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I really hope it does because I’m not entirely sure that I’m going to be capable of getting hold of it without some sort of help.

Not only am I not a supernatural, but dragons are notorious for how well they protect their treasure, otherwise known as their hoards, and I would be incredibly surprised if Kylen doesn’t consider the necklace a part of his hoard.

A dragon’s hoard isn’t necessarily things like jewels or gold, although for some dragons that is true.

A hoard can be anything, and is extremely personal to the dragon, they protect them with deadly ferocity.

I have met dragons whose hoards have been stamps, mugs, buckles, bottle tops, and my absolute favorite, books.

Coen’s hoard is weapons, all weapons, from all time periods and realms, and I was lucky enough that he showed me a small portion of it.

It was a huge honor, especially since usually a dragon’s hoard is only shared with their true mate, and their other half.

“How are we going to get the necklace off Kylen?” I ask suddenly, interrupting the conversation that the guys were having, which I’m pretty certain I was supposed to be a part of.

It takes them a moment to pick up where my train of thought has come from, but they soon easily switch up the conversation to match me.

“I don’t know, if I’m being honest,” Van replies with a frown.

“We’ve been so busy and focusing on the Choosing tasks that we haven’t really thought about how we’re going to get the necklace from Kylen, it was just sort of left as we’re or rather you are, going to get the necklace from Kylen since you’re likely to be near him more him than we are,” River replies, also with a frown, but this time I think it’s more because of the idea of me having to be that close to Kylen, rather than the fact that we’ve still got to get the necklace.

I nod, “Yeah, it’s just I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to get it. I don’t even know if I’ve got another task with them or not.”

“I think it’s probably likely that you will. We’ve got two days of trials left, so it would stand to reason that one will be with us, and one will be with the Draconian team,” Reed replies.

“I don’t like the idea of you getting that close to Kylen,” Ransom frowns. “We think that he might be trying to kill you, and getting close enough to snag the necklace is going to give him the perfect opportunity to hurt you.”

I frown, “Yeah, that thought had crossed my mind. I don’t know how else we could get away with it, though.”

The guys are all silent for a moment, and I try to think of a way around it.

“The only thing that we could really do is to wait, and not get Coen out now,” Doc says, clearly not liking the idea.

“We could, but I don’t like it,” Raiden says. “He’s suffered enough, and I have a feeling that he’s suffered far more than we realize. I want him out as soon as possible.”

“We all do,” Doc agrees.

“But we also can’t put Neith at risk,” Raiden adds, pushing a branch out of the way with more force than strictly necessary.

An idea occurs to me.

It’s a risky one for sure, and its suggestion will give the guys more of an idea of what I am capable of, and the sorts of things that I have done, but it’s a good idea, and they’re going to find out eventually anyway.

“How much trouble am I going to get in if I murder him?” I ask casually.

The guys all start chuckling, apart from River, whose gaze is intensely studying my features.

“You’re serious,” River says, as a statement and not a question.

His words have the guy’s laughter dying, and they stop in their tracks as they turn to look at me.

Doc raises his eyebrow curiously, while River tries to hide his smirk.

Of course, River was the one who recognized that I was being serious; he is the one who does the torture when it’s needed.

Like tends to recognize like, and my darker side would probably surprise them, especially since they probably think that they have already seen my darker side.

“Are you serious?” Griff asks, more curious than repulsed by the idea, which is kind of reassuring.

I shrug, “Well, the only reason why I’m not one hundred percent certain that I can get the necklace off Kylen is because I need to keep him alive. If I can kill him, then I can have the necklace in my hands in maybe five minutes max.”

The guy’s eyes widen, River’s, Raiden’s, and Griff’s eyes all fill with heat, making me smile and my own curiosity rise.

Interesting.

“Just let me double check that I am understanding you properly,” Reed starts, his eyes beginning to heat with desire as well.

“You aren’t worried because you may die, or because you can’t do it, but more because you can do it, but keeping him alive while you do get the necklace is going to be difficult. ”

I nod, my smile sharp, “Pretty much.”

“Exactly what did you do for HID?” Van asks.

Ransom grins, “Van has a point, we know that you worked for them, and it was the jobs that no one else wanted to do. We assumed that they were dangerous, but what exactly were you doing?”

“Things that meant that I didn’t have to worry about keeping people alive,” I reply, somewhat bluntly.

“I was brought in when no one else could get the job done because the person was either incredibly well protected, or too dangerous for anyone else to want to go near. To be fair, there was only one, maybe two jobs like that. The rest of the experience comes from the fact that the jobs were incredibly dangerous, so it was either them or me.”

I don’t tell them that I did die multiple times, not as many as I did when I was a prisoner of the sick fucker that Coen and Dimi saved me from, but I did die.

Now is not the time to bring up that conversation, and there is a chance that someone may be listening.

That conversation absolutely should not be overheard.

“They put you in deadly situations?” Griff practically growls. “I mean, we knew that, but there are dangerous situations, and then there are ones like the one that you’re describing, where you have no choice and it’s either their life or yours.”

I shrug, “It is what it is, and it’s partly thanks to my reputation with Dimitri, which is why they put me into those situations. You said that you guys knew about the raid at the fight ring, did you not hear anything about me?”

They all shake their heads.

“We didn’t really have many of the details of the actual case. We were brought in as backup,” Reed replies.