Page 63 of The Dragon Recruit
A sliver of panic stabbed her heart. Was she making decisions based on him and not just her own goals?
How far would it go? Would he eventually dictate her life? After all, Iris had once trusted a male to respect her job and position, and that had ended in disaster.
Her dragon spoke up.Stop comparing him to the ex-arsehole, and just talk with Antony. If you start building up walls again, I’ll take control and tell him not to give up.
She resisted smiling.You would, too.
Aye, of course. Now, talk with him. He can never replace me, but I wouldn’t mind sharing with him.
I would never replace you, dragon. Ever.
I know. Iambrilliant, aye?
She mentally chuckled, but finally replied to Antony, “I want to stay and help you and Max. However, you need to promise not to hover or make decisions based on just my safety and no one else’s.”
“I’ll try my best, I promise. But when it comes to you and Max, I’m not sure if I can be as objective as I am with other members of my team.” Before she could ask what he meant by that, Antony added, “Now, let’s share what we each learned today and start adjusting our plans. Once the other teams arrive, I want to be able to debrief and finalize our search of the area.”
“Have the others found anything?”
“I’m not sure yet. We deliberately compartmentalize. Regardless, we need to make sure there’s nothing near Birkwood before moving elsewhere. I don’t want to overlook something and learn later that Zoe and the others were here the whole time.”
At the regret in his voice, Iris knew he’d had a few failures before. Ones that still haunted him.
She reached across the table, gently squeezed his arm, and released him. He smiled, she did the same, and then they discussed everything they’d learned that day.
As they shared information and strategies, Iris wondered if this could be her future—protecting her clan and her kind, all while still having someone to share her life with when she wasn’t working.
She hoped more than she should that Antony was different. And while she wasn’t going to shut him out to protect herself, if he betrayed her, she might just give up males entirely, no matter what her dragon wanted.
Chapter Nineteen
Dragonwomen had started to vanish.
Zoe had been keeping track of who she thought she could persuade to trust her. Every morning, she discreetly surveyed the cells around her, trying to determine who was in the mood to listen to her and maybe change their minds.
Then, one morning, someone was missing. The first female to disappear had been the one who cried all the time. She’d been separated from her son and worried about what had happened to him. She always pleaded with the guards, hoping they’d tell her where the boy was.
She’d been taken to be examined by a doctor and had never returned. The guards had used her disappearance to threaten the rest of them, saying that anyone else who acted up or became a problem would visit the doctor as well.
One other female had tested that theory, wanting any reason to heckle the human guards and spit on them. She’d also been taken away.
And now, days later, neither female had yet returned.
Some of the other prisoners had started to notice the disappearances as well, and rumors ran rampant. Most thoughtthe females had been taken to be killed or impregnated. While their captors might eventually condition some of the females to follow orders and have them shift to draw dragon’s blood, a better long-term strategy was to raise obedient dragon-shifter children and have them shift on demand. Which meant the impregnating route was more likely.
She resisted grimacing. The stories of some of the other facilities running experiments and getting dragonwomen pregnant still haunted her.
What she wouldn’t give to worry about teenagers sneaking off of Lochguard again. It was miles better than trying to think like their enemy.
Her dragon would probably say something like it kept people safe. However, nothing but silence filled her mind.
How did humans endure the isolation?
Her cousin, Rebecca, sat down next to her. She’d been seeking out Zoe more and more often. And while she hadn’t revealed all her secrets—Zoe thought she knew something important, probably learned from Rebecca’s father—she’d reminisced about their childhood.
Today, however, her cousin leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “A third one is missing.”
“Aye. Her mouth probably got her in trouble.”
