Page 32 of Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons #2)
Chapter Nineteen
F inlay Stewart watched as five of Lochguard’s youngest Protectors landed in the Stonefire takeoff area.
His lands might be more isolated than Stonefire’s since his clan’s lands were in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands and safer from outside attacks, but he couldn’t risk sending his more mature soldiers. They needed to look after the clan.
His clan didn’t share the same sense of unity he had witnessed amongst Stonefire’s members. No, Lochguard was far more fractured than he liked, which meant petty arguments and fights broke out on a regular basis. Only his strongest Protectors could keep them in check during his absence.
The former clan leader, Dougal Munro, had done a bloody awful job of keeping the clan together, let alone encouraging them to work together as a unit. If things continued as they had over the past six months, his hair would turn gray in no time.
Finn’s dragon growled and said, Stop it. The past can’t be changed. Work on the future.
If only it were that simple. This threat to Stonefire may well soon be ours, and that worries me.
Gain the trust of our new allies. Then they will help us.
Finn knew that already, but sometimes he still second-guessed himself at winning the right to lead Clan Lochguard.
Half the time he didn’t know what the bloody hell he was doing.
Only through pure stubbornness had he done a halfway okay job so far.
His alliance with Bram Moore-Llewellyn was his biggest win to date.
One by one, his five Protectors removed the satchels tied to their hind legs before shifting into their human forms. The sight made Finn focus back on the present.
His dragon was right—if he succeeded in helping Bram, then the Stonefire leader may help him in the future.
The dragon clans needed to learn to work together.
One day, the British government would stop trying to protect them.
Finn wanted his clan to be ready for that day.
As he walked toward his clan members, who were in the middle of removing clothes from the satchels and getting dressed, his dragon said, Working with this clan also means we can see Arabella again. She is a puzzle I want to solve.
If the rumors are true, then she’s been through hell. I can’t force her to come to our lands.
Make her laugh. That will work.
Finn wondered if that were true. Then Arabella’s dark brown eyes, full of intelligence, caution, and a little sass flashed into his mind. She was somewhat damaged, but he wondered what it would be like for the clever lass to simply be herself. We’ll see. For now, we must help our new allies.
Stopping in front of his five young Protectors, he switched into clan-leader mode and asked, “Did you notice any unusual activity on your flight here?”
The leader of the wing of dragons, Faye, finished tying her long, curly, brown hair back with a hair tie before saying, “No, we were cautious and made sure to backtrack to lose any sort of tail. Care to tell us what’s so urgent we had to fly the long way around to Stonefire’s lands?”
At least they had come when he called. For a short while, Finn had worried about if he were still too new a leader to be trusted at the drop of a hat.
Sure, these were some of his most loyal Protectors, who agreed with his vision of the future, but that loyalty had never really been tested before.
“The Carlisle dragon hunters have more savvy technology than we figured. I couldn’t risk them listening in. ”
One of the other Lochguard dragons, Shay, spoke up. “Why would Carlisle monitor us? It’s the Inverness hunters who are the pains in our arses.”
Finn crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, aye? So you’re the new clan leader then, privy to classified information? I must’ve missed your trials and confirmation. Otherwise, you’re speaking out of turn, lad.”
Shay, a lad of twenty-three and barely out of his mandatory time with the British armed forces, paused to collect himself a second before mumbling, “Sorry, sir.”
Finn nodded in acknowledgment. The lad had been making progress with his temper and the present was no time to castigate him in front of the others. Finn would have a chat with him again later.
He then eyed each of his five clan members in turn. “Look, Carlisle’s leader, Simon Bourne, is someone every dragon-shifter clan in the UK should worry about. He’s stealing dragon-shifter bairns and we think he plans to use them to create his own blood farm.”
Faye said, “But that would take nearly two decades of housing a dragon-shifter before their blood was of any use to the hunter.”
Finn nodded. “Aye, but for a man with ambition, time is just one of the many things they use to their advantage.” After quickly filling them in on Evie’s theory, he continued, “With Carlisle so close, Stonefire is their main target. Bram Moore- Llewellyn needs our help. I’m going to turn you over to Kai, the head Protector here, and you follow his orders to the letter, understood? ”
Faye frowned. “And what will you do, Finn?”
Rather than tell them the truth of how Finn wanted to make sure Bram focused despite the threat to his mate, he merely replied, “I need to touch base with Bram and go from there.” His wing leader nodded and Finn turned.
He said over his shoulder, “Right, then follow me. I’ll give the tour later.
For now, just know that if Stonefire falls, Lochguard will probably be next.
For all intents and purposes, they are your clan for the next day or two. Don’t fuck up and don’t die.”
He hated being a hardass, but the clan was used to Dougal Munro’s almost dictator-like style. It would take time to acclimate the clan to his slightly more laid-back methods of trusting responsible dragon-shifters to make good choices, even without him ordering them around.
As he led his team to the location previously provided by Kai to check-in, Finn’s heart beat double time. The alliance and bringing in his own Protectors to help Stonefire were his first real tests as clan leader. He needed to heed his own advice and not fuck up and die.
