Page 74 of Charming the Dragon
Instead of the chair, she sat back on the edge of his bed. Nathan instantly took her hand in his and could feel Kai and Bram’s eyes on them.
But he didn’t care.
Nathan spoke to Kai, “Tell us what’s going on, Kai. I didn’t even know about the bunker, and I know a lot of Stonefire’s secrets.”
Kai crossed his arms over his chest and grunted. “It’s nothing against you personally, Nathan. But the fewer people who know about its existence, the easier it is to keep the information from leaking.” Nathan opened his mouth to protest that he could be trusted, but Kai beat him to it. “We’ve discussed updating the technology in the bunker’s command center and bringing you into the fold. However, it’s been busy, what with the dragon clan gathering here recently and then rescuing those people from that cruel experimentation center, so the project was delayed.”
Hayley said, “That’s all well and good, but you still haven’t told us what it’s for or why you have it.”
Nathan bit back a smile. Leave it to his human not to care about Bram and Kai’s positions in her quest for the truth.
Bram chuckled. “I’m glad you’re on our side, Hayley Beckett. And before you ask again, I’ll answer.” He glanced at Kai, and then back at Hayley and Nathan. “It’s been there for ages, but was lost to the clan for a while, or so some records have said. We stumbled upon it not long after Melanie arrived on Stonefire. Neil Westhaven—he was someone who betrayed our clan, Hayley—had used it as a sort of secret meeting space. Given the chance, he probably would’ve used it to launch some sort ofdevastating attack, assassination, or any kind of nefarious plan in his quest for power and control.”
Kai jumped in. “We sealed it off for a year or so, and made it harder to access since the teenage dragons love to sneak around down there. But once things settled a little, after Bram mated Evie and Neil was taken care of, Bram and I decided we should have it as a sort of emergency command center in case anyone tried to invade.”
“You wanted to use that place to defend Stonefire with just regular weapons?” Nathan asked. “I couldn’t find anything to launch a weapon or monitor the surface from the computers in the bunker.”
“There is a way to access both the surface cameras and some stun gun-like contraptions, but it’s another puzzle only a handful know about.” Kai looked at Hayley. “I trust you aren’t going to turn us into the DDA for that.”
Because the weapons hadn’t been reported, and hence were illegal.
She sat up a little taller. “Of course not. I’ve dealt with people trying to kill me before, and there’s nothing wrong with taking precautions.”
Nathan gently squeezed Hayley’s hand, and she smiled at him.
Bram’s voice interrupted the moment. “Who, now, has tried to kill you?”
Hayley looked sheepish. “Er, I can tell you about that later. I can’t imagine they’d come here. Especially since it’s been a few years.”
Kai raised his eyebrows. “You should’ve disclosed that straight away. I can’t protect you if I don’t know about your enemies.”
Hayley glanced down at their joined hands. “I know, and I’m sorry.” She met Kai’s gaze again. “But I truly think they’veforgotten about me by this point. Regardless, I’ll tell you everything in the morning, I promise.”
Nathan was about to ask if he could have some time alone with Hayley when Bram jumped in. “Aye, and is there anything else you two would like to share? Because judging by how you and Nathan act, I suspect something’s going on between you two.”
He glanced at Hayley, and she nodded her permission. Nathan moved his gaze to Bram again. “She’s my true mate, Bram. But she still hasn’t decided what to do about it.”
Bram smiled. “The decision is yours, lass. But if you choose to mate Nathan, Stonefire will welcome you. And not just because then we’d have an on-call solicitor.”
He winked, and Hayley laughed. Only because Nathan knew Bram was happily mated did he not growl and glare at his clan leader.
Nathan stifled a yawn and did his best to look alert. However, leave it to Kai to notice something. His boss said, “We can talk more in the morning. Just one last thing—you can’t share the details of where you’ve been for the last few days. You can say you got stuck in one of the known secret rooms, but that’s it. I know it’s a lot to ask you to lie. However, Bram and I suspect there is someone unhappy with the number of humans in Stonefire these days, and we’re unsure of what they might do in the future, if they feel threatened further.”
Since Nathan had been the one to find the chatter online, on a supposedly secret message board, Nathan already knew about the potential threat. Someone was saying no more humans should be allowed to move to Stonefire, and their reasoning was a distraction—that other clans needed human mates first. But the undertones hinted at resentment, more than anything.
He finally lost the battle and yawned. Hayley turned, caressed his forehead, and said, “We can finish this tomorrow. Nathan needs to sleep so he can heal.”
He leaned into her touch. “I know better than to argue with you.”
Bram chuckled. “That’s our cue to leave. We’ll check in with you again tomorrow, just in case you think of any more questions.”
Hayley said, “Oh, I have more. Especially about the treasure hoard we found.”
Bram frowned and Nathan explained, “The artifact storage area.”
“Right. Just don’t mention that yet to anyone, either.”
Hayley bobbed her head. “I know. But I have some ideas we can discuss later.”
