Page 28 of Burn for the Dragon
“It’s forbidden, Everly.”
“It’s archaic,” she corrected. She searched his face, looking for a soft spot, but if she was good at hiding her feelings, Hawke was a master. Even from himself. After a pregnant pause, she muttered, “I see.”
Footsteps echoed down the passageway, and Hawke turned his head, breaking the tension between them. Kohl and Devon were coming. Hawke shifted his stance so his back was to Everly and waited for his friends to arrive.
Kohl came around the corner with Devon close on his heels. He looked back and forth between Hawke and Everly. “You okay?” he asked Hawke. “Everything good?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
“Then why does Everly look like she just lost her best friend?” Devon asked. “And why is she being locked away down here?”
Hawke exchanged a look with Kohl before he responded. “Because we need to keep her secure until we know what we’re dealing with.”
Devon looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Hawke spoke up before Kohl could answer. “Everly is a shifter, Devon. A young shifter. Which means she has no control over that part of her nature. And that makes her dangerous.”
“You’re dealing with an intelligent woman, not some kind of animal.”
Her words stabbed him straight in the chest, sharp as a dagger, but he managed to keep his voice level. Because she was wrong. Everly was an intelligent woman, yes, but she was also a threat to him and his family. “I’m not letting her roam free until one of two things happen.” He raised a finger. “One: she goes back to her Thunder. Or, two”—he raised a second finger—“We confirm that she can control her dragon and she’s not a threat.”
Everly walked up to the group. “I’m right here, you know. And have I mentioned that I am an excellent lip reader?”
Devon turned apologetic eyes her way. “I’m sorry, Ev. Why don’t you throw some jeans on and we’ll go get something to eat? Are you hungry?” She shooed her toward her suitcases, not really giving her a choice. After Everly found some pants and closed the bathroom door behind her, Devon turned defiant eyes on the two vampires. “I’m taking her for something to eat.” She held up her hand, halting whatever Kohl was about to say. “We’ll be fine. We’ll tag along with Andrew and Frank. They were about to go get something.” She was already texting as she said it.
Kohl grabbed her around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a quick, hard kiss. “Please trust me on this one and be careful. I’ll catch up with you as soon as I talk to Hawke.”
She smiled. “We’ll be fine.”
He released her, and with a withering look at Hawke, she grabbed Everly and left the two of them alone.
Hawke exchanged a look with Kohl as they listened to the female’s footsteps fade away. He knew what was coming, and it was nothing he didn’t fucking deserve.
Kohl stared after Devon for a long time, his hands fisted at his sides, before he finally turned to Hawke. “You fucking slept with her, Hawke? What the hell were you thinking?” The words burst from Kohl like water breaking from a dam. “And I thought you said she wasn’t a shifter? You swore she wasn’t.”
Hawke shoved his hands into his hair. “You didn’t know, either,” he told him. “There was no way I could’ve known. She showed no signs up until tonight. She doesn’t even smell like a shifter!”
Kohl rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign he was riled up. “Because she hasn’t changed yet. No one could tell I am what I am until I changed the first time.”
Hawke stared at his friend. “You were younger than she is when you first shifted, and the signs were there long before that.” He started pacing the small space. “How can we not sense it? Smell it? And she’s fucking deaf! How the hell is this possible?”
“I don’t know.”
His words barely penetrated as Hawke began to pace in agitation. “Dragons, or any supernatural creature, don’t have defects. Ever. How the hell was I supposed to know?”
“Maybe because her brother is a dragon?” Sarcasm dripped from Kohl’s voice. “Maybe because you didn’t want to know? Maybe because you wanted to fuck her first?”
Hawke’s hand was around Kohl’s throat before the last word finished leaving his lips. “Don’t you fucking talk about her like that.” He was beginning to wish he hadn’t filled Kohl in on what he’d found at Parasupe. Or rather, who.
Kohl stood his ground, his face turning red from lack of oxygen, and stared Hawke down until he released him with a soft curse.
Kohl took a deep breath, exhaling loudly.
Hawke met his eyes.
“It’s forbidden, Hawke.”
Hawke was suddenly tired. His head fell forward until his chin rested on his chest. “I know. Why the fuck do you think I brought her here?”
