Mara had to respect the way Troy had stayed calm and dealt with the difficult dragon and the way he calmly threatened him before walking away.

  Jack came over to wrap his arm around her. “Come on, hon. Let’s go.”

  “You’ll regret this,” Konar hissed behind them. “You’re tiny and weak. You’ll rue the day you refused me. You’ll know pain unlike anything else—”

  She whipped around, hands in fists. “Still my choice!”

  They locked eyes for one hot, sizzling moment that made her core melt for some reason, and then she turned and made a run for it back to the car, hoping to not look stupid.

  Soon she’d be back home.

  Soon the mark would hopefully wash out, and she would be able to forget all of this and get back to her crystals.

  She touched a precious carnelian pendant she’d worn since she was little, rubbing it nervously as she settled in the back seat of the car.

  As they drove away, the memory of harsh, hot yellow-orange eyes made her stomach twist, and it was hard to maintain the feeling that everything would just be okay.

  5

  Konar had never seen such stupidity.

  A tiny human, marked by a chaos titan of all things, turning him down?

  She could have no better protector.

  None of these domesticated, puppy-like Earth dragons would be able to handle what was coming for her.

  She’d probably die in a few days, maybe even earlier if the chaos monster got hungry.

  And that was her problem, Konar decided as he curled up in dragon form in the center of his courtyard, relaxing among the cherry trees that were blooming again despite him being gone a hundred years.

  It felt like the darkness was slowly fading.

  His fortress formed a square shape, rising tall with many rooms inside the walls, towers at all four corners, and an empty courtyard in the middle of it all, filled only with flowers and trees, where his dragon liked to rest when not in battle.

  It wasn’t his fault if the little human died. He’d offered to help her.

  Now she was on her own, and that was that.

  He rested his snout on his paws, frowning despite himself. She had such pretty eyes, though. Green like grass in sunlight.

  A body built for a dragon, with soft curves for days.

  He let out a low growl, thinking about someone else having her.

  About someone taking her power for themselves, no doubt.

  His ears pricked at that. If someone else found her before him, that was potentially a danger to Konar.

  That was a reason to go find the foolish human and bring her here whether she liked it or not, even if he’d been told not to.

  Troy and Jack had assured him they couldn’t force protection on people who didn’t want it, and they didn’t even have proof she was in danger.

  But Konar did.

  He knew that mark, knew what was coming with it, and he couldn’t sleep knowing what would happen to the tiny human, regardless of how he knew he shouldn’t intervene.

  Slowly, he crept out of the courtyard, through the gate, and into the forest. Following the moon, he kept going, brushing his long dragon body through the easiest paths among the trees.

  All the way, he saw only darkness beyond the forest.

  But his animal brain knew the right way to go. Something in him could feel a trail from her, as if she’d left energy behind.

  Something sparkling, crystalline, if he had to describe it.

  That power should be his even if he had to take it by force.

  As he came to the edge of the forest and saw a wall of black in front of him, he lowered his head and tried to push through, earning a zap that sent him sprawling backward.

  He let out a snarl of frustration, ready to head home. He’d tried to breach the barrier, but the other dragons were right. He couldn’t.

  He sat on his haunches with a huff and stared at the barrier again.

  She was out there somewhere. Sleeping alone and probably unguarded. He smiled inwardly, thinking about how feisty she’d been next to him.

  The females on his planet that weren’t in his battle band never did anything but stutter in fear around him.

  He liked her fire. He liked her face.

  He liked…

  But that didn’t matter, right? It was just about her power. What he could do with it. How he could conquer the world and make them pay for what they’d taken from him.

  So why did the thought of her eyes, wide with fear, at the mercy of one of the most dangerous creatures he’d ever encountered, enflame him?

  He sucked in a breath, calling himself stupid for what he was about to do.

  Perhaps those stupid Earth dragons were wearing off on him.

  But he just couldn’t leave her out there unprotected. No human deserved what was coming.

  He lowered his head, focused, and forced his body forward toward the darkness as quickly as he could, bracing himself to ignore the pain.

  To his shock, he came through on the other side of the darkness, looking out on a regular forest with hills and barren fields in the distance and city lights sparkling far beyond that.

  He was free.

  He hissed as his wings extended, feeling sore and tight. He hadn’t flown in so long. And the air felt odd.

  He definitely needed more time to come back to himself before conquering the world after being asleep for so long.

  But this would be his first venture into the human world. To pick up a human.

  He took flight, pushing off and letting his tail whip as his wings beat the air, and he cloaked to hide his body from view.

  He flew high up into the clouds until he could feel more the direction of her energy. Like a thread he could chase.

  Dragons like him were the most excellent trackers.

  He flew high over the land below, studying the hills and valleys, the tiny human machines moving along small roads.

  It all reminded him of a former time in Drakkaris, his home planet. So he’d probably figure things out soon enough.

  Maybe she could even help him since he’d be protecting her anyway.

