Page 24 of Burn for the Dragon
“That was my friend, Kohl. The one you met the first night at The Caves.”
“Kohl?”
“He’s a dragon shifter…among other things.”
“A dragon…”
“Shifter. Yes. He has two forms. Like a werewolf.”
“I wasn’t seeing things.”
“No, honey. You weren’t.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“It has everything to do with you, because it’s what you are. You are a shifter, too, Everly. A dragon, by the looks of it.”
She pulled her hands from his, staring at him in horror for a moment before she yanked his shirt tightly around her body to cover herself and walked away. “That’s impossible.”
When he followed her, she wouldn’t look at him, refusing to listen to any more. He ducked down and tried to catch her eyes, and finally took her gently by the chin until she met his gaze. The fire was gone, replaced by icy fear.
“It’s not possible.” Her tone was pleading. “Please, tell me it’s not possible.”
“Everly, Parasupe has your brother because he’s a dragon shifter. Like Kohl. Like you.” He was a fucking idiot not to think about the connection as soon as she’d told him the male he saw in the lab was her brother. Or, maybe he just didn’t want to think about it because, like the ass he was, he was too worried about getting his cock wet. “And if they have your brother, they will find out about you, especially if you’ve been sniffing around alerting them to your existence.” She pulled her chin from his grasp but didn’t walk away this time and continued to read his words. “You can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time until they come for you.”
“This is my home, Hawke. I have a lease.”
“You’re gonna break it.” The words came from nowhere, but once said, he said it again, because he sure as hell wasn’t leaving her here by herself. “You can’t stay here.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. And you will.”
But she shook her head. “I have an alarm system. I’m perfectly safe.”
“Do you seriously think that people who have the facilities to catch people like your brother and keep him caged like an animal would care about a simple alarm system? You should see what I had to go through to even get onto their property without being detected. They’ll get past your alarm, Everly. I can get past it. Easily. Any burglar half worth his salt would be able to get past it. You can’t stay here alone.”
He watched as the truth hit home. “Where will I go?”
“With me.” The words were out before he could stop them. What he’d meant to say was ‘somewhere safe’, or ‘to a friend’s house’. But, yes. It was the perfect plan. Dragons and vampires did not co-exist, Kohl being the exception. No one would look for her there. She’d be safe at the coven with Kohl leading it. And this way, they could keep an eye on her. Maybe even find out where the rest of her Thunder was located and why she wasn’t with them.
He would tell her later about the laws forbidding them to be together. Right now, he needed her cooperation so Parasupe didn’t get their claws on her. He would deal with the repercussions from the coven later. “Please, honey. I need you to come with me.”
“What about my stuff? My furniture? It’s all I have, Hawke. And some of it is special made for my…” She waved a hand in the direction of her ears. “My disability.”
“We’ll bring everything you need. I’ll come back with some of the guys and we’ll move it all to the caverns. And don’t worry about your lease. This place will be waiting for you when it’s over.” His chest ached at the thought of bringing her back here, and he had the sneaking suspicion it had nothing to do with her safety and everything to do with the fact that now that he’d had a taste of her, in more ways than one, nothing and no one else would satisfy him.
She looked around and sighed. Then rubbed her forehead. “Okay. Okay. Let me pack a few things.”
He gave her a quick kiss, unable to help himself. “Thank you.”
Her mouth twisted unhappily. “Where am I going?”
“With me. You’re coming to stay with me.”
Chapter 12
Everly followed Hawke into The Caves. She felt incredibly underdressed in her pajama pants and sweater, but she hadn’t thought to put on anything else. She hadn’t thought about anything at all the entire way over here. Her mind was completely blank. A self-defense mechanism, perhaps.
