Chapter Twenty-Two
Michelle
She looked him over once more. There was no doubt about it now. The injuries he had sustained outside were healing quite literally before her eyes.
The guards had tossed the two of them back into the same cell. Much to her relief, they hadn’t bothered to chain her up this time, just threw her inside. A few minutes later they’d returned with Kase, tossing his broken and battered body inside as well. At first she’d screamed, thinking him dead, but eventually he’d drawn a ragged, uneven breath.
Not proficient in first aid, Michelle had straightened out his limbs with much effort—he weighed a ton—and gotten his head propped up on her leg after searching for any extreme head or neck injuries.
Then she’d sat and waited, having no idea what would come next. It had taken her about an hour to realize that the cuts on his face were closing. The fresh pink skin had been her first clue. Stunned to see that already, she’d glanced over the rest of his body, noting how much of the swelling had diminished as well.
Now she sat frozen, terrified of what was going on, and too afraid to move. What if she hurt him? What was he? She’d seen the way he was attacked outside by a force of men and really big dogs.
They were wolves. Stop denying yourself.
It made no sense. The huge creatures were bigger than any dog she’d ever seen, and they operated in tandem with the humans, like a trained pet. That, combined with Kase’s healing abilities, spoke to some seriously weird stuff going on.
In her lap, his head shifted and he groaned. “Ow.”
“Don’t move,” she said. “You were badly hurt.”
“I’ll be okay,” he muttered, easing himself into a sitting position.
“Yeah, so I’ve noticed.”
Kase looked himself over, noting the fresh skin and diminished swelling that was already starting to bruise as it healed. “Right. Um, you might want to look away for a second.”
“Why?” she challenged. “I’ve watched everything else so far.” Where had this defiance come from? That wasn’t her normal style. Was it just her way of dealing with the fear and confusion coursing through her? It must be.
“Fine, but it’s going to be unpleasant.”
“What do you—EW!” she yelped, retching as he snapped his left forearm and started pushing at the very obvious break. He looked up and away while he pinched his left hand in his legs and pulled as he pushed with his fingers.
Michelle’s stomach rumbled; she might vomit if the sound of bone grinding on bone went on for much longer.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, Kase collapsed with a sigh. “That’s going to be tender for a few hours,” he rumbled without a hint of pain.
“How the hell did you—? A few hours? Don’t you need a cast? What the hell are you?”
Kase, lying flat on the floor now instead of on her leg, smiled. “That last question’s probably the best, but I’m sorry.”
Tensing, she prepared to bolt to the far side of the cell, though she couldn’t fathom what good that would do. “Why are you sorry?” she asked warily.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” he explained. “I’d much rather have told you in a calmer, controlled setting, where you weren’t caught so off guard and weren’t in a potentially life-threatening situation.”
“Well, you missed the boat on that.”
He smiled. “I admire your ability to stay calm right now. Most humans wouldn’t be able to do that, but you can. That’s a strong trait.”
“I’m terrified,” she admitted. “I’m just acting tough so I don’t show it.”
Kase’s smile grew wider. “That, Michelle, is what’s called bravery.”
“Right. Sure. Whatever. Listen, what the fuck did you just do?” she asked, pointing at his arm. “Where are we? What’s going on?”
Kase sat up using his right hand, cradling the left across his body. “What did you see out there?”
“Besides you getting your ass handed to you by a bunch of wolves and big dudes with muscles?” she asked sarcastically.
He glared. “I took that beating for you, you know. Let’s focus on the second part of that situationally false statement,” he continued.
“Fine. Wolves and big men?”
“Yes.” Kase looked at the ceiling of the cell, admiring the veins in the rock for a moment before looking back her way. “What would you say if I told you that you were looking at two sides of the same picture?”
“I’d say I don’t know what the hell you’re…” Michelle’s brain caught up with her mouth unexpectedly. “Wait, you mean that the wolves and the men are the same? Like that?”
Kase didn’t even get to complete a nod before she gasped. “You’re talking werewolves.”
“Moreso just a shapeshifter. The word werewolf has such a negative connotation that can extend out to all the other types of shifters.”
“Other types? Wait a minute. You’re being serious here? Those were werewolves?”
“Yes,” he replied in a deadly calm voice. “Those were wolf shifters.” He emphasized the two words. “There are others. Wolves, bears…dragons,” he added slowly, watching her face.
Michelle snorted loudly and dismissively. “Right. I might’ve believed wolf shifters, if you could change now and prove it. I’d still likely say that both of us are insane is a far more likely outcome.”
“Don’t say that,” Kase hissed, eyes going wide. “I am not insane.”
“Right, I forgot. Touchy subject. Okay, so shifters. Right. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.”
“And dragons.”
She rolled her eyes. “Pleassee. I’m not six.”
“And I’m not lying,” Kase countered. He held up his palm, and she yelped as silver liquid suddenly appeared, flowing up his arm until it began to form a shape. Four legs, a bulky body, a long tail…
“That’s a dragon,” she murmured.
“That’s what I look like when I shift,” Kase stated calmly.
“When you shift? You’re not a wolf shifter…you’re a dragon shifter. Hoo boy.” She rubbed her temples, taking big, slow breaths. Every time she opened her eyes she expected to see something different, but it was just Kase and the silver dragon.
“This is ridiculous, you know that, right?”
Kase nodded. “I mean, it isn’t to me, because I know the truth of it, but I understand how you’re skeptical.”
“Right. So you’re a big bad dragon shifter. Why don’t you…shifter, or whatever, and bust us out of here then?”
“Because.”
The two of them spun as a third voice entered their conversation from just out of view to the left of the cell door. A moment later, the figure who’d kidnapped her walked out. “He’s not strong enough to defeat me.”
