His dragon spoke up. If they know the details concerning Evie’s rescue, then they’ve certainly looked into our past work. They know we can deliver.
Knowing someone is skilled and following their orders without hesitation are two different things.
Not to a dragon. Their dragon halves will keep them in line.
Kai snorted. That’s assuming everyone is as stubborn as you.
Aren’t all dragons stubborn?
Fair point. Now, be quiet. I need to pay attention.
As Kai watched the farmhouse and the outlying buildings, he also kept his ears open. If he so much as heard a child’s scream, he would have enough grounds to look into it and avoid the DDA’s ire in the aftermath.
Or, so he hoped.
No. He’d worry about DDA politics later. Even if it landed him in jail, he’d rescue his sister and the missing children. No one should endure the same fate as others that had been captured in the past, most especially children.
~~~
Jane stood at the entrance of the large cavern-like room and watched the quiet dragonwoman with dark hair.
From Maggie’s soft-spoken voice to her slightly shorter than average stature for a dragon-shifter, Jane tried to imagine Kai with the woman. But every time she tried, she only saw Kai tiptoeing around her and keeping his alpha nature in check.
In other words, he was never allowed to be his true self.
How could fate have ever thought she was Kai’s best chance for happiness, Jane had no bloody idea.
Still, no matter how much Jane disliked Maggie for hurting Kai, walking up to her and punching her in the face would be counterproductive. Besides, Maggie had never tried to entice Kai back. Hell, she’d barely even glanced at him whenever she and Kai had visited Snowridge in the past.
As Jane would tell Rafe if he’d wanted to do the same thing to one of Nikki’s former lovers, she needed to grow the fuck up and focus on what was important—helping Delia.
A bell rang and the young dragon-shifter students picked up their bags and exited the room. According to Lily, Maggie would be free from now until after lunch.
Taking a deep breath, Jane moved from her hiding spot near the entrance and waltzed into the room.
Maggie looked up at the sound of her footsteps. Her pupils flashed to slits and back before she asked, “What do you need, Jane?”
“So you know who I am.”
“Everybody on Snowridge does.”
When Maggie didn’t elaborate, Jane decided to steer the conversation toward her objective. “I’m here on an official matter, Ms. Jones. Delia went missing after your class and I need to know if she mentioned where she was going.”
Maggie moved to her teacher’s desk and sat behind it. “So you immediately thought I’d done something to drive Delia away.”
Jane frowned. “I didn’t say that. I’m just trying to get a better picture of what happened that day.”
Maggie looked away, and it took everything Jane had not to growl and demand an answer. She couldn’t afford to scare the dragonwoman and possibly miss out on information pertinent to her case.
The woman finally met her gaze again. “I may have mentioned a secret exit that the Protectors use to escape, but I didn’t tell her to go looking for it.”
“How did you know about this exit?”
She half expected for Maggie to bow her head and keep quiet. However, she answered, “My late mate’s brother is a Protector and he mentioned it to me once.”
“Late mate?” Jane echoed.
“Yes. My mate died a few weeks ago, of a dragon-related disease.”