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

  With that, the tall woman exited the room.

  Just what had the reporter been up to?

  Not that she could care about it for long. Ivy struggled to keep her eyes open and, all too soon, fell back asleep.

  Standing in a nearby room, Zain watched Ivy's video feed.

  Jane had seemed to get under the human's skin, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

  His dragon spoke up. Jane isn't known for tiptoeing around people. And since she's out to determine something, she'll do whatever it takes to find out what she needs.

  And yet I have to be gentle with her?

  Jane is human, like Ivy. So it's less scary for Ivy than if a tall, muscled dragon-shifter interrogates her.

  Zain wanted to say in that case, Jane should just take over his job, but he held back. It was unfair to burden one of the human females who had worked so hard to get other humans to like Stonefire and the other dragon-shifters of the world.

  But he might need to use Jane again if Ivy didn't open up to him in the near future. He'd keep that option in his pocket for later.

  Jane entered and spoke without preamble. "See? I told you. She trusts you more than you think. You've gotten quite a bit out of her in such a short time. So now you need to spend even more time in her company to find out how to decode the remaining encrypted data. The password she gave you was only the first step."

  He raised his brows. "I may respect you, Jane, but you're not my boss. Be careful with your orders."

  Jane rolled her eyes. "Dragon males." She met his gaze again. "You know I'm right. So instead of trying to fit me into the dominance pecking order, just find a way to get her to trust you completely. Maybe then we can understand both her and more of the Dragon Knights' methods. Although there's one more thing I want to know." Jane studied him a second before asking, "Is she your true mate?"

  He blinked. "What? Where the fuck did that come from?"

  The human shrugged. "Just curious. You seem fairly interested in her, and that could be the reason why."

  The idea was ridiculous, but still Zain wanted to know the truth, so he nudged his dragon until his beast woke up from dozing. Then he asked his beast, Is she our true mate?

  His dragon yawned. I don't know. Between the drugs and her brainwashing, the true female inside her hasn't shown herself. Until she does, I can't tell you.

  The fact there was even the slightest chance she could be his true mate made Zain's stomach churn. She can't be. Even if she is, I don't want someone like her.

  His beast grunted. We won't know either way for a while. But just in case she turns out to be ours, maybe don't try to make her hate us? Because even if you don't want her, I may still do. And since you won't drug me, you'll lose the battle to stay away from her in the end.

  Zain mentally grunted. We'll see about that, dragon.

  Jane's throat clearing garnered his attention once more. Zain finally replied, "I don't know if she is or not."

  The human tapped her chin. "Well, well, isn't that interesting? It'd make quite the story, you know. Former enemy turned dragon's mate. If that turns out to be the case, then you'll need to let me do a piece about you two."

  He growled. "Just leave me alone, Jane. Don't you have someone else to bother?"

  "Maybe." She turned toward the door but looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze again. "Just don't dismiss it before you know for sure, Zain. And even if she isn't your true mate, it's okay to like her. Some of us fight for love and tell fate to fuck off."

  Kai and Jane weren't true mates but were just as devoted—maybe more so—than many true mates inside Stonefire. He muttered, "I don't bloody love anyone."

  She tilted her head. "Ivy risked a lot by coming here with that thumb drive, regardless of her own personal reasons for doing so. When you think of her, start there."

  The human female left, and he turned back toward the screen to stare at Ivy's sleeping form.

  True, Ivy had ventured into Stonefire's territory on foot, risking her life to pass on the Dragon Knights' information.

  However, he doubted it was for purely selfless reasons.

  Zain suspected it was related to her brother's death.

  So at the first opportunity, he'd have to open that wound and find out more.

  Chapter Six

  A little over a week passed, with no sign of Zain anywhere. No visits to Ivy, no messages. Nothing.

  And considering she was trapped in a hospital bed, she had more than enough time to imagine every possibility as to why he hadn't returned.

  Even the massages and moving of her limbs had been passed off to the nurses.

