Page 39 of Rurik
The words were a punch to Rurik’s gut. “How do you know this? I know of her ties to the Brotherhood, but I swear on my life she isn’t a hunter,” Rurik said quietly. She couldn’t have lied to him, not after the way he’d questioned her. She was chemist, not ahunter.
“You can’t trust your instincts. Your dragon is blinded by desire. Remember what happened to Mikhail five hundred years ago? He got too close to the queen of England and ended up in an English prison for fortyyears.”
Rurik didn’t care for the reminder of their brother’s suffering. He wasn’t Mikhail, and this wasn’t the sixteenth century. He trusted Charlotte. If she said she wasn’t a hunter, shewasn’t.
“I know you don’t want to believe Charlotte could lie to you, but it’s true. Drakor called. He has been monitoring the Brotherhood, something he reminded me I’ve been failing to do. We have to take care of this. We needto—”
“First of all,” Rurik interrupted, “since when do we listen to Drakor? I’ve never trusted that bastard. And second, we can’t do anything.” Rurik closed his eyes and prepared to confess his mistake to his olderbrother.
“I understand, but I trust Drakor on this. This is the Brotherhood we’re talking about. That issue transcends all our rivalries. And what do you mean, we can’t do anything?” Grigori snapped. “We can restrain her and get the truth out ofher.”
“We can’t because Imatedher. She ismine. She’s part of our family now, hunter ornot.”
There was a long silence, so long that Rurik started to wonder if Grigori had hung up onhim.
“Then it is too late. They have what they camefor.”
“What?” Rurik didn’t understand what his brother was talkingabout.
“If you’re mated to one of them, they can control you through her,” Grigori said with a growl. “Think about it. They’ll have a leashed dragon as a weapon now. If you don’t comply, they can use your own mate againstyou.”
“She’s not what you think, brother. I’ll just have to convince her to leave that life behind.” There was no way Charlotte would be used against him, not likethat.
“It won’t be that easy, Rurik. She’s aMacQueen.”
The name was one that sent witches fleeing to their covens, vampires deep into their nests, and werewolves running off to their packs. In the past, the name MacQueen meant death to the creatures in the supernatural realm. It was a name that brought fear and panic, even to dragons, even today. Damien’s grandfather had been ruthless in the1950s.
“How could she be a MacQueen?” he asked. From what little he knew of Damien MacQueen, he couldn’t imagine Charlotte being anything like him. She was sweet, sensitive, and open to trusting someone likehim.
“She’s Damien and Jason’s younger sister. Even if you convince her to leave them, they will come looking for her. And we have no idea of her true purpose in finding you in the first place. They may have trained her as a secret weapon. This bond is exactly what theywanted.”
“What do you suggest wedo?”
“Until we know more, I want Charlotte secured. Act normal and convince her to come back with us tonight on the plane. I’ll slip a knockout drug into her bottle of water. Then we’ll figure out what to do with her. We can’t take any chances. Do youunderstand?”
Grigori was right, and Rurik hated that more than anything. He’d surrendered his heart and soul to a woman who was most likely there to betray him. But the thought of drugging her made him sicknonetheless.
“We will see you at the airport in a few hours. Text me the flighttime.”
“Be careful, brother.” Grigori hungup.
Rurik set his phone down on the table. He was halfway back to his bed when the door chimed. He met the hotel staff member at the door and took the cart from him, slipping him a handful of bills that would tide the man over for at least twoweeks.
Rurik took the tray with the two plates and carried it over to the bed. Charlotte was still sleeping. She started when he set down the tray and lifted the metal lids, sitting up without thinking, and her bare breasts were exposed as the blankets fell away. Rurik had to remind himself that even though she was his mate, he could no longer trust her, couldn’t just take her back to bed, not when he needed to find out if she really was a hunter after all. If she really did plan to betrayhim.
“Eat,” he encouraged, sitting beside her. Only when she was finished did he speak. He cupped her chin, controlling her enough that she had to look at him. “Were you ever going to tell me thetruth?”
Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth but didn’tspeak.
“You are a hunter, and you’re MacQueen’s little sister—two very important facts you left out of your confessions.” He wanted to see if she would deny it. There were flashes of fear in her eyes, but they were tempered by an unexpectedresolve.
“Damien is my brother, but I amnota hunter. I’ve never been a part of the Brotherhood or its mission.” She reached out and touched his chest. He barely resisted the urge to pull away and had to remind himself she was his mate—he shouldn’t want to pull away fromher.
“I’mnota hunter,” she insisted. “Mesmerize me. Make me tell you the truth. Let me prove it toyou.”
Rurik considered it. He could use his power on her, but he didn’t want to. He still wanted to trust her. He also worried that she might have a way to resist him. It was possible hunters had trained themselves against this power. Yet he didn’t think she could be so cold, so heartless to lie to him this entire time. She’d made him feel so happy, so full of hope, and his brother had crushed that joy with a single phone call. How could he ever trust hernow?
He rose from the bed and collected her clothes. “Get dressed. We fly back to Moscow in a few hours.” He couldn’t look at her—it made his stomach coil intoknots.
