A plan was starting to form in Keeley’s mind. Even before she had hatched, Maggie had been able to shoot feelings into Keeley’s mind. What if she could do the same, in reverse? She could tell her to hide. Make it seem like a game—hide-and-seek—just long enough for Keeley to make a bigger distraction somewhere safely away from the tiny dragon and force Briers to reveal himself.

She concentrated. Hey, Maggie, baby. If you can hear me, and I’m not just thinking to myself here…

A cotton-candy puff of curiosity fluttered against the edge of her mind. Maggie? Is that you? Is this actually working?

Keeley was trying to build a mental image of how exciting hide and seek was when the elevator stopped. Briers stepped out promptly, and Keeley was surprised to see they were on the ground floor.

She followed Briers out into the foyer. Not that she had any choice, with Sean’s hand like a vise around her arm.

Okay. Ground floor. But Maggie and the eggs were in Lance’s office, so why does she feel so close?

“Mr. Briers?”

“What’s she doing here?” Keeley burst out as Carol stood up from behind the reception desk. Her heart sank as she saw the egg carrying-case on the desk. Carol kept one hand protectively on it as she stepped around the desk to greet Briers.

“Prrp?” A feeling of joy buffeted against Keeley’s mind as Maggie appeared over Carol’s shoulder. She stared directly at Keeley, as though she could see her even through the shielding.

The joy was definitely Maggie’s, because Keeley was feeling sick.

Hey, baby, she thought desperately. Remember being up high on the roof? Why don’t you run back up there now? I’ll race you!

“Prr-eep!”

Carol winced as Maggie dug her claws into her shoulder and flapped her wings excitedly. “I brought them down like you asked, Mr. Briers. I don’t understand, though. Are we moving them now? Mr. Ames is still out, and he said he’d need to refuel the helicopter before the flight to the safe house. And, obviously, the helicopter is on the roof, not down here…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Briers said sharply. “Give me the case.”

The air around Carol and Maggie shimmered as she reached for the case. Maggie’s shielding her, Keeley thought.

“Don’t do it!” Keeley yelled. “Don’t let him touch them!”

Carol heard her. And saw her. Her eyes went wide, and she reached for her belt. “What the hell?”

Maggie screeched and launched herself off Carol’s shoulder, towards Keeley. Keeley grabbed her out of the air and clutched her to her chest.

You’re safe, she thought as Carol drew her weapon.

And pointed it at her.

“Mr. Briers, get behind me,” Carol barked. “Keeley Bailey and one other unknown behind you. They must be after the eggs.” She frowned, and her gun wavered, pointing a few feet to Keeley’s right.

Keeley’s heart thudded against her ribs. She can’t see me. Without Maggie on her shoulder, she fell out of the shield-zone again.

Briers sighed. “Bailey?”

Carol looked at him, confused. “Yes, she’s—”

She never finished the sentence. Sean let go of Keeley’s arm, reached under his jacket, and shot something at her.

“No!” Keeley yelled as Carol’s whole body jerked and she slumped to the floor. She raced around the desk and fell to her knees beside the shark shifter. “What did you do?”

She pulled Carol’s limp body face-up. There was no blood, but Carol didn’t so much as whimper. Keeley’s fingers shook as she searched for a pulse. Clinging to her chest, Maggie whined in panic.

She found Carol’s pulse and, a second later, saw the glimmer of wires running from her shoulder back towards Sean. She glared at him as he tossed the taser next to Carol’s limp body.

“The taser?” Briers’ voice was tight with frustration. He slid another scale shield from his pocket and slipped it onto his wrist. “Just kill her, you idiot. I don’t want her putting two and two together when she wakes up.”

Sean shrugged and reached for the holster on his belt. “Thought you said the tasers were shifter-grade?”

“To stun. Not to finish the job. Now hurry up. Our ride will be here in less than a minute.” Briers tapped something on his phone and placed it back in his pocket with a satisfied smirk. “And my dim-witted colleagues upstairs are about to hear what happened to Lance’s team. What with that and the other surprise I have planned, I don’t think they’ll be in any state to follow us.”

“What do you mean, other surprise?” Keeley stood up slowly, keeping herself between Carol and the two men.

Briers smirked at her. “Let’s just say the agency’s safe house is about to become a lot less safe. These things will happen when you try to cage an unstable dragon. I don’t envy my former colleagues the clean-up job that will be required.”

Oh, shit. The uncle?

Keeley put her arms around Maggie, who was still clinging to her chest. Don’t look scared. Look angry. Be angry.

She glared at Sean.

“What the fuck have you gotten us in for, Sean? Seriously, did you hear what he just said? These shifters aren’t going to stop at anything to find out who killed their—” She broke off, forcing back a sob. “—who killed their friends. And they’re not going to go after him. They’re going to go after us.” She drew a deep breath. “And on top of that, Briers is setting up a full-grown dragon to cause shit? I hope you’re fireproof, Sean, cos I’m sure as shit not.”

She spat out the last few words. It was either that or break down. Lance. Oh, God, Lance, I’m so sorry. I’ve failed you completely.

Briers smirked at her, but his eyes were shooting daggers. “You were right about her being a pain in the ass to deal with,” he said to Sean, not taking his eyes off Keeley. “But it’s worth it if she hatches the other eggs for us.”

