Page 65 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
The female shifter laughed. “Ha, ha. I’m sorry I’m not there to watch.”
Conrad crossed his arms. “That dude is crazy scary. I ain’t seen him as much as you ladies, but I never met a guy before who makes me think I should find business elsewhere once I get within twenty feet of him. Nearly pissed myself the first time he got close.”
“That’s weird,” I said, frowning. “He doesn’t bother Rayna and me like that.”
He shrugged. “Maybe because I wasn't a full slayer the last time I saw him. Guess I’ll find out next week when it’s my turn to train. Still hope that scary fucker doesn’t go near me, though.”
Freya gave him a feral grin. “I’m tempted to send him your way to see how it goes.”
“Bailey.” He turned to me. “Why the hell can’t you have any normal friends who don’t threaten nice, gentlemanly guys like me?”
“It’s a gift,” I said, giving him an innocent look.
Freya patted his leg, claws still out. “You forget that you’re in that group of friends, and no one thinks you’re normal. Consider yourself lucky we allow you in our presence.”
I snickered before returning my attention to Rayna.
“Maybe they should have Galadon helping you full-time if he’s good at it,” I said, trying to imagine the lone shifter telling a horde of dragons from different clans what to do. At least I’d be joining the training for a few days next week and could see for myself.
She shook her head. “You have no idea what it took to get him to take over for one day. I practically had to promise he could eat my firstborn child.”
I snorted. “He’s not that bad.”
“You weren’t there. He’s so uptight it’s a wonder how he functions.”
Falcon and Sabryn entered the courtroom and joined us. It was interesting to note their body language. He let her sit first on the back bench, and there was a hint of longing in hisgaze while her attention was elsewhere. When he went to sit next, she made a slight adjustment that had her an inch closer to him. Aidan had told me they’d been working seamlessly since pairing up for liaison duties and that he suspected an attraction wasforming between the shifters. Perhaps he was right.
“How is it going?” I asked them.
“Eventful,” Falcon said, glancing at Sabryn. “We have important matters to discuss here this evening.”
“Have they started using humans to build up the shield yet?” I asked.
Sabryn ran a hand through her dark hair that glinted between brown and black with the overhead lights. She kept it at shoulder-length, framing her pretty face. While she was well-toned like any female shifter warrior, her frame was a little smaller than Aidan’s sister, Phoebe. The glint of cold strength in her eyes let one know she could be utterly ruthless, and that size didn’t matter. I completely understood that.
“They started yesterday with some volunteers who live closest to the border.” She pursed her lips. “Only ten came to our designated stone.”
“We’ll ask them to push for more at this meeting,” Falcon added.
I arrived late yesterday for Aidan’s office meeting at the fortress and missed their most recent report. My mate hadn’t been pleased with me, but I needed to hunt dragons. Lately, I’d been pushing it on how long I could go in between, which left my body tense. Interestingly, nights with the pendragon took the edge off, but a week was pretty much the max I could handle before shifters began to look like prey.
“At least we can report the rebel group is disbanded, and four of their former members have volunteered to fight on the front line,” Freya said with a pleased smile.
I pretended to cough. “Yeah. I am certain it had nothing to do with the scary lecture you gave them before we released them back into the city.”
She was shockingly persuasive when she wanted to be—even with humans. Only one guy was still too shaken and traumatized to be useful to us. He wasn’t getting over his ordeal as well as the others. After Freya described in vivid detail the death and destruction they’d caused at the hospital, how it had hurt their fellow humans, and what we faced with the coming war, the rest had volunteered.
As the meeting time neared, more people began entering the courtroom. Rosalie spotted us as soon as she stepped through the double doors.She squeezed past the shifters to sit on the other side of Conrad, kissing him on the cheek after she settled.
“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner, baby,” she said in a sweet, smooth voice that likely made Conrad putty in her manicured hands.
I’d liked her since I first met her back in North Carolina. The dark-skinned woman with perfectly straightened black hair and an hourglass figure had a seamless combination of sexy and tough. Not only that, but she could work a whip against dragons that amazed me. She didn’t even have access to the fireproof potion the last time I saw her in a battle months ago, yet she still didn’t hesitate to enter the fight. She and Conrad were a perfect match.
“Don’t tell me the traffic was bad,” Conrad said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
Rosalie grinned. “You wouldn’t believe how many women pushing baby carriages crowded the streets, and then my mule insisted on stopping to eat two blocks before we got here.”
He put a hand up. “Okay, baby, I might believe you about the mule but not the baby carriages. Ain’t that many babies around here, and damn sure not enough to block traffic for long.”
