Page 36 of Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons #2)
Chapter Twenty-Two
B ram sat down across from Olivia, whose hands and feet were chained to the metal desk in front of her.
Her restraints were made of hardened steel.
If she were to shift, the steel would break her human wrists before eventually snapping.
Despite her daft move of working with Neil Westhaven, the lass was clever enough to stay in her human form.
With the entire Protector team on the watch, she would never escape with broken arms and legs.
He studied her a second. Her heartbeat was only slightly faster than normal and she wasn’t fidgeting. Given the female had been quite temperamental as a young adult, he had no doubt the change was because of Neil.
Bram reached out to his dragon. Help me question her. I need our dominance combined to make both halves submissive.
It will be difficult. Olivia’s dragon is strong for a female. I will try.
You’re supposed to be oh-so-strong, cocky one. Just help me.
His dragon rumbled a not-quite-happy yes. Bram fixed his stare on Olivia and said, “Tell me about Neil.”
Olivia merely replied, “No.”
Bram channeled his inner dragon and forced every bit of dominance into his voice he could muster.
“I’ll ask one more time, lass, before I alert the clan about your activities.
Your parents wouldn’t take kindly to everyone knowing their daughter is a traitor.
” Olivia’s posture gave way a bit. At least, she still cared for her parents.
He continued, “You were found near Carlisle when you were supposed to be in Wales. Tell me why.”
“I want guaranteed protection first.”
The idea of protecting a traitor didn’t sit well with him, but Bram forced aside his disgust in order to do his job. “I need something to go on first, Olivia. And I won’t ask again.”
As they stared at one another, Bram allowed his dragon to come and go into his mind. His eyes flashed between slits and round pupils. Olivia’s bravado faded as her shoulders slumped further. She was about to give in.
He raised an eyebrow and the female said, “I was supposed to meet Neil, but the Protectors found me before he arrived.”
“Why were you meeting him?”
Olivia shook her head. “I gave you something. I want guaranteed protection. The dragon hunters will hunt me down once they hear I was alone with you.”
“You’ll just turn your back on Neil, without so much as a backwards glance?”
“Neil was offering me power I could never obtain here, and that’s no longer an option since I’m sitting alone with you. Simon Bourne will see it as a betrayal and a threat to be eliminated. My life is more important than protecting Neil’s.”
Olivia’s words pretty much confirmed the suspicion about a traitor in the clan. Bram didn’t like Bourne taking such an interest in Stonefire.
Eyeing the dragonwoman across from him, he needed to proceed carefully. He wasn’t about to pamper a traitor, yet he wasn’t about to lie to her, either. He said, “Even if I grant protection, you’ll still be kept under house arrest.”
“Again, I will be alive.”
And she’ll bloody try to find a way to escape. Still, every minute he spent garnering meaningless reassurances from Olivia was another minute the dragon hunters could be harming wee Murray.
Bram folded his arms over his chest. “Fine, you will be guarded but just know if you shift and try to escape, you’ll be taken down and handed over to the DDA. Come to think of it, step a fraction out of line and I’ll hand you over to the DDA. I don’t give second chances to traitors.”
Olivia nodded. He had a feeling she’d break that promise before long, but he merely said, “Then tell me about Neil’s connection with Simon Bourne.”
She hesitated a second before she answered quietly, “Neil has formed a tentative alliance with Simon Bourne and the Carlisle hunters. He feeds them information in exchange for money and protection from the local human authorities. It’s how he’s remained off the radar since you banished him last year. ”
He nodded. A dragon-shifter without a clan was usually taken into custody by the DDA until a clan would accept him or her into their fold. “What was your role in all of this?”
“In exchange for information about what was happening here, I received payments. My goal was to relocate to Romania, where dragon clans have more power over the local authorities.”
His dragon piped in. She wishes for the old days, but the old days were filled with death. Controlling humans only makes them want to kill us more. Working together is better.
Bram agreed, but didn’t have time to argue dragon-shifter history with his inner beast.
He raised an eyebrow. “What sort of information did Neil, and by extension, Bourne, ask for?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “What you’d expect—weaknesses on our borders and patrol; notification of clan gatherings; any sort of discord that could be used to weaken the clan’s unity.”
