That's when Grace received her first good look at the man. Shock held her frozen for a long while. 'Patrick?' she said when she finally found her voice. This man worked with her brother; he'd even escorted her to the boat, and had engaged her in several conversations about her family afterward. 'What's going on? Why were you following me?'
Silence.
'Answer her questions,' Darius demanded. When Patrick still refused to speak, Darius increased the pressure of the blades, making small pricks and drawing blood.
'You won't kill me,' he said smugly.
'You're right. I won't kill you. Not with blades, at least.' Darius dropped his weapons and wrapped his hands around the man's neck.
'I-I wasn't following her. I swear,' Patrick sputtered, his face slowly fading from pink, to white, to blue. He kicked and clawed, losing his smugness with his need for air.
Eyes wide, she glanced from Darius to Patrick, from Patrick to Darius. Intimidation was a good tactic for getting what they wanted, but she knew Darius wasn't trying to intimidate. He really would kill Patrick without a single qualm.
'You are lying, and I do not like liars,' Darius said, his voice so bored he could have been commenting on the mating habits of flies. But then his eyes slitted and his voice deepened, no longer dripping with boredom, but with rage. 'I recognize you. You are the one who touched Grace while she was sleeping.'
Patrick's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. 'No, no,' he gasped, struggling to loosen Darius's grip. 'I didn't.'
'I watched you do it,' he said, his teeth bared.
Were those fangs? She shivered as she stared at the long, sharp incisors. Then their words sank into her brain. 'He touched me?' she gasped, hands anchoring on her hips. To Patrick, she ground out, 'Which part of me?'
'Your cheek,' Darius told her.
Her jaw gnashed in fury.
'You couldn't have watched me,' Patrick said to Darius. 'You weren't on the boat.'
No, he hadn't been on the boat, but then, Darius hadn't needed to be. He'd used his medallion on her like he'd done to Alex, she realized, not liking that he'd seen her and she hadn't known.
Patrick made a gargled sound, and his battle for freedom intensified. His legs flailed, and his hands slashed.
'Were we in my home,' Darius said, 'I would have your hands removed for such an offense.'
'I didn't hurt her,' Patrick squeaked. 'You know I didn't hurt her.'
'Wrong again,' Darius said. A flash of green scales pulsed over his skin. 'You touched my woman. Mine. For that alone I want to kill you.'
Grace's heart stopped. Literally stopped, suspended in her chest. Which should she react to first? The scales or the 'she is my woman' statement? Neither, she decided. Only Alex mattered right now. Not her shock at the fact that there were actually dragon scales under Darius's skin, and certainly not her unwanted joy at his words.
Tamping down her emotions, she forced her attention to Patrick. His lips were moving, but no sound emerged. 'I think he's trying to say something, Darius,' she said.
Several seconds passed before Darius loosened his hold. 'Have you something to say?'
'I-' Patrick sucked in a deep breath. 'Just need-' deep breath '-a moment.'
'You're supposed to be looking for my brother,' Grace told him. 'Why aren't you in Brazil?'
'He's dead. Alex's dead. We found evidence right after you left. I'm sorry.'
Had Darius not shown Grace proof that Alex lived, she would have sank to her knees and sobbed. Of all the things to say, of all the things to feign remorse about, that was the crudest.
Her eyes narrowed. 'You may kill him, Darius.'
Darius flicked her a startled glance, staring at her lips as if he couldn't quite believe what they'd proclaimed. He grinned slowly, then turned that grin to Patrick.
'What the woman wants,' he said, 'I give her.'
Both of Patrick's palms pushed at Darius's chest, but the action had no effect. 'I can't tell you anything. I'll lose everything, damn it. Everything!'
'So you would rather lose your life?'
Darius increased the pressure. Patrick gurgled, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to suck in air. Grace snapped out of her murderous inclinations. Thinking about a death and actually witnessing it were two totally different things.
Not knowing what else to do, she laid her hand on Darius's arm. 'Perhaps I spoke too hastily,' she said. 'Let's give him one more chance.'
Darius glanced at her hand, then brought his gaze to her face, never releasing Patrick. The blue in Darius's eyes had faded substantially, making them appear almost completely white.
'Let him go. Please.' Her hand inched upward, and she stroked her fingers over his cheek. 'For me.'
She didn't know why she'd added those last words and didn't expect them to work. Yet color began to return to Darius's eyes, not ice-blue but gorgeous golden-brown. The color she was coming to love.
'Please,' she said again.
He released Patrick in the next instant. The gasping man collapsed on the dirty concrete, wheezing as he tried to fill his lungs. Red handprints encircled his neck, changing to a blue-black as she watched. She and Darius waited side by side, silent, as Patrick breathed life back into his body.
'Why were you following Grace?' Darius demanded. 'I will not give you another chance to answer, so consider your words carefully.'
Patrick closed his eyes and leaned his shoulders into the wall. His fingers massaged at his throat. 'The medallion,' he said, his voice hoarse, broken. 'I followed her for the medallion.'
'Why?' Every muscle Darius possessed stiffened. 'What did you hope to do with it?'
'My boss… he wants your jewels,' Patrick choked out. 'That's all.'
'How do you know what I am?'
'You're like the others. The ones we… ' His words trailed off. 'I was only to keep track of Grace's whereabouts, to record where she went and who she talked to. I wasn't to harm her in any way. I swear.'
'Give us a name?' she said sharply, though she was beginning to suspect the answer.
His shoulders slumped, and he laughed, a humorless, I-can't-believe-this-is-happening rasp. 'I'll tell you, but you know what? You'd better be prepared to wade nose-deep in shit because that's what he's going to throw at you. He's the greediest son of a bitch I've ever met, and he'll do anything, anything to get what he wants.'
'His name,' she insisted.
'Jason Graves.' He paused, adding gruffly, 'Alex's boss. The owner of Argonauts.'
A cold shiver of dread attacked Grace. Argonauts. Jason. Bits of information began to piece together in her mind. Trembling inside, Grace bent down until she and Patrick were eye-to-eye. She cupped his chin with shaky hands and forced him to face her, to stare her directly in the eyes. 'Is Jason Graves holding Alex captive?'
Patrick nodded reluctantly.
'Where?' The word lashed from her. 'Here in the States? Brazil?'
'Different places. Never the same place for long.'
'Was he in Brazil while I was there? Is that why you guys were so eager to send me home?' Why hadn't they hurt her? Why hadn't they threatened Alex with her life? There had to be a reason.
'We wanted you out of there so you wouldn't hinder our search for the medallion. Other than that, I'm as clueless as you as to where he is,' he added. 'I'm told on a need to know basis, and I don't need to know that.'
'How long has he been a prisoner?'
'A few weeks.' Patrick wheezed, then coughed. 'You were supposed to find the e-mail we sent you and stop searching. Why the hell didn't you stop searching?'
His question was rhetorical, so she didn't bother with a response. 'What does Jason plan to do with him? Kill him? Release him later?'
'Who knows?' he said, but the truth was there in his eyes. Alex would never be released. Not alive. 'Last I
