Luc and Anya left to speak to her father. The idea that they were going through with made Noelle’s skin crawl. It was a combination of fear and anticipation. On one hand, she was excited to trick GOE in such a devious way. On the other hand, there was a strong possibility they were both going to get caught.

Noelle knew little about what happened in the underground GOE facilities. She’d seen some of the scars the other family of dragons carried. She’d seen the blackened scales and knew what kind of pain one had to endure for scales to darken.

The sun was still rising high in the sky and Dane asked to speak with Marc, probably a warning against any stray thoughts or wild ideas. Perhaps like the one they had. Still, Noelle was left alone so she called Liana and asked the leader’s mate if she had time for a lunch date.

Noelle hadn’t had a confidante in years. There hadn’t been anyone for her to talk to since her sister disappeared. When Liana showed up, Noelle first saw it as a threat. Noelle knew what the female dragon was to Dane and that meant her chances of becoming Dane’s wife were smashed. She knew by then they’d never be mates, but there had still been a chance for a relationship that could have lent her power.

Then, after finding young Miri alone in the forest, Liana destroyed the dragon that had long been haunting their nightmares. The dragon man thought himself the only law outside the territory and took it upon himself to stop the raiding dragons the only way he knew how: by killing them. Dane and Liana knew there were other ways to stop the raiding, but the dragon wouldn’t let up until they were forced to kill him.

Noelle had to admit defeat at that point. Liana was good for Dane. She was fierce and loyal and everything a leader needed as a mate. Noelle was many things, fierce among them, but her loyalty was reserved for those she cared deeply about and they were gone.

Noelle settled into the restaurant chair and reached for the chill glass of water they provided. This was human life, she thought. This was the world she missed. It’s been a long while since her days of pretending to be human. Sometimes she missed things like restaurants and movie theaters. Sure, she could still go, but humans knew what she was now.

There was no hiding the beast inside of her.

Liana appeared and slumped into the chair across from her. Noelle snorted, taking in Liana’s exhausted form. Her shoulders were hunched on themselves and her eyes were drifting closed as she stared blankly at the table.

Noelle snapped her fingers before the woman’s face and watched Liana snap back to the present, jerking upright and snatching up the menu on the table. Noelle laughed softly. She knew Liana’s work at the embassy had become difficult as of late. The dragons from the nomadic family of survivors were flocking to the embassy to recount their terrors. The file was growing larger than they ever expected and the stories came will all sorts of strings attached, mostly fists of PTSD.

“I need this,” Liana muttered to herself. “I deserve this.”

“Trying to convince yourself it’s okay to eat lunch out of the office?” Noelle teased. It was true. She could see that Liana’s heart was telling her she couldn’t spare any time off when the woman was close to falling apart. She’d gone from a single welsh dragon lady to the mate of Dane King, with an adopted child suddenly in the mix. The embassy seemed like it was going to drag her down. “No one will curse you for taking care of yourself. You know that, right? No one is going to break down your office door and accuse you of not caring for them.”

Liana sucked in a breath. “I’m used to punching my problems in the face. There’s no one I can punch in this instance and I think I’m going to lose my mind.”

Noelle shrugged. “You could always pick a fight on the Territory. Punch Luc. I’m sure he did something to deserve it in the last twenty-four hours.”

“He’s been on his best behavior since he met Anya. I don’t think it’s because he means to. They’re just too busy getting to know one another.” Liana’s eyes roved over the menu before she settled on something. The laminated card slapped the table when Liana turned her eyes back up to Noelle with a small smirk on the corner of her mouth. “Speaking of which, when are you and Marc going to get to know one another?”

Noelle felt her face warm. The fire inside her danced back and forth, blazing with the heat of anger and confusion. How did everyone know? Who went and blabbed their mouth? But, Noelle remembered the day Isaac came back from his mission, the day the nomadic family came to live on the Territory with them. Marc had been broken by the news of his mother’s capture and came straight to Noelle.

