As always, the first thing Cole did as soon as he got home that next evening was to check the mailbox.

It was empty, save for the usual bills. Not a word from the state licensing board or one of the grant committees.

I should make some calls, he thought as he trudged back to his car. There had to be a way he could check on the status of his application. Even if he was going to be denied, it was better he knew now then—

Raul's car was parked right in front of his house.

The other man stood on his porch, arms crossed and leaning against the front door. Was he looking for a booty call? Well, if that was the case Raul was going to be disappointed.

"What are you doing here?" Cole asked as he got out and shut the door behind him.

Raul shrugged, pushing from the door and stepping to the side. He kept his arms crossed, though. "Where is it?"

Cole stopped short. "Where's what?" Though he knew. The female dragon. He cast a quick look at the front door. It still seemed locked, but how could he know for sure? Had Raul been inside his house, searching? Or had he just been peeking in the windows? Either way was creepy.

"The dragon I gave you, of course. I wanted to…” Raul hesitated as if plucking the lie out of the air. Then he flashed his thousand-watt smile. "I wanted to see how she was doing."

She's pregnant, but you already knew that, didn’t you? Some instinctual warning told Cole not to say that aloud. Instead he shrugged and turned to his car again to lift a bag of groceries out of the back seat. He had finally gotten paid and had put the money to good use.

"She's fine. Settling in away from the flock. I put her in quarantine," he invented, brushing past Raul to get to his front door. He very much wanted to be inside his house for this conversation. Firmly in his own territory where things were safe. He made his tone casual. "I have some people interested in adoption already and have questions about her background. You said she was abandoned—"

Raul interrupted. "Can I see her?"

"Why?" The door came open with one turn of the key. For a brief moment, Cole considered shutting it again and talking to Raul out on the porch. Too late now. Raul stepped in behind Cole, following him into the house.

"Look, I just want to see her for a second. I got a message from somebody and I think—"

Cole set the grocery bag on the counter with a thump. "You think what?" he snapped, suddenly tired of this game. "That you might have given away an expensive, valuable fighting dragon by mistake?”

The look of absolute shock on Raul's face would have been funny if Cole weren't so very disappointed.

"It's not like that," Raul said weakly.

That wasn't the denial Cole had been hoping for. "You think I wouldn't see the signs? How many times have you put her in the arena? Who does that dragon belong to, really? It's not yours. Who the hell is fighting dragons in this town?"

"No one," Raul snapped, then backpedaled. "Not usually, at least. Look, I was doing a client a favor. They thought she was infertile, but some paperwork got mixed up. The pregnancy tests came back positive. I need that dragon back."

"Go to Hell," Cole said, disgusted. "You seriously think I would have anything to do with a dragon fighting ring?

"I'll cut you in," Raul said. "Cole, I know how you feel about the fighting arenas, and I don't like them either. This is only business. I swear I'll make this right to you." He glanced around the small kitchen meaningfully.

Cole stared at him for a moment. "Are you insane?" he demanded flatly.

"Don't pretend that you don't need the extra cash. It's just one dragon, and you can use the profit to help all of the others."

"No, you're going to tell me who you got the dragon from. Then, I'm calling the police."

"Cole." Raul stepped forward. "Listen, it's not as bad as the media says. The dragons are treated well—"

"What, when they're not being made to fight to the death?" He couldn't believe he was hearing this. He stared at Raul, wondering if he had ever really known him before. "Get out of my house." He was an idiot to think he could somehow interrogate the truth out of this man. He should have just called the police from the very start.

But Raul shook his head. "Not without that dragon."

"You're not getting her."

"Where is she?” Raul's voice took on an edge as he moved to push past Cole. "She's not in the aviary with the rest. Do you keep her in your bedroom?"

Cole grabbed at Raul’s shoulder, meaning to keep him from walking through his house like he owned it. Raul twisted, faster than Cole had anticipated.

The strike came out of nowhere, but that was why they called it a sucker punch. Cole's head snapped back. Dazed, he felt himself falling. Then there was a second set of bright lights as the back of his head hit the hard kitchen floor.

He was aware of the dragons in the aviary shrieking, of Old Bubba bellowing his outrage from the front yard. Then nothing.