“Apparently, you do.” There’s a pause. “What’s the plan?”
I scrub a hand over my face. “I don’t think I’ll be able to befriend anyone in time. Do you have contacts at any of the other vaccination centers on the island? Someone who could—”
“I have someone starting at one of the other facilities in three weeks,” Drake cuts me off. “But no one who can do anything in time.” His voice drops, it becomes more serious. “If you don’t make this happen, Grim, you and several others we trust with this will have to get your vaccinations. That means a whole year of living with a feral dragon. A whole year further away from ending the Mainland’s hold on us. By all means, don’t compromise everything, but you have to try a little harder while there is still time.”
I want to be more connected to my dragon. I want to be able to shift without a human controlling me. I want to be free from the Mainland’s hold.
I think about all the others. About everyone on this island. This is bigger than me.
“Fine,” I growl. “I’ll offer her some of my Lucky Charms. There! Are you happy?”
“You’ll offer her… Sorry, what? I don’t follow.” His voice is laced with confusion.
“I’ll try to make friends with Wren,” I sigh. “But I’m not sleeping with her to get my hands on her keycard. I won’t do it. It would be wrong on every level.”
“I didn’t ask you to sleep with her,” Drake says slowly. “You’re the one who has that in your head, not me. Look, I wouldn’t be opposed to you doing whatever gets the job done, but I’m certainly not pushing you in that direction, so drop it already.” His tone sharpens. “Don’t start trusting her, though. The Mainland has spies everywhere. Make fake-friends and get me the information on a couple of doses so that we can swap them out. We’ll figure out the rest. I believe in you.”
The line goes dead.
So does my soul.
Fuck.
I don’t want to use Wren. I think she’s nice. She’s sweet and kind. I don’t think she’s a spy. She doesn’t deserve to be used, and that’s the long and the short of it.
I know I can’t trust her. Can’t trust anyone, really. Especially a human. Not after Jordyn.
This feels wrong, though.
Then again, this isn’t about me. It’s not about her either.
There’s a bigger picture. Thousands of shifters are being given that shit every year. Generations of dragons are being made feral. The Mainland’s control over all of us needs to end.
I actually like Wren, so I won’t be making fake-friends with her. She’ll never have to know I’m using her for access to those vaccination doses.
I just need to find a way to make it happen.
My shoulders relax a fraction.
I need to start trying this weekend. It can’t wait until Monday.
I take a deep breath and turn onto the road that leads to my cabin. For the first time in days, I feel a little better. A little less like I’m drowning.
I have a plan. One that might actually work.
Now I just have to execute it without fucking everything up.
10
Grim
I’m a stalker. An actual bona fide stalker.
I shift in my seat, trying to find a position that doesn’t make my ass go numb. I’ve been parked here since early this morning, watching Wren’s house, and so far, there’s been zero movement.
It’s just after lunch now, and all is quiet on the suburban front.
Her house is small but cozy-looking, tucked into a pretty neighborhood with tree-lined streets and well-maintainedlawns. There’s a closed-in yard out back that I can just barely see from my vantage point, and the front has several flower beds behind a white picket fence.
