Mikhail stretched in his bed, seeking the warm feminine form of his mate.

Mate. He had mated Piper. The thought of it made him grin, even half-awake.

“Little dove?” He rolled onto his back, opening his eyes. But she wasn’t there. His bed was empty except for him. He sat up and let the sheets slip from his body.

“Piper?” he called out as he slid out of bed and retrieved his clothes. He listened to the sounds in the house as he dressed, ears straining to catch any sign of her.

Nothing. A small knot of tension grew in his stomach.

“Piper?” he called again and left his bedroom. He searched every room, his anxiety spiking each time he came up empty. Where could she have gone?

He reached the kitchen and froze when he saw a small piece of paper, folded up, his name scrawled across it.

His stomach pitched south to his feet. “No…”

Mikhail opened the note, his hand shaking as he started to read.

Mikhail,

I never thought I would ever fall in love with a man like you, or that I’d have to give up a dream come true. But I had to. Please believe me when I say I never wanted to do this. Belishaw told me about dragons and human mates. You have hundreds, maybe thousands of years ahead of you. I don’t. I refuse to be the reason that you will die before your time. I care about you too much.

I hope that when I’m old and gray, I’ll still have the dreams that I flew with you and how we would watch the sun rise and set together. Maybe you won’t forget me, even if humanity has crumbled to dust and all that’s left are the gems we once shared, but I hope you’ll look back on me fondly and not hate me for leaving.

My life is in shambles, and I have to fix things, or at least try. I have your letters, the ones between you and the Belishaw family. I have a plan that will hopefully clear my name and yours. With luck, you’ll be free to go home and be with your brothers, and the jewels will finally be yours. If I can set you free of the past, maybe you will someday find a way to forgive me.

Piper

There was a blotch on the paper. A tearstain. She’d been crying when she wrote the note.

Mikhail tried to catch his breath. The knowledge that his mate had abandoned him burned through his chest. She didn’t know they were already mated. His life was bound to hers, his heart, body, and soul. She could not undo the bond. Only death could separate them, and even then only for a little while.

He had to find her, explain to her. He had no regrets. This life was his choice to make, and he’d made it with open eyes. He would win his little dove back somehow. He had to. Mikhail started for the stairs, but the phone rang. The landline.

He froze. Only a handful of people had that number. He rushed back to the kitchen and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Mikhail Barinov.”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“My name is Conrad Sinclair. You have something that belongs to me.”

He knew of that name…he’d seen him on TV. A politician. He couldn’t fathom why a member of Parliament would be calling him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Come now, Barinov. There’s no need for secrecy. We are past that now. I know you have the jewels, the Cheapside trove. In exchange, I have something you want.”

“How could you have anything I want?” Mikhail asked, his voice turning cold.

“Because I know what happens when you take a mate, dragon,” Conrad said with a chuckle. The sound grated on Mikhail’s ears.

“My mate?” Mikhail choked on the words. He couldn’t have Piper. She was on her way to London. Conrad had to be bluffing.

“Yes. Ms. Linwood. You see, I was looking for you when your little dove fell right into my lap. That is what you call her, isn’t it? Your little dove? She told me that was your nickname for her.” Conrad’s voice was velvet-covered steel.

There was only one way Conrad would know that he called Piper his little dove. Piper had told him. What had he done to her to make her give up that information? Mikhail’s throat constricted, but he had to keep his dragon calm. The beast was already snarling inside his head.

“You want the jewels? Very well.” He would give them away without hesitation. Piper was the only thing that mattered.

“You plan to give them up without a fight?” Conrad sounded surprised.

“She’s my mate. I don’t care about the jewels,” Mikhail snapped. His hand tightened on the phone so much that the plastic creaked. He forced himself to relax.

“Very good. We won’t have any trouble getting things sorted out, then, will we?” Conrad’s voice was so damned businesslike that Mikhail wanted to roar.

“No. We won’t have any trouble. As long as you leave her unharmed.”

“She’s quite safe, I assure you,” Conrad said. “Now, I’m going to give you an address. Come here one hour before the sun sets. You will give me the jewels, and I shall return your mate to you.”

“Fine.” Mikhail listened as Conrad gave him an address in Boscastle, and then he went upstairs to pack a set of clothes, just in case. Piper must have taken one of his cars. His dragon paced restlessly, wanting to fly. Belishaw’s words came back to haunt him. Had his dragon tried to kill him? Would it try again, or would it fight for Piper?

She isn’t Elizabeth. He sent thoughts of Piper to his dragon, reminding the creature that not all mortals had betrayed him. Piper had been trying to free him from his past. She thought she’d betrayed him, but she hadn’t. She had left him to protect him; it’s what a true mate would do.

The dragon stilled inside him. He could feel the beast’s heart matching his own as it communicated with him through a wild array of images. Protect Piper. Save Piper.

He returned to the house and began to carry the boxes of jewels out to his car and load them in the trunk, wondering how a member of Parliament knew about him. He knew of dragons, so could he be a dragon himself? Or perhaps a different creature of the ancient lines? But he’d desired the gems for the trade, and that said dragon to Mikhail more than anything else.

After the last one he paused as he recognized a red bag that contained one piece that hadn’t been featured in the museum. He slipped the Dragon Heart Stone out of its velvet bag. A fist-size ruby. He remembered all those centuries ago when Belishaw had placed it into his hand, warning him to be careful. Even then he’d sensed it was not just a normal gem, but filled with a kind of magic.

