Rurik held Charlotte’s hand as they stood in his apartment in Moscow, facing down his brothers. Charlotte had been brave when they’d flown back with Grigori and Madelyn, but she’d said little. But now she had to officially tell his brothers the truth and explain everything.

The more difficult task would be having them believe her.

She trembled hard enough that he could feel it through her hand. The gold lighting from the modern chandeliers cast shadows between them, accentuating the distance between him and his brothers. He had put his body slightly in front of hers, just in case his brothers didn’t believe her and decided to treat Charlotte like a possible threat.

Madelyn and Piper were also studying Charlotte, Piper openly curious, Madelyn a little wary. Mikhail’s eyes glinted with mischief, though, which boded well, at least for Charlotte. Rurik knew his brother would most likely tease him for the next hundred years over this. He tugged Charlotte closer, lending her his strength and warmth. Her shaking softened.

“So this is your mate?” Mikhail asked, smirking.

He let go of Charlotte’s hand so he could put his arm around her shoulder. “She is.”

“Of all the women in the world to mate, you mate a MacQueen,” Mikhail mused with a wicked grin. “Perhaps we should have her secured? Handcuffed to a chair? Fair is fair, given your family history.”

Charlotte tensed, leaning into Rurik.

“He’s teasing you, little rose,” Rurik murmured in her ear, then added louder, “And if he’s not, I’ll remind him who the stronger dragon is.”

Mikhail chuckled. “Fair enough. You can save the handcuffs for bed.” He winced when his mate, Piper, jabbed him in the ribs.

Grigori tugged at his tie, still frowning. “Rurik, we have to discuss this. Your mate has reverse-engineered the drug that was used on Mikhail in London. Can you imagine if Drakor got his hands on it? He would use it against any dragon who dared oppose him, make them swear fealty to him out of fear. What if the Brotherhood decided to use it to eliminate us? We can’t have anything out there that can give our enemies the advantage. It must be destroyed.”

“I know,” Rurik growled. “But the genie is out of the bottle. The Brotherhood will have her notes. We cannot live in a world of what-ifs. It exists. We must deal with that fact.”

Grigori considered this. “Charlotte, could you make an antidote?”

“It’s certainly possible. I had planned on working on that next when I got back. My hope was that the Brotherhood would only use the serum for their own safety during interviews and interrogations, and then the antidote could be given upon release.”

“Good. We’ll need it in case Drakor learns of Charlotte’s formula. And if he does, we’ll have to alert the other houses as well.”

“You have to relax, brother,” said Rurik. “You’re helping no one by acting like we’re on the verge of war.”

Grigori sighed, accepting but reluctant at the same time. “Very well. Are we still having dinner?” His tone was calmer, but Rurik knew that was only for Charlotte’s sake. The tension was rolling off his brothers in waves. But tonight was supposed to be a “meet the family dinner,” not an interrogation. His brothers and their mates walked ahead of them into the dining room, and Rurik held Charlotte back.

“Don’t worry, they will like you. It’s just…this news has everyone on edge.”

“I know. I hate that I replicated that stupid drug.” A tear rolled down her cheek, breaking his heart. He didn’t want her to ever be afraid, but reality had to be faced.

He cupped her chin. “I promise we will sort all this out. Besides, if you hadn’t made the drug, you might never have come to Russia, and I never would’ve found you.” He kissed her, trying to tell her with that kiss what words could not. He needed her in his life, and now that he had met her, had known the bliss of having a mate, he would never wish to change the past.

“I know you are hungry, so why don’t we get some food? You’ll feel better.”

She smiled and wiped the tear away from her cheek with the back of her hand. “Okay.”

At the table, it took Piper and Madelyn some coaxing to get Charlotte to join into their conversations. She was still scared. He could feel the tension inside her through their mate bond. It was surprisingly strong, even to him.

He hadn’t told her everything he knew about mates. His mother had once explained that such a strong connection so early on could be both a wonderful and dangerous thing. Someday he and Charlotte might be so close they would be able to share thoughts. Their powers would even be shared if they had both been dragons, but Charlotte was mortal. He buried the unwelcome thought that accompanied that fact.

I will die, and my brothers will be left without a protector. Even if a new battle dragon was born to one of his brothers, it would need time to grow up, to train, before it could assume the duties Rurik had held for more than a thousand years.

Rurik glanced at Mikhail and Piper, jealous of their luck. Piper had been a mortal, but she’d almost died trying to save Mikhail’s life. But an ancient ruby called the Dragon Heart Stone had allowed Piper to become a dragon. How it worked was a mystery, even to the oldest of living dragons. All they knew was that it had required an act of valor and sacrifice to draw the dragon’s spirit out of the stone. As far as he knew, there were no more of these, only stories of those who had been lost searching for them.

No. These are the cards we have been dealt, and we must play them.