  She had turned down his protection, but for her own sake, he wouldn’t give her a choice this time.

  She would be grateful in the end, probably.

  6

  Mara glanced at the mark on her hand in between chapters of the shifter book she was reading, hoping beyond hope that Troy and Jack were wrong about what it was.

  She still felt dazed by the events of the day.

  By coming face to face with a dragon and not liking it at all.

  Though, he’d been a gorgeous man.

  Those feral, intense eyes still startled her when she remembered them, so focused, so vibrant. He was almost as intimidating in human form as he was in dragon form.

  She set her book aside and looked around her apartment, at the sparse white furnishings, the blue carpet, the blue curtains in her tiny home. The white walls with few decorations hanging, mostly painted seascapes she’d found at thrift stores.

  But everywhere, sitting on every surface, were crystals of all types and shapes. In the middle of her desk sat the alarm Troy and Jack had given her, along with an emergency backpack she’d packed with her self-defense syringe in it in case someone really was after her and she had to run.

  But that couldn’t really happen, right? A tiny little mark on your hand didn’t mean a monster was coming to get you. The idea was ludicrous.

  She stared at her window, which overlooked a fire escape. Surely, she was safe here. She’d see anything that tried to break in.

  But it didn’t stifle her nervousness completely.

  She got up to turn off the light, and just as she’d gotten in bed, pulling the covers up and over her, she heard something clank outside on the stairwell.

  She sat bolt upright, wondering if there was a squirrel or something on the landing. But just as she sat up, she saw a dark shape cross in front of the window.

  Her entire body broke into an immediate cold sweat as the shape moved back in front of the window, and she could make out the shape of a very large man.

  Oh holy shit, this had to be about the mark, didn’t it?

  She threw off her covers, running for her backpack and the alarm, but the window opened far too quickly, and someone was coming in.

  And through the open window, dark smoke was pouring in and filling the room, instantly making it hard to see in the darkness, so she had to scrabble around for the small button on the alarm.

  Before she could push it, she felt the smoke rise to head level, making her so dizzy she couldn’t think.

  She made her way back toward the direction where her bed should be, but the smoke was getting thick. She heard heavy footsteps enter the room and began to panic.

  “Whoever you are, get out!” she screamed as loudly as she could.

  She heard a familiar voice answer, “This won’t be so bad, little one. Just hold still.”

  The next thing she knew, a giant man was striding out of the smoke, his orange eyes visible even in the darkness.

  Konar.

  “What are you doing—”

  But before she could finish her question, Konar had bent and grabbed her at the knees, sweeping her up and over his shoulder, holding her like she was nothing as he made to leave.

  On the way, he grabbed her backpack, leaving her alarm.

  Realizing she was actually being kidnapped, she began to fight back, hard, pounding on his back.

  But the smoke was engulfing her, making her even dizzier, and she didn’t think she could stay awake any longer for some reason. Despite the fact that she should be terrified, Mara felt only a little… sleepy.

  Konar was carrying her out of the window and onto the landing when she passed out completely, covered in smoke.

  7

  Mara blinked, feeling something soft beneath her, an unfamiliar scent in the air like burning embers.

  She pushed herself up, blinking in the darkness, and saw light streaming through a small window in a stone wall.

  Wait, stone?

  She blinked again, realizing there were bars between her and that wall, and it felt like she must still be asleep. Dreaming.

  But she was awake and clearly imprisoned.

  She moved to the bars of her cage, looking around her and seeing it was probably ten feet long and square, not leaving her a lot of room.

  There was a mattress on the ground, and she must have been sleeping on it, though she felt like she’d taken sleeping pills she was so woozy.

  She had literally no idea how she’d gotten there.

  She rummaged in the blankets on the mattress, looking for her phone or anything else she owned, but saw nothing.

  The cell was empty except for some water in a bowl on the floor.

  The extremely condescending, offensive gesture of that triggered her memory, bringing everything back.

  Konar.

  Konar had climbed into her house and kidnapped her somehow.

  Was he the one after her because of her mark? Her hands trembled as she clasped the cold metal bars of her cell and shook them to no avail.

  “Konar, get out here and take me home! Right now! I’ll tell the dragons about this, you monster—”

  The door to the room where her cage sat in the middle opened, and Konar’s huge, heavy form walked in.

  His muscled arms were folded, and he was still wearing only armbands and some leather around his waist and thighs that only barely passed for pants. However, he now had a maroon velvet cloak pinned to his shoulders that swung out behind him, which gave him an oddly regal look.

  Then again, she had been told he was some kind of warlord king.

  She didn’t care what he was as long as he let her out right now.

  “I have a job!” she yelled at him, shaking the bars fruitlessly again. “I have a life! You can’t just do this to people.”

  He cocked his head, stubborn, masculine jaw jutting and his orange eyes glinting. “You won’t have a life soon if you don’t obey me.”

  She scoffed. “As if. I’m a human. I have rights.”

