Page 16 of Flames and Blood

“That’s unusual?”

“Yeah.” He nods, his head bobbing. “Carlisle—that’s my supervisor—likes his paperwork in order. This was something that came from higher up. No official logs. He wasn’t happy about it.”

“What do you think might have caused that?”

“Not sure. Though there was a visit earlier that was unusual too.”

“What kind of visit?”

“A…a man. Maybe a doctor, I think. He had a bag, and he examined her. Took her measurements. Checked her teeth.” He’s talking faster now, both hands going. “She didn’t like that. But he didn’t seem to be afraid of her. Everyone’s afraid of her.”

“Why’s that?” I know the answer, but I want to hear it from him.

“Because…well…she’s a dragon.” His eyes widen. “I heard she ripped someone’s arm off. Or maybe their head. Back at the old place. That’s why they moved her.”

That’s bullshit. She was moved because we took out their facility. I don’t correct him.

“So they decided she’d be easier to control here?” I glance around at the brand-new cells.

“Dunno. Maybe they just wanted to keep her away from anyone she might hurt.” He shrugs. “Odd though. She didn’t seem like she’d do that. She seemed…” He trails off.

“She seemed what?” I’m trying to build a picture of this woman. Nothing I’ve heard so far fits together.

“She seemed nice. Kinda funny. Asked me stuff about shaving. Asked if I was tired after night duty. Sometimes I’d have to do a double shift, and that left me groggy in the morning.”

“And she noticed that?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “Probably the only one around here who did.”

Of course she did. Because she was pumping him for information. Trying to figure out what happened during their night shifts. How many guards there’d be and whether they’d be hard to get past.

The woman I’m tracking isn’t waiting to be rescued.

She’s figuring out how to escape.

“So, this man,” I turn the conversation back. “The one who wasn’t afraid of her. What do you remember about him?”

“Not much. He was tall. Big.” He pauses. “And he…uh…he smelled like her.”

“Smelled like her?”

His ears go pink. “I know it’s nuts. But she had a…scent. Like smoky. He did too.”

“That’s very perceptive of you.” I keep my voice level. He’s just told me something I didn’t expect. Dragon. And a dragon in this system could only be Syndicate.

Why the fuck is a Syndicate dragon keeping one of their own in a blood trafficking pipeline?

“Uh…are we done?”

I realize I’m staring past the kid at a blank space on the wall. “Yes.” I nod.

“What happens now?”

“Now you sit down against that wall, and you stay there until we’re gone, and in the morning you tell your supervisor a man came in and you never saw his face. That’s all you have to do.”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“No.”