Page 47 of Hidden Fate

Vlad tilted his head. “You want to leave them with us.” He wasn’t asking a question but stating a fact.

“Yes.” Uther nodded toward the Tahoe, and his gaze met Thorn’s before he continued, “Jerry and Gemma”—he pointed at the man and woman in the front seats—“brought them here so they can stay with you. We’re asking you to protect them and hide them with you. They can’t protect themselves—that’s why Drake’s leverage is so effective.”

Saphira shook her head and huffed.

Cassidy crossed her arms. “You can teach them to fight. You don’t need us for that. For gods’ sake, you three are warriors.”

“Training won’t help.” Gemma closed her eyes. “If Kari could handle it, I would’ve trained her alongside me.”

Then it clicked. “They’re injured.” My gaze swooped to the back seat, looking for signs. Narrowing my eyes, I saw how Reece had gotten out of Kari’s grasp—Kari had a deformed hand. I didn’t see anything different about Reece or Chandra, though.

“In the womb, you took most of the nutrients, and that’s why Kari has that injury.” All my premed classes were churning in my mind, highlighting info about twin pregnancies.

Gemma frowned. “Yes.” Then she opened the car door and stood.

“That’s not surprising, especially since it’s hard for dragons to get pregnant. We definitely aren’t built to carry twins.” Cassidy lowered her gun. “In fact, I’ve never heard of twins before.”

Neither had I, but that wasn’t saying much.

“Chandra—my mate—her tail was injured when she first shifted by one of her thunder members. It was an accident.” Jerry glanced over his shoulder adoringly. “She’s fine unless she needs to move quickly.”

This was heartbreaking. Just because these people were a little different, Drake considered them to be disposable and insignificant.

My attention kept slipping back to the little girl with the kind eyes and gorgeous blond hair that made her irises brighter. “What about Reece?”

Uther sighed. “She has a limp.”

She was so young. Now my brain flicked through medical reasons for an uneven gait. Unless someone had done something to hurt her. My blood heated at the thought.

Uther bit his bottom lip. “Her mother, mywife, was human. Tashya struggled throughout the pregnancy and died giving birth. We had to cut Reece from her womb.”

My mind flashed to Emily and baby Thorn. If my mate hadn’t changed Emily and the baby had survived, he might have been in a similar state. “I’m so sorry.” Reece had been so right when she’d said that her mom had protected her. Her mom had given up her life for Reece.

“But you aren’t from the kingdom’s lands.” Errol released his hands and paced a few feet away. “How did you get involved with Drake?”

“It happened when he turned eighteen and started visiting the thunders.” Uther rolled his shoulders, his attention flicking to his daughter, whom he could see through the front windshield. “He had an ulterior motive—he was trying to get an idea of the region-wide average age of our population to see if there were other weak dragons like”—he lifted his hands to do air quotes—“a ‘useless’ dragon who lived near the château. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that, so when Reece ran out with her limp, we thought nothing of it. But he took notice immediately. When he told a warrior to grab her for questioning, I interceded and took the guard down. That was when he made the deal with me: come work for him, and Reece would be safe.”

Tyson snarled, fire trickling from his mouth.

What Uther had said was horrible on so many levels. The “useless” dragon Drake had referred to must have been Tyson. And to consider killing a child? That was even more unforgivable. I hadn’t thought I could think worse of Drake, but I’d been proven wrong…again.

“Similar story happened to us.” Gemma leaned against the hood of the Tahoe. “Drake zeroed in on Kari’s hand like it was a beacon.”

That wasn’t abnormal. People tended to focus on things that were different.

I believe them,I connected. I needed to know where Thorn was with this decision. His emotions were all over the place. He wasn’t as angry anymore, but he hadn’t put away his gun, either.

Me, too.Finally, he lowered his arms and scanned the group.

Tyson and Saphira both seemed more relaxed, but they weren’t budging, and I was thankful to have them here in dragon form. If something happened, they’d be extremely helpful.

Now we needed to see if Uther would deliver on his promise. “You said you had information for us?” I pressed.

Even though Vlad had let Uther go, he hadn’t moved away, and his gaze kept flicking around the group, searching for any signs of dishonesty or threat. I’d learned that about Vlad—he was always on guard. I suspected Cassidy getting kidnapped had stripped him of any sense of comfort he developed over the years.

“I do…wedo.” Uther gestured at himself and the others. “But we need you to promise you’ll protect our loved ones first. That they can go with you.”

Our group glanced at one another. This was less than ideal, seeing as we couldn’t talk about it before committing. This was a big ask. We’d be taking in three more people, and we were already struggling to stay hidden.

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