He thought of the old babushka from Saint Petersburg, the way she had turned the tarot cards over, her wrinkled face deathly serious. He believed in magic—as a creature of magic, how could he not?—but he’d never given much thought to tarot cards before. It had given him chills to see how accurate the woman had been.

He was silent most of the dinner, preoccupied. Charlotte reached over to clasp his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. It pulled him away from the distracting path his thoughts had taken and forced him to remember that she was the one who needed him right now.

“So, the Brotherhood,” Piper began, taking a hasty sip of her wine. “What’s it like to be the little sister of a team of Buffys?” Mikhail and Grigori shared a puzzled look. Piper could tell nobody got the reference. “You know, vampire slayers?”

Charlotte’s cheeks pinkened. She laughed nervously. “Uh… Not as fun as it sounds, I can tell you that. But the women hunters are pretty badass.”

“That sounds fun.” Rurik chuckled. “I’ll be keeping you away from all of that danger from now on,” Rurik told her imperiously.

“Excuse me? I just escaped two overly controlling brothers. I’m not going to wind up with an overly controlling lover.” Charlotte snorted at Rurik’s shocked expression.

“I suspect Grigori and Mikhail will be the same way, especially if they have daughters.” Madelyn touched her stomach and gave Grigori a knowing smile.

Grigori quirked a brow. “You’re only having sons. Daughters would give me gray hairs a thousand years too early.”

“Stock up on hair dye,” Madelyn said, grinning. “I’ve been dreaming about a girl. I think that’s a sign.”

“Fine, have a daughter and watch me age, woman. See if I care,” Grigori replied, hiding a smirk as he reached for his wine.

For the rest of the meal, Rurik held Charlotte’s hand beneath the table. He could see how it could be…the rest of their lives, full of family, laughter, and love. He was in love with Charlotte, and it made him afraid and excited all at once.

“Well, I think we should leave the new mates alone,” Madelyn said. “I recall being unable to focus on much else when we first bonded. In fact, we still have trouble focusing, and it’s been four months.”

“We should let them be alone,” Mikhail agreed, nodding to Charlotte. “You’re all right for a mortal, even if your brothers are MacQueens.” He reached for Piper’s hand, and they joined Grigori and Madelyn. They soon made their farewells at the door, and the two were finally alone again.

Rurik kissed her cheek and gave her waist a little squeeze. “See, you survived my brothers after all.”

“They are pretty scary.” She ducked her head sheepishly as she admitted this.

“Yes, but they understand what it means to be mated. It doesn’t matter that you come from the MacQueen bloodline—all that matters is that you’re one of us now.”

“Am I?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a thunderbird like Madelyn, and I didn’t become a dragon like Piper. I’m just me…Charlotte. There’s nothing special about me. I’m not—”

Rurik spun her to face him. “How can you say that? You are special. You’re everything to me. You’re a precious gift.” He hugged her fiercely, holding her close, suddenly afraid she would vanish if he let go. When she curled her arms around his neck, he relaxed a little.

“Do you trust me, little one?” he asked.

He felt her nod against his chest.

“Good. Now why don’t we go to your hotel room and find that vial. The sooner it is in our hands, the more comfortable my brothers will feel. Then we will come back here, and I’ll feed you a sinful dessert and make love to you by the fire, though not necessarily in that order.”

Charlotte’s shy smile made him feel like a god. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Then grab your coat.” He kissed her again before they headed for the door.

They rode his motorcycle to the hotel and walked into the lobby. Workers were putting up new glass in the front windows of the hotel. It was an awful reminder of how close he had been to losing her, and he hadn’t even known then that she was his mate.

“I had a wonderful time today,” Charlotte said as they got into the elevator.

“Me too.” It’d been years since he’d done something for pleasure besides bed a woman, but today had been different. He had visited his past and had done so with his mate, and it hadn’t been as painful as he’d expected. He’d enjoyed sharing the past with her and looked forward to sharing a future.

When they reached Charlotte’s room, she caught him, curling her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply, then opened her hotel room door like it was an invitation. His chest was oddly tight, and her kiss had left him dizzy and excited in a way he’d never felt before. Damn, mating was exactly like everything he’d dreamed it would be—and more.

Charlotte flicked on the lights in the room. A sudden flash of movement was his only warning. Rurik grabbed Charlotte and shoved her to the ground, covering her with his body. The phft! of a silencer cut through the chaos, and his ears picked it up between the shouted commands. He groaned as a wave of nausea hit him.

“Charlotte—run—” he gasped, rolling off her as he clutched his neck. He pulled out a dart as he leaned against the wall by the door. His vision spun, and he saw Charlotte getting to her knees, heard her calling his name as two men dressed in black grabbed her, dragging her away from him. Whatever was in the dart packed a hell of a punch, and the dart had a pure iron tip.

