Finding His Dragon (Dragon Blood Book 3) (8 page)

She opened her mouth to say something when a loud pounding came at the door. Brycen’s voice came through an instant later. “Clan meeting in five,” he shouted before stomping away.

Charlotte didn’t know what to expect. Jace had said that he didn’t know what the meeting was about, and she had no reason to doubt him. Tension coiled in her stomach. Something was wrong. Jace held her hand as they entered a huge living room with several couches and a massive fireplace.

All eyes turned to her—more eyes than she had expected. Stella and Maddie were there along with the man who had poked his head in to make sure she was okay the previous night. But so were a dozen or so other men. Each and every one of them had a fierce look about them.

“Come on in,” a man with hair so light it almost looked white said. “I’m Austin.” He came forward and shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte.”

Jace pulled her closer, and she couldn’t help but smile at him. Was he jealous of his friend? Rather than poke the dragon, she leaned into him and wrapped her arm around his waist.

He took her around the room, introducing her to Luke, who sat with Maddie, and Brycen, who had Stella sitting on his lap, and all the other men. There was no way she would remember them all.

“Some of the guys are out patrolling, and a few are out of town. We’ve called everyone back. They should be home by tomorrow afternoon,” Austin said.

Jace tensed next to her, and his hand squeezed hers a little tighter. “What’s going on? Why did you call them home?” he asked.

Austin glanced at her before answering. “There are four or five dragons in the village. They’re looking for Charlotte.”

Her heart stuttered, then took off at a gallop. They had already found her. She had hoped to have a couple of days before having to face them.

When she looked up at Jace, she found him watching her. “It’s okay, love. We figured they’d come. We’ll be ready.”

She nodded and swallowed. Each man in the room looked more than capable of holding their own. She wouldn’t have to worry unless Adrian brought in more of his goons.

***

“What did you find out?” he asked Austin. By the silence in the room, he knew the others had already been briefed. Otherwise, questions would be flying at the man until he spilled all the information.

“The ringleader is named Adrian. He claims we’ve stolen his woman. He says he has a legal claim to her.” A muscle in Austin’s cheek jumped.

“He doesn’t,” Jace assured him. “Charlotte told me that her brother sold her to Adrian, but she never consented to the mating.”

A heavy silence filled the room. Stella cleared her throat and stood. “I have to ask, and I hope you won’t hate me for it,” she said as she looked at Charlotte and came to stand with her.

“No,” he cut her off before she could pose the question. How could Stella even think of asking it? He pulled Charlotte closer.

“Jace,” Stella chided, “we need to know for sure. Charlotte, did you ever consummate a relationship with Adrian?” she asked before he could stop her.

Charlotte gasped and shook her head. “No, of course not. I ran before they could deliver me to him.”

“Good, then we have nothing to worry about,” Stella said, giving Charlotte a small smile. “And you can stop shooting daggers at me with your eyes, Jace. No one else was brave enough to face your wrath. It had to be done.”

He took a deep breath, then another, allowing his fury to dissipate, but it wasn’t until Charlotte squeezed his hand and sent him a reassuring smile that he was able to release the tension coiling in his chest.

“If you two will take a seat, we’ll start putting our plan together.” Austin pushed a button on the mantle, and a projector screen slid silently from the ceiling. “This is what we know so far. I’m hoping Charlotte will be able to fill in some of the blanks once we’ve gone through it all.”

He flipped open his laptop and clicked a few times before information showed up on the big screen. “Reyn, head of Eldurcrest, Charlotte’s old clan, is he eldest brother by two years. Her younger brother, Morgan is four years younger. He’s away overseas. Their numbers are as follows. Eighteen males and only four females now that Charlotte has come into the Dragon Blood fold.”

Charlotte squeezed his thigh a little where she had rested it when they’d sat.

“Two of the women are mated, one is not. That leaves sixteen unmated males.”

“The Black Wing clan are more worrisome than Eldurcrest,” Austin said after a pause. “I’ve got Mike watching them in the village. They’re threatening to come up here and take back what they claim is theirs. The fact that they haven’t tells me they’re waiting for reinforcements. Their numbers aren’t great, but they have a reputation. They torch villages for no good reason, killing at random. They’re the dragons that give us all a bad name. If they come in blazing, the village will likely be destroyed. They have twelve men, and no women, at least, none that I could find, and I did an extensive search.”

“That’s because they don’t see women as equals or even as people for that matter,” Charlotte spoke up. No one could see it, but with her pressed tight against him, he felt the shudder going through her. “He won’t register them, or have any documentation on them. That way if they go missing, no one is the wiser. They have a few women. None of them, as far as I know, are there by choice.
They aren’t allowed out often, never speak, and are usually sporting bruises. Adrian himself took a mate at least once. The she-dragon disappeared after she crossed him.”

He growled, the sound low, and mean. That was the kind of man her brother had sold his mate to? Silence fell in the room, and all eyes turned on him. “Go on,” he told Austin. Once they dealt with the Black Wings, he’d deal with her brother.

Austin clicked his mouse. The picture of a male with a jagged scar starting at the corner of his left eye and running down to his neck came onto the screen. “I don’t know who this guy is. He doesn’t belong to either clan, but he’s been snooping around trying to get some info on Eldurcrest, and more specifically, on Charlotte. He uses the name Dragon Lord online. I haven’t been able to identify him past that. Do you know this man, Charlotte?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

He clicked again, and the screen went blank. “We can’t rule him out as a foe. Last known location was about two hundred miles from here, but that was days ago. Keep your eyes open for him. And that’s about it.”

Austin sat back, and Brycen stood. “Okay, thanks for the info, Austin. Is there anything you can tell us, Charlotte? Why would your brother want you to go to the Black Wing clan?”

