Monday morning, Sofia once again put on her red power suit and made her way to the Dragon Utilization Department. This time, she had made an appointment with Leif instead of showing up to surprise him as she had before. Vincent had wanted her to once again catch Leif off guard—thinking that anything that annoyed a dragon shifter was hilarious—but Sofia had insisted that they needed to keep Leif’s anger as contained as possible. Sofia had warned Vincent that Leif, as a dragon, had a great deal of clout with the High Council and might be able to convince them to change their mind.

Leif did have a lot of clout, but the truth was that training would be ending early no matter how angry Leif got. Sofia had met with the High Council during an emergency meeting on Saturday morning, and, as she had known they would, they voted that protecting their spy was more important than potentially losing two dragons, as painful as that was. Sofia still felt bad for what she was about to do, though. She was going to ruin Leif’s day. Possibly his year. He had no idea that what happened with his trainees had nothing to do with him or with budgets, and everything to do with suppressing another dark magic movement. All Leif was going to know is that his two dragon trainees were unlikely to stay in Torch Lake. For a dragon trainer, retention rate was everything, and Leif had big shoes to fill. Jake, the head trainer before him, had convinced each and every dragon he trained to stay in Torch Lake. Leif, on the other hand was about to lose two trainees in one blow. His first two trainees. It wasn’t going to be easy on the ego.

“Hi. I’m Sofia Hayes. I’m here to see Leif Redding. I have an appointment.” Sofia smiled brightly at the receptionist sitting behind the large front desk of the Dragon Utilization Department. The girl smiled right back and checked her computer so quickly that Sofia was pretty sure she hadn’t bothered to actually check Leif’s appointments.

“Alright. Go ahead. Oh! Do you know where his office is?”

Sofia nodded, and gave the girl a little wave before quickly walking off. The girl must be new at the job, and seemed quite eager to please. Sofia didn’t want to wait around for her to suddenly remember that she was supposed to be checking IDs before letting anyone into the building.

Sofia grimaced when she saw that Leif’s office door was open. His office was at the end of a long hallway, so an open door meant she had to walk quite a long stretch with him watching her. She would have preferred to have had a more anonymous approach, but he had already lifted his head and spotted her. His eyes were cold, and he didn’t smile, but what had Sofia expected? He had every reason to hate her. She had played her part of annoying auditor quite well, even though it made her sad to have a man like Leif dislike her so strongly.

Sofia, like so many, adored the dragon shifters. How could she not? They were all impossibly handsome, and they all had sparkling personalities. They were kind, funny, and witty. And, most importantly, they were driven by loyalty and honor. Leif was no exception. She had been excited to meet him in person, even though she had known she would have to act like she hated him in order to make him believe that she was just another auditor. She’d been prepared to admire him only secretly, but she hadn’t been prepared for just how admirable he would be. Of all the dragons in Torch Lake, Leif was by far the most handsome. His deep emerald eyes held a soulful intelligence that melted her, and his dark brown hair looked so soft and shiny that Sofia had to remind herself more than once not to reach out and touch it. She was mesmerized by him, and he hated her.

She wished she could scream at him that she wasn’t who he thought she was. She wanted to tell him that she was on his side, truly. As she walked into his office now, she wanted to apologize to him for what she was about to do, and beg him not to take it personally. She wanted to beg him to understand that she didn’t have a choice.

But Sofia could not do any of those things. Vincent was watching, via the small, secret camera on the lapel of Sofia’s suit. If Sofia made one false move, her cover would be blown. Vincent would know she was a spy, and he would try to kill her. He might succeed. Even if he didn’t, though, she would still have jeopardized the Torch Lake spy program. And so, Sofia swallowed all of her feelings for Leif and put a haughty expression on her face.

“Good morning, Mr. Redding.” Sofia had noticed that Leif hated it when anyone called him by a formal title. He’d told her at least a dozen times to please call him Leif. So she continued to call him “Mister” just to get under his skin. She knew it was petty, but it was effective. She saw his mouth twitch as he tried not to react to the title. To his credit, he didn’t lash out at her. But he also didn’t bother telling her to call him by his first name this time. Instead he leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and glared at her.

“Don’t you knock before waltzing into someone’s office?”

“Your door was wide open, so I let myself in,” Sofia said in a sugary sweet voice.

Leif let out a loud sigh that was clearly intended to express his annoyance with her. Sofia ignored it and sat down in the guest chair.

“How was your weekend?” she asked.

“Fantastic. I didn’t have to see you for two whole days. Although, I must say I thought you finished your audit last week. I was surprised when you contacted my secretary for an appointment.”

“Ah, yes. Well, as it turns out, I was able to get in an emergency meeting with the High Council on Saturday.”

Sofia watched Leif carefully as she said this. As she’d expected, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He caught himself quickly, but she’d seen the momentary shock. No doubt, he was wondering how the heck a simple auditor had managed to get a meeting with the High Council on a Saturday. He said nothing, though, so she continued.

“They agree with me that Seth and Evan have had enough training. I have orders here for you to send the two of them off on a dark monster killing mission immediately.”

Sofia passed the official orders across the table and held her breath, waiting for Leif to read them. She saw his eyes darken as they scanned the words, and she waited for him to explode in anger. She gripped the edge of her seat tightly, and felt beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck. But to her surprise, Leif didn’t yell or lash out at her. Instead, he finished reading the paper, then looked up at her with calm but furious green eyes.

“Shut the door, Miss Hayes.”

