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

  "It was the one time, and only the one time," Zain bit out.

  Kai grunted—his way of snapping them to order—and spoke up only once all eyes were back on him. "Enough bickering, children. We have a general plan, and we'll continue to fine-tune it as we learn more about the human female." Kai looked directly at Zain. "You'll meet with Serafina this afternoon and learn what she needs from you."

  He nodded. Kai dismissed Lucien and Nathan. Only once they were alone again did he add, "And play nice with the human. I know she's done horrible things and could even have played a part in attacking Sid or even my sister with those bloody drugs. However, if she can bring down the whole organization, anything is worth achieving that goal."

  "Anything?"

  "Yes."

  Zain wanted to argue, but held back. Kai was the most stubborn bastard he knew, even more so than Stonefire's clan leader at times.

  Add in Kai willing to overlook how the Dragon Knights had drugged his sister, making her dragon silent for months, and it told Zain volumes about how important Ivy was to Kai's future plans.

  Zain's inner dragon finally spoke up. Just pretend this is a sort of undercover operation. Play the part of a nice male, maybe the opposite of your usual surliness.

  I'm only surly because I've been relegated to babysitting duty for the last fucking year.

  Only because of Ivy Passmore. Get everything we need from her, bring down the Dragon Knights, and maybe Kai will let us do what we really want—to take down the dragon hunters.

  More than anything, Zain wanted to avenge his former friend's death. Fine, I'll be nice. But only so we can take out the bastards who killed Charlie and finally give her mate and son some peace.

  Kai's voice prevented his dragon from replying. "I'll text you the time for the meeting with Serafina. You'll need to bring her up-to-date on Ivy and everything we know about her."

  "Fine." Zain stood. "That just means someone else will have to put Dacian through his trials for the afternoon."

  "No worries. It's about time I judged his abilities for myself."

  Zain didn't envy the younger male at all. If Dacian thought Zain was a tough bastard, then he'd end up in a weakened puddle after Kai's routines.

  However, if the younger male couldn't last through them, then he didn't deserve to become a Protector.

  With a final bob of his head, Zain exited the room and headed to the office he'd been using to gather and store information on Ivy. Maybe all the prep work he'd done would help him finish the task sooner. Because it'd been far too long since Zain had led a team to root out some dragon hunters. Or he might be able to search for the rogue dragon-shifters who lived in the remote parts of the UK, ones who could destroy all the goodwill and progress the UK dragon clans had made over the last few years with one bad act.

  Soon. It wouldn't be long before Zain could forget he'd ever met Ivy Passmore and finally move on with his life.

  Chapter Three

  The next day, Zain sat in front of a laptop with Serafina Rossi at his side, and asked her, "Are you ready?"

  The Italian female was in her early thirties, with long black hair and brown eyes. While she wasn't as straightforward as her cousin Brenna and only talked when absolutely required to do so, Zain couldn't blame her. Reading her file, he'd learned how her entire existence in Italy had been dictated by her former leader.

  To be honest, he wasn't sure how she'd secured a transfer to Stonefire. They had become rare between the UK and other mainland European countries in recent years.

  His dragon spoke up. It probably happened because of Bram and Evie moving mountains to get her here, to help Gabriele after losing his mate.

  Since Bram was clan leader and his mate was a former DDA employee with plenty of connections, his beast was probably right.

  Serafina nodded, bringing him out of his head. In perfect English, she said, "Go ahead. I'm ready."

  Zain pushed the Play button, sat back, and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Even though he'd seen this video a half-dozen times, it still made him uneasy, not to mention full of anger at all the lies.

  A distant shot of a burned-out village came onto the screen before panning to a short street with cottages and a small church on fire, smoke billowing up into the air.

  Human bodies lay strewn on the street, unmoving. Zain would bet his right arm they were actors. Even so, the blood and open, staring eyes were eerie to the point he nearly shivered.

  A voiceover played as the footage continued to zoom in on the destruction. "This is a tiny village in Yorkshire, one that no one has ever heard of. In the end, not even their small numbers or relative anonymity could save them."

  The shot switched to the now-smoldering interior of a cottage, a half-burned crib in the corner. The voiceover continued, "Not even the children were spared."

  A tiny coffin flashed on the screen, lying next to several more rows of them, switching to what looked to be a former classroom, the chairs and desks mostly warped metal and melted plastic. "But did the dragon-shifters, who claim they treasure children, care? No. They wanted this land for their own, to steal the food and livestock from the nearby farms. Even if the villagers would've stayed away like any sane person would, the dragons wouldn't hear of it.

  "And we know this because of a survivor."

  The image changed to a silhouette of a woman. Distorted sniffles played before her altered voice came on. "I-I begged them to stop, to spare my baby." More sniffles. "B-But they laughed, handed her to one of them in their dragon form, and I had to sit and watch helpless as they took her into the air and dropped her not ten feet away from me. M-My poor baby."

  She broke down into sobs, putting her face into her hands.

  One of the tiny coffins came back onto the screen again, along with the voiceover. "This is the true nature of the dragon-shifters. The media and the DDA give you happy stories and try to convince you that the dragons won't hurt us. But they do that for only one reason—to save their jobs. Nothing else matters. And as we know, the dragons only want our land, our women, and even our lives. They're monsters."

