Page 85 of Charming the Dragon
Home.Yes, Stonefire already felt like home to her.
She walked down the narrow corridor and into the reception area. As soon as she exited into the main hallway, she looked around for Rafe, Dawn, and Sarah, but didn’t see them anywhere.
After checking her phone for texts and finding none, she frowned. Where were they?
Maybe they were waiting outside. It was a rare sunny day and the view of Manchester Town Hall could be quite pretty, given how it somewhat resembled the Houses of Parliament in London, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Her stomach rumbled again. The one irritating thing about carrying a dragon-shifter’s child was the fact she was always hungry. Something about dragon-shifters needing immense amounts of calories to grow.
Since there wasn’t anywhere to eat in this building, she headed down the stairs and for the main entrance. Just as she was about to push open the door, a woman’s voice said, “Ms. Beckett, one more thing, please! You forgot to sign this last form.”
Resisting a sigh, she turned around. It was the lady from the reception desk. “Sorry, I thought I’d signed them all. Can we do it down here, or do I need to go back upstairs?”
“There’s a room down here we can use. I just need it to be witnessed by another staff member. If that’s all right?”
The woman was young, maybe twenty, and looked terrified that Hayley would say no. “That’s fine. But let’s make it quick. I’m pregnant and hungry, and the last thing I want to do is take it out on you.”
“Pregnant? But you haven’t mated the dragon-shifter yet.”
Since she’d discussed Nathan in detail during her interview and in the paperwork, Hayley wasn’t surprised the woman brought it up.
Although she had mentioned her pregnancy as well, so why was the woman surprised?
She’s the receptionist. She probably doesn’t know everything.
Still, Hayley’s gut said to be cautious. “I just need to let my friends know I’ll be a while longer and then I can sign as many forms as you like.”
“But my boss is leaving in ten minutes. If you want this filed today and don’t want to postpone your mating ceremony tomorrow, I need you to sign it now.”
Hayley glanced out the door, but still didn’t see her friends. She quickly typed out a text and sent it before replying to the woman, “Fine. Let’s make it quick, if possible, please.”
“Right away, ma’am. This way.”
Hayley followed the woman down the hall and turned a corner. Four doors down, she knocked and turned the handle. “In here.”
She peered inside to find a conference room, but no one else was inside. “Where’s the staff member?”
“I need to fetch him. It won’t be a moment.”
Since the room was empty, Hayley hesitated. Then a wave of dizziness came over her, and she stumbled.
The woman helped her inside and into a chair. “Are you all right?”
“Just hungry. Even tea with sugar would help, if you have any.”
“Right away. I’ll get that and then fetch my coworker.”
Hayley propped her arms on the table and held her head. The dizziness had never been this bad before. Yes, she had toeat loads to keep her energy up, but she’d had two pastries right before the meeting.
Then the dizziness grew worse, and black dots filled her vision before the world went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Katrina “Trina” Lau sipped her coffee and pretended to check something on her phone. However, she kept an eye out for the woman she’d been trailing for weeks now—Margot Green, who was reported to be Simon Bourne’s half-sister and his latest pawn in the game to control or destroy dragon-shifters.
Trina’s boss, Antony Holbrook, had sent her to watch Margot’s movements with strict instructions not to interact with the woman. She’d reportedly been hired to work with the DDA. And if so, it revealed how lacking their background checks really were. Something she and Antony would have to change from within their nonexistent MI5 department.
While that was Trina’s principal mission, her secondary purpose was to watch over Hayley Beckett. Someone had called in a favor with her boss, and Trina had been sent in his place since Antony was in hiding somewhere not even she knew.
