Colton frowned as he listened. The man hesitated.
"I'm telling you, Nita. The resort doesn't put time limits on the equipment for you rich people. And we don't have any cowboys working for us."
Another pause as he listened.
"Yeah, she's still secure. Are you coming down here or what? I didn't sign on to be no babysitter."
Pause.
"Just hurry up, Nita." He ended the call and went back into where Ellie was.
Colton replayed the entire scenario. His eyes widened as he figured out Ellie's expression. Nita was her friend. And from the pain he'd seen, her betrayal had cut Ellie deep.
He moved back over to the door where Ellie was just getting warmed up.
"How do you know Nita?"
"Nita, who?"
"Come on, Phil." Good, now Colton knew the guy's name. "I saw her picture pop up when your phone rang. Why did Nita call you? Did she pay you to kidnap me?"
Phil was obviously uncomfortable about the whole situation. "Let her talk to you."
"She's not here, but you are. First you're seeing dragons, now my best friend is calling you. What the hell is going on?"
Colton pushed the door open. "Good question."
Ellie jumped up from the chair to run to him. The expression on her face now made his heart burst with joy. "Colton!"
Before Colton could move, Phil grabbed her around the middle and put a small knife to her throat. "Oh, no you don't."
He could read the fury in her eyes. "You don't want to do this, Phil."
"I'm just supposed to keep you here until Nita says otherwise. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."
Colton's brow rose. "No, I don't believe it is."
"You stay back, dragon boy, or your lady friend here gets it."
Ellie met his eyes. "Are you a dragon?"
Colton weighed his options, but with a knife to her throat, there was really only one. "Sometimes you have to see it to believe it."
Chapter Twenty: Piecing it Together
Ellie Dampier
With wide eyes, Ellie blinked and where Colton had stood, now a deep green dragon had replaced him, his wings tucked up on his back. The room was large and had plenty of open space, but with a dragon standing in it, it suddenly seemed much smaller. While she wasn't an expert on dragon expressions, she knew this one didn't look very happy.
She felt Phil stiffen in shock behind her, and with practiced ease from mandatory self-defense classes, she pushed his elbow to knock the knock away from her throat at the same time that she leaned forward and then smashed her head back against his face. She felt his nose pop from the head butt, and she twisted away from him as he fell to the ground. She sent the knife skidding across the floor and up underneath a cabinet.
In awe, she approached Colton. "A real-life god damned dragon." She raised a hesitant hand but stopped. Colton leaned his snout forward to touch her hand, and she ran her fingers down his scales.
"You are a dragon."
Colton snuffed her on the neck, which made her giggle. She walked down his side, her hand trailing along his side. His whole body trembled from her touch.
"I slept with a dragon."
