The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons 4)

Grant answered Finn’s question. “A bomb went off.”

Faye bit her lip to keep from laughing at Finn’s frown. Finn replied, “Aye, I’m not an idiot. Did the blast addle your brain?”

Faye jumped in. “He just woke up. Give him a break, cousin.”

Grant said, “It’s okay, Faye. I just wanted to show Finn that he needs to work on his interrogation skills. I may be injured, but I’m still head Protector and have a duty to improve his faults.”

Finn growled. “My faults aren’t important right now. I have you and the other Protectors for interrogation. I can bring Brodie in here, but that requires taking him off his current task. He’s been quite productive with extracting information from our three Dragon Knight prisoners. Are you sure you want me to waste the time to order him to the surgery?”

“The three prisoners are Dragon Knights?” Grant asked.

Faye nodded. “Brodie found that out fairly quickly. However, they’re proving difficult to question when it comes to who gave them the supplies and other resources needed to complete their attack. After all, some of the components we found in the forest were quite expensive.”

Grant spoke again. “And the DDA hasn’t retrieved the prisoners yet?”

Finn responded, “The DDA has been helping to search the area for other explosives. But stop changing the subject. Tell us exactly what happened in the lead up to the bomb going off. Even the smallest detail could be pertinent.”

Faye could tell from the determination in Grant’s eyes that he wanted to ask more questions and give his report later. But he finally relaxed on his bed. “There’s not much to tell. I’m sure the others told you how we found the sack in the loch, aye?” Finn nodded and Grant continued, “Well, I was merely waiting a few hundred yards from Lochguard’s back entrance when it exploded. After that, I don’t remember anything until I woke up here. Did you find out anything about why it went off at that moment? I doubt it was a timer since detonating that part of the loch wouldn’t have cause any damage but would’ve alerted us to the new threat.”

Finn nodded. “Aye, you’re right it wasn’t on a timer. The best we can tell, it had a remote trigger. Someone had to be in the area to know when to set it off. We’re also trying to determine the communications’ range for the device.”

Faye put forth her idea. “Or, it might not be a person at all. The architects could have drones watching us and transmitted the command that way.”

“Bloody drones,” Finn muttered. “The sooner the human parliament creates a law monitoring those devices and implementing stricter restrictions, the better.”

“The DDA director says she’s fighting for it,” Faye answered. “In the meantime, we’re thinking of ways to better paralyze the buggers when they draw near the clan. Alistair managed to work with a few other clan members to rig a temporary signal jammer in the outlying areas.”

“Wait, since when is Alistair working on projects again?” Grant demanded.

Finn motioned toward Faye. “I’ll let her explain it. I have the information I need for now. If I don’t get back to Ara, she’ll have my head. The amount of nappies we have to change is astounding.”

At the love in Finn’s voice when he talked about his mate and children, Faye wished to have the same one day. She wondered if Grant would be just as loving and concerned when it came time for them to have a child.

Her dragon spoke up. That’s twice now you’ve mentioned having a bairn so casually. Could you really modify and change your life around the new responsibility?

It will be a challenge, but I’ve never been one to turn down something difficult. Besides, I thought you’d be on board. It means we get to have sex and you can better assess Grant’s dragon.

Perhaps. We’ll talk more about this later.

Faye waved at Finn. “Go take care of your mate. I can look after Grant.”

As soon as Finn left, Faye put all her attention on Grant. “I should fetch Logan so we can put on your bloody neck brace and get some food in your belly. You’ll never recover on an empty stomach.”

The instant Faye said it, she realized how much she sounded like her mother for a second.

Not wanting to think about that, she took a step away from Grant’s bed. But he reached out a hand and caught hers. Looking at his face, she could tell the action took more effort than he would want her to believe.

“Stay,” Grant ordered.

She tilted her head. “So you’d rather have me sit by your bed and starve than be without me for a minute or two at most?”

“Faye.”

Taking a seat next to Grant’s bed, she said

, “Okay, I’ll stay. Although if you think I’m going to fawn over you for weeks, you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

“As long as you’re there, that’s all that matters.”