Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

K atrina "Trina" Lau sipped her coffee and pretended to check something on her phone. However, she kept an eye out for the woman she'd been trailing for weeks now—Margot Green, who was reported to be Simon Bourne's half-sister and his latest pawn in the game to control or destroy dragon-shifters.

Trina's boss, Antony Holbrook, had sent her to watch Margot's movements with strict instructions not to interact with the woman. She'd reportedly been hired to work with the DDA. And if so, it revealed how lacking their background checks really were. Something she and Antony would have to change from within their nonexistent MI5 department.

While that was Trina's principal mission, her secondary purpose was to watch over Hayley Beckett. Someone had called in a favor with her boss, and Trina had been sent in his place since Antony was in hiding somewhere not even she knew.

Not that she minded much. Trina tried to take on any mission or project related to Clan Stonefire. One day, she hoped to finally be able to visit them.

Maybe then she could finally meet her sister.

Well, half-sister.

Margot scurried into view, garnering her attention. As she rushed up the stairs, Trina frowned. Hayley hadn't returned from following the young woman down the hall.

While she wanted to rush and check on Hayley, Trina's instructions had been clear—Margot was the priority. Entering the DDA's offices upstairs was out of the question, since her department within MI5 wasn't supposed to interfere in DDA business.

But if after ten minutes Margot didn't return, then Trina would go check on Hayley. For all Trina knew, the other woman was merely using the toilet and would show up soon.

A few minutes later, Margot returned wearing a coat and went out the front entrance. Trina debated leaving her spot. Hayley Beckett hadn't emerged yet. However, this was the first time she'd seen Margot exit alone and in a hurry, which might make her easier to follow.

Trina sent a quick text to Rafe Hartley—the man who'd asked her boss for help—and exited the building.

There was a giant open space in front of Manchester Town Hall. She surveyed the area and spotted Margot. As quickly as she dared, Trina crossed Albert Square and maintained a certain distance behind the woman. She turned down Princess Street, and then eventually Faulkner Street, right into Manchester's Chinatown.

Bloody hell. If there was one place in Manchester where she might be recognized, it was here. Her mother's family had a restaurant in Chinatown, one Trina had visited often, at least until her mother had died.

She took more care to blend into the shadows and not let anyone see her face full-on. However, since she had to be extra cautious, she soon lost track of Margot's blonde hair.

Since asking around for information would most definitely get her recognized, Trina headed back toward the town hall as fast as possible. She might have to beg Rafe Hartley for a favor later, to ask around Chinatown for information on Simon Bourne's sister for her. And if she were there to help if Hayley was in trouble, he'd be more likely to grant her request.

Plus, she still needed to vet her brother-in-law in person. One she'd only learned about in the last year.

So she picked up her pace and checked her phone.

Sure enough, texts from Rafe both cursed her out and asked for her help.

Nathan paced Kai's office, wondering why the hell he'd been told to report here. Normally, he would look forward to some new project or mission. However, not only was Hayley in Manchester where he couldn't protect her, he was getting mated tomorrow.

Which meant if Kai messaged him to be here, it wouldn't be for good news.

His dragon spoke up. I don't like it either. I still don't understand why we couldn't go with Hayley today. As long as we covered up our tattoo and wore sunglasses, no one would've guessed that we were a dragon-shifter.

Humans, maybe. But there are some dragon-shifters who visit town. If one reported us, we'd be no good to our female inside prison.

His beast sniffed. I hate all of the bloody human rules. Why can't Bram and the others work faster, so we can come and go as we please?

One day, dragon. I hope one day that's true.

Before his beast could reply, Kai walked in, followed by Nikki. Nathan blurted, "What the fuck is going on?"

Kai merely raised his eyebrows, but Nikki rushed to answer, "It's Hayley."

His stomach dropped. "What about her?"

Kai jumped in. "She's missing."

"What? Wasn't Rafe watching over her?"

Nikki grimaced. "Someone hit him with a tranquilizer dart from somewhere inside Albert Square. To have made that shot undetected, despite being in the middle of the day, means we're dealing with professionals."

"I don't bloody care if Special Forces carried it out. What's been done? What do you know?"

Kai replied, "Hayley was seen being flagged down by a young receptionist and taken to sign more papers. Nothing since then. But the woman in question is suspected of being Margot Green, Simon Bourne's sister."

Simon Bourne was the leader of the dragon hunters. He'd been their main foe for a while before they'd quietly retreated and let the Dragon Knights take the spotlight. But now that the Knights were gone, Bourne had resurfaced. Stonefire had learned that firsthand recently, when his clan rescued some dragon-shifters from an illegal research facility.

But they hadn't known about the sister.

"How the bloody hell is it possible we didn't know about this Margot?"

Nikki said, "She and Bourne had different mothers and never met until two years ago. He's her only living relative, and apparently she quickly warmed to his cause. The human governments have been monitoring her and didn't think to share."

At Nikki's disgruntled tone, Nathan could tell the dragonwoman hadn't known about the sister and deliberately kept it from him. He replied, "If she's Bourne's sister and was with Hayley, then it has to be related to the dragon hunters." His stomach dropped. "The baby."

Kai grimaced. "It's possible. A few females pregnant with dragon-shifter babies have gone missing in the last six months or so. My best guess is they want the children to indoctrinate and raise to be on their side. Those who refuse will be drained of blood once they are old enough. If that's the case, they won't kill Hayley."

At least until the baby was born, was left unsaid.

He growled. "That's still not bloody good enough!"

Nikki nodded. "I know, but we need help. Right now, Rafe's trying to persuade Antony Holbrook to work with us."

Kai spoke before Nathan could. "In the meantime, I want you to look for any information related to Margot Green and for any new chatter about remote dragon hunter hideouts. If they're keeping pregnant females, it won't be in the city since it'd be easier for them to escape."

Nathan wanted to charge into Manchester and investigate the scene himself.

However, the best way he could help Hayley was to rely on his strengths—computers. Still, he didn't have to like it.

He walked up to Kai and leaned close. "You tell me the second you hear anything about my mate, okay?"

Kai didn't even reprimand him for disrespect. He merely clapped Nathan on the shoulder. "I vow it, Nathan. Now, go look for anything that can help us. Maybe reach out to Fergus MacKenzie and Arabella MacLeod on Lochguard, too. I'll see if Skyhunter and Snowridge know anything. I don't think the hunters will leave the island, so they'll be keeping the females somewhere in England, Scotland, or Wales."

His dragon spoke up. I agree with him. Let's do what we can. Charging in without a plan won't help anyone. I'm more confident that we'll discover her location from a computer. We are the best at that kind of stuff.

Nikki spoke before he could reply to his beast. "We'll keep each other updated with what we find, okay? As soon as I hear from Rafe, you'll know. Now, let's get to work."

With a nod, Nathan raced from the room to his computer. If there was any scrap of information on the internet about Hayley or the dragon hunters keeping pregnant females, he'd find it.