Persuading the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons Book 12) Read online

  Persuading the Dragon

  Stonefire Dragons #12

  Jessie Donovan

  Mythical Lake Press, LLC

  Contents

  Stonefire Dragons Series

  Overall Dragon Reading Order

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Treasured by the Dragon

  The Dragon’s Choice

  Author’s Note

  Also by Jessie Donovan

  About the Author

  Copyright

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  Books in this series:

  Stonefire Dragons

  Sacrificed to the Dragon (SD #1)

  Seducing the Dragon (SD #2)

  Revealing the Dragons (SD #3)

  Healed by the Dragon (SD #4)

  Reawakening the Dragon (SD #5)

  Loved by the Dragon (SD #6)

  Surrendering to the Dragon (SD #7)

  Cured by the Dragon (SD #8)

  Aiding the Dragon (SD #9)

  Finding the Dragon (SD #10)

  Craved by the Dragon (SD #11)

  Persuading the Dragon (SD #12)

  Treasured by the Dragon / Dawn and Blake (SD #13 / Sept 24, 2020)

  Persuading the Dragon Synopsis

  Nearly a year ago, an injured human female showed up on Stonefire’s land carrying a flash drive full of information stolen from the Dragon Knights. However, before Zain Kinsella could interrogate her, she fell into a coma and hasn’t awoken since. After his initial anger fades, he wonders if the thin, pale girl will ever wake again. When she does, it’s up to him to help guard her and make her strong enough to face some questioning. He most definitely shouldn’t notice her delicious heat or the sadness in her eyes. She’s a prisoner and can be nothing more.

  Ivy Passmore finds herself inside a dragon-shifter hospital, bedridden and barely able to sit up. Despite the overwhelming grief at the death of her brother, she’s determined to do everything she can to atone for her part in helping the Dragon Knights and causing her brother’s murder. She’s more than ready to tell the dragons everything. When one tall, quiet Protector makes a deal—she endures his physical therapy, and he’ll help track down her brother’s killers—Ivy has no choice but to agree. Slowly, her idea of dragon-shifters changes, especially around one certain dragonman.

  As two former enemies morph into something more, the Dragon Knights find out about Ivy's location and offer a reward for her death or capture. Will Stonefire be forced to give her up to protect their clan? Or, will Zain and Ivy be able to find a path where they can defeat the Knights and be together?

  The Stonefire and Lochguard series intertwine with one another. Since so many readers ask for the overall reading order, I’ve included it with this book. (This list is as of May 2020 and you can view the most up-to-date version here on my website.)

  Sacrificed to the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #1)

  Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #2)

  Revealing the Dragons (Stonefire Dragons #3)

  Healed by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #4)

  Reawakening the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #5)

  The Dragon's Dilemma (Lochguard Highland Dragons #1)

  Loved by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #6)

  The Dragon Guardian (Lochguard Highland Dragons #2)

  Surrendering to the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #7)

  The Dragon’s Heart (Lochguard Highland Dragons #3)

  Cured by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #8)

  The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons #4)

  Aiding the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #9)

  Finding the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #10 )

  Craved by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #11)

  The Dragon Family (Lochguard Highland Dragons #5)

  Winning Skyhunter (Stonefire Dragons Universe #1)

  The Dragon’s Discovery (Lochguard Highland Dragons #6)

  Transforming Snowridge (Stonefire Dragons Universe #2)

  The Dragon's Pursuit (Lochguard Highland Dragons #7)

  Persuading the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #12 / May 14, 2020)

  Treasured by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons #13 / Sept 24, 2020)

  Short stories that can be enjoyed any time after Winning Skyhunter/The Dragon's Discovery:

  Meeting the Humans (Stonefire Dragons Shorts #1)

  The Dragon Camp (Stonefire Dragons Shorts #2)

  The Dragon Play (Stonefire Dragons Shorts #3)

  Semi-related dragon stories set in the USA, beginning sometime around The Dragon's Discovery / Transforming Snowridge:

  The Dragon's Choice (Tahoe Dragon Mates #1)

  The Dragon's Need (Tahoe Dragon Mates #2)

  The Dragon's Bidder (Tahoe Dragon Mates #3, July 16, 2020)

  Chapter One

  Ivy Passmore slowly opened her eyes, only to blink them against the bright light above her.

  Her mind was foggy, and it took everything she had on getting her eyes to stay open and focus.

  Although once she did, the bare, cream walls and white ceiling told her nothing of where she was.

  Something about her running through a forest, trying to find dragon-shifters came back to her.

  Why would she go looking for dragons? She hated them. She'd heard stories of how they'd terrorized some of her coworkers before. Besides, everyone knew the dragon-shifters would soon demand humans to help increase their numbers, whether the women wanted to go or not. To deny them meant risking their wrath, and really, what chance did a human have of winning against someone who could change into a beast?

