The Dragon's Dilemma (Lochguard Highland Dragons Book 1) (23 page)

“I’m sure Mum will be pleased. She’s been secretly wishing for a grandchild for some time.”

A flash of sadness coursed through Fraser’s body. “She may wait a while yet. Finn must not have told you, but Holly lost the bairn.”

Fergus gripped Fraser’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’m truly sorry, Fraser.” He gave Fraser a little shake. “However, judging by your boasting with the lasses in the past, I’m sure there’ll be another one along before much longer.”

Fraser and his dragon growled in unison. “Don’t bring up other lasses. They don’t matter. I only want Holly.”

Fergus whistled. “You’ve fallen hard, brother. Just make sure not to fuck up again.”

Fraser opened his mouth to reply when Grant came into sight, pumping his legs as fast as he could carry them. Fraser muttered, “That’s not a good sign.”

Grant skidded to a halt. “Good, I found you. I need your help, Fraser.”

Fraser’s stomach dropped. “I’m guessing it’s not for a construction emergency, so what’s happened?”

Grant motioned toward the Protectors’ central command. “Some of the rogue dragons are keeping a hospital and its inhabitants hostage in Inverness.”

He drew in a breath. “Which one?”

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. It’s the one Holly is staying at with her father,” Grant stated.

Fraser’s dragon roared.
We must go to her. She needs us.

Grant grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t even think about rushing off. I have something far more important for you to do.”

Fraser clenched a fist. “What?”

“I need you to contact Holly and find out what you can about the situation.”

Fergus jumped in. “Are they jamming the wireless signals?”

Grant shook his head. “Not yet, which is why we need to act fast. Holly will know your voice and hopefully trust you. I need to know how things are going on inside of the hospital. I have plans in motion, but the more details available, the better plan of attack I can devise.” Fraser took out his phone and Grant added, “Not out here. We need her on speakerphone in case Finn or I need to ask questions.”

Fraser shoved the phone back in his pocket and strode toward the central command building. “Then hurry up. The longer we dawdle out here, the longer Holly is in danger.”

As they made their way inside, a small part of Fraser wondered if his recklessness had yet again put Holly in danger. He’d been careful about leaving the clan, but had someone followed him? Or, had the rogue dragons been lying in wait for days?

Fraser clenched his fingers. Whatever the reason, he would do everything in his power to get Holly back to Lochguard.

Inside, Grant barked orders at the various Protectors and then motioned Fraser over. “Sit here so we can listen in.”

Fraser nodded and waited for Emma MacAllister, one of Lochguard’s IT experts, to set everything up.

As he tapped his fingers, he refused to imagine any negative outcome. Holly was alive and Fraser was going to bring her and her father to Lochguard, with or without the DDA’s approval.
 