She didn’t know why he came to her. They both raged like a firestorm. Why he thought she would help him find that Zen-like calm he always carried around with him, she didn’t know. What she did know was how it had made her feel. She’d held him, tightly. Her heart had surged in a way she hadn’t felt since she lived with Mary.

“It’s complicated,” Noelle insisted.

“Complicated is a social media status that shouldn’t exist.”

The waiter appeared before Liana could launch into any kind of speech and Noelle felt more relieved than she thought. They place their orders, Liana requesting the rack of ribs and Noelle demanding a slab of prime rib. The waiter looked at them with confusion until his eyes focused on Liana. She flashed him a wide smile and winked when the realization made his eyes bulge.

He quickly scampered away with their meal requests, neither afraid nor excited. He might have simply been thrown off by the unexpected. It was a different reaction than normal, Noelle thought. She took that moment to quickly capture the conversation before Liana could return to her speech.

“I’m going undercover in the GOE facility holding Lucia.” Her words were blurted out all at once. Her eyes stayed on the tabletop or else she would have seen Liana’s face turn a shade of red similar to her hair.

“Did Dane sanction this?”

Noelle brought her shoulders up. She was fierce. She was brave. No one in the world was going to stop her from helping Marc and his mother. She hadn’t been able to help Mary. This was the least she could do.

“No. We haven’t told him. I don’t know if we will until we’re inside and can’t turn around without consequences.”

“Well, there will be consequences no matter what you do. You’re talking about taking your dragon ass into a facility where dragons are lab rats.” Liana raised an eyebrow, as if to ask if Noelle understood what she was trying to say.

Noelle had so little to lose. She didn’t have a family to risk. Her sister was already gone, most likely dead by GOE’s hands. She was not a big part of the American Territory family. Noelle had gone to great lengths to get to Dane’s side, but hadn’t made an effort to involve herself in the lives of those around her. She’s been a force, a voice, but not a friend. If Noelle were to find herself in trouble during this mission, what did she have to lose?

Her life, at most.

But, Liana watched her with a knowing look that Noelle could not escape.

“Bugger off,” Noelle muttered as the waiter returned, bogged down with their food. She knew what Liana was trying to insinuate, but she didn’t know if it was true. Marc was her mate; that she knew. Yet, was she really willing to go head first into this facility to help him because she… loved him?

No. That was ridiculous. Noelle barely knew him, despite being his neighbor. They’d interacted only a handful of times in their lives on the Territory. Perhaps the most interaction they’d ever shared had been the day she’d tried to kill Luc after he took the tires off her little mobile home. She’d threatened to leave the Territory the day before. Luc did what he did to keep her with them, she knew now, and Marc had held her down to keep her off Luc.

That was the most she’d interacted with the usually calm and collected dragon man. But, Noelle knew she’d been watching him. Part of her must have known what he was to her. It’d taken a long time for her to figure it out, to even come to terms with the idea. She’d watched him board the plane to Wales and felt oddly alone. Noelle had stood beside Luc as he screamed for his brother upon their return and felt herself crumple inside. Noelle had watched her mate stagger out of the woods with lightning bruises snaking across his skin and felt her stomach flip.

 

***

 

Marc was trying his hardest to lose himself in a book while his mind raced miles per minute. Images of the photo Anya stole from the local facility kept turning over in his mind. He’d gone back and found the picture of his mother, squirming on the table as they had her pinned down. Now, she was back in their hands for whatever reason.

Marc was moments away from throwing the book across the room with a growl when there was a knock at the door. Marc shot up from his seat only to find his stomach sink. Hector Avila stood in the doorway, his shoulders drooping and a look of sorrow etched into the lines of his face.

The dragon man shouldn’t have shown such signs of aging. Hector was older than Dane, but their dragon magic kept them looking young for centuries. Hector looked older than the earth itself in that moment. The world had pushed this man through trial after trial, reducing him to the withered stalk that stood before Marc. His heart should have ached for his father, but all Marc could find was hatred and anger.

“Can I… Could I come in?” He fidgeted with the buttons on his coat.

