Page 18 of Fire Dragon Lover

With a growl, he closed the distance and grabbed her arm in an attempt to drag her free of the paparazzi. “Come on!”

She tensed at his grip, and her flesh felt wrong beneath the oversized sweater. He tore the cap off to reveal long, dark hair, nothing at all like Gretchen’s beautiful blonde mane.

His heart missed a beat. “Who the fuck are you?”

The crowd went all but silent.

Logan released her, and she nodded to the house, mouthing,out the back.

He brushed past her and threw open the front door in search of Gretchen, the paparazzi closed in on the empty house behind him. He made a beeline to the back door, he found her soft footfalls still on the green and led him in the opposite direction.Good girl,he thought to himself as he chased her route. Clever, to disguise her roommate and feed her to the paparazzi.

But he froze when he saw a single shoe in the street and no Gretchen.

His dragon writhed beneath his skin and ached to be released. A fury to dwarf the Draconis Fire’s wrath burbled inside him, and he fought not to change right here, on the pavement. White-hot rage consumed him, and he nearly let the beast out when Sloan came barreling at him.

“You can’t change here!” He grabbed Logan’s shoulders and shook him. “Those idiots are just around the corner. What they wouldn’t give to get a picture of you losing control.Thinkabout it!”

Logan’s teeth were already sharpening. “They have Gretchen.”

“It’ll only put her in more danger if you change right now.” His glower was fierce. “They were probably just a rogue group of anti-shifters. Hailey’s already on it with her team as we speak.”

His blood was still hot, but the dragon uncoiled from his spine. “If anything happens to Gretchen or our child, I’m not going to hold back.”

“You’ll undo all your hard work-”

“I don’t care,” he said as he shook Sloan off and cut a path back to the car. “I’ll kill every last one of them, and anyone who gets in my way.”

Sloan chased after him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and spun him around. “If you kill humans- you’ll set us back to the very beginning. I won’t let you do that.”

Logan’s nostrils flared. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise.” He squared up. “Don’t force my hand, Logan.”

He simmered, then exhaled a hot breath. “We need to find her.”

“And we will.” Sloan opened the car door. “Let’s go. Our trail is getting cold.”

Twenty-Eight

Gretchen

The bag over her head came off some time in the struggle, and so did a shoe. Her captors didn’t seem to have the art of kidnapping down, but they were strong. And with three of them, she didn’t stand a chance. Their beater swerved into traffic, a cacophony of honks following.

When it righted again, she slipped free of one’s grip, only to be grabbed by the hair.

“Keep her still!” one said.

“I’ve got it,” said another. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

He pulled her hair painfully so she was bowed backward, forced to stare into his ugly mug. “Fuck you!”

They laughed, the sound grated against her shot nerves.

“You betrayed humanity, bitch. That’s not something we can forgive.” His thick lip curled to reveal yellowed teeth.Charming. “You’re going to be made an example of to let everyone know we won’t tolerate our women mingling with shifters.”

A painful groan escaped her taut throat. “It’s not true! What they’re saying on the news. I’m not- I didn’t-”

One of them threw her to the car floor and held her down. “It’s too late for lies, sweetie. The whole world knows what you did-”

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