“Magnus, I have to say you’re not looking like yourself lately,” Titus said, sitting in a chair next to the bed where Magnus was lying.

Magnus pulled the covers over his head, knowing he was being juvenile, but not wanting to hear anything from Titus.

“You know I’m right,” Titus said in that calm, stupidly condescending, big-brother voice. In truth, though, they were crew mates and grew up together. Titus had no right to criticize him, and Magnus let out a small snort at the audacity of it.

“I’m fine,” he said, not coming out.

“You’re sleeping during the day, you always look disheveled, and you just creep about this place, looking depressed. So what the fuck is going on?”

Magnus threw the blanket off and sat up. “You know damn well what’s going on. I let my mate slip out of my fingers, and even though I go out driving every fucking night, I can’t find her. What am I supposed to do? Go on with life as if nothing happened? She’s out there right now.”

Titus sighed, leaning forward and rubbing his huge hands together. “How can you be sure? Don’t you think you would have known in time not to let her run out on you?”

“I just know,” Magnus said. “It hit me like a wrench to the head, just a little too late.”

“Then hopefully fate will bring her back to you,” Titus said easily. “But in the meantime, you’re creeping everyone out.”

Magnus ignored him with a huff.

“Does Aegis know you’re sneaking out at night? That’s not safe.”

Magnus shrugged. “What’s going to get me? Another dragon?”

“Maybe,” Titus said. “They’re out there.”

Magnus snorted. “Please, Titus. You don’t have to worry about me. Just have fun with the whole Rent-A-Dragon thing and find your own mate out there.”

“You know we haven’t had a customer in weeks,” Titus muttered. “Not since Liam found his mate. Not that you give a shit lately.”

“You’re right,” Magnus said. “I don’t give a shit. I haven’t given a shit since my stupidity landed us on the ocean floor.”

“It wasn’t you,” Titus said quietly. “You know that.”

“Do I?” Magnus said, getting up and pacing. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I met my mate. I lost her. Nothing is meant to work out for me, and—”

“I’m doing this for your own good,” Titus said firmly. “As your brother.” Then, before Magnus could catch on or stop him, Titus grabbed him by the collar, dragged him across the room, and punched him across the face, sending him flying through his bedroom door and into the hallway and foyer.

When Magnus stopped skidding, he stood, touching his jaw gingerly, and shook his head at the instant anger he felt. “What the fuck do you mean brothers? We’re not brothers. We’re not even a crew anymore. We’re just a bunch of shipwrecked losers that happened to be found at the bottom of the sea.”

“Take that back,” Titus grated out, stepping out into the foyer with him, huge hands clenched into fists, wheat-blond braid swinging behind him, icy eyes burning.

“No,” Magnus said, stepping up to Titus and getting in his face. “I’m tired of this. You’re so preachy, buying into this whole thing about finding mates. Maybe fate doesn’t want us to find them. Maybe that’s why she sank us. Maybe that’s why my mate drove away before I could stop her.”

Titus raised his fist, but Magnus blocked it and struck back instead, catching Titus in the eye, forcing him to stagger back. Titus scowled.

“Whatever is bothering you, this isn’t the way to solve it.”

“What? Fighting?” Magnus asked, bouncing lightly on his feet. “You started it.”

“No,” Titus said, lunging forward with a right hook again. Magnus ducked, swinging out of the way. Titus spun and caught him in the shoulder. It still felt like being hit by a sledgehammer. “The fighting is fine,” Titus growled. “It’s the lying around in bed, the moping, the negative thoughts that aren’t the right way of dealing with this.”

“Then tell me, oh wise Titus, what I should do,” Magnus snapped as he and Titus faced off with one another, circling. This wasn’t the first disagreement to devolve into a fist fight, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Titus cracked his knuckles. “Have some faith. That we’re where we’re supposed to be. That fate knows what it’s doing. That maybe we were supposed to sink so we could be here at this moment.”

“Yeah, right,” Magnus said, rushing toward Titus with a left cross as Titus lunged to meet him with a powerful punch of his own.

“Stop that this instant!” a cold voice shouted.

Magnus and Titus both froze, fists in the air aimed at each other, as Aegis, the emerald dragon, came into the room.

Aegis put a hand over his face and shook his head, making his blond hair shimmer. “Barbarians. You’re all barbarians.” He waved his hand, releasing his hold on them, and they both stumbled forward, passing each other before stepping back.

Titus frowned at Aegis. “Sometimes fists are the best way for men to work things out.”

“Bullshit,” Aegis said. “We are dragons. Surely we have more elegant ways to resolve things.”

Magnus shook his head. “You prissy gemstone dragons wouldn’t understand.”

Aegis’s emerald eyes flashed. “Oh, I wouldn’t?”

“Nope,” Titus said, giving Magnus a smile of agreement.

