She’s toying with me, Titus thought. Somehow, she knows about Isabella, and she’s torturing me because she knows how much she looks like her.

But that made no sense. There was no way that Arabella could know about his long-dead lover. There was no Google search that would bring up Isabella’s name, no gravesite to mark her passing. There was only one explanation for her to know about it, for her to have said the words she had told Titus.

“You are wrong, Titus,” Bella had whispered. “I am Bella.” And when Titus had shaken his head and said that it had been selfish of him to bring her along, she had continued. “You do not understand, Titus! I am Isabella Morrow, and I know what you did. I know what you are!”

Then she had seemingly snapped out of it and gone back to being Arabella Pinot.

Somehow, Titus thought, she is Isabella. Somewhere, deep inside, the woman I love lives. I saw her with my own eyes. And she hates me.

The weak light of dawn was fighting to make its way into the hotel room, but Titus had not slept a wink, watching Bella as she drifted off almost seamlessly after hours of lovemaking. He had not seen another sign of whatever seemed to possess her on the balcony, and as morning broke, Titus was beginning to wonder if he had not imagined the entire conversation. Bella certainly had no memory of it, and he had to admit that he was not well rested.

But he could not deny it had happened, and he had no idea what to make of it. If his Isabella did live inside of Arabella, she would have every right to be furious with him. It was his fault that she was gone. Even if she had lived through the inferno, she would consider him an abomination. Titus wasn’t sure she was wrong.

Bella stirred slightly in her sleep, a soft sigh escaping her lips as her eyelids fluttered, but she did not part them, her mouth parting slightly. Didn’t Titus have enough to worry about without the idea that Bella was consumed with the spirit of Isabella?

Watching Bella sleep, Titus had been unable to let go of what she had told him about Skylar Vernon being the hacker. She knew the way he worked. She had been his accomplice for years. If anyone could draw him out, it might be her.

Idly, Titus wondered if Skylar had targeted him because he had taken Bella into his home.

No, he realized. This started before I met her, and I met her because I was filing that report at the police station.

It was all so coincidental, so eerie. What were the odds that they were all connected? Then again, what were the odds that Bella really was Isabella? What were the odds that he and his kingdom had been transformed into dragons?

Titus wondered if Bella was somehow involved in the hacking itself. He shook his head at the impossibility of it: she would have to know that he would bring her to his compound and that he could trust her enough to grant her access to his company.

There’s no way, he thought. This is just an insane series of bizarre events that happened to be interconnected.

Titus didn’t know what to believe anymore. Either idea was ludicrous. Fate or the biggest magic trick the world had ever seen. Where was Opal these days?

“You’re awake,” Bella purred, her eyes fluttering open. “What time is it?”

“Early,” Titus replied quickly, reaching to twine her silken curls between his manicured fingers. “Go back to sleep.”

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “I’m fine. Just relax,” he told her, any doubts he had dissipating instantly.

Instead of settling back into the pile of fluffy pillows, Bella stretched and sat up, her green eyes adjusting to wakefulness.

“You haven’t slept,” she commented, and Titus wondered how she could tell. He shook his head. “You’re worried about Skylar.”

Titus sighed. “I’m worried about a lot of things,” he confessed, and he was surprised by his own words. It wasn’t like him to admit weakness, let alone to a woman he had just met. She isn’t some random woman you met in a bar, he reminded himself. Even though she doesn’t realize it, she knows me better than anyone in the world.

“I think you should let me reach out to him,” said Bella. “He might consider me an ally because I haven’t turned him in.” Instinctively, Titus began to protest, but Bella put a long finger against his lips. “He would turn me in without a second thought,” she told him seriously. “If I find him, I could be saving myself.”

“You could also be putting yourself in unnecessary danger,” Titus replied. but he was less convinced than he had been the previous night. So far, she had been the only one who had given any insight on how to solve this problem. If it weren’t for Bella, Trina, Kamil, and Titus would still be in the dark. And it was only a matter of time before the board found out about it.

“We can take measures to ensure my safety,” Bella insisted, and Titus saw that she had been thinking about it as much as he had.

“How would you do that?” he asked slowly, and her face seemed to relax as she realized he was considering her offer.

“I would have to reach out to some of my other sources,” she said. “But I would have to be discrete. If the cops are watching me…” She didn’t need to finish her thought; Titus knew they would both be in trouble if she was caught associating with criminals affiliated with the case they were building against Skylar Vernon.

“The cops won’t be watching you,” he assured her, knowing that the last thing the government wanted was to find themselves on the wrong side of Williams Technology. “I can help you get what you need, but… Bella, I’m not convinced this is the smartest way to go about it.”

“I don’t see what other choice you have,” she replied. “You don’t know what he wants. He’s already infiltrated your systems, and I can guarantee he has inside help.”