Kase snorted. “That’s not true.” He leaned toward her, but was interrupted by their captor.
“Of course not, Kase. Of course not. You want to seem strong in front of her, I get that. Fine, let’s take another avenue then. Is the reason you don’t break out because you want to stay there? Do you maybe have more you’d like to confess, too?”
“Fuck you, Everett.” Kase flicked his palm and the silver dragon whizzed through the air, though their captor dodged it easily.
Michelle was too busy processing this new data to truly notice the figurine hit the far wall, then hiss and spatter as it fell to the ground, mist rising as it evaporated into thin air.
“Everett,” she mumbled to herself, trying to place the name. “Everett…Everett…”
“He’s the Chairman of the Board at EuroPharma Prix,” Kase supplied.
“Of course!” she snapped.
“Ah, you remember me, I’m flattered.”
“Yeah, you’re the asshole who kept trying to buy me off, to convince me to betray my workers and steal all the data we’d compiled and give it to you. Shit, you’re even more of a douchebag in person than via email, which is quite impressive in this day and age.”
Instead of getting angry, Everett just smiled. “I’m so glad you brought up the lab, Michelle. You’re keeping us on target.”
“Look, Nevernutt, I told you this in the park already. I’m not gonna work for you, and the data is already deleted. You’re on your own.”
“Now, now. Ease that temper,” Everett chuckled. “All will be over soon. Once I get the backup that Kase took, I’ll be able to destroy that, and then your suffering will be over.”
Kase lunged at the cell door. Everett backed away, laughing even harder. He flung out a hand and a yellow-brown gas that looked like a miniature sandstorm shot toward Kase. She gasped in fear as he stumbled back, shaking his head.
“Relax, big boy,” Everett ordered, coming back toward the cell as Kase wobbled and sank to his knees, looking woozy and out of it.
“What the hell did you do to him?” she snapped.
“It’s called sleeping gas,” Everett explained tiredly. “I’m a copper dragon. It’s what we do, okay?” He looked at her for a second before continuing on. “Good, I’m glad we got that out of the way.”
Kase was recovering now, having been hit by a mild dose it seemed.
“You know,” their captor mused, “I was going to threaten her life if you didn’t hand over the data, but now I think I’m going to let things unfold between the two of you first.” He clapped his hands. “Good luck!” Then he moved back up the tunnel.
“Kase, what is he talking about?” she asked, looking at him nervously. “Why would you know anything about the research data?”
“Because I stole a copy before I wiped it all,” he said immediately without pause.
Michelle was taken aback by his forthrightness, needing a few seconds to process what he’d said. “You stole my data?”
He shook his head. “I took it. But you can’t steal what’s already yours.”
“That was MY research!” she exclaimed.
“And it was my lab,” he countered. “I owned it, and everything in it.”
She gasped. “Your lab? Since when?”
“The beginning. I had it built. I had you hired. That was me,” he confessed heavily. “All of it.”
Michelle’s mind reeled as she tried to process everything she was hearing today. Shape shifters, dragons, her life being threatened, and now Kase was telling her that her entire job had been a sham set up by him.
“Why?” she said, asking the burning question.
“To explain that, you have to accept that I’m a dragon.” He looked at her expectantly. “Otherwise none of it will make a shred of sense.”
“I highly doubt it will anyway, but okay. Let’s suppose you’re a dragon shifter or weredragon or whatever.”
Kase shuddered. “Please, that’s just sounds horrid. Just a dragon or dragon shifter.”
She nodded.
“One thing you need to know about dragons, is that we only ever mate once. For life. Once we find our mate, that’s the only person we’ll ever be happy with.”
A few more things clicked into place with her. “You think I’m your mate.” It was obvious.
“No.”
“What?”
“I know you’re my mate, Michelle. I didn’t tell you right away, because that would’ve sent you running. Think about how hard a time you’re having accepting all this now. Imagine if I’d told you within days of meeting you?”
She nodded. “Okay, that’s valid.” The calmness inside her was shocking. Michelle knew she should be terrified right now, freaking the hell out and clamoring at the cell door to get out, to get away from the madman.
Except deep inside somewhere, the words rang true with her. It explained so much, including the connection she felt to him, despite everything they’d gone through. It was a strong, beating, living thing. She wanted to hit him over and over for all the lies, but once she was done, she just wanted to fall into his arms and spend all day making out with him. Was that so bad?”
“The other thing you need to know is Quicksilver dragons, like myself, we’re prone to a genetic tendency to lose our minds if we don’t mate.”
“Mating cures you?”
“More like it gives us something so important to us to focus on, that anything else is just background noise.”
“How reassuring.”
Kase grinned. “I’m sure it is. When I met you five years ago, I was determined to prove that I could live a stable life without a mate. I wanted to show everyone who’d told me my entire life that I needed a mate, that I actually didn’t.” He shrugged. “It was dumb, I know. I also wanted to keep you safe in case I did lose my mind.”
“How thoughtful.”
“I tried,” he said. “I had the lab built, and I had you hired to run it, so that you could do what you’d always wanted, and do it the way you wanted. Everything that happened after that, you deserve credit for. You built a great lab and a great workplace, Michelle. I didn’t do anything but sign the checks.”
“Then you took it away,” she spat. “Why?”
“Because I was back. I…I wanted to have you far away. I couldn’t go anywhere, because otherwise Jerrik would track me down. But you? You I could send away. To keep you safe. If you didn’t have the lab or your data, I figured you’d move back in with your parents or something.”
“Move back in with my sick father who needs the cure I’m working on?” she asked casually.
Kase looked away. “I know now it wasn’t smart. That I was pushing you away, and that was making things worse for the both of us. I should’ve been honest with you from the very start,” he said heavily. “All I can hope for now, is that it’s not too late to make it up to you.”