Chapter 36

THIRTY-SIX

T alon watched Asher with a slight grin. Despite her exhaustion, his mate’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “So, when did that happen?”

“When did what happen?” Lori didn’t look up from her phone. “I’m just coordinating security protocols.”

“With winky face emojis?” Asher tried to peek at the screen.

“I’m making security fun.” Lori tucked the phone away. “And stop deflecting from your own recovery. Some of us actually follow medical advice.”

“Says the woman who once hacked the CDC because she was ‘bored.’“

A knock interrupted their banter as Levi entered, tablet in hand. His usual stoic expression softened slightly at the sight of Lori, though he maintained his professional demeanor. “Sir, we have the preliminary reports from the sanctuary.”

Lori gathered her purse and phone. “I’ll see you guys a little later.” She walked out with more swing in her hips than a pendulum on a grandfather clock. Asher could only roll her eyes.

“Go ahead,” Talon nodded, his hand still entwined with Asher’s.

Levi began his briefing, only to be interrupted by his phone buzzing. Then buzzing again. And again. His lips twitched as he checked the screen.

“Something amusing about perimeter breaches?” Talon asked dryly.

“No, just Lori...” Levi cleared his throat, fighting a smile. “Providing technical input.”

Another buzz. Asher caught a glimpse of the messages:

Lori: When you’re so serious, your forehead does that cute wrinkly thing.

Levi: Trying to give a security report!

Lori: Multitask, dragon boy. Also, you still owe me dinner.

Levi: You’re impossible.

Lori: You like it.

“Technical input. Right.” Talon smirked. “Tell your ‘technical advisor’ that if she makes you blush during one more briefing, I’m revoking her security clearance.”

“I do not blush,” Levi protested, definitely blushing.

“The great Levi Matthews, undone by a tiny hacker,” Talon mused. “Who would have thought?”

“Says the dragon who purrs when his mate talks about data analysis?”

“Touché.”

“Okay, back to why I’m here. The sanctuary’s wards are holding,” Levi said, dropping into a chair. “Though I’d feel better if you’d let me double the patrols.”

“Dimitri’s forces are too dwindled to worry about that now. We need to focus on stopping his hybrid experimenting.”

“How?” Levi asked.

That answer, he didn’t have.

The hospital room door opened and Everett returned, this time with their father in tow. Nathaniel Andrews was already deep in conversation with himself, working out equations on a notepad.

“If we adjust the quantum resonance frequency...” Nathaniel muttered, nearly walking into a wall before Everett steered him clear.

“Dad’s been working on theories about hybrid DNA stabilization,” Everett explained unnecessarily. “He hasn’t slept in about thirty hours.”

“Forty-two,” Nathaniel corrected absently. “The calculations suggest... hmm.” He blinked at Talon as if just noticing him. “Ah, good. I need a blood sample.”

“Dad,” Asher sighed from the bed, “you can’t just ask people for blood samples.”

“But the quantum harmonic?—”

“No,” Evadne and Bennett said simultaneously.

Nathaniel deflated slightly until Talon spoke up. “Perhaps later, sir. If it might help understand what happened.”

Asher’s father brightened immediately. “Excellent! I’ll calibrate the?—”

“Later,” Evadne stressed, herding both husband and son toward the door. “After you’ve slept. And showered.” She sniffed pointedly at Everett. “Both of you.”

Asher’s warm amusement at her family’s antics mixing with bone-deep exhaustion was evident in her smile. He adjusted his position carefully, letting her lean more fully against him.

“Your family is...”

“Intense?” she offered sleepily.

“Remarkable,” he corrected. “Like you.”

Lori and Levi’s “security updates” became more frequent, though no one commented on how their professional briefings always seemed to end in lingering glances and poorly hidden smiles.

“Twenty bucks says they’re dating within a week,” Asher whispered to Talon after one such interaction.

“Three days,” he countered. “Levi’s been practicing his ‘would you like to get coffee’ speech in the training room.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Dragons have excellent hearing.” His lips twitched. “Even through supposedly soundproof doors.”