Sofia stood and pushed the office door shut, then calmly sat in her chair again. Leif was drumming his fingers on the table and staring up at the ceiling. He was thinking carefully about whatever he was about to say, and Sofia felt her heart pounding as she waited, and waited some more. She wished there was a way for her to signal to him that whatever he said was going to be viewed by the leader of a dark magic underground group, but she couldn’t warn him. Any attempt to do so would compromise her legitimacy as a spy. So she waited, and prayed he wouldn’t give away any big state secrets.

Finally he took a deep breath, and looked at her in what was probably an attempt to be calm and professional. His eyes gave him away, though. They were shooting sparks.

“Miss Hayes, I appreciate the fact that you have a job to do. I know you are trying to help make the government of Torch Lake better and more efficient. But you have no idea what you’re doing here. I don’t know what you said to the High Councilors, but it was a mistake. If we send Seth and Evan on a mission right now, they will complete the mission, come back to collect their huge paychecks, and then leave. We’ll be losing all the money we invested in them. We’ll be losing two dragons. And this town needs more dragons.”

“This town has plenty of dragons, Mr. Redding. What it needs is more discipline. Reigning in the budget and training programs is a good place to start. These men are hired to kill dark monsters. And that’s what they will do. If you don’t like it, and you really think the point of all of this it to get them to move here, then figure out a way to make them fall in love with Torch Lake faster.”

“You don’t get it, damn it. It takes time for a dragon to make a decision on committing his heart to something. You can’t expect us to win dragon shifters over in a week. It doesn’t work that way. They need time to see what this town is about, and to get to know the people.”

Sofia crossed her arms. “I think you don’t get it. You keep saying this is all about dragon retention, but you’re wrong. You misunderstood something about your job somewhere along the way. Otherwise, why would the High Council have agreed that these training programs of yours are going on too long? Why would they have agreed to an emergency meeting with me on a weekend?”

Sofia saw a flicker of doubt cross Leif’s eyes. She hated making him doubt himself like this, but she had to remain strong. This was ultimately for the good of Torch Lake. She had to remind herself of that. The doubt only lasted for a moment, anyway. It was soon replaced by anger.

“What the hell did you say to them?” Leif asked her, his voice seething with anger.

Sofia stayed perfectly calm. “I told them that the training program was inefficient, and that the dragon trainees were ready to send off.”

Leif banged a fist on his desk and leaned over it so that his face was closer to Sofia’s. “No, you’re lying. That’s not all you told them. You said something else, or they wouldn’t have sent orders to end training so suddenly. The High Council’s main priority has always been getting dragons to stay in Torch Lake. The dark monsters are a problem, but not an immediate threat. They can be dealt with slowly.”

Sofia shrugged. “Perhaps the High Council thinks the dark monster problem is becoming more serious.”

“Bullshit. What did you tell them?”

Sofia met Leif’s green eyes, which were swirling with anger. He somehow managed to look even more handsome when he was angry. Perhaps it was the dragon fire in him bubbling to the surface, giving him a flushed, intense look. Sofia felt badly that she had to make him angry, and hide the truth from him. Maybe someday, when the investigation into the Dark Warriors was over, she could tell him the truth. But that day was likely far away, and, in the meantime, she could tell that Leif hated her.

She chose her words carefully as she answered him, trying to keep things as vague as possible. “I only told the High Council the results of my audit.”

Leif continued to glare at her, holding her gaze as though expecting her to say something more, or to give in and look away from him. But Sofia held his eyes steadily, and finally he shook his head in disgust.

“There’s more to this than you’re telling me, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” He stood, and started gathering up his keys and wallet. “I’m going to go demand an audience with the High Council right now. They won’t refuse me.”

Sofia winced. The High Council would not refuse him, no. But they would not change their minds on the orders they had issued. Leif was only going to be angrier and more frustrated after his useless attempts to sway them.

“Leif, perhaps you should focus on revamping the training programs before the next round of dragons gets here,” Sofia said as gently as she could. She even used his first name in an attempt to appease him. Now was not the time to rile him up further. He’d grown so angry that Sofia felt a bit frightened. She was glad she’d never had to fight against a dragon. The thought of facing down a creature this furious in battle unnerved her, and she knew that magic spells had difficulty penetrating dragon hide. No wonder the High Council wanted as many dragon shifters in Torch Lake as possible. If you were on a dragon’s good side, you had a decent chance of staying safe.

Sofia wasn’t exactly on Leif’s good side right now. Oh, he wasn’t going to attack her or anything. There wasn’t a war going on. But his attitude toward her had gone from barely suppressed dislike to absolute outrage. She couldn’t blame him, given that he had no idea what was actually going on here.

“Out of my office,” he growled at her as he made his way toward the door. “I’m going to the High Council building, and I’m sure as hell not leaving you in here alone to snoop around in all my stuff. Who knows what other things you’d ‘audit’ and twist the truth about.”

Sofia stood without a word and followed him out of his office. She waited as he locked the door, thinking that she would walk out of the Dragon Utilization building with him. But he didn’t speak another word or give her another glance. As soon as he’d locked the door, he took off at a brisk pace down the hallway. His long legs and quick pace made it much too difficult for Sofia to keep up with him in her heels. She watched his retreating figure sadly, already knowing that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted from the High Council—and that he would blame her for that.

At least Vincent will be happy with me, she thought wryly as she walked slowly toward the door. He’s probably about the only one who is happy with the outcome today.

That knowledge irked Sofia, but she comforted herself with the notion that Vincent’s time would come. Eventually, he would be taken down, and Sofia could be proud that her work as a spy had contributed to his demise.

She just hoped Leif was able to forgive her when that day came. He wasn’t going to be in much of a forgiving mood after speaking with the High Council today, but maybe in time he’d simmer down.

Or maybe not. Sofia had heard that dragons weren’t easy to reason with once they got all fired up, and Leif was as fired up as she’d ever seen a man be.