Page 14 of So I Dared a Dragon (The Mating Game #6)

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. . .

Aarix

“What the hell were you thinking?” Magnus grunted between gritted teeth as soon as Bibi took Calista home. “You should’ve never painted those scales on her.”

“It was a bold move.” Luca shook his head. “Our ancient mating tradition. Not that a non-dragon could pick up your powers, of course.”

“I got caught in the moment.” I wouldn’t apologize. Luca was right—it was bold, which was exactly my intention. “Someone’s stalking my mate, and I need to send a message loud and clear that I’m here and there will be hell to pay if they harmed even one hair on her head. “But it water paint. Nothing permanent. And she doesn’t know our traditions.”

But fuck, had it ever looked good on her. So many nights I lay awake in that mountain prison, dreaming what Calista would look like as a dragon after she’d left her sweet scent lingering on my pillow. She’d have those fiery scales all over her body, her nipples shining with the same coppery hue. Her wings were as red as her hair. Tonight was the closest I’d get to that reality. I’d savor it as long as I could.

Tina waved us forward. “We call this the hive, because it’s always buzzing with activity.”

“What’s our plan?” I asked. “It’s been a long time, but we have security experience.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow but thankfully kept his mouth shut. Last time I was in charge of anything, it had had a disastrous ending. I wore my bad choices like a weight on my shoulders. Had I learned anything about protecting those I loved in those centuries of captivity?

Tina’s skeptical gaze scanned over us. “Bibi had already given the team all the information we had about the note. The investigation is underway.”

She pushed open the doors and led us into the hive. It was aptly named, a dark, rounded room, filled with screens and computers. A few workers tapped at their keyboards and studied the results. A bookshelf overflowed with thick binders, next to a corkboard with various photos, maps, and clippings pinned to it.

I had to wonder if this would’ve been what our intel center would’ve looked like if we’d had access to the same equipment.

Magnus bumped against me. “Your girl could be putting all these people in danger.”

I growled, and everyone turned to see smoke come out of my nostrils. The last thing I wanted to do was fight with Magnus. He was a brother to me who’d stood by my side during the darkest days. How could he think of Calista as a bigger threat than the Night God?

Or he’s speaking up this time , my dragon said.

Or he wanted me to walk away from her.

“This is impressive.” Luca had broken away from us and had pulled a thick binder off the shelf. “There must be a multitude of threats in the area if you’ve amassed this level of intelligence.”

Tina twisted her lips, like she was wrestling with what to tell us. “We pride ourselves on being prepared, because when reality TV serves a plot twist, things can hit the fan. Not sure if you’re familiar with that metaphor, but basically, a mess can break out of nowhere. We like to think this gives us adequate warning. Ancient shifters have made a statement this season, and we’ve pivoted every time we’ve been challenged. It’s far from perfect, but it makes for a hell of an episode.”

“Is Bibi coming back?” I didn’t love that she’d left, and I felt safest with Calista by my side. But there was no way we could fully investigate with her here. We needed to be able to talk plainly, explore all options, and narrow down our suspects.

I hoped none of them were in this room.

Marissa appeared with two steaming mugs in hand and handed one to Tina. “The coffee station is fully stocked. Something tells me it’s gonna be a long night.”

Tina nodded and took a sip, but I didn’t miss the concerned look she gave Marissa.

“If you know something, now’s not the time to hold back,” I said. We may have added a layer of complexity to this team’s job with our unexpected arrival, but it couldn’t have gone any other way. Calista belonged to me.

Marissa shrugged in response to Tina’s look. Tina was obviously the senior producer in this situation, the one in charge when Bibi wasn’t here. The woman had a no-nonsense attitude that I could learn to appreciate.

“Okay, I’ll be completely candid with you, because it doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend everything is going as planned.” Tina set down the mug and pushed her shoulders back. “Calista’s a security nightmare. She’s pissed off more shifters than we can count, because we’re never sure she’s telling us the whole truth. Every time we talk to her, more details magically emerge. The Montana pack—which is where Calista and Bibi hail from—have been on our watch list the entire time we’ve worked on the show. They’ve caused trouble for many packs, including the Colorado Ranch pack who are major sponsors of this show. Full disclosure, I’m Colorado Ranch pack. Bibi has aways insisted she can handle whatever they try to throw at us. There have been some situations that were mitigated without her knowledge. While our fairy dragmother prides herself on having her fingers in every pie when it comes to this show, realistically, she can’t do it all. It’s the security team’s job to make sure she can concentrate on what she does best—making the magic happen in front of the camera. But since Calista arrived, things have been getting more serious.”

Magnus made a low, grunting sound. It didn’t matter that his instincts were right. It was most important that we found who did this and made them stop. I’d keep asking questions until I understood what rules I was being asked to play by, and then I’d make sure those bastards didn’t win.

