EIGHT
One of the guys growled, dark wings ripping through his T-shirt. Jae tore out of his own clothing and shot up into the air. He sent balls of flames to both dragons, mentally attaching a GPS location to his weaponized fire power.
Both dragon targets quickly dove for the nearby woods, heading into the trees. Flying through branches behind the targets, the balls exploded against wide trunks, freeing the dragons of the missiles. They were back on Jae before he had time to do anything.
The rage in his dragon grew, changing his scale color. He and the two dragons fought hard, back and forth. He hit one and the other flew at him. He dodged one and got the other. Finally, he whipped his tail around and ripped off half the wing of one. He breathed fire on the beast, setting it aflame since it couldn’t maneuver away quickly enough.
The second enemy roared with anger and dove at him. Jae hovered in the air, waiting until the precise second, then like a child batting at T-ball, Jae swung his tail and snapped the other’s neck, sending it spiraling into the trees.
He shifted back to man and raced to the car to make sure Hannah was okay. He found her head first in her trunk, pulling something out.
“Are you all right?”
She turned to face him with a picnic blanket in her hand. Before he knew what was going on, she was throwing herself in his arms. “You’re the guy from my dream!”
His chest tightened and fear grew in his heart. “What do you mean?”
She pulled back and handed him the blanket. “Sorry, ever since I had my dream of you, I knew you’d show up to save me and end up naked from shifting out of your clothes. I’ve been carrying around this blanket.”
“Thank you,” he said and grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around his waist. It did nothing for the cold. “We should go before someone else shows up.”
She nodded. “It’s late, but there are still people who come to this side for more space. I can follow you—”
He shook his head. “No. Let’s take my car. I’ll have someone pick up yours and drop it off at your place. It’s not too far from here anyway.”
She raised her brows and gave a slow nod. “Okay.”
He was glad she wasn’t arguing or putting up a fight. Instead, she put the keys above one of the back tires in what appeared to be a place she’d used before.
“How did you get them to stay?”
She grinned. “Magnet. I’ve had to lend my sister the car in the past so it helps being able to leave the key there for her.”
They walked back to his car. His dragon was vigilant that she not be hurt, so he hurried into some clean clothes he kept in the trunk and then started driving her home.
“Do you have the mark already?” Jae asked the minute they pulled away from the hospital. He turned to look at Hannah better. She had beautiful pale skin with a dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose and cheeks. Bright green eyes and hair so red, he bet people wondered if she colored it. She didn’t. He didn’t scent any chemical scents other than hospital stuff coming off her. Lots of baby smells.
“Yes,” she smiled at him. “I knew it was coming.”
“What kind of powers do you have?”
"I guess I'm an empath of some kind. I feel the emotional and physical pains of others.”
He would introduce Hannah to his brothers’ mates. They shared gift traits. He didn’t sense any dragons in the area, but kept vigilant for her. “How safe is your current home?”
She grinned. “I think it’s pretty safe. There’s a police precinct across the street.”
That didn’t guarantee anything. He gave a slow nod. “I think it’s best if you come down to the city and stay at the hotel with me.”
The smile fell from her lips and a frown formed over her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jae. I can’t. I love my job and those children need me.”
He went back to the road and gripped the wheel. Fuck. This would go easier if she’d just cooperate a little. “What exactly do you do?”
“I’m a pediatric nurse. I work in the neo-natal unit and sometimes I trade with another nurse to work the children’s cancer ward.”
A true selfless woman. If she was his mate, she had wonderful qualities he couldn’t help but admire in her. He clenched his jaw in frustration. It didn’t matter how nice she was, he didn’t want her to be his mate. He didn’t care that she was pretty or her eyes were bright like emeralds. He wanted Avery.
“Do you have any days off?”
“Tomorrow’s my day off. I could take the next two since it was up in the air for me to be gone.”
He glanced away from the road and back at her. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I was going to come looking for you.”
“How did you know who I was?” he asked, making a turn carefully. It started snowing again as he drove her home. The longer he drove, the faster and thicker the flakes fell.
“I told you, I dreamt about you. I knew your name. I knew I needed to find you. I knew you’d—”
He shot a quick look at her. “I’d what?”
She cleared her throat. “Protect me.”
He nodded. “I will protect you. And so will my brother. He will be here in a few days. But for us to do this right, until we know what’s going to happen, we need you to stick to being near us.”
She was quiet for a moment. He pulled up at her street. There was no parking so he double-parked behind a minivan and blinked at the decals on the back glass. There was a man and a woman and what looked like eight kids and four pets.
A soft giggle sounded from Hannah. He turned to look at her. “Everything okay?”
“Your face when you saw my neighbors’ decals was pretty funny.”
“Sorry. I hadn’t seen one of those before.”
“A couple with a lot of kids?” she asked cheekily.
He grinned and shook his head. “The decals. I hadn’t seen those before. They’re very…informative.”
She outright laughed at that and shifted in her seat to look at him better. “I can come with you for a few days, but what will that do for us? Will we know what happens next in that time period?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “This isn’t exact science, Hannah. All I know is that you’re a Drachen mate and I need to protect you. That means you have to be near me and my hotel is safer than your home.”
She seemed to mull it over before taking a deep exhale. “Fine. I can come to your hotel for a few days. If nothing happens, I’m coming home. I have a big event in the cancer ward and I won’t miss it.” She met his gaze and pressed her lips into a straight line. “I’m going to grab some stuff and water my plants. I’ll be back in a few.”