The Dragon Guardian (Lochguard Highland Dragons 2)

Fergus remained silent a second before answering, “Aye, I promise. But if he attacks you or anyone from the clan, he’s fair game.”

“That I can live with,” Gina stated.

Fraser opened one last door and they entered a room decked out with high-tech equipment—flat screens, touch controls, and a lot of gadgets and buttons she didn’t recognize. There was a male and female dragon-shifter manning stations toward the front, but despite looking like siblings with the same black hair and blue eyes, neither one of them were familiar. She’d just have to trust Fraser and Fergus that they were trustworthy.

Then Gina’s eyes fell on the video of the dragons beating their wings in the sky in several V-formations.

Fergus pressed against her back. “Well, lass? Are any of them with BroadBay?”

Scrutinizing the dragons for any familiarities, she finally answered, “I don’t think so.”

Fraser spoke up. “It’s probably the traitors, then. I’ll let Grant know.”

Gina held up a hand. “It still could be them. I’ve only seen a few members of Clan BroadBay in dragon form.”

“Aye, well, we know the bastard isn’t there, nor is the clan leader since we do have a picture of Steven Roberts on file. It’s a start. I still need to tell Grant. Any and all information will help.”

As Fraser went to the front, Gina leaned against Fergus’s side. She murmured, “Is it wrong of me to hope it’s the traitors and not the American clan?”

He hugged her tightly against him. “No, but it’s a bit early to be celebrating. For all we know, they might be working together.”

She raised her head. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I might.”

“I know your work is classified and I never would ask for you to put your clan at risk. But is there anything at all you can tell me? Please, Fergus, if they’re coming for me and my baby, I need to know.”

Fergus stared down at her. One beat passed and then another. Finally, he replied, “There has been some chatter about British dragon-shifters talking with American-sounding ones over the last few days. While all of the witnesses are human and might have misjudged if the subjects were indeed dragon-shifters, I’m not about to dismiss it so casually. Neither has the DDA.”

“Will the DDA help us?”

Fergus sighed. “I don’t know, lass. Part of Finn’s mission on Stonefire was to convince them to help us concerning you.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Aye, Finn’s in England to try and secure your future here.”

~~~

Keeping Finn’s true purpose from Gina had nearly torn Fergus in two. But his cousin’s line of reasoning made sense—offering a safe haven before a deal could be made was foolish. Gina had suffered so much already and Finn didn’t want to raise her hopes only to dash them. So, Fergus had agreed to keep the secret.

Gina turned to face him. “But Finn never asked me if I wanted to stay.”

His dragon snarled in the back of his mind, but Fergus ignored it. “My cousin is fairly good at reading people. Was he wrong that you wanted to stay here?”

Fergus’s heart skipped a beat at Gina’s silence. He refused to believe Gina didn’t care enough for him to stay.

Or, had he yearned too much for a mate that he’d constructed the image inside his head?

No. Fergus knew Gina cared for him.

His dragon growled. This is why we needed to tell her we love her. Your caution may have cost us our mate.

You’re wrong, dragon. Saying the words too soon would’ve spooked her.

His beast huffed. We’ll find out soon enough.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait much longer. When Gina answered, her voice was strong. “You know, that’s why I wanted to talk with him, actually. And also why I was so irritated that he kept canceling.” She stood on her tiptoes and whispered, “I didn’t want to give you false hope until I knew my future.”