“He’s trying to form an alliance. He thinks there’s a new dragon war coming and that they need to band together to try to survive it. When he first concocted his plan, he came to me, thinking that I’d agree and go. I said no. That’s when things got ugly. He tried to force my hand, and I refused. He didn’t give me a choice after that. When I attempted to leave, he had me locked up. Had Tulia not found me and set me free, I’d be in Adrian’s possession now.”

“Who is Tulia?” Brycen asked.

“She’s the one unmated female. She risked her life to set me free.”

“Is she safe within the clan? How about the mated women? Were they given a choice in their mates?” this came from Austin.

“The mated females are okay. Their mates will protect them. When my father was alive, these issues didn’t exist within the clan. I’m afraid they’ll go after Tulia next. She’s the only bargaining chip my brother has left. She wouldn’t survive a day in the Black Wing clan. I tried to get her to come with me, but she was too scared. She wouldn’t leave.”

Austin nodded, the muscle in his jaw ticking.

“You know what she looks like?” Brycen asked him.

He nodded again. “Found pics online.”

“Leave now. They won’t be expecting anyone yet. Get her out of there,” Brycen ordered.

Knowing they would soon have a battle on their hands, Jace would have protested, but an unmated female needed protection. There were too few of them, and if they hurt her, or forced her to mate with a bastard like Adrian, he’d never forgive himself for denying her that protection.

Charlotte sat there, plucking at the blades of grass next to her leg, watching the sun sink closer to the mountain peaks as it prepared to set. It had been two days since Adrian and his goons had arrived in Glen Farley, but they had yet to come and face them. If it weren’t for the fact that one of the men had reported more dragons entering the village earlier that day, she might have thought they would leave her alone. Surely the Black Wing clan weren’t stupid enough to believe that they could out power the men of Dragon Blood.

As was the norm since the meeting, most of the men were out patrolling the property. Stella and Maddie were somewhere inside, and three of the men stood guard, one of them, undoubtedly watching her even as she sat there. Jace had left the estate a couple of hours earlier to scope out the enemy and check in with the locals. He’d explained to her that although there were a few jerks in town, the village mostly consisted of decent people, and they stood by them.

A small shiver erupted on her skin moments before Brycen came running into the clearing from the other side of the building. “Get inside, now,” he yelled at her.

Charlotte shot to her feet, her eyes automatically scanning the sky as she ran. There were no dragons in the sky, and she didn’t hear anything unusual, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Each of them knew what to do, and although it killed her to run and hide, she would follow the plan. Her job was to go inside and protect Maddie. She was to stay out of sight, no matter what and make sure Maddie was safe. The others would deal with whatever happened outside.
Stella would only go out if necessary, so for the time being, she was standing guard with her in the great room. The whole house was on lockdown.

Stella paced the length of the room. Maddie sat there on the same bench she’d been sitting on when she’d woken on her first day at the estate, wringing her hands on her lap.

“Something’s not right,” Stella said as she paced to the window and peeked through the curtains. “I can feel it.”

“Can you see anything?” Maddie asked.

“Nothing. If dragons were out there, we’d hear them, and we would see them circling, but there’s nothing. I’m going to check it out.” Stella strode to the door, listening for sounds coming from the rest of the house before opening it up and then closing it behind her as she left.

Maddie’s little sob had Charlotte springing into action. She crossed over to her new friend and sat next to her, wrapping her arm around her. “Listen, as far as we know, it was a false alarm. The men are probably guarding the perimeter to be extra cautious, and that’s why they haven’t come in to give us the all clear.”

Maddie nodded and sniffled, but then tilted her chin up. “Our men will keep us safe. I know they will.” There was still a little tremor in her voice, but it was stronger than it had been.

Quick footsteps came rushing back toward the great hall, and Charlotte stood in front of Maddie, her stance wide, ready to shift if necessary to protect the woman.

The door swung open, and Stella burst through. “Hunters, not dragons,” she yelled. “Get her out of here. Go to the roof. Don’t take to the air unless you need to, you’ll make an easy mark in the sky.”

Maddie gasped and got to her feet. “Luke?” she asked.

“Honey, I haven’t seen him. Just go. As soon as it’s safe I’ll come up and get you.”

Charlotte took Maddie’s hand and started running for the stairs. She’d seen her walk the house often enough to know that she could navigate it as well as any of them. She didn’t bother with instructions until they got near the stairs. “Five feet and we’re climbing the stairs,” she said as she kept running. As expected, Maddie kept pace.

As soon as they reached the top landing, Maddie tugged on her hand. “Take us to the end of the hall on Stella and Brycen’s wing.”

“That won’t get us to the roof.” She tried to bring her in the direction they’d been instructed to go.

“I know. But we can’t go to the roof. If you were hunting dragons and knew one was hiding inside a building, where would you aim your arrows? They’re not here for me. They want to flush you out. We’ll play right into their hands if we go up there.”

Damn it.
Maddie was right. Jace had taken her through the estate, showing her some secret passages, but she didn’t recall one at that end of the hall. “There’s nothing there.”

“There is if you know where to look. It’s a huge place. Jace won’t have shown you the whole thing yet.” Maddie turned and started pulling her along. “If they get inside, they won’t find us there.”

A loud roar from outside the front door made her mind up for her. “Okay, let’s go.”

They reached the end of the hall, and Charlotte looked around. Other than Brycen and Stella’s bedroom door, there was nothing. Maddie reached for the wall, using her fingers to guide her. “Here,” she whispered, “slide the panel over.”

Two floors below a door slammed open. A loud roar and the sound of pounding feet made her heart stutter. She’d recognize the sound of that dragon anywhere. Reyn.