Page 8 of Bryce

Leslie waved from the far corner, and I made haste to join her.

“What took you so long?” she murmured.

Pierce and Smoke had already begun speaking. Dallas and Owen stood beside them at the front of the room, with Hecate lingering nearby.

I shrugged off her question, turning my attention to Smoke.

He appeared rather grim as he looked over the room. “It appears we have a hunt ahead of us, and nothing less than that. We know the Gwydions are close enough to sense the arrival of newcomers, which means they’re close enough for us to find them. This isn’t a decision any of us takes lightly. The damage they managed to inflict on our Scottish kin cannot be overstated. They were behind the kidnapping and the testing.”

“The death.” Owen’s voice cut through the murmurs of grief, sympathy. Fear. I took note of Carissa sliding her hand into Cash’s. The apprehension in Martina’s eyes when she looked at Gate, no matter how brave and matter-of-fact she tried to appear.

“We can’t run the risk of their turning their attention on us,” Smoke continued. “While it would be tragic enough to lose any of our clan as those in Scotland did, it would be even more dreadful for those of non-dragon blood. Jasmine, Alina. Carissa, Tommy. All of our mates and our children. My son. We have a great deal more to protect than any treasure, real or imagined.”

“They are our treasure.” Pierce glanced at Jasmine.

It was my understanding that they’d been the first to mate. She was the first non-dragon to reside beneath the mountain. The first the clan had trusted with their secrets. She held a sleeping baby on her shoulder, the daughter they shared. Only three months old, her head covered in soft, blond curls.

Meanwhile, Alina bounced on her knee the son Smoke had referred to. A charming thing, six months of age and constantly squirming, always ready to go. Once he learned to walk, there would be no stopping him. Tommy stood guard over the babes as if he were their older brother.

They deserved protection from the horrors we’d witnessed in Scotland the day the helicopters came.

“It stands to reason that some of us will stay behind to act as guards for the others,” Dallas announced. “We imagine that between the presence of four dragons and four witches, the mountain should be well secured.”

“We’ve cast additional protective spells,” Hecate added, gracing the mothers in the group a warm smile. “An entire army could not breach these caves, you can rest assured.”

The coven would stay behind, then, with four dragons. That left six of us and three lions. Would it be sufficient?

“Will that be enough for what you have in mind?” Bryce asked, standing at the other side of the room with his two partners.

I should’ve known he would be thinking along the same lines as me. Yet another cruel joke, the fact that our brains worked the same.

“Let’s first describe what we have in mind,” Pierce replied with a grin. “We believe two teams should split up and cover the two locations Mary’s team have narrowed as the most likely from which the group is working. It will be an uneven split, but I think you can manage.”

He turned to the TV screen, on which a map of the area was displayed. “Team One will move northeast. Team Two to the south. There are compounds in both locations, both of which show a great deal of communication activity around the time of the kidnapping in Scotland and the destruction of the lab in St. Lucia.”

I shuddered involuntarily, rubbing my arms to ease the gooseflesh which had begun to ripple.

“No need to ask how Mary knows of this,” Leslie whispered with a smile. “It’s nearly unnerving.”

That it was, but the woman worked on our behalf, so it seemed ungrateful to agree. Did I enjoy the notion of anyone having that much power? No. Leslie was correct to describe it as unnerving. I’d sometimes wondered how she managed what she did. Who paid for it?

“How will we split up?” Owen asked, looking around. His gaze fell on Leslie and myself. She draped an arm over my shoulders in silent response. We would always want to be together.

“It makes sense for one of the dragons more experienced with the area to accompany each team,” Pierce explained. “Miles and Gate will be the pair who go out with you. Miles will lead the first team, Gate the second. After that, it’s up to you.”

Not Bryce. Not Bryce. Not Bryce. I stole a glance in his direction, where he was deep in conversation with the other lions. Deciding who would go where.

Leslie, meanwhile, held a quiet conversation with Martina.

“What’s that all about?” I asked on noticing the meaningful looks they exchanged.

“She wants me to go with Gate.”

I knew the two of them had become friendly on the island, but this was still a surprise. “Why you?”

“Because she trusts me.” A gentle shrug. “But I wouldn’t dare go anywhere without you, either.”

“I suppose that means I’m part of Gate’s team by default,” I deduced. There was no problem with that, I found him genial, but with an edge he would need if we did happen to run into the sorcerers.

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