  He smirked, coming closer to the bars and making it crystal clear just how much bigger and stronger he was than her.

  And his huge body, with pecs as big as her head and arms that—

  She blinked. “You have to let me go.”

  His smirk deepened. “No, I don’t.” His folded arms tightened. “Just like your oracle could keep me here a hundred years without my consent, no one can stop me from keeping you here now to keep you safe.”

  “I don’t need you to keep me safe,” she muttered. “I need to get back to my store.”

  “Tell me what’s so important that you would risk losing your life.”

  Her mouth snapped closed for a moment. “I’m not risking my life. I just… don’t want to let anyone else control it.” And she did love spreading good energy to people and wanted to get back to it.

  He reached through the bars so fast she almost couldn’t see it and caught her wrist delicately but firmly in his much larger hand. His rough thumb brushed over the mark, making her shudder.

  His eyes met hers, triumphant. “You are affected by me.”

  She tried to jerk her hand back, but even his gentle hold was like a vise she could never break. “No, I’m not. I just don’t like strangers touching me.”

  He kept her hand. “I don’t believe you. Tiny but full of lies. What a combination.”

  “You’re the one full of lies, kidnapper,” she spat back at him, though internally, she admitted that really wasn’t much of a comeback.

  He chuckled darkly, a muscle flexing in his solid jaw. “What does kidnapping have to do with lying?” He narrowed his eyes. “I came honestly, broke in through the window, and—”

  “That’s illegal—”

  “Dragon,” he said, eyeing her up and down now in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable.

  And, against her better judgment, slightly aroused.

  “I don’t have to follow human rules,” he said, finally releasing her. “And neither will that thing chasing you.”

  “What is it?” So he knew? Why didn’t he just tell the other dragons?

  He shook his head. “I’m not telling you. I’m just going to keep you safe against your own will, since the domesticated dragons here are too weak to.”

  “You call them weak because they are decent people?”

  He cocked a hip, his powerful legs flexing in a way she tried not to notice. But just the way his huge, defined quads came in at the knee before bulging out with unbelievably perfect calves was making it hard.

  “No,” he said, looking somewhat amused by her perusal of his legs as her face flushed bright red at being caught. “I call them weak because they are poor protectors. They let me take you, didn’t they?”

  Her jaw dropped. “That’s my fault. I didn’t get to my alarm—”

  “They should never have let you go. I’m rectifying it—”

  “I need to go, though. I swear I’m fine—”

  He moved forward suddenly, and his huge hands gripped the bars, his face coming forward to rest between them so he could be as close as possible. She had to crane her neck to look up at him. “If I can kidnap you, little one, then what’s coming for you can also.” His lips pressed into a line. “Please, let me protect you.”

  There was sincerity in his eyes but also a hardness that scared her. She still wasn’t sure she could trust him.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked shakily, stepping back from the bars to sit on the bed “Why just me? You made it clear to the dragons you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

  “Not true,” he shot back at her harshly. “But on this planet, that might be true. After a hundred years were stolen from me, I will hate anyone I want.” He moved back from the bars and studied her pensively. “And protect whoever I like.”

  She sighed. “Then can you at least let me out of here?”

  “You would run,” he said correctly.

  She sighed. “Probably, but wouldn’t that be my right?” She shook her head. “Look, if you let me out of here, we could at least talk, and—”

  He cocked his head again, an odd light making his red-orange eyes look almost gold at some angles. His harsh brows lowered, and he shook his head slowly. “I do not think so. Your lack of judgment can’t be trusted.”

  “It’s not your problem!” she said.

  “Yes, it is,” he said matter-of-factly. “I want your power, and I don’t want someone else to take it. It would make it harder for me to conquer this world.” He came forward, sniffing the air slightly. “Something incredible resides inside you. I just don’t know what.”

  She swallowed. “It doesn’t give you the right to keep me trapped.”

  “You won’t be trapped once you agree to this,” he said. “You’ll see. You should feel lucky to even have garnered my attention. I’m a remarkably elusive dragon when it comes to giving females attention.”

  She wished she had something to throw at him.

  “The more you stay with me, the more you’ll see it’s a good thing that I captured you, and—”

  “So you admit this is kidnapping,” she said. “That’s good to know.”

  “Of course it is,” he said. “Unlike you, I don’t feel badly about such things. I believe the strong should rule the weak, and—”

  “Yeah, I got a sample of who you are in the forest, and then, as now, I said no thank you.”

  He put both hands on his hips, perturbed, his face and body so beautiful no matter what he did that it was almost comical.

  His full lips pursed, then relaxed, then pursed again, and she wished she could read his thoughts.

  “How did you even find me?”

  “I followed your energy trail,” he said. “Something dragons like me can do, unlike your weak ones.”

  “They don’t seem weak to me,” she said. “Just because they aren’t controlling like you.”

  “If I had been another type of monster, you’d be dead tonight.”