He’d clearly let himself into the house already. Luc was at the lake house with Anya and Isaac was knee deep in another city on Quinn’s heels. Was it the new quiet of the house that was driving Marc mad? He’d been so used to Luc and Isaac’s pranks disturbing every moment of silence that he’d grown accustomed to it.

“Why not?” Marc fell back down into his seat. He was only counting the moments until he and Noelle could visit the guy who could get them fake IDs for their mission. She’d gone to lunch with Dane’s mate and hadn’t yet returned, making Marc want to tear the house apart with his impatience.

Hector slowly set one foot into the room as if afraid Marc might lash out at any moment. When he didn’t, Hector chanced another step forward and then another until he was standing awkwardly beside a chair. Marc motioned for the man to sit down.

That’s all he was. Hector wasn’t the father he remembered, but just another man in the world.

“What changed?” Marc asked, suddenly getting to the point of his frustration. “You were a strong man with his head on his shoulders. You didn’t let anything in the world throw you off. Now, you’re hiding among this family instead of doing what is right. Tell me, what changed?”

Hector looked down at Marc. They both knew the answer to his question was one that might take hours to explain, but Marc looked as though he’d gladly trade his time to appease the anger he felt. Hector nodded and sank into the chair across from Marc.

“I’d like to ask why the other family came before us. I’d like to ask why you specifically forbade Luc and me from visiting when your family first revealed themselves to the world. I won’t ask either of those questions. All I want to know is the point in time that changed you from the man I once knew to the coward I’m looking at.”

Marc knew his words were cutting, but it was the only way he could speak to Hector. It was all he had, the bare bones of emotion and a deep desire to understand. That was all he asked. Marc wanted to know if he, too, would have crumbled the way his father had. He wanted to understand if Hector’s decisions had been correct.

“I guess I could start at the beginning,” Hector said as he held Marc’s gaze. The man didn’t turn away from the anger in his son’s gaze. Perhaps he thought he deserved it. “The night the Guardians came for us, your mother and I saw them coming. We knew there was little we could do to avoid the Guardians so we caused a diversion. It drew the Guardians and their technology, their cages, toward us and away from the two of you.”

Marc opened his mouth to say that he didn’t ask for the whole story, but Hector held his hand up for him to wait. This was a story Hector realized he’d been waiting decades to share. He wished Luc was here, too, but his other son had different priorities. Luc also didn’t seem to burn the way his twin did. Hector imagined his children would have reacted differently, assumed opposite reactions. He never really knew them at all.

“Your mother and I fought against the Guardians. We wanted to get back to you at any cost. In the end, they trapped both of us in cages lined with silver. Your mother… she did something foolish while the Guardians were transporting us. She told me she loved me and then she kicked my cage off their transport truck. It seemed they hadn’t thought to strap my cage down properly.

“It took a long while to free myself. I was weak and angry, a horrible combination as I felt utterly useless. Once free, I should have gone directly back to you and your brother. My beast told me you were young and capable boys. It told me that I needed to look out for my mate and pulled me toward her. There was no denying the voice inside my head as it poured its energy into my weakened body. It gained full control and took me wherever it wished.”

Marc’s lips pulled back from his teeth. He leaned forward in his seat. “We were starving while you let your beast control you. Luc and I turned into petty thieves, surviving off gas station beef jerky and donuts until Dane found us.”

Hector’s eyes closed. Marc could see the heavy, dark bags beneath his father’s eyes and how they dragged him toward the ground. Hector knew, he felt the shame of what he’d done. He carried it with him in the lines etched into his face and dark circles beneath his eyes.

“Like I said, I know what I should have done, but I cannot change what I did. I went after your mother because she was my mate. You will understand when you find your own mate in this world.”

Marc thought of his fiery dragon woman. No one would hold Noelle against her wishes. She was a tempest, a force to be reckoned with that Marc wouldn’t worry about. No, she could hold her own. Just like his mother did.

“I followed the truck carrying your mother. She was a bright creature…”

Marc cut him off. “She is a bright creature. Don’t talk about her in the past tense. She’s still alive and you know it.”

