The Dragon Guardian (Lochguard Highland Dragons 2)

“We can discuss that later. Right now, you need a midwife. Luckily for you, my sister-in-law is a bloody good one.”

Fergus took out his mobile phone. Before he could dial, she grabbed his wrist. “I’m warning you, Fergus. If the person you’re about to call will take away my baby, then I’ll use my secret weapon to stop you.”

Gina reached into her pocket with her other hand and closed her fingers around the precious tube of ground periwinkle and mandrake root. The substance had cost her a small fortune to obtain, but it was the only way to incapacitate a dragon-shifter. Not only that, it would prevent him, or her, from shifting for several days, too.

She had purchased it in case Travis, or anyone from Clan BroadBay, came after her. But she’d use it on Fergus if she had to.

Fergus lightly brushed a finger down her cheek. His touch helped to ease some of her tension. His voice was gentle, yet firm, when he murmured, “Holly won’t try to take your child, lass. But you staying here in this cottage, on your own, is going to be a problem.”

Gina’s heart rate ticked up. “Does that mean you’re going to turn me over to the DDA?”

He shook his head. “No. But I do think you should come back to Lochguard with me.”

Clan Lochguard was the only dragon-shifter clan in Scotland. Gina had been trying to find out information about them for months, but still didn’t know much about them since the locals viewed her as an outsider. All she had were the tidbits she’d learned from her grandmother before she’d passed a few months ago.

She wished her grandma was still alive. Marjorie MacDonald had spoken highly of some dragon-shifters being good. Maybe it had included Lochguard’s leader.

But her grandmother was dead and Gina needed to sort the situation out herself. Gripping the vial in her pocket tighter, she gathered every bit of strength she had and made her voice strong. “I’m not agreeing to anything until I talk to your clan leader.”

“You do understand that I could call the DDA right now and hand you over to them.”

“And do what? I could just as easily report you stalking me for the last few weeks. The locals may not care about you lingering on human lands, but the DDA does.”

As they stared at one another, Gina wondered if she’d pushed too far. Especially since if another pain came, she would be completely at Fergus’s mercy. He could easily retaliate.

But then he smiled, and her fears eased away as he spoke up again. “A lass who uses her brain. I must admit I like it.” Fergus waved the mobile phone in his hand. “Let me call my sister-in-law. After that, I’ll call my clan leader and see what I can do. However, it’s entirely up to Finn to refuse a meeting. You understand that, don’t you, lass?”

“My name isn’t ‘lass.’ It’s Gina.”

Fergus grinned. “Right, then, Gina. Same question.”

The thought of living under an unknown dragon clan leader’s rules didn’t sit well with her. The dragon clan leader in Virginia, of Clan BroadBay, had determined that Gina’s child belonged to BroadBay. His solution had been for her to visit the US Department of Dragons Affairs office in Washington, D.C. to sign a contract to hand over her child after it was born. When Gina had missed her appointment with the US DDA office, BroadBay had put a price on her head.

It was then she’d decided to run to where her grandmother lived, near Loch Shin. Memories were long, and despite keeping their secrets, many of the locals had helped Gina settle in without blinking an eye after her grandmother’s passing. One of the few things they’d mentioned recently was that Lochguard’s leader, Finlay Stewart, might be a leader they could reach out to and work with. From what she could tell, Clan Lochguard was nothing like BroadBay.

While maybe not the best decision, Gina would take a chance for the sake of her child. She could always reevaluate her options later. “Go ahead and call the midwife.”

Fergus dialed and put the phone to his ear. Gina only hoped she hadn’t made another poor choice. The past year had seen too many of them.

~~~

Waiting for Holly to answer, Fergus studied Gina MacDonald. For a human, she had quite the backbone. Even with labor possibly looming over her, she had stood her ground to get what she wanted.

He wondered how such a lass could end up in the wilds of Scotland alone and pregnant with a dragon-shifter’s child.

However, before he could think too much more on it, his sister-in-law, Holly, answered, “Hello?”

Fergus replied, “Holly, I need your help. How fast can Fraser bring you to the northwest shore of Loch Shin?”

“As much as I always want to help you, I need more details than that before I commit to anything.”

He frowned as he studied Gina’s face for any signs of pain. Luckily, the lass hadn’t cried out again. “I have a human here who is pregnant with a half-dragon-shifter child. She’s had some pain and I’m concerned.”

Holly sounded confused. “Lochguard doesn’t have any humans currently pregnant. Even Stonefire only has one, Samira James, and I talked with her and Dr. Sid about thirty minutes ago. Who is this human?”

Fergus’s dragon growled and he sent soothing thoughts to his beast as he lowered his voice. “If you trust me at all, Holly MacKenzie, then save your questions for later. All I know is the human is very pregnant and she had some pain in her lower abdomen.”

Holly answered, “Okay, but I’ll bring Layla with me. She’s free right now.”