So that’s what he wants me for. Keeley swallowed back a wave of nausea. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Briers raised his eyebrows at her. “Oh, for—you can stop lying now, you realize that? Lance may not have noticed the gaping holes in your story, but something made the egg hatch.” He nodded at Maggie, clutched tight in Keeley’s arms. “You’ve managed what neither Harper nor the foster family nor—haha—the dragon’s actual family managed in months of trying. And I want you to do the same for the other two eggs. They’ll be far more valuable that way.”

Keeley took an involuntary step back. She felt light-headed as the full implications of what Briers was saying crashed down on her.

Valuable? He didn’t just want to kidnap the clutch, he wanted to enslave them.

Maggie shivered in Keeley’s arms, and her nausea was replaced by rage. How dare he. Maggie was only a baby. She shouldn’t even know there were people this evil in the world, let alone be threatened by them.

“No.” She’d stolen Maggie, fair and square. The dragonling was hers. She wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

“No, what?” Briers tsk’ed. “You really are more trouble than you’re worth.”

“No, I’m not going to do shit for you,” Keeley spat. “Right, Sean?”

Sean’s eyes narrowed. “Damn it, Keeley—”

“What? Isn’t it time to let Briers know about our little plan? You know, the one where you double-cross him and make off with the eggs yourself?”

“What is she talking about?”

Brakes squealed outside. What did Briers say? Forty seconds until their getaway car arrives?

Keeley licked her lips. “Come on, Sean. Getaway car’s almost here. You told the driver about the change of plan already, right? What are you waiting for?”

Keeley felt like she was standing on a knife’s edge. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Sean laughed and holstered his gun, and all her hope faded away.

“Seriously, kiddo? That’s your plan?” He stepped closer to Briers and slapped the meerkat shifter on the shoulder. “Briers knows he can trust me. Right, bud?”

Briers relaxed and nodded, and in one swift movement Sean kicked his legs from under him and slammed his head against the edge of the desk as he fell.

Keeley didn’t even have time to cover Maggie’s eyes; the tiny dragon chirped in terror, clutching tightly to the front of her dress.

“Okay,” she said unsteadily. “Sean, we’ve got to hurry, but there’s still time to make this right. We’re shielded. We can take the eggs and Maggie back upstairs and they’ll be safe.”

“Funny joke, kiddo.”

Sean grinned at her, but the expression didn’t even have his usual pretense of good feeling in it. “You always told me I was shit at making plans, didn’t you, kiddo? Well, how about this. I don’t need to make up my own plan this time. I’m going to use his.” He aimed another vicious kick at the unconscious Briers and then nodded in the direction of the door. “Come on. Like you said, our ride’s here.”

“You actually think I’m going to come with you?” Keeley marched forward, putting herself between Sean and the bag that held the eggs. “Didn’t you hear me? You want to end up burnt to a crisp? We don’t belong in this world, Sean. We need to get out. Now.”

Sean shook his head, his eyes locked on to the egg case on the desk. “This is my chance to make it into the big leagues, Kee.”

“Oh, where have I heard that before?” Keeley didn’t even bother trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Sean pointed at her, his face twisting with rage. “You’re not going to ruin this for me, kiddo. Not this time.”

Keeley’s throat went dry. “Ruin it for you? Is that what you call it? I’ve spent the last ten years trying to keep away from you because the last time I followed you, you almost got me killed.”

Sean snorted. “Aw, come on, kiddo. That was all a misunderstanding. You know I would have come back for you…”

“When? After I’d suffocated to death?”

Keeley clenched her fists. She’d meant to distract Sean by making him angry, but some things ran in the family. And now her own temper was driving her on. Ten years of anger poured out of her.

“You left me there for five days. Alone, in the dark, trapped in that chest. Don’t lie to me. You were never coming back for me. If Gran hadn’t forced you to tell her where I was—”

Memories surged up inside her. She’d been so proud that her uncle had chosen her, out of all the kids, to come in on the job with him. She’d been so eager to prove herself to him.

She hadn’t realized what part he’d decided she would play in his plans.

Keeley gulped, rage and fear boiling in her stomach. “You keep pretending you’re some sort of big crime boss, but you’re always doing someone else’s dirty work. And whenever you try to be something more, you fuck up. You really think this is going to be any different?” She bared her teeth. “The only good thing you’ve done here is get me involved. But I’m not going to let you get away with it. If anyone’s taking these dragons, it’s going to be me!”

Even though she was shielded, her voice seemed to echo around the foyer.

Something moved in the corner of her vision. She turned her head and gasped.

Lance was standing at the front door. She hadn’t even heard the door open, but there he was, one hand braced against the doorframe. His eyes were shadowed with pain and exhaustion, but he was alive, Briers had been wrong, he was alive and—

Some instinct made Keeley search inside herself for that golden spark of light. Too late, she remembered it had gone out.

Her chest felt scraped and hollowed out. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard Sean talking. Words filtered through her ears, but she wasn’t paying enough attention to make sense of them. Shielded—Can’t see us—Slip past him—

“I don’t think so,” Lance said. His voice was low, but as compelling as ever; and despite his clear exhaustion, there was a feline grace to the way he stood in the door, as though he was poised for action.

He could see her. He could see her, here, standing over the fallen bodies of two of his colleagues, and he’d heard her yell that she was going to take the eggs for herself.