Page 38 of Marked By Moonlight

My hackles rose. If I was forced to leave Mina, Clement would make his move fast, and he would probably earn pole position ahead of Bene, Henrik, and Roux.

“Boy, what is it with you?” Mina complained, waving a hand to clear the air of whiffs of acrid smoke.

I pulled out my phone, scrolled to a picture, and held it in front of her. She tensed, staring at the photo on the screen.

Chapter Nine

MARIUS

Mina traced the photo on the screen of my phone with one finger. “Oh. That’s…cute.”

Cute? Another word that made any self-respecting dragon shifter look long and hard at his life choices.

Which I did, but there was no contest — I chose Mina every time. The problem was the threat I posed to her, just by being me.

She tilted her head. “Where was that taken?”

“Mallorca, I think. See?” I zoomed in on the masts in the background.

“Oh,” Mina murmured, reliving that moment, perhaps, as I did.

Having somehow survived a mission in which everything that could have gone wrong did, we had celebrated by taking a quiet moment together while waiting for the private jet back to France. The moon had been full, the sea breeze balmy, and Mina had never felt more perfect in my arms.

“Wait. Who took this?” she asked, slowly catching on.

“Whoever sentthis.” I showed her the accompanying message.

Her shoulders tensed as she read aloud. “Those who love, lose. What the hell?”

My sentiments exactly.

“Anonymous?” she read from the sender’s avatar. “Have you traced this?”

“I’ve tried, but the source is buried too deep.”

She mulled that over, then asked, “Why would someone send this?”

I waited, because it was pretty obvious, and even a mind as free of evil as Mina’s could figure it out.

She gaped. “Someone is threatening you?”

I tightened my arms around her. “They’re threatening meandyou.”

Any other woman would have screeched and run away, but Mina wove her fingers around mine. “Who?”

“Someone who hates me.” I sighed. “It’s a fairly long list.”

“So, list,” she growled.

I shook my head. “The more you know, the more danger you’re in.”

She huffed and wiggled out of my arms. “Ignorance doesn’t diminish danger. And ignorance by choice is plain old stupidity — a choice you don’t get to make for me.”

“It’s not a choice, Mina. It’s a necessity.”

She shook her head vehemently. “Not for you to decide. Now, tell me who you suspect.”

And boy, could she docommandingwhen she wanted to.