“What do we know specifically about the threats that have been directed toward Calista?” I asked.

“Everything with the latest incident looks like business as usual, which is why the delivery was brought to her trailer with no questions asked,” Marissa volunteered. “We work with both the delivery and the gourmet gift shop regularly. There was no reason for any suspicion, and of course, the note was sealed. Both companies are closed for the evening, so we’ll have to wait until morning to get details about the order.”

I didn’t understand. “You just said it would be a long night, but we have to wait for morning to get details?”

“For those details,” Tina corrected. “We’ve been monitoring other threats, so there’s plenty to keep us busy.”

“Doing what?” Magnus motioned to the humans perched in front of the monitors. “Watching TV all night?”

“If that’s what you want to do, we can make you some popcorn and you can get cozy,” Tina countered. “Or we can send you out to the mountains to see it for yourselves.”

“We’re headed inside the mountains?” I asked. There had to be a catch. All the sudden Tina was willing to give us what we’d been told was nearly impossible? It couldn’t be that easy.

“To the mountains,” Marissa corrected. “But if we need to go inside, we will.”

“Who is ‘we’?” Luca asked.

Tina shook her head and pulled her phone out of her pocket. The screen lit up as she swiped her finger across it.

“I had a feeling it would be an interesting night,” the voice on the other end of the call said when she answered. It was deep, unfamiliar, and sounded like a shifter. Probably a wolf, since they were plentiful on the crew. “It’s always a crapshoot to have the first date of the episode on a full moon.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but that voice was right. It had been so long since we’d been able to fully bask in the sun and moon’s cycles that of course they’d have an effect on us. It was probably the reason that I’d painted those scales on Calista’s arm.

I cursed myself. I couldn’t let outside forces make me put anything in jeopardy.

“Oh, Hugo, always the hopeless romantic.” Tina grinned at the screen.

“No, I still have hope.” He sighed. “Is Bibi there?”

“She and Calista have gone home—"

There was no missing his growl.

“But I have Aarix, Magnus, and Luca with me. You haven’t met them face-to-face yet, but you signed off on their background checks before we started the episode. They’ll be very interested to hear what you’ve been working on.”

Hugo cleared his throat. “Since you arrived and claimed there might be more dragons underneath the mountains, I’ve been watching those areas closely. We’ve always seen activity there, but I’d only closely examined under threat of attack. Thankfully, that means a lot of that area hasn’t been closely monitored. But I’ve put together a heat map. I can send you a link.” There was a pause and a pinging noise. “There are some hot spots, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”

One of the workers pulled up the map that Hugo sent over onto a computer. The screen showed a fairly accurate topography of the mountains. There were blobs of color on it. Some small ones were blue and green. Red and orange were more plentiful, little blips moving through the area and a steady pace.

But the spot on the screen the worker tapped on, like he wanted to make sure it was real, was yellow, almost white, and much larger than the others.

There were a few other smaller white-yellow spots, clustering around that larger one.

Tina’s eyes widened. “Can you tell us what these hot spots typically represent?”

“Sure. It’s picking up on areas that have heated objects that are not part of the land. Usually, it means an animal is passing through, and we’ve used this technology to track down shifters that have posed a threat to the show. Shifters tend to run warmer than animals or humans that only have one form—we theorize that’s because their bodies need the extra energy for transformation. But these spots are registering temperatures much higher than what we’ve seen for wolves, lions, or bears—which are the most common in these mountains. It’s registering far warmer than even Lars.”

I looked at the guys, and their faces lit up. There was life in those mountains. “Have those hot spots moved at all since they registered on your map?”

“Very little,” Hugo said. “They’re in a remote region. Typically a lot of snow cover this time of year. Heat like that elevates the avalanche risk, and it hasn’t been safe to send any of our team out there.”

“We can get out there,” I said. “Are you coming with us?”

Tina’s and Marissa’s mouths dropped.

“How?” Hugo said. “We’re more resilient as wolves, but there are limitations.”

“You fly in with us.”

“I…probably shouldn’t.” Tina drew away. “It sounds like an adventure of a lifetime, but I’ve got two littles who will be up at the crack of dawn. And as executive producer, I need to stay here in case we need to send out a bigger team, depending on what you find.”

Marissa turned to Bjorn. “You should definitely go with them. It’s close to the bear reserve. And you have the cameras.”

“Is that your way of saying you’re staying here with me?” Tina chuckled.

“Yes. Let it be known the idea of going dragon hunting terrifies me.” Marissa’s cheeks pinked. “You don’t have to go, babe. But if one of us goes, it makes more sense it’s you.”

“I’m in,” the big bear shifter said with confidence. “Hugo, are you coming with us?”

“Damn straight.”