Page 63 of Hidden Fate

“Though I want to agree with Thorn, Peter knows too much about us.” Vlad’s shoulders sagged. “And I’m not sure how he can be useful.”

“Hear me out.” I lifted a hand. “Obviously, we’d have to get Edna and the thunder on board, but what if we can find a place where we can all work together to tend to the injured, but we paint a different story for Peter and let him sneak away?”

Errol paused mid-step but said nothing.

“What do you mean by ‘paint a different story’?” Theron squinted as if he were trying to see the bigger picture.

“We tell him Edna freaked out and said we needed to find another place on our own to hide.” I started tossing out ideas without thinking any of them through. “And then make it sound like the warriors abandoned us so Drake thinks we’re on our own again, with no place to go.”

“I mean, they’re training the others outside.” Arrow gestured to the door. “Why would we be training you if we planned on leaving?”

Cassidy chewed on her fingernail. “No, wait. This could work. You all hid, and when they came to bring you back with us, you realized your location had been compromised.”

“We can say we were tired and hungry, man.” Echo smirked. “We took a chance to get out of there and get some food. Then we’ll let slip that when Edna kicks Thorn and the others out and they have no place to go, their usefulness is over. After all, King Arman is dead, and there’s no way Thorn and Everly can win.”

I hated how that sounded and almost regretted bringing up the idea. Maybe the warriors would realize they were invested in a sinking ship.

“So we cut our losses.” Arrow winced. “That sounds awful, but it would make sense. If they had nowhere to go, we would separate so we only had to worry about ourselves…the ones best trained for the situation. Some might not buy it, but hell, we just need Drake to.”

“And he would.” Vlad snorted humorlessly. “He only looks out for himself. His focus will be on finding Thorn before the coronation to ensure nothing goes wrong, and he’ll believe that you warriors would know that and try to save yourselves.”

He was right. Though none of us were like that, Drake was. That sort of rationale would make sense to him because that was what he’d do—cut his losses and save his own ass.

“Edna would have to be willing to leave with her thunder,” Thorn said as he placed a hand on my thigh. “Even if we have her pretend to send us away, Drake wouldn’t let her go unpunished.”

“We would have to take her with us.” Theron nodded. “And it wouldn’t be ideal. I’m not even sure where wecouldgo. They have a thunder of over one hundred people. We can’t all cram into one house.”

Unfortunately, that was a good point. “We’ll have to split up, if you think we can find enough safe locations.”

“If we first help the injured dragons to those who hide us, I think we can find a handful of people who can take us all in.” Theron removed his phone from his back pocket. “That would also allow us to spread apart and be harder to locate.”

“We have Uther and Queen Mira to warn us if Drake and his warriors are coming to our location.” Thorn shrugged. “Uther calls us every night to talk to Reece, anyway, but we aren’t making that public knowledge because of the human hanging around. He’d rat us out in a heartbeat.”

That was true. Uther called often, and the queen had helped us yesterday. They were coordinating who could get a hold of us best.

“It all comes down to whether Edna will agree.” Cassidy ran a finger along the edge of her coffee cup. “Do we think she will?” She glanced at Theron.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Theron swiped on his phone. “But I suspect she will. Why don’t you all head out there and train while I talk to her?”

Thorn’s hand tensed on my leg, and he connected,Don’t get me wrong. I like you being able to defend yourself and find you training sexy as hell, but I hate it when you get hurt. It’s worse than when I do.

To his credit, he rarely got hurt, even when he trained with Vlad. Thorn was the strongest out there by far, and when he, Vlad, and Cassidy had been living in hiding, he’d worked construction jobs so he could get paid under the table. He was fit, tough, and all dragon—then add in his strong alpha royal genes, and he was a beast. With the warriors we had in tow now, he might struggle a little, but not like the rest of us.

I know, but it’s good for me.I turned and brushed my hand over his cheek. Just like Vlad, he had a little scruff on his face, and it scratched my fingertips.And I don’t get hurt as often anymore.I was about on par with the others now. Though I was smaller and not built as sturdily since I wasn’t born a dragon, I could get out of tight spots more easily due to my size. It helped me as often as it hurt me. That was one thing Vlad and Theron were trying to focus on with me: using my differences to my advantage.

After a quick kiss, I stood and flicked my gaze between Echo and Arrow. “Will one of you teach me to shoot a gun? I’d like to be more confident if I ever need to use one again.”

“You have a very smart wife and mate, Your Highness,” Arrow said as he smiled at me.

“Thorn.” Thorn cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Just Thorn, and I know. I’m one lucky man.”

Vlad climbed to his feet. “I’ll run out to get some weapons and meet you in the back.”

Our group dispersed, and even Cassidy joined us outside. Though she was trained, we all had to be in top shape for what came next. And that was exactly what we were going to do.

* * *

That night,our plan was in place. Edna had agreed. She’d said she would feel better at another location, anyway, in case the warriors learned that Emily had been changed or caught hints of Tia, Ryu, Merlin, and Belinda and their age. After all, the two empty houses had clearly been occupied. It would lead to questions. Apparently, she hadn’t been sleeping well, worried about the situation as it was.

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