“We don’t know what happened!”

  He was quiet.

  Skylar wanted to be angry at him for giving up on her mother the way she wanted to be angry with Chace. Recalling the last letter her mother had written Gavin, she struggled to hang onto her emotion. She, too, thought the chances of her mother being alive were slim, if Caleb was involved.

  “You dragons are so hard to read,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t need protecting anymore.”

  “Because you have Chace.” The note of disapproval was clear.

  “No, because I have a good head on my shoulders. I don’t need a dragon guard dog.”

  “You do. If you think you can protect thousands of shifters alone, then you aren’t thinking at all,” he replied.

  “I don’t trust any of you,” she pointed out. “Is there anything else you’re hiding? Anything else I need to know about who or what I am?”

  He said nothing.

  “Or maybe why Caleb and Dillon are doing this?” she prodded.

  Gavin released a deep breath and shifted forward in his seat. She waited, sensing he was about to reveal something she needed to know.

  “A few thousand years ago, there was a division within the shifters. It was fueled by differences in opinion about how we should behave within the human community and a natural division about who should be in charge. Dragons are very rare, and it was thought for a while that there would be no Protector born. Three thousand years passed. I had many protectors – female companions – but none of them had the blood of the Protector, the woman meant to protect the shifters,” he said slowly. “I believe that a movement to wrest control from the dragons was reaching its peak when I found your mother. Five thousand years of waiting, and I stumble upon her accidentally at a mall.”

  “You think they figured out their plan was going bust and then started chasing Mom?” she asked, intrigued by the insight into her father’s secretive life.

  “Yes. The lassos Caleb has used to belong to the dragons. It was how we kept internal order, by putting our kind into a deep sleep as a form of punishment. It was an alternative to killing,” he said, shrugging. “Not my idea. But a tradition I maintained. The lassos went missing soon after I met your mother.”

  “Caleb … or Dillon … whoever is behind this … started using them to take down the shifters.”

  “Kidnapping and brainwashing the children of shifters to use them to track down the shifters themselves in a power grab.”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Sometimes, this seems really … personal. Like they had me for six years. If you were the problem, or Chace was, why not use me sooner to hunt you guys down?”

  “It might be personal,” Gavin said. “Griffins are as rare as dragons and used to be the natural enemy of dragons. His father is likely like you, someone with the blood but not a full shifter. I’ve made some enemies over the years. When you’re the biggest and baddest of the shifters, you tend not to care.”

  “Until they track down your wife and daughter,” she pointed out.

  He said nothing but sipped from his water glass.

  “What about Mason?” she asked, throat tight.

  “I don’t know him.”

  She almost sighed.

  “Maybe I should say, I don’t know that name,” he clarified. “Dillon and Caleb have had many names over the years. I made an effort to track them. If Mason had another name, I might know it.”

  She groaned. “Okay. Then how did Mom use the shifter magic to protect them.”

  “Fairly simple. Whatever shifter you is nearest to you, you can tap into their magic. Use it to control them.”

  Skylar leaned over, remembering the bag she’d brought with her. She pulled one of the figurines free.

  “I can also bring them back to life,” she said, setting it on the table.

  “Yes,” he agreed softly. “You can undo what I did with the lasso. The Protector safeguards. Her dragon enforces the rules or punishes those who endanger the shifter community.” He lifted up the figurine. “Our community is not a close knit one, but there are rules and an order that must be maintained.”

  Her tattoo burned. Skylar cursed quietly, uncertain if her father’s cooperation was about to take a dive once he knew Chace was there. She sought him out and saw him in the doorway of the restaurant.

  He was watching her, muscular frame tensing when his blue gaze went to Gavin. He waved away the hostess and took a seat just outside the restaurant, stretching out his lean legs and folding them at the ankle.

  “Can I trade my dragon for a new one?” she asked, irritated by the reaction her body had to him.

  “No.”

  “Did you and Mom have a rough start?”

  “No.”

  Skylar clenched her mouth closed.

  Gavin smiled. “It wasn’t easy,” he added. “But I had the benefit of knowing my history and what I had when I found it. Chace has no appreciation for anything outside his ego.”

  “You two aren’t that different,” she replied. “Both of you think your opinion is the only one that matters.”

  “When you’ve been a ruler for five thousand years, you get used to people obeying,” he said.

  “In all my memories, I don’t recall you being there,” she said, troubled. “Why were you always gone?”

  “I wasn’t always gone,” he replied softly. “Sometimes I had to watch over you from a distance. Shifters can track their king, which meant Dillon always knew how to find me. If I wasn’t too close to you, you had a better chance at surviving to an age where your power manifested like it has.”

  If I have a daughter … she almost asked what happened but stopped herself. There was too much between now and that future.

  “Why didn’t you just take him out?” she asked.

  “We were on the run the entirety of your young life,” he explained. “I could only use my dragon senses at night, and he knew that. I wasn’t about to risk your mother’s life by sending her after him during the daylight.”

  “You were scared.”

