Page 31 of Fire Dragon Lover

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“We were outside, guarding the doors like we were told. We never saw or heard a thing out of place, but there was an explosion from around the side of the house. By the time we got inside, the place was empty. It smelled funny, not like a regular explosion, more like maybe some kind of knock-out gas. There was no sign of the women or whoever took them.”

Logan looked at Sloan in horror and they broke into a run. They dived into the car and Logan slammed it into gear. Tires screeched and horns blared as he ripped out into traffic and wove through it as fast as he could towards the villa.

He glanced at Sloan, who was leaning forward anxiously in the passenger seat. “How is this even possible? Hardly anyone even knows I own that villa, much less that I wasn’t home! Who can this traitor be that he would know these things?”

“I don’t know,” Sloan replied grimly, “but we will damn sure find out.”

Forty-Two

Gretchen

Gretchen woke slowly, her head was pounding like the worst hangover she’d ever had. She lifted her head, groaned, and considered that perhaps getting up was highly overrated.Why am I so cold? And why is the bed so hard?She forced her eyes open, and after a moment of confusion, the current events came rushing back.

She gasped and sat up fast, ignoring the wave of dizziness her sudden movement caused. She found herself on a cold cement floor in a cage. It was tall enough to stand up, but had bars on all four sides, with a padlocked door in front of her. There was a second cage to her left, and she spotted Hailey on the floor inside. She wasn’t moving.

“Pssst! Hailey!” She whispered, looking around anxiously. “Hailey, wake up!”

Hailey groaned and her head turned towards Gretchen, her eyelids fluttered.

“Gretchen? What happened? Where are we?” She sat up slowly and grimaced in pain.

“I don’t know, I just woke up myself.”

Hailey stood slowly, hissing in pain as she did. Her back was to Gretchen as she stood and she saw blood seeping through her shirt.

“Hailey! You’re hurt! Your back is bleeding! Oh my god, what are we going to do?” She burst into tears.

“No wonder it hurts so much to move. Don’t panic, Gretchen, we’ll get out of this.”

They heard voices outside the door.

“Hey!” Gretchen shouted, “we need help in here!”

The door opened and two rough-looking men came in. “Shut up, girl, or we’ll shut you up,” one of them snaps.

“No, I won’t shut up! Hailey is injured, she needs medical attention.” The door started to open again and she screamed out as loud as she could, “Help! Somebody help!”

The door slammed back against the wall and a large man with an automatic rifle strode in and grabbed her by the throat through the bars of her cage before she could even flinch.

“If you don’t shut up, I will make it so you are no longer able to make a sound. Do I make myself clear?” He squeezed her throat tighter to make his point.

As she struggled to breathe, a woman who wore a white lab coat walked in.

“Release her,” the woman snapped. “We need her unharmed. She is a perfect specimen for our studies.”

He dropped his hand and glared at her warningly, moved over by the woman. They stood by an open laptop and talked quietly with occasional glances towards Gretchen.

She felt fresh tears as they flowed and she considered the implications of what the woman said.Specimen?She thought in a panic,specimen? Oh god, what is she going to do to my baby? Oh Logan, where are you? I need you.She sobbed out loud, unable to keep silent. Hailey sidled as close to her as the bars allowed, and tried to reassure her.

“It’s okay, Gretchen,” she whispered. “Take it easy. You know Logan and Sloan are looking for us right now. They’re resourceful, they’ll find us and get us out of here. You know they won’t rest until they do.”

Gretchen nodded and took a deep breath as she tried to get a handle on her emotions.

Forty-Three

Logan

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