Perhaps it was the ego that came along with being a doctor, but Trent was a man who expected to walk into almost any given situation and be in charge.

Now, he stared around at his own house which had been upended by a stranger while he had been away, and felt helpless. He couldn’t even clean up the mess. Surely the police would need to see the evidence.

And Lady. Poor Lady.

He couldn’t stand to look at the corner where the dragon had started her nest. The mass made up of the inside of his couch cushions, once organized into a circular shape with soft walls, was in complete disarray. She hadn’t laid her eggs yet, but she must have fought hard to protect what was hers.

Trent finally spotted Cole’s car as he pulled up to the curb. Letting out a sigh of relief, he headed to the door.

When Cole walked into the house, he didn’t look around. His eyes were only for Trent as he pulled him into a hug.

It felt like something was breaking within Trent. “I’m sorry—” he started.

“Don’t,” Cole said.

But Trent couldn’t stop. The guilt for having to reach out to Cole right after he got out of the hospital piled on top of his grief for losing Lady. “I’m sorry. You should be resting at home, and I…”

He felt Cole shake his head, then the other man drew back. “Are you kidding? There’s no way I could stay away. Besides, I’m fine, Trent. Really.” He glanced around. “Where are the police? You did call them, right?”

Trent snorted. “Yes, and the dispatcher said they’d send someone along in a couple hours. This is considered a nonemergency.”

Cole scowled but didn’t look surprised. Trent wished he could say the same. He had expected better of his city’s police force.

“Was anything else taken?” Cole asked.

“Just Lady.” Trent felt a dangerous prickling behind his eyes. He hoped she wasn’t scared or in pain.

Though, knowing pregnant dragons, Lady was probably enraged… and whoever had taken her would use that anger for their own purposes.

Trent wanted to kick something.

“When I think of how she must feel right now, what she might be going through....”

Cole shook his head. “It’s not going to come to that. We’re going to take her back.”

Right. Cole thought it was his ex-boyfriend. Trent wasn’t sure if he believed that or not. He was afraid to hope. “How would Raul know Lady was here?”

“Maybe he saw your car at my house… or my car here. This town isn’t that big.”

That was true. Winchester Bay’s population swelled with incoming tourists in the summer, but the locals tended to know each other by sight on the road.

Trent was the only dragon doctor in town. Chances were, anyone who had a dragon within fifty miles had been to him once. And if this Raul character did deal in dragons on the side, he would know that.

Trent glanced around his ravaged home. This really was a matter for the police, but Lady was dependent on him for her health and well-being. He couldn’t wait around for someone else to rescue her.

And even if Raul had nothing to do this now, he might know who did. Those types of criminals knew each other, didn’t they?

“Okay. Give me a moment.” Trent grabbed a piece of paper and jotted a note that he then stuck with a tack on the front door.

If—when—the nonemergency police showed up, they could give Trent a call and wait on him for once.

They ended up taking Trent’s car. Raul might know Trent's make and model, but he was surely more familiar with Cole’s vehicle.

Raul lived on the west side of town in a condo complex which bordered a sandy beach.

Trent was briefly stymied by the locked lobby door, but Cole still remembered Raul’s code to buzz in.

“Clever,” Trent said as the door unlocked with a click.

Cole flashed him a smile over his shoulder.

Raul lived on the third floor on the side facing away from the ocean. He answered his door, looking refreshed and damp as if he’d just gotten out of a shower.

His first mistake had been taking Lady. His second was immediately leering at Cole. Trent felt his patience snap. Grabbing the man, he shoved him back into his own apartment.

“Where is she?” Trent demanded.

Raul stumbled, but straightened and flicked his wet hair out of his eyes. He didn’t bother asking who Trent was. Likely, he already knew. “Where’s who?”

“My dragon.”

“How the hell should I know?”

Trent hit him hard in the mouth. It stung his knuckles more than he would have believed.

However, it was absolutely satisfying to see Raul reel back, the dark amusement fading from his eyes.

“Asshole!” Raul gasped. “I'm going to press charges.”

“You get me for assault, I hit you back with burglary. Guess which charge gets more time in jail?” Trent took one threatening step forward and had the satisfaction of seeing Raul step back. “I have you in my house on my security camera,” he lied. “If you want me to keep the video to myself, tell me where you took my dragon. Right now.”

“He’s not going to ask again, Raul,” Cole said coldly.

“It wasn’t even yours!” Raul’s voice took on the nasal pitch of a whine. “Or mine! I was just holding her. They told me she was a dud… but then the blood test came back positive, and they wanted that stupid dragon back. These aren’t people you say no to.”

Trent didn’t care. “Where is she?”

“What do you think you’re going to do? Walk in and take her?”

“That’s for us to figure out,” Cole said.

Raul looked back and forth between them. Something dark flashed in his eyes, and it wasn’t hard for Trent to follow the emotion he saw there.

Raul knew he was in trouble. The wheels of justice might be moving slowly on Cole’s reported assault, but he would be arrested for it sooner or later. Things would only get worse if Trent had video evidence of him breaking in. They had Raul over a barrel… unless, of course, Trent and Cole tangled with the wrong people…

Raul smiled again, slow and oily. “Where else do you think I took the dragon? The fights are being held at the docks tonight.”