Then I catch something else beneath the acrid burn of phoenix fire.
Jasmine and citrus. Lila's scent, faint but unmistakable. Still alive.
The dragon surges with renewed fury. I tuck my wings and dive toward the cliffs, following the trail that will either save her or destroy us both.
CHAPTER 7
LILA
The knock comes hours after Finn left me at Flynn's Inn with instructions to pack and catch the morning ferry.
I'm still at my microscope, still cataloging impossibilities, still trying to reconcile a dragon with everything I know about biological science. The algae samples glow under the lens, bioluminescent patterns that match nothing in any database I've accessed.
"Dr. Mercer." The voice through the door carries authority that makes my spine straighten automatically. "We need to talk."
I cross to the door, hand hesitating on the knob. After watching a man transform into a dragon, after the attack, Finn told me to leave the island—like running would somehow make any of this less real—caution seems appropriate.
I open the door.
Four men stand in the narrow hallway behind Finn. They fill the space with the kind of presence that has nothing to do with physical size and everything to do with barely leashed violence. Predators. Every one of them. The air thickens with tension that raises the fine hairs on my arms.
Finn's jaw is tight, his eyes carrying a warning I don't know how to read. "They insisted."
"The Brotherhood." The man at the front steps forward, and the others shift in response like a coordinated unit. Dark hair, cold eyes, the kind of stance that suggests he's used to being obeyed without question. "I'm Declan. We need to discuss what you saw tonight and what happens next."
My scientist brain kicks into overdrive, cataloging details the way I would studying apex predators in the field. Threat assessment. Behavioral patterns. Survival strategy.
Declan moves with predator economy, each gesture precise and minimal. The authority radiates off him in waves—not assumed, earned through something I don't want to imagine. Alpha. But not the only one in this hallway.
The massive man to his left doesn't fit through doorways without turning sideways. Shoulders like a linebacker, hands that could crush bone, but his eyes carry something thoughtful beneath the raw power. Blunt force wrapped in careful control.
The third is leaner, sharp-featured, with the kind of fluid grace that marks ambush hunters. He watches me with eyes that seem to catalog weaknesses, measure response times, calculate exactly how fast I could move before he struck.
The fourth stands slightly apart from the others, and there's something about him that makes my eyes want to slide away. Shadow and smoke seem to cling to him despite the hallway's electric lighting. Like darkness condensed into human form.
And Finn. Dragon. The one who saved me. The one who told me to run.
"May we come in?" Declan's question isn't really a question.
I step back because refusing five apex predators seems tactically unsound. They file into my small room at Flynn's Inn, and suddenly the space feels claustrophobic. Too many large bodies. Too much concentrated danger. The testosterone andotherworldly energy make the air feel charged, electric, like the moment before lightning strikes.
I retreat behind my desk, putting furniture between us like that would matter if they decided I was a threat. My hands want to shake. I force them still.
"You saw Finn transform." Declan doesn't waste time with pleasantries. "You know what we are."
"I saw something that violates every principle of conservation of mass and energy I understand." The words come out steadier than I feel. "I saw a man become a dragon in the space of a heartbeat, which shouldn't be biologically possible. And now five of you are standing in my room at three in the morning, which suggests this conversation is about threat assessment."
"Smart." The massive man's voice carries approval beneath the rumble. "She's already processing the tactical implications."
"She's terrified." The lean predator tilts his head, studying me like I'm prey that might bolt. "Heart rate elevated. Breathing shallow. But she's staying anyway."
"Because running won't help." I meet his eyes despite every instinct screaming to look away. "If you wanted me dead, I'd already be dead. So this is either recruitment, interrogation, or warning. Which is it?"
Finn's expression shifts, something that might be pride flickering through the dark intensity. His presence fills the corner he's claimed near the window, arms crossed, every line of his body radiating tension. The dragon coils beneath his skin—I can see it now that I know what to look for. The otherworldly stillness. The way he doesn't breathe quite right. The sense that human form is a costume he wears over something vast and terrible.
Our eyes meet across the room, and heat floods through me despite the fear. Despite the danger. Despite four otherpredators watching the exchange with varying degrees of interest.
His jaw tightens. The muscle jumps beneath stubble that shouldn't be attractive when I'm this close to passing out from adrenaline. But my body doesn't care about tactical wisdom. It remembers his hands on my waist, his body shielding mine, the way he moved between me and death without hesitation.
