Chapter Fifteen
Rip
I let her go.
It wasn’t easy. Pretty much the exact opposite, actually, and I left a fist-sized dent in the wall that emphasized how frustrated I was with myself and the situation.
That wasn’t how I’d envisioned things going. At all.
Angrily, I put on sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt, then paced through the penthouse suite, growling and shaking my head, trying to figure out what I should do. Part of me wanted to race down after her and make sure she couldn’t leave. But was that the right thing to do?
“Stupid mirror,” I snarled at nobody in particular, irked at how little it had shown me before sucking me through and putting me in a situation that benefited nobody.
She’s engaged? Why is my mate engaged to someone else?
True, I was pretty certain the engagement was over, but then again, people were always doing dumb things in the name of love.
I had no idea if she would end up reconciling with him.
Not that she should, nor did I want her to.
Now that I’d had a taste of her, a tease, I wanted more. Not just one night.
I wanted a lifetime with her.
Spinning around, I stared at the door. The fingers of my right hand curled and uncurled half a dozen times.
“Is this the smart thing to do?” I asked the air hypothetically.
“No, of course not. Not at all. She wanted to get away from you. You scared her off. She just slept with you hours after dumping her fiancé. Her mind is probably a mess. You chasing after her is probably not going to help the situation.”
I took in a breath.
“But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?”
Yup.
I tore from the suite like a demon, but instead of turning right to the elevator, I went left. The door to the stairs somehow stayed on its hinges as I barged through it. I didn’t bother with the stairs. They were too slow.
Instead, I hopped over the railing and dropped down the center of the stairwell. Levels flew by far faster than an elevator could go. I whipped past several people going down who yelped as the bottom quickly approached.
Once I reached the last few levels, I darted my hand out and steadied myself on the concrete, slowing my progress. I still hit the ground hard enough that I had to drop to one knee and concrete cracked under my fist, but I was up and moving in seconds, hurrying into the parking garage.
I just had to hope I hadn’t waited too long.
Sucking in air to bellow her name, I stopped as I saw the ongoing struggle by her car door.
“You’re mine,” Eric hissed, my ears easily picking up his voice.
A red filter dropped over my vision.
His? She was his?
I thought not.
Gliding forward through the rows of parked cars, I approached like death’s silent wings, making no sound. Scales like the aquamarine depths of fabled ocean waters glittered into being on my arms, rising up my neck.
Only when I lifted a hand did I notice what was going on. Cursing, I ducked behind a car, working to control my fury. Neither of them knew I was a dragon, and for the moment, I intended to keep it that way. Which meant not showing up covered in dragon scales.
“Let go!” Laurie cried.
It was followed by a whack and a yelp.
I was on my feet in an instant, scales gone, but I no longer cared if they came back. I noticed that Eric had recoiled and was holding his face while Laurie was shaking a hand.
It was with that feral grin on my face that I made my entry, inserting myself into their interaction with authority. One moment, Eric was there, and the next, he was skidding across the concrete and slamming into a support pillar.
“Did you hit him?” I asked, staring into the car at my mate.
“Yes,” she said, hissing in pain. “That shit hurts.”
I let out a single bark of laughter. “Feisty. I like it.”
Laurie looked up, her eyes wet and wide but still full of vigor. That changed to anger as she looked past me. I heard Eric moving as he stood up.
“One moment,” I told her casually, spinning to face Eric as he approached me, his arms slightly wide like a gorilla with his fingers curled into fists. His face was hardened with fury, and he was all but foaming at the mouth.
“Nice mark,” I chided, touching my cheek at the same spot on his where a welt from Laurie’s punch was forming.
Eric reached behind his back. I braced to use some of my powers to ensure he couldn’t fire a round, but his hand returned with a knife.
“Piss off,” he spat. “I’ve had enough of you. Get out of my way, and I won’t hurt you.”
I crossed my arms, deliberately rendering myself helpless for a long second if he came at me. “Now, after all our interactions, just what makes you think you can hurt me? Seriously.”
Eric waved the knife intimidatingly. He wasn’t backing down, and I couldn’t blame him. He was tall and fit. Sure, I was bigger and fitter, but without the knowledge that I was a dragon, the knife would definitely seem to more than even the fight up.
“Not going to work on me, bucko,” I drawled. “Got anything bigger hiding in that gigantic asshole of yours? Oh, wait, that’s just your personality.”
Laurie snickered behind me.
“Fuck you,” Eric spat at her.
My arms uncoiled, and I was on him in an instant. My fingers closed around the knife-holding wrist, and I held it immovable while my other hand slapped his face back and forth twice.
“How did you find me?” I snarled. “Tell me! How did you find me?! Did you follow me?”
Eric was still struggling to free his hands.
“No,” I mused, mostly talking to myself. “You didn’t. You were gone before us, and I’d have noticed if you were tailing us. So, how the hell did you find me …”
The answer sank in. He hadn’t known me until a few hours ago. There was no time for him to do anything regarding me. Which meant that if he hadn’t followed us from the house, he had a way to track us. Except the only one he could track …
“You’re tracking her phone, aren’t you?” I hissed. “Aren’t you?”
There was a very brief moment of hesitation before Eric shook his head.
“Liar!” I roared, while behind me, Laurie freaked out as she realized that it was likely no recent occurrence.
Suddenly beyond furious, I tossed Eric back toward the car. He hit the concrete hard enough that the knife flew from his hands and skittered away under a nearby vehicle. Panicked, he scrambled after it, but I stopped him with a boot to his back, flattening him to the floor.
“Tell her how to get rid of it!” I said, switching my boot to a knee and pulling back on his head until his neck was dangerously stretched. “Now.”
“Fuck yo—urk!”
I rotated his head a little, and Eric fell silent, likely realizing how close he was to serious damage. Reluctantly, he told her what app he’d installed to track her, and she quickly deleted it.
“I can’t believe you,” she said, obviously shaken. “When did I ever give you a need to feel like you had to track me?”
Eric remained sullen and quiet. I leaned down to speak into his ear.
“Do you realize how close you are to being paralyzed for life?” I threatened, wrenching his neck around just a hair more.
The answering whimper was all the confirmation I needed that he knew.
“Good. Now, get out of here. I don’t ever want to see you around again,” I growled.
“If I so much as smell you, you’ll be begging me to finish you off after I’m done.
But you don’t deserve a quick death. Pricks you like, they deserve to suffer.
The choice is yours. Now, get the fuck out of my sight. ”
Eric stood up, backing away as he dusted himself off. “You’ll regret that,” he threatened. “Both of you.”
I advanced on him with a step, my growl filling the parking lot.
Eric yelped and took off up the exit ramp toward the surface. I watched him go until he had rounded the bend to the upper floor of the parking garage, and then I turned to Laurie.
“Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?” I asked, looking her over.
She shook her head, looking out through the windshield at nothing in particular. “I feel so violated,” she whispered. “He was tracking me? Watching every place I went to? For how long? Why?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it’s over now. Done. You’re okay. He won’t bother you again.”
She nodded jerkily, very shaken by the ordeal.
“Can you drive?”
“I think so,” she said, lifting her hands to the wheel.
They were trembling so bad she had a hard time getting them on the wheel.
“No,” I said as she tried to turn the car on. “Come on, you aren’t in any condition to drive, Laurie.”
“What am I supposed to do? Go back up with you?” she asked hoarsely.
“Yes,” I said, meeting her eyes and not looking away. “That’s exactly what you’re going to do.”
“Oh,” she squeaked.