The Drake looked at her for a long moment, then nodded his head a single time.
“I will go,” he told Bobbi. “But I will be watching. If any of them threatens you, I will come out.”
“They’re not going to threaten me—they’re here to help,” Bobbi promised him. “They’re friends.”
The Drake nodded again and then he began to shrink and change until suddenly she was standing there with her arms around Dragon’s broad shoulders instead of encircling the Drake’s long neck.
“Fuck!” she heard Commander Baird mutter. “Never seen one of them change in person. Fucking fast.”
“They are indeed.” Commander Sylvan sounded calm. “Hello,” he said, nodding at Dragon, who was completely naked, since he had incinerated his clothing when he shifted. “My name is Commander Sylvan. I’m the Head of the Kindred High Council and I have come to take Dr. McClelland home.”
“You mean Bobbi?” Dragon looped an arm around her waist protectively. Bobbi was still standing on the couch, which meant he was only a little taller than her. “You can’t have her,” he said, glaring at Commander Sylvan. “She’s mine.”
“So fucking possessive!” Baird murmured.
“Drake Kindred always are,” Sylvan said calmly. He looked at Dragon. “Are you bonded to her? Is she your mate?”
“We are going to be married tomorrow,” Dragon said, lifting his chin belligerently. “As I said, she belongs to me.”
“She belongs to herself,” Sylvan said gently. “Females are not property to be bought and sold and owned.”
“I don’t care what you say—you can’t have her!” Dragon’s arm tightened around her waist. “If you try to take her, you’ll be sorry!”
“Like these Saurian males were sorry, I’m sure,” Sylvan murmured, surveying the room with its many corpses. He looked at Bobbi. “I’m afraid you’ll have to help us, Dr. McClelland,” he said. “Drake Kindred are exceedingly possessive of a female they have Claimed. You’ll have to convince this warrior to let you go.”
“Never!” Dragon’s arm around her tightened even more and he glared belligerently at Sylvan. “We’re getting married tomorrow—the ceremony is all arranged!”
“Dragon, listen to me. Listen.” Gently, Bobbi tugged at his chin until he finally looked away from Sylvan and Baird and focused on her. “Dragon,” she said, when he was finally looking at her. “We can’t get married tomorrow. Think about it—your Drake has killed Komendant Vizlar and Rep. Yariz and Zerlix. Your poor mother isn’t going to be up for a wedding tomorrow. The Clan is more likely to be holding a triple funeral instead!”
Dragon’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t call her my mother—she was never that. She agreed with Vizler’s plot to have you killed and she knew the truth about how he killed my real parents—I’m sure of it.”
“Nevertheless, she raised you,” Bobbi said gently. “And I’m sure she loved you, in her own way. But I don’t think you can go back to her now—or go back to the Crimson Blades Clan. Not after what happened here tonight.” She nodded at the bodies scattered around.
Dragon looked like he wanted to protest, but then he looked at the bodies and nodded.
“You’re right,” he said heavily. “There is no place for me in the Crimson Blades Clan anymore—no place on Saurous, for that matter. Where can I go?”
“You can come to the Mother Ship,” Commander Sylvan offered. “Though I will ask that you keep your Drake under wraps due to safety concerns.”
“Bobbi has told me about the Mother Ship,” Dragon said slowly. “She said there were many of my kind—many Kindred—there.”
“Have you never known your own kind, then?” Sylvan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He was orphaned at an early age and then adopted by one of the Saurian crime families,” Bobbi explained quickly. “He’s been living here on Saurous, barely ever seeing any other mammalians, let alone Kindred, until now.”
“Is he the one who brought you here?” Commander Sylvan asked her. “The Orniths of Avria Pentaura told us that most of the raiders in the party that took you were Saurian but that there was one mammalian amongst them.”
“Yes, Dragon brought me here.” Bobbi nodded. “He kidnapped me, to be honest. But he was trying to protect me from his adoptive Saurian brother who was a real jerk—not to mention a Sadist.” She nodded at Zerlix’s charred corpse, which was still smoking. “And then we got to know each other better and better and fell in love,” she admitted.
“Hmm…there’s a lot to unpack there,” Commander Sylvan said neutrally. “Dr. McClelland, are you familiar with a term the humans have coined called ‘Stockholm Syndrome?”
“I am and believe me, I’ve thought about that a lot,” Bobbi said seriously.
“She has told me about it, too,” Dragon growled, glaring at Sylvan. “And believe me, that isn’t the reason we love each other. I admit I started as Bobbi’s kidnapper but I am also her protector!”
“Look, we can talk about it more on the Mother Ship,” Bobbi said. “For right now, can we please get out of here?”