“We must save her now!” Dax demanded, staring at the video footage of the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her long light brown hair framed a cherubic oval face. Her heart-shaped pink lips begged to be kissed. And her curves? Her hourglass curves demanded his hands explore every peak and valley. He gritted his teeth, prepared to charge in to her rescue.

“We need a solid plan, Dax,” Kian said. “We can’t go in unprepared.”

“The vampire wards are ten times stronger than they were the last time we raided the compound,” said Cato.

“I don't care. I can take on two dozen vampires.”

“Be that as it may, Dax. There is still the question of whether or not we can even enter the property,” Cato said.

“You said yourself that vampire magic isn't as strong as it was a million years ago.”

“It's not. But we need to take precautions. We can't save the Dragon Soul if we ourselves get caught.”

“Are you suggesting that these weak vampires could catch us and restrain us?” Dax said with disgust in his voice.

“That is a possibility,” Cato said.

“I'm not risking my crew for one Dragon Soul,” Kian said.

“We must protect her,” Dax demanded.

“Why are you so attached to this girl?” Aiden asked.

“I don't know,” Dax said.

His dragon roared inside his mind, clawing at the backs of his eyes and blowing flame across his mind. He couldn't explain why. It was the oddest sensation he'd experienced in his long life.

“My dragon roars for her. He will not be calmed. Since the first moment I saw her, my dragon screams to save her.”

Cato and Kian looked at each other.

“Could it be his mate?” Aiden said to Cato in a low voice.

“There's no way of knowing until we run the mating analysis,” Cato said.

“Our kind hasn't depended on instinct since the sun began to dim in our home system. Before any of us were ever born. Mating has always been a matter of DNA analysis. And it will remain that way for the foreseeable future,” Kian said to Dax. “I waited to mate with Everly. And you will wait to rescue this maiden.”

“But they are going to drain her blood,” Dax screamed, standing from his chair and throwing his arms in the air.

“If none of you are going to help her, then I will go myself.”

“Dax, I forbid you to leave the mansion until we have decided on a plan of action,” Kian growled.

“You can't stop me,” Dax said, his dragon roaring uncontrollably.

His rage boiled his brain as dragon sent a stream of flame across his mind’s eye. Dax was a battle worn dragon who had fought the vampires long and hard before the cataclysm. He was over a thousand years old and had slept for a million more in a stasis chamber.

But Kian was his prince and his commander. He was obligated to listen to him. Dax growled, his lips quivering as he stared at Kian. Kian glowered back, his eyes boring a hole into Dax’s soul.

“I will listen,” Dax finally said with a stiff growl, sitting back in his chair. “But you damn well better hurry up.”

Kian merely cocked his chin and squared his shoulders. Kian was well-versed in dealing with angry, defiant dragons and coming out on top.

“Now that we've settled that,” Kian said, continuing with his speech, “Cato has analyzed the wards with the device he planted in the mansion. From this analysis we have gleaned that the wards are at least ten times stronger than they were previously. There is a possibility that these wards could trap us inside. We must take precautions.”

“How do we break the wards?” Aiden asked.

“I am running further analysis of the wards right now. Once I understand the magic we can use our technology to break through them,” Cato said. “The bigger problem is getting out. If we break in, we will only have a few moments before the vampires are aware of our presence. They will have the opportunity to cast new spells. And we will not have the benefit of our analysis to break back through.”

“I refuse to believe that these weak vampires could entrap us in their mansion,” Dax said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It doesn't matter what you believe, Dax. What matters is the data,” Cato said.

Dax growled at Cato, and Cato growled back. Kian put his hands on his hips and snarled at both.

“What we have concluded is that we can break through the wards. But we will have less than five minutes to retrieve the Dragon Soul and then vacate the premises,” Kian said.

“Why would it take any more than five minutes?” Dax asked. “I could just burn the whole place down.”

“You tried to do that last time, Dax. It didn’t work,” Kian said, giving him a pointed glare. “We need to do this strategically. We can't just rush in on our impulses if you want to save this girl and for all of us to get out alive. That is what you want, isn't it?”

“When do we leave?” Dax snarled, thinking of the beautiful woman trapped in the tower. He couldn’t abide the idea of those vampires touching her. Threatening her. Scaring her.

“We will infiltrate the compound tomorrow morning at dawn. That is the when the vampires are at their weakest. The device that Cato left in the mansion the last time we were there has provided us with a great deal of insight into their current level of power, their movements, and their habits. It has also provided us with visual images of the mansion.

“What is she doing now?” Dax asked.

“Right now, she's sleeping,” Cato said.

“I can't stand the thought of those monsters having her in their clutches.”

Dax stood, panting and growling as he paced the room of the bridge of the spaceship they’d buried under their mansion. Dax was sure the Dragon Soul was his. He could feel it deep in his bones.

From the moment he had laid eyes on her, his mating impulse had been ten times worse than when he had first awoken. All of them had an activated mating impulse, making them slightly more irritable and aggressive than normal. But now... now, it was out of control.

He knew the girl, Aria Sparks, was his mate. He didn't need some mating analysis to tell him that. He was going to save her and claim her and make her his forever. No vampire, no man, and no dragon would ever lay their hands on her again. He would keep her safe. He would make her happy. He would make her scream his name with infinite pleasure. His inner dragon flapped its wings and roared at the sky, billowing fire into the air.

“We leave before dawn tomorrow morning,” Kian said. “Dax, get some rest. You will need it tomorrow. You are our strongest warrior. I need your head in the game.”

Dax grumbled, fisting his hands tightly as he left the ship and hurried upstairs into the mansion. He found Everly with baby Ember in the living room, playing with a rattle. Ember bounced up and down in her bouncy chair. Dax glanced at Everly, who had just found out she was with child. She gave him a soft wave and a friendly smile. Dax wanted to meet her kindness with his own usual good nature but was too wound up to do anything but growl and turn on his heel.

“What's gotten into him?” Dax heard Everly say to Kian as he made his way upstairs. “Dax is usually so happy and sweet.”

“Lady troubles,” Kian said.

Dax growled deep in his throat and slammed his door. He was so angry and full of energy that he couldn't stand being around anyone else. He paced the floor of his room, hating that Kian forbid him from saving Aria. The girl was his. She needed his help. He tried to breathe and calm his dragon. He knew Kian was a wise and good leader. He had led their crew in many battles in the past, and he trusted him more than anyone he had ever known.

But now that his dragon was in a frenzy with his mating impulse, he could barely listen to anyone else's words. The roar of his dragon was so loud, it drowned out every other sound. He would have to bend to his dragon’s will or he would soon lose his mind.