Keep me… The ruby seemed to whisper to him. He slipped it into his coat pocket. Then he got into the driver’s seat and began the drive to Boscastle.

The small fishing village was on the edge of the coast, not as far away as he’d thought. He drove down the winding, narrow road into town. The sun was setting on the edge of the water along the horizon.

Mikhail found the little museum of witchcraft. A Closed sign hung in the window, but there was a light in the back of the store. He thought he saw someone move across the source of light. He parked out front and tested the door handle. Finding it unlocked, he eased the door open.

The museum was quiet, and the air was thick with the scents of old magic. He inhaled deeply and caught the light, natural aroma of Piper and the heavy, dark, cloying smell of another male dragon. Conrad. Mikhail curled his lip in a silent snarl as he prowled toward the back room.

He passed a glass display containing old bowls carved with ancient runes. A faint whisper seemed to echo from the bowls, and a shudder rippled through his body. These bowls had once been for human sacrifice. The runes trapped souls within the bowls, imbuing them with power. He’d seen it done once, long ago when he’d been a drakeling. There was so much magic in this room, it seemed to hum with life. As he got closer, he swore he could hear his mother’s voice.

“Magic calls to magic.”

His dragon froze within him, as though the beast was holding its breath. Mikhail reached the back door, which was slightly ajar. He leaned in and tried to peer inside, but he couldn’t see anything. There was a soft shuffling sound within. A sound he recognized as Piper’s. He kicked the door open.

Piper was tied to a chair, a cloth wrapped around her mouth. Conrad stood behind her, a silver blade pressed against her throat. Piper’s eyes were bright with fear. He stared at her, willing her to calm, hoping she would trust him.

“Remember, Barinov, you play by my rules, and she is unharmed.” Conrad pressed the knife a little deeper into Piper’s neck. She flinched, shoving her head back, but she was unable to escape the blade.

“I’m here. The jewels are in my car.” He held out the keys, not missing how Conrad’s gaze fixed on them.

“Toss me the keys,” Conrad demanded.

“Step away from my mate first,” Mikhail countered.

Piper’s eyes softened when he said mate. He wanted to smile at her, to reassure her that everything would be okay, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted when facing another dragon. It could get them both killed.

Conrad slowly stepped away from Piper, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that Mikhail didn’t trust.

“There’s just one more thing.” Conrad removed a slender black case from his coat pocket. He opened it up while still holding the knife. Mikhail saw a syringe inside the case, filled with green liquid.

“What is that?” he asked.

Conrad set the case down and kicked it over to Mikhail. The case bumped the toe of his boot. “My insurance policy.”

“You want me to inject whatever this is into me? Do you think I’m a fool?”

Conrad sighed and lowered the long knife back to Piper’s neck. She winced as a tiny bit of blood dewed on the blade’s edge. Mikhail and his dragon both tensed. He curled his fingers into fists.

“This isn’t negotiable, and its effects are temporary. It subdues your dragon for a day or so. You won’t be able to transform. I need that time to secure the jewels. You might come after them once your mate is safe.”

“I wouldn’t,” Mikhail vowed.

The other dragon gave a hollow laugh. “Forgive me if I don’t blindly trust you. We are dragons, after all. So use it, and then we make the trade.”

Mikhail looked at the vial, then to Piper. She tried to say something, but he couldn’t understand the words. Conrad pushed the blade deeper, and she whimpered as another drop of blood trickled down the silver face of the blade.

“Time is running out, Barinov,” Conrad said.

Mikhail retrieved the case and then took off his jacket. He rolled up the sleeve of his sweater and pulled the syringe out of its straps. The case dropped to the ground.

He pressed the tip of the needle into his flesh and depressed the plunger. A burning began to flow through his limbs. He moaned, helpless as he fell to his knees. The dragon inside him seemed to flicker, and then suddenly it vanished. The gaping hole it left inside him was almost too much to bear. It was a familiar feeling, one that he’d felt once five hundred years before, only more intense.

“What…” he groaned. “This can’t be…” He struggled for words as he collapsed against the wooden beam closest to him, digging his fingers into the wood to stay on his feet.

“Feel familiar? You and I have both tasted its effects before.”

Mikhail looked to the man, remembering the day he’d been transferred to better quarters and the ragged person who had taken his place in his old cell. “You…”

That recognition made the man smile. He let the knife drop to his side and started walking around the room while his rival was immobilized. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for a moment like this. Do you realize what a thorn in my side you’ve been? The very moment you landed on our shores to make your alliance with the Belishaws, you’ve been interfering with my plans. And now, five hundred years later, you’re doing it again, and just as oblivious to how you keep getting in my way.”

Mikhail remembered what Elizabeth had told him about this man and his schemes. “You wanted to destroy the Belishaws.”

“Destroy, exile, whatever. Only their removal was important. But I knew that Elizabeth would never listen to my words against them if she were mated to you. I had to remove you instead.”

“She didn’t listen to your words even after you removed me.”

The man nodded. “A failure on my part. I should have waited another decade before moving against them. I underestimated your Elizabeth, and for that I paid the price. More than forty years bound in a dark cell barred with iron.”

Mikhail noted the length of time. “You were released the same time as I was?”

“A fortunate clerical error. I should have rotted in there for the next century, being fed the very potion I’d helped her magician John Dee create.” Conrad left Piper now and walked toward Mikhail. “Never thought I’d get a chance to use it on you again.”

He stopped in front of Mikhail, taking the keys to the car and dangling them in front of his face in victory. Then, with a slow grin, he swung a fist at Mikhail’s face and struck him to the ground.