Page 23 of Stryker

My heart hardened and I swallowed hard. She was absolutely fucking right. Our fear had changed us.

He shifted into his dragon and I followed suit.

But this time she held a hand toward me.

He roared at her, but she didn’t so much as move.

Instead, she blinked up at him. “You need to scare me? Do I look like a threat to you? Do I feel like a threat?”

He stopped and stared at her.

“Go ahead. Kill me.”

I jumped forward as she dropped to her knees before him and lowered her chin to her chest like she expected him to go medieval on her and chop off her head with a sword.

Instead, he changed back. With a bitter look on his face, he glanced at me and I shifted back to human. “She’s ballsy. I like her. But you know she’s not safe.”

“You could not say fucking anything.” It seemed really simple. If he liked her, he didn’t have to say anything.

But he shook his head. “I found you. It’s only a matter of time before someone else does. Is it your plan to just keep her here forever?”

I shook my head. Unfortunately, I hadn’t really planned that far ahead. It had been all about keeping her alive as long as possible, but I’d been taking it day by day without figuring out what to do for the future. I had my dragon to answer to, as well. A dragon that still seemed hellbent on claiming her as ours. And keeping her as ours.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I watched her get to her feet. The dazed look on her face angered me. “What did you do to her?”

I advanced on him, ready to smash a fist through his face.

“She’s fine.” He eyed me without even taking a step back.

“I’m okay.” She moved toward me and pulled me into a hug. “I swear I’m okay.” With her soft curves pressed to me it seemed damn near impossible to think clearly.

“So what do we do now?” I glared at him over her shoulder. She let me go and stepped behind me, her fingers lacing with mine.

His eyes dropped to that hold and he arched an eyebrow. “Now? Now we wait and see if you got her killed. Our brothers will decide.”

He turned as if to walk away, then stopped. “Where did you find her?”

“Behind the alley of Sixth and Main. Behind that Thai place you keep mentioning.” Why did it matter?

He stiffened up, turned around and advanced, addressing her to her face. “What’s your name, girl?”

She stiffened, then stepped before me, squaring her shoulders and holding her head high as he walked even closer to her. With him only a foot away, she lifted her chin to look at him down her nose while he half-circled her.

“That’s none of your business.”

His eyes narrowed.

“My name’s Jane Seymour.” Her lie slipped out effortlessly, but I could smell the hint odor of her lie.

He turned and circled the other direction. “You’re not really Jane Seymour, are you?”

His words struck her like a lightning bolt; her whole body jolted, and she almost faltered back a step. Still, she didn’t speak the truth to him.

“Why are you lying to me?”

“Because you’re dangerous.” She lifted her chin another notch and glared at him as he circled around her to the right. “And I don’t want you to know who I am. Because I think you’re worse than the tattooed bouncer bastard that tried to shoot me.”

He went still and stared at her.

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