  After all, a group of dragons flying in the sky could take over any small town or village in the UK without breaking a sweat.

  She tried turning over to her side but couldn't budge an inch. Her entire body was heavy, as if rocks were stacked on top of her chest to keep her from moving.

  While Ivy had never been the strongest person in the world, she could bloody turn over. Something was wrong with her.

  Trying to make a sound, a barely audible gurgle escaped. Within seconds, a man's face came into view, his dark brows drawn together.

  She had no idea who he was, but his brown eyes took in her face, as if he needed to catalogue every detail.

  Then he moved better into her view, and she noticed the tattoo on his upper bicep. Her heart skipped a beat and she resisted screaming.

  It was a dragon-shifter.

  And given how she'd worked with the Dragon Knights, who made it their goal to eradicate dragon-shifters at every opportunity, her chances didn't look good.

  He'd probably kill her.

  She tried to scream, but only more gurgling escaped. The dragonman sighed before his Northern English accent filled the room. "So you're awake. Now, calm the fuck down already."

  Ivy remained still—not that she could move much beyond her eyes and her lips—and waited to see what he'd do.

  She was currently helpless. Maybe that could save her. Dragons were ruthless, but if they had wanted to kill her, they would've done it already,
right?

  He muttered, "I'll fetch the doctor. Maybe you'll listen to them. However, we're not done yet. You and I are going to see a lot of each other." He leaned an inch closer. "Because you're going to tell me why you showed up here, not to mention what you know of the Knights."

  The dragonman leaned back and left before she could even think of how to respond to that.

  Although his words niggled at something, a memory at the back of her mind.

  Running through the forest, her stomach gnarling with hunger.

  Dragons flying in the sky above.

  The answer was so close, but just out of reach. If she could growl convincingly, Ivy would've done it right then.

  It wasn't as if she had amnesia. She remembered her name and that she lived in Brighton.

  She also had a brother, Richard.

  The name triggered overwhelming grief. It flooded her body, making her heart squeeze.

  Then she remembered: Richard was dead. So was his long-term partner, David.

  And it had something to do with her.

  Tears prickled her eyes. Damn it, why couldn't she remember everything?

  Was her brother's death related to the dragons? If so, it'd give her even more reason to hate the bastards.

  And yet, for some reason, she didn't think it had been them. But who else would kill her brother?

  Someone entered her room, garnering her attention. Ivy managed to turn her head a few inches to see the visitor.

  A tall woman with mousy brown hair pulled into a ponytail walked toward her, the lab coat and stethoscope around her neck denoting her as a doctor.

  When her pupils flashed to slits, Ivy stilled again. Another dragon-shifter.

  She was more afraid of the dragon doctor than the muscled dragonman. Instinctively, Ivy knew that someone could cause far more long-lasting pain with drugs and medical science than with a physical beating.

  After all, the Dragon Knights had been using drugs as their main focus in the last few years, experimenting on dragons when they could.

  Drugs she'd helped formulate.

  More information hovered just outside her reach. Had she killed someone related to these dragon-shifters? If that was so, then she had no bloody idea why they'd kept her alive. Weren't they supposed to be bloodthirsty when it came to revenge?

  The dragon doctor spoke in the same Northern English accent as the man. "My name is Dr. Sid. And I can see from the terror in your eyes that you're afraid of me. Now, I can only imagine the stories you've heard over the years, ones that made you want to work with the bloody Dragon Knights. However, I uphold the same oath as any human doctor in that I do no harm. I'm part of the reason you're awake right now, and still alive. So I suggest calming down and answering me truthfully. Lies will only hurt you in the long run, and that will be your own damn fault."

  Ivy nearly blinked at the dragonwoman's words. Would she truly try to help her if she were honest? Yes, the doctor had kept Ivy alive until now. Although she still had no idea for what purpose.

  Trust wasn't something she'd give to any dragon-shifter, but if the doctor could help her get better, then Ivy would at least be honest concerning her health.

  Because once she had all her memories and fully recovered her strength, she'd need to find some way to escape the dragons and head back to her home down south.

  Dr. Sid studied her a second before asking, "Can you talk? Speak if you can, or else blink twice for no."

  She tried to say she could, but her throat and mouth were dry, and all that came out was "Aaahhhh."

  The dragonwoman reached into one of her pockets, extracted a small plastic bag filled with ice chips, and opened it. "Here, let's try this first."

  Dr. Sid placed an ice chip at Ivy's lips. The coolness mixed with wetness made her realize how thirsty she was.

  Seeing as the dragons hadn't killed her when unconscious, she parted her lips to accept the ice. As it melted down her throat, she nearly moaned.

  After a few more, Dr. Sid stopped and asked, "How about now?"

  She croaked, "I think I can."