The trick would be convincing Finn of his plan.

~~~

Holly watched as a large dragon-shaped shadow flew past the window again. The dragon had been doing the same thing for the past twenty minutes.

She refused to imagine what would happen if any of the dragons outside her window started attacking the hospital.

She knew they were being held under siege by a group of dragon-shifters, but no one wanted to divulge any details. The rationale was there might be someone inside the hospital feeding the rogue dragons information.

Whatever the reason, Holly didn’t think it was a coincidence the dragons targeted the hospital she was in.

Rubbing her arms, a small part of Holly wished Fraser was still here. Then he could contact Lochguard and ask for help.

She touched the mobile phone in her pocket. Maybe she should call Fraser and see what was going on. It was worth a shot.

Some of the neighboring patients shouted again and she sighed. It wasn’t as if that would do any good. Glancing at her father’s sleeping form, Holly was glad her dad was a heavy sleeper. The last thing he needed was extra stress.

After taking out her new phone, Holly found Fraser’s number and pressed call. The phone rang once before Fraser’s voice came on the line. “Holly? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine for the moment. Although, if you could tell me a little bit more about the dragons flying around the hospital and perching on the roofs, that would make my life a little easier.”

Fraser’s voice was a little less frantic as he replied, “Telling you about it won’t do much to solve your problem.”

She rolled her eyes even though Fraser couldn’t see it. “You know what I mean. All the hospital will tell us is that the dragons delivered a letter with a warning—if anyone tries to step foot outside, the dragons will snatch them and start attacking the buildings.”

In the background, she heard some murmurs. Before she could ask who they were, Fraser answered, “Finn is talking with the DDA right now. I should have more information for you in a minute. But while we wait, I need two things from you.”

“Yes?”

“First—how are you holding up?”

“Stop being ridiculous. I told you that I’m fine.”

Fraser growled. “I won’t apologize for being worried about the woman I care more about than any other in the world.”

Holly’s heart skipped a beat as she blinked at his words. “What?”

Another male voice came over the line, one she instantly recognized. “Holly, this is Fergus. Ignore my brother’s daft timing for a second and tell us anything that could help. Everyone here wants you back safe and sound.” He paused and added, “Myself included.”

Despite the threat outside her window and the possible danger to her life, relief flooded her body. Fergus’s words also helped distract her from Fraser’s words; she couldn’t afford to dwell on them until later. “Good, because Fraser is grumpy when you’re not around. He needs you close by.”

Fergus barked out a laugh. “Don’t I know it.”

Fraser spoke up. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not here. Can we focus on the more immediate threat? I need you to tell me everything you can see or hear. How many dragons, where they’re located, the works. It’ll help us protect you.”

Holly brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. At least Fraser had recognized the present wasn’t the best time for declarations of the heart. “I’m not a trained soldier or anything, but I’ll try my best. There are dragons circling the building at regular intervals. I can also see a few perched on the roof of the building across the way. I’m sure they’re on all the buildings. I’ve counted maybe ten different ones so far. Or, at least, I tried to. It’s still somewhat dark outside.”

“Good job, Holly,” Fraser replied. “That will help. Is there anything else?”

She glanced out the window. “I can snap some pictures with the phone and send them to you when we’re done.”

A string of expletives filled the other side of the phone line. Holly frowned. “Fraser? What’s happening?”

As the seconds ticked by without a reply, Holly’s heart rate ticked up. Something was wrong.
 

~~~

Fraser walked away from the console that had Holly on speaker phone and moved into Finn’s personal space. “What do you mean those bastard traitor dragons want Holly in exchange for allowing everyone else to go free?”

Finn growled. “Don’t take it out on me. I’m just repeating what the DDA told me.”

Running a hand through his hair, Fraser turned away and then back again. “Please tell me you’re not considering it.”

Finn moved closer and punched Fraser in the arm. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask me that.” Finn motioned toward Grant. “Grant has his own plans on how to handle the rogue dragons. For now, you need to let Holly know what’s going on. The lass deserves to hear about their demands.”

For a split second, Fraser considered keeping the truth from Holly. Knowing his female as he did, she would offer to give herself up if it means she could save everyone else, especially her father.

His dragon snarled.
I won’t allow her to do that.

‘Allow’ isn’t exactly the right word.
 

Ignoring his beast, Fraser met Finn’s eyes again. Rather than annoyance or anger, Fraser only saw expectation.

His cousin was counting on him to do his part.

“Right,” Fraser muttered and headed back to the speakerphone.
 

Holly’s voice was angry as she ordered, “Fraser Moore MacKenzie, if you can hear me, then tell me what the bloody hell is going on.”

Taking a deep breath, Fraser answered her. “We just had some news.”

“I gathered that. Although since I don’t have supersensitive dragon-shifter hearing, how about you tell me what the hell is going on?” Holly bit out.

Fraser leaned against the desk. “The dragons holding the hospital have demands and Finn just found out what they were.”

“And?”

His dragon snarled.
Just tell her.

Fraser managed to spit it out. “They want you in exchange for allowing everyone else to go free.”

“Then—”

“Don’t even bloody think it, woman. They damn near killed you in Aberdeen. They’ll finish the job this time.”

Even though he couldn’t see Holly, Fraser could just imagine her narrowing her eyes just by the tone of her voice. “Are all dragonmen so impatient? What I was trying to ask was what is the plan?”

