Garath
“How did things go with your mate?”
“Poorly.” He didn’t bother to hide his disgust.
How could he have been so stupid? It didn’t matter that Marie couldn’t see that he was different from other dragons, that he wasn’t going to leave her. It was his fault for slipping up. And so soon after he’d told himself he couldn’t afford to! It was like he’d jinxed himself by even thinking it, dooming himself to wreck things between them just as they were patching them back up.
He hoped Marie would eventually come around, that she would realize what they had was different than anything between her and Liam. It left him irate that the other dragon had tricked his mate into sleeping with him. When he caught up to the silver dragon, he was going to kill him. It would be that simple. He was done with words. All that remained now was to see it through.
“Well, all is not lost.”
“Right.” He glared. Colonel Mara could sit in her chair and act smug as much as she wanted, but he saw through her act. He’d heard about how she’d maneuvered the other dragons while they tried to win their mates. Like a fairy godmother she’d pulled the strings emotionlessly, doing whatever was necessary to get the dragons to fight for her.
Well, it wasn’t going to work with him. He’d seen it coming, and he was ready for it now. He wasn’t going to deal with other dragons, and that was final. He was going to find Liam and kill him. Then he was going to find Marie’s car, and the two of them were going to drive off into the country in it, leaving Colonel Mara, the other dragons, the portal, and the Outsiders behind.
End of story.
“I’m serious. There’s hope for you yet.”
“Speak plainly, human.”
Kallore wasn’t there to protect her, and Garath wasn’t in the mood to be taunted with the “I know something you don’t know” routine that the colonel was currently trying to put on.
“God you’re no fun.”
“This isn’t a game, Colonel,” he said icily. “Some of us have real emotions invested in this, not just the price for admission and popcorn.”
“I have the entire fate of the world invested in this, if you want to drill down to it. So don’t give me your whiny little story. Boo-hoo, you fucked things up with your mate and you’re sad you can’t fix it right away. Well guess what, shithead, if I fuck up, the world dies. We all die. So, let’s go. Do you want to compare who has more invested in this?”
It was the first time Colonel Mara had revealed to him the barest hint of her true emotions. She’d always been strong and ready to take on any challenge, but for a brief moment, he saw beyond that. Beyond the walls of forged steel she kept up around her inner core. This, he realized, this was what Kallore saw in her. The inner strength that kept her going despite the literal weight of the world’s population resting upon her small shoulders.
There was no shame in admitting she had more going on. “My mistake. It was inappropriate of me.”
“Forget it. It’s over. Here.” She shoved a folder at him with no name on it.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and find out.”
He slid the manila folder open. The first page was a picture of Liam. He turned the page. It was more. There was information. Locations. Dates. Times. He compared them, and realized that as he turned the page they were getting closer to the present date.
“You found him.” It was obvious. The military was quite adept at that. “Where is he?”
Colonel Mara shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”
He snarled and slammed both hands onto the table, leaning over it angrily. “You will tell me where he is.”
“Or what?” she challenged, completely unafraid. “You’ll hurt me? Kallore and everyone else would rip you to shreds before the day is out. Hell, you wouldn’t make it out of the base before the Steel Scales brought you down. Trust me, they’re badasses.”
Garath flexed, but he knew it was an empty threat. She was right. There was nothing he could do to intimidate her. This woman worked around dragons regularly, and always emerged victorious. Now he was beginning to see why. She was ruthless. She had to be. The world demanded it from her. Who was he to think about that sort of self-sacrifice?
“What do you want from me?”
“You.”
“I am Marie’s. No other woman shall have me.” He didn’t even mention how Kallore would react.
Colonel Mara rolled her eyes, frustrated. “Not like that.”
“Then how?”
“Your dragon. I want you to fight with us. Join the Steel Scales. They could use you.”
“No. I won’t work with other dragons.”
“Goddammit, Garath! You need to get over this image you have of every dragon being an asshole! I don’t know what happened to you, but you need to accept this and move on. Stop putting every dragon into the same mold. You want the location, you sign up. Plain and simple.” She sat back, her eyes flat. “I think your mate might appreciate knowing where he is.”
It was a low blow. She knew it. He knew it. Bringing Marie into it was an asshole move. Even more so because it would work. Garath couldn’t deny that being able to bring Liam to justice for what he’d done to her, and perhaps even finding her car, would help put some closure on her past. Maybe it would even give him the chance needed to patch things up with Marie and move on, so she could see that not all dragons were assholes.
Sonofabitch.
That was the same line Colonel Mara had just used on him. How could he stand there and tell Marie to believe him when he didn’t even believe the same thing?
“Tell me where to go,” he rasped, giving in. They would get one chance, and once chance only. The first time one of them showed their true colors, he was gone.
“Then we have a deal?”
Do it for Marie.
“We have a deal.”
They shook hands.
“He’s holed up in an abandoned barn halfway between here and Barton City.”
The door to her office opened and a tall, fair-skinned fair-haired man with a sharp jaw walked in, his baby-blue eyes the only thing that betrayed what he really was.
“Who is this?”
“This is Cowl. Take him with you.”
“He’s a dragon.”
“Very observant.”
“An ice dragon.”
“Your powers of observation do you credit, Garath.”
“I’m working alone.”
“No, Garath. You aren’t. Cowl is going to go with you. He’s going to help.” There was no give in her voice.
“Fine. Give me the exact location and a vehicle. We’re going right now.” Garath ignored the ice dragon. He didn’t want a single thing to do with him. An unknown dragon shifter? He trusted him about as far as he could throw him. Which even with his strength wasn’t very far at all. He trusted him even less in a situation like this.
“I have a Jeep out front,” Cowl said calmly, seemingly unaware of the hatred flowing from Garath to him. “I can get us there faster.”
“Oh perfect. He’s barely awake and already knows how to drive. I’m glad I got the same quality of education.”
“Shut up.” Colonel Mara stood, having had enough of the byplay. “Cowl knows the location. He’ll take you there, and he’ll make sure that nothing goes wrong. Our tracker says your man, dragon, whatever, just headed back to the city. Go set a trap and capture him or something, okay?”
Capture? No.
Garath was going to kill him.