Dragon's Fake Wedding Date - Riley Storm Page 0,41

of a woman that he wanted more than anyone else.

And he still couldn’t figure out when that had happened. Or what it meant.

His dragon stirred inside him. Rann frowned as he tried to interpret its thoughts. They were focused on Gayle, though that didn’t surprise him. She was all his other side could ever think about. It was focused on her with a shocking amount of strength.

It’s almost like it thinks she’s my—

A loud shout from the far side of the tent startled him, catching his attention. A muted rumble of approval followed. Frowning at the noise, his thoughts immediately going to Gayle’s safety, he moved to the front of the tent, away from the rear delivery entrance.

Through the flaps he found himself in another tent. This one had a lineup of people moving through it, each one receiving a kit and having their information taken down. The shout must have come from beyond this one as well.

Rann walked forward, hearing more loud speaking from the far side of the thick canvas but unable to decipher the words over the muted rumble of people inside the tent. The humans parted like seaweed before a shark, and he walked to the edge of the tent.

Something about the way the person was speaking was triggering his curiosity. There was something about it…

“And so my sons and daughters, we must be on watch! We must guard ourselves from the evil that threatens this land! They must not be allowed to spread among us. Instead, they must be sent back! Back to the fiery pits from whence they spawned. Do not succor them, nor shelter nor aid these foul beasts.”

Rann’s eyes flared as he realized he recognized the cadence of the speech now. The rhythm of the sermon was the same as he had heard from the church preacher the other night. Heat flared around him as he prepared himself, not even pausing to wonder how the vampire could be out in the sunlight.

He exited the tent and came to a halt. The man speaking was no more than fifty feet away, and Rann saw it wasn’t the same preacher. This was a younger man, though he possessed the same fervent intensity in his eyes as did the preacher-vampire.

“They claim to be here to save us, but did any of them intervene? Did any of them sacrifice themselves to save that poor woman? Nay! They hid and cowered while she was sent to meet our Lord!”

Rann’s anger stirred, but he wondered about the way the man was speaking. Why bring up the woman and make the vampires out to be evil, as well, if they were trying to convert the Church followers into a new vampire army?

Because, you idiot, the answer is simple. This man is just a hater. He thinks us dragons are sent from Satan, but he fears the vampires are evil too. He doesn’t know what’s really going on.

The entire Church, therefore, wasn’t a front for the vampires. Just the most ardent of their supporters, it seemed.

“No champion of God, no protector of humanity, would stand aside like they did! We must cast them out. We must stop this worship of them and convince our fellows to see the light. To see them in their true form. We must ensure they are not welcome here!”

The preacher was yelling now, and the crowd’s anger was getting stoked along with it. The man was good at his job, and he was building to a fiery crescendo now. Rann swept his gaze around, noting that the crowd in front of him was only a tiny fraction of those in the tent city. But they were fired up, unlike the others.

If Rann interrupted him, he could probably stop it before it got worse. He was about to take a step forward when a hand closed on his wrist.

“What are you doing?” Gayle hissed. “Don’t go out there. They’re crazy.

He swung around to face her, and the redhead recoiled at his gaze.

“Rann? Rann are you okay? You look like you’re about to do something,” she said nervously.

“These idiots,” he fumed. “They have no idea what they’re talking about. About the dragons. It’s all lies. We didn’t just stand back and let her die. We were out hunting them that very night! We didn’t let her die. Hell, she’s not even dead. Any one of us would have gladly died in her spot,” he snarled, unable to keep his voice down.

Gayle’s eyebrows shot up. “Us?” she asked