the ground in a quaking ball. Thrett hit the ground and took two heavy steps to pin the guy to the ground by resting his foot on his chest. As if a multi-ton dragon standing on his chest—lightly, but still—wasn’t enough cause to remain still, Thrett let a warning flame escape his jaws to make the pecking order crystal clear from the get go. Not that it appeared to be an issue. The guy had already wet himself.
“Please don’t fry me, man!” he squealed, thrashing under Thrett’s foot, eyes pleading. “My name’s Jake. I didn’t sign up to get burned alive. I’m begging you! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know!”
Thrett narrowed his eyes and then shifted back to his human form, keeping just enough of his dragon’s bulk to use a clawed hand to hold the suspect down by pressing on his chest. He stared down at the wriggling man, uncaring that he stood over him without a stitch of clothing. He had more important things to think about.
“Where’s my son?” he snarled, baring what remained of his fangs.
“I—I don’t know!”
“Wrong answer.”
Thrett yanked Jake to his feet, wrenched one arm behind his back, and then marched him toward where he’d parked his SUV. Slamming the asshole face-first into the rig, Thrett held him in place while he bent and pulled Jake’s shoelaces free. He used the laces to bind Jake’s wrists together behind his back. Once the suspect was contained, Thrett spun him around and got in his face.
“Now,” he said quietly, though his voice was dripping with menace, “where…is…my…son?”
Jake shook his head, clearly terrified and willing to talk. “I swear, I don’t have a clue. Don’t even know who your kid is.”
The expression on Thrett’s face made Jake continue quickly.
“I can tell you that we didn’t grab the kid we came here for. We didn’t get a chance to finish the job.”
Thrett breathed deeply, searching for any hint of deception on Jake’s part, but he only smelled fear. Only natural when you were looking into the face of a dragon. That eased his worry a touch. Not enough to take it easy on the guy, but enough for him to open his SUV and pull out some sweats to throw on as Jake babbled.
“It was supposed to be an easy gig. Just grab some brat and run. No one bothered to mention there’d be a whole team of fucking dragons guarding him or Ruphus and me would have demanded hazard pay.”
Thrett breathed even easier. He might not know where Trystin was, but he was inclined to believe this Jake guy, which meant Trystin had to be hiding somewhere. Or maybe he was just out taking a walk. Whatever the case, he hadn’t been their target. Of course he couldn’t let the suspect know any of that.
“You seriously want me to believe it didn’t cross your pea-sized mind that a celebrity’s son might have some top-notch security?”
Jake frowned in confusion. “Celebrity?”
Thrett rolled his eyes at the guy’s stupidity as he put him into the backseat of the SUV. “Blaise Bradford, you moron. In case you didn’t get that memo either, he’s the son of one of the most famous actors in Hollywood.”
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, man. We were here for the principal’s kid.”
Thrett actually felt his pupils dilate. He had to find out who hired these would-be kidnappers and what they wanted with his son. But as he reached for Jake, a blood-curdling screech pierced the air around him.
He spun around to see Wyntir streaking across the afternoon sky in formation with the rest of the Wildridge Security team, including Charlie. They were in hot pursuit of the dragon Grizz was chasing. Ruphus, if good ol’ Jake was to be believed.
And Ruphus was hurtling through the air directly toward Thrett, dragonfire roiling in his maw.
“Oh shit!”
He reached to drag his prisoner from the rig, but Ruphus wasn’t interested in waiting. He launched a massive fireball at them. Thrett used his dragon strength to launch himself far from the SUV just as the fireball engulfed it, reducing it—and Jake—to fiery bits in an impressive explosion. The shockwaves sent Thrett tumbling and shattered a few windows in the nearby auditorium.
By the time Thrett shook the shock from his head, Grizz had caught up with Ruphus and the pair were tumbling to Benningford’s grassy lawn. The rest of the team landed and surrounded the snarling frenzy of claws, fire, and blood. Even Thrett was about to