  “Terrified. To live five thousand years alone in contentment and have your life usurped by the beautiful blue eyes of the woman you didn’t know you’d been waiting for …” he drifted off, rare warmth crossing his features. “Dangers I’d ignored because they couldn’t get to me now had their chance to take everything from me. The first few years were difficult. I learned a lot about the kind of ruler I should’ve been.”

  “Like Chace.”

  “Like Chace. When we identified him for what he was, Freyja, one of the oldest dragons at the time, tried to talk some sense into him. It didn’t work. She then betrayed me and the rest of dragonkind to side with the griffins. I put her to sleep for it.” Gavin’s voice hardened. “I saw firsthand what kind of dragon he his – trading you to me without caring what happened.”

  “He’s trying to be a better person,” she said automatically before rushing on. “Not that I disagree with you. But you must’ve said or done something to him when you stripped his magic. He’s different.”

  “He’s lucky he’s not dead,” Gavin said acidly.

  “You sent Gunner to help him?”

  “I checked up on him every night. He didn’t have the skill to fix himself without his power. Yes, I sent Gunner to help him.”

  “Because you know deep down that I need him.”

  Gavin’s jaw clenched, ticking visibly. His blue eyes were frigid.

  “Not judging,” she said. “But I mean, you know he’s strong enough to protect the shifters.”

  “Strong enough, yes. But too selfish.”

  That’s changing. Sensing how sore of a topic Chace was, Skylar sat back and searched for something less intense to talk about.

  “Got you a new SUV.” Gavin slid vehicle keys across the table to her.

  “Thanks,” she murmured.

  Movement in the doorway of the restaurant drew her attention, and she saw Gunner there. He waved then sat beside Chace.

  “Gunner’s here,” she told her father. “I still feel like I need more answers.”

  “Neither of us knows what happened to your mother, but everything else seems clear to me. Dillon must be stopped. The damage he’s done must be undone.”

  She almost sighed. Dillon was the key. Their last exchange was less than encouraging. With his father dead, he was likely going to be erratic, hard to predict.

  “Invite them to join us,” Gavin said coolly.

  “Um, only if you promise there won’t be a dragon smack down or something,” she said. “You’ll behave?”

  He nodded his head once with noble eloquence, a king granting a small favor.

  Skylar rolled her eyes in response. She stood and waved to catch the attention of the two shifters seated outside the restaurant. Motioning for them to come in, she sank back into her seat and clenched both hands in her lap.

  Too aware of Chace’s nearness, Skylar tried to psych herself up for the meeting with reminders about how they were all working towards something important. There was no place for emotion here, not even when her gaze was drawn to Chace’s powerful form and stuck to him.

  “Good to see you again,” Gunner said to Gavin. He slid into the seat across from Skylar while Chace silently took the seat beside her.

  His leg brushed hers, sending a flare of heat and need through her. She eased away from him and tried hard not to look in his direction.

  “How’s the shoulder?” Gunner addressed her in the tense quiet.

  “Great.”

  “You need me to look at it?”

  “No.” She cleared her throat. “It, uh, kinda healed.”

  “What?”

  “That’s great,” Chace said, inquisitive gaze on her.

  “So. You guys both know my dad, Gavin. We were talking about how we need to fix this Dillon issue.”

  “We’ve got an army of shifters,” Gunner said, picking up the one on the table.

  Skylar reached forward to reclaim it, protective of her figurines.

  “We could use our magic.” Gunner looked pointedly at Gavin.

  “You, yes,” the ancient dragon said.

  Chace said nothing, and Skylar risked a look at him. He didn’t seem surprised or offended by the purposeful exclusion.

  “Keep in mind we’ve got a bunch of angry slayers tracking the shifters, too,” he said.

  All three of them looked at her. Skylar shook her head.

  “We need to help them, too,” she said firmly. “If I woke up, so will they.”

  “You’re stronger, Sky,” Gavin said. “It took you six years and some trauma to start to remember. For those without dragon blood, it’ll be harder.”

  “We have to try,” she replied.

  No one spoke. Her stomach turned over. She didn’t want to know what their alternate plan was to do with the brainwashed slayers. She didn’t bring up Mason, either, still convinced he wasn’t what they thought he was.

  “So we have to help the shifters and the slayers,” Gunner summarized. “Anyone have an idea where to start?”

  “Dillon,” Chace and Skylar said simultaneously.

  She glanced at him, face warm again.

  “Capture him and interrogate him?” Gunner asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered.

  Gavin was watching her. “He’s strong, Skylar.”

  “We’ve got dragons,” she replied.

  “All but one are nocturnal and the one who isn’t has no magic.”

  “Well what do you suggest?” she asked impatiently. “He might know what happened to my mom, how to turn off the slayers, if there are any other shifters trapped as stone statues.”

  A quiet fell. She sensed the men around her were all thinking thoughts they had no intention of sharing with her.

  “We could use the bar.” Chace was the first to speak. “The slayers have been tracking it. We can pick a place to make a stand.”

  “But not hurt the slayers,” she said. “We could capture them. If we can’t fix them, Dillon can tell us how when we find him.”

  “Sky, I think we need to be open to the chance that there might not be a way to save some of them,” Chace said quietly.