  Which meant she had no idea if Zain’s team had recovered all the encoded information from the password she'd provided or not, let alone if the doctors, security team, and even Stonefire’s clan leader would use it as she hoped. Everyone simply told her they couldn't share anything about that yet.

  If that uncertainty wasn't enough, Ivy also hadn't had the chance to convince Zain of what her ultimate end goal was. No one else had come close to listening and believing her, let alone had been willing to get her a meeting with the two IT guys working on the encrypted data. Her gut said Zain was the key to her accomplishing anything.

  Ivy resisted a sigh. It wasn't as if she could go seek him out on her own. Walking was weeks away—even with the mysterious shots Dr. Sid had administered to make her heal faster—and no one was going to put her in a wheelchair and roll her right over to Zain's house, either.

  Which meant waiting for him to show up again was her only option. Of course, that could take bloody weeks for all she knew.

  She desperately needed a distraction.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, Ivy eyed the stack of books next to her bed and debated if she was finally prepared to read them. One of them had supposedly been written by one of the human women on Stonefire—Melanie Hall-MacLeod. The other book was a first-hand account of life with dragon-shifters in Canada.

  But even if Dr. Sid and Dr. Lewis both claimed the books were factual and not fabricated, Ivy had trouble trusting any nonfiction book nowadays.

  Which left her with two not-so-great choices to fill her time—more TV soap operas or books that may or may not be full of lies.

  What she wouldn't give for a chemistry journal. At least with science, formulas didn't lie.

  Just as Ivy reached for the book set in Canada—the foreign country would at least put some distance between her and who she was reading about—the door opened.

  Ivy steeled herself for someone from the medical staff, but instead, two children raced inside and stopped at the foot of her bed.

  The girl had flushed pale skin and curly blonde hair past her shoulders, which bounced as she hopped from foot to foot. The boy was calmer, with slightly lighter skin and short, dark hair.

  The girl spoke first, her accent from somewhere in the North. "She doesn't look very dangerous."

  The boy grunted and said with the same accent as almost everyone else on Stonefire, "She used to be a Dragon Knight. I told you what they do to dragon-shifters. They even shot Dr. Sid with a dart, which made her dragon go crazy."

  The girl pointed toward her. "But she can't even get out of bed. Is that why your uncle finally said we could see her?"

  Uncle? Wanting some answers, Ivy raised a hand, and both children fell silent. Ivy asked, "Who are you?"

  The girl stood taller. "I'm Daisy, and that's my best friend, Freddie. We're putting on a play soon. Maybe if you get better, you can come watch. It's going to be brilliant."

  Freddie frowned. "I don't want her to come. She'll ruin it."

  Ivy opened her mouth, but Daisy beat her to it. "No, I don't think so. I mean, the worst she can do is shout. And maybe make noise. But she won't hurt us." The little girl looked right at Ivy. "Right? Freddie's older brother said you're trying to help Stonefire now. So I think that means you don't want to hurt dragons anymore. Which is good, because they're amazing."

>   Ivy blinked. Were the boy and girl dragon-shifter children? If so, who had sent them? While she understood it was probably to try and rub in how awful she'd been in trying to take away the inner dragons of nameless children, right now she lacked the energy to deal with them. "Who's the uncle? And why are you here, exactly?"

  Freddie motioned toward the door. "My Uncle Zain is in the hallway. I can get him if you want. I didn't even want to come, but Daisy kept asking, and asking, and asking. So I finally said fine."

  So the boy was a dragon-shifter. Or, that was the logical deduction. The ability to shift into a dragon was dominant, and dragons didn't adopt human children or suddenly become uncles to them, either.

  Just as she was about to ask the boy to fetch Zain, the little girl spoke up again. "Why did you hate dragons so much? I'm human, like you. And Freddie is not only a dragon-shifter, but my bestest friend in the world. We don't have to pick one or the other. We can all be friends."

  Ah, how simple the world was for a child.

  Although, as Ivy tried to think of how to explain it, words failed her.

  How did one explain the videos, the books, the images of destruction and death to a child?

  A small voice at the back of her mind whispered, If they're even true.

