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I thought we were going to save them.
I didn’t realize we were effectively signing their death certificates.
I didn’t realize we were going to hurt them.
When the camping trip I went on with my colleague turned into a nightmare, I realized everything I thought I knew about my company, about my place in it, was wrong. I wasn’t on a mission to make the world a better place. I was on a secret journey to destroy it, and that knowledge makes me feel sick inside.
I tried to catch a dragon, to help it, but he ended up catching me and depositing me in Fablestone: one of the dragon clans in Westbridge Forest. That dragon found his mate, sort of thanks to me, and they’re living happily-ever-after while I’m sitting in a clan full of dragons who hate my guts.
Now it’s been three months.
Three months of washing dishes, baking muffins, sweeping floors. Three months of menial labor and being the person everyone loves to hate. I’m not stupid. I know none of these dragons can stand me. Not only did I shoot Lawrence, one of the best dragons ever, with a tranquilizer dart, but I almost kept him and his mate from finding each other.
His human mate, Julie,doesn’t seem to blame me for anything that happened. She’s probably the closest thing I have to a friend, but right now, she’s caught up in her new romance.
And she deserves to be.
She doesn’t need to be worrying that I’m having a hard time adjusting to life in the clan.
She doesn’t need to be worrying that something bad will happen to me.
Who could have predicted that after all I’ve been through, this would be the way I die?
A random man in the bakery.
He’s definitely not letting me leave here alive.
“Can I help you?” I ask again. The man is still staring at me. He’s not saying a word. He’s tall, as most shifters are, but he doesn’t have the brightness in his eyes that most of them do. This man seems sad, almost. He seems broken.
And then he blinks.
Twice.
His tongue slips out and slides over his lips very slowly. He’s tasting himself, and it reminds me of a predator.
Then I realize what he is.
He must be a lion.
Or a tiger.
A cougar.
He’s some kind of cat.
Suddenly, I’m quite certain of it.
And the only cats who live in Fablestone are the ones who were rescued from a Lucky facility. They’re the ones who were infected and later saved by some of the dragons and humans who live here. People love to hate me, but I’ve been here long enough that they’ve loosened their tongues around me, too. The citizens aren’t quite as close-lipped as they used to be and besides, the clan leaders have grilled me enough during my time here asking questions about Lucky and the infrastructure of the organization that it doesn’t take much to piece it all together.
This man is one of the people whose lives were stolen.
And he’s out for blood.
He’s here to kill me, and it’s all because I was hired by a company that happens to be evil. It has nothing to do with me as a person. I wasn’t the one who caught those dragons. I’m not the one who tortured them. None of that matters, though. When you’re hurting, you just need someone to blame, and right now, that person happens to be me. I’m the one he wants to blame for everything that went wrong.
“What is it that you want?” I whisper. I’m not shaking. I’m not scared. My heart is pounding because I can’t believe this is actually going to happen. He’s going to do it. He’s going to take me. He’s going to take me and hurt me and there won’t be a thing I can do about it. Or maybe he’ll do it here.
Quickly.
