Page 118 of Hoarded By the Dragon

Mace hesitates before answering, his brows creasing. “Not very relaxed, honestly.”

Relief makes it way past my doubt. She’s really there and not captured. The bathhouse is a smart choice. The strength of the wards and allies will keep her safe.

I want to go there and see her for myself, but this issue with the Leonids must be dealt with, and we have less than an hour to do so.

Mace must see my internal struggle. “Gideon will allow no danger to befall the place. If not for your mate’s sake, for his own.”

“Thank you.” My shoulders drop. With the kraken there, Katarina is truly safe.

“Now that we know that they don’t have her, what do we do?” Stella voices the question on all our minds.

“We could have her return.” Ben shrugs. “Call the bluff. It would embarrass the Leonids, and whatever is making them so desperate will eventually come to bite them in the ass.”

Ben is excellent at providing solutions, but that won’t work. Not this time.

“Lorenzo threatened my mate.” The knowledge may not be public yet, but the shifter knew what he was doing and did it anyway. He has the confidence that whatever strength and influence he has is enough to strongarmme.

This threat won’t disappear on its own. If it’s not this day, it will be another, or some other enemy.

I’ve approached this wrong, hiding my mate and young from the community. Hiding the fiercest parts of myself to blend into a modern world.

I am a dragon. It’s time that people remember that.

It’s time that I remember that.

There will be nothing left but ashes.

But we must figure out a way to make it lawful first.

“This calls for plan B,” I say to Ben.

A stricken expression passes over Ben’s face as he follows my line of thought. He looks to Stella.

“What’s plan B?” she asks.

She’s plan B.

There are rules that need to be followed, but I refuse to cower.

“Mace, if the bathhouse is offering Katarina protection, we accept,” I say. “We will collect her when it’s safe.”

“Planning all the fun things without me?” he asks.

I arch a brow and both of Mace’s rise. “Plausible deniability is good too.” His expression becomes serious. “I wish you luck and victory.”

“Luck isn’t necessary when you’re what I am,” I murmur.

“All the same,” Mace says with a shrug before he disappears. He’s probably standing in front of Katarina now. Regret flickers to life in my chest. I should have sent a message back to her, but now isn’t the time to worry about the ache in my heart. It’s time to plot a revenge that will keep the world away from my family.

“Ben, can you give us a moment?” I say.

“Of course.” His voice scratches and he clears his throat, not casting any glances at the red-headed witch who narrows her eyes at me as he leaves.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“If you could facilitate the destruction of the Leonids, would you?” I ask. It doesn’t take long for my words to sink in, and when they do, the gleam of hunger in her eyes is almost regrettable. Katarina will be angry at me for this later, but Stella is her own person.

“The Council won’t allow you to wipe out a fellow territory leader,” she says, thinking aloud. “And I can’t take over in my father’s place to preserve whatever balance they have a hard on for.”

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