Fraser blinked and Finn answered her. “Holly, lass, it’s Finn. Grant has a plan to get you all out of the hospital alive. I don’t want to say more on the slim chance someone is listening to your conversation. However, it will be some time yet before they arrive. At the first sign of trouble, you call us back, do you hear?”

Holly’s tone was a little less irritated. “Of course. But before I go, can I talk to Fraser in private?”

“Aye.” Finn looked to Emma MacAllister. “Sever the bluetooth connection and give Fraser a few minutes.” Then Finn gripped Fraser’s shoulder and leaned down to whisper, “Calm your lass down, but don’t take too long. We need those photos.”

Picking up the mobile phone, Fraser nodded and walked out of the room. As soon as he was in one of the small, empty offices off the hall, he cleared his throat. “It’s just us now, honey. I just want to say you’re handling all of this remarkably well.”

Holly’s tone was a bit lighter as she replied, “Well, you clearly haven’t been around a mother-to-be after thirty-six hours of labor. The dragons are nothing by comparison.”

“Aye, and let’s hope I never need to witness that. My dragon doesn’t do well when our female is in pain.”

Silence fell and Fraser wished he had Holly at his side. He’d never been very good at phone conversations; he needed to see a person’s face to gauge their emotions.

Still, he was aware of Finn and the others needing the photos from Holly. So he blurted out, “Just be careful, lass. The thought of losing you forever terrifies me.”

When Holly didn’t respond immediately, he rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. Maybe she meant more to him than Fraser meant to her.

Then Holly’s soft voice came on the line again. “You’ll have to try a hell of a lot harder to get rid of me, Fraser MacKenzie. I’ve already made up my mind to be with you.”

Both man and beast wanted to shout in happiness and ask Holly to be their mate forever.
 

But considering the circumstances, he held back. Instead, Fraser gripped the phone tighter. “Now that you’ve said that, only death will prevent me from bringing you home to Lochguard, Holly Anderson. Take care of yourself.”

“I will, Fraser. We’ll talk more when I’m home. For now, I’m going to snap those photos.”

The line went dead and Fraser stared at his phone.
 

Despite everything going on, he smiled slowly. Holly was coming home to him and he would do everything in his power to not only keep her safe, but to also make her happy.

Chapter Seventeen

Fraser paced the length of the central command’s main operation room. Every once in a while he would glance at the news report on the far screen. A hospital held hostage by dragons had been too good of a story to pass up.

Yet every time he saw one of the dragons circling the hospital, Fraser clenched his jaw. They were after his female.
 

His dragon growled.
If the DDA doesn’t punish them, Finn had better do so. Otherwise, our mate will never be safe.

If only he were a trained Protector, then Fraser could help rescue her.
Believe me, dragon, as soon as Holly is safe in my arms again, I’m going to raise some hell.

Not right away. We should hold her first and make sure she’s okay.

Finn’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Bram is not going to be happy. The fucking rogue traitors are ruining the good image his clan has worked so hard to foster.”

Fergus spoke up. “There are dragons on the screen I don’t recognize as being from Lochguard. This problem runs deeper than a handful of former Lochguard clan members. I’ll look into it as soon as I can. There has to be information floating around somewhere.”

Finn grunted. “Even if dragons from other clans are involved, it doesn’t matter. For all we know, the Lochguard bunch started it all. I’m just trying to understand why they’re targeting Holly.”

Fergus answered, “Because she’s the first sacrifice we’ve had under your leadership, Finn. The traitors who abandoned Lochguard never liked humans in our midst. After all, they sided with the old clan leader when he ejected all of the humans and their mates out of the clan ten years ago. That’s how the tiny clan of Seahaven was formed.”

Fraser stopped pacing and moved to stand in front of Finn. “None of that matters right now, cousin. Holly’s life is at stake. Rescue her first and then worry about mending relations.”

Finn raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s grumpy.”

Grabbing Finn’s top, he yanked his cousin close. “Imagine Arabella inside that hospital and possibly at the mercy of those bastards. I doubt you’d be calm and collected.”

“Probably not.” Finn looked to Fraser’s hand and he released Finn’s shirt. His cousin looked back up at him. “Save your anger for the enemy, lad. We may yet need your help.”