In a Dragon’s Dream by Riley Storm Page 0,30

he said, noncommittally “I didn’t want to break his hand, but time was of the essence. I couldn’t afford to strip of the gun off him first.”

“Right. But you still did it.”

“Mmm.”

She glared. “Humans can’t do that, Rak. They can’t. We’re not strong enough, not even the strongest of us. Which means you’re not exactly human. So either you’re some sort of mutant who was exposed to radiation and got superpowers.”

“Or I’m a dragon shifter,” he finished heavily, conceding the point.

At least I won’t have to deal with her freaking out over this revelation.

“HOLY SHIT!” Laura shrieked. “I knew it! I freaking knew it! They are real. You are real. It’s a real thing. You exist I mean. Like, you’re not just...but for real.”

So much for that hope. Freakout is commencing.

Rakell sat back as Laura got herself under control. He didn’t speak or answer any of her questions. His mind was tackling this at a different angle.

How the heck did Laura know of their existence? He wanted to ask her. To just come out and grill her, to say ‘who told you’? But if he did that, if he showed too much interest in the subject, she would clamp down. He would never get the truth out of her that way, and it was imperative that he find out who the leak was.

Laura, it seemed, could perhaps be trusted with the secret. That might not be true of everyone that learned it however, and it was Rakell’s job to ensure that it went no further. He would take responsibility for Laura from there on out, but nobody else could find out.

“So the two that came to my office. They were also shifters?” Laura asked breathlessly after a moment.

“No,” Rakell said, shaking his head. “Just the female.”

“You sound puzzled by that,” she said.

He was, and yet, the more he thought about it, the more things were starting to make sense. If he made one particular assumption. One the Cado could have made.

“Female dragons are quite rare,” he said, explaining his initial confusion. “To use one like this seems…wasteful.”

Unless they knew I was going to be there, and so they used her in hopes that I would suspect the male first. After all, he was large and muscular. Could pass for a shifter for a moment.

A moment was all that the female would have needed to get the drop on him.

Thankfully, Rakell had seen through the ruse. When the pair had sat down, the male’s movement had given him away. He didn’t have that fluid grace about him that a shifter did, with pinpoint muscle control.

“Are they…are they alive?” Laura wanted to know, asking the question with the expected tentative fear of someone who wasn’t sure they actually wished to know the truth.

“The male is,” Rakell confirmed. “He’s human, I could not kill him.”

“So the Tina—”

“Not likely her real name,” Rakell interrupted.

“The woman is dead then?” Laura asked.

“Yes.” He did not shy away from the truth. The Cado were a stain on the earth, and they needed to be wiped clean by any means necessary. Rakell had never once thought there would be another outcome to the fight.

“So you left a dead shifter woman in my office?” Laura asked quietly. “How am I supposed to explain that?!” she yelped. “Holy f—grah! Rak, what have you done?”

“You wanted to know about dragons, and about our culture,” he said quietly. “Now you are. The woman I killed. She was one of the Cado. A nasty group of dragons. The Fallen, it means. They are evil. Sheer evil. This is how we deal with criminals in my world. Can you handle this?”

Laura took several deep breaths, her eyes watching his. He could see her, wondering what would happen if she said that she couldn’t handle it.

Life imprisonment on the mountain would not suit you Laura. I hope you prove to be stronger.

“What do we do with the body? And with the male?” Laura asked when she’d finally gotten ahold of herself.

“We do nothing,” he told her. “I made a call before we left. A team is on the way to deal with cleanup of the body and material.”

“Material?” Laura asked.

“Blood,” he said. “Our blood is different to yours. None can remain at the scene. It will be thoroughly cleaned. Oh, and though your mind hasn’t gotten there yet, all the repairs to your office will be covered, along with any changes or upgrades you may wish to make throughout the process.”

Laura’s mouth dropped open. Rakell