Page 34 of Claim the Dragon
There were so many answers he could provide or he could’ve just pushed past all of them and went to his suite to get dressed, before going to search for Ravyn.
“She’s from my dream.”The words came softly and Steele knew it was too late to take them back.
Magnum held his gaze, seeing something Steele knew none of the other Drakon would see.
“Let’s get back to the house.Shola is with the woman now, so she’s safe.You can get dressed and we’ll meet in the conference room.”Bleu was always the voice of reason.Or rather, his rich gravelly voice was that of the oldest Drakon Watcher that Steele had ever known.
“Yeah, I’m tired of staring at your ass,” Reese quipped and jogged past him, heading toward the mountain.
“Ten minutes, Steele.That’s all you get.”Theo said the words and turned to walk away.
Bleu looked at Steele.“You will have to answer to him.”
“He doesn’t control me,” Steele countered.
“There you are wrong.This isn’t about control.It’s about the emperor you swore your allegiance to and the rules you agreed to follow.If there was a good reason to break those rules, so be it, we’ll deal with it.But you will give him the respect of telling him such reason and then you will do whatever is necessary to fix what you may have started.”
The older Drakon left and Steele and Magnum were alone.
“You can’t save her,” Magnum said solemnly.
Steele tensed.“I can and I will.”
He started to walk away but was stopped by his brother’s next words.
“She’s not Opal.”
“Get your hands off me!”Ravyn yelled and yanked free from the grasp of the woman who’d stopped her from running in the opposite direction of the mountain fortress she’d seen.
She had no idea where she was, but wherever it was, everything was larger than life.The trees seemed taller and greener.The creek seemed more like a lake, with water running faster and clearer than any she’d ever seen.The little bridge she’d run over was made of wide wood planks and had thick railings on the side to keep someone like her who was running like a maniac from toppling over and landing in the water.And the house that had been up ahead as she’d skidded to a stop at the end of that bridge was big and tall like a fortress.
Well, to be fair, it was a freakin’ mountain.Like the soaring up to the sky until its tip looked like it was actually kissing a cloud, type of big.There were curving steps and glass doors and higher up were windows that looked like they had burst from the jagged rock.If this were a picture in a book she’d have been intrigued.Up close and personal something told her it wasn’t a place she wanted to be.
And when she whirled around after pulling her arm free, it was to see another woman a few inches taller than her with the greenest eyes and spiked blonde hair.
“Stand down, Ziva,” another woman said.It was the first one who’d grabbed her before and she spoke with an accent that sounded a lot like Steele’s.
The woman called Ziva didn’t move and neither did Ravyn.She’d tucked her dagger in the back band of her jeans and had pulled the purple T-shirt she wore down to cover it while she ran.But she was ready for whatever this Ziva person might have a mind to dish out.
“I said stand down,” the other woman continued, and this time stepped up to place her hand on Ziva’s arm.
They were starkly different, the woman with the accent was shorter, more compact and controlled, while Ziva, the taller one, had a distinct edgy look in her glowing green eyes.
When Ziva finally stepped aside, the other woman came closer to Ravyn.She locked her fingers together in front of her and stared.
“I am Shola.My husband Theo and I welcome you to the Office.”
“What the hell is the Office and where is it?No, I’d rather know how I can get out of here, if you don’t mind.”Yes, she sounded rude, and in a rush, because she was.This wasn’t where she was supposed to be.And what she’d seen before and after coming here, she didn’t believe.Shecouldn’tbelieve.
“She’s hysterical.You want me to calm her down?”Ziva asked.
Shola didn’t bother to look back at Ziva, whose tone clearly said she was ready for some type of physical interaction.
“I want her to tell me what her name is and if there’s anything we can do to make her comfortable,” Shola said in answer to the question.
Even though she really wanted to get out of here, she couldn’t dismiss the fact that she liked Shola’s voice and her eyes.They didn’t glow like Ziva’s, but were brown with red flecks.Her hair, a stunning afro, looked as soft as Steele’s locks felt.
Steele.
