Terra squeaked in surprise as a hand came out from behind her and covered her mouth. Something sharp bit into the skin of her neck, and heat flowed from that point as her assailant injected her with some unknown substance. Adrenaline raced into Terra’s system as she realized what was happening. She had just been drugged! Remembering her self-defense classes, she went limp in her attacker’s grasp. The hand covering her mouth slipped away as she dropped unexpectedly. “Alex!” she screamed as she twisted, driving an elbow into the body behind her.
Apparently, the man attacking her hadn’t expected her to fight back. He grunted as the well-placed hit drove the air from his lungs.
Terra scrambled away before he could regain his grasp on her. The sound of running boots on the hardwood floor gave her hope. She found a place against the wall and reached up to the needle still stuck in her neck. Pulling it out, Terra covered the wound with her free hand. Whatever had been in the hypodermic was burning its way along her veins. She turned and watched as Alex came down on her attacker like a fury from hell. The edge of her vision wavered, and she tilted her head up, trying to stop the slow spin the world had acquired. It didn’t help. Terra closed her eyes as the sound of the struggles subsided. Hopefully, Alex had beaten the crap out of that guy and would know what to do for her. She was in no shape to make any decisions at the moment.
After directing Terra to the bathroom, Alex turned back to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. There had to be something in there good enough to eat. He wrinkled his nose at the contents. Leftovers and lunchmeats. True, he wasn’t a bad cook, but his dragon refused to let him offer her anything but the best, and these scraps were far from his best. Deciding on the lunchmeat, he pulled out two packs of cold cuts and some cheese. He dropped them on the counter and went to the pantry to get a fresh tomato. What he found there horrified him. One of the tomatoes had gone bad while he was gone. There was no way he was going to serve that to his mate!
When that thought hit him, he stopped, staring at the contents of his cupboard without seeing them. He had to stop that train of thought right there. Yes, Terra did have the potential to be his mate, but there was no way he could offer her that right now. Regaining his memories had been both a blessing and a curse. Yes, he was in a position to offer her a comfortable life, but he also had a very stressful job that took up a lot of his time. He was an Elite in Eternity. A job that few could do. And with someone killing dragons, his skills would be in more demand than ever. There was no way he would be able to hold down a healthy relationship while trying to help investigate the murdered dragons.
Letting out a deep sigh, Alex picked the basket of tomatoes up and looked at the ruined fruit. He pulled the bad one out and dropped it into the waste can. The remaining tomatoes looked all right. They just needed a good washing. Moving the basket to the sink, he set about cleaning them as he thought.
Why did life have to present a mate right now? Why couldn’t it have been six months ago, before the whole issue with the solitary dragons list started? Then he could have quit Eternity and set about courting his mate properly. No one would have even questioned him for giving up his job. All of the men he had gone through training with were already retired. The only person who had been in the service longer was Daniel, and he was the king’s right-hand man.
Over the last few years, Alex had been drifting away from the men he worked with. Their social gatherings didn’t appeal to him as much as they had in the past. He just didn’t feel any real connection with the younger crowd rising up through the ranks. Hell, if it hadn’t been for his job, he would probably be on the solitary dragons list already.
That thought stopped Alex. The solitary dragons list. All of the missing people had been on that list. Stepping back into motion, Alex moved the tomatoes to a cutting board and started to slice them up for sandwiches. His thoughts churned over everything he had learned about the list of victims he’d been given. Other than being on the list, there wasn’t much they had in common. They ranged in age between just over a hundred to just under five hundred. Their backgrounds were different. Their habits were different. Their dragon types were different. There were both males and females. It boggled Alex’s mind as he tried to figure out what they all had in common. Just that blasted list.
Alex paused again as another thought struck him. Maybe that was the connection. They had all been on that list. He worked his battered memories to see what he could recall of the records of old dragons. It took a moment, but something else occurred to Alex. There were actually two lists of solitary dragons—those under five hundred and those over five hundred. The older dragons had lived in a time when it was dangerous to be dragons and preferred to remain hidden away from the world. For their peace of mind, only the highest level of Eternity had access to that list, but Alex was sure he would have heard if one of the ancient dragons had been killed.
There hadn’t been any noticeable increase in disappearances of dragons under one hundred. But these dragons weren’t tracked as closely as the older dragons were. In fact, it was rather hard to tell the difference between a dragon and a human unless someone told you. Everything fell into place as Alex moved on to cutting up the cheese. The individuals who had disappeared had been targeted because they had been on the solitary dragons list. That made sense! Working off the list was the only way to ensure that the people you were going after really were dragons. The answer had been staring them in the face the entire time, and everyone had missed it. Now he just had to figure out how that list had gotten into the hands of the group responsible for the murders.
A squeak from the hall drew Alex out of his thoughts. He looked up from the counter just as Terra screamed his name. Dropping the half-made sandwich, he bolted from the kitchen and skidded into the hall. Rage coursed through his veins when he saw Terra stumble away from a man. Mine! Red filled his vision as he and his dragon roared in anger. The distance to the intruder disappeared as he barreled into the man, knocking him back into the wall. Two quick punches had the man down. A few more made sure he wasn’t going to get up anytime soon.
Alex stepped back and looked at the unconscious man. His dragon wanted to tear the intruder limb from limb, but Alex wanted him alive to find out who he was and why he was there. Pushing down the rage, Alex turned around. There were more important things to take care of at the moment.
11
“Terra?” Alex spoke her name softly as he went to where she was leaning against the wall. She didn’t look good at all. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her neck from some kind of wound hidden under her hand. Her fair skin was flushed, and she was starting to break a sweat. “Terra?” he called her name again as he reached for her. Pulling her hand away from her neck, he checked on the wound. It was only a small tear, and it had almost stopped bleeding already. He pressed his thumb over the wound to apply the pressure it needed to seal.
The steady pressure drew Terra out of whatever haze she was in. She tried to focus on him, but Alex could see there was something wrong with her. Both of her pupils were blown up huge. Something clattered to the floor next to them.
Alex glanced down at the hypodermic needle that had fallen from her hand. His eyes came back up to her. Worry quickened his pulse. “Terra?” he said again as he pulled her into his arms. Her assailant had to have dosed her with some kind of drug, but the question was, with what?