“You’re involving yourself. Putting yourself in danger.”
I roll my eyes. “Roman is not going to jump through the screen, Connor. All I’m doing is messaging him back.”
He grinds his teeth. “I don’t like it.”
I push past him. “It will be over soon.”
I stride back into the living room with my dragon mate hovering behind me and lift the screen. After logging in, I navigate to the message that says to be ready. With four dragons looking over my shoulder, I type:Please, Roman. I can’t stay a prisoner here any longer. I’m going crazy. Please tell me you’re coming soon.
“How’s that?” I ask.
Remus rubs his chin. “Tell him you don’t know how long you’ll have access to Messenger. If you don’t respond, it’s because you’ve been caught or are dead.”
“Good idea.” I add that to my message and hit Send.
We wait. The three dots appear.
“Jesus, that’s fast,” Seb says.
“It’s his personal phone.”
The message comes through: Can you reach the southern border of the property at 4pm tomorrow?
I’ll try,I respond.
“Fuck,” Connor says behind me.
“What? What’s on the southern border?”
“The lake. And it’ll be the damned hardest to defend,” he says.
“Why?” I ask.
Ellison gives me my answer. “We need for Roman, or whoever he sends for you, to touch ground on dragon property in order to be justified in taking them prisoner. Water is neutral territory. If he comes by boat, we can’t do a thing unless he docks and comes inland.”
“Hmm. Then for this to work, I’ll have to lure him to shore somehow.” I’m about to share some ideas I have to do just that when my body is yanked out of my seat and thrown over Connor’s shoulder.
“Meeting adjourned,” he grits out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CONNOR
No one says a word as I haul Fiona to our bedroom, but the look Ellison shoots me is pejorative to say the least. His eyes roll toward the ceiling. I don’t give a fuck if he thinks I’m wasting his time. Some things are more important. I close and lock the door behind us before lowering her from my shoulder.
“What was that about?” She shoots daggers at me, hands on her hips.
“You’re still not getting this.” I reach for the hem of her sweater and start to pull it over her head, but she stops me.
“Oh, I get it. You think just because we’re mated that you can control me. You think you own me now. Well, I have news for you, Aries.” She says my sign through her teeth, like my possessiveness is strictly due to my star sign’s propensities, and pokes a finger into my chest. “No one decidesfor me but me.”
Rage heats my blood. “So you’d endanger yourself just to prove your independence from me? This has nothing to do with me being an Aries, Fi. It has to do with me loving you. What kind of man would I be if I dangled you for Roman to snap at? Why would you want me to treat you like that?”
She waves a hand. “No one is dangling me. We’re devising a plan. It’s not like I’ll be anywhere alone. There are four of you to keep me safe.”
“I don’t trust him anywhere near you. If he touches you, he dies.” No part of me would hesitate to separate Roman’s head from his body if he came within an inch of her. I hate the fucker because he’s a leader of the Order, but when I think about his hands on her, my intentions go beyond hate. I want to rip his throat out.
“Oh, look at you, throwing threats around like he can hear you. Roman doesn’t care about your threats. If he did, he would have already responded to your ultimatum. The only person he seems willing to talk to is me. So if you want answers about Lucy’s death, you’ll swallow your pride and let me help you!” Her voice is sharp, her eyes full of fire.