“Son,” Hector beseeched Marc. “Your mother… she isn’t who she used to be. When they first took her, she still had her mind. She was smart enough to figure out how to smuggle young dragons out of the facility that held her. That was what kept me there, the dragons she sent to me for protection. But, over time… after the experiments, Lucia started to lose herself to the beast inside her. I don’t know if Lucia gave up or if it was to protect herself, but the beast became a… monster. Lucia is more that creature than the mother you knew.”

Marc wanted to throw his chair across the room. His father was naïve. It was mind boggling, comparing what he’d gone through in his lifetime to what Marc had witnessed. He’d seen the color of his mother’s scales as she tried to rip the GOE building apart. He’d heard Dane and Liana’s whispers. Both of them had garnered black scales through the hardships in their lives.

It was clear that Liana had only recently come to terms with the monster now squatting inside of her. It was ferocious and blood thirsty, a thing Marc had seen first-hand when she’d ripped a white dragon’s throat out. Marc had an idea of what his mother was going through, but no one had been there to help her through it. He sometimes wondered if finding two half-starved Quetzalcoatl dragon boys had been what Dane needed to step back from the monster.

“I am going to find her with or without your help,” Marc informed his father as he forced himself to calmly stand. “Then, when she is safe, we will help her find balance with the monster her beast became. There are those in our family who have gone through the same challenge and survived to thrive.”

Hector scoffed. “Boy, I do not think you understand what it takes to darken a dragon’s scales and the effect that kind of torture has on a mind.”

A laugh rang through the room, bright and bitter. Father and son turned to find Luc leaning against the door frame. He kept his hands in his pockets, but Marc could see the tension that made his muscles vibrate. Luc wanted to throttle their father, too. The second twin pushed off the door frame and entered the room to stand beside his brother.

“Remember the black dragon that caused some chaos off the eastern border a month ago?” Luc asked Hector almost too casually.

The man’s brows knit together, revealing the deep lines of his forehead. “Sure, it destroyed a farm and flew over a nearby town. I sent out a search party to see if we could bring the beast into our family and help it recover what could be recovered.”

Marc snorted. He had yet to see Liana stand face to face with the so-called leaders of the nomadic family, but both of the twins knew she would have a lot to say about the way they’d conducted themselves, both on behalf of the Embassy and the safety of their people.

“The dragon was Dane’s mate. She was baiting another dragon hurting raiders and squatters on the border of our Territory. Liana has full control of the monster inside her as does Dane.”

Hector looked between his boys with disbelief. It seemed as though he’d convinced himself his wife would always be a monster. There was no saving her, in his mind, only living with who she’d become. Neither Marc nor Luc knew how long Lucia had lived with the monster or how much of their mother they might be able to recover.

Finally, after a long moment of digesting his thoughts and emotions, Hector released a sigh the brothers thought he might have been holding for forty years. His face brightened with relief and some of the lines on his face softened. There was a shimmer of hope in the man’s eyes that had been dark before.

“I will warn you,” Hector said, the glimmer of hope becoming dull. “Your mother told me during one of her better moments that she would rather die than be taken by GOE again.”

Marc’s heart nearly stopped. The room seemed to press in on him from all sides as he struggled to process what Hector told them. Marc swallowed hard before he could speak again.

“She might not…”

Hector reached out and laid his hands on his son’s shoulders. The touch was grounding and familiar. Here was a glimpse of the man he’d once been, the figure both boys had looked up to.

“I said that only to issue a warning. In reality, I doubt the Guardians would allow Lucia to hurt herself. She’s still alive. The bond tells me it is so, but it also tells me she is not well.”

Marc wanted to spring into action. He wanted to run and find Noelle. Her lunch date seemed so silly when he remembered where his mother was being held. They needed to do something. It needed to happen now.

“Calm down,” Luc snapped at his brother.

Marc’s eyes jerked toward the sound. Seeing Luc’s face grounded him. Together they could face anything. Together, they had faced everything from starvation to a white dragon uprising.