Finding His Dragon(21)
She nodded and swallowed. Each man in the room looked more than capable of holding their own. She wouldn’t have to worry unless Adrian brought in more of his goons.
***
“What did you find out?” he asked Austin. By the silence in the room, he knew the others had already been briefed. Otherwise, questions would be flying at the man until he spilled all the information.
“The ringleader is named Adrian. He claims we’ve stolen his woman. He says he has a legal claim to her.” A muscle in Austin’s cheek jumped.
“He doesn’t,” Jace assured him. “Charlotte told me that her brother sold her to Adrian, but she never consented to the mating.”
A heavy silence filled the room. Stella cleared her throat and stood. “I have to ask, and I hope you won’t hate me for it,” she said as she looked at Charlotte and came to stand with her.
“No,” he cut her off before she could pose the question. How could Stella even think of asking it? He pulled Charlotte closer.
“Jace,” Stella chided, “we need to know for sure. Charlotte, did you ever consummate a relationship with Adrian?” she asked before he could stop her.
Charlotte gasped and shook her head. “No, of course not. I ran before they could deliver me to him.”
“Good, then we have nothing to worry about,” Stella said, giving Charlotte a small smile. “And you can stop shooting daggers at me with your eyes, Jace. No one else was brave enough to face your wrath. It had to be done.”
He took a deep breath, then another, allowing his fury to dissipate, but it wasn’t until Charlotte squeezed his hand and sent him a reassuring smile that he was able to release the tension coiling in his chest.
“If you two will take a seat, we’ll start putting our plan together.” Austin pushed a button on the mantle, and a projector screen slid silently from the ceiling. “This is what we know so far. I’m hoping Charlotte will be able to fill in some of the blanks once we’ve gone through it all.”
He flipped open his laptop and clicked a few times before information showed up on the big screen. “Reyn, head of Eldurcrest, Charlotte’s old clan, is he eldest brother by two years. Her younger brother, Morgan is four years younger. He’s away overseas. Their numbers are as follows. Eighteen males and only four females now that Charlotte has come into the Dragon Blood fold.”
Charlotte squeezed his thigh a little where she had rested it when they’d sat.
“Two of the women are mated, one is not. That leaves sixteen unmated males.”
“The Black Wing clan are more worrisome than Eldurcrest,” Austin said after a pause. “I’ve got Mike watching them in the village. They’re threatening to come up here and take back what they claim is theirs. The fact that they haven’t tells me they’re waiting for reinforcements. Their numbers aren’t great, but they have a reputation. They torch villages for no good reason, killing at random. They’re the dragons that give us all a bad name. If they come in blazing, the village will likely be destroyed. They have twelve men, and no women, at least, none that I could find, and I did an extensive search.”
“That’s because they don’t see women as equals or even as people for that matter,” Charlotte spoke up. No one could see it, but with her pressed tight against him, he felt the shudder going through her. “He won’t register them, or have any documentation on them. That way if they go missing, no one is the wiser. They have a few women. None of them, as far as I know, are there by choice. They aren’t allowed out often, never speak, and are usually sporting bruises. Adrian himself took a mate at least once. The she-dragon disappeared after she crossed him.”
He growled, the sound low, and mean. That was the kind of man her brother had sold his mate to? Silence fell in the room, and all eyes turned on him. “Go on,” he told Austin. Once they dealt with the Black Wings, he’d deal with her brother.
Austin clicked his mouse. The picture of a male with a jagged scar starting at the corner of his left eye and running down to his neck came onto the screen. “I don’t know who this guy is. He doesn’t belong to either clan, but he’s been snooping around trying to get some info on Eldurcrest, and more specifically, on Charlotte. He uses the name Dragon Lord online. I haven’t been able to identify him past that. Do you know this man, Charlotte?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
He clicked again, and the screen went blank. “We can’t rule him out as a foe. Last known location was about two hundred miles from here, but that was days ago. Keep your eyes open for him. And that’s about it.”