  While her voice was faint and somewhat scratchy to her own ears, it seemed to be enough for the doctor who asked, "Do you hurt anywhere?"

  Shaking her head was easier, so Ivy did that. The doctor continued, "Can you wiggle a finger?"

  Unsure, Ivy concentrated. She must've succeeded before the dragonwoman nodded. "Good. Now let's try other parts of your body. But don't be alarmed if you can't move much just yet. You've been in a coma for about a year, and your muscles have atrophied. It's going to take some intensive physical therapy to get you walking again, let alone for you to regain the ability to sit upright without help."

  Ivy blinked. She'd been out over a year?

  Just what the bloody hell had happened to her?

  Not that she had much time to think about it. The dragon doctor pushed her to answer questions and try moving various parts of her body. But during the entire set of questions and tests, all Ivy wanted was for her memory to fully return.

  It was bad enough she'd lost an entire year of her life—although granted, still being alive at the hands of dragon-shifters was better than dead—but she desperately wanted every memory back she'd possessed before setting foot on the dragons' lands.

  Because only then could she really start to piece back together what had happened to her and plan the next steps of her future.

  After a fucking year of waiting around for the female to wake up, Zain Kinsella hated the fact he had to wait some more.

  He paced Dr. Sid's office, anxious for her to return. While it was Zain's job to get as much information out of Ivy Passmore as he could manage, he couldn't begin his task until her health was deemed out of the danger zone.

  And given how she'd barely been able to move her head, she could be in that zone for quite a while yet.

  His inner dragon spoke up. It's not as if she's able to run away any time soon considering her health and that the world at large thinks she’s dead.

  That's not the point. While Nathan and Lucien have managed to interpret some of the data from the thumb drive we found on her, she could fill in the remaining gaps with passwords and how to break the encrypted files. Maybe then we'd have the information we need to finally defeat the Dragon Knights.

  Roughly a year ago, Ivy Passmore had called out for help in the forest near Stonefire. She'd been unconscious by the time Zain had found her. But searching her body had revealed a gold mine—a trove of information about the Dragon Knights, stored on a tiny thumb drive wrapped in plastic. On it had been their formulas, the location of most of their hideouts—both online and physical—as well as some of their recruiting operations and tactics.

  But quite a few of the files were strongly encrypted. Not even Stonefire's best IT specialists had been able to break them, to the point that a fair bit of the information was still a mystery.

  And to someone like Zain, who liked to act more than sit around and be patient, it was bloody torture waiting for Ivy to recover. The crucial bit of intel they needed to finally eradicate one of Stonefire's main enemies was nearly within their reach; he could feel it.

  His dragon grunted. Be patient. She can't reveal anything if she's dead.

  Zain replied to his beast, I'm more than aware of her value. It's why she's still alive. But every day that passes is another that could end with a dead or injured dragon-shifter somewhere. Are you okay with that?

  His beast huffed. Of course not, you idiot. But we're not mind readers. Help her recover her strength, or else we'll get nowhere. If she falls back into another coma, then where will we be?

  Zain didn't know all the medical details, but Stonefire's main doctors—Sid and Gregor—along with their researchers, Trehan and a human named Emily Davies, had all agreed that the antidote they'd devised to counter the poison and wake Ivy up might not last forever. Only time, testing, and observation would let them know if the change was permanent.

  He curled the fingers of
one hand into a fist and resisted punching something. If you think her frail state is going to make me pity her, or become sympathetic, then you're delusional. The Dragon Knights have fucking harmed many of our friends and clan members. They're no better than the dragon hunters, who killed our friend Charlie.

  Charlie Wells had been one of Stonefire's Protectors. She'd been killed a couple of years ago when the dragon hunters had drained her blood to sell on the black market. Since dragon's blood had healing properties for humans, it was incredibly lucrative for criminals.

  His dragon growled. If you continue to let your hatred cloud your judgment, Kai will assign someone else to interrogate her, maybe even himself.

  Kai Sutherland was head Protector of Stonefire, in charge of all clan security, and Zain's boss.

  As he debated whether to reply or ignore his dragon—they'd had many arguments about the human female over the last year—Dr. Sid finally walked into the room, with her mate and fellow doctor, Gregor, right behind her.

  Zain raised his brows. "Well?"

  Sid mirrored his actions. "Your alpha tone isn't helping your case, Zain."

  His dragon snorted, but Zain ignored him. Dragon-shifter doctors were a brand of their own, and he knew Sid didn't take anyone's attitude or shit. "Apologies. What did you find out?"

  Sid shrugged. "She's awake and remembers most of who she is. Although I can't tell if she's lying about not knowing why she's here, let alone whether she knows she's on Stonefire or not. A combination of waiting and questioning should determine if she's acting or truly has partial amnesia. Although I will say that anything is possible given how that drug knocked her unconscious for nearly a year."