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This time, he doesn’t say anything, and I turn back to Nicole.
“What the fuck did you do to him?” I ask.
She just closes her eyes and pretends she can’t hear me.
Chapter Six
Lawrence
BEING LOST IN THE WOODS isn’t how I planned to spend my week. No. My mission was simple: get to the stone tower, sit around for a night, and then come home. When little Julie appeared, I wasn’t worried. I knew she wasn’t a shifter. She wasn’t in trouble. She was just a random human who happened to be camping at our spot. She could be easily ignored, or so I thought. It turns out, however, that I was wrong about her.
So, so, wrong.
Julie is much too brave and friendly for her own good, and that bravery may have inadvertently gotten me shot. I don’t know what the fuck Nicole dosed me with, but it’s nothing like anything I’ve ever felt before. I can’t shift, for one thing. I can barely move, for another.
When Julie gave me water, it took every ounce of me not to scream. She smells amazing and she’s behaving so sweetly. I could hear her heart fucking racing when she neared me. She’s nervous about helping me. I think it’s because she’s never seen a dragon before.
Either that or she’s impressed by my dick.
Not that she looked.
She probably didn’t look.
I should have known Nicole and Bernie were with Lucky. At least, Nicole was. Her friend is most definitely dead now and I’ll probably never learn the truth about who Bernie is. For all I know, she could be some random stray Nicole picked up at the start of her journey, but my real theory is darker.
I’m certain Bernie and Nicole were both with Lucky, sent into the forest to do dragon knows what, and Nicole turned on Bernie. Bernie didn’t realize she was to be the bait. Either that, or they both believed the other would be the bait when the time came.
None of that matters now because Nicole got the jump on me and I’ve been shot. Apparently, my hunting skills are out of practice because everything hurts. Everything feels tight and tension clings to my body.
“It’s going to be okay,” Julie whispers, and then she strokes my hair. My inner-dragon calls to her, wanting her. We’ve never been taken care of like this before.
“He’s not going to shift back,” Nicole says, not-helpfully.
“Fuck you,” Julie says. “And stop talking.”
I feel a rush of contentment knowing someone is standing up for me, but it’s soured by the knowledge that this might be it. Julie is sweet, but she’s no warrior. Nicole is conniving and shrew. Worst of all, if I can’t shift, then there’s no way for us to get to Fablestone. It’s still dark out. The night isn’t even over.
What if my clan doesn’t come for me?
What if they can’t find me?
I open my mouth to speak, but no sounds come out. I can’t tell if there’s something permanently wrong with me or not. Then Julie starts talking, and I realize I may have underestimated her.
“Let’s see what this little guy’s symptoms are,” she murmurs. I take offense at the term “little guy,” but whatever. There’s nothing “little” about me.
“What, you going to play doctor now?” Nicole asks. I can hear the malice in her voice. I can’t turn my head or open my mouth to speak, but I can sense that she doesn’t like the fact that Julie is still trying. “Let me call my team. My radio is back at my camp.”
Yeah.
That’s so not going to happen.
“He can’t speak,” Julie says. Then she runs her hands down my jaw line. I shiver indiscernibly. Her hands are soft, but firm. “Nothing’s wrong with his mouth. Not just his mouth. It seems to be all of him. Some sort of paralysis poison, maybe.”
Nicole’s breathing gets huffy. She doesn’t like having her work analyzed.
Too bad! My inner-dragon is pissed at this entire situation.
“You couldn’t have done anything permanent to him with just a dart,” Julie muses.