  Line after line of graves rolled by, until it stopped at one not yet filled in, a tiny coffin being lowered into the ground.

  The voiceover continued, "Don't let this happen to you or your family. The dragons must be killed, every last one of them. Join our cause today and make it happen before it's too late, and we lose the war. Because if we do lose, then all of England is doomed."

  The mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb appeared before a web address flashed a few times.

  The video stopped, and Zain glanced at Serafina. "This is one of hundreds we managed to download from the thumb drive we retrieved."

  She kept her gaze on the screen. "I need to watch all of them then. But what of the website they advertised?"

  He grunted. "It's a dead end. It redirected more than a dozen times and bounced off so many servers that our specialists couldn't track it. They change the address in each video, and our best guess is that they only let it work for a short period before disabling it."

  Serafina finally met his gaze, her eyes neutral, not betraying a single thought. "There's one other piece of information that would be helpful to have so I can treat the human. Do you know who the leader of the Dragon Knights is? Because if not, that's one of the things I'd like you to try to find out. Knowing about the hierarchy will make it easier for me to talk with the female."

  Under the table, Zain clenched his fingers into a fist. "No, we don't know who's in charge. We're not even sure if there's a single leader or just an anonymous online persona who acts like it."

  "Well, at least try to find out more while I go through the data and watch all videos."

  He frowned. "So when will you talk with Ivy?"

  "Soon, but not quite yet. It'll be easier if I have all the information to craft the best treatment plan, although no dragon-shifter has had to deal with a former Dragon Knight like this—at least, there's no re
cord of it—so it's going to be a sort of ad hoc approach. Anyone who talks with her needs to note any change in her behavior or even her beliefs about us, and report it to me."

  Zain decided the psychologist needed to know one more thing before he left. "We have a camera in her room. The doctors turn it off when the human needs privacy, but otherwise, you can watch it any time, if that will help."

  Serafina bobbed her head. "Yes, that will be quite helpful. Once I finish watching all the propaganda videos, then I'll observe her to decide the next moves. For all we know, talking with others may be all that she needs in the beginning."

  He frowned. "She won't be talking with you? I thought that's why you came here, to help her?"

  She raised an eyebrow. "I'll be doing plenty. Once Ivy begins to accept reality over lies like those in the video we watched, she'll struggle internally. Not to mention that according to the notes in her file you gave me, there's the grief with her brother. I need to decide when to talk with her—not too soon or too late. On top of that, her entire reality is about to be destroyed. I'd rather she not lash out at me in the early days, or she may never trust me to help her in the long run."

  He resisted growling because it sounded like a whole lot of nothing to Zain.

  His dragon spoke up. She has the training. We should trust her.

  It all seems wishy-washy to me.

  Serafina's voice prevented his beast from replying. "I know dragon-shifters prefer action over waiting in most cases. It's only natural, given our inner beasts. However, I want what's best for Ivy. Not only because she's my patient now, and it's my duty, but this is a test for me, too. I won't screw up and be sent back to Italy if I can help it."

  The determination in her words made both man and beast take notice. Zain would bet everything he had that the female would rather cut off her own hand than go back to her old clan. "I'll try to be understanding, but you'll probably have to keep explaining things to me."

  The female smiled for the first time, making her look younger. "I can do that. No one ever asked me to explain anything back on Clan LupoForesta. So ask me a question any time, and I'll do my best."

  His natural curiosity wanted to know more, but Zain had his hands full with Ivy. So he restrained himself from asking more about Serafina's past. "Right, then I won't hesitate to ask questions when I have them." He motioned toward the laptop. "Go ahead and watch as many as you can stomach. I'll check in on you later, but Lucien and Nate are also available if I can't answer you right away."

  The female bobbed her head and immediately turned on the next video. He had a feeling she'd watch as many as she could without any sort of break, unlike him and the others who'd hadn't been able to stomach more than a few before storming out. Zain said to his dragon, I wonder if she's always so focused.

  Remember this is probably the first time she's been able to do her job without someone telling her how to treat someone. Yes, she doesn't want to go back to her old clan. But she most likely feels useful again for the first time in ages.

  I guess you're right. Maybe we'll be useful again soon, too.

  As he made his way out of the Protectors' main building, Zain switched his focus from the psychologist to his upcoming task with Ivy.

  In order to help Serafina, he'd have to use his limited amount of question time to try and figure out if (a) Ivy had ever met the leader of the Knights, and (b) if he or she even existed or was just an anonymous persona.

  Since he wouldn't be able to do either until she was awake and rested enough, Zain headed back to his cottage. He'd scan her files again—he kept a copy at home in addition to his office—just in case he'd missed something. While Stonefire’s Protectors had uncovered early on in their background check on Ivy about her brother's murder, he'd rather not bring it up until she was stronger.

  However, if she refused to cooperate and tell him what he wanted, then he'd do whatever was necessary to move his mission forward.

  Chapter Four

  Ivy missed the days of being able to eat or drink on her own.

