Page 138 of Red Fury

“How?” she asks.

“I have people strategically placed to gather information and keep me informed. If the dragon shifters are under threat, then potentially so are we as a species. This is particularly true after this task force was formed. As hard as I try, I may not be able to keep our existence secret forever.”

“And?” I prompt when he doesn’t continue. “How long have you known that Harrison was getting ready to exterminate us?”

“I’ve known for a while now. Ever since he first tabled the motion.”

Shadow’s face has gone pale, and I can smell her fear spike in the air.

Kozlov holds up a hand. “It’s why I stopped supplying arms altogether. I don’t want my people or others like us killed with my weapons. I refuse to supply such weapons to the Mainland government. Ivan took things into his own hands without knowing or understanding the bigger picture. I’m correcting this as we speak. I’ve already informed Webb that I’m pulling out of the deal. It will be difficult for the government to get its hands on nuclear devices through the correct channels. Almost impossible.”

“But surely they’ll come up with another plan?” I say, my mind already racing through scenarios. An army with guns and bombs. Chemical weapons. The possibilities are endless and all of them terrifying.

“My pulling out of the arms deal will buy you time,” Kozlov says. “They won’t be able to come up with a Plan B overnight. There’s always red tape when it comes to government departments. But you won’t have to worry about that.”

I study his face, looking for any sign of deception, but I don’t see any. Either he’s an excellent liar or he’s telling the truth.

“What do you mean by that? Of course we have to worry,” I say.

“You don’t have to worry because I’m going to handle it. Like I mentioned before, when I make a decision, it happens.”

“What do you mean?” I all but snarl.

“You need to understand something.” He looks from me to Shadow and back. “It suited me just fine when dragon shifters stayed on their islands. I was content with not interfering. That is no longer the case. I will make all of your problems go away on the condition that you leave the Mainland and never return.”

Shadow shakes her head. “That’s impossible. I’ll need to return as an agent for the dragon shifters. Especially with everything going on. The long and short of it is that we’re stillunder threat even if you buy us time. Harrison isn’t going to back down. He’s going to find another way.”

“You’re right. He will, but I won’t let him. I will deal with it…I will deal with him,” Kozlov says.

“We can’t trust you,” I tell him bluntly. “Deal with him how? Will you buy him off? Get him fired? What?”

Roman hesitates for a moment, seeming to wrestle with how much to reveal. “I plan on taking him out of the picture permanently. He is dangerous to our kind. It’s as simple as that.”

“And then the person who takes his place could be ten times worse,” Shadow mutters, almost to herself. “Should we just simply trust that you will handle things then, too?” She lifts her brows, not looking too convinced.

Roman smiles. “That is an excellent question. I have someone lined up to take Harrison’s place. We hadn’t planned on mobilizing this soon, but needs must.”

“Who?” Shadow asks.

Roman wrestles with telling us, his jaw working as he considers.

I push him. “You want us to trust you, but surely it’s a two-way street?”

Finally, he speaks. “Fine. General Delport.”

Shadow gasps. “Really?”

“Yes. She’s a vampire,” Roman confirms. “She will look after the interests of all of us. I need to get her in position as soon as possible, and then it will take time for her to change things. Starting with the disbanding of the task force. Your species is currently listed as an active threat. She’ll ensure that you’re reverted to the monitoring category. With Delport in place, we’ll be able to bring more of my people into strategic positions. I’ll soon have the whole Mainland government in my pocket.”

“Why can’t we send people? Surely we can work together?” I don’t love the idea, but neither do I want to leave everything in the hands of this male.

I still don’t trust him one damned bit.

Kozlov’s expression hardens slightly. “I was warned by the Great Elders that dragon blood must never be consumed. This is something I already knew since it was information passed down by my predecessor. I was taken to task by the Great Elders over the auction notice Ivan broadcast all over our networks. They know you are here, and they’re fuming. I now need to fix it, or my head will be on the chopping block. Long story short, dragon shifters and vampires don’t do well together as a species.”

“Let me guess,” Shadow says. “Dragon blood is addictive to vampires.”

Kozlov nods. “Your blood turns a vampire into a thirst-crazed beast. Make no mistake, we are governed by our instincts at the best of times. We have a drive to drink blood that becomes all-consuming after consuming dragon blood. We become insatiable. We lose our minds.”