“Dude, I don't know you people. Why would I help you?”
“Because it's the right thing to do. We heard you were a hero to your people. You must have morals.”
“I was a firefighter. I put out fires before they could hurt anyone.”
Enor burst out laughing.
Valen glared at him.
“What? Don't you see the humor in that? The Dragon King not only mated a human—he mated a human that puts out fires. An enemy of his magic.”
“I'm not an enemy of his magic.” I rolled my eyes. “He puts out fires too. That's how we met. I was working a job, and he appeared. Then he put out the fire we'd been battling for over a week.”
“Yes, but that's different. He controls the fire. He doesn't fight it. He simply tells it to stop.”
“Whatever, man. He doesn't have a problem with what I did. And I don't have a problem with his magic. I know fire and so does he. That makes us compatible. The Dragon Goddess herself thinks so.”
“It's still funny.”
“Enor, enough.” Valen waved him back. “Antagonizing the Duke will not help us.”
“He's not going to help us willingly. I say we use a more aggressive type of coercion.”
“No!”
“Been done already.” I laid down and crossed my hands over my belly. “Torture doesn't work on me. Once you go that route, I'll be set against helping you. It will be a moral imperative.” I looked over at Valen and grinned. “I'm not helping people who resort to torture. Period.”
“You see?” Valen waved a hand at Enor. “Now you've made things worse.”
Another of the men came closer. “Your Grace, I am Bregar. I assure you, we don't want to hurt you. Please, just describe these weapons to us. That's all. And then we will release you. Your mate is turning more and more savage with every passing minute. He cannot track you under the spells we've cast. Don't you want to end his torment?”
I clenched my teeth. Kaspian had been scared that morning. Had he sensed that I was in danger? And now, all of his fears had come true. He had to be going insane. The only evidence of my capture would be a broken teacup. No one had seen Enor fly off with me. I was supposed to be secure there. But we had let the enemy in through the front door. Even worse, Kas and I brought him in.
My first pet and he ended up being a bat man with a grudge against my man.
“I've seen Kaspian react to people threatening me.” I turned my head on the pillow to look at the winged men. “It wasn't pretty. I don't care what you've done to hide us. Hewillfind me, and youwilldie. Screaming. Although, the screams are generally short.”
That got to them. Even Enor looked spooked. I was bluffing. I didn't know if Kas would be able to break through their spells. Hell, I didn't even know he could track me before they mentioned it. Was it a magical link that he followed, or did he follow my scent trail like a bloodhound? I had no idea. But they knew. And whatever Dragons did to find their mates, it must have been impressive. Because they were worried.
“What will happen when the spells wear off?” Enor asked.
Valen drew him away from the cell. “What do you mean?”
They dropped their voices to a whisper, but I could still hear them. I pretended that I couldn't.
“When the magic runs its course, will the scent trail return? Could he follow it from the castle?”
Several of the men hissed.
Guess they hadn't thought things through. I wasn't all that surprised after they argued about when to take me. These guys had gumption and magic, but not much in the way of brains.
“Fuck!” Enor growled. “We've got to get him talking now! We have days at best. And Dragons can follow trails that are weeks old.”
“A week,” Valen corrected. “I believe their limit is a week.” He looked around.
The others shrugged.
Maybe they didn't know as much about Dragons as I thought.
