need to tell me, human. I can manage it by myself.”
Jane answered, “You don’t have to do everything by yourself. The sooner you get used to that idea, the better.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Bram made me promise not to tell you, so you’ll have to ask him.”
“I don’t like secrets, Jane.”
She shrugged. “Take it up with Bram. He should be along shortly. I already pushed the alert button. One of the nurses should be contacting him as we speak.”
His dragon jumped in. Make sure she is okay before Bram comes.
She is clearly fine if she can argue.
His beast grunted. Ask her.
To shut up his bloody beast, Kai studied Jane’s face. But it was the same pale, yet healthy skin she always had. There were a few smudges under her eyes from lack of sleep, but he’d just have to make sure she slept after this.
He nearly blinked at that thought. Jane wasn’t his concern, especially not if they were back on Stonefire. After all, the distracting female had gotten him shot in the first place. Not only that, he would have to wait who the hell knew how long before he could track down the hunters again.
For both his health and the sake of his clan, Kai would put distance between him and Jane Hartley as soon as possible.
His dragon roared. Don’t send her away. She is ours. We must convince her to stay.
No. What she does after today is not my concern.
Liar. You think having her near is a distraction, but wait until you push her away. I will think of her often, to the point you will beg her to return.
Shut it, dragon. If I survived you after Maggie, I can do the same with Jane. Using what strength he had, Kai tossed his beast into a mental prison and added, We’ll recover faster if you remain calm. If you don’t, then I’ll mention it to Sid. I’m sure she has something to block you out for a while to allow me to heal.
Even locked away, his beast paced. Good. With the threat of drugs, maybe his dragon would actually listen. They’d been drugged once before, in the army, and his dragon had been silent for days. As much as his bloody dragon irritated him, days without him were too long.
But he kept that thought tightly locked away. If his dragon ever found out, he’d never hear the end of it.
Jane’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Since your pupils are round again, are you quite finished with your dragon?”
“I’m not sure how I should answer that.”
Jane crossed her arms over her chest. “I wanted to thank you for saving my life, but if it’s too much of a nuisance, then I won’t mention it.”
Kai really missed grunting. “I wouldn’t be a Protector if I let them take you while you were under my care.”
“I didn’t realize I was under your care.”
“Of course you were.” He paused a second and added, “And you still are until I can find a suitable replacement.”
“Do I get any say in the matter?”
“No.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “When you start threading dominance into your voice, it becomes harder to be nice to you.” She winked at him. “And I was really trying.”
“This is trying? Remind me not to piss you off.”
Jane grinned. “Oh, believe me, you don’t want to do that.”
The sight of Jane’s face when she smiled stole his breath away. He’d always found the human attractive, but her winks and grins were dangerous. They made him want to kiss her again.
And he definitely couldn’t do that. He was home. He didn’t have time for a female. Not even one with eyes the color of a deep blue lake in summer.
Bloody hell. He’d never had such a poetic thought in his life.
Even in his cage, Kai sensed his dragon’s laughter.
Clearing his throat, Kai finally answered, “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“No. Although I’m not sure I want to fly gripped in a dragon’s talons ever again.”
“Nikki.”
She nodded. “Yes. I only hope the DDA doesn’t punish her for shifting inside a city.”
Kai started to shrug, but then