Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 2)

His strong West Country accent marked him as distinct from the other guards who had brought her food. Simon Bourne must be recruiting nationwide.

Being complacent would hopefully lower everyone’s guard, so Evie stood and blinked a few more times until she could make out the large nose, high brow, and balding blond hair of the guard dressed in black. If she managed to escape, she could look through the database of known dragon hunters. Reporting it would probably do bloody nothing, but it was ingrained in her to memorize details.

Once she was close enough, the guard took her arm and led her down a dirty hallway filled with cobwebs and debris. The building hadn’t been used commercially f

or years and was probably condemned.

After going down one dimly lit hallway and then another, the guard halted them in front of a reinforced door. Unlike back in her cell, the door was new and made of some type of metal.

Before she could think too long about what that signified, the guard rapped on the door. It opened and her ears were bombarded by a weak dragon’s roar.

Her heart squeezed. Oh no. Please don’t let it be Nikki or Charlie.

The guard pulled her into the room and Evie was careful to school her face into a neutral expression. Just in time, too, as they entered a massive cavern of a room. People dressed in either the same all-black outfit as her guard or in white lab coats bustled to and fro. Machines she couldn’t identify, medical equipment, and a bevy of weapons were spread across the room or attached to the walls. Then her eyes reached the far corner and she stopped breathing.

An adult green dragon, female if she were to guess by the size, was locked inside a giant prison cage, a muzzle on her snout and with some kind of band trapping her wings. In addition to the shackles on all four limbs and tail, various hose-like tubes were connected to the main arteries in the neck, forelegs and hindquarters. The dragon struggled to roar above a normal talking voice range. Each one was progressively weaker than the previous.

The sight simultaneously made her want to be sick as well as want to punch every person harming the magnificent creature in the face. What kind of person could put a dragon-shifter through such torture, not even drugging the dragon unconscious to spare her the pain of being drained dry?

She clenched her jaw. Dragon hunters, that’s who. Nothing she’d read in reports in the past could have prepared her for the sight before her. A quick glance told her the smiling and preening hunters in all-black who were watching the struggling beast were enjoying the sight.

Sick bastards. If something wasn’t done soon, the green dragon would die.

Evie tried to recall Nikki’s dragon color, but couldn’t remember it. She had no idea of Charlie’s dragon color, either.

While she wanted to be optimistic, Evie was a realist. Catching a dragon was bloody difficult; the green dragon had to be one of Stonefire’s Protectors.

Each second she stood gawking was lost time to find out what she could about her current situation. While she may not be able to save the green dragon in the cage, there was still a chance she could save the other Stonefire Protector as well as baby Murray.

Tugging on her arm to catch her guard’s attention, she asked, “Why did you bring me here?”

The guard tightened his grip and she resisted a flinch. “Shut it. You’ll find out soon enough.”

After the guard gave one last look at the weakening dragon, he pulled Evie to the corner farthest away from the large beast.

The corner was sectioned off with a light blue curtain. The guard pushed aside the curtain to reveal a glass room. Inside was a sleeping baby with dark hair, in a see-through plastic or glass crib.

Her throat closed up. It was little Murray.

Breathe, Evie. You need your brain or you don’t stand a chance. With one last exhalation, she focused on the details. The room was currently empty of anyone else but the baby. Much to her relief, Murray wasn’t attached to a machine, nor did he have tubes running from his body. She knew his blood was useless at curing illnesses until he reached maturity, yet she had half-expected the hunters to be testing the little one. They still might yet do so, but for now, Murray was alive and even looked peaceful.

As she continued to scan the room for weaknesses, the guard said, “The boss wanted you to see what we do here. The dragon baby is safe for now.” The guard squeezed her arm tightly, and Evie looked at his face. He continued, “Next, I’m taking you to an interview. Remember the brat and the dragon in the corner. If you want the baby and the other dragon to live, nod that you’ll cooperate now.”

She wasn’t about to give up and tell the hunters everything they wanted to hear, especially since they’d betray her at the first opportunity. But, for the time being, Evie bobbed her head to buy herself some time.

The guard turned her away from Murray. “Right, then let’s go.”

As they walked back toward the same door they’d entered, Evie caught a glimpse of the green dragon in the corner. She was barely making any noise at all now, nor was she struggling.

Evie fought back tears. The beautiful dragon, who had most likely been sent to protect her, was dying.

Right then and there, she made a promise to the green dragon. I’ll find a way to expose these activities to the world. Your death won’t be for nothing.

The dragon caught her eye and she swore it nodded at her, almost as if she could hear Evie’s thoughts. However, before she could do anything else, Evie was back in the dark rundown hallway again.

As they walked in the opposite direction to her cell, Evie’s heart pounded in her chest. She’d been angry before, but the sight of the green dragon had made her furious. No living thing should be put through such torture. If the DDA didn’t know about these activities, she would make sure they did once she was free.

And if her supposition about the DDA assistant director, Jonathan Christie, was correct and he was allowing the dragon hunters to carry on with little to no oversight, then she’d reach out to the media. Something needed to be done.