Simon rubbed his forehead in exhaustion, wishing that he could go home and sleep for twelve hours. He’d been burning the candle at both ends for far too many days now, and the exhaustion was too much even for a tough dragon like him. And yet, he had no choice but to carry on.

He stood in the background under the ever-darkening sky, watching the rows and rows of soldiers waiting for the signal to take off. The military commanders were having one last pow-wow with the High Council and the dragon shifters before leaving for the battle of a lifetime. Simon wasn’t participating in the meetings. There was no need, since he would not be participating in the battle. Thinking about this still rankled him, but he’d done his best over the last few hours to not think about it. Instead, he tried to act like the dutiful, respectful soldier everyone wanted him to be. That task would be much easier once the armies were out of sight, and he no longer had to see the excitement in their faces—excitement he was not getting to share in.

At last the commanders finished speaking with the High Councilors, and they took their places at the front of the army lines. Several pops of loud, explosive power sounded off as all of the dragon shifters except Jasper and Simon began to shift. They would make the long flight in dragon form, since their powerful wings could easily keep up with the wizards’ broomsticks. All of the other shifter soldiers were riding on broomsticks behind wizard soldiers. In fact, almost every broomstick had two people on it: a wizard, and then a shifter. The fabric of the Torch Lake military uniforms was dark, but it had shimmering golden threads woven into it as well. Now, the golden threads in hundreds upon hundreds of military uniforms caught the moonlight, making the army stretching out in front of Simon sparkle. The sight was impressive, and should have inspired great pride in his heart. It was hard to be proud, though, when he felt so left behind. Jasper hated war, and was happy to not have to face an all-out offensive battle. But Simon wanted to go and fight with every fiber of his being. Staying behind felt like being punished. Still, he kept his face stoic and calm.

The low sound of a war horn filled the air as one of the commanders gave the signal for lift-off. The broomsticks of the soldiers all began to buzz with energy as the great flight began. The commanders rose into the air first, rapidly picking up speed as they headed almost straight up. The rest of the soldiers followed behind them, with the dragons flanking them on the left, on the right, and behind. Simon wished that their enemies could see this display of power right now. There weren’t many armies that could truly attempt to defeat Torch Lake when its army came out in full force. These warriors were a force to be reckoned with.

Simon, Jasper and the High Council watched the army until it was completely out of sight. And then, Jasper turned to speak to the High Councilors with a grave expression on his face.

“Your Honors, I would suggest that you remain in a secure location as often as possible. The less you walk around in public or in non-secure spots where enemy soldiers have easy access to you, the better.”

Simon expected the High Councilors to protest. Usually, they wanted to be in the public eye as much as possible, saying it was good for morale. But this time, they seemed to see the wisdom in staying hidden.

“We’ll do our best to stay safe,” Head Councilor Morgan said. “We don’t want to cause any more work for you than necessary. You boys have enough work on your hands as it is. The whole safety of the city rests on your shoulders now.”

The Head Councilor smiled, and Jasper smiled back. Simon, however, did not smile. He didn’t think they would have a lot of work on their hands, and he was already trying to figure out a way to split guard shifts with Jasper that would maximize the free time he had with Brittany. It irked him that they had just discovered each other and they were being forced to spend so much free time apart due to the war—even though he wasn’t really getting to participate in that war.

Jasper gave the High Councilors a few more suggestions for staying safe, and then the Councilors were bidding the dragons farewell. Jasper turned to look at Simon with a kind smile.

“You look like hell, Si. Why don’t you go get some rest, and I’ll keep watch for a few hours. Just keep your phone on and the volume turned up in case I need to get a hold of you, but things should be pretty quiet for the next few hours, I would think. Even if the Dark Warriors do decide to attack, they won’t realize for quite some time that the city has been left with less protection than usual. No one is expecting us to send ninety-nine percent of our army away.”

Simon nodded wearily. Jasper was right. Any attack was likely to come later, and it was important for Simon to be as well-rested as possible if or when that attack did come. So Simon headed for his car, wishing he could head to the Winking Wizard to see Brittany but knowing that he needed to head straight home and sleep instead. He knew Brittany was working tonight, or he would have at least invited her over to share dinner. Simon grinned. Who was he kidding? He had a feeling that if he invited her over for dinner, there would be some, uh, extracurricular activities between them before he was ready to go to sleep.

