“Give her time,” Ian advised with a quirk of his lips. “This had to come as a huge shock to her, and she has a very real, and well founded, fear of male dragons. But tell me, now that you clearly have your memories back, why did you come here looking for us? I know you didn’t mean Cammie harm, but you had to have come for her.”
“I was working undercover, so to speak, for a dragon who was looking for her. I’d taken suppressants so Ivan couldn’t tell I was a dragon, which is why I got amnesia to begin with. Apparently they suppress things like accelerated healing, as well. I never had any intention of giving Ivan info on Cammie, but… well, I guess I should mention my shifter gift is seeing the future. I saw Cammie, and I knew from the vision she was my mate, so I came here—” he broke off, paling.
Pacing, he tried to force air into his suddenly frozen lungs. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten his vision from this morning, the one that was the cause of Cammie figuring out what he was.
“What?” Ian asked, concern in his voice. “Something just scared the shit out of you. Did you have another vision?”
Shaking his head, Alex searched for his voice. “No. I just remembered the vision I had this morning. I can’t believe it slipped my mind. But Cammie saw my eyes right after I had the vision, and knew I was a dragon, and with everything that happened after—”
“Slow down and breathe,” Ian told him, grabbing Alex’s arm to halt his frantic pacing. “First of all, it really would have been better for you if you told her before she found out on her own. Second, what was the vision?”
“I was planning on telling her last night—fuck, who cares? My vision was of Ivan, in a car that was passing Eagle Creek’s town limits sign. He’s coming for her, and she’s fucking out there somewhere with no clue about the kind of danger she’s in.”
Ian paled. “And these visions, they’re absolute?”
“Not always,” he replied with a shake of his head. “They can change if the person changes their mind after I have the vision. But Ivan wouldn’t change his mind about this. He’s been trying to capture a female dragon for years. Nothing would stop him from finally achieving his goal.”
“Okay, is there a timeline we’re working with here?”
“No, it varies. Sometimes the visions can come true months later. Sometimes it’s within hours.”
“Fuck. Okay, let’s go look for her,” Ian said, heading back toward the forest.
“Shouldn’t we tell the others, get them in on the search, too? We can’t let Ivan get his hands on her.”
Ian shook his head adamantly. “Not while my daughter’s here. I need both fighters protecting her if evil is headed this way. I’ll call the guys at Red Moon. See if Shelby can stay with them and free up the boys.” Pulling a cell phone out of his pocket, Ian dialed a number and had a brief conversation with whoever was on the other line. Hanging up, he said, “They’re on their way to pick her up, and then all of us can look.”
Nodding, Alex looked around, frowning as he realized where they were going. “I looked at her special spot a couple hours ago. She wasn’t there.”
“Not when you looked but she could be now. It’s worth a shot.”
They fell silent as they made their way to the clearing by the creek, Alex hoping against hope she would be there. A hope that was swiftly dashed when they arrived and she wasn’t in sight. He walked to the middle of the clearing, hooking his hands on his hips as he hung his head in defeat.
Frowning as something caught his eye, he leaned down, blood icing in his veins as he caught sight of a dart in the grass. Even before he raised it to his nose and inhaled, catching a hint of her blood on the tip, he knew it was used on Cammie.
“Alex.”
More dread filled his system at the urgency in Ian’s voice. Turning, he looked at Ian, cursing when he saw the syringe he was holding up. Swiftly moving to where Ian stood, he reached for the syringe, handing Ian the dart in return. Seeing a small amount of liquid still inside, he pulled the plunger out carefully and sniffed. The pungent aroma of the contents hit his nose, and he cursed.
Turning to Ian, he said, “This had the same fucking suppressant I used to take in it. I’d recognize that smell anywhere. I just don’t understand how they got close enough to inject her with it. She’s too fast.”
“I can answer that,” Ian replied grimly, holding up the dart. “I tasted the tip. It was coated in a special tranquilizer developed for shifters.” Alex’s eyebrows twitched as he shot a look at him. Ian noticed, and shrugged. “I’m not getting into it right now, but trust me, it exists. And this dart was coated in it.”
“Fuck, Ian! What are we going to do?”
“Right now, we’re going to head back to the house,” he replied calmly, though Alex could see the poorly hidden worry and panic in his blue eyes. “How long ago were you here?”
“I came through here a few times, but the last time was about two hours ago,” he answered as they started walking swiftly back to the house.
“And you didn’t notice the dart or syringe then?”
Shaking his head, Alex exhaled. “Of course not. I would have found you immediately. I’m positive I would have seen them then, too. I paced all over the clearing each time I looked there.”
“Shit. Two hours isn’t the best timeline for figuring out where he took her, because they could be anywhere by now, but it could be worse. We’ll figure it out, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
“There’s no need. I know where he took her. I worked at his compound for almost a year.” Coming to a halt in the yard, he turned to Ian. “But I can’t do this alone. I might be a dragon, but I’m a computer geek. I’m trained in stealth, but I never trained to fight until I came here. I know I can take Ivan down in dragon form if I can get to him. But I need help fighting my way past his goons.”
Ian nodded. “You got it. Where are we going?”