Northern Isles? Why did that sound familiar? His accent sounded Scandinavian, but he couldn’t quite remember where he’d heard that name before. “Those men …”
Golden brows slashed downward. “Ah, yes. I’d been in pursuit of them for days now, ever since I had heard they were taking some sort of action. I never thought, though, that they would come here for you, Daniel Rogers of the Blackstone Rangers.”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course. You saved the life of an important man, a heroic deed reported of far and wide. And now it seems you have created enemies because of this. I—”
The sound of approaching vehicles interrupted Thoralf. Both he and Daniel tensed, ready to attack. The headlights grew bigger as they drew closer.
“If you take the female to safety, I shall take care of these blackguards,” the dragon shifter said.
Daniel nodded. “You got it.”
“What is going on?” Sarah asked.
Three SUVS stopped in front of them, cutting off their access to the road. That wouldn’t be any trouble to Daniel, however, as he could shift into his grizzly and carry Sarah into the woods behind them.
“Get ready to grab onto me,” he said.
“Grab on? What do you mean?”
A growl rattled from his chest as his bear readied itself for the change. Thoralf, too, was preparing as scales appeared on his bare arms. The SUV’s doors opened, but only one man emerged from the leading vehicle.
“Don’t attack, we’re on your side!” The headlights covered the man in shadow but Daniel recognized the voice. “Daniel! Bro, it’s me. Jason. Jason Lennox.”
As the lights behind him clicked off, all the tension left Daniel’s body. “Jason? What are you doing here?” Though he knew Jason—he was a year behind him in high school, but they had been on the football team together—he remained rooted to the spot, as the adrenaline was still coursing through his system, plus, his grizzly was feeling on edge with two dragons around him and their mate.
Jason Lennox jogged toward them. “We have regular patrols around town, and one of them reported a disturbance here.” He skidded to a halt when his gaze landed on Thoralf. “Hey, don’t I know you?”
“My lord!” Thoralf immediately sank to one knee. “Yes, it is I, Thoralf. Former Captain of the Guard for their Majesties, the King and Queen of the Northern Isles.”
Jason looked flummoxed. “Aleksei didn’t say anything about sending anyone here.”
“I’m not here on any official capacity, my lord Jason,” Thoralf began. “I am on a quest and it has led me here to Blackstone.”
“Um, you can get up now, Thoralf,” Jason said. “And you can just call me Jason.”
“But, my lord, you are brother to Her Majesty, Queen Sybil of the Northern Isles, The Great Fire-breather, Daughter of the Blackstone Dragon, Duchess of Svartalheim, Lady of the Barents Islands, and—”
“You’re in America now, Thoralf,” Jason urged him to get up. “Please, no need for formalities.”
“As you wish.” Thoralf got to his feet.
Sybil? A lightbulb lit up in Daniel’s head. Jason’s youngest sibling, Sybil Lennox, had married some European prince last year. It was the talk of the town, especially that huge wedding they had in Blackstone. The entire town was invited, and Main Street had a huge block party to celebrate. He’d even stood on the sidewalk when the happy couple drove through town in a horse-drawn carriage.
“What’s the heck is going on?”
Shit, he’d nearly forgotten about Sarah. “I’m not sure myself, to be honest,” he said. “Jason? Do you know anything about the guys who attacked us?”
The dragon shifter sighed. “It’s kind of a long story, plus, I do need to take you in to make a statement.”
“Statement? Should we head down to the police department?”
“Er, not quite.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I—oh.” His brows snapped together when he saw Sarah behind Daniel. “I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”
“Uh, yeah. This is Sarah,” he introduced. “My wife.” The words just rolled off his tongue naturally.
“I’m not!” she protested quickly. “I mean, I am. But I won’t be soon.”
Jason looked confused. “Oh, uh … I don’t need to know the details. But, yeah, we should explain a few things to you. Besides,” he cocked his head toward his truck. Or rather, what was left of it. “You’ll probably need a ride to town anyway.”
Daniel groaned. “Fuck me.” His truck was trashed.
“And some clothes?” Jason added, amused.
Did he forget that his clothes had ripped off when shifted? “Er, yeah.”
It was dark, so maybe Sarah didn’t notice. However, she shifted uncomfortably when he peeked at her, and she suddenly found something interesting in the distance.
“C’mon,” Jason said. “We have some spare clothes in the truck.”
“Thanks, man.” He itched to ask Jason who “we” were in the first place, but he figured he’d find out soon enough.
Chapter Six
Sarah had never been so confused in her whole life. Sure, she was used to emotional rollercoasters, but not quite like this. Shock, fear, awe, panic, dread, and—much to her annoyance—lust, cycled through her in the span of ten minutes.
The moment she saw Daniel’s truck hit with some kind of explosive and flip over, her heart leapt to her throat. She slammed on the brakes and watched from her car, frozen in place as she watched the truck land on its side; the sound of the crash of metal on asphalt was something she would never forget. She knew she should have called 911, but something snapped inside her when she saw those men threatening Daniel, so she got out to help him. In hindsight, it was an idiotic move because what the hell did she think she could do against half a dozen men wielding weapons?
Sure enough, they caught Daniel, then her, then that other guy—a freaking dragon—showed up. Thankfully he was on their side but he literally appeared from nowhere. She didn’t even know shifters could do that, as Darcey never just materialized in front of her.
And now, after what