  She looked at him full on for the first time since he sat down with them. “It’s not their fault they got sucked into this and brainwashed!”

  “He’s right, Sky,” Gavin said. “We’ll feel it out. But sometimes you have to make tough choices as the Protector.”

  She said nothing, fuming and hurt to think of those she’d spent the past few years with being written off. If she and Chace could be salvaged, then the others deserved the same chance.

  A glance at those around her revealed that she was in the minority. She kept her thoughts to herself, determined to help as many people as possible.

  “First step. Waking up these shifters. I think we’ll need all we can find,” Chace said, lifting her bag from the floor.

  “There are a lot more at Caleb’s,” she said. “Chace and I both can wake them up.”

  “Sounds like it’s close to a plan,” Gunner said. “Gavin can’t do jack during daylight. As soon as it’s dark, we need to plant the bar someplace where the slayers can find it.”

  “Near The Field,” Chace suggested. “Lots of open space, no people around to get caught in any crossfire.”

  There won’t be crossfire, she vowed. She sat back, listening as they plotted a simple strategy to draw out and capture as many slayers as possible and hopefully, snag Dillon as well.

  Her gaze went from them to the window, and she looked twice.

  Mason was standing in the parking lot, near an SUV. He looked a little better this morning, as if he’d gotten some sleep.

  He was gazing at her, as if waiting for her to notice him.

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, standing.

  “Whoa. No,” Chace said. He caught her arm with a strong hand, his eyes on the figure in the parking lot.

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” she snapped and twisted away.

  Skylar strode out of the restaurant and reached the automatic door of the lobby before Chace managed to grab her arm again. Whirling, she glared up at him. He drew her closer to him, until she was able to feel his body heat.

  “Whatever your plan is, it shouldn’t involve someone like that,” Chace said in a low, quiet voice.

  “Something’s going on. I’m going to find out what,” she retorted.

  “You’re so beautiful when you’re angry,” he said, a trace of a smile going across his tight features.

  She said nothing, taken aback by the random compliment. Chace’s gaze dropped to her lips, and she pursed them to keep from wetting them in anticipation of a kiss. Her body was burning up at his touch and nearness, his scent making her tingle. His soft sweater and the shapely muscles beneath it were begging for her touch.

  “Let me go, Chace,” she ordered, hating the breathless note in her voice.

  He did.

  She remained in place, close enough to for their bodies to brush if she leaned forward slightly. Caught in the dark blue depths of his gaze, she forgot briefly what they were arguing over.

  “You’re welcome for healing you,” he said, warmth softening the skin beneath his eyes. “I’m a dick. We all know this. But please don’t deal with Mason alone.”

  His genuine concern bothered her when she was working so hard at disliking him.

  “I’m just going to talk to him,” she said.

  “No getting kidnapped.”

  “Since you’ve lost your powers, my kidnapping average has dropped down close to zero!” she retorted.

  He touched her cheek with one hand. “Be safe.”

  She half-expected him to insist she let him go. But he didn’t.

  “I will be,” she said, stepping away from the overwhelming affect he had on her senses.

  She turned away, unable to figure out what this new Chace’s game was. She exited the hotel and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts and then approached Mason.

  “Hey,” she greeted him, pausing a few feet away. She searched his gaze, not sure what she was looking for. A sign of what kind of creature he was? Any indication he meant to hurt or betray her?”

  “Hi, Sky,” he said. His hands were in his pocket. His bruised eye appeared less dark during daylight. “Sorry about last night.”

  “It’s okay,” she murmured. “Um, so Dillon is a griffin shifter who tried to kill me.”

  Mason met her gaze.

  “You knew what he was,” she guessed. “Because you’re a shifter, too.”

  He drew a deep breath. “Yeah. I am.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.

  “The time wasn’t right.”

  “What about all that nonsense about being bitten by a shifter and falling in love with one?”

  “I needed to see where you were with things,” he admitted.

  “So it was all a lie?” Her throat and chest were tight. “Everything I remember about my life is a lie!”

  “No, Sky,” Mason replied. “We’re friends. We’ve always been friends. We’ll always be friends. I hope.”

  His firm assurance calmed her some.

  “I couldn’t tell you anything that might make it back to Dillon.”

  “Did he know what you are?”

  “Yes and no.” Mason flashed a quick smile.

  “Whatever,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “What happened at Caleb’s?”

  Mason looked into the sky, gaze distant. “You’re right. I can have a fresh start, and I told Caleb I was done. We got in a disagreement.”

  “You killed him.”

  “I didn’t have a choice. We needed time to get away before Dillon came. I’m big, but I’m not going to risk facing Dillon in his shifter form.”

  She wanted to ask what Mason was but feared the answer. She scoured his features, wanting badly to know her friend was still there somewhere like he claimed. His dark eyes glowed with familiar warmth, and she recalled with appreciation that he’d supported her at The Field when she’d wanted to find Chace.

  “I want to believe you, Mason,” she murmured.

  “I’ve always taken care of you, Sky. Even if you can’t remember it.”

  She studied him. Her instincts were certain about Chace despite her anger. With Mason …

 

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