Page 11 of The Dragon Recruit
I think he was worried about us. He might even care a wee bit.
She mentally snorted.Stop trying to romanticize things, dragon.
Before her beast could reply, Antony’s voice filled the room again. “As much as some men love to have one-sided conversations, I’m not one of them. I’ll be back to see you after Dr. Turner tests the prototype. Because otherwise, it could be days before you can shift back into your human form. And I’d very much like to discuss a few things with you.”
She studied the human. But his face had the usual cocky-and-nearly-amused expression he almost always had with her. The only time she’d seen him drop it was with his brother, Max.
Or the very brief flash of anger when he’d mentioned her dying.
Her dragon spoke up.I think he likes us.
Before she could reply to her beast, Antony turned and walked out of her sight. Iris wanted to roar and scream. He and Scarlett had told her almost nothing. And now she’d have to sit on her arse or sleep so her body could heal.
And she bloody well hated being idle for so long.
Her dragon spoke up.Sleep. We need to heal, and whilst you might fight it, I know how exhausted we are.
Fine. But let’s hope that prototype works, because I’ll go mad if I can’t get some answers soon.
After turning a few circles on the large bed, she finally curled into a ball and closed her eyes. And as she drifted off, some music played over the speakers. Although how the people running the facility knew one of her favorite bands, she had no idea.
Antony tried to distract himself with paperwork.
But every time he tried to write something, his mind drifted back to seeing Iris in her dragon form, unconscious, her wing bone poking out of her skin. His stomach had dropped, and flashbacks to Lisa’s death had nearly overwhelmed him.
Which was ridiculous, since he barely knew Iris Mahajan. Yes, he liked to tease her. And she was fucking clever, beautiful, and a bloody good tracker.
And yet, for a split second, when he’d thought she was dead, his heart had twisted.
You’re getting too close, Holbrook. You need to put distance between you, more than before, or Iris will pay the price.
At least he’d called in some favors to get her to this facility. Once she healed and returned to Scotland, he’d find a way to avoid her as much as possible.
He’d just attempted to answer the same question for the eighth time when a member of his team, Joseph Doyle, walked through his office door.
The tall dragonman with pale skin, blond hair, and green eyes never smiled unless he was on a job. But he was one of Antony’s best team members, someone who could get information from just about anyone. And all without harsh tactics.
How, he’d never know. Maybe he just stared them down.
Antony abandoned his paperwork and asked, “What do you want, Joseph?”
The man’s Northern Irish accent filled the room. “They’ve finished analyzing that substance you found. It’s a diluted neurotoxin, one that only affects dragon-shifters and not humans.”
“Fuck. It’s like we thought, then. Someone has started using bioweapons.”
Joseph sat in the chair in front of Antony’s desk. “The scientists are still trying to find any kind of signature to hint at who made it. But they won’t be able to do it without help. I want to investigate, but I need your okay to do it alone.”
“No. You have a partner, and per protocol, you go together.”
The other man crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s human and only slows me down.”
Antony raised an eyebrow. “As am I. But who was it that kicked your arse when you tried to attack me, back when you were a teenager and full of far too much anger?”
Joseph grunted. “That was different. You were younger, and I was weaker.”
“Ah, so I’m an old pensioner now,” he drawled. “Good to know.”
“Antony,” he growled.