“Run…” he said breathlessly before he slumped to the floor and knew no more.

* * *

Charlotte screamed and lunged for her mate but two men pulled her away from Rurik. He collapsed, a red dart falling from his fingertips to the floor.

“Secure him!” a man shouted. The voice was familiar, but…

“Damien?” Charlotte gasped. One of the masked men pulled off his balaclava, and she stared at him in horror.

“Thank God you’re okay.” Damien pulled her into a tight embrace, but Charlotte didn’t hug him back. She shoved him hard enough that he stumbled. The others in the room took their coverings off as the situation stabilized.

“Hey, sis,” Jason said with a grin.

Meg came over and clasped Charlotte’s shoulders. “Thank God. You scared the shit out of us.”

Jason nudged Rurik in the back with his boot. They had already bound his hands behind his back and his ankles together with iron cuffs. Seeing Rurik lying there tore at her. It was because he cared about her that he was on the ground unconscious, because he’d dared to shield her from whatever danger they faced. The entire scene was so sickening, so…

Charlotte rushed to the bathroom, shoving Meg aside. Her palms slapped against the counter, and she dry-heaved into the sink and splashed cold water on her face. It helped, but only a little. When she stopped for air, she saw Damien watching her from the bathroom door.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Hurt me?” Charlotte wiped her face with a fluffy white towel, wanting to hit her brother. “He didn’t hurt me. He’s done nothing to me.”

Damien relaxed. He stopped standing in that alert-soldier way he always did when he was worried.

“Thank God. Then we got here in time.”

“In time?” She threw the towel to the ground. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Damien bristled, like a dog with its hackles raised. “We found out what you were up to. You lied to me, Charlotte. That’s never happened before.”

“Yes. I lied. I wanted to do something important for once. I thought if I could do what none of you could do, you’d finally respect me, let me work with you. I made that serum, but if I came to you with that, you’d have thanked me and shut me out all over again. So I came here, and now…” And now I’m mated to the most wonderful man in the world, who my brothers just subdued like some common criminal.

“You did great,” Damien admitted. “You got closer than any of us could to the Barinovs. Now we have one in our custody, and we can get the information we need from him.” Damien held up a vial of her serum. The green liquid taunted her as it shimmered in the florescent lights of the bathroom.

“You can’t use that on Rurik.” She lunged for the vial, but Damien stepped back, slipping the serum into his black jacket.

“Why not? Is there something wrong with the formula?”

“Rurik is a good man. He doesn’t deserve to be drugged and interrogated.”

Her brother raised a brow. “Charlotte… He’s a dra—gon.” He drawled out the word dragon into two emphasized syllables. “He’s dangerous. You’re lucky he didn’t seduce you. They can turn women into slaves with their pheromones.”

Charlotte advanced on her brother. “Yeah, well, he wasn’t the only one using those.”

Damien frowned. “Yeah, Meg told us about that. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that if we could actually talk we might get somewhere, not these crazy roughhouse tactics. Is this how you always intended to talk to the Barinovs? God, Meg was right to be worried about giving you the serum.”

“And what would you have us do?”

“Don’t treat him like he belongs in prison. I’ve spent time with him. And he’s not dangerous, not to me.” She shoved past her brother and ran straight into Jason, who kept her from getting to her mate.

Jason gripped her by the wrists, holding her still while he spoke over her head. “Damien, he’s coming around already.”

“Shit, that’s supposed to keep an elephant out for hours.”

“Guess our intel was right—he’s a battle dragon.”

“Shit!” Tamara hissed and stepped away from Rurik’s prone body when one of his arms twitched. “Load another dart.”

Charlotte jerked herself free of Jason’s hold and rushed to Rurik, kneeling down beside him. She turned to her brothers, fury in her eyes.

“Release him.”

“Are you nuts?” Damien and Jason said in unison.

Charlotte turned to Meg, her only ally. “Meg, please…”

Meg shifted, biting her lip. Her gaze darted between Charlotte and Damien. “Charlotte, hon, you’re really worked up right now. Once we’ve got things under control, then maybe we can all talk about this…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Damien said. “Nicholas, Jason, take him to the room next door. Inject him again if you have to. I’ll join you shortly.”

As Rurik was dragged to his feet, his eyes opened and he blinked slowly. Her name escaped his lips in a plea that broke her heart. “Charlotte…”

“Damien, please. Don’t do this.” Charlotte tried to reach for Rurik, but Damien grabbed her wrist, jerking her away.

“Listen. You’re clearly under his power. We will break whatever hold he has over you.” Damien’s hazel eyes, so like her own, were cold and hard now. This was the sort of man Grigori and Mikhail had feared when they learned of her identity. A man who scared her now.

“He doesn’t have a hold over me. We just—”

Damien called out to one of his hunters. “Tamara.”

