Dirk thought he was angry before when he discovered that Dr. Brinkmann was holding him captive, but he was even more furious when he saw Alyssa’s face peering at him through the glass. The shock that was written there was enough to make him try once again to break the glass, even though he knew it was useless. Still, Brinkmann must not have been entirely convinced that Dirk couldn’t break free, otherwise he wouldn’t have insisted on keeping his upgraded soldiers stationed around his cell.

Alyssa brushed aside some of the soldiers with her hand, and they moved like water away from her. Dirk wondered if they had somehow been programmed that way, or if they just had respect for the beautiful woman. She stepped up to the mic for the com system, her blue eyes watching him as she spoke. “Hi. I’m Alyssa. Can you talk?”

He glared at her. Why was she talking to him like that? “Yes,” he growled.

Her face flushed slightly. “Can you tell me your name?”

A startling realization hit Dirk. Dr. Brinkmann hadn’t told her who he was. Why not? Didn’t his identity make things all the more complicated? But perhaps the doctor didn’t give a shit who Dirk was and who his father was. He just knew he had a dragon in his lab. Well, that was fine. If Dr. Brinkmann wasn’t going to tell her, then neither was he.

“What’s your name?” Alyssa repeated gently, interrupting his thoughts.

Dirk shook his head.

“Dr. Brinkmann says you’re a human,” she said, her voice sounding odd through the speaker. “Can you change back?”

He ran his tongue against his teeth, feeling the sharpness of each one. The tranquilizer had worn off well enough at this point that he could shift any time he wanted, but he wasn’t about to. Dirk had more weapons at his disposal in his dragon form. There was no good reason for him to give that up unless he had to. Besides, he was pissed. He didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of feeling like they could control him. Not even Alyssa.

She frowned and hesitated for a moment. Dirk wouldn’t have expected her to be anything but bold and ruthless in the lab, just like Dr. Brinkmann, but she had probably never seen a dragon before. “Did someone do this to you?”

Dirk turned away so he wouldn’t have to look at her. What must Alyssa think right now? The Dirk she knew had disappeared sometime in the night and not come back, but he had gone and left that damn note on the table. He had known he would be gone for a while, but he hadn’t anticipated something like this. He doubted Alyssa was even sparing a thought for their night of discourse and passion now that she had a new test subject in her lab.

“I see you have a broken wing. Does it hurt?”

Dirk cast a glance over his shoulder at her, and then at his wing. Sure enough, one of the phalanges had broken during his foolish efforts at escape. It made the leathery skin hang loosely. He’d rarely been injured as a dragon before, and it had always been a superficial wound that healed quickly. He knew he would recover from it eventually, but it wouldn’t be as simple as healing a cut.

“I’d like to help you. Will you hurt me if I come in there?”

It was a bold question and one that Dirk had to give her credit for. She had seen him for all of five minutes, and already she was willing to step inside the enclosure with him. Even Dr. Brinkmann hadn’t dared to do such a thing, opting instead to take all the samples he wanted while Dirk was asleep. He could still feel the sting on his arm where several scales had been forcibly removed. But he wouldn’t hurt Alyssa. None of this was her fault. “No.”

Alyssa stepped away from the com system and went to the other side of the lab. She returned a few moments later with a splint and medical tape. She spoke to the soldiers, a conversation Dirk couldn’t hear through the wall. They hesitated a moment before they filtered away, dispersing throughout the lab. Alyssa unlocked the door with the retinal scanner, entered, and closed it behind her.

Dirk could smell her as soon as she entered. It was the same scent he recognized from his night out with her, but it was heightened now that he wasn’t experiencing her through human sensors. It was not just the sweet fragrance of her perfume and the soft scent of her body, but the bouquet of her own essence mixed with his, and it was heady. Unfortunately, he was in no position to do anything about it.

“I don’t know how this happened,” she said quietly as she slowly stepped forward. “I only hope that you did it to yourself. I wouldn’t like to think that anyone else did it to you.” She meant Dr. Brinkmann, but she wouldn’t just come out and say it.

“You didn’t bring your guards,” he grated.

Alyssa was close enough now that she could reach out and touch him. She ran her hand gently over the curve of his wing before tenderly probing at the broken bone. “I didn’t see much need. If you decide to hurt me, I’ll be dead before the men can do anything about it.” Her fingers were cool as they touched him.

He laughed, a gravelly sound in his reptilian body. “You’re probably right.”

“I’d like to get this x-rayed, but I think I can do this well enough as it is. This next part might hurt a little, so I apologize in advance.”

Dirk grunted as she popped the broken bone back into place. It was painful, but only for a moment. Now that the bone was in the right position, it would heal quickly. He stood still while she taped the splint to his wing.

“Are there others like you?” she asked softly. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a real-life dragon before, if that’s what you are.”

He didn’t answer. How could he? Alyssa was a wonderful woman, a different woman, but she worked for a very evil man. Dirk couldn’t risk the rest of the Darkblood Society falling prey to him.

She nodded when she didn’t get a reply. “Okay, I get it. I’m going to leave you alone for a little while. Can I bring you any food?”

Dirk shrugged, which was a flap of his good wing. “Protein.”

She considered him a moment, numerous questions that she wanted to ask him dancing in her blue eyes. “I can do that. And then I’ll come back later and maybe we can talk again.” She stood up and was gone, leaving her scent lingering in the air.

A guard came back twenty minutes later and slid a plate of steak through a slot in the door. “Eat up, you brute,” he barked.

Waiting until the soldier was gone and there was nobody around to watch him, Dirk gobbled down the steak and wondered just how he was going to get himself out of this.