He probably could have justified inviting Brittany over that evening, but there was no way he could justify heading to the bar when he was supposed to be resting up to help Jasper protect the city. Still, he could at least give Brittany a call. Maybe things would be slow enough at the bar that she’d actually be able to pick up and talk to him for a few minutes. It would be so good to hear her voice. After sleeping with her, Simon had been able to think of little else except for her. He had been completely taken aback with the realization that Brittany was his lifemate, but he had been completely happy at that realization, too. He’d known there was something special about the way he felt for Brittany. He just hadn’t realized how special it was. Simon would have loved to sit down and have a long heart-to-heart with Brittany, telling her the extent of his feelings, but that would have to wait until a more opportune time.

In the meantime, he’d settle for calling her. Even if she didn’t answer, at least he could leave her a message and let her know he was thinking of her. Girls liked that kind of thing, right?

Simon revved up his car’s engine and reached for his phone. Before he could start driving, though, he realized that he had a missed call and a message from Brittany. His heart leapt. She’d obviously been thinking of him, too. He’d get a chance to hear her voice in her message, even if she was too busy at work to talk at the moment.

Simon hit play on the message and started driving. His phone was connected to his car’s speakers via Bluetooth, so Brittany’s message should play loud and clear for him over the speakers. He smiled as he waited for her voice to come on.

But that smile soon died on his face. Almost immediately, he knew something was wrong. The message started not with a friendly hello from Brittany, but rather with loud background noise that sounded like someone struggling. Simon strained his ears, trying to hear better, until suddenly, Brittany’s voice came screaming across his speakers, much louder than he’d expected. He jumped in shock and his heart clenched up with fear at not only the tone in her voice, but the words coming out of her mouth.

“Let me go,” she yelled.

There was a sick laugh, and then a man Simon didn’t recognize said, “Not on your life. You’re in for it now. Did you really think we didn’t notice you over there, polishing the same vodka bottle over and over? We aren’t as dumb as we look.”

Simon brought his car to a complete stop, his heart pounding as he listened carefully to the message. This had obviously been some sort of a pocket dial. Whether Brittany had called him purposefully or accidentally he had no way of knowing, but he did know that she was in trouble somehow. There were more scuffling sounds of struggle, and then the man spoke again.

“You’re coming with us.” More struggling sounds, and then a gut-wrenching scream from Brittany.

“Help me! Help! I’m being kidnapped.”

The scream abruptly came to an end, and a few moments later a car door slammed. A few moments after that, another car door slammed. The screech of tires could be heard as the vehicle drove away, and then the message went silent. Simon listened to it for three more minutes, until the call ended itself, hoping that there might be some other noise or clue as to what had happened to Brittany. But there was nothing else. There was only the sickening realization that something very bad had happened to Brittany.

The Dark Warriors had been after her, but Simon had thought she’d be relatively safe at work. He’d texted her, begging her not to go anywhere other than directly to work and back, just in case there were still enemies lurking in the city. Now, he was cursing himself for ever letting her out of his sight. Had she even made it to work? Or had she been intercepted somewhere along the way by another group of Dark Warriors that had somehow snuck into the city? Simon couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d always thought of Torch Lake as a safe haven, but over the last few weeks he’d learned that he’d been naïve. No one was ever truly safe anywhere.

Simon didn’t know who to trust or what to believe anymore. All he knew was that he had to find Brittany. He tore out of the parking lot and started racing toward the Winking Wizard. He would find out if she’d made it to work, and then go from there. If she had been at work, maybe someone there would have a clue as to where she might have been going afterward. That might help him find her. It was a lot of speculation and long shots, but Simon didn’t have any other ideas on how to search for Brittany, and he had to start somewhere.

As he drove, he could feel the alarm bells going off in his head. His heart was telling him that his lifemate was in trouble, and he was cursing himself for not getting the message earlier. He’d been too caught up with his own frustrations over not being sent to battle to pay attention to the still unfamiliar warning of the lifemate bond. Simon knew in his head that the lifemate bond alerted you when your lifemate was in danger, but since he’d only just realized that Brittany was his lifemate, he didn’t have much practice with “listening” to the warnings. Now, he was so angry with himself. What if something horrible happened to Brittany, all because he’d been too busy sulking over his own problems to realize that she was in trouble? Simon would never forgive himself.

