His dragon snarled. Check on the human female. The hunters want to hurt her. We must protect her.
Bram was on the same page, but instead of wasting time talking to his dragon, he sent a quick text message to Kai before he crept up to his cottage and took a closer look.
The light still glowed from the two front windows, neither of which was broken. Taking a deep inhalation, he didn’t scent blood in the air, which was also good. Since his cottage was soundproofed to keep delicate clan matters away from supersensitive dragon-shifter ears, he couldn’t hear anything. He needed to check the inside.
Dragon-shifters rarely used guns, and Bram was no exception. His dragon’s reflexes had never failed him before, and he would trust them now.
Gripping the doorknob, he twisted it bit by bit until the latch clicked softly. On the count of three, Bram inched open the door and was greeted by the sound of Evie’s voice. “The rivalry between the Carlisle and Edinburgh hunters is something to keep an eye on. Pitting them against each other might help loosen their defenses enough to attack.”
Some of Bram’s tension eased at the lass’s voice, and he pushed the door wide open. Evie was standing behind Arabella, who was sitting and typing on the laptop before her. Without thinking, he demanded, “What’s going on here?”
Both females turned to look at him. Neither one looked surprised to see him. If anything, they looked irritated.
Evie was the first to speak up. “Doing what you asked me to do—typing up information for you.”
Bram decided to take the easier route and looked to Arabella. “Explain.”
The dragonwoman shrugged one shoulder. “I was tired of trying to decipher her typos, so I offered to type for her.”
“Yes, but why, exactly, would you do that, Arabella? Humans and kindness don’t usually go together for you.”
Evie spoke up, “Leave her alone. You sent her here, so my guess is that you trust her. I see no reason for you to be upset at her typing for me. If you’d allowed me time to fetch my glasses, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Losing his cool in front of Arabella was not on his list of things to do, so he focused on his clan member and said, “Arabella, you can go now.”
“But we’re not done. All of this information about the Carlisle dragon hunters is fascinating.”
Oh, fuck. Arabella didn’t need inside information about the Carlisle hunters. She’d made great strides in her PTSD recovery over the last eight months, and he wouldn’t put it past her to try to attack the hunters alone. After all, they were the ones responsible for both her mother’s death and her scars.
Forcing every bit of dominance he could into his voice, Bram said, “Go home, Arabella. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Ara looked about ready to argue, but then clenched her jaw and nodded. She’d never been tempted to outright disobey him before. He blamed the human’s influence.
He waited until Arabella stood up and walked out the door before he pinned his best stare on Evie Marshall. “How in the world did you get Arabella MacLeod to not only work with you, but to almost appear to be on your side? And in just under two hours, no less?”
The human female straightened her shoulders. “I know a trick or two when it comes to working with dragon-shifters. Pretty much all of Clan Skyhunter detests humans. My first year was hell until I learned to use their other hatreds to my advantage. I did the same with Arabella. She hates the dragon hunters, and so do I. That hatred was stronger than what dislike she held for me.”
Shaking his head, Bram moved to stand next to Evie and instantly regretted it as her womanly scent filled his nose. Just one whiff made his dragon growl. Kiss her again. She cooperated. Arabella does not hate her. She is good.
He sent a mental scowl to his dragon. You are too trusting.
His inner beast hissed, but Bram ignored him and spoke to the human, “Your cleverness is going to be a pain in my arse.”
Hope lit her eyes. “So you’re letting me stay?”
The way Evie looked at him, as if he were the only one who could save her life, went straight to his heart. He still couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to kill the lass.
It was time to find that out. “Not yet.” Her hope died, and he resisted putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her as he continued, “First, I need to take a look at your information and see if it really is worth the hunters killing you over.”
Her expression returned to one of part irritation and part impatience as she gestured toward the laptop. “Be my guest.”
Just as he moved in front of the laptop, he heard the human’s stomach rumble and his dragon jumped to the forefront of his mind. Feed her.
Even Bram felt a little guilty at her hunger. “While I do this, there are some leftovers in the refrigerator you can eat. I hope you like curry.”
Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Are you sure it’s not poisoned?”
Despite himself, one corner of Bram’s lip twitched. “Aye, I’m sure. Now eat before I tie you to a chair and force feed you.”