She sighed. “At least it’s beautiful here.”
“Aye, that makes up for it, for sure. I remember living on Lochguard, and whilst I longed to go back for years, I no longer do. Finn is nice, and he’s trying to repair things, which I appreciate. And aye, he would probably take all of us back, if we wanted. However, there’s something about Seahaven that just feels like home now, chilly wind and all.”
Since Emily had never really felt at home anywhere since childhood, she merely smiled and took in the sea and the buildings of the clan. The walk to Euan’s house took about five minutes, and after knocking, she was guided into the living room. Emily blinked at who was there.
She’d met Antony and Iris in the past, although more times with the former instead of the latter. Although now that they were mates, Emily suspected she’d be seeing more of Iris in the future.
Antony grinned, walked over, and took her hand. Like in the days of old, he kissed the air just above it. “Dr. Davies, it’s always such a pleasure.”
“Um, sure.”
Iris shook her head and pushed Antony aside. “Thanks for coming, Emily. There’s something we need to talk to you two about. So, sit down and we’ll get started, aye?”
It was then Emily noticed Cam in the corner, near the small fireplace. He met her gaze and then stared back at the flickering flames.
Well, so much for her thinking they’d become friendly earlier in the day. He was back to mostly ignoring her and being rude.
Pushing aside her irritation, she sat on one of the small sofas. Euan took the chair, and Iris and Antony sat on the other sofa.
As silence ticked by, Emily blurted, “So what’s going on and why am I here?”
Euan looked at Emily. “The dragon hunters have put a bounty on your head.”
She blinked. “What are you talking about? Why?”
Antony answered, “They’ve had one on you for a while, I’m afraid. However, you were well protected on Stonefire, and we didn’t think it much of a threat. Now that you’re on Seahaven, however, that’s shifted.” She opened her mouth, but he put up a hand and beat her to it. “The reason you were allowed to come here, despite the dangers, is because you’re extremely close to solving one of the biggest problems when it comes to defeating the dragon hunters—safeguarding against their dragon poisons. Your work needs to be done, no matter what. But Iris and I have been planning for this ever since you agreed to come here.”
Her mind focused on one thing. “I’ve been a target all this time, and no one told me?”
Iris glanced at Antony before replying, “Aye, I’m afraid so. But to be fair, a lot of people and dragon-shifters have bounties on their heads. Normally, it comes to nothing, as the amounts are small. But, unfortunately, yours has gone up to fifty thousand pounds.”
Fifty thousand pounds.That was a lot of money, more than enough to entice someone to kidnap or kill or do who knew what to her.
She hugged her arms around her body, took a few deep breaths, and willed herself not to imagine all the ways they could hurt or kill her.
But instead of panic, anger stirred in her belly. “I deserved to know about this long before now.” She glanced around the room. “Did all of you know?”
Her gaze ended at Cam. He merely shook his head. “No, lass, I didn’t. Not until today.”
Maybe if she weren’t worried about someone trying to harm her, she’d focus on how he’d never called her lass before. But instead she looked back at Antony. “Am I one of your little pawns, then? One you don’t see as a person and will use and throw away to get what you want?”
An emotion she couldn’t name flashed in Antony’s eyes. Iris placed a hand on his leg, and then faced Emily again. “It’s not like that, Emily. We have to sort through all the shite the dragon hunters throw our way, which means focusing on the most dangerous threats first.”
“And now I’m one of them.”
Memories of her dad saying that associating with dragon-shifters in any form, even through studies, would get her killed threatened to break free.
But she tamped them down. Her father’s words had been uttered out of his hatred for dragon-shifters and not because he actually cared about her safety.
Cam crouched in front of her, snapping her back to the present. His pupils flashed rapidly before he finally said, “I won’t allow them to hurt you, Emily. I vow it.”
To a dragon-shifter, vows were all but ironclad and extremely important. Especially to a Protector.
She wanted to believe him, and yet, she’d dealt with the former dragon hunter prisoners and knew about the horrors they’d been subjected to. Death was easy compared to what they might do to her.
And if the hunters would pay fifty thousand pounds for her, then it was only a matter of time before someone found her.
What could she do? Go into hiding?