  Zain strode into the room and said, "You want to be friends with everyone, Daisy. But not all people are that accepting."

  Daisy frowned. "Not with everyone. I don't like mean people."

  Before she could stop herself, Ivy smiled at the girl's tone.

  Zain cleared his throat, and Ivy was surprised at how his expression turned a touch exasperated. "Right, no mean people. Noted. Now, are you going to give your gift? Otherwise, it's time to leave."

  Daisy's face lit up and she bobbed her head. "I forgot." She turned toward Ivy. "I forget a lot, but that's okay. I usually remember later." The little girl reached into her bag and pulled out a scrapbook and held it out to Ivy. "This is from my time at Dragon Camp. It was brilliant, with all the human and dragon kids being together." She lowered her voice. "I even saw Freddie's dragon for the first time then."

  Ivy glanced at the little boy, whose cheeks were dark red.

  Daisy spoke again, garnering Ivy's attention. "But I wanted to show you how much fun it is to play with dragon-shifters. So I made this scrapbook." Ivy had yet to take it, but the little girl laid it on the bed and opened it, the pictures facing toward Ivy. "See? Here we're making bracelets with our names in the old dragon language. It's a bunch of funny symbols, but no other kids in my school have them." She flipped the page. "And here, they let us slide down the side of an adult dragon! That was the best. Well, tied for the best. Seeing Freddie's dragon was brilliant, too."

  As the little girl kept talking, explaining one page after the other, Ivy wondered if all of this was a ruse to make her trust the dragons.

  Or, could it be the truth?

  Because if it was the truth, and dragon and human children were staying and playing together, all under the supervision of the DDA and with permission from human parents, Ivy's world view would shift a little. After all, according to everything within the Dragon Knights, dragons never befriended humans unless they could get something in return.

  And unless the dragon-shifters were grooming children to eventually become dragon mates—which even to Ivy seemed a bit farfetched—they were welcoming humans on their land with little to gain. Sure, maybe there would be some positive PR, but as she watched the little boy move closer to the little girl and help her explain the pictures, Ivy sensed a true friendship between them.

  Ivy needed some answers of her own. Maybe the children were extremely talented actors, but given how Daisy flitted from one topic to another and didn't always finish her thought, Ivy doubted it.

  Which meant she needed to take advantage of the children—they could be brutally honest, and she needed that. So at the next pause she could pounce on, Ivy asked, "Daisy, whilst I know you like dragon-shifters, does everyone you know accept them, too?"

  Daisy sighed. "No. I lost my old best friend, Lucy. Her mum doesn't like dragons and wouldn't let me play with her anymore."

  Ivy pushed on. "If you could go back to Lucy tomorrow and be best friends again, would you stop seeing the dragon-shifters?"

  Ivy could feel Zain's gaze on her, but she ignored it and waited for Daisy's answer.

  Zain waited to see how his nephew's friend would answer.

  He didn't have to let Daisy reply, of course. He could tell Daisy and Freddie to go back to the surgery's lobby, where Nikki—another Protector—waited for them. However, he was curious. The question wouldn't harm the child, and Daisy had a way of winning people over without even trying or realizing it. If she could win over Ivy, it could go a long way toward the human female working with Stonefire to eradicate the Dragon Knights.

  His dragon spoke up. It might also help Ivy like us instead of hate us.

  That doesn't matter to me, only you.

  His beast huffed and fell silent as Daisy finally shook her head and answered Ivy's question. "No, I wouldn't go back and do that. I miss Lucy every day, and probably always will. But I've made so many friends here playing with the dragons, both human and dragon. Not to mention Freddie and me have plans to help Stonefire. And to do that, we need lots of time together. Right, Freddie?"

  Freddie merely shrugged, which was enough for Daisy because she added, "And besides, my mum says that sometimes we have to make choices about things. It's not always easy, and we might be sad sometimes, but if we pick the one that makes us happy for the future, then we'll be less sad later. I think that's what will happen eventually with me. Picking Freddie and the others here will make me happy for a long time."

