell. Her cousin went to grab a sandwich—no one had been poisoned…yet—and Zoe lost her chance to ask more questions.
However, she’d learned something extremely important. So as she watched everyone eat, she went through what she knew about Simon Bourne, his sister, the dragon hunters, and anything else she could use to better understand their captors. Because understanding them would be the key to escaping, or at least give her a way to signal to her clan members where she was.
Over the next day, as Iris spent more time with Antony, she became more and more impressed. He had a knack for talking with informants and allies, smoothly transitioning from small talk to vital information, all while charming people along the way. He might be cocky, but he should be. Iris would never have the skill of coaxing someone to share more information like he could. Or suffer through small talk long enough to look natural before learning what she really wanted to know.
Since she wore the special contacts that hid her flashing dragon eyes—she was in a town near Birkwood Castle, discreetly watching Antony’s back—her dragon spoke up.We have better observation and tracking skills. Don’t compare. That way lies madness.
Aye, I know. Now, hush. I’ve seen that male walk by twice before.
She sipped her coffee, watching as the human male slowed down his pace as he passed Antony talking to a female informant. The female ran the local florist shop, was in her sixties, and kept touching Antony’s arm. But whenever she did, Antony made a quip, and she laughed.
As the female did it again, Iris ignored her to watch the male. He dropped something a few feet from where Antony was standing and quickly strode away. Antony had seen it, though, and discreetly kicked it into the street. Once it rolled to a stop, a few seconds passed before it released a tiny amount of gas, one she could see because of her keen eyesight.
Damn, someone was on to them.
Antony ushered the female inside her shop. Iris itched to investigate the small object in the street, but knew someone—or many someones—were waiting and watching for exactly that.
So she stayed put, leisurely finishing her drink and muffin before finally leaving the small cafe. She deliberately walked away from the small object and down the route she and Antony had agreed upon earlier. Except at the hidden meeting spot in a nearby forest, she didn’t find Antony but his younger brother, Max.
The blond-haired human lacked his battered fedora today, though, and wore almost normal looking clothes in jeans and a button-down shirt. He tugged at his sleeves—an action that reminded her of Antony—before he spotted her. He winked and waited for her to get close enough before he murmured, “My brother called in the cavalry, and so here I am.”