“Evie, love, wake up”
Evie vaguely registered Bram’s voice, but rather than answer, she snuggled deeper into her pillow. She was still exhausted from their sex marathon.
Then there was a whoosh and a blast of cool air. She flipped on her back and blinked her eyes open to see Bram holding her blanket in one hand and a mug in the other. Her voice was heavy with sleep when she said, “What the hell, Bram? Will I ever be allowed to wake up on my own?”
“It’s better than a pitcher of ice water, isn’t it, love?”
She grunted. Rather than argue, she sat up and stretched her arms. “I’m assuming there’s a reason for waking me. Is it morning already?”
Bram sat down on the edge of the bed and handed her a cup of coffee. “Almost, but Nikki and Charlie are nearly at the meeting point, where I’ll meet them to bring both females back here. I figured you’d want to be ready before they arrive, and maybe give me a good kiss or two to send me off.”
Evie took a sip of coffee, strong with milk and no sugar, as she preferred. “So through the power of deduction, I’m guessing Charlie is another Stonefire Protector. I didn’t realize there were so many female Protectors, especially given the smaller female population.”
“There are only two in Stonefire, which is more than most of the British clans. Some leaders coddle their females, in the hopes they’ll have more babies. You’ve seen the clan and know how well that would go over here.”
She tucked that bit of knowledge away. “So does this mean Finn’s reinforcements arrived?”
“Aye, which is why I can spare the pair of them to watch over you while I plan with Finn and Kai for Murray’s rescue.”
Doing a double-check, she confirmed Bram’s pupils were still round. “And your dragon is okay with it? Considering his attitude yesterday, I’m surprised you’re so calm at the thought of leaving me behind.”
“My dragon and I had a chat.”
She raised an eyebrow. “A chat? That’s it? I somehow imagine there’s more to it than that.”
A corner of Bram’s mouth ticked up. “Right, then, a very persuasive chat.”
Evie rolled her eyes. “We’ll save the discussion about how a chat with basically yourself can be ‘persuasive’ for later.
Just answer me honestly: can you keep control of your dragon?
If you’re going to help rescue Murray, which I suspect you are, then you’ll need to shift.
The last thing Finlay or Kai needs is for you to be unable to shift back to your human form. ”
Bram leaned forward and kissed her nose. “You’re very blunt, lass. Don’t ever change.”
Evie grinned. “I don’t think I could if I wanted to. You’re stuck with me, Bram Moore-Llewellyn. Now, don’t change the subject and answer my question.”
“My dragon behaved all night, even with me holding you close. With a few secrets cleared between him and me, he’s doing better.”
“Secrets? What secrets? How does that even work?”
The humor faded from Bram’s eyes. “I promise you a lengthy discussion on how the human and dragon halves interact later. Right now, I need to meet Nikki and Charlie. You’ll have about fifteen minutes to get ready.
” He cupped her cheek and Evie leaned into his touch.
“If there’s anything pressing that can’t wait, ask me, lass, because I won’t have time later. ”
In case I don’t make it back alive , was left unsaid. “Just promise me you’ll do everything you can to return to me in one piece.”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I only just found you and I’m not about to let you go.”
Before she could reply, Bram kissed her.
He nipped her lower lip and she opened, welcoming his tongue.
Bram removed the mug from her hand and she wrapped one arm around his broad back and one around his neck.
As he stroked his tongue against hers, she reveled in his taste and warmth.
The thought of never holding him close again only made her clutch him tighter.
With one last stroke and then nip of her lip, he broke the kiss and laid his forehead against hers. “As hard as it’ll be to function without me near, keep Kai and me in the loop about what you find in the data on the laptop.”
“Yes, because my brain only turns on when you’re in the same room. I don’t know what I was doing for the thirty-one years before I met you.”
Bram squeezed her side. “Cheeky wench.”
She fought a grin and lost. “You know you love that about me.”
His gaze became serious. “Aye, that and more.” Bram gave one more gentle kiss before he pulled away and stood.
“I need to leave, but there’s a satellite phone on the kitchen counter if you need to use it, as well as a landline on the small table near the entrance.
The number for my mobile is on the fridge. ”
She nodded. “How long before you return with Nikki and Charlie?”
“If everything goes to plan, fifteen minutes. If not, then a bit longer.”
Standing up, she placed her hands on Bram’s chest. “Be careful.”
“I always am.”
After one more quick kiss, Bram exited the cave dwelling.
Evie was a resilient person; her years working with Clan Skyhunter down south proved that.
Standing alone in the room, however, her eyes prickled with tears.
She put up a brave front for Bram’s sake, but the thought of losing him squeezed her heart.
She might only have known him a short time, but she cared for the dragonman. She hoped they would have a future together.
As a tear slid down her cheek, Evie wiped it away and took a deep breath. “Right, Evie Marshall, crying isn’t going to help anyone. Bram needs information. Work on that.”
She ran her fingers through her hair a few times, picked up her still warm cup of coffee, and moved to the laptop sitting on the kitchen counter.
She wasn’t going to waste another second.
If there was something in the information she downloaded from the DDA database which could save both Murray and the clan, she would find it.