  Daisy and Freddie shared a look—the pair liked to conspire, which probably didn't bode well for whomever was the target—but Zain let them be. His sister and Daisy's mum could worry about the pair's troublemaking.

  Instead, Zain watched Ivy.

  The little crease between her brows spoke volumes. He suspected she was starting to doubt more and more what she'd learned inside the Dragon Knights.

  Although he needed to do a little poking of his own, to see how far that doubt had settled. So he looked at his nephew. "Freddie, I think it's time for you to take Daisy home for lunch." Daisy opened her mouth to protest—the little girl never cared about dominance or hierarchies and would become a headache when she was older—but Zain beat her to it. "No, Daisy. You promised to leave when it was time. If you break your promise, then Freddie's mum won't let you wander around Stonefire with Alfie and Freddie for the rest of your current visit."

  Alfie was Zain's other nephew, who was old enough to watch the pair and keep them out of the worst trouble.

  Daisy dropped her head with an exaggerated sigh. But she quickly bounced back and pushed the scrapbook toward Ivy. "Look at all the pictures, and maybe I can come back and tell you some more stories." She lowered her voice dramatically. "We even had special drills during the camp, where we had to wait underground until any danger was gone."

  Not wanting the little girl to reveal Stonefire's emergency procedures, Zain moved to the side of the two kids and gently turned them toward the door. "That's enough. Go to Nikki so she can take you home for some lunch."

  The pair waved, and then Freddie managed to get Daisy to leave.

  How his nephew controlled that bundle of nonstop energy, Zain had no idea.

  As soon as the door closed, Ivy's voice filled the room. "Why did you bring them here?"

  He turned toward the human, who was holding the scrapbook against her chest. While she was still pale and too thin, it was good to see she'd regained some strength. Otherwise, his volunteering to give her some of his blood would've been pointless.

  His dragon hummed but didn't say anything. Zain already knew his beast liked that the female had their blood in her veins.

  He tried not to think of why.

  Ignoring his dragon, Zain answered Ivy, "I could say I br
ought them because Daisy kept asking to see you."

  "You could, but that's not it entirely. What's the full truth?"

  "The full truth?" He took a step closer to the bed. "I thought maybe you'd believe her over me. Daisy loves dragon-shifters almost more than any other human I've ever met. And even though it's cost her and her mother quite a bit back in their city—both with friends and neighbors—Daisy keeps coming back with her mother's blessing. I figure if a little girl could sacrifice so much and still want to see us, you might believe her over books and videos."

  Ivy silently stared down at the scrapbook for a few beats before speaking again. "I-I don't know what to think anymore."

  Maybe some of the other Protectors would step back when seeing the human so unsure and fragile.

  But not Zain. He'd given her a week to regain enough strength to face his questions. Mostly because of Trahern's orders, but also because Zain hadn't wanted to fight the Welsh dragon doctor on the issue.

  And after waiting—always the bloody waiting—it was finally time to find out the answers he needed. "Then tell me why you came to Stonefire. Was it only because the Knights killed your brother, Richard, and you wanted revenge? Or, is there more to it?"

  One second ticked by, and then another. Even knowing that Serafina was watching them via the video feed didn't make Zain rush the human. With the doctors attending a meeting with Stonefire's clan leader, there was no one to barge in and tell him to leave. And Zain wasn't going anywhere until she answered him.

  At the mention of Richard's death, Ivy kept her gaze trained on the scrapbook in her arms and willed for her tears not to fall.

  She'd done her best to face her grief, but hearing Richard's name had tumbled most of the walls she'd built around her pain.

  Playing with the side of the scrapbook, running her nail back and forth, Ivy took a deep breath and slowly pushed away the grief. It would come back later, but she only needed to keep it away long enough to get Zain to leave her alone.

  When she was fairly sure she could meet his gaze without breaking down, Ivy lifted her head and looked the dragonman in the eyes. Eyes that were neutral, free of any emotion. After another few seconds, she asked, "Why are you asking me that?"