Page 67 of Draco Family Duet

Stephen frowned. “Do you think he has a plan? Do you think he knows where he’s going or flying by the seat of hispants?”

I considered Stephen’s words. “He’ll have a plan. The man’s a lawyer. You saw at the airport how easily he frustrates when his plan hits a snag.” An idea occurred to me and I called Adam. “I need you to check and see if Spencer Morse or the Reclaim the Kingdom Project have any holdings near Asheville, North Carolina. I’ll wait.” Then I opened up the map app again and studied the area. “He’s going to want some place secluded. If it’s a seasonal camp, there’s probably no electric on, which could make this even more challenging.” I rubbed myeyes.

“Well, it looks like there’s a plot of land in Cherokee. It’s a couple hundred acres. And there’s no address for a cabin, but I’ll send you what I’ve got,” Adamannounced.

“Thank you.” I ended the call and sighed. “Next stop food. I need to fuel up. This could be a longnight.”

“What are you planning to do?” Stephen asked quietly. “Two hundred acres is a lot of area tocover.”

I chuckled. “We’ll split up. You’ll go one way by road. I’ll goanother.”

He shook his head like I was crazy. “You think you’re going to walk two hundred ruggedacres?”

“Something like that.” My heart began to race. All I needed was a little light, maybe some smoke, any hint of life from the air and I’d be able to find her. As cold as it was, this shouldn’t be aproblem.

“The higher the elevation, the more fog,” henoted.

I frowned. “Why would this be simple? Nothing else hasbeen.”

“You want to give up? Wait on the police?” He slowed down and pulled into a McDonald’s parkinglot.

“There’s no giving up on destiny. I’ll find Peri,” I vowed even as I began to have my owndoubts.

* * *

Peri

“Ah, you’re awake,”Spencer noted as he sat in a wooden chair a few feet in front ofme.

When my eyelids fluttered open, I had trouble making out the features on his shadowy face. The room was dark, the only light coming from the small fire he’d built in the stone fireplace across from me. My vision was obscured and I quickly realized that one eye was definitely swollen from his fist and my cheekbone stung when I moved my aching jaw. I swallowed and realized there was blood in my mouth. “Nice work,” I commented, but when I tried to gesture to my cheek, I realized my hands were secured to the arms of the chair with zipties.

“I couldn’t very well have you running away,” he commented with a smirk. He cracked his knuckles and flexed his arms. “And now that I have a captive audience, we’re going to chat.” Spencer stood and walkedaround.

“Hey, why don’t we talk about why you’re targeting the dragons for starters?” I tried to glare at him, but the act merely made my eye hurtmore.

He chuckled. “You think you’re so smart, but you couldn’t figure that out, couldyou?”

“No, clearly you are much cleverer than me.” I huffed. Normally, this would be where I rolled my eyes, but I was slowly accepting they were currently out ofcommission.

Spencer leaned near. “Well, I figured out you’re some kind of witch so I’ve got that going for me.” He gestured to my hands. “Guess you won’t be touching methistime.” He waited for me to give something away, but I remained devoid of emotion. With a shrug, he stood and moved closer to the fireplace. “Let me tell you a story and then you’ll understand why I believe in magic when so many others in my profession completely doubt itsexistence.”

“Can’t wait,” Ichirped.

He whipped around and glared at me. “Nearly a thousand years ago, my family ruled a kingdom inEurope.”

“Is this going to be a long story?” I sighed in an effort to hide my emotions. Already, I could see where this was going. After a thousand years, our lines had converged once more. This had to meansomething.

“The kingdom was at war with the Turks, who were particularly vicious in that time period. To broker a peace and save his kingdom from financial ruin, the king offered his daughter for marriage. The war would end. The dowry would fill the empty coffers. His influence would grow with the Turks on hisside.”

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Igrumbled.

“Ha! Not even close.” Spencer sneered. “Dragons set upon the princess and her entourage while they were en route to the wedding. And to make a long story short, since you seem to have the attention span of a gnat, the king sent his sorceress to retrieve the princess when the knights failed. Instead, she turned the dragon into a man, starting the line of dragon shifters we both workfor.”

“Funny how that happened,” I commented absently. “What are the chances you’d go to work for thesedragons?”

“Pretty good, since it was by design.” He chuckled at his own cleverness. “See, here’s what I didn’t get to explain before you so rudely interrupted…repeatedly.” He huffed. “Because of the sorceress, the kingdom fell into ruin. The people revolted and the royal family was overthrown. The sorceress was thrown in the dungeon for her treachery and we’ve pretty much hated dragons eversince.”

My brow furrowed as I tried process his first comment. “By design. What does thatmean?”

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