  The glass of water sat on a table next to her bed, but she didn't have enough energy to reach out and pick it up. And even if she could, holding it up and guiding the straw to her mouth was beyond her capabilities.

  Ivy had never been a physically fit person to begin with, but certainly she could pick up a bloody glass when she wanted.

  Staring at it, she debated calling for one of the nurses. Usually the stony-faced, determined nurse named Ginny answered her call. However, Ivy wasn't sure if she had the energy to deal with her. The dragonwoman demanded a clear request, complete with please and thank you, before she did anything.

  And even then, she'd give a glare before proceeding.

  The only clue Ivy had about the woman's animosity was a one-time mutter: "She could've been the one to hurt Sid, and now we're helping her."

  Not that Ivy could ask Ginny about what had been done to Dr. Sid. As it was, the nurse said the bare minimum. Divulging secrets was most definitely not part of her job.

  Before Ivy could weigh the severity of her thirst against facing the nurse, the door opened, and the dragon-shifter named Zain walked in.

  Since this was the first time she could get a good look at him without confusion or exhaustion, she noticed he was tall, as all dragons were, with dark hair and eyes. His skin was slightly tanned, which was strange considering it was early summer, and that rarely meant lots of sunshine in the North of England.

  His pinched eyebrows and firmly set jaw made the dragonman a little menacing, but now that Ivy was fully aware he couldn't hurt her—not to mention Sid said to call out for her if he made her feel uncomfortable—she wasn't as afraid of him.

  However, Ivy wasn't completely immune to the fact he was part dragon, and she itched to get away from him in case he lashed out. At least her heart rate hadn’t skyrocketed yet, which was progress.

  Same as his last visit, he pulled up a stool and sat near her bed, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze piercing.

  Words slipped out before she could stop them. "What do you want?"

  He grunted. "Your voice sounds better. That means you should be able to give me more thorough answers compared to before."

  Of course he wanted information from her—why else would they keep her alive?—but she could use that to her advantage. He was her best chance at getting the dragon-shifters to listen. Only then would they go after her enemies at full force. She bit out, "Answers to what? You don't need to play games. Just ask, and I'll tell you almost anything."

  He didn't miss a beat. "Who is the leader of the Dragon Knights?"

  Of all the things for him to ask, he'd ask that one. She sighed. "I don't know."

  He studied her. "How is that possible?"

  The door opened, but Ivy answered while she still could. "Only the inner-most circle had access to the leader. There's a structure in place to minimize the risk of exposure."

  Dr. Gregor Innes strode to the other side of her bed. "Are you tired, Ivy?"

  She never took her gaze from Zain's and ignored the doctor's question. "Want proof that I'm being sincere? One of the passwords is FX34KT982. Find the files it'll work on, and they will reveal the structures I mentioned, plus a few more extras that should convince you to listen to me."

  She barely noticed Dr. Innes next to her. No, she wanted Zain to take her information and at least try to access the data she wanted him to find. She stared as if her life depended on it, willing him to try out the password straight away.

  He stood. "I will. But not before we move your limbs a little. Are you ready?"

  She blinked. "Wait, what? I wouldn't have pinned you as a physical therapist."

  "I've had enough training to massage and move your limbs a little, so you'll have to deal with me for today."

  Dr. Innes grunted, garnering Ivy's attention. "Irritating her isn't part of the plan, Zain."

  Zain never took his gaze from her face. "I'm sure she wants to get better
as soon as possible, right, human?"

  She focused back on Zain. "Yes, but—"

  "Good. Then unless you're in extreme pain or need the doctor to look over you right now, let's get started."

  As the dragonman stared at her, his pupils flashing between round and slitted, Ivy couldn't look away.

  He clearly didn't like her, yet he wanted to get her well as quickly as possible.

  Which aligned with her own plans.

  So she replied, "I'll be fine, Dr. Innes. I'm ready for whatever Zain has planned."

  The Scottish doctor muttered something Ivy couldn't make out, but Zain must have because he narrowed his eyes.

  But within a few beats, Ivy was alone with Zain again. She said, "Just try not to break my bones. I know how much you lot like that."

  She mentally cursed herself. Angering the dragonman wasn't the best idea.

  "Then don't give me a reason to," he stated.

  Zain tossed back her blanket, exposing her legs. The cool air made her shiver.

  He took one of her bare feet between his hands. His warm, slightly rough fingers sent a rush of heat through her body.

  For a second, she froze. No, no, no. She couldn't be attracted to a dragon-shifter.

  All they wanted women for was to have lots of babies and either kill them in the process or toss them aside when they were too tired to do it anymore.

  But as he rubbed her feet—probably to get her circulation going—she barely bit back a gasp at the sparks rushing up her leg.

  For a monster who liked to kill for fun, his warm fingers were like magic.

  Gritting her teeth, Ivy remembered every video she'd seen of the dragon-caused destruction, every site she'd visited to view the aftermath, and soon controlled her reaction to the dragon-shifter's touch.

  It'd been so long since she'd had any skin-to-skin contact that her body would react to an eighty-year-old man.

  Yes, that's right. It wasn't because of the dragonman at her feet specifically.