Page 21 of The Dragon Recruit
“Sometimes. But young Protectors need it, especially their inner dragons.”
“Hmm, maybe in the future, you can help train them in the British Army. There’s a major general who owes me a favor.”
“Wait, I didn’t ask for?—”
He stood and waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s the future. For now, we need to focus on finding out who created this bioweapon and determine if they sold it to one of your enemies or released it themselves. And fast. Because if not, there will be a lot of dead dragon-shifters.”
Iris thought of her clan, of everyone laying lifeless, and she blurted, “Do you really think they’ll try to commit genocide on my people?”
“I don’t know. When people are angry or struggling, it’s easier to blame someone else than to accept any responsibility themselves. And for far too many, they blame their troubles on the existence of dragon-shifters. It’s preposterous, of course—there are many more humans in the world than dragons. And yet, I’ve been doing this long enough to know some people truly believe dragons are hoarding gold and jewels, laughing at the humans barely surviving, and are merely waiting to take over the world.”
She studied Antony, looking for signs of weariness or cynicism or any other emotion to highlight his grim words. And yet, his expression was neutral. “How long have you been doing this, exactly?”
He waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s for another time, my dear. You and I need to leave by nightfall. That’s only a few hours away, and we have far too much to do. So, follow me.”
Even though she wanted to push, there were too many people relying on her to help Antony and the others, so she kept quiet.
However, Iris’s mind buzzed as she followed Antony out of the room and down the hall. She itched to open the folder she carried, read everything, and get to work.
And yet, if this assignment really was as dangerous as Antony thought, she needed to leave something behind for her parents. Just in case.
Her dragon yawned and spoke up.We’ll make it through.
Aye, I think so, too. But just in case, we’ll take a few minutes to record a message. Mum will never get a son-in-law or any grandchildren, but I can at least give her a proper goodbye.
Her dragon fell silent, too silent. And she didn’t like it.
But as they arrived at the room with the recording equipment, Iris focused on the message to her parents. And for good measure, she did one for her sort-of friends, Cooper and Brodie.
By the time she finished, she was more determined than ever to succeed. To date, this would be the most important mission of her life. And she wouldn’t fuck it up, no matter what.
Chapter Eight
Cooper sat across from Finn Stewart, the Lochguard clan leader, and hoped the other Protectors could handle everything without him, given everything going on. However, if his clan leader had wanted an in-person meeting, then it had to be important.
Finn nodded in greeting and said, “I know you have a lot on your plate right now, aye? But Dr. McFarland finally learned the identity of the woman we found. And aye, I asked her to keep it quiet for the moment, even from you. Because the human’s case is delicate and will require cooperation between clans.”
He frowned, Finn’s words piquing his interest. “Delicate, how?”
“Well, we’re going to have to go behind the DDA’s back.”
Cooper sat up straighter at that. “Okay, now I’m curious. What’s going on and who is this female?”
“She’s been here before, with some of the children’s plays, the human and dragon ones. Her name is Mariana Barlow.”
He tried to place the female’s face, but there had been quite a few humans at the event, and Cooper’s focus during the plays had been to ensure everyone’s safety.
But if she had come for the play, that meant she had at least one bairn. “I don’t remember her, but what do you need?”
“She needs help, but I can’t appear to be the one doing it. She needs to ‘visit’ Stonefire, but I don’t want to know any of the details of how or who helps or any of that, so I can have plausible deniability with the DDA. But her ex-husband was the one who beat her and left her for dead, so she needs protection. The human government hadn’t wanted to give her any, thinking her ex wasn’t enough of a threat.”
Cooper clenched his fingers into a fist. “Aye, I’ll get her there. But if she was at the play, she has a bairn, right?”
“Aye, two. Her ex-husband threatened to flee with them to Northern Ireland, where his mother is from. I don’t know if he’s done that yet, but just in case, this situation gives me a chance to work with the new Northcastle clan leader, Adrian Conroy.”
Adrian had taken over the clan from Lorcan Todd not too long ago. Cooper had met Adrian when he was still a Protector for the Northern Irish clan, but the male had shared little about himself. If he remembered right, Kaine Ferris had taken over the head Protector job. And even though he already had a mountain of responsibilities, Cooper said, “I can reach out to Northcastle’s head Protector, too.”
“No, no, don’t worry about that. Like Iris and the others, he’s on a mission that shall not be mentioned. For now, focus on Lochguard and picking someone you trust to watch over Mariana whilst she’s here.”
