“It’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Daniel said as he sat beside her—now fully clothed—in the back seat of one the SUVs. The driver concentrated on the road, paying them no mind.
His calm voice soothed her like a balm. But that logical part in her brain told her that none of this was normal. “How do you know?”
“Jason’s a good guy,” he said. “He won’t let anything bad happen to us.”
A tingle ran up her spine when he placed a hand on her knee and rubbed back and forth. He was looking straight ahead, so she wondered if he realized what he was doing. The fact made her heart beat faster. It felt so natural and made her want to cuddle up to him again and feel his comforting embrace.
She leaned against the window instead and closed her eyes. Why did Daniel have to be so attractive? And nice? And protective? And have a big—
Whoa girl, she told herself. Get a hold of those hormones. But it was hard to not think of his large—attributes. Everything about him was huge. And difficult to ignore.
He was naked after he shifted back. What was I supposed to do?
How about, not stare, a wry voice answered rhetorically.
“I think we’re here,” he said, taking his hand from her knee as the vehicle slowed down.
“And where is here?”
He craned his neck to look outside. “I think we’re at the Lennox Corporation headquarters.”
“Lennox? Like your friend? John?”
“Jason,” he corrected. “But, yeah, his family owns it. Actually, they own most of the town and the mountains too. The Lennoxes are a family of dragon shifters.”
“D-dragons?” she stammered. “Like that other guy?” God, she’d never forget the sight of a fifty-foot flying serpent.
“Not quite. I think they’re a different … species? Anyway, don’t worry, I played football with Jason in high school. And their family protects everyone in Blackstone.” He looked at her reassuringly, those silvery blue eyes searching her face. “Nothing bad will happen, I promise.”
The door opened, and Jason Lennox’s head popped in. “Follow me, guys,” he said.
Daniel hopped out first, and he helped her out of the SUV. Glancing around, she saw they were in some kind of underground parking garage. Thoralf—who had ridden in the other SUV with Jason—was already waiting for them by the elevators.
“Why are we at your office?” Daniel asked Jason.
“I’ll explain when we get to the fifteenth floor.” Jason pressed his thumb to the plate where there should have been a call button. The door slid open, and they entered the car. A few seconds later, the doors opened up again.
“Welcome to the marketing and research department of Lennox Corp.,” Jason said as he stepped out of the elevator and gestured for them to follow.
“The what?” Daniel asked.
“Come on, let’s go to the conference room. Christina and Luke are already waiting for us.”
Jason led them across the room, which looked like any ordinary corporate office. Though it was late, there was still a flurry of activity going on as people rushed around or sat at their desks, typing away or talking on the phone.
“Go ahead,” Jason said as he opened the door to a glass conference room. Thoralf went in first, and she and Daniel followed behind him. “Please, take a seat.” He gestured to empty chairs and the three of them sat down along one side. “My wife and brother should be—oh, here they are.”
Jason moved aside to let two people in—one was a tall, hulking man dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans, and the other was a woman in a white skirt suit, her blonde hair pulled up in an elegant French twist.
“Hello,” the woman greeted as she sat opposite them. “I’m Christina Lennox.” Her accent was crisp and posh, and her expression business-like, but not totally unfriendly.
The man took a seat beside her. “Luke Lennox.” His keen, tawny gold eyes scrutinized them one by one, as if assessing them for danger. Sarah let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding when Luke’s gaze passed over her, seemingly not viewing her as a threat. She wondered what animal he turned into. Something large, with teeth, if that predatory gaze was an indication. Dear God, she’d never been around so many shifters before. It was unnerving.
Jason took a seat on the other side of Christina. “Christina, Luke, you guys know Daniel. But this is Thoralf, one of Aleksei’s guards from the Northern Isles, and Sarah, Daniel’s wife.”
The word made her stomach flip, and she told herself it was because she wasn’t used to the word yet. However, she made no move to correct him.
“You’re probably wondering what this place is,” Christina began. “Let me give you a rundown. Daniel, do you remember when that anti-shifter organization attacked the town last year?”
He nodded. “Yeah, of course. Anders and I found one of those explosives in sector 5-G.”
“Explosives?” Sarah exclaimed, turning to Daniel. “There were explosives?” And he had found them. Panic crept into her gut thinking about what could have happened. What if it had exploded while he was around it? Or if he didn’t find it and—
“Yeah. Don’t worry, baby doll.” He placed a soothing hand over her knee again. “PD was able to disarm them all. And our side won.”
“Not quite,” Jason said. “I mean, we stopped them from blowing Blackstone up that day, but it turns out, they’re part of a much bigger problem.”
“The people who tried to destroy Blackstone are part of an anti-shifter network called The Organization,” Christina continued. “But they, in turn, are part of an even bigger and older circle called The Knights of Aristaeum.”
“The Knights attacked my country,” Thoralf said. “And they eliminated my king’s—former king, that is—dragon.”
“Eliminated?” Daniel’s head swung toward the dragon. “What do you mean?”
“They had an artifact called The Wand that separates a shifter from his animal.” Thoralf’s expression hardened. “I’m ashamed to
