Bobbing her head, Jane answered, “Once we find Delia, I’ll work on it.”
“Good luck, child. If Maggie gives you any trouble, you call me immediately, do you hear?”
Despite Lily’s soft appearance, there was no doubting the steel in her voice. “I will. Tell me where to find her and I’ll start straight away.”
As Lily gave her directions, Jane’s heart rate ticked up. She’d put off this meeting long enough. It was high time for her to talk with the mysterious Maggie Jones. The trick would be focusing on Delia and not allowing the dragonwoman to provoke her, if she tried. Jane knew little about the dragonwoman, but all of that was about to change.
~~~
Kai wished he could soar over the area in his dragon form to find the truck they were looking for, but they couldn’t risk being spotted and scaring away their possible targets.
So he followed Carys as she led them along the country road north of Dolgellau. Thanks to the abundance of trees to either side of the road, it was easy to mostly stay out of sight.
The brown-haired dragonwoman with green eyes stopped in her tracks and glanced to the left. She waved in the same direction. “They turned off the road here.”
Kai scanned the area. The dirt road went through open spaces to a farmhouse in the distance. Not even his dragon eyesight could make out the details, so he took a pair of high-powered binoculars from his pack and zeroed in on the farmhouse.
In addition to the old two-story structure, there were a number of outbuildings and a large barn. While there was no truck in sight, several of the buildings were large enough to hide one inside.
Lowering his binoculars, he looked at the three other dragon-shifters. “Do you think any of the Snowridge farmers will know who these people are?”
Eira shook her head. “I doubt it. Few of the human farmers want anything to do with the dragon ones. Not to mention flying is restricted in this area to avoid spooking the animals.”
Kai’s dragon spoke up. We need a human to look into it.
Jane is English. Her accent will throw up a huge red flag.
There has to be a Welsh human who will help us.
Kai went through the few Welsh people he knew, both human and dragon, and finally remembered one. Trahern’s doctor friend, Emily Davies, is human.
But she’s from Cardiff. Welsh accents might all sound the same to me, but I’m sure the local people will notice.
Trying to find someone is too time-consuming. We’ll have to do this a different way.
He focused back on the three dragon-shifters. “As much as I want to charge in and search the grounds, we should wait here in the tree cover. Once the truck exits and Carys can confirm the tracks, then we can try sneaking onto the grounds for evidence. Once we have it, we can call for backup.”
“And if the truck never exits?” Wren asked.
Kai focused on Carys. “How sure are you of your tracking abilities?”
The dragonwoman placed her hands on her hips. “No other dragon has bested me yet in Wales.” She narrowed her eyes at Wren. “And you know that.”
Wren put up his hands. “I’m just trying to be prepared, Carys. You’re skilled, but for all we know, they have tunnels. Wasn’t that what you found near Carlisle previously, Kai, when you went after the dragon hunters there?”
Evie Marshall, the eventual mate of Stonefire’s clan leader, had been kidnapped along with Nikki and another Protector named Charlie. Part of the rescue plan had involved using tunnels that the dragon hunters had dug for escape routes.
“Yes, but the formerly based Carlisle group have huge numbers and resources. It seems unlikely the same would happen here. I say we wait and if nothing shows up by nightfall, one or two of us can try looking around undetected.”
Carys nodded. “I’ll be one of them. I may spot something you can’t see.”
Kai jumped in before the others could talk. “And since Delia is my sister, I should be the other investigator, unless Wren or Eira have problems with that?”
“No, it’s better for us to contact Snowridge for backup if needed anyway,” Eira answered.
“Right, then let’s settle in and each take different sections. Wren and Eira, go further south and keep an eye on the road. Carys and I will keep watch on the farm and surrounding open areas.”
Kai was thankful that Eira and Wren went without complaint. It couldn’t be easy for them to accept orders from another clan’s Protector.