Tamara stared at him, lips parted in shock. “She’s not really—”

“Just do it,” Damien snapped.

Something pinched her left arm. She looked down. Tamara was injecting something into her.

“You’re tranquilizing me?”

“It’s a mild sedative mixed with a bit of verum seri. We need to be certain you haven’t been compromised.”

As he spoke, the sedative kicked in and her knees buckled. Mild my ass. Tamara caught her and helped her sit in the desk chair by the bed.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte.” Tamara pulled out some zip ties and secured Charlotte’s wrists to the chair arms.

Charlotte’s brain seemed to slow down. Everything was a bit fuzzy, like she’d had too much to drink. She pulled at her wrists, but the zip ties cut into her skin.

“Please… Don’t hurt him.” Her eyes watered, and she blinked, feeling tears trail down her cheeks. She couldn’t help it; she just started crying. It had to be the sedative. It could have an emotionally polarizing effect on some people.

Damien sat on the edge of the bed, a grim look in his eyes.

“I know this is tough, but just answer my questions, and then you can sleep off the drugs. You’re safe now, little sis.”

But she wasn’t. This was her family, and they were treating her like she couldn’t be trusted.

“What happened when you got to Moscow? What did you do?”

She tried to bite her lip, but she was unable to control her thoughts as they spun in a kaleidoscope of her mind.

“I went to Rurik’s nightclub,” she finally said.

“What was your plan?” Damien asked.

“Recon. See the target, watch his habits, get the lay of the land. I thought I stood a chance of getting his attention where your agents had failed.”

Damien shared a glance with Tamara. “What happened at the club?”

No. Don’t tell him. But her lips moved of their own accord. “I didn’t even have to order the wine. He just knew.”

“Rurik?”

“The bartender.” Charlotte almost laughed. None of this mattered, but she’d tell him anyway.

“The bartender?”

“Yes. He might be a werewolf.”

“Okay, and then what?”

“Assholes. They came after me.”

“Who?”

“Just some jerks. Human. I hit one…pretty good.” She giggled this time, remembered she’d walloped that one guy. But the memories were blurring together, and she struggled to focus.

“So you got into a fight at the club?”

Charlotte’s thoughts sloshed around inside her brain, making her dizzy. Flashes of Rurik roaring from behind her…

“He saved me. And he asked me to dance.”

“Rurik Barinov?”

She nodded. God, she wished she was back in that cage with Rurik. She wanted the whole world to vanish and just be with him.

“You danced?” Damien asked, his tone implying he didn’t believe it.

She nodded. “It was amazing. I felt so good. For the first time I was enjoying myself. Not looking over my shoulder. Not worrying about you or your agents watching me. And he was wonderful…” It was humiliating to be talking to her brother about this, and it was even worse because he was forcing her to tell them things that were private. What gave him the right? Why hadn’t he just asked her?

“Then what happened?”

“Damien, don’t make me tell you.” If he made her tell him, she would never forgive him. Never.

“Charlotte, what happened next?”

She tried to fight, but the story came out. Every detail, every intimate moment—emotionally and physically—that had occurred between her and Rurik.

Damien’s hands were curled into white-knuckled fists on his thighs. “He forced you to have sex with him?”

“No! How dare you say that you—you asshole!” She shouted the word, even though her head ached. She spoke the one truth she hoped would stop this madness. “He’s my mate, Damien. He would never hurt me. Don’t you see? He’s my mate.” The truth weighed heavily upon her lips, but it was a relief to finally tell him. Her brother stared at her, his lips parted and eyes wide.

“Mate?”

“Yes. We are mated.”

“No. I won’t let this happen,” Damien argued, his tone cold enough that it made her stomach roil. “You’re still suffering some effects of being compromised by him. Whatever bond you think you have with him, it’s a lie. He’s probably used his powers to bend your will. You’re not mated.”

“It’s true. He is my mate. Matey, matey, you’re too latey.” She giggled, suddenly feeling completely silly.

“We’ll find a way undo it. You won’t have to stay with him,” Damien vowed.

“But I want to stay with him. Don’t you understand?” Her voice turned into a screech as she jerked at her bound hands.

Damien looked away. “Dammit. He’s got his hooks in you good.” He stood and looked at Tamara. “Give her something to help her sleep.”

“Damien, you dumb son of a bitch, I will never forgive you for this! I will hate you for the rest of my life. You are not my brother!” Charlotte shouted, her voice breaking as Tamara injected her with another needle. Darkness crept in at the corners of her vision as her brother left the room.

“Tamara. Please, save my mate…I love him.” The words came out in a whisper. And it was the deepest truth she’d ever spoken in her life. Tamara had always been nice to her the few times they’d met. She prayed the woman would take pity on her.

“I believe you,” Tamara whispered back. “Your brother’s not thinking straight. I’ll do what I can.”

Then the darkness drowned her.