“Stonefire has the strongest bond amongst all British dragon-shifter clans.”
“That was before the human DDA inspector showed up. On the drive back here from Carlisle, one of the Protectors mentioned you claiming the human as your mate. If Neil or the Carlisle hunters find out about that piece of information, it can be used against you. Not everyone in the clan will approve their leader passing up the dragon-shifter females for a human.”
The bloody young Protectors and their mouths. He would mention the slip-up with Kai. After a chat with him, they’d think twice about gossiping in the future.
Bram moved his hand to the table and tapped his fingers.
“Here’s what else you’re going to do in exchange for protection.
” Olivia made a sound of protest, but he ignored it and continued, “I never said I wouldn’t ask for more demands.
You’re going to dictate everything you know about Neil and Bourne, as well as what knowledge you’ve passed on.
One of the Protectors will stay until you’re finished, with another in the room ready to call the DDA if you refuse to help.
If Kai and I are satisfied with the results, I’ll extend protection.
If not, then I will hand you over to the DDA. I suggest you cooperate.”
Before Olivia could make any sort of reply, Kai burst into the room. The worry on his head Protector’s face stopped any reprimands. Instead, Bram stood up and asked, “What happened?”
Kai motioned with his head toward the door. “Not in here.”
A sinking feeling gathered in his stomach. Kai was usually calm and collected under pressure. The worry on his clan member’s face meant something awful had happened.
The instant Bram shut the door behind him, Kai said, “Evie and the others have been taken.”
Bram’s dragon pushed to the forefront of his mind. I told you we should have protected her. We must find her.
I need information first. After shoving his beast aside, Bram said, “Tell me what happened, and quickly. My dragon is not happy at the moment.”
“Well, Nikki reached out via the secure line, supposedly because Evie had found something in the data. But before the human could come on the line, there was a mini-explosion, some fighting, and talking. Since the phone line was still connected, one of my Protectors was able to decipher the faint conversation.”
Bram put more pressure against his dragon’s invisible prison to keep him restrained and bit out, “And?”
“Evie was a clever human, and she tricked the attackers into admitting they were Carlisle hunters.”
His clever lass. “Olivia didn’t give me anything about the location of Bourne’s headquarters, and I doubt she’ll be able to. Has Zain found out anything new from the dragon hunter we captured?”
Kai nodded. “Yes, he managed to extract some locations in exchange for protection for the hunter. Everything is already in motion. Since Evie is your mate, I need to know if you want to come with us when we leave.”
Bram’s dragon roared. Of course we will go. I will channel my anger to rescue her. The hunters won’t stand a chance.
Unless they bring out the laser guns.
I will be careful.
Bram focused back on Kai. “Let me call Tristan and a few others first so the clan isn’t leaderless when we finally leave.
I’ll meet you in my office in twenty minutes to hash out the details.
Also, find someone you trust to take Olivia’s statements.
If she refuses to cooperate, lock her away and call the DDA once all this mess is sorted. ”
Kai nodded and left Bram alone in the hallway. As much as he wanted to roar along with his inner beast, he forced himself to remain calm. Anger would hurt Evie. He needed his brain to save her.
Even if he died trying, he would save his mate. Simon Bourne and his dragon hunters were going down.
Evie looked around her windowless room for the millionth time and let out a sigh.
The room, quite simply, was a prison cell with just a bed, sink, and toilet.
Oh, and a faulty, occasionally flickering fluorescent light overhead, which made her think of bad horror movies.
Hopefully, she’d avoid a similar fate to the victims in those movies.
No one had taken her in or out of the tiny room since she’d regained consciousness. Despite watching the guards and their movements whenever they brought meals, she had yet to find a way to take down the armed guards, let alone devise a plan of escape.
She also had no idea of what had happened to Nikki and Charlie.
While Evie didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious after drinking the bitter liquid from the vial back at Bram’s hideout, it wouldn’t be much longer before the effects of the mandrake root and periwinkle wore off the two Protectors.
Once Nikki and Charlie could shift, the hunters would drain them dry.
If Bram or his Protectors didn’t find them in time, the two dragon-shifters would die.