“Who could it be?” Titus murmured aloud. “Who would do that to me? To the company?”

Bella gave him a sympathetic look. “It would have to be someone high up on the food chain,” she explained. “Someone who would have access to your systems and updates regularly. This is not an easy feat to accomplish.”

“So, in other words, someone I trust,” Titus responded bitterly. She didn’t answer, but he didn’t need her to. “What do you need?” Titus asked, sighing deeply. He was disappointed in himself for allowing his resolve to melt so quickly, but what choice did he have?

Not only was the time ticking against Skylar— but it was also running out for Bella.

And I am working with a thief and a liar, he thought to himself.

“I’m going to need secure access to a computer,” Bella stated, her eyes coming alive suddenly as her spine straightened. “And a burner phone.”

“All right.” He watched her face carefully as the wheels in her head seemed to turn before his eyes. She’s incredibly smart. How did she get caught up in all this?

“I can’t promise anything, but if I reach out to some of the others…” Bella stared up at him sharply, her face growing pale. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this,” she whispered.

Titus was immediately defensive. “It’s my company we’re talking about,” he reminded her, but she shook her head, hiding her fair cheeks behind a mop of curls.

“I mean, I shouldn’t be telling you about the stuff I’ve done,” she mumbled.

His face burned with anger.

“Really? You think I’m going to turn you in?” he snapped, and her head jerked up, fear coloring her irises.

“I wasn’t thinking that until you just said it,” she whispered, her skin almost opaque with fear.

Confusion flashed through him. “I don’t understand, then. Why shouldn’t you tell me?”

“If the police question you, I don’t want you to lie for me,” Bella replied quietly. “That’s all I meant.” She stared at him, her brows knitting in worry. “Is that why you got me out of jail? To find information for the police?”

Titus laughed shakily and pulled her into his body, but he could feel the tension in her spine.

“We need to try something new now,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“Like what?”

“Like trusting one another a little bit,” he answered. “If we keep looking at each other with suspicion, we’re not going to get anything accomplished.”

Bella pulled back slightly and looked at him. “None of this makes sense to me,” she blurted out. “I don’t understand how you seemingly came from nowhere and rescued me during one of the scariest times in of my life.”

“I know,” he sighed. “And nothing I can say will make sense to you, Bella, but you have to believe me. I am on your side. There is nothing I want more than to keep you safe and for you to put whatever hell Skylar Vernon put you through way behind you.”

“How do you know he put me through anything?” she asked him.

Titus was taken aback by the question. Indeed, how do I know? For all I know, she could have been the mastermind behind the entire operation. She did hijack a plane, after all. Who knows what she’s capable of?

But he did know. He knew the woman sitting before him, he recognized the fear and worry in her surreal emerald eyes. She might not be the same person he had known all those years ago in Misty Woods, but Isabella’s soul resided in Arabella’s body. He would have bet his life upon it if he could.

“I know you,” he answered simply. “I know your heart and soul.”

“How?” Bella whispered. “How do you know me?”

“You’re my fated mate.”

The response seemed to knock the wind from her, but she didn’t dispute his assessment. Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head.

“I thought he was some visionary,” she said, “some political activist who cared about the people. He fooled all of us.” Titus listened without interrupting. “He found me in San Francisco, living in a box, literally. He didn’t know anything about me, but he took me into his place and fed me, bought me some clothes. I had never met anyone so selfless before.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Little did I know that he had done the same thing with dozens of us, all over the world. He took in us stray dogs to groom us into what he wanted.”

Titus felt a stab of anger pierce his heart.

“Listen to me blaming that jackass for my decisions,” Bella said. “I was a grown woman, I knew better… but everything he said was just what I needed to hear.” A long sigh escaped her lips, and she raised her head again, shaking her head in shame. “Anyway, everything I did, I did thinking it was for another reason. If I knew he was going to steal money from the reserve…”

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. Her words were confirmation of what Titus had believed about her all along.

“Why don’t you just tell the police what they want to know about Skylar?” he asked curiously, knowing that there had to be a good explanation for it. And I bet it has everything to do with loyalty.

“Don’t you see?” she asked almost imploringly. “If I sell out Skylar, it means everyone else will be exposed, too. I have no idea how many names they have, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be the one to send the police on the trails of people who aren’t even on the radar.”

A surge of pride swept through Titus, and he snatched her back into a tight embrace, dropping kisses along the crown of her head.

“We’re going to get him,” he promised. “He is going to pay for his crimes.”

“I hope so,” Bella murmured without conviction, but Titus had never been surer of anything in his life.

We are going to find him, and he is going to confess to everything, Titus thought with renewed determination. Even if I have to scare the shit out of him to do it.

After all, what was the point of having dragon genes if he couldn’t use them to fight crime once in a while?