He made it to the Winking Wizard in record time, screeching to a halt in the nearly empty parking lot and hopping out of his car almost before it had stopped moving. He saw almost immediately that Brittany’s car was in the parking lot, and for a moment he allowed himself to hope that this had all somehow been a misunderstanding. Maybe there was some other explanation for the fact that he’d received such a strange voicemail from her, although he couldn’t imagine what that explanation might be. Simon ran into the bar, looking behind the long bar top and hoping that he would see Brittany back there, laughing and talking with customers.

But he didn’t see her. All he saw was Joe, the usual bartender, and a handful of customers who looked up at him in surprise when he came bursting into the room.

Joe raised an eyebrow at him. “Evening, Simon. Everything alright?”

“Is Brittany here?” Simon asked, ignoring Joe’s question.

Joe shook his head. “No, she asked to leave about an hour ago. I let her go, since business is slow tonight, as you can see. Why? Are you okay? You look a little…frazzled.”

“I’ve got to find Brittany! Did she say where she was going?”

Joe frowned. “I don’t think so. I assumed she was heading home.”

Without saying anything else to Joe, who was looking quite confused at this point, Simon turned and ran back out of the exit. His heart pounded in his chest, and all of his senses felt like they were on high alert. Something was indeed very, very wrong. Somewhere between leaving the bar and getting to her car, Brittany had been attacked. He was sure of that now. Had someone really been sitting out here, waiting for her? Simon let out a long string of curses. He had underestimated the Dark Warriors. He’d thought that after the lake, they would leave her alone. After all, she wasn’t that exciting of a target, was she? There were plenty of high-ranking government officials and their families in Torch Lake who would be much more exciting to chase after, weren’t there?

Apparently, the Dark Warriors didn’t think so. Simon ran toward Brittany’s car, hoping that there might be a clue there as to what had happened. His heart was sinking more with every passing second. If the Dark Warriors had kidnapped her, who knows where they would take her? She might not even be in the city anymore. Those bastards somehow seemed to be able to come and go as they pleased.

When he reached Brittany’s car, Simon tried the door, but it was locked. He noticed, then, that her keys were on the ground next to the car, as was her phone. He bent to pick them up and saw right away that the phone’s screen was completely shattered. She had obviously been assaulted here. Someone had intercepted her right before she reached her car. This must be where the voicemail she’d left him had been recorded.

Simon walked in a slow circle around the car, trying to see if there were any other clues to show him who had taken her or where they might have gone. There wasn’t much to see, but there was a long streak of tire tracks a few feet away. Those might have been from the getaway car of whoever had nabbed Brittany. Simon kicked at one of the black marks with his foot. If these were fresh, he might be able to track the scent and see where the car had gone. His dragon had an excellent sense of smell, able to track even better than a bloodhound. He couldn’t be sure, of course, that these tire marks were from the vehicle used to take Brittany away. But it was his best bet, and he had no other options.

Simon quickly stripped out of his clothes, leaving them all in a pile on the hood of Brittany’s car. Since this was not a sudden, emergency shift, he didn’t want to ruin his clothes unnecessarily. As soon as he was naked, he let his dragon form take over. His body grew and transformed into the large, winged body of his inner beast, his horns and hide shimmering in the night sky. His sense of smell, which was above average even in human form, now became strong enough to track even the faintest, oldest trails.

He breathed in deeply, trying to find the scent of the getaway vehicle. He could smell Brittany everywhere, which was no surprise. But once she was stuffed into the car, her trail would be lost. He’d have to track the vehicle itself. He took a deep whiff right where the tire streaks were, and he soon found the scent.

A sedan, Simon thought as he smelled the residue of the vehicle. And a pretty large one. Simon still couldn’t know for sure that this was indeed the vehicle that had taken Brittany away, but it seemed like a good assumption. Brittany’s scent ended where the sedan’s scent began, which strengthened Simon’s theory that this had been the getaway vehicle. He had no other leads, anyway, so he had to try tracking down this trail and hoping that it would lead him to Brittany.

Otherwise, Simon was going to tear apart every house in this city, looking for Brittany. He would interrogate every City Guard to see whether they had seen anything suspicious that might indicate a Dark Warrior had taken a captive out of the city. He would search every square inch of the forests surrounding Torch Lake looking for whoever had taken Brittany. He would find them. And when he did, he would make them pay. Nothing got between a dragon and his lifemate. Especially not a group of dark wizards and shifters. It was time for evil to be taken down for good.