“Don’t forget I could make you play a literal game of ‘stop hitting yourself,’” Aegis said.

“Uh…” Titus looked at Magnus. “Right. No more fighting. Anyway…”

“Yes, anyway,” Aegis said. “We have a client coming. I was coming down here to tell you when I saw you engaged in your pointless round of fisticuffs. What the hell is going on?”

“I was just telling him to stop moping,” Titus said, pointing at Magnus, who just folded his arms and shrugged.

Aegis cocked his head. “You have a point. But Magnus is about to be much busier. We have a job for him.”

Titus perked up at that, but Magnus frowned. “I can’t,” he said. “I have something I’m focused on.”

“You think I don’t know that you’ve been leaving the mansion at night?” Aegis asked with a raised eyebrow. “How stupid do you think I am? But whatever you’re looking for, you don’t seem to be finding it. So you may as well go out on this job. They requested someone who’s good with cars.”

That was interesting. Magnus felt himself perk up at that. Maybe this job could distract him until he had another chance to meet up with his mate. Maybe there was hope.

The doorbell rang, and Aegis gave them each a stern look. “I’ll take her to the office. You two get out of here. Magnus, I want you to join us in a minute, but make yourself presentable, will you? A quick shower wouldn’t hurt.”

Magnus nodded, heading toward his bedroom while Titus walked toward his.

He was almost in his room when he heard the door open and couldn’t resist peeking out to see who came in.

The scent of sunshiny flowers and engine oil hit him like the wave had on that fateful night. He took a step forward, hearing a familiar feminine voice talking to Aegis at the doorstep.

His mate was here. His mate was here.

What did he do now?

* * *

Lindy Dunn felt extremely out of place as she stared up at the huge wooden door in front of her.

As it slowly creaked open, she wondered what she was getting herself into.

Yes, the website for Rent-A-Dragon was new, and yes, their name was questionable, but she didn’t really have any other options when it came to what she needed done.

The man who greeted her at the door looked harried, with mussed blond hair and an impatient look in his green eyes. He wore a strange outfit with some kind of green blazer. As she attempted to look around him, he blocked the way.

“Are you Lindy Dunn?”

“Yes.”

“We weren’t expecting you quite yet,” he said sharply.

“Aegis, where are your manners?” another voice, which belonged to an elegant man in jeans and a yellow tunic, interrupted. “I’m Citrine. Why don’t you come in?”

“Citrine? That’s a unique name,” she blurted out, feeling caught off guard by these extremely tall, oddly pretty men.

Citrine only laughed. “I like this human. She speaks her mind.”

Human?

“Uh, am I in the right place? I’m trying to hire some extra help, and—”

“Right, right,” Citrine said, extending a hand to her as she heard a loud growl emanate from something behind him.

Person or monster?

She took a step back, and Citrine gave her a reassuring smile. “Just one of our employee’s dogs,” he said, stepping back along with Aegis and gesturing for her to come inside. “Come on in and we’ll talk business.”

She stepped in behind him and had to keep back a gasp at the house around her. Sparkling marble, large white columns, elegant antique furniture.

If they could afford this place, did they really need to run a business at all? Maybe their rates were just really high. Would she even be able to afford them? Things had been extremely tight lately, and this would probably take the last of her savings. Her father’s illness had taken the rest.

She followed Citrine and Aegis to an office to the side of the foyer. They opened the door and went in, but just before she did, she had the odd feeling someone was watching her and couldn’t help turning around to look in a completely new direction.

She gasped as she saw a huge, hulking man with tangled red hair and a fearsome, shaggy beard. She put both hands over her mouth and turned back around.

The man’s eyes had burned into her, a light green she could make out even from here, and he was oddly familiar.

But she couldn’t place exactly where she’d seen him.

When she turned back around, he was gone, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe she should ask the other two men about him, but then again, he wasn’t really the weirdest thing about this place. In fact, he seemed more normal, as his wild facial hair made him seem less supernaturally beautiful than the others.

The man in the green blazer took one of the seats behind the desk and threw his long legs haphazardly over the arm of it, glaring at her with vivid, deep-green eyes the color of emeralds.

Citrine brushed his dark, shoulder-length brown hair over one shoulder and sat in the main chair behind the desk more professionally.

He leaned forward, and she realized his eyes were a warm golden color that matched his tunic. His jaw was straight and his nose slightly pointed. He could almost be called feminine if he didn’t have the same hulking, masculine, muscled body as the others she’d seen.

“Um, there was someone in the hall,” she said nervously, unable to help mentioning the red-haired giant.

“Oh?” Citrine asked. “Tall? Dark-red hair?”

She nodded.

“That was Magnus, one of our employees. Think nothing of it.”

She took her chair in front of the desk awkwardly, feeling underdressed in her work overalls. “Okay.”

Citrine leaned forward, golden eyes sparkling. “Tell us more about this job you’re needing done.”

She sighed. “I just… This place already seemed weird, and now that I’m here, it’s weirder, but I’m in a tight spot. See, most general handyman businesses don’t have such a… range.”

“Right,” Citrine said, scrolling through something on his computer. “It says here you’re interested in personal protection, general handiwork, and help with automotive care.”

“Uh, yeah,” she said. “I mean, I need help around my shop, but someone has also been vandalizing it, and…” What was she doing? Did she really think she could hire a bodyguard, a mechanic, and a handyman in one spot?

This was probably a front for human trafficking or something, a way to trap gullible women and—

“I’m sorry,” she said, standing. “I forgot I had something today. I have to go.”

“Have we offended you?” Citrine asked, rising but not making any attempt to stop her. “I can assure you we can meet each of your needs. I admit our company is a little… unique. But I can give you references from another client.”

She bit her lip. Something about Citrine made her want to trust him. She was just used to being paranoid for so long now. So used to doing things on her own since her dad had died unexpectedly.

“Give us a chance,” Citrine said. “You’re already here, and I promise we aren’t kidnappers. We just happen to have an employee who has a personal interest in cars. He hasn’t had formal training, but he’s really good with them. And if you hadn’t noticed, most of us are a natural fit for personal protection because we’re kind of… large.”

“Yeah, what are you, a family or something?” she asked warily.

“Something like that,” Citrine said, sitting back in his chair and gesturing for her to do the same. “So give us a chance to meet your needs, and if you think we can’t, I promise you’ll be free to leave here without hassle.”

“Okay,” she said. “So how does it work? Do I hire someone different for each thing, or is there really someone who can do all three?”

“There’s someone who can do all three,” a deep, blunt voice answered as the door to the office swung open.

She looked up in surprise to see the man from before, but greatly changed. His clean, handsome jaw was freshly shaved, and a few bleeding cuts proved it had been done too quickly.

His hair was damp, as if he’d just taken a shower, and with it pushed back out of his face, it was clear he was just as handsome as the men around him.

Dammit.

She’d never been good with good-looking guys, always preferring to hang out with the grease monkeys at her dad’s shop, most of whom saw her as one of the guys.

Guys like this made her feel very much a woman.

He walked into the office and put a hand out for her to shake, and that feeling of odd familiarity ran over her again.

As she shook his hand, she dared to look up into his jade-green eyes and realized in an instant where she’d seen him.

He’d fixed her flat tire that night she’d broken down without a jack. She felt a flush burning up the back of her neck and hoped it didn’t spread to her cheeks.

She jerked her hand back and sat back down while he continued to stare.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

He just stood there, towering over her, until Citrine clucked his tongue and got the giant’s attention. “Magnus, sit down. This is Lindy, and she’s going to be your client.”

Lindy sat up abruptly. “What? But—” She looked over at Magnus, who seemed supremely smug. Yup, definitely the douchebag who’d pushed her out of the way to work on her car. As if it weren’t embarrassing enough to be a mechanic stranded without a jack, he hadn’t even let her redeem herself by changing her own tire.

She was so tired of men assuming she didn’t know what she was doing.

Truth was she’d just bought those tires. She hadn’t been expecting a flat.

This man was arrogant, pushy, bossy, not to mention far too handsome, and she didn’t want anything to do with him.

“I’m the only one who works with cars,” he said, grinning. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

She was going to protest, but then she looked over at him and felt her eyes distracted, wandering over his body, those huge muscles. She grinned as she thought about the jerks who’d been bothering her, how hard they would shit their pants when they saw what they were up against.

She could resist a good-looking man, and besides, she really should be grateful for what he’d done that night, now that she knew he wasn’t a stalker.

She looked into his eyes, wondering if he recognized her. Given his calm, confident smile, she couldn’t tell. Her eyes were drawn to a bruise at the corner of his lip, as if he’d been punched recently.

It didn’t seem to be bothering him.

“I guess he’ll do,” she said. “What’s the rate?”

“We can discuss that after,” Citrine said.

Slight alarm ran through her. “I don’t have a lot.”

“We’re a new company, just getting started. Just pay us what you think is fair when the job is done, and make sure to give us referrals. Especially to your female friends,” Citrine said.

“Uh…” What the hell did that mean?

“We tend to be hired by women,” Citrine said patiently.

Oh. Duh. She needed to get out of this place and under a car again. These men, especially the redhead with the long, wavy hair and beautiful greenish-blue eyes, were making her too flustered.

She stood abruptly. “Okay. Well then, I guess we’re set.” She nodded at the computer. “You have the address?”

“Yes, I think so,” Citrine said. “Magnus, would you walk her out?”

“No, no,” she said, putting up a hand and backing out before they could stop her. “I’m just fine.” Alone with that giant? Not today, mister. No, she’d see him soon